|
1500quidporsche posted:My theory has always been that it can be traced back to his dad dying in a car crash. There are unlucky people and there's this guy. Over the span of 5 years he wrecked 4 possibly 5 cars. But his dad worked for a dealership so he was raised on the kool aid. His mother got ripped off getting a new car from them so he could have her old car to replace the wrecked new cobalt. For a moment there I thought I was going to have to figure out how the gently caress you knew me. I've had some bad luck combined with dumb decisions. I had a '94 325is with an S50, got hit by a drunk while at a stoplight. '84 318i, did dumb poo poo on a dirt road. '89 325is, got t-boned by a texting student. '97 Miata, fell asleep on the way to work in traffic (don't drive drowsy and don't risk your life for a desk job). '87 325is, had a minivan full of kids coming out of Starbucks just gun it in front of me with like 30' to go at 35mph, said she didn't even see me (at 10AM on a bright sunny morning in loving Florida). I also had an incident where I was in my '80 F250 and traffic suddenly stopped in front of me at a green light due to an ambulance crossing; traffic being a Chevy Colorado and a Dodge Neon in front of him. I had a choice between them, the ditch and possibly the concrete pillar, and chose the Colorado. Truck is loud as hell due to being old and rickety, didn't even hear the drat ambulance. Even the sheriff who saw it said there wasn't a drat thing I could have done. I have had my current Miata for a couple years now (knock on wood) and I just assume that everyone is trying to end me. It's saved my rear end a few times. Beach Bum fucked around with this message at 20:39 on Feb 9, 2015 |
#
?
Feb 9, 2015 20:36
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 09:25 |
|
|
 You've got some poo poo luck.I'm pretty sure this guy was the common factor in all the collisions. I remember he was bitching once cause the cops pulled him over when he blew through a red light at 3 am cause that's perfectly fine nobody would be going through an intersection at 3 am. The insanity came from him maintaining each accident wasn't his fault while justifying that his next car was safer. Rolled an SUV? I'll get a car you can't roll that. Car gets T-boned? This one has ABS and traction control. Rear end people twice with that car? This one has AWD. Thank god he finally just gave up on driving.
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2015 21:00
|
|
|
I also have a bad dealer story. I drive a 2006 Crown Vic Police Interceptor that is in pretty drat good shape, and I tend to do everything on it myself for the most part (I pay for oil changes because the cost at the oil place is the same cost as me buying it myself). So anyways, a little while back there was a recall on part of the steering linkage for Crown Vics. It affected a ton of them, thousands and thousands here. It's kind hard to describe the part, it's sort of bent very slightly like an L, and on each end is a sort of universal joint that moves. It's part of the linkage connecting the wheel to the rack. Well, according to Ford, these joints tend to get water inside them, rust up, then blow out, and good bye all steering control. I got the letter telling me all this in the mail, and went right away to the dealership to get my car inspected and get the new part put on. I arrive at the dealership, they do the inspection, say yeah, you really need it done, but it's going to take awhile. I ask how long, and the guy goes, probably about a month. Turns out, no dealership really has this part in stock, and they are all waiting on Ford to ship out more of them. I say ok I guess, and leave. About a month later, the dealer calls me back, saying they have the part, I can come in whenever to get it done. They also tell me I have enough dealer points there (they use a points system for everytime you do stuff, and when you add up enough can use them for things) that I can get a free oil change while I'm in there, because I'm just about due for one. I think, alright, cool, two birds with one stone here. The day before I'm supposed to go in to do the recall, my starter dies in the car. Now, I'd normally do it myself, it just kinda hangs out on the bottom of the car and is only 3 bolts to remove it, but it's winter time, and laying in wet cold snow to do work doesn't sound too appealing to me. So I think, gently caress it, while it's in getting the recall done, I'll ask them about doing the starter at the same time, and see how much it would cost. After I towed the car to the dealer, they called me the next day. Here is where the bullshit starts. First, they cannot due the recall or the oil change, because the car must be in running condition, which it is not due to a bad starter. I say ok, how much to do the starter? Dealer says it will cost $750 dollars to change my starter, because being a police crown vic, it needs a "special one" that costs $450 bucks, and then the rest of the cost is labor. Before I can say anything, they also tell me they did a full inspection of my car, and it needs every single fluid, from the trans to the power steering, flushed and replaced. This will cost $350 dollars, and that also, all my spark plugs are bad and that all 8 of my separate coil packs are on there last legs and also needs to be replaced. This will cost yet another $500 dollars. So lets add it up. $750 for a starter, $350 for a total fluid flush and replace, and $500 for spark plugs and coil packs. $1600 dollars in work "needs" to be done, and on top of it, they didn't even do the drat recall or oil change. I told the guy on the phone, get my car out of your garage, do not do a single thing on that list, not even one, and push the car into the parking lot. I then used my AAA membership to get it towed to a good local guy I know, who does the starter for a total of $150 bucks and puts a 5 year warranty on it. This mechanic and myself look at my fluids, plugs, and coil packs, and surprise, they are all perfectly fine, not even a hint of a problem. We both have a good laugh at the dealer being stupid. The next day I drive the car back to the dealer, and finally get my recall and oil change done.
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2015 22:25
|
|
|
themachine posted:I told the guy on the phone, get my car out of your garage, do not do a single thing on that list, not even one, and push the car into the parking lot. I then used my AAA membership to get it towed to a good local guy I know, who does the starter for a total of $150 bucks and puts a 5 year warranty on it. This mechanic and myself look at my fluids, plugs, and coil packs, and surprise, they are all perfectly fine, not even a hint of a problem. We both have a good laugh at the dealer being stupid. The next day I drive the car back to the dealer, and finally get my recall and oil change done. Did they cross-thread your drain plug with an impact gun out of spite?
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 01:43
|
|
|
Raluek posted:Did they cross-thread your drain plug with an impact gun out of spite? I've had the oil changed since, the tech that did it didn't have any complaints, and he actually used a wrench, not an impact. I forgot to mention that when I finally got the car back with the work complete, I reamed out the desk person and the mechanic who actually tried to tell me that all that poo poo needed to be done and for that insane price. I'm pretty sure saying "Do you think I'm a loving moron" loud enough for customers about twenty feet away to turn around and look didn't win me any points. I don't plan on going back there and giving them the chance to monkey gently caress anything else though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 05:27
|
|
|
I need to show this thread to my friend, whose Mini Cooper is always at the dealer.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 07:32
|
|
|
My parents have a 2014 Hilux they bought new and as a result its got the "Toyota fixed price servicing" on it for the first "x" number of services (cant remember how many, but at least up to the 120K kms I think). Its done about 32,000kms since they bought it early last year- its just not driven because dads commutes on his motorbike and mum has the other hilux so the "nice" one gets to sit in the shed. The dealership is CONSTANTLY ringing up, sending letters, sending fliers screaming that we need to bring the thing in for a service because its due. its done 2000km since its last service, theres 10K kms to go but they keep banging on that "The manual says its just as important to service on time" as it is to do it on mileage. Read the manual, and it says "if you drive your car on lots of very short trips or spend a lot of time idling then you may need to service on time instead of km's". So far i've rang the dealership about 5 times saying "It doesnt do short trips, it doesnt bloody move monday to friday!" and that we will book the service when its 500km shy of needing one. They're trying to get the number of services out of the way quickly because the 120K kms service is about $2K at dealership prices. This is the same dealership that said that the 200km old BFG All Terrains were "Down to less than 3mm of tread" after their dumbarse tech stuck the measuring gauge INTO THE SIPING ON THE TREAD BLOCKS to measure tread depth...
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 12:06
|
|
|
EightBit posted:I need to show this thread to my friend, whose Mini Cooper is always at the dealer. Back when we had our Cooper (it was an '03 and I think we got it in '06) I took it to a dealer in Chicago to get some warranty work done. They pointed out that I needed new brake pads and rotors. I asked them to quote it for me, mostly out of curiosity (the car had about 30k on it and I had recently checked the pad linings, all were perfectly fine) and they came back with $1500 for pads and rotors on one axle. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 17:00
|
|
|
drat, I've always had good luck taking my cars to the dealer. I don't really keep my cars long enough for major issues to pop up, but our local Ford dealer has been good to us. We lease my wife's car, so it just goes in for oil changes, recalls, and maybe anything needed at 30K, and I trade mine in between 60 to 80K miles. Definitely a YMMV situation though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 17:20
|
|
|
CornHolio posted:Back when we had our Cooper (it was an '03 and I think we got it in '06) I took it to a dealer in Chicago to get some warranty work done. They pointed out that I needed new brake pads and rotors. I asked them to quote it for me, mostly out of curiosity (the car had about 30k on it and I had recently checked the pad linings, all were perfectly fine) and they came back with $1500 for pads and rotors on one axle. Holy geez. Makes me wonder if the small amount of business they get from the people that pay whatever price outweighs the enormous amount of customers who are going to laugh in their face and walk out.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 17:27
|
|
|
I'm always tempted to bring my scirocco in to a dealer for an oil change just to see the repairs the come up with and what stuff they'd miss. Then I always remember that it would be a loving fight convincing them that I want diesel synthetic oil put in.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 17:36
|
|
|
1500quidporsche posted:Then I always remember that it would be a loving fight convincing them that I want diesel synthetic oil put in. I've had luck pointing out the specified certification requirements for the oil in the manual and pointing out the certification on the oil to convince them it's ok. They still look dumbfounded but they have trouble fighting certification.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 17:51
|
|
|
1500quidporsche posted:Then I always remember that it would be a loving fight convincing them that I want diesel synthetic oil put in. I had a VW dealer argue that it was wrong to put diesel synthetic in my TDI. I pointed out that outside of the OEM oil, diesel specific oil is the only one that actually meets VW specs. He got a little flustered and said I'd kill my car.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 18:19
|
|
|
EightBit posted:I need to show this thread to my friend, whose Mini Cooper is always at the dealer. There's an amazing news story on Canadian news right now about a lady who bought a 3 year old Mini Cooper S from a VW dealership for $21k. The cam-driven vacuum pump seized on it, bounced the chain and grenaded the timing chain tensioner followed by the engine proper. Apparently this is a common failure. Takes it to the dealership and the dealer asks for $10,200 for a refurb swap. She still has $19,000 on the note. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/bmw-s-mini-coopers-labelled-junk-as-owner-hit-with-10k-engine-repairs-1.2948855 Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 18:50 on Feb 10, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 18:48
|
|
|
That number seems a bit... er, high. If the car was only three years old, wouldn't it still have a powertrain warranty? And it looks like they agreed to pay 60% of the repairs, bringing the cost of an engine replacement down to normal levels (or more likely, making themselves look good while charging her the normal amount). Still lovely but she isn't paying nearly $11k for an engine replacement or she's a moron.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 18:53
|
|
|
I have a certain amount of sympathy for her, but,well, that's how it goes with a used car, and I don't think you can expect a dealer to offer you a lot of assistance a straight year after purchase.quote:A used Mini is a piece of junk. And the pity is, unlike other BMW products, it's sold to people who would otherwise be driving in a small Volkswagen or Toyota or something like that.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 18:59
|
|
|
Seat Safety Switch posted:There's an amazing news story on Canadian news right now about a lady who bought a 3 year old Mini Cooper S from a VW dealership for $21k. The cam-driven vacuum pump seized on it, bounced the chain and grenaded the timing chain tensioner followed by the engine proper. Apparently this is a common failure. How the hell does a timing chain failure cause a vehicle to "stop suddenly"? Unless someone explains this otherwise my opinion is she drove the thing with the dash lit up like a christmas tree until something seized and it stopped moving by itself. Because that's what I see a lot of. I mean, 10 grand for an engine is still loving insane, but it helps if you stop when something goes wrong instead of derping along until the car just stops moving at all. As for the warranty it's not transferrable unless they agree that it is, most likely.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 19:00
|
|
|
The Mini is arguably the best designed FWD platform on the market today. A pure stroke of genius by BMW. Then they made the decision to assemble it in England.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 19:01
|
|
|
My Mini had the Harman Kardonn amp go out, apparently a common issue. At the time it was $1200 for a new one, just the part. I got a used one for $200. THAT GODDAMN PIECE OF JUNK. Actually that Mini had a lot of problems for its low mileage, but nothing terribly expensive. I think her complaint should be more of a complaint against BMW and Mini dealerships than the cars themselves.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 19:02
|
|
|
I had a 2008 Tacoma that I traded-in Spring of 11 for a 2011 Tacoma. Both were 4cyl 2TR-FEs, but Toyota had switched to synthetic oil between the two. I generally do all regular maintenance on my vehicles, but Toyota gave me 25k miles of oil changes on the new truck. So, I took them up on it--gently caress it, OEM filters/oil for free. After my first 5k mi visit, I look at my paperwork and they did various bullshit but didn't do an oil change. I went back inside and the guy was like "Now that we use synthetic, it's good for TEN THOUSAND MILES."  Well, my manual says 5k mi oil change intervals, but he will not relent. I drive home to do some research. The Toyota website specifically says 10k mi for all engines except the 2TR-FE, which still requires 5k mi oil changes. So I call him and he insists is not the case. I have to drive to the loving dealership, with my manual and my laptop to show him the he is wrong. Then I have to do this on every alternating dealer service. Also, they overfilled it twice and I had to have them redo it right there. gently caress dealerships. They don't even know their own cars.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 19:05
|
|
|
1500quidporsche posted:The Mini is arguably the best designed FWD platform on the market today. A pure stroke of genius by BMW.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 19:17
|
|
|
LeeMajors posted:I had a 2008 Tacoma that I traded-in Spring of 11 for a 2011 Tacoma. Both were 4cyl 2TR-FEs, but Toyota had switched to synthetic oil between the two. Yeah, poo poo like that is "free" only until you factor in the value of the time you spent hassling them to actually do it right.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 19:22
|
|
|
InitialDave posted:They're an ugly, overweight styling exercise with an appalling interior, and I have no clue as to why anyone would buy one over something else. They're totally unappealing but from an engineering standpoint they're incredibly well packaged and the chassis copes well with whatever you throw at it. You have to admire that BMW packaged the engine bay so there is no clearance for anything. I would guess a sizable chunk of that $10k repair cost comes from having to disassemble the entire front of the car to get the engine out.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 19:23
|
|
|
InitialDave posted:They're an ugly, overweight styling exercise with an appalling interior, and I have no clue as to why anyone would buy one over something else. They poop on everyone in their class in autocross.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 19:26
|
|
|
Seat Safety Switch posted:There's an amazing news story on Canadian news right now about a lady who bought a 3 year old Mini Cooper S from a VW dealership for $21k. The cam-driven vacuum pump seized on it, bounced the chain and grenaded the timing chain tensioner followed by the engine proper. Apparently this is a common failure. This story is pretty common with those under-engineered crapcans. I spent a good year as a service writer at a shop specializing in Minis among other Eurostuff and distinctly remember 4 freshly minted used Mini owners stuck in the same boat after the timing gear let go for German Engineered Reasons. A refurb long block is pretty much $6,500 minimum depending on the vendor.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 19:39
|
|
|
Raluek posted:Did they cross-thread your drain plug with an impact gun out of spite? This would require them to drain the oil in the pan so no.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 19:44
|
|
|
1500quidporsche posted:The Mini is arguably the best designed FWD platform on the market today. A pure stroke of genius by BMW. I got to drive her Mini once before the most recent failure (turbo spewing oil into the intake  ), and perhaps it's just hers, but the handling and acceleration didn't seem very good; it had lots more body roll than I was expecting. I really hate the center cluster bullshit, too.Every one of her mechanically inclined friends told her to not buy a Mini, that it was just going to break repeatedly and cost her lots of money. She doesn't have BMW levels of income, and she's way in the hole on it, too  . It's been through several nebulous oil leak repairs (during which she had to put in a quart of unicorn blood every week), one engine rebuild covered by BMW, transmission work, and now the turbo is shot.Friends don't let friends buy used BMWs.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 20:24
|
|
|
I dunno. They do extremely well in autocross so there is something to their handling. I do agree that I'd rather run my balls through a meat grinder then work on one though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 20:41
|
|
|
My R50 handled fantastically well. It was also easy to work on, for the most part. I can't speak to anything newer than that, though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 20:45
|
|
|
EightBit posted:Friends don't let friends buy used in maintenance debt BMWs. If you buy a BMW that hasn't been looked after they are utter rear end in a top hat cars. But if looked after they are fantastic cars, just be prepared to keep up on the bullshit. Also don't let the dealer work on them unless its warranty work.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 21:02
|
|
|
1500quidporsche posted:I dunno. They do extremely well in autocross so there is something to their handling. They are narrow, light weight cars that pack a surprising amount of power. Its not really a handling thing.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 21:16
|
|
|
Fucknag posted:Yeah, poo poo like that is "free" only until you factor in the value of the time you spent hassling them to actually do it right. After the second time I had to re-educate them, and have them redo the oil amount, I just stopped going.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 22:19
|
|
|
I wouldn't let a dealer change my oil even if it was free and they came and picked up my car and dropped it back off. No freaking way.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 22:32
|
|
|
revmoo posted:I wouldn't let a dealer change my oil even if it was free and they came and picked up my car and dropped it back off. No freaking way. I'd trust my BMW dealership with changing my oil, and the local indy I use sometimes instead of them because I know they use synthetic. I also know they both charge for it out the rear end, so I normally do it myself. And it's still expensive because my car takes a hilarious amount of oil (nearly 9 quarts) and I use full synthetic.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 22:35
|
|
|
revmoo posted:I wouldn't let a dealer change my oil even if it was free and they came and picked up my car and dropped it back off. No freaking way. I checked everything out before and after, and felt it was worth the trouble to save 40-50$ in oil/filters. It just became too much hassle. It's easier to take 30min and do it myself.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 22:35
|
|
|
CornHolio posted:I'd trust my BMW dealership with changing my oil My local BMW dealership uses water from a hose to fill radiators.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 22:38
|
|
|
revmoo posted:My local BMW dealership uses water from a hose to fill radiators. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 22:39
|
|
|
revmoo posted:My local BMW dealership uses water from a hose to fill radiators. In fairness, I do that to cars I give no fucks about.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 22:41
|
|
|
BrokenKnucklez posted:In fairness, I do that to cars I give no fucks about. Ultimate Driving Machine.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 23:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 09:25 |
|
|
We use tap water at the dealership i work at to mix with coolant, and fill up trucks with. In fact the repair manuals all say tap water is fine if it meets certain standards (which it does) 
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2015 23:04
|
|