Set a new record yesterday at my shop

[Creekwood]

I have been down this road so many times... one of the best was a service tech told me that mercedes designs their coolant system to lose a bit of antifreeze each year so you have to add some so it stays fresh...so when the low coolant light comes on... it's normal, just bring it in and we will add some for free.... That's how I met the service manager for the first time

That is the part that drives me nuts. The stupid lies that the service people tell you. I fixed/rebuilt every car I owned for the first 15 years I was driving. Don’t try to BS me.

My best was when I had my 6 month old BMW X5 in the dealer for the 6th time. I told the tech that it was the worst car I have ever owned. I told him that my 2004 Grand Cherokee was in for service less in 4 years than the X5 had been in in the 6 months. He sneered at me and huffed and said “Sir, a BMW is a much more complex vehicle than a jeep. You should expect more service on a BMW.” I told him I thought that I should expect more from a $75K BMW, but not more service.

 

[WV 320 Dancer]

I know everyone had their opinions on cars but we have been blessed to have the same service manager at our Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership for over 20 years. He is always taking care of us, never over sells us on service and Creekwood stayed my wife’s SRT Jeep (very complex BTW) has only needed brake shoes (thank You Bremen) over the past 5 years. The same has been the case with our other FCA cars/ trucks we have owned.

 

[ZZ13]

You guys are scaring me, ours goes out of warranty in January.

MM

Our 2006 CLK 350 is 12 years old and has 160,000+ miles on it. Goes through rear tires real fast but that's it. Been a great car. We take it in for the scheduled dealer service every 13,000 miles.

 

[BillK2632]

So how do the Japanese do it? We have had 4 different Lexus's (RX's and ES's) currently I have a 2005 ES330 with 170k miles on it, the only item I have touched outside of normal maintenance is the alternator - I replaced it last summer myself for $160. Everything on it works and it drives like the day I bought it. Wife has a 2006 RX330 with 125k miles - same thing -0- non maintenance dollars spent on that car. We keep driving them because I just can't stomach buying a new car and dealing with issues. I will say I am not a huge fan of the newest Lexus styling and we bought my daughter a Volvo S60 (I have had a few Volvo's with good experience) and the S60 is a lot more fun to drive than my boring Lexus. It's CPO and has been good so far, but not perfect - they are replacing the door locks as we speak. Years ago I had a Honda Accord - same thing no issues at all. I have had several Volvo's and a BMW, good cars, no major issues, but not nearly as trouble free and easy to own as the Lexus and Honda.

 

[RollerCoastr]

So how do the Japanese do it?

There was a time I was convinced it was work ethic in the factories and quality of engineering upstream of that. Then they started building cars here and the quality remained, so I thought it must be the Japanese engineering. Then I met some Ohio-based Honda engineers, so... I have no clue. The power window motor in my Nissan failed and the car is only 15 years old, so they're not perfect!

 

[Blueone]

So how do the Japanese do it?

+1 on the Lexus... I have an ES350 now for 5 years...it has never seen in a Dealer for warranty work.... with 4 kids in college we leased Honda civics for them I have had 7 now.. keeping each for 3 years and 32k miles and not a single warranty claim on any of them.

 

[sbw1]

We have owned quite a few Japanese cars. We have done the oil changes and other required maintenance, always at the dealer. They have been perfect with the exception of one Acura that had a weird problem while driving it home for the first time from the dealer. That foreshadowed many problems for the 18 months I drove it. In frustration, I demanded a new car. Guess what. Honda gave me a new car, an apology for my inconvenience and no money changed hands. My old car was valued at 100% of the cost of an identical new model, plus taxes, license and fees. It had about 35000 miles on it at the time of the trade. Almost does not need to be said, but we are still driving Acuras and would not think of changing. Getting ready to buy a new one in April.

 

[sbw1]

My 2018 Porsche was the subject of a recent recall that I had performed when I changed my summer wheels and tires over to the winter wheel set. Got this alarming letter from Porsche with words to the effect that I could burn the car down or even worse, the house down if I threw my cigar out the driver side window while blazing down the freeway at Porsche like speeds. The induction intake is on the driver side of the car of the car, and apparently creates enough suction to draw cigar butts into the engine compartment where it could ignite combustible components. The solution is a cigar screen which has now been installed. Other than that, the car has been perfect.

 

[Blueone]

I had the opposite experience with Acura. We had an intermittent air bag passenger present sensor problem.. where it would not sense a person in the seat.. so no airbag would go off in the event of an accident. It was a software problem not a sensor problem. It took 2 years before we were finely in court with a lemon law claim. Acura flew 2 lawyers from California and they had two lawyers on the phone from Japan in the arbitration. It went on for two days. At the end I won.... nothing. Indiana's law decides what the value of the car is and it was way below what I could have traded it ....That's when I switched to Lexus.
I found out after that they had a software problem and knew they had the problem and fixed it the next model year

 

[sbw1]

I had the opposite experience with Acura. We had an intermittent air bag passenger present sensor problem.. where it would not sense a person in the seat.. so no airbag would go off in the event of an accident. It was a software problem not a sensor problem. After 2 years... I ended up in court with a lemon law claim. Acura flew 2 lawyers from California and they had two lawyers on the phone from Japan in the arbitration. It went on for two days. At the end I won.... nothing. Indiana's law decides what the value of the car is and it was way below what I could have traded it ....That's when I switched to Lexus.
I found out after that they had a software problem and knew they had the problem and fixed it the next model year

I bought an Acura when the brand was initially introduced in the US. Liked what I read about it in the Wall Street Journal and bought one because of my unhappiness with GM quality. That initial experience was so positive, that I bought another one after two years. Since then, it has been every other year from 1986 until today. Also bought a few for my wife on alternate years. Same dealer is also involved in each of these deals. I have no illusions that Honda did this because they have special affection for me. Like airlines, they go the extra mile for good customers and in this case the dealer really stepped up. Had they done otherwise, I too might be driving a Lexas today. I believe they make great cars. Have to say we have really enjoyed Audi as well. However, the trade deals have never been as good as Acura, which is the other reason we have stuck with Acura for our second car.

 

[Creekwood]

View attachment 62782 View attachment 62781 We have owned quite a few Japanese cars. We have done the oil changes and other required maintenance, always at the dealer. They have been perfect with the exception of one Acura that had a weird problem while driving it home for the first time from the dealer. That foreshadowed many problems for the 18 months I drove it. In frustration, I demanded a new car. Guess what. Honda gave me a new car, an apology for my inconvenience and no money changed hands. My old car was valued at 100% of the cost of an identical new model, plus taxes, license and fees. It had about 35000 miles on it at the time of the trade. Almost does not need to be said, but we are still driving Acuras and would not think of changing. Getting ready to buy a new one in April.

We switched to Acura as well. I drive an MDX now (second one we have owned) and my wife drives the RDX. We have had virtually zero issues with either one or the 2009 MDX my wife drove until last year. Just drive them, put gas in them and normal routine maintenance. Brake jobs are less than 1/2 the BMW cost which is the only only "major" repairs on any of them. The 2009 had a water pump replacement too in 2016. I would not hesitate to recommend Acura, but only if you don't mind the "semi-luxury" aspect.

However if you are really a fan of dealership coffee, you will have plenty of opportunity if you have a BMW or Benz. And, you will get the added benefit of being able to "test drive" their entire model lineup when they give you loaner cars while your Bimmer or Benz is in the shop. When your car is new, they give you a nice loaner. Once it gets close to end of warranty, for some reason their only available loaner is the entry models.

 

[Espos4]

Don’t mean to be a topper, but my neighbor leased an Alpha Romeo Gulia.

No exaggeration, it’s gone 1 week a month, sitting at the dealer waiting for a part of for their “Alpha” guy to be available.

 

[sbw1]

We switched to Acura as well. I drive an MDX now (second one we have owned) and my wife drives the RDX. We have had virtually zero issues with either one or the 2009 MDX my wife drove until last year. Just drive them, put gas in them and normal routine maintenance. Brake jobs are less than 1/2 the BMW cost which is the only only "major" repairs on any of them. The 2009 had a water pump replacement too in 2016. I would not hesitate to recommend Acura, but only if you don't mind the "semi-luxury" aspect.

However if you are really a fan of dealership coffee, you will have plenty of opportunity if you have a BMW or Benz. And, you will get the added benefit of being able to "test drive" their entire model lineup when they give you loaner cars while your Bimmer or Benz is in the shop. When your car is new, they give you a nice loaner. Once it gets close to end of warranty, for some reason their only available loaner is the entry models.

The German car dealers should add some good beers to their bills on fare.

 

[sbw1]

Don’t mean to be a topper, but my neighbor leased an Alpha Romeo Gulia.

No exaggeration, it’s gone 1 week a month, sitting at the dealer waiting for a part of for their “Alpha” guy to be available.

I only owned one Italian sports car. It's kind of like owning a boat with a colored hull. Everyone should do that once. Beautiful and a lot of work. Get it out of your system.

 

[Blueone]

View attachment 62792It's kind of like owning a boat with a colored hull. Everyone should do that once. Beautiful and a lot of work. Get it out of your system.

Thanks!... I think?

 

[techmitch]

F ix
I t
A gain
T ony

 

[Arickosmo]

So the LY650 is a good purchase then?

LY-650

 

[Timeflys]

I had an 08 Clk 350, about 60k miles, never winter driven (we use a lot of salt and sand in the winter in Canada)mint.. $72k new....dealer offered $5 k for a trade after 8 years....so much for Benz’s retaining value. We have 2 RXs now.

 

[JVM225]

That’s why you never own a Benz out of warranty. Unless you own a repair shop and even then the parts prices are nuts.

Same with BMW’s.
Close friend owns an auto repair shop. His youngest son worked with him for several years and had a BMW he bought from his Mom when it was time for her to get a new car.
The BMW parts were bleeding the kid dry.

 

[JVM225]

We lease new cars every 3 years for my wife and I to drive daily. Been doing it for years.
Only time I ever go to a dealer is for a warranty issue, and that is a pretty rare occurrence.
Last two times we got Chevy’s. We’ve had Honda’s and Nissan’s in the past.
Lots of great financial based arguments against leasing. While I understand the logic of buying and keeping for years, I don’t care. Well worth it to me to lease.
Put gas in them, do the oil changes myself, and at the end of the lease we get two new ones.
No headaches.
The last new car I bought was my C6 Corvette that spends most of its time parked next to my 68 GTO in the garage. Those two cars are a hobby, not daily drivers.
The next new one I’ll buy will be a C8 when they come out.
My kids both drive older cars and it’s a major PIA keeping up with them. Seems like I’m always fixing or replacing something on one of their cars when they come home. Tires, batteries, belts, hoses, brakes, check engine lights, an alternator, etc..
My Daughter is a college senior this year. When she is home she drives a 96 Jeep Cherokee with about 100k on it that was the last new daily driver I bought. I got a company car shortly after buying it, and it became just an extra car early on. She understands that it must be gone by the day she graduates.
My son is a college freshman and when he is home he drives a clean low mileage 2005 Grand Prix GT we found for him when he was learning to drive. He understands that the car has to last him until he finishes school, and must be gone by the day he graduates.