Automobile repair.......Ugh!

“I don't care for Hondas or Toyotas. I'm a Subaru person. I particularly love my car, a 2002 Subaru Impreza wagon in midnight blue pearl. I got it in May 2001, and have 105k miles on it.”

“I have a '98 toyota tacoma with more than 200,000 miles. U joint was replaced a month ago, other than that only shocks, brakes, tires and oil changes. It's been long since paid off.”

“What I don't get is people who buy VW's...they are the worse cars ever! Consumer Reports shows that 85 out of every 100 built have a major mechanical failure within 5 years! Everyone I know that has one just pours money into the things.”

“Honda and Toyota do have good resale value, but all cars have issues. The average rate of defects in a new car is 124 defects per one hundred vehicles. Toyota has had problems with engines sludging up, camshafts failures in the new Tundra pickup and emissions system problems in the RAV 4 and transmission hesistation issues in the Highlander and Camry, just to name a few. Honda CR-V's from the years 2001 to 2005 have a serious A/C issue where the air conditioning condenser explodes and sends metal shards into the entire A/C system ruining it. The repair bill can run as high as $3000 to replace the entire A/C system. Honda has been helping some customers with the labor costs even past the warranty, but not everyone.

I've waited a week to get parts for a Toyota from the dealer, What's up with that? People need a vehicle on a daily basis to get places. When I needed a part for my Chevy van it was there that day and the van was fixed.

With everyone outsourcing and parts coming from just about anywhere in the world, it's the luck of the draw of what you'll get when you drive a car off the lot.”

“Several models of 2008 Toyotas apparently have serious safety issues as well.”

“No maker is perfect, but compared to the raft of crap I've experienced with GM-made cars (and their crappy dealerships) over the last few years, I'm done with GM. We only bought GM for over 10 years, but no more.”

“My Dad was a supplier for the big 3 from the 60's to 1989, when they royally screwed his company over. That's what precipitated our move to Florida in the first place. It's only in the past year that my parents finally broke down and bought Japanese made vehicles, although the Honda is more American made than anything the big 3 produce now. They're now big Honda fans, both for the product and customer service.”

“Fah!
VWs are a passion, not just a car. The right models are a blast to drive.
I miss my GTI VR6. If I could I'd get a R32 in a second.”

“It's funny because the most reliable vehicle I ever owned was my GMC Sierra. The only reasons I got ride of it were it was starting to rust through, I wanted something that was going to get me better than 20mpg, and I wanted four-wheel or AWD.”

“keep them up, fix problems when they are small.

Hoods should be Clear Plexiglass by law, that's the only way most people would ever see underneath them....You don't have to be a mechanic to notice leaks and belt wear, or see the corrosion building up on the battery terminals, but you DO have to raise the hood and look around every once in a while.....”

“I just did the recommended maintenances for the 90,000 mile milestone for my '01 Subaru Forester. Unlike with past vehicles, I had always taken it to the shop for the 30,000 mile incremental ones, and change the oil and oil filter myself every 4,000 miles. Couldn't afford the shop this time around. Most of it is just changing filters 'n' stuff anyway, so I went over and bought about $150 of stuff at Kragen and did most of it myself. I only had three problems:

1 - When removing the fuel filter, I couldn't seem to get the little rubber hoses off of the metal connecting tube things that stick out of the filter. I had to go back to Kragen for some more coolant, so asked the guy for advice. He suggested grabbing it with some pliers and rotating it, which would break the stickiness of the rubber-metal connection; then I should be able to pull it off. Worked fine.

2 - I can't reach the frickin' spark plugs! I bought a set, gapped 'em, but I had never changed them on this car. It actually took me several minutes to even find them! Then, they seem to be way more recessed than in other cars I've had. I do have the usual long socket wrench extension, but the plugs are located way over on each side of the engine, so I can't get the long extension lined up to get the socket down there to pull the dang thing out. I'll just have some local shop switch them out for me. Damn Subaru - what were they thinking?!

3 - It started raining halfway through the job (I was on the driveway). This is when it comes in handy to have stuff like tarps, trekking poles, bungee cords, and tent stakes. My neighbors were in awe of my shelter-building abilities!!”

“one of my peeves (I always check those things before I buy a car, new or used), is where things are located. I looked at one car where the dalesman said the way to get to the plugs was to unbolt the engine mounts and rotate the engine forward to access the plugs....(Like, do I have to say I did NOT buy that car?).”

“Powltryman- therein lies both the curse and the beauty of the boxster engine. It's great performance but you're screwed doing any of the maintenance yourself if you don't have all the specific tools and equipment. I gave up on doing any of the maintenance myself. I let the people at the dealership do it for me.”

“I had an oil change earlier this year.”

“Yup, I mis-threaded a plug trying to get it back into my Subaru. Very hard to get to the ones near the firewall. Both of my minivans require tipping the engine forward. I dont do that!”

“Just park downhill. Doesn't that tip it forward?”

“ugh indeed!

Its below zero with the windchill today and wouldnt your know it, on the way to the airport to pick up mom my trans blew a line. So a 45min wait for a tow (the lady who let me use her phone book wouldnt let us in to call or wait for the tow) and now its time for some wrenching. This is gonna be a long day...I wish I had a garage on days like this.
last edited: 1/20/08 8:11:59 AM”

“OH God...hydraulics in Subzero weather...gotta feel for you dude. Usually the pressure on those makes even Duct tape field repairs worthless. And sub zero Nothing seems to work well.”

“No field repair today XL, hopefully I can just swap out the line(s) but at this point there is so much fluid I cant locate the leak. Gonna tear some stuff down then fill it, fire it and watch for the leak....Hot coffee and lunch first though.

But yep, hydraulics in this weather truly suck. 7th circle of hell if hell were cold.
last edited: 1/20/08 8:19:27 AM”

“Birch I seriously feel for you! Double sucks that they wouldn't let you come in to stay warm. Did mom get home from the a/p?
Wish I could give ya a hand. Tranny lines can be a bltch on a good day. Today... forget it.”

“Done.

God threw me a slow pitch today...One small busted line to the trans cooler. $30 for fluid, three clamps and hose, 1.5hrs not bad. Now to warm up.”

“whiskey?”

“It never fails that no matter how easy the job I will always bang a finger or knuckle on something when it's really cold out.

Dang that smarts.

I'm glad it was a simple job.”

“WK, its whiskey time now,

HPM, no doubt about the knuckels. I doubled the gloves up and remainded injury free (knock on wood).

MG, ma took a cab home from the airport.”

“birch I am glad it had a happy ending. but you never said anything about your om, she still at the airport?

:)~~~”

“Yeah I'm a work glove convert for sure.”

“LOL mapes, she took a cab. Her cab was $38 for 17 miles, my tow was $58 for 2 miles, go figure.”

“Call a cab and hook up a tow strap next time. lol”

“lol @ HPM”

“no #&%!$ man!!!”

“crap luck Birch. Glad it was an easy fix.”

“My Xterra needs clutch bearings and 4 new tires, an alignment, etc...

I went to a new garage because I could walk to it. In the estimate, the guy included tires, and I thought,"wow, he's got nerve" LOL...to me, tires are a personal choice. And everytime I asked him about them, he just said what good tires they were and that they have raised white letters like the ones I have on now do...wtf is up with that??? Then he tells me about the company that makes them, blah blah blah...
but I'm really curious about those raised white letters - how do they affect the performance of the tire?? Is it code for something? LOL...

On my way out I saw the tires, read the sidewall, and stuck my finger in the tread, not really a tire I'm interested in. He didn't mention warranty either.
last edited: 5/07/08 8:01:57 AM”

“Tire Discounters will give you a free 4-wheel alignment when you buy tires and their prices are pretty good. Also included is nitrogen fill, free lifetime rotation and balance. I used to go with Discount Tires but switched to them for the 4 wheel alignment and nitro fill.”

“whats up with nitro fill?”

“nice deal, but we don't have Tire Discounters here...”

“nitrogen is a gas that has been used for years in the racing world. Its holds the pressure's more stable as its not affected by the temps during summer heat and winter cold. The gas does not contract or expand as much.”

“check your tires once a month, add regular air for $.25 as needed and you will be fine.
last edited: 5/07/08 1:10:46 PM”