Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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Stories from the Sales Frontlines
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They realized something was amiss and immediatly reacted.
Here is chronology in my case. Purchased the van in February of 07. Summer of 07 my dealer had three attempts, with participation of Honda corporate, to fix the problem. The brakes worked fine for six months after that. In May of 08, my lawyer files a law suit. In September of 08, Honda corporate inspects the van and declares it is working as designed. Winter of 09 Honda issues a TSB describing this problem. Spring of 09 they settle the law suit.
Therefore, the problem was reported to Honda at least 2.5 years ago. They admitted to this issue a year ago, and only now they are issuing a recall. Is this what you call immediate reaction to a safety problem?
Their pinstripes are all hand painted on by one guy who apparently (according to him) is the only one that knows how to do it properly without machines or lasers or any fancy tools. Just his steady hand, a brush and a good eye.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
A spongy pedal doesn't prevent the car from stopping and it comes on gradually.
I'm sure it'll get fixed once and for all not that they had identified what, exactly was happening. They will recall a lot of cars that never had a problem and that's a good thing.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
I agree. A good indy mechanic is hard to find. I'd put mine up against any of the guys in most dealer service depts.
I expect to see him post a picture of a dining room table strapped to the top of his Genesis any day now.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
He's joined the dark side... become a "lurker". :surprise:
He's logging in, just not posting. Last post was back in mid January. Maybe, his wife is punishing him for buying cheap living room furniture. Or, he is on a self imposed sabbatical for trading in his "Genny" for a Kia Rio SS.
We know you're out there jmonroe... what gives?
We must be lucky. Our house is now 23 years old and both of the Stanley openers still work fine.
Anyone ever have a garage door spring break? That's a real attention getter!
If someone had happened to be standing in the wrong place I actually think they could have been killed.
Our new house has an entirely different system that looks safe.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
The owner came running out.." What the &%$# was that?"
I told him I thought it had come from his garage. We went to investigate.
A spring had broken. It had bounced off of his restored 1948 Ford, damaging a fender and it impacted his washing machine in the garage.
Had someone been standing there, there is no doubt they would have been seriously injured. The washer looked like a car had hit it going 20 MPH!
Shore is. Even worse, I tried to repair it myself. Won't try to do that......well....ever again.
Ended up buying a LIFTMASTER with a belt drive about 10 years ago to replace a Stanley. I don't even think I've even changed the batteries in the remote, yet (as soon as I say this, it'll die on me).
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
I was married at the time. I remember my former spouse listening to me use words that would make a sailor blush trying to fix it. After 2-3 hours of that, she came out to the garage so I could hear her call the garage repair company, over my protests.
I've had a couple go. I had to change my shorts on the first one.
My current house has a huge, solid wood, double garage door. It broke one morning as I was about to leave for work. There was no way I was going to be able to lift that door. I had to do it in stages:
Crowbar to lift it enough to slide a 2x4 underneath, gradually add more until I could get my car jack under it, jack it up enough to get a big, iron kettle in there, and so on. I finally got it high enough that I could lift it the rest of the way. Very expensive to replace too... but that story would take days to tell. :sick:
His Gennie must be about 1 year old now.
He's probably doing a real good detailing job on it for it's anniversary, then he'll be back.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
There will be two adjustment knobs or screws on the back of the motor box.
One will control the point at which it stops closing and the other controls the amount of pressure it will take before reopening. This second one is a safety device to prevent the door crushing anything that may be under it while it closes.
Current codes also require an infrared sensor to reverse the door action if anything passes beneath it while it's closing (belt and suspenders).
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
saw the spring swinging back and forth, about 1' from the side of the Nissan van we had bought about 3 days earlier. Thankfully they did not touch!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I would think that the cars on board computer would have that information. Also it would be a better source since if there are more than one FOB then both FOBS won't be with the car all times.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Yeah but if you have any mechanical ability and a few hours you can fix just about anything on a bicycle.
The problem is that most engines for bicycles are not able to propel the bike well after a short time.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Richard
My niece ran her cell phone through a complete wash cycle a few months ago. It still works!
Richard
The letters don't individually stand for something, it's just a fob...like a watch fob, a fob pocket, and as is being discussed, a key fob or car fob.
Here on Edmunds? Could that kind of thing happen? :P
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I washed mine a few months back. A key is to take out the battery and never turn them on until they're dried. Put them in rice and let them stay there.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
first time i had no clue what the 'bang' was until the next morning.
the next time, i knew exactly what it was.
i have also installed 3 garage door openers.
when installing the one at my mother's i was almost electrocuted.
fortunately for me, i survived and have been able to buy a few new vehicles since then
I was very fortunate. The tree could have caused damage in a thousand ways. It landed in the one spot where there was nothing to hit except the ground.
12 years later, there is one that has me concerned.
i'm not sure if it is 'my' tree or the town's.
maybe i should buy one of those new stump pulling pick'em up trucks.
One of my close friends is a door man in Manhattan. A tenant of his pulls up in a Caddy (CTS or STS) & is clearly inebriated. Stumbles out of the car, and slurs to my buddy "you got to park this for me, there ain's no way I can parallel park without hitting anything. So my friend parks the car & locks it, then pulls on the handle to check to see if the door locked & it opened. He tries it again and again. Going in through the passenger side, manually locking the door, & trying to pull it...it opened again. Finally called me up & not in a good mood - I tell him about the key fob. Lock the door, put the key inside the building, & then walk out to check the car...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
BMW's keyless go actually requires you to put the key in the ignition every so often to charge the battery in the FOB.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
All my current door have the springs with the steel rod thru the center of the spring. These still break, but don't go anywhere, just unwind.
Richard
I think you are making that up :P
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
A key fob is a generally decorative and at times useful item many people often carry with their keys, on a ring or a chain, for ease of tactile identification, to provide a better grip, or to make a personal statement. Key fobs are often called "key rings" or "key chains" in colloquial usage. The word fob may be linked to the low German dialect for the word Fuppe, meaning "pocket", however, the real origin of the word is unknown.
key fob
But the word fob looks silly and looks much better when it is written FOB.
In some online dictionaries both spellings are acceptable.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Just feeling around to see if any progress had been made on the UA problem.
Customer service rep turned me over to the GM who wasn't busy. He told me that section 5 (I think) which encompasses 5 or 6 states in my area had zero incidences of UA.
There were a couple other cars in the service area, but no other customers.
I told him this was my third Toyota and how I figured the chances of my car having an accelerator problem were about as remote as hitting the lottery.
He obviously liked my attitude and said since I was a loyal customer my oil change was on the house. I asked the service guy to leave my gas pedal alone until Toyota figured out the real cause of UA. He agreed, even though I had a survey and recall notice sitting in the passenger seat.
An hour after arriving home I got a call from Toyota. Guy said he was a Toyota rep inquiring how my first service went. I asked where he was (in the dealership) I had just come from an hour ago. Then he admitted he was in Fresno, CA. Talk about quick response!
I told him everything was fine. He asked me what I liked about my visit. I said the lady service writer was a hoot. He said he'd pass that on to the dealership.
I usually get my service done by my local indy guy. (read GGs excellent description of his guy-mine is the same). I just wanted to get the info first hand from the dealer if there was any on the UA problem. None found. I feel better.
2013 Mustang GT, 2001 GMC Yukon Denali
If this makes you feel any better I owned an 06 Avalon that in the 3 years and 35K I owned it had no problems with UA.
My Mother's 09 Camry, No UA
Best friend's 07 Camry, No UA
8 (yes 8) 07 Camry's driven by our salesmen many with almost 100K on them no UA.
Also have friends with various Rav 4s and Highlanders with no problems either.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
Actually, you would have a much better chance of winning the lottery.
It was a very good story though, and nice of them to give you a free oil change. Sales are probably down alot at the dealership, it is really too bad.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Your experience with your Toyota dealership gives me a more positive feeling. But, as I had hoped, Toyota overall needs to make their current customers happy. It sounds like they're trying to do just that.
I'm hopeful that all of that is behind them. It was certainly a costly lesson learned....but it seems they did indeed learn it.
I'm betting the Avalon is going to give you years of trouble free service, and you'll continue to enjoy it.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
FYI: Not even close.
Powerball odds: 1:195 million
Megamillions odds: 1:175 million
Illinois state lottery odds: 1:10 million
California SuperLotto Plus odds: 1:41 million
Since 2000, Toyota has sold something around 25-30 million vehicles worldwide under the Toyota, Lexus, and Scion badges. I'll use 30MM as the larger number benefits Toyota.
As of March 4 there were 60 UA complaints from people after their cars got the supposed fix. To be clear, 60 cars that were fixed by Toyota have subsequently experienced the UA problem.
That alone makes the odds 60:30 million or 1:500 thousand or 20 times higher than winning the Illinois state lottery. Once you add in the other vehicles that have had the problem - all vehicles for which a complaint has been filed - the odds of having a UA-affected get higher and higher.
For that matter, even if a good portion of the complaints were false (people after their 15 minutes of fame, the paranoid, or what have you), the odds of a UA problem would still be "better" than winning a lottery. And note that I'm being extra-generous to Toyota by counting vehicles from 2000 forward while the recalls & investigations have thus-far been 2004 and newer.
A better comparison would be the odds of getting struck by lightning, currently estimated at 1:500,000: http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/medical.htm
I don't know if any of that's changed. But, if you're in the market for a Venza, I'd think now is the right time to swing a really good deal on one.
Quick update on my former Tahoe....went to my Acura dealer last night so my sales person could complete his "new owner" presentation to me. Didn't really need it, but it's something he has to do.
Tahoe has been sold.....by my sales person, no less. He said one of the other sales guys was driving it as his demo. It was parked around the side with dealer tags on it. A guy who was having his Acura serviced saw it....test drove it, bought it. I should have asked about the details. Not sure they would share them with me, as it's really none of my business. But, I'm glad they were able to turn it quickly. And, that someone got a very nice used Tahoe that had served me well for years. It certainly didn't stick around on the lot long.
Even without your expert analysis I can tell you my odds are certainly much better for getting struck by lightning or caught in a runaway Toyota than hitting the lottery but that's just because my luck frequently runs that way.
I think it's a "me too" thing at this point.