Car Dealerships

michael59

Celestial
Found on Road Dead. First on Race Day.

Mopar - My Old Pig Ain't Runnin'

Fiat - Fix It Already Tony !!

1991 Oldsmobile turns over first try every time even at -50C. I'm still driving it trouble free except for air conditioning. After I got $150 for my scrap car, I paid all of $850 for my Olds.
 

JahaRa

Noble
When I was a young man FORD stood for fix or repair daily.... ;)
I would like to think they are better these days but I have never owned one.
Dodge, Olds, Toyota, Honda for many years, Jeep....
I have a 1961 Ford F100 pickup. It is not running currently but when it was new (the first 20 years) it was easy to maintain, and did not break down. When my daughter drove it in the 80's it sometimes left her stranded. After that a lot of work was done but it still ran on the original engine. Now it is not running and needs some body work, new brakes, tires and front end (axle et al). It is on my list but not very high up right now.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
I've had only one Ford, a 2005 Lincoln LS with a V8 Jaguar engine, it was a nice ride and had power too...

I've also owned;

1 Mazda
1 Mopar
1 Toyota
1 Jeep
1 Oldsmobile
1 Pontiac
4 Chevrolet

Currently have a 2013 Chevy Malibu LTZ and it's the newest car I've owned...The oldest car I've owned was a 1965 Chevy Impala SS...

...
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
I've had a lot of company service trucks, usually half ton vans. Ford, Chevy, Dodge. I got to pound the snot out of these things in a fleet of them so any flaws were generally revealed. Ford is the innovator. Chevy always was a step behind but decent. Dodge - not even in the show, more likely in the shop. Horrible.
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
I've gone total DIY on my vehicles except for certain things. A local indie shop set me up with tires and an alignment yesterday and it was easy peasy, zero problems. The indie cost a bit more than a Mavis or the like but this man is running a business and he and his sons are certified mechanics. They have a personal investment in the place.

Called a Ford dealer in the area and asked for the Parts dept. I need 6 quarts of oil. Mr. Ed will make this simple and clomp out the answer with his hoof. That means one big 5 quart container and one small 1 quart container. I'll go slow, I know this quantum physics stuff is complicated. The young man was completely stymied by the $5.99 price of the quart and the $5.38 price of the 5 quart container. No exaggeration. Uhhhh ... times 5 that means ...... $26.90 and still cheaper to buy it there anyway which is what I want, but he had to make sure this was 'right' because .... I really don't know. I just let it go for about 15 minutes and thanked him for his answer. I wasn't about to try to make him give it to me for the wrong price but watching those two big rusty ill fitting gears he had in his head trying to compute this out was painful.

Believe it or don't dealerships often give the best prices on parts. Windshield wipers are usually better and cheaper than aftermarket, at least for my truck. Their tire prices are usually good and same for batteries, although with the latter you have to watch the details. Unfortunately unlike the indie shop this kid had no 'skin in the game' and that's what I got for my efforts. In this case, for an extra two bucks hello Autozone.
 

JahaRa

Noble
Ok...I'm thinking a new Honda Accord or a new Hyundai Tucson.....discuss.
What is the price difference? My opinion is that Hondas are built to last and Hyundai are cheaply built. I have a friend who drove he Honda civic for 15 years and still got 40 miles per gallon on the freeway. I suspect new cars of any type are not as durable, and too many electronics make it expensive to replace parts. An example, my daughter's new car costs 1000.00 to replace the windshield because of all the electronic sensors in it. In that respect the Honda and Hyundai are probably the same, but do you want a car you can drive for 10 years or one you have to trade in after 5 years?
 

dr wu

Noble
What is the price difference? My opinion is that Hondas are built to last and Hyundai are cheaply built. I have a friend who drove he Honda civic for 15 years and still got 40 miles per gallon on the freeway. I suspect new cars of any type are not as durable, and too many electronics make it expensive to replace parts. An example, my daughter's new car costs 1000.00 to replace the windshield because of all the electronic sensors in it. In that respect the Honda and Hyundai are probably the same, but do you want a car you can drive for 10 years or one you have to trade in after 5 years?
Well..we have always had Hondas for over 25 years now but I like the reports on the Hyundai Tucson....and we are thinking about SUV's. The Honda CRV is similar in price but I like the way the Tucson looks....perhaps not a great reason to get one...but many cars rate similar these days.
The Tucson is getting very high ratings on reliability.
 

JahaRa

Noble
Well..we have always had Hondas for over 25 years now but I like the reports on the Hyundai Tucson....and we are thinking about SUV's. The Honda CRV is similar in price but I like the way the Tucson looks....perhaps not a great reason to get one...but many cars rate similar these days.
The Tucson is getting very high ratings on reliability.
Before you buy it drive it for long enough to tell if it is comfortable. I rented a Tucson when I wrecked my car and had to take a trip. It is the most uncomfortable car I have ever driven. I do have to say that it depends on how you are built. If you are small it is probably ok, but if you are tall or long legged it might not be a good fit. I had to stop at a Walgreens and buy a lumbar support device (not a cushion, it was a mesh thing that went between the driver and the seat) so that I could finish my trip.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Ok...I'm thinking a new Honda Accord or a new Hyundai Tucson.....discuss.

I've never owned a Honda nor Hyundai however I did drive a Hyundai Sonata as a rental car for a few weeks and it handled and drove nice...

...
 

Standingstones

Celestial
My wife and I have driven Hyundai’s for the past twenty years. We have had good success with them. The Sonata has lots of leg room. For some reason the SUV Santa Fe is snug for me and I am 6’3”. The service has been top notch. My wife’s Santa Fe had the transmission crap out 2,000 miles past warranty and they replaced it no charge.
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Got sick of dealerships nonsense and finally did the oil and filter on my truck. Big weird fibrous rock shield. Oil pan feels like plastic and the plug definitely is. You can pop it in with your fingers with a click, no wrench. The filter is not a spin on it's a cartridge mounted directly on top of the engine with a couple of fiddly o-rings. Easy peasy.

Swine dealerships. They can keep their free coffee and donuts.
 

dr wu

Noble
Got sick of dealerships nonsense and finally did the oil and filter on my truck. Big weird fibrous rock shield. Oil pan feels like plastic and the plug definitely is. You can pop it in with your fingers with a click, no wrench. The filter is not a spin on it's a cartridge mounted directly on top of the engine with a couple of fiddly o-rings. Easy peasy.

Swine dealerships. They can keep their free coffee and donuts.
Uh....you're supposed to change the oil on cars...? Even the ones built after 2010..?

;)
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Uh....you're supposed to change the oil on cars...? Even the ones built after 2010..?

;)

Apparently that's the case with push lawn mowers anymore, they tell you just to top it off when it needs it. Most don't even have drain plugs. I change the oil anyway in all my stuff anyway. Not doing so is subversive talk and the terrorists will win with that sort of wrong thinking.

I will admit the twice-a-year oil & filter every 3000 miles is a thing of the past. 5K and maybe once a year is fine with the synthetics in use now. Doing it myself gives me a chance to give everything the Big Eyeball. Last year we tried a local shop to get the state inspection done on my wife's Forester and they said the car had an oil leak and probably needed a head gasket. I thanked them very much and will never go back. They popped a rubber hose off a crankcase breather and let it dangle. If I hadn't already known what was under there and the condition it was in they would've really raked us over but good.
 
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michael59

Celestial
Apparently that's the case with push lawn mowers anymore, they tell you just to top it off when it needs it. Most don't even have drain plugs. I change the oil anyway in all my stuff anyway. Not doing so is subversive talk and the terrorists will win with that sort of wrong thinking.

I will admit the twice-a-year oil & filter every 3000 miles is a thing of the past. 5K and maybe once a year is fine with the synthetics in use now. Doing it myself gives me a chance to give everything the Big Eyeball. Last year we tried a local shop to get the state inspection done on ,y wife's Forester and they said the car had an oil leak and probably needed a head gasket. I thanked them very much and will never go back. They popped a rubber hose off a crankcase breather and let it dangle. If I hadn't already known what was under there and the condition it was in they would've really raked us over but good.

And you're not even female. The last time I went to my favorite "trustworthy" mechanic. He kept the car for 6 weeks. I had to call and remind him 3 times to replace the exhaust. He never did do a diagnostics on the car like I asked. And when I took it to him it had a full tank of gas when I got it back it only a little more than a quarter left in it. I wish I had written down the milage but honestly I never thought I would have to worry about it. :(
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
The mechanic I've known for years retired and I actually miss him. Old school two bay dump absolutely dripping with coolness if you have an eye for it. I've been fortunate to have an actual sent-from-central-casting honest mechanic over many years. His retirement made me a more motivated do it yourselfer.
 

JahaRa

Noble
And you're not even female. The last time I went to my favorite "trustworthy" mechanic. He kept the car for 6 weeks. I had to call and remind him 3 times to replace the exhaust. He never did do a diagnostics on the car like I asked. And when I took it to him it had a full tank of gas when I got it back it only a little more than a quarter left in it. I wish I had written down the milage but honestly I never thought I would have to worry about it. :(
There are a lot of crooks out there. I am lucky, now that I am back in Albuquerque, my nephew owns a repair shop. Usually they only work on Subarus but all his guys know that I am special and I can bring my Nissan in when I need to. My friend has a Toyota that they have worked on when they were slow.

When cars still had points and it was easy to get to the spark plugs I did my own maintenance.
 
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