The car is a piece of junk
The serpentine belt has broke 5 times in the last 14 months, and each time it does, it breaks something else along with it. I have replaced the power steering belt twice, the water pump, water hose and the timing belt.
This last time it bust the head gasket, and the repairs are very costly... More especially the parts.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 8th July, 2007
The car is as solid as when it was new
Nothing.
Best new car I ever had. Just replaced tires after 81,000 miles.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 8th August, 2006
Great car... that is if you don't ever plan on trading it in on another!!!
Very reliable car overall.
The only time the vehicle was in the shop (outside of normal maintenance) was to replace an O2 sensor. The vehicle was in the shop twice in one week; however, that was because the dealer failed to replace the O2 sensor the first time.
Only other issue was with the tires and wheels. Two sets of tires on the vehicle and all lost air; however, the none of the tire shops we visited could find a source of the leak??? Suspected it was leaking air from bad seal where the tire and the wheel met???
When we purchased the car we were told by the dealer that we should get between 25 miles to the gallon in the city and 30 miles per gallon on the highway. Our average MPG was 23.5 (even on long highway trips) which was very disappointing considering I have a 1995 Ford Taurus with 173,000 miles on it and I still average 26 miles per gallon.
We were also VERY disappointed last month when we traded in the vehicle. We had kept the car in very good condition. When we went to trade in the vehicle, we owed $8000 dollars and the first dealership offered us $4000 and would not budge. Fortunately the second dealer was able to work out a deal and give us payoff for the vehicle.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 10th July, 2006
Very impressive, solid car
It's early, but nothing yet.
Car gets great gas mileage and is a good travel car. The engine vibrates, but nothing to be done about that.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 11th October, 2005
10th Aug 2007, 02:28
"The serpentine belt has broke 5 times in the last 14 months". Then you've got another problem either the pulleys are worn, there's a dent or something in one of the pulleys, the tensioner is malfunctioning or something is misaligned. Serpentine belts don't break like that; it should last for years. Ten years for a serpentine belt is possible. Five in just over a year is crazy.
You should really talk to your mechanic; he's probably doing a crappy job like most other mechanics I know about. And I should know since I worked as a certified mechanic for eight years before I changed profession. Most mechanics are either dumb or just don't care. And their managers don't care either, and it's just the money that counts.
Your story is similar to many of my experiences. The same happened to a car we had in too often. The belt shredded all the time. Nobody cared; they just replaced the belt and other parts that the belt had destroyed. Nobody looked into why the belts never lasted. Until I had a look at it. Some dumb ass mechanic had made a huge dent in one of the pulleys, probably the first time he changed it under regular maintenance. All subsequent belt failures were probably due to this dent. I changed the damaged parts and this car never saw any problems again.
My message is that a lot of good cars are destroyed by dumb ass mechanics and their greedy managers. I could tell you a hundred different stories about this, and that's why I quit the business. I got fed up ripping off customers over charging single mothers and old folks with no money for sub standard work.