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Comments
They would hire whatever they could find off the street to "rebuild" these units on a makeshift assembly line of sorts. I got the grand tour one day when they tried to hire me!
Had they hired me, I would have worked shoulder to shoulder in a FILTHY enviroment with non English speaking people, what looked like tattooed ex cons and winos. The loud language that I heard would have made my Army Drill Sergeants in Basic Training look like nuns.
Much of the cursing was in Spanish but, thanks to some of my friends, I already knew the meanings of these words.
The "rebuilds" consisted of ONLY replacing the actual parts that were actually bad. They even grabbed parts from piles of used parts when they could.
The starters would turn and the alternators would charge! The jobs were finished up with a quick spray of spiffy black or silver paint and into a box they would go!
If I remember correctly, alternatorrs and generators were 10.00 and starters were 15.00. They had (I think) a 90 day guarantee.
Sometimes you would get lucky and other times not so lucky.
The small used cars loved this place along with the filthy dump that sold reclaimed motor oil. Fill up the crankcase, throw on a couple of recapped tires and they were set to go!
Elmer could do it all, including rewinding if needed.
They had no choice but to stop the car in the middle of the highway (Stick, RT42 right around Deptford mall). Called the dealer they immediately sent out a tow and loaner vehicle.
Turns out the part was on some sort of backorder and was going to take over a month to get. Dealer put them in a different car with Xdrive with more equipment for same price. I thought that was good service.
He said it was a scary experience being able to do nothing to stop the car. His wife and daughter were pretty shaken up.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
but pretty close to Turnersville if that is where they bought it from!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Car had less than 20 miles on it.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Yes, I dare say the Malibu is the worst one in that class. Just had a Fusion when I spent a week on Kaua'i and wasn't too impressed, even though it was an SEL V6 model. That's a DCT, right? Definitely took some getting used to its shifting.
Of the cars I have driven in that class, my rankings are probably surprising, especially with how V6 vs. 4-cyl shakes out:
1. Altima (outgoing generation)
2. Avenger
3. Fusion (SEL V6)
4. Malibu (outgoing generation, V6)
I just expected some warning. I'll never understand how a battery could start a car and five minutes later be so dead that the interior lights didn't even work.
I know of several others including yourself that had the exact same thing happen without warning. Strange!
so if you don't test the alternator the new battery gives you false security.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
To me the 200 and Avenger got half-hearted make-overs. The Pentastar is promising, but the whole car needs a ground-up redo.
Dad has a 200 convertible. Great powertrain but the platform does show its age. No problems so far but my step-mom did say it's a bit squirmy in the rain, so she drives her old Outback when the weather is bad.
Simple and usually very accurate. Car off battery is usually around 12.5 volts, start car reading should be 14 ish. Load up all the accessories and if it stays above 13.5 all is usually fine. It takes all of five minutes.
I always check this after I replace a bad battery, just to be sure.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
Now that the Dart is here, I wonder if they really even need the 200/Avenger? From sitting in them, the 200/Avenger still seemed a bit more comfy in the back seat, but it wasn't a huge difference to me. And the trunks seemed about the same size.
If they needed a Chrysler-branded version to sell, I think they could just take the Dart, add a few inches to the wheelbase, all of it in the back seat area, change the sheetmetal, and call it a day. I wonder if the platform would lend itself well to a convertible variant?
The sedan segment is brutal in comparison.
Can they stretch the Dart any more? It already is a stretched wheelbase.
My understanding is that the Chrysler 100 will be a hatchback version of the Dart.
But, who knows? They might have to beef up the structure to span that greater length, and it might add too much weight.
The current 200 - and pretty much all the Fiat refreshes were vast improvements and much more attractive vehicles but there's only so much you can do with what you started with.
Hopefully your son can get back on the road and trouble-free shortly. I wouldn't write the car off yet.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
I think I'd take the old Outback over the Avenger/200 myself. Even the N/A stick-shift that turns so damn many RPMs.
If the TL is a goner (highly doubtful) lease the cheapest thing you can find and he can take over the payments once he is out of school.
Don't we all spend each others money well?
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
Alaska is hard on alternators and starters it seems. We've had a few of each go out over the years.
The new Accord is intriguing, especially the plug-in hybrid. As I understand it, the plug-in hybrid will have equipment similar to the loaded Accord Touring trim, except they are deleting the leather seats and steering wheel and replacing them with cloth seats and a rubber steering wheel. I assume they are trying to appease the vegans who will cross-shop the car with the Prius, which offers faux leather seats in the higher trims. I'm not convinced this is the right decision, as I think people who are interested in the Accord plug-in hybrid will be cross-shopping it with, say, an Accord EX-L four cylinder (which offers leather), or even an Accord V6 Touring, instead of a Prius. Perhaps they will offer leather (or fake leather) trim with the standard, non-plug-in Accord hybrid.
I just heard from my son, who had heard from the dealer. they said they went out today, and it fired right up, and they had been driving it around the parking lot, and it was doing just fine.
they checked the battery, and it was charged. They also checked the alternator (again, I was too hard on them, they did test it Monday), and it is charging.
so, it seems we are in the dreaded intermittent problem that can't be discovered. and of course it won't act up for the dealer. But, there are no codes being thrown, and they did (visually I guess) check the main grounds (obvious stuff to look at).
so, they were keeping it for now, and trying to get it to act up again. Might need to be warmer (though it did it for my son within 2-3 miles, so should not be too hard!)
Between a rock and hard place. They don't want to give it back unresolved, but have no clue if it behaves. And son is afraid to drive it (he had 2 AAA tows already this week). And no way is he taking this on a 250 mile trip home through the relative middle of nowhere.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I really don't know what to do if it can't be resolved. Drive it, and hope for the best? Buy a replacement newer used car? lease something cheap new (that he will be stuck with after graduation!)? give him the van for now?
in any of those replacement scenarios, I end up with an otherwise decent Acura 4 hours away in another state to deal with. No clue what to do with it. I could try and run it back here (with the wife following me of course) if we get to the mysteriously fixed itself stage.
trading in is almost pointless, and how would I buy a car way up there?
the other issue is insurance. I am about to have a 2nd youthful driver, and that is the only car without comp/collision I can "assign" them to.
what a mess, and with just finishing a remodel and new car buy, sure not in the budget!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Ask the Service Manager to drive it home to see what happens.
I'm serious!
After three, 3 week sessions (9 weeks total)... they finally figured it out, it needed a new wiring harness. At nearly 90,000 miles and 12 yrs. of ownership, it has been a really good car.
Good Luck Stick,
Mark156
not sure if it got a 2nd battery, then acted up again, before they figured out the problem. Something about dirty inner connections on the cables. I seem to recall something about some sort of special cloth (eraser?) they used to polish them. After that, no more problems (well, not with the battery at least!)
seems very odd though that it would act up, and after sitting overnight, be fine again.
Son did say that when his friend jumped the car, there was a lot of corrosion, which seemed odd because I cleaned them off back in the summer.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
This is what happened with the ION that I'm now driving. Daughter was using it to commute back and forth to college (100 miles each way). She'd come home every weekend, and one time it stopped running while she was driving it. She was able to get it to the shoulder, put it in park, and start it up again.
Went to the dealer where, of course, they couldn't find anything wrong.
Fast forward 2 or 3 months, and it happened again, except this time she was on the highway in downtown Denver, at rush hour. Again, she was able to safely restart the car and make it home.
Wife flat out stated she was not driving the car back to school the following Monday, so off we went to get a new car for her. She ended up with the MINI, while I took over the ION. I've driven it for almost 2.5 years and 40K miles, and the problem hasn't cropped up once since then.
Go figure.
I hope you're able to figure this out ... if it was running right, how much do you think you could get in trade for the Acura? There are a number of cheap lease deals ($159/mo for a Cruze as an example), but some money down is necessary.
Another possibility would be to swap the Volvo for the Acura (if you can get it home), so at least that way he's got a reliable car and you can do some additional troubleshooting yourself or at your local mechanic.
Trade? maybe a grand? Enough to pay the drive out on a lease?
without issues, could probably get 2.5-3K for it i guess.
getting it home is the bigger question.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Trade? maybe a grand? Enough to pay the drive out on a lease?
without issues, could probably get 2.5-3K for it i guess.
getting it home is the bigger question.
I didn't mean to suggest that it was a permanent solution .. since the daughter doesn't yet have her license (?), he could use the Volvo for the time being before making any permanent decisions about the fate of the Acura.
The Acura's got, what, over 150K on it, right? I gotta believe there is some life left in the old girl if you can sort out this electrical issue. A few hundred for diagnostics and parts is a cheap investment if you can keep it running to next May.
I think the bigger issue is the distance .. hard to figure things out from 250 miles away. Is it possible for you to go up there tomorrow and push the issue with the dealer? I know it's a bit of a drive, but maybe you being there might get better cooperation.
just heard from son who heard from dealer. finally acted up for them, and they retested and got a dead alternator. Seems to be an intermittent failure. So, $330 later it will have a new one, and hopefully behave itself for a while.
It actually runs very well, and drives like 1/2 the miles. Perfect for sitting outside up in snow country, and a great highway car. So I prefer to nurse it through, but depending on how things go, we may investigate some kind of move over winter break.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Too bad I don't have comp insurance on it. eliminates the financial incentive.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
WHY???
On an older car it really doesn't cost much at all.
You could add comp and shove it off that cliff the next day.
Your ins. co. would never suspect a thing! :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ3gBxjU8E8
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
the bigger issue is, assigning a youthful driver to a car. That is what takes it through the roof.
NJ has horrid insurance rates and practices. And kids on the policy are a killer.
I remember when I added my son, we figured out (the agent lady and I) that it would be cheaper to buy a junker, register/insure it, and just stash it in the garage, then it would be to have him assigned to my car (with full coverage). Literally, I could have 3 cars on the policy instead of 2, and the total would be less.
He might not be so bad, having turned 21 already, but I have a soon to be 17 YO that needs to be added, and I want to keep the "cheap" car for her! even though she will never drive it.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Might make sense to snap up a cheap 24 month lease for him, then I can just keep the Acura as my spare car. Once he graduates in may, he can take over the (low) lease payments for another 1.5 years, in order to save money for something fancier.
worst case, I take the lease car back and just use that myself at that point.
Have to see how much use he is going to give it over the winter, with job looking, etc.
hopefully the Acura behaves itself now though. 1 more breakdown and I think it will end up in the gorge!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Tough decisions. I had the same problem myself when I was in college.
I was nursing along a '79 Pontiac Sunbird that was determined to suck every penny out of my (and my parents') bank account. Wouldn't start consistently, problems with the manual transmission linkage. Just generally unreliable.
I was in my last semester and scheduled to graduate in October (it was a trimester school calendar) when I scheduled an appointment with another mechanic to see if they could - once and for all - figure out the issues.
On my way to the shop, I rear ended someone who had slowed down to turn into an apartment complex. I was in the process of changing lanes and was looking over my shoulder when this happened. My right front hit her left rear. She was driving a boat, so I think her total damage was a bent bumper. The Sunbird, alas, was a total loss.
Since I only had a couple of months of school left, I suggested to my parents (who were 500 miles away) that I use the $2K from the insurance company to use as a down payment on a new car. I even went so far as to pick one out - a nice, new 1985 Ford Escort.
Diesel.
The dealership made an offer of $150/mo, with the first payment deferred 90 days until after I graduated and (hopefully) secured employment.
The catch? The folks had to co-sign the loan.
Since I didn't have any solid job prospects lined up at that time, my parents declined to participate in my deal. Chagrined, I ended up buying a '77 Olds Omega for a grand to get me through the last couple of months of school.
Turned out my ability to pick good used cars wasn't a part of my DNA - the Olds (with a 350 V8) ran poorly, needed repairs to pass emissions, and needed new tires in the short time I owned it. I ended up selling it for about $300 to a BHPH lot the day I graduated. That was enough money to fund the rental car to get me and my belongings back to my hometown in CA.
After moving back to CA (where I did have a job waiting for me), I bought an '85 Honda Accord LX hatch for $8650. And yes, my folks did co-sign on that loan for me.
What all of this has to do with your situation, I don't know. I know we love cars, and I know we want our kids to be safe, but maybe we need to be a bit less emotional about the decisions we're forced to make under duress.
I'm sure that I am in the market for at least 1, probably 2, but at this point i can't keep it straight if I am coming or going.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.