Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

marcogallo1986

@zwest when the job went well and you are able to bleed the brakes on the Q7. Sorry to hear about the road rage incident you have this morning you did the right thing not worth reacting entertain them. Funny that his Tahoe stalled that’s what happens the crazy people like that I would’ve been funny if it wouldn’t start again I were really laughed Adam and just left and been on my way. Good thing your daughter didn’t see what happened or anything. But Luis is out they are everywhere messages avoid them. But I’m glad all is well otherwise.

marcogallo1986

@breld Sorry to hear about the incident with the tickets from craigslist glad you were able to get tickets from Ticketmaster after all, and you open up an investigation with your bank hopefully you get your money back, unfortunately lots of scammers and crazy people out there happens to us all.

marcogallo1986

@ sandman, wow good quite the weekend last weekend and having quite the week this week, I’m glad to hear everything is going well with you and the family. Nice on your daughter is coming home next weekend to visit and you being one of your daughters birthdays, and hopefully the Chevy dealer who you want to fix her cruise radio issue the same day, and I have to keep the car overnight. You’re such an awesome job that’s when I wish I was able to drive would love the job. Love you and all the cars transport and get to drive my cousins friends post to do that their college kids for one of them is in one store in college and then finish his offer The one did a semester of college at community college but does the job too I think one works for enterprise one works for Hertz by here but all the cars they drive to all the time I’ve been through all you guys do the job so awesome.

marcogallo1986

That’s true for Ford Ranger two weeks ago with my cousin, he was upfront with a sales person, and I was in the backseat, drove fine to me, it was an ex LT, only thing I didn’t like it sometimes you felt the transmission downshift I’m slowing down probably cause it has so many years that’s the 10 speed they put in that. But other than that it was OK I mean material quality is not bad not top-notch either but not horrible. Wouldn’t mind a truck in red or blue they have an orange color they like also but red or blue or my things. Sounds like one of those older Toyota T sixes or Nissan be six years and it’s a four maybe at some sound sensitizer that they use to make it sound that way there’s no way they can make a force sound that good.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

I would lose my **** if that happened. Once they accepted the reservation, there better be a car there, or get me one real quick.

That's what happens, when there is no penalty on the rentee for not showing up.

breld

laurasdada said:

To paraphrase the great philosopher, Seinfeld: "I know what a reservation is." "No, apparently you don't!"

"Anyone can TAKE a reservation..."

breld

marcogallo1986 said:

@breld Sorry to hear about the incident with the tickets from craigslist glad you were able to get tickets from Ticketmaster after all, and you open up an investigation with your bank hopefully you get your money back, unfortunately lots of scammers and crazy people out there happens to us all.

Thanks Marco!

ab348

breld said:

laurasdada said:

To paraphrase the great philosopher, Seinfeld: "I know what a reservation is." "No, apparently you don't!"

"Anyone can TAKE a reservation..."

The best part of that scene was Jerry pantomiming snatching pretend reservation slips out of the air as he delivered that line. Breaks me up every time.

corvette

Mixed bag on the BlueDriver dongle... Found nothing significant on the Tahoe. Bluetooth and OnStar both dead. There are a few references online to the VCIM (OnStar / Bluetooth module) having a bad backup battery, but I'm not sure that mine even has a backup battery, as many/most do not, and it appears that the other functionality still works when the backup battery dies. You can't probe specific modules with the BlueDriver, and it looks like even GM's own Tech 2 tool has limited functionality for diagnosing this type of issue. I'm not sure how far down the rabbit hole I'm going to go, here, since I don't make calls in the car, and the OnStar is of limited usefulness.

I was considering returning it, but the BlueDriver redeemed itself on the G37. Ever since I got it, it would randomly (1/50 or 1/100 times) delay to unlock when using the smart key, and sound the alarm instead. I suspected the BCM had water damage from the sunroof drain leak, but couldn't confirm. The BlueDriver pulled several codes, a couple of which relate back to BCM issues, so I reset them and will wait for the problem to recur to see which codes reappear when I replicate the problem.

Sandman6472

But one must be reasonable. One can not make a reservation after a certain point in the day and expect a vehicle to be waiting. At least one of these folks made the reservation at 8 am and wanted to pick it up at 10, on a Saturday when we open at 9. That's not reasonable as we do our darndest to get most vehicles at the location the night before the reservation is made for. Folks have to give us a reasonable amount of time to get the class of vehicle reserved and doing it a couple hours before we open is just not reasonable!
To be honest though, Saturday was the first time I saw that happen. But being a holiday weekend and a big festival down in Miami made things difficult. Even the airport was out of vehicles. And the prices for the weekend I heard were higher than normal because of the extra demand for vehicles. Just part of the game though. And as I said f you read the whole thing, those folks were sent to our sister office which closed an hour later and just had to wait for incoming vehicles. They were accommodated the best way possible due to the circumstances. Best to make a reservation enough time in advance to make sure you will get it is the best advice I could give.

stickguy

Disagree Sandy. the reservation system technology is more than capable of knowing when there were no more cars, and should not take the reservation. It would be like a hotel renting rooms after they were fully booked, and telling you to go sit in the lobby in case someone decides to check out early.

28firefighter

100% disagree, Sandy. If I make a reservation day of and the system allows it, there darn well better be a car.

Sandman6472

A good number of folks also just don't show up. My office usually calls folks when we know it's going to be a busy day to make sure they are still coming in. Totally rude when folks just don't bother to say they aren't coming after all. But have seen a lot of rude, nasty behavior from clients and so glad I'm not behind the counter. I have a low tolerance for mean and entitled folks who are just plain rude. I would not be able to hold back my mouth with some of the rude people I've witnessed act out. And please, don't get me started at how some folks are just real PIGS, no other way to say it...PIGS!!! Seen some trashed vehicles come back with chicken bones in the center console. Seen feces rubbed on a headliner and pee on the seats and floors. Pen marks on headliners, burn marks in seats where it says "No Smoking" on the windshield and dash. I could go on but think y'all get my drift. So many newer vehicles trashed. Seen some where the tires have been swapped, one where the trunk was re-painted...very badly.
I treat any rental like it was my own so don't understand the way some treat their rentals. But just part of the business and luckily, we now take actual pictures of every vehicle we rent so we know what dents were where or what body part with the dent before a renter takes possession. And just like the guy last week who parked his return in such a way that we couldn't see the damage right off. He ran in, threw the keys down and said he had to run before he could be waited on and cleared. Dumb [non-permissible content removed] must of forgot about the pics we take or that we had his cell and business phone in the contract. Plus his c c on file. No way he was gonna get away with it but obviously he thought he would be his actions on return. I just had to laugh as I watched it happen!

suydam

Well, some of them may be just tired, especially after they just got off a long flight trapped like sardines. All they want is to get to their hotel room and stretch out — and then there’s NO CAR for them. I’d flip too. And I agree that if there aren’t cars available the company should tell them that upfront. I know there are very rude entitled people out there and I’m sure all service industries see their fair share, but frustrations do boil over sometimes.

fintail

Paraphrasing something I read awhile back: Trucks used to be used as tools, now they are used by tools. No offense to the Tacoma/4Runner drivers/lovers here, but those and Jeeps seem to draw in the shouty sports parent types like moths to a flame.

stickguy said:

They are ignoring the biggest factor. Tough guy image. Being better for what you actually use the truck for is less important for most people.

fintail

I've had a few instances of not receiving the category I booked (I then play hard for an upgrade if they aren't offering it upfront, and always get it) but never arrived anywhere to zero cars. I recall at MKE after the poor Grand Cherokee was rendered not roadworthy, the agent told me I was getting the last car they had available. Although I have to imagine that was just for a short specific point in time, and in an hour they had more.

xwesx

Honestly, every time I have done a car rental, I always get a larger/different car from what I reserve. I don't mind, as usually it is better than what I would have had. In one case, I asked them for a Fiesta just because I wanted to give one a good long test drive since I was interested in buying soon (and I did!). So, I got a compact, but I reserved an intermediate. They originally offered to give me a full size.

The only bad rental experiences I have had were my first one, when I was still very young (maybe 24 or 25) and they tried to give me an ashtray packaged as a car. It was the holiday season and they were not very willing to swap me out. However, I out-stubborned them. I ended up with the same class of car, but non-smoked. It was just dropped off and not yet cleaned, but the car was clean enough for my needs and a far sight better than that first one! Eech.

Last one was the Santa Fe with the bald tires. Goodness that was an adventure. LOL

kyfdx

Mystery part

https://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/58593/jaguar/xk/what-is-this#latest

28firefighter

Received notice that the Viggen was re-registered so I was able to cancel the insurance for it. I'm definitely regretting selling it. Not that it wasn't the right thing to do given the parking logistics, but man...

nyccarguy

Speaking of cars we recently got rid of, my Infiniti still hasn't shown up on Carvana's Website

stickguy

Maybe it went to drive time?

28firefighter

https://www.drivetime.com/used-cars/tx/tyler/infiniti/q40/2015/1380051269

This is your car, right?

EDIT: Nope - nevermind. That's a texas car.

corvette

They sometimes sell really quickly - perhaps someone snapped it up before it had been posted very long?

xwesx

xwesx said:

I also had a road rager go off on me this morning. That was fun. Driving in the mid-dawn, no lights, tailgating. He decided that me driving in the left lane on a busy street-level artery at five over the limit was not okay. He swings around me on the right, cuts off car behind and me as well, then swings back to the right lane at the light ahead because there were fewer cars there. Somehow stalls his old Tahoe (late 90s vintage), so the light turns green and everyone goes... guy just sits there. Then, he gets it started, flys along the road again cutting off cars as he weaves back up to my tail, then swings around me in the left turn lane as I am slowing at the next red light, slams on his brakes, skids about 50% in to the intersection only partly back in the left lane (just ahead of me), gets out of his car yelling profanities.... I just smiled and shook my head in pity. Guy is literally having a full-on tantrum.

He finally gets back in his vehicle before the light turns green and peels away. Sadly, he didn't crash and kill himself (or, thankfully, anyone else) that I saw, but he was going insanely fast at that point and was gone in no time. Happily, my daughter was reading in the back and didn't notice any of this going on (Yay for Q7 having excellent sound insulation!).

I'm having a great day though, so I decided to extend a little grace to this doofus and not call him in. Probably should have, but so it goes. I might have his little rant on dash cam though. LOL.

As a follow up, I did get that whole event on video, which I pulled together and posted on the Inconsiderate Driver thread if anyone is interested in popping through it.

pensfan83

I still see the Altima since it's only a few houses down. After living a charmed life in a garage it looks out of sorts just sitting outside all the time now patiently waiting for its driver to turn 16 next month.

stickguy

Then most likely will look battle scarred quickly.

I think you dropped the car off at the induction center, and it’s waiting on the bus to boot camp!

jmonroe1

xwesx said:

xwesx said:

I also had a road rager go off on me this morning. That was fun. Driving in the mid-dawn, no lights, tailgating. He decided that me driving in the left lane on a busy street-level artery at five over the limit was not okay. He swings around me on the right, cuts off car behind and me as well, then swings back to the right lane at the light ahead because there were fewer cars there. Somehow stalls his old Tahoe (late 90s vintage), so the light turns green and everyone goes... guy just sits there. Then, he gets it started, flys along the road again cutting off cars as he weaves back up to my tail, then swings around me in the left turn lane as I am slowing at the next red light, slams on his brakes, skids about 50% in to the intersection only partly back in the left lane (just ahead of me), gets out of his car yelling profanities.... I just smiled and shook my head in pity. Guy is literally having a full-on tantrum.

He finally gets back in his vehicle before the light turns green and peels away. Sadly, he didn't crash and kill himself (or, thankfully, anyone else) that I saw, but he was going insanely fast at that point and was gone in no time. Happily, my daughter was reading in the back and didn't notice any of this going on (Yay for Q7 having excellent sound insulation!).

I'm having a great day though, so I decided to extend a little grace to this doofus and not call him in. Probably should have, but so it goes. I might have his little rant on dash cam though. LOL.

As a follow up, I did get that whole event on video, which I pulled together and posted on the Inconsiderate Driver thread if anyone is interested in popping through it.

C'mon man, don't chase us around like that. :@

jmonroe

28firefighter

@kyfdx Where are you on your hunt for a winter beater?

marcogallo1986

@zwest glad you got it on video and posted it on that forum awesome awesome. What’s a maybe and watch it but is there any sound? Still would’ve been funny if his Tahoe broke down it wouldn’t start at all I would’ve died laughing I just left I’m so mean ha ha Ha. I don’t wish that on anyone but Road readers like that yes. As long as they don’t hurt anyone else.

marcogallo1986

@breld you are welcome!

marcogallo1986

@ Sandman, unfortunately yes that is rude and arrogant people in every type of business you deal with, I wouldn’t want to be behind the counter dealing with him either I’m with you. Do we think I’m going to agree with everyone about, is the software that they use should be updated until all no more rental cars not able to make a reservation. But yeah it’s rude of people just not to show up after they make a reservation, or trash the car and abuse the hell out of it, and I treated like their own car. My cousins friends who work for the two rental car companies that I mentioned in a prior comment the other day, I know him and the other drivers to trash the cars, they drive them like they stole them, and go over 100 miles an hour. Young kids around 20 what are you expect not cool.

xwesx

jmonroe1 said:

C'mon man, don't chase us around like that. :@

jmonroe

I was trying to keep this topic a little cleaner in terms of the off-topic stuff. Here's a link to the ID post:

https://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/comment/5789575/#Comment_5789575

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

@kyfdx Where are you on your hunt for a winter beater?

Too lazy to get out and look.

corvette

Got the bid from my contractor for the Trex deck (demo old deck and underpinnings and install new)... Hold on to your hats, folks! $76 per square foot. This is for a rectangular deck with pressure treated joists (not the fancy Trex brand foundation) and one simple staircase on the side. He does excellent work, but I'm going to get another bid. A plain concrete patio is starting to look more attractive!

28firefighter

Holy moly. That seems...excessive.

corvette

I thought so, too. Same guy I used for installing Hardieplank last year - his bid seemed high for that, too, but it was at least within shooting distance of the online calculators I had done. This one is not. To be fair, I picked the highest grade of Trex, but there's not a huge difference in materials cost between the cheap one and this. Trex actually tells you on their website roughly what the materials will cost. Getting another bid from a guy who exclusively does decks and nothing else.

mjfloyd1

Successful Q7 punch. Great sales lady.

The Q7 with adaptive (air) suspension rides much better than the GL 350. Got 26 mpg averaging 80 mph. I must admit that the GL got about the same mileage but had a huge diesel tank - I did not refuel in the 500+ miles and had over 1/8 tank left when I arrived at the dealer.

Saved by Waze on the way down as there was apparently a horrible crash in Chattanooga that shut down both directions of traffic. It routed me to 41 and 5 miles later, I was on a very unbusy I 75.

Did take me over an hour (at 7 am) to get to the dealership and it was only 28 miles away from the hotel. Ugh

jmonroe1

xwesx said:

jmonroe1 said:

C'mon man, don't chase us around like that. :@

jmonroe

I was trying to keep this topic a little cleaner in terms of the off-topic stuff. Here's a link to the ID post:

https://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/comment/5789575/#Comment_5789575

Thanks for the link.

In a way I feel bad that I shamed you into providing it. You could have charged your poster buddies in here a nominal fee to peek at that link. I shouldn't have acted so hastily.

jmonroe

marcogallo1986

@jfloid1 very nice, play the pick up of your new ride went smoothly and you made it home safe and sound and

marcogallo1986

@zwest thanks for posting the above link.

marcogallo1986

@Corvette, sorry to hear that the blue driver wasn’t able to read or find any codes on the Tahoe, hey if you don’t know use those features in the car runs and drives and starts wouldn’t let it bother you. What are the main things in the heat and AC work. Hopefully it’s not the body control module that’s screwed up to the sunroof leak even know those codes came up, let’s hope for the best with that on the G 37. If you want to change that module how much would one cost? Haven’t looked at those to see pricing. And would you have to go through the dealer or can you get aftermarkb Corvette, sorry to hear that the blue driver wasn’t able to read or find any codes on the Tahoe, hey if you don’t know use those features in the car runs and drives in stores wouldn’t let it bother you. Because of the main things in the heat and AC work. Hopefully it’s not the body control module that’s screwed up due to the sun roof leak those codes came up, let’s hope for the best with that on the G 37. If you have to change that module how much would one cost? Haven’t looked at those to see pricing. Would you have to go through the dealer or can you get aftermarket.

marcogallo1986

@Jmonro. Do you love busting your chops, but that’s what I like and we like to do around here, can I speak for us all in here. lol

marcogallo1986

@ Corvette, wow even though that’s the contractor you used would you even do more bids just cause you can’t just to see. Any other contractors you really don’t know ask them to give you prior customers number stupid asked him about the work if they were happy or not I think of even allowed to do that. I figured that’s a better way of doing things then reading reviews online which a lot of times when I was the real truth.

jmonroe1

corvette said:

Got the bid from my contractor for the Trex deck (demo old deck and underpinnings and install new)... Hold on to your hats, folks! $76 per square foot. This is for a rectangular deck with pressure treated joists (not the fancy Trex brand foundation) and one simple staircase on the side. He does excellent work, but I'm going to get another bid. A plain concrete patio is starting to look more attractive!

That bid does seem high but you need another bid to confirm that. Your contractor might just think that because you used him before and were satisfied, he can get away with charging top dollar and maybe more.

I know a lot of water has gone over the dam since 1992 when we moved to SC and had a house custom built. Top quality construction and a total brick exterior. Paid $62 a square foot for it. Like I said, a long time ago but when I hear talk about cost per square foot I always think about what I paid to have our house built. Those were the days.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

marcogallo1986 said:

@Jmonro. Do you love busting your chops, but that’s what I like and we like to do around here, can I speak for us all in here. lol

@Marco, you have a hard enough time speaking for yourself. Please don't drag the rest of us along with you.

jmonroe

corvette

@marcogallo1986 BCM on the G37 is a fairly simple repair. Apparently you can swap a used one from another car, which makes it inexpensive. The only hang up is getting it programmed, but supposedly locksmiths have the software needed to do that, so long as you can find one willing. It will be an adventure, if that’s the problem.

qbrozen

Still chasing codes in the Chevy. After bypassing all the potentially faulty connectors, I was still getting the same original codes.

After some reflection, I decided that the steering angle sensor made the most sense. Couldn’t find any specific info online telling me where the heck it is, but after looking everywhere that was exposed, I figured taking off the steering wheel was the next step. Removing the airbag made me nervous but I managed to not hurt myself. To my somewhat pleasant surprise, when I finally got to the sensor, I found the plug was not seated. Promising. But I swapped the sensor anyway while there.

Put it all together, reconnected battery, and turned her on. And ..... errors. Sigh. Clear the codes, reread the codes, and now they are totally different. Hmmmm... ok, different could be good. Let’s me know I at least did SOMETHING. I believe it may be an issue of initializing the sensor, which I have yet to find out how to do. I may need a GM scan tool.

nyccarguy

qbrozen said:

Still chasing codes in the Chevy. After bypassing all the potentially faulty connectors, I was still getting the same original codes.

After some reflection, I decided that the steering angle sensor made the most sense. Couldn’t find any specific info online telling me where the heck it is, but after looking everywhere that was exposed, I figured taking off the steering wheel was the next step. Removing the airbag made me nervous but I managed to not hurt myself. To my somewhat pleasant surprise, when I finally got to the sensor, I found the plug was not seated. Promising. But I swapped the sensor anyway while there.

Put it all together, reconnected battery, and turned her on. And ..... errors. Sigh. Clear the codes, reread the codes, and now they are totally different. Hmmmm... ok, different could be good. Let’s me know I at least did SOMETHING. I believe it may be an issue of initializing the sensor, which I have yet to find out how to do. I may need a GM scan tool.

Seriously impressive to say the least. I get excited when I can change the air filter & put it back together without any leftover parts. Looks like your Dad taught you well.

Sandman6472

Hell, I added windshield wiper fluid last night and I was proud of myself! That's why I take my car into a mechanic when it needs servicing. They know what they're doing better than I. Once when I was younger, tried to do an oil change with horrible results. Never again will I do anything except pump petrol when needed!

Sandman6472

Waiting to hear from my kid as to when she'll be here from Orlando. Her audio system is still screwy, turning purple and distorted when she uses CarPlay and Maps at the same time. Think they've replaced it once already but problems still exist. Will try the local Chevy store and see if they can fix it under warranty as it's only 8 months she's owned it. Nice vehicle to be honest though I'd have gotten the hatch like she was supposed to. Said she felt it was too small though looks to be the perfect size for me. Shame Chevy is killing off the Cruze after this years run!