Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate Thread
Page 4 of 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Re: Anyone buy a new GM?
#101324 07/09/05 09:24 PM
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,021
Likes: 1
C
connoisseur
Offline
connoisseur
C
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,021
Likes: 1
littleb - As someone who underwrites extended warranties for every car maker you can think of, I can assure you that ALL cars break down. They get old. And each car company has some that go 300,000 miles with nothing going bad, while others have more problems.

A good friend of mine just dumped Honda because of some problems. He is now with VW.

I get to see the repair data on literally thousands of cars each year - you would be amazed at how close ALL the companies are in repair costs per vehicle. Well, leave Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Cadillac, Ferrari, etc ... out of that ...

The BEST advice I can give you, look for a vehicle which is front wheel drive, rather than AWD. Get something with about 30,000 miles on it - usually you pay about 1/2 of the NET price of new, or less.

Then Buy a 100,000 mile warranty. It is the cheapest method I know for getting a good vehicle.



Re: Anyone buy a new GM?
#101325 07/10/05 12:11 AM
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 608
aficionado
Offline
aficionado
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 608
ive learned that a vehicle is only as good as its warranty

Re: Anyone buy a new GM?
#101326 07/11/05 04:48 AM
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 1,859
connoisseur
Offline
connoisseur
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 1,859
YMMV, but Japanese cars are just more reliable in my experience. It's going on in my household now...I have a Subaru, my wife has an Audi, and we've had many more problems with her car. That is just one sample of many, along with things like consumer reports yearly April car issue, that leads me to feel this way.

Re: Anyone buy a new GM?
#101327 07/12/05 01:42 PM
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,235
L
connoisseur
Offline
connoisseur
L
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,235
I thought I would give everyone an update on the Ford Explorer. Because my mechanic couldn't find anything wrong with the vehicle, my son drove it to work, about 20 miles out of town. And lo and behold, it wouldn't start on the return trip and he noticed gas dripping from the undercarriage. The next day he tried to start it again, sparks were flying out of the engine compartment. The vehicle is again towed and upon inspection all the wiring harnesses in the engine compartment are melted. The mechanics inspecting it were heard to say, that they 'have never seen anything like this, ever.' I think it's TOAST! My son told me he would never buy another Ford, and I can't really blame him. This vehicle went from suitable transportation to a pile of garbage in about 2 weeks. It's almost as if it had committed suicide.

Re: Anyone buy a new GM?
#101328 07/12/05 04:03 PM
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,444
Likes: 16
M
connoisseur
OP Offline
connoisseur
M
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,444
Likes: 16
Every manufacture makes a lemon or two. I’ve owned European, Japanese and one or more from the big three. I’ve had problems with every one of them too. If you think about how many moving parts and electronic gizmos that are needed to make a vehicle run, it’s actually pretty amazing that they even start, let alone move down the road. I certainly wouldn’t put any manufacture on the “never buy again” list because I had problems with one of their vehicles.

As far as the problems your son had with the explorer, it would be interesting to see what caused the initial problem. Sparks and leaking fuel is a very bad thing. I suspect the manufacture would like to know what cased that too. I pretty sure they’d hate to see a class action suit against them because a few thousand explorers blew up and killed some families.


Re: Anyone buy a new GM?
#101329 07/12/05 07:38 PM
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 18,044
shareholder in the making
Offline
shareholder in the making
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 18,044
I don't know, a problem that bad would put me off of a manufacturer. I don't care if it might happen with another car, it DID happen with that one!


I am the Doctor, and THIS... is my SPOON!
Re: Anyone buy a new GM?
#101330 07/12/05 08:29 PM
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,444
Likes: 16
M
connoisseur
OP Offline
connoisseur
M
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,444
Likes: 16
but you don't know what caused it. a previous owner may have done some "tweaking" that lead to a failure. just like construction, code books are there for a reason, to ensure that the installation is done correctly and keep homes from burning to the ground. new vehicles are extremely complicated. even the wrong spark plug can make an engine miss, or not start at all. the electronic ignition reads resistance across the plug, which even though the champion plug is the exact same plug as an AC plug, the resistance is different causing the ignition to read an error which will put it into a limp mode. While I’m talking about spark plugs, I picked up 15 HP while dyno tuning a 406 CID small block chevy last year by increasing the gap to .045 from .035. from 605 hp to 620 hp. I wouldn’t have believed it, or even tried it if I didn’t feel like experimenting. But the point I’m trying to make, is that engines are not as simple as they were 20 years ago. A very small “tweak” can lead to very significant changes, both pro and con.

Re: Anyone buy a new GM?
#101331 07/12/05 11:08 PM
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 18,044
shareholder in the making
Offline
shareholder in the making
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 18,044
In that case, I wouldn't purchase from that dealer or take it to them for service any more. If it's leaking gas, they should have caught it. Period. Or kept it until they did.


I am the Doctor, and THIS... is my SPOON!
Re: Anyone buy a new GM?
#101332 07/12/05 11:33 PM
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,021
Likes: 1
C
connoisseur
Offline
connoisseur
C
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,021
Likes: 1
As a dealer, I would say the problem here is the ....... dealer.

Too many dealers today ONLY consider how much profit a service department makes. In other words, they lost the meaning of "service"

In the extended warranty business, I have had dealers call me complaining that a repair was denied due to customer abuse. Recently, a customer put a snowplow on a Ford 1/2 ton, which had no plow prep package.

This voids the warranty - but the dealer wanted me to get a $4000 engine repair covered. Out of that $4000, $2000 was profit. When I offered to cover the dealer's COST of $2000 of the repair, with no profit, in order to help the customer, I received some SERIOUS abuse.

littleb, IF this helps, I can assure you we would have found the problem and fixed the Explorer peoperly.

For everyone else - some food for thought. When you shop a dealer, do you ask to see the service department ? Or do you only shop price ?

Re: Anyone buy a new GM?
#101333 07/13/05 12:31 AM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,343
connoisseur
Offline
connoisseur
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,343
I always check out the service department. In the long run it can make or break my relationship with the dealer. The initial purchase price is only one component of my overall cost.

One thing I can never understand is why don't more dealers take the "long view"? If they make me happy during the life of the car I WILL come back and buy another one. In fact there is one dealer I have bought cars from for the last 14 years. Price is only part of the reason, the way I am treated during warranty claims and getting good service on the vehicle are the primary reasons for my loyalty.

Pretty basic really, just make people feel good about the purchase and they'll be more likely to come bcak.


getting to 2,000 posts; one year at a time vp160/qs8/qs4/ep350/m60/m2200s
Page 4 of 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Moderated by  alan, Amie, Andrew, axiomadmin, Brent, Debbie, Ian, Jc 

Link Copied to Clipboard

Need Help Graphic

Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics24,940
Posts442,457
Members15,616
Most Online2,082
Jan 22nd, 2020
Top Posters
Ken.C 18,044
pmbuko 16,441
SirQuack 13,840
CV 12,077
MarkSJohnson 11,458
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 386 guests, and 4 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newsletter Signup
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4