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What Auto Mechanic incompetence have you been suffering?

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29 Jul 2019 20:07 #300239 by Gary Sax
My actual contribution to this thread is my newish car got damage on a tire sidewall so I had to replace a tire. 180 bucks a tire, OEM Continentals, new cars have such huge fucking tires.

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29 Jul 2019 21:26 #300244 by Msample

Gary Sax wrote: My actual contribution to this thread is my newish car got damage on a tire sidewall so I had to replace a tire. 180 bucks a tire, OEM Continentals, new cars have such huge fucking tires.


Same thing happened to me a month after I got mine; low profile tires are an abomination.
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30 Jul 2019 09:33 #300262 by Joebot

Msample wrote: Besides the Buick wagon ( which between wagon malaise and the Buick stigma has sold poorly, hence the hefty deals on them out there ) the only other wagons left to buy in the US are VW, Volvo, Mercedes . The latter two, while very nice, are a huge step up in sticker price. Meanwhile go on a European website for those brands or BMW and the huge variety of configurations makes me weep with envy. Even US brands have wagons over there - while touring some WWII battlefields we had some Ford wagon that had no problem on the autobahn. There also inexpensive brands like Skoda .


The lack of station wagon options in the US is frustrating. I drove a Saturn SW1 for many years, put about 185K miles on it. The engine started getting uncomfortably "growly," so I finally had to get rid of it (I traded it in for a Prius).

Minivans are in the same place as wagons. I think there are only 5 minivan models left, and two of those (Pacifica and .... Odyssey maybe?) are pretty expensive. When our Town & Country pooped out (what a piece of shit that van was), we got a Sienna, and have been very happy with it so far. So somehow, we've become a two-Toyota family.
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30 Jul 2019 10:02 #300265 by RobertB
It's a Brave New World of crossovers and SUVs now. Ford has dropped all but two of their car models, and one of those is Mustang.

The last new car we bought, neither station wagon nor minivan was even in the conversation. My wife wanted an SUV, I wanted a sedan, but it was her turn to pick and that wasn't a hill I was willing to die on.
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30 Jul 2019 10:18 #300266 by Vysetron
I drive a crossover and I do like it, but I miss wagons. There's something about them that I've always found so aesthetically pleasing. Just had this conversation with the wife earlier today actually. Whether we're talking wood paneled crown vic type things or newer, I guess I just like the form factor.

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30 Jul 2019 10:40 - 30 Jul 2019 10:56 #300267 by Sagrilarus

Joebot wrote:
The lack of station wagon options in the US is frustrating. I drove a Saturn SW1 for many years, put about 185K miles on it. The engine started getting uncomfortably "growly," so I finally had to get rid of it (I traded it in for a Prius).

Minivans are in the same place utility-wise as wagons. I think there are only 5 minivan models left, and two of those (Pacifica and .... Odyssey maybe?) are pretty expensive. When our Town & Country pooped out (what a piece of shit that van was), we got a Sienna, and have been very happy with it so far. So somehow, we've become a two-Toyota family.



Crossovers are station wagons. They came up with a new name because the industry spent 30 years shitting on the station wagon, in order to sell "Sport Utility Vehicles" which aren't sporty and aren't utilitarian. But they're wildly profitable for auto makers. Even Porsche is making one.

Gas is cheap in the U.S. so people move to minivans instead of buying wagons. Minivans provide what GM engineers call the "command position" -- a driver's seat high off the road -- that tests through the roof with women and is preferred by men. There is way more room in them which makes them ideal for getting kids around town. I had four kids, so I really didn't have a choice. I needed three rows of seats and there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell I was going to deal with a three-row SUV like an Expedition. Half the room, worse gas mileage, a whole lot less fun to drive.

I've purchased three Kia Sedonas over the years, all three are still on the road, one with 200,000 and it's running like it's new, and I paid about $10k each with 60,000 miles on them. I'm planning on having at least one minivan in the mix for the rest of my life, 'cause I can get damn near anything home from the hardware store and out of the rain when I do it.

Everyone is getting out of the car business except the Japanese. They aren't as profitable in the American market in particular where gas mileage doesn't matter very much. It's telling that an esoteric brand like Tesla is actually appearing on the ranking lists for best-selling models in the U.S., in spite of their severe production issues.

Truth be told the industry spent 20 years shitting on "minivan" as well, for the same reason as they did station wagons. So when my kids were young I had friends saying things like "no way in hell will you ever catch me in a minivan, I'm buying an SUV." I would tell them to spend the $30k they're planning to drop on a Ford Explorer into a used minivan AND a used Miata. Drive the Miata when you can and have fun, drive the minivan when you need to and get the job done right. They all bought SUVs (including one that bought a frikkin' Land Rover with three kids! $400 tires!) and five years later traded them in on -- yep, Honda Odysseys and Toyota Siennas. They were pretty impressed with themselves.

I really want to start a pool on how long Barnes holds onto that Jeep Wrangler, a vehicle that averages about 18 months with any one owner.
Last edit: 30 Jul 2019 10:56 by Sagrilarus.
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30 Jul 2019 11:18 #300269 by barrowdown
Everyone actually wants a wagon or a minivan.

Want the mobility of an SUV, but are never actually going to rock crawl it or trail run? Buy a Subaru. Their lineup has higher ground clearance (except for the ones that are sedans, they sit lower) and a better AWD system than the majority of what is called an SUV. Are you never actually going to take it truly off-road? Get any of the wagons that you like.

Want to haul a ton of people and/or supplies? Buy a minivan.

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30 Jul 2019 18:56 - 30 Jul 2019 18:56 #300280 by Gary Sax

Sagrilarus wrote: I really want to start a pool on how long Barnes holds onto that Jeep Wrangler, a vehicle that averages about 18 months with any one owner.


This is our lifestyle re: your miata point, I bought the Regal Tourx this year (after a dead GTI) and my wife bought an Xterra Pro4x for our fun AZ/NM/Utah/Nevada trips to rough trailheads and any towing. Drive the Tourx most of the time, as much as we adore 15-17 mpg at best Xterra.
Last edit: 30 Jul 2019 18:56 by Gary Sax.

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01 Aug 2019 10:33 #300343 by JoelCFC25

RobertB wrote: We got it back from the mechanic on Wednesday, and Thursday we hear a mysterious thump. As Thursday goes on and we drive more we hear a little 'thump thump thump', in time with the wheels turning. By noon today the thumping is pretty noticeable, and it mysteriously goes away when the car accelerates or brakes. Thumps when cruising, stops when there are changes of speed.

I'm throwing ideas out there; CV joint bad? CV joint boot torn and flopping around (had that one personally and it makes a racket)?


I'm way late responding, but I ran this by a group of friends with a long history of being deeply involved with cars--doing their own maintenance, and in some cases participating on teams that track road cars competitively.

They think you're on the right track focusing on the CV joint.

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01 Aug 2019 11:34 - 01 Aug 2019 11:36 #300348 by Michael Barnes
I really want to start a pool on how long Barnes holds onto that Jeep Wrangler, a vehicle that averages about 18 months with any one owner.

I will never drive anything other than a Jeep again (barring like, a Lamborghini). It totally suits me. I love that it is not like driving a living room couch. It’s not designed for comfort, which I -like-. I love that there are no screens, that is all pretty low tech, and that it’s sort of fussy to handle. Mine is a 2014, with one previous owner. But I will probably trade it up sometime in the next couple of years to a 4-door model. Or the new Gladiator, which is pretty much the ultimate vehicle (it’s basically a 4 door Wrangler with a truck bed).

Also, I don’t have a daily commute so the MPG isn’t a big deal for me other than the environmental footprint. But I drive very little.
Last edit: 01 Aug 2019 11:36 by Michael Barnes.

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01 Aug 2019 11:40 #300349 by RobertB

JoelCFC25 wrote:

RobertB wrote: We got it back from the mechanic on Wednesday, and Thursday we hear a mysterious thump. As Thursday goes on and we drive more we hear a little 'thump thump thump', in time with the wheels turning. By noon today the thumping is pretty noticeable, and it mysteriously goes away when the car accelerates or brakes. Thumps when cruising, stops when there are changes of speed.

I'm throwing ideas out there; CV joint bad? CV joint boot torn and flopping around (had that one personally and it makes a racket)?


I'm way late responding, but I ran this by a group of friends with a long history of being deeply involved with cars--doing their own maintenance, and in some cases participating on teams that track road cars competitively.

They think you're on the right track focusing on the CV joint.


Nah, it was mechanic error, as in "error that can get you killed on the interstate" error. They didn't bother tightening the lug nuts after putting the wheel back on. It was down to two nuts left, and they were finger tight.

I had that CV joint problem in my Acura a while back. Boot tears, then the CV joints start to go.

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01 Aug 2019 13:01 #300357 by lj1983
I have a full-size Nissan van. the AC system is shit. it's designed as a cargo van, that they then stuffed seats into. they ran a straight line from the front to the back for air. so the vents in the back get zero flow

taken to the dealership (called corporate) checked with others online....each time, Nissan says its working as expected. we've been keeping a plug-in fan for whichever kids sits in the back, and closing off the front vents to force alittle air back there. It's a very common problem with these vehicles.

well, a guy went and designed some 3D-printed flow balancers that install into the air vents, they force air into the rear. Well shit, these work awesome. now I've got similar air flow from the 2nd row and the rear vents. $35 to fix shitty design from the car maker? I guess so.

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06 Sep 2020 15:23 #313819 by csools
I would never change my BMW for Acura, no way

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