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Comments
I would never accuse a reputable chain like that of any wrongdoing. :-)
When I worked in a parts store some time ago, a local shop belonging to an unnamed national chain that has a "softer side" would use us for their out of stock purchases. Every month, we'd have a higher than normal demand for some specific item. Coils springs in March, Shocks/Struts in April, calipers in May, etc. Well one time they sent over an alternator to be tested and my co-worker called them back (we had a direct line) to let the service advisor know that the unit tested fine, no trouble. "Send us a new one anyway" was the response. Not understanding why, he queried the guy a little to find out that it was alternator month. That's right, go for a Die Hard and come home with a new alternator. A couple years later the govt. basically shut them down from doing little more than tires and batteries.
There are plenty of reputable shops out there, but face it, selling $29.95 brake jobs will put a place in the red faster than Potenzas wear out.
But, ummm, you were missing? Seems like only yesterday I just ran into you elsewhere!
;-)
The local oil change place here does the same thing (not JL, I would NEVER take my car there). I went for an oil change, and it's $25 I think. The guy said I had a milky substance in my oil cap and my engine needed cleaning inside. Also, he said my oil was black when he drained it. I went to the car (against his advice, he threw a fit actually) and opened the hood while it was in there, opened the cap, and sure enough he was lying. I told him how I felt about his business practices in the waiting room (among other customers), then took my car and left.
It kind of goes both ways though. Sure, those places like to push that stuff, but most of the time they follow manufacturer's recommendations. If you don't believe what they tell you, take out the owner's manual and look. Better yet, look in the owner's manual BEFORE you go. Most of the time, customers really did need extra stuff done besides the oil change but wouldn't buy anything just because they thought we were full of crap. The truth is, most of the time the customers were full of crap. I don't know how many times I heard: "Oh, I had that done at the dealer last time I was there". Oh really? Is that why your automatic transmission fluid looks like coffee? I felt like saying "Either the dealer lied to you and didn't change it, or you are lying to me"
So what causes the milky substance on the oil cap?
Leave it be.
is the key phrase.
most people get ripped off when they leave the cr and tell the mechanic to "fix" whatever is wrong.
Meade
Pat: I just dropped by on that board. But I'm back to keep you busy
Dinu
Lol. It doesn't matter what you look like or if it sounds like you know what you're talking about. If you would have brought your car into J-lube and it was due for a radiator flush, air filter, whatever, I would have tried to sell it to you.
No is an easy word to say.
As far as people who decline those services, there are 3 kinds of people
1. They don't trust a lube shop, they would prefer to go to the dealer.
2. They do it themselves
3. They don't do anything besides oil changes no matter what it says in the owner's manual. (there are A LOT of these people)
The last group of people really used to piss me off when I worked there. They would lie about everything when it was perfectly clear that their vehicle had been neglected for a long period of time. When your air filter looks like it's growing moss, don't tell me that you just did it. Tell me that you didn't do it and you don't care.
4 - sentra whatever
3 - mazdaspeed pro
2 - focus whatever
1 - neon whatever
1,2,3 were seperated by only 3 points. Based on their own numbers, it was hard to see why the ford beat the mazda. Given the close ratings, I would pick the pro for its ability to stay in one piece for extended periods.
But, I too think that the Pro is more likely to stay bolted together than the Focus SVT or Neon SRT-4. And they are really close in overall rating (don't try adding up the numbers, C&D admits the overall rating is not directly tied to the individual ratings...it's more of an overall impression).
I do hate the control layout of the stereo (ick, lots of tiny buttons, an overly-distracting display and where are the knobs?), though I love the amp and speakers (though I probably wouldn't use it even close to its full potential). They did a much tidier job of packaging the amp and subwoofer than in the MP3, so you can still use the trunk.
The hose: Since they have a production car, stuff like that shouldn't happen. It should have been caught by QA or something before the car was released.
Tell your dealer they cracked while you tried to remove them to clean them. There's a TSB out for it. I got 4 new ones a few months ago and those haven't cracked.
Dinu
Thanks again
Paul
I've never been sold more than asked for, but then again I know the people personally at any place I take my car which is very, very rare. My posts are written from the perspective of the many people who have asked me for service advice over the years. I used to do a lot of service work for family and friends but had to cut that out for lack of time. After they'd come back with ridiculous quotes, I found them referring all of them to my buddy that has a shop. The work at his shop is nothing special, but they only sell you what they think you need.
a new tire to consider:
Continental ContiExtremeContact
- - Early results are in and there's a new leader in Ultra-High Performance All-Season.
27 surveys submitted 78,272 miles reported
Dry
Traction Wet
Traction Hydro
Resistance Snow
Traction Cornering
Stability Steering
Response Ride
Comfort Noise
Comfort Tread
Wear
8.7 9 9 8.8 8.6 8.8 8.7 8.4 9
Would You Buy This Tire Again? Most said: Definitely (Average of 9.7 out of 10)
Tire's Rank In Its Category? 1 out of 17 tires (Score of 8.7 vs best tire in category score of 8.7)
sorry for the lousy paste job.
Most all of them are submitted within weeks of buying the tires. I learned this the hard way, trusting the multitude of reviews of the Dunlop SP Sport A2 in the first six months it was on the market. Nearly every one of the several dozen reviews said it was the most excellent, great-handling, quiet, rain-loving tire in the world. Now after less than a year of ownership, after experiencing a tire with a 50,000-mile warranty that's worn to the treadwear indicators after only 20,000 miles, that's noisy, slick and scary in the rain, I go back to read a few "new" reviews by people who've come back to swear at the tires after a similar length of ownership. Different story.
From now on I'm basing my tire decisions on real-world reviews by people who've owned the tire for a year or more -- no more "gee, these tires are cool" reviews from TireRack.
Meade
BTW, not picking on you Paul! Just making an analogy!
Also, it is less common than the Civic and Corolla. Like having a premium car without paying for it.
(hahahahaha!!!)
2. It looks nice
3. It's roomy
4. It handles very well
5. It's not an automatic
6. Black interior
7. It has power where I need it and use it (low-midrange)
8. It's not a Civic
9. Standard good looking 16 inch wheels and nice tires
10. 4 wheel disc brakes
11. Sturdy "Holy Crap!!" handles
12. The back windows roll almost all the way down
11. 0% financing for 48 months
You get what you pay for, keep that in mind...
Well, I finally took it in today (what else does one do while on vacation?) and got the answer:
The radiator was leaking.
I now have a new one (yes, everything covered under warranty, and replaced in one day), and the car and I are very happy.
I asked the service advisor guy a couple of times why he thought the radiator had leaked, and he really didn't have a solid answer for me.
"Well, it could have been a defective radiator...it could have been corrosion...there's no way we can know for sure."
Oh, well.
Thanks again to everyone for their comments and suggestions.
Dinu
PS: My PRO's doing great
Meade
P.S. Anyone else having Edmunds telling you "you must first log in" before posting at the bottom of EVERY FLIPPIN' PAGE YOU VISIT???
Raymond: yes, of course. :P
Todd: Very true!
Dinu: You're pretty funny...and you apparently have too much time on your hands. You taking classes this summer?
Meade: I have no idea what you're talking about.