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Comments
Yep, I guess cheap is all important and if a person can save 50 cents on the can of dedorant than they should forsake their local store and head to Wal Mart. Afer all, money is money.
Yep, Sam was quite a guy. So once the local mom and pops that served the community well for many years have been driven out of business, Sam simply raises the price of the dedorant.
Not judging anyone just stating facts.
China doesn't care!
As far as the Wal Mart experience, I was in one ONCE and that was enough. It made a K-Mart look like Nordstroms.
Your last paragraph sums thing up quite well but, at this point, I'm afraid it's too late. We have been hooked on cheap Chinese goods like heroin.
And don't rule out a Wal Mart in Bellevue! People would flock to the place in droves after fighting them not to come!
Cheap is good, remember?
With some of the relatively recent development I see on the west side of Lake Samm,and some of the dubiously constructed lowrise condos downtown, I think the actual problem might have been that the bribe was too small.
I can get enough bargain junk at Freddy's and maybe a bi-yearly trip to Target. Bellevue is too snooty for anything lower...and to be honest, I am not complaining.
You are right about the addiction - it is up to the informed consumer to chose wisely. Sadly, as a 5 minute drive in any town will prove, wise people are not the majority.
Treason pretty much defines American corporate (and in many times, federal) behavior over the past 30 years or so.
This is the second electrical type failure I've had in 6 months. Last time it was the auto HVAC controller that was a $400 fix. Since I hit 60k this will be about $2k in repairs. I'm at 79k now.
While the Expe isn't as bad as my Suburban was, it's only one major failure away.
I guess I should be happy I'm stimulating the local economy;)
I know a Ford Tech and he said it's such a bad design that the spark plugs break off in the head nearly every time. He said they are a royal [non-permissible content removed] to get out when this happens.
The European cars are even worse.
That's what I was told by my dealer when at 60k I had a coil pack fail. They recommended changing the plugs, and warned me about the potential issues. They even kept it over night soaking the plugs. They still broke 3 and it was like an extra hour to 1 1/2 hours labor per plug that broke off.
I think I might get rid of it before it's time to change plugs again.
Apparently it's more of a bad plug design vs. head design. But it is somewhat ironic that Ford went from plugs that spit themselves out of the head to not wanting to come out at all on the 5.4s.
Yeah, that's pretty outrageous. I had to have the driver's window motor replaced in my '85 Silverado about two years ago. I tried to get to it myself, but it was a royal pain, so I stopped before I ended up doing more harm than good! Mechanic charged something like $279, but that also included putting in some window trim parts I had bought separately and, being aftermarket, naturally didn't quite fit right. :mad:
Prior to that, I think the last time I had to mess with a power window motor was in my '79 New Yorker, back in 2002 or so. I was able to figure that one out myself. Once you pull the door panel and such off, it's just a matter of unplug the old one, take out three bolts, and it comes right out. The biggest issue I had was that the "new" unit going in was out of my old '89 Gran Fury, and to make it work I had to take the motor apart and flip the top part, where the little gear is. It was really easy to take apart, but naturally, not so easy to get back together!
Thankfully she has a company provided vehicle, so I only have to worry about keeping one running and that's expensive enough.
With the luck I have with my vehicles, I'd go broke trying to maintain two:(
If the window went bad on my Park Ave (or the Intrepid when I had it) I have a feeling I would have just accepted defeat and taken it to the repair shop. I just figured that the truck would be easy, since it was old, a design dating back to 1973. I figured, how much harder can it be than my New Yorker? Unfortunately, I found out!
I also found out, after the fact, that part of the removal procedure for the truck involved releasing the tension on something or another, and that not doing it properly could result in bodily injury. :surprise:
Yikes, that could have been ugly.
My biggest issue is where to get repairs. I don't have a local shop that I have much faith in. The one I use for oil changes, tires etc, wouldn't touch my Expedition's HVAC controls. They flat out told me to go to the dealer.
My local Ford dealer has provided me great service, but it doesn't come cheap. Immediately after my window failed. I called the dealer and the service rep told me to bring it in immediately and they'd get the window up and parts ordered ASAP. 30 minutes and they had me on my way. Parts will be in today, but I'm going in first thing tomorrow morning for the actual repair.
On the modern car, I'd just take it in and expect to spend a few hundred - but I am certain it wouldn't be $500. Looks like Ford SUVs inherited some Range Rover DNA.
Besides, the neighbors probably wouldn't appreciate the stream of obsenities that would flow from my mouth when "something" went wrong.
I can see a do it yourselfer trying to change his own spark plugs on one of those miserable Fords that break plugs.
" How hard can this be...I used to change plugs on my Dodge Dart"?
Out comes the Craftsman socket set. As the plugs break one at a time and the porcelin gets jammed between the plugs and the cylinder head, the DIY guy knows he's in trouble.
Many a car gets towed to a dealer, half apart with a sheepish owner not far behind.
To quote the last line from Magnum Force, #3 in the Dirty Harry series, "A man's GOT to know his limitations."...
Just HAD to be a Dodge Dart, didn't it? :P
FWIW, I was smart enough to not even attempt changing the plugs myself on the Intrepid. I had the first set replaced at 51,000 (I didn't believe they really COULD go 100,000 miles), and the second set replaced at 138,000.
In contrast, on those old cars I know you were supposed to change them every 12,000 miles, but I gotta confess, I let the Dart go about 44,000 miles once without changing the plugs. And oddly, when I changed them, there was no noticeable difference in performance of fuel economy.
I guess it was mainly leaded fuel, and just dirtier fuel in general, that made them foul up more quickly in the old days?
That pretty much describes me. My "DIY" projects usually result in me having to call a professional that not only needs to clean up what I did wrong, but then actually fix the problem, thus costing twice as much.
I can see a do it yourselfer trying to change his own spark plugs on one of those miserable Fords that break plugs.
I couldn't imagine. First off, the back plugs are not easy to get to in the first place. I cringe to think of the reaction some poor soul has when he hears some crunching and pulls out only the top 3/4 of the spark plug.
If the extractor tool Ford has doesn't get it out, your ..... well, I won't use the fist word that comes to mind, but you get the idea.
I'm sure the mechanics don't appreciate it either. I've worked around service departments before. It's not fun making a phone call telling an owner that what should be a simple procedure is now going to cost 4 figures to fix.
Since GM's China sales have surpassed US sales, GM ain't complaining about the job drain from the U.S. to China, that's for S- - t sure. Additionally, guess where they will introduce the lion share of new models?? :lemon:
Regards,
OW
I am shocked there hasn't been some kind of legal action over that spark plug design.
I think the last thing I did, vehicle-related, was changing a headlight on my '85 Silverado about a year ago. And even that was a pain in the butt because the screws had rusted and I had to WD-40 is and wrestle around some.
I think the last car I changed the oil on was my Intrepid. If I parked it at the right spot at the edge of my grandmother's driveway, I could get up under the front of it and change the oil and filter without having to jack it up.
I changed it once or twice on my Dad's '03 Regal, and on that car you had to turn the wheels just right, and go in through the passenger wheel well. A bit of a hassle, but I could still do it without jacking the car up. I'm sure my Park Ave is the same, but I've just been paying to have it done.
Oh, wait...just remembered, I did change the PCV valve and air filter on the Silverado on my lunch break last week. Air filter was no big deal, but I had to fight with the PCV valve a bit, and naturally, it was nice and dirty, so I was pretty grimed up going back to the office.
I live in a lowrise apartment building...changing oil in the dark garage would be a pain, the outdoor parking isn't flat, and then I'd have to do something with the oil, not to mention the mess. Not worth the hassle.
Me either. It's not worth the hassle having to dispose of 7 qts of oil per o/c in the Expedition.
Back in the days when I needed the $15 ($30+ now) for gas and or food, I often did it myself. Now I'd rather not risk spilling oil on the garage floor, or in the car.
I am shocked there hasn't been some kind of legal action over that spark plug design.
I thought I read somewhere that one is brewing. I've kept my receipts just in case. From what I understand it effects 04-08 5.4L v8s. As more of the owners of those years get their plugs changed along with the added surprise of having a minimum of 1/2 of them breaking off, I'd think a class action suit is only a matter of time.
No question. Only time I did it myself when I lived in an apartment was when I'd go to my FIL's and spill oil all over his garage floor;)
And when you only change the oil once a year or so, it's not too much of a chore either.
We used to have a recycling center less than two miles away. It was just a few big tanks...one to pour old oil into, one for antifreeze, and I forget what the third was. And a couple of big metal drums to dump old oil filters and such in. Unfortunately it got abused. People would drop off batteries, tires, other junk, etc. And those tanks wouldn't get emptied very often, so people would sometimes fill them until they overflowed, or just leave the oil sitting beside the tank in other containers.
Now there's another place I can dump oil, but it's about 4 1/2 miles away...still not too bad. I have a few 5-gal containers that I'd fill up with old oil, and then take it away once I did a few oil changes.
But, I don't drive as much as I used to, and I've sort of gotten off of that every 3000 mile paranoia, so lately it's just been more convenient to pay to have it changed.
My wife's GP will go much longer on oil changes. Her OLM usually alerts around 7k miles. I wonder if that's due to my Ford using 5w-20 and her car uses 5w-30. Though I take more short trips than she does, though overall we put about the same amount of miles on as we use the Expedition for any travel on the weekends etc.
Sorry, I was minding my own business (yeah, right) and did I overhear someone say CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT???...for some unknown reason, my ears perked up, kinda like a dog hearing one of those dog whistles... :P
I doubt if a class action suit would fly but what do I know?
Those plugs are just plain nasty and it isn't the fault of the person removing them. My buddy who is a long time Ford Tech is about as experienced as they come and he said he got lucky once and only broke two of them. It's a hour and a half of miserable labor for each plug when they break so fiugre what it would cost if six of them break at 100.00/hr labor!
Plus, the plugs themselves are very expensive!
They should make the guys who designed these change the plugs!
This society is still cranking out lawyers at an alarming rate...gotta keep em busy somehow :P
When I was doing some researching regarding the issue after it bit me, I saw somewhere that a class action law suit was being pursued against Ford Motor. I have no clue how the legit the claim is.
Who knows, but I received a claim form the other day regarding a class action lawsuit settlement regarding my Lennox gas fire place. Apparently, people are dumb enough to touch the front glass while the fireplace is operating and get BURNT. Well Lennox settled and I'm entitled to a warning sticker to apply to the front of my fireplace. WTH!!!! Jesus how stupid do you have to be to not think a glass panel 8" from a large burning flame will not be hot.
LOL!
And worth every penny I'm sure:)
I'm sure a change is no cheaper on a V series Caddy.
Isn't that the truth. I haven't found many things to enjoy which are free!
If you are really injured, opt out of any class action and hire an individual lawyer to sue the company on an individual basis...
Just a random thought...
As a counter question, was there a real injury, or was it one of those frivolous lawsuits that really had no merit to start with???
To make things worse, after spending about 120 seconds trying to remove one of those stickers, I think it would be about a 120 hour job to do so from my initial survey. They just don't come off of the sun shades. Those stickers look like they make removing 20 year old wall paper seem like a piece of cake.