Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
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We all feel so dependent on mechanics, and many times afraid to ask follow ups. However, when they tell us that something is wrong, we should get into the habit of saying, "please show me."
guitarzan
Community Leader/Vans Conference
Those propeller shafts don't go bad all that often. It's just your poor luck that it happened on your van. Will a replacement part stay fixed? Who knows? Here's a hokey analogy: Will the lightbulb you put in your lamp last night keep working for the next week? You surely hope so, but there's no way of knowing. If you buy a quality part for your van and have a trusted technician put it in, that's all you can really do, isn't it? It shouldn't fail, but there's always a slight chance that it will.
I don't like the thought of paying a dealer a hundred or so dollars for each service when the parts and oil only cost about $30. And I think I can do a better and more careful job than the dealers mechanics. On the last service, my dealer overfilled the auto transmission.
Will I still be able to claim any major faults under warranty if I do this type of maintenance myself? Have any of you done your own maintenance on a new car?
any idea on how much this is to repair? Also I will need to do a brake job on it in abiut 10,000 miles...whats the cost average? this vehicle has 109000 miles on it...whats the life average??
Of course they did not fix it under warenty and completely rebuilt the xmission again cost me $2400.00. Can any body tell me if it is usual or aamco chitted me? I tried to resolve this with their consumer relation department but did not work.
have u rebuilt the engine lately.
I am curious if the sticker price says manufacture discount on package involved then there is no cost to the consumer for that item.
When negotiating does the dealer start the sticker price at the original price or the discount price for negotiation.
Also if the invoice pricing from edmunds also shows the discount from manufacture at zero do you figure your invocing pricing without that packages costs being figured in.
Does the dealers invoice reflect the discount on packages or is that added in.
If anyone can help explain this to me I would appreciate any help before I get ready to buy a new car.
Cbloom
Just use the Conferences Drop Down Menu on the left, select Smart Shopper and go!
carlady/roving host
Thanks
Where oh where has Mr_Shiftright gone?
Oh where oh where could he be?
With his posts cut short and the time way to long,
Oh where oh where could he be?
MazdaB2600 p/up - years 86 to 89, Dodge Raider Jeep - years 85 to 89, Dodge D50 p/up's - years 86 to 89, Mitsubishi p/up's - years 86 to 89.
stick shift, 4x4 and or automatic.
The engine in these vehicles is a G54B from Japan, 2.6 liter,with hydraulic lifters, 13 1/4 " bell housing and no jet valves. I need to know your overheating specs. Did the engine go after ?? miles? How many times did it go to the shop? Did your head keep overheating. Any of the above or anything else. thank you all so much
hywy
Anyone else experience a miss at speeds above 50?
thanks-jack
Buick engineering reports that some of the 1995-1997 Park Avenues have this problem. Anyone else experiencing similar problems ??
engine and today I was going to go to work and it
seems to be hesitating when accelerating ,almost like a timing problem, now I recently put a full tank of crown corp gas in it and I heard some bad things about the gas . Can this gas be the problem ,I never had any problems until I got this gas.
If I take a short trip while the car is still cold (outside temp 30 F or colder) the transmission indicator on the dash will not show the car is in park after I have shifted it back into park. The dash indicator doesn't show any position being selected, for that matter.
It appears that the transmission is actually in park since the car will not move. In this "limbo" state I am also unable to shift the car out of "park". After I wait a few minutes, the Park indicator lights up. I can then shift.
This does not happen after the car has warmed up.
I first noticed this last winter, and then again yesterday when we had our first cold day. The transmission does not exhibit any other problems.
Any suggestions?
We just bought a 1991 Festiva with 129,000 km (80,000 miles). Very well maintained vehicle. Yesterday though, when the car was put in reverse and backed out of the garage, there was a clicking - ratcheting noise. The noise is produced only when the car is in reverse and whether or not the engine is running, that is coasting down the driveway. Any advice ?
I just bought a 99 Buick regal with the supercharged engine. The owners manual says the engine require premium unleaded fuel. Maintenance people at the local dealer say it's OK to use regular unleaded. in fact, they say "Under no circumstances should you use premium unleaded in cold weather (Ilive in Alaska)because it causes major jelling problems inside the engine.
The warranty statement indicates the warranty can be voided for using non-recommended (regular) fuel. The Buick customer relations department is no help. They say consult the dealer.
Does anyone have any information on this subject?
"Premium unleaded fuel"
Don't risk voiding the warranty.
Never heard of jelling with gasoline, I have heard diesel fuel will jell.
5th gear is bad and needs to be replaced. The car has been at the dealer since the middle of October. Chrysler does not have the part available anywhere in the US. I have been told that it would be manufactured and shipped on four different dates. The latest expected ship date is in the middle of December. After many phone calls to Chrysler's consumer line, Chrysler covered a rental car for a week and a half but then stopped because the part was taking too long. Both Chrysler and the dealer said that I should not expect them to keep parts for such an old (6 years) car. The dealer said it would install an after-market or a used part if I find one and take it to the shop. It would not help me find one. If I did this, there would be absolutely no guarantee on any of the work done. I have been unable to locate any replacement part. Several friends have told me that auto makers are required by federal law to have on hand parts for cars 10 years after the manufacture date, but I have not been able to verify this. Do such a law exist? If so, how can I find out more about it? Do I have any recourse? Does anybody have any information to help me get the car fixed?
I have a 94 Nissan Sentra LE with 86K miles. During the past 7000 miles after I bought the car from the previous owner, I have kept topping off
the power steering fluid every 300 miles. I thought there might be some minor leaking somewhere. And I never feel the steering is heavy!
Yesterday I brought the car to a mechanic for a checkup. He told me a clamp was deformed, and he had fixed it. Today I crawled underneath the
car, and found out that on the right side of the power steering gear assembly, the clamp close to the center end is missing, and the boot is
wide open at the end. No wonder there has been fluid leaking, and the situation must have been so for quite a while. So the mechanic was
lying to me (or even worse) although he didn't charge me on this.
A while ago today I just called Midas. A mechanic on the phone said that, based on what I described to him, there might be some damage to the assembly. So he will probably have to replace the whole assembly with a labor of 4-7 hours at an hourly rate of $65 plus parts! It sounds
so horrifying that I am thinking to abandon the car since it has given me so many troubles (A/C, CV boot, starter, oil leaking from the oil pan
gasket, etc.) during the past year. Do you think what the Midas mechanic diagnosed is reasonable? Since I have not felt heavy of the steering
yet, can I still drive the car by keeping adding fluid? Do I really need to replace the whole assembly instead of just fixing the torn-open
boot? Does it really need that long time of labor to replace the assembly? Thank you very much for your advice.
Gang
I once had to replace a rack on a Nissan Pulsar, and it was a 5 hour job. The power steering racks on some front wheel drive cars are jammed into the front of the car, almost as though the car had been built around the rack!!
Get a second, even a third opinion. Think about going to somebody besides Midas. They're cheap(er), yes, and they have a warranty, but I believe the warranty is only on parts. If the rack goes bad again, under warranty, you may end up paying again for labor! You may also want to think about getting rid of the car.
Struts & brakes can be considered normal maintenance at 120K
When your mechanic says "new" engine, does he mean a new one from General Motors and does the $2,100 price include installation..? Or is he getting a rebuild for some local shop..? Check on the warranty. I just purchased a new 350 (5.7)"crate" motor from a local Chev. dealer w/a 3 year 50K mile warranty for $1,800. I would seriously consider buying the motor yourself and having it delivered to a mechanic. Get the installation price w/you providing all needed parts, just rely on them for labor. Some shops won't do that, but you might try talking w/your mechanic about it, especially since he has just made a bundle on you with the labor of the new timing chain and oil pump.
John
from the factory for repairs?