27th Jun 2010, 23:43
I've had my 2002 TB since 2003 (bought it used), and the "jet engine" sound has been around for years. I took it to a mechanic, who charged me $300 for replacing a gasket, but the noise was still there. I would drive it around and the service engine soon light would come on and off. Until recently, I met a good friend who has one of those computers that gives a code, and he told me my fan clutch is bad. I read an earlier post that said he had replaced a relay, and it fixed the problem. I'm going to try that first and if that doesn't work I am not going to fork up the money for a new clutch fan. I wanted to know if there is an after market electric fan? I hear that with one it saves on gas and the A/C runs colder. Any thoughts?
28th Jun 2010, 12:18
I've had good and bad experiences with both import and domestic dealers. I don't think the dealer has anything to do with the quality level of the car brand and is a totally separate issue.
28th Jun 2010, 12:56
"Yeah, so those pulsing brakes were just an illusion?"
Of course not. Almost all modern cars are equipped with anti-lock disc brakes. The system is designed to pulse the brakes when stopping in order to reduce wheel lock-up. At times the system's pulsing is misinterpreted as a warped rotor. Dealers and brake shops make a small fortune by doing nothing to the car other than re-setting the car's computer to lessen the pulsing, and show the owner defective parts off an older, junked car (usually not even the same brand, since no one will know the difference) to make people think their "repairs" were necessary.
In our current poor economy this practice has become rampant. As has been pointed out, the odds of 4 rotors and 4 calipers going bad at the same time is higher than winning the lottery.
28th Jun 2010, 20:34
Wow you have one good dealership is all I can say which is rare, good service = good business.
28th Jun 2010, 21:50
Um yeah, I know the difference between ABS going off and a bad set of brakes! And yeah, my friends that I've known for over 20 years are going to show me parts from another car and dupe me out of my money. Man, you have a warped sense about the way things work in the auto industry (pun very much intended!). You also have no idea that cars are cars and they break! To keep coming up with some excuse for why things fail, and to blame the unsuspecting owner of the car and the shady mechanic is a little extreme.
You're right the odds of a total brake failure are pretty low, since the rears do about 1/3 of the work the fronts do... Mine lasted about 10K miles longer on the rear, and just needed pads and rotors as I set the parking brake every time, which keeps the calipers adjusted, and they last longer.
I'm not someone who knows nothing about cars just because I don't waste my time fixing them in my garage. I've researched every single failure on my vehicle, and they all came out to the exact price the service center's I use have charged me for the parts. Labor is labor, and that was the extra, but it has never been extreme as I always wait while the work is being done. To have to spend over $1,000 on ANYTHING under 100K miles is unacceptable to me. Funny how the SAME EXACT repair shops don't "dupe" me on any of my imports. I just know bad cars from good ones and imports win EVERY TIME, PERIOD!
GM is trash, and always will be, and if I never have one again, I'll be much better off. Speaking of the lottery, you should play, as you have got to be the luckiest person alive to have such luck with domestic vehicles.
29th Jun 2010, 18:02
"I'm not someone who knows nothing about cars just because I don't waste my time fixing them in my garage."
Either you are quite wealthy, or your time is not worth much. Saving $900 by spending half an hour replacing brake pads is hardly "wasting time" to those of us who do our own repairs.
30th Jun 2010, 13:35
"Either you are quite wealthy, or your time is not worth much."
Actually this would mean my time is worth too much to waste on these things... and it is. I usually buy import cars so I don't waste my most valuable time having to work on them! This will be my last domestic, trust me.
30th Jun 2010, 16:30
"This will be my last domestic, trust me."
The mechanics in your area will be delighted to hear that. They can always use the extra revenue.
1st Jul 2010, 11:19
"The mechanics in your area will be delighted to hear that. They can always use the extra revenue."
What are you talking about? Without the constant flow of major repairs domestics provide to repair shops, they'd be losing money!
1st Jul 2010, 14:17
"The mechanics in your area will be delighted to hear that. They can always use the extra revenue."
Well as long as I continue to buy imports, they won't get any extra revenue from me. I'll let them rake it in from all the GM junk out there.
Unless of course, the owners all want to perform their own multiple repairs at home in their garage, instead of driving them trouble free like any import they could buy.
1st Jul 2010, 14:39
What he's saying is for a mechanic to fix an import car, it would cost more since parts have to be special ordered.
Part shops usually only carry domestic car parts, very simple to understand... Imports aren't all they're cracked up to be, especially the newer ones...
1st Jul 2010, 16:52
Very true. Imports cost 2 to 20 times as much to repair as domestics, plus domestics have much longer and more comprehensive warranties due to their higher build quality. Ford now outranks even Honda in build quality, and Toyota has now dropped way down to 21st out of 33 car makers. WAY below GM. And with a 100,000 mile warranty, no repair costs are incurred on domestics for a very long time. The import myth is fading as fast as Toyotas and Hondas are being recalled!!
1st Jul 2010, 17:12
Yeah, import parts are harder to find because you don't need them as much. Parts shops carry what they know they will sell, so yes they do carry more domestic parts!
2nd Jul 2010, 11:39
Actually, with Toyota recalling almost every car built in the last two decades, Honda recalling half a million cars for defective brakes (not to mention those flimsy transmissions) and Nissan joining the "recall of the week" club, I'd say parts shops will soon be doing a BOOMING business in import parts!!
27th Jun 2010, 19:08
"Try getting that kind of service at your Toyota, Hyundai and Honda dealerships..."
My Honda dealership just replaced both my front axles and one of my tires FOR FREE. The axles were covered under the LIFETIME WARRANTY. The tire however, was not, and was simply replaced because I requested it. I expected to pay for it, but the service manager told me he would gladly replace it free of charge. What was that about better service at Chevy dealerships?