Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

kyfdx

Every Fiat/Abarth 500 I’ve tried, feels like the shifter is in a bowl of Jello. Can’t get past that.

Sandman6472

I did my last oil change at about 7500 miles as going to 10K just doesn't sit right with me. Paid around $65 with the coupon I had and was happy enough. Found a better coupon on Groupon but just have to buy it already. The two times I've used Groupon it worked so will probably get the synthetic oil change coupon from them soon. But sticking with my 7500 change schedule.

The Sandman

au1994

andres3 said:

Anyone here ever benefited from an extended warranty? Something that fell outside the 3 year 36K (bumper to bumper) or 4 year 50K (power-train) zone, but within whatever extension you had (including built-in extensions like Hyundai/Kia).

My 335 convertible ate a water pump at 33xxx miles  that the extended CPO warranty covered. That would have been a 1500 job at the dealer. Still pricey at an Indy shop I’m sure. 

pensfan83

andres3 said:

Anyone here ever benefited from an extended warranty? Something that fell outside the 3 year 36K (bumper to bumper) or 4 year 50K (power-train) zone, but within whatever extension you had (including built-in extensions like Hyundai/Kia).

I haven't personally benefited but my father, who tends to keep his trucks 8-10 years on average, purchased one for his F-150 and it needed some AC work over the summer and suspension work to pass its state safety inspection in the fall. I don't know what he paid but according to him another repair would put him in the positive and I think he still has 2 years left.

qbrozen

I PLAN on coming out ahead on the T&C lifetime warranty.

Mr_Shiftright

kyfdx said:

Every Fiat/Abarth 500 I’ve tried, feels like the shifter is in a bowl of Jello. Can’t get past that.

I told you it was a toy--that's how toy shifters feel. You keep referring to it as a real car, that's your problem.

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

kyfdx said:

Every Fiat/Abarth 500 I’ve tried, feels like the shifter is in a bowl of Jello. Can’t get past that.

I told you it was a toy--that's how toy shifters feel. You keep referring to it as a real car, that's your problem.

Kind of kills the fun factor

Mr_Shiftright

Well don't be meat-handed about it. You know, snickety-snick with your fingertips.

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

Well don't be meat-handed about it. You know, snickety-snick with your fingertips.

Yeah, it’s my driving abilities. I get it, now.

graphicguy

Sandy....nice update on Q50s. If it’s the 3.0TT, it is definitely quick. It has some short comings I found fairly undesirable (namely, not near the handling machine Bradd has with his) but acceleration isn’t one of them. I think I got 21-22 MPG in mixed driving in the one I had over about 8K miles.

Bradd...sounds like a nice TAHOE. Those really have climbed way up the price ladder. I really liked mine (from 11-12 years ago). But, it wasn’t anywhere near that price. Then again, the newer ones have better MPG and much more in the way of equipment. Hope your Father doesn’t have to wait long for delivery.

Mr_Shiftright

kyfdx said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

Well don't be meat-handed about it. You know, snickety-snick with your fingertips.

Yeah, it’s my driving abilities. I get it, now.

It all started when you kept watching "Bullitt" over and over again. You really don't go any faster when you slam the gearshift through the dashboard.

yeah, okay...the Fiat gearshift IS a lot like rowing an oar in a nail barrell--but so what?

28firefighter

The GTI must have heard me speaking of selling it. Threw a check engine light this morning and a TPMS light this afternoon.

andres3

28firefighter said:

The GTI must have heard me speaking of selling it. Threw a check engine light this morning and a TPMS light this afternoon.

Definitely time to pull this stunt with your GTI then!

Just make sure no one is around to record it!

https://youtu.be/4NJmB1F2mdE

tbirdmarco

 Andres three unfortunately don’t know of anyone were to use the extended warranty thank God luckily only unfortunately you with your bad lemon Chrysler I mean Dodge neon same thing ha ha hopefully you’re good from now on I never have to use an extended warranty again 

tbirdmarco

 28 fire fighter wow see the car knows Gotta get rid of it sooner than later ha ha 

tbirdmarco

 Andres three unfortunately don’t know of anyone were to use the extended warranty thank God luckily only unfortunately you with your bad lemon Chrysler I mean Dodge neon same thing ha ha hopefully you’re good from now on I never have to use an extended warranty again 

tbirdmarco

 New York car guy wow so the wheels on that Q 60 apparently Michael difference wow what a difference from the one you had with the bigger wheels would never buy anything would wheels that big being on what you were saying what others have said 

tbirdmarco

 Andres 3 and others don’t feel comfortable with going with 10,000 mile oil changes either my sisters jeep as that would never tell her five the most my brothers Ultima is five on the other hand my moms least Maxima is also 5000 miles tackles back in a couple of months we got to start looking soon she was talking maybe about a Subaru Forrester or something along those lines so we shall see changes daily with her and what she likes her car go along to the Waldo sitting in the course and looking just cause I can to make sure 

tbirdmarco

 Were saying in the comment above gonna go along with her make sure she gets a good deal because she couldn’t care less about this stuff if you’re up to her she probably has Drive one make of car and settle just not to go on a bunch of test drives Ha ha ha so we shall see what happens in the coming months 

tbirdmarco

 Were saying in the comment above gonna go along with her make sure she gets a good deal because she couldn’t care less about this stuff if you’re up to her she probably has Drive one make of car and settle just not to go on a bunch of test drives Ha ha ha so we shall see what happens in the coming months 

tbirdmarco

 This mobile site acting screwy tonight so this you post things you’re posting more than once oh well it is what it is getting a little bit of snow over here tomorrow no big deal ready for spring but I’m sure a lot of people are in here have a good night everyone 

tbirdmarco

 Crazy well all those problems with that BMW in C never heard of a car with so many problems: just one 

roadburner

Mr_Shiftright said:

andres3 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

qbrozen said:

And worth about $6k less than a 2016 Cooper S. i think I'd take the Fiat.

I think overall it's a better car than the Cooper S, too. Not quite as nice in the interior but reliability couldn't possibly be worse and I think it would outperform the Mini as well.

I've got nothing bad to say about the Abarth aside from the lack of any cargo space and the booming exhaust if you're traveling. It's more like a weapon than a car.

Famous last words about "it couldn't possibly be worse..."

Sounds like me when I owned my unreliable car and kept saying "what else could possibly go wrong!" Kept thinking it has got to run reliably for awhile after the most recent big repair(s).

Turned out "awhile" was never more than 4 months away.

Well sure I guess it could always be worse...The Fiat, for instance, could collapse into all its disassembled 5,500 pieces at a stop light---that would theoretically be worse than the Mini.

Sunroof exploded
AC compressor failed
power steering fan failed
thermostat housing cracked
cooling fan relay failed
right and left side door handle trim broke off
glove box lock broke
left and right door lock actuators failed
headlight leveling system failed
control arm bushings
windshield leak
radio controls failed on steering wheel
catalytic converter failed
battery failed without warning (shorted)
excessive wind noise
exhaust heat roasts your groceries
rear trunk emblem fell off
numerous rattles in dashboard
TPMS system goes periodically crazy.
left fender cladding fell off
key fob fell apart (now taped)
upper front shock mounts deformed

ON THE PLUS SIDE----- ironically, at around 100,000 miles, the car suddenly stopped being bad. So here we have the unusual scenario of a car getting much better as it ages.

How do we explain this?

We explain this by realizing that the owner (also known as the "suck-er") finally corrected all the defects built in by the automaker (also known as the suck-ee").

signed
MrShiftright
BMW free-lance R&D Department

Our Clubman had 104,000 miles on it when we bought it; all of the issues that manifest themselves around that time(oil filter housing gasket, timing chain, t-stat, v-belt, vacuum pump) had all been repaired by the previous owner. All I've had to do is replace the battery, a VANOS solenoid, and the valve cover gasket.

Mr_Shiftright

@roadburner---yes, the odd case of a car that's better for the 2nd owner than the first!

I was over at a Tesla forum the other day---you'll love this: Owner of a Model S claims he "took his S to the track" and "made better lap time than the track instructor in his M235". I posted: "Dan Gurney! I thought you died the other day!"

andres3

Mr_Shiftright said:

@roadburner---yes, the odd case of a car that's better for the 2nd owner than the first!

I was over at a Tesla forum the other day---you'll love this: Owner of a Model S claims he "took his S to the track" and "made better lap time than the track instructor in his M235". I posted: "Dan Gurney! I thought you died the other day!"

hehehehe, maybe it was that track that is a straight line, a drag strip, and only 1/8 mile.

roadburner

Mr_Shiftright said:

Well don't be meat-handed about it. You know, snickety-snick with your fingertips.

I was always taught to shift gently- not slamming it into gear; I learned that Getrag boxes in particular like a very brief(almost imperceptible) pause between gears so I've always driven that way...

corvette

I've had a couple, but I've never been smooth with a stick shift. *shrugs*

I will say that the Mustang's auto shifts very roughly between 1st and 2nd at parking lot speeds. There's a bulletin for it, but since it's out of warranty, I don't want to pay to have the trans disassembled for something that isn't strictly a mechanical failure, but merely an annoyance.

js06gv

corvette said:

I've had a couple, but I've never been smooth with a stick shift. *shrugs*

I will say that the Mustang's auto shifts very roughly between 1st and 2nd at parking lot speeds. There's a bulletin for it, but since it's out of warranty, I don't want to pay to have the trans disassembled for something that isn't strictly a mechanical failure, but merely an annoyance.

Had to have that done twice on my '11 GT Auto. They were some kind of solenoids that needed to be replaced, but I don't remember it being a very labor intensive transmission disassembly procedure. The 1-2 hard shift was the most noticeable but mine also had an "over rev" issue on a couple of the other shifts where the rpm would spike up slightly just prior to the shift. The solenoid replacements fixed that too. Knock on wood, the '15 hasn't exhibited any of this behavior so I guess Ford got it fixed for good.

Sandman6472

Got to drive the A3 on Sunday and time for 3 new sneakers. Probably will wait till after tax season but have alerted my buddy at Tires Plus that the wife will be calling him to order her tires by the end of April. She's under 36K still and absolutely nothing has gone wrong with it!! She likes it but won't admit it but think it'll be around for a bit, probably at least until 2020.

The Sandman

tbirdmarco

Sandy glad  the  wife  is still ok’ing  her  ride  mor and mor

andres3

sandman_6472 said:

Got to drive the A3 on Sunday and time for 3 new sneakers. Probably will wait till after tax season but have alerted my buddy at Tires Plus that the wife will be calling him to order her tires by the end of April. She's under 36K still and absolutely nothing has gone wrong with it!! She likes it but won't admit it but think it'll be around for a bit, probably at least until 2020.

The Sandman

A fellow SD Audi Club member reported surpassing 212,000 miles in their '06 A3.

That led to me recalling that when my A3 hit 100,000 miles, I was confident it was an easy 200,000 mile car. I think I even said here on Edmunds that it would easily last for double. I sold it at 106,000 miles, which, of course, is exactly half of 212,000 miles.

Of course, the one reported on for 212,000 is not my old A3, but I would be curious to hear about how it is performing after all these years.

tbirdmarco

 See Andres three taken care of a car piece off and lock big-time I hope you get a tunnel miles out of your current Audi to as well 

tbirdmarco

 Andres three do you happen to have a Vin number for your old 2006 Audi maybe you could look it up and see how it’s doing because there’s a Carfax app you can download on your smart phone and tells you where the car is if it’s still around tells you everything except for accidents it’s a free app from Port Franks 

tbirdmarco

 Orbit maybe wouldn’t hurt to contact your Ford dealer they like to go to and see if he’ll do a good faith effort and fix the transmission technical service bulletin for free I know someone that has a 2012 focus and the dealer fixed the technical service bulletin when it was out of warranty and didn’t charge them it wasn’t starting or something I know they been happy if I had it for number of years without any problem has a ton of miles on it to 

stickguy

Not fan of black over black, but I could talk myself into this.

http://www.royaleasing.com/detail-2009-volvo-s80-4dr_sedan_i6_turbo_awd-used-17219453.html

nyccarguy

stickguy said:

Not fan of black over black, but I could talk myself into this. http://www.royaleasing.com/detail-2009-volvo-s80-4dr_sedan_i6_turbo_awd-used-17219453.html

The Black over black would be THE LEAST of your problems with that car.  A 9 year old, AWD Volvo with 100,000 miles and complex Turbo plumbing?

tbirdmarco

 Nice color posted above stick guy but a car like that would be a bit more expensive to run at that age and mileage as you know nice looking though not my top favorite color combo 

tbirdmarco

 Home sick today open well enough to go to work tomorrow we shall see so have more time to come on here throughout the day not just maybe once in the morning and once at night like usual I’m glad we didn’t get much snow over here didn’t stick anywhere so happy not even an inch 

xwesx

andres3 said:

Anyone here ever benefited from an extended warranty? Something that fell outside the 3 year 36K (bumper to bumper) or 4 year 50K (power-train) zone, but within whatever extension you had (including built-in extensions like Hyundai/Kia).

Here. I had an extended warranty on the 2010 Forester, and it paid for itself three times over. Still miffed about losing that one...

ab348

stickguy said:

Not fan of black over black, but I could talk myself into this.

http://www.royaleasing.com/detail-2009-volvo-s80-4dr_sedan_i6_turbo_awd-used-17219453.html

C'mon Stick, you can talk yourself into anything if you put your mind to it.

stickguy

I know that all too well.

tbirdmarco

 Feeling quite a bit better from earlier today yes I can also talk myself into something big time if I really want to get it enough or be obsessive over even with the car ha ha Ha honey good thing ha ha 

stickguy

found a car with miles so low, might not even be enough for Oldfarmer. 1K/year? why even have a car?

http://www.eimports4less.com/detail-2007-volkswagen-rabbit-certified_rabbit_4_door_hatchback-used-17234271.html

and here is one for Sandy:

http://www.eimports4less.com/detail-2015-volkswagen-eos-certified_eos_2_0tsi_navigation-used-17230453.html

corvette

$10k is pretty steep for a 12 year old Golf. It looks nice, though. Why no pics of the interior?

Eos looks nice. Still no interior pics?!?

nyccarguy

 Now I'm ready for winter. Got my Infiniti Q40 back today.  Synthetic oil and filter change, as well as my Yokohama Ice Guard winter tires mounted and road force balanced. it was nice to have a QX60 SUV (rebadged Pathfinder) loaner for a couple of days, but I was so happy to get back in my Q40 and Fire it up.

qbrozen

stickguy said:

found a car with miles so low, might not even be enough for Oldfarmer. 1K/year? why even have a car? http://www.eimports4less.com/detail-2007-volkswagen-rabbit-certified_rabbit_4_door_hatchback-used-17234271.html and here is one for Sandy: http://www.eimports4less.com/detail-2015-volkswagen-eos-certified_eos_2_0tsi_navigation-used-17230453.html

Too bad the Rabbit is not a stick

corvette

I kind of like the interior on this one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-Land-Rover-Range-Rover-Sport-HSE-LUX-/382344005581

What could possibly go wrong with an old Range Rover with cheap tires on it?

qbrozen

First, I don't consider 2011 "old."
second, that is just too many contrasting colors for me. Silver outside, then black, orange, and blonde wood inside? 

Third, this brings me to my Rover adventure today. 3 hours to extract the darned alternator! And the most convoluted intake design I have ever seen!

stickguy

and, that is why I avoid needy cars these days. And pay other people to do stuff like this. I did put new wiper blades on all by myself!

stickguy

actually looks like it might have been easier to go in from the bottom. Though I supposed might be suspension stuff in the way. Still taking something apart.