*modern* cars.....rant

[R6MGS]

Ok, some of you might remember my defending of GM, usually based on my experiences with the 84 Camaro being the best car I've ever owned....Well after the last two days I might not be so quick to defend anymore.
Last week my son told me the engine light was on in his Sonoma...I drove it, seemed fine, so i opened the hood and noticed the air intake was loose...I tighten it up and the light went off, Score!easy fix!...or was it? last weekend my son tells me it's on again, I do some more poking around and remove the entire air intake, clean everything and put it back....lights still on. So Monday(yesterday) my wife dropped it off at my mechanics, needed a MAF sensor and a o2 sensor; $750 bucks....Fine he fixed it in 2 hours and all was good(with the exception of another hole in my wallet). So this morning(not even 12 hours after picking the truck up) I start up the Caddy on my way to work and a 'low coolant' light comes on...weird because I check it all the time. So I get out and notice a stream of coolant coming from the front passenger side. So I re-fill the coolant in the Caddy and leave it in the driveway, wake up my wife and tell her to take the Caddy into the shop when it opens. I go to work with the truck, wife takes the Caddy in; needs a water pump(i don't even wanna think about how much thats gunna be...I know it's alot of labour in that car too). So she rents a car to get back home and leaves the Caddy at the shop waiting for parts. Now I am p.o-ed so I leave work early and pull up to see a rental hyundai elantra in my driveway with a flat tire! So now I gotta get out the compressor and fill it, and hope that it at least holds air.

What a day!Now all I gotta do is wait for the mechanic to call with his price to replace the water pump.

 

[DrEntropy]

I ain't sayin' nuthin'! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/nonod.gif

 

[Steve]

Same here. You have my sympathy.

 

[AngliaGT]

When it rains - it pours.
I've been there way too many times.
It seems like when I have a problem
with one car,another one of our vehicles
come down with the same thing.Virus?

- Doug

 

[bugimike]

When it rains - it pours.
I've been there way too many times.
It seems like when I have a problem
with one car,another one of our vehicles
come down with the same thing.Virus?

- Doug

They all have a secret way of communicating with each other!! Have you ever noticed the cycles that break-downs occur with? Your mate has an electrical problem, then so do a few other aquaintances. A radiator goes bad, and other peoples car near by have cooling problems and so it goes! It's uncanny how that works!!! It's a great mechanical conspiracy I tell ya!!

 

[drooartz]

New(ish) cars are a real mixed blessing. I've had good luck with the current daily (2003 Hyundai), but I've certainly considered that when it's time to replace it, a might go older again. Maybe a 70s Land Cruiser again -- easy to fix, reliable enough, etc.

All that modern safety, emissions control, and efficiency does come with a price!

Sorry to hear of your woes, nothing like putting money into a daily driver just to have what you had yesterday for free.

 

[R6MGS]

New(ish) cars are a real mixed blessing. I've had good luck with the current daily (2003 Hyundai), but I've certainly considered that when it's time to replace it, a might go older again. Maybe a 70s Land Cruiser again -- easy to fix, reliable enough, etc.

All that modern safety, emissions control, and efficiency does come with a price!

Sorry to hear of your woes, nothing like putting money into a daily driver just to have what you had yesterday for free.

Well said....I've got 4 year to retire...then anything newish is going. My wifes DD(aside from the serious winter months) is the 61 MGA, and it's probably the second most reliable car we own...The first being the Camaro which has been put through heck and just keeps on going, it's "retired" from daily service now though so it's in winter storage with the MG's.

 

[judow]

My sympathy to you. If it makes you feel any better, thought I just needed a balancing on my Jag, turns out it was so badly out of alignment (I bought it used) that I needed to get 4 new tires (Pirellis) and was only planning on an alignment.

Not feeling any better: Also brought in the Healey and yes, four new tires and balancing.

Oh well, that's what happens when we autophiles get carried away...

 

[R6MGS]

My sympathy to you. If it makes you feel any better, thought I just needed a balancing on my Jag, turns out it was so badly out of alignment (I bought it used) that I needed to get 4 new tires (Pirellis) and was only planning on an alignment.

Not feeling any better: Also brought in the Healey and yes, four new tires and balancing.

Oh well, that's what happens when we autophiles get carried away...

ok...I am feeling a little better /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

Got the Caddy back....as I suspected..a little under a thousand dollars....coulda bought a driveable MGB for what I just spent in repairs.

 

[judow]

P.S. I was saving the kicker for last in case I didn't cheer your up so the ending to my story is:

When I went to pick up Agatha her boot(trunk) was dented and her shiny red paint had some glaring metal colors. Seems some one slammed the boot down and didn't release the closing mechanism correctly thus causing the boot to be bent and the paint to chip (aluminum boot lid, I think). I was given the news in stages. I suspect this was to help my coping mechanism.

It seems Agatha will be going to the body shop in two weeks. The tire store is taking care of all the damages and I do think the owner was more upset than I was.

 

[SteveL]

One day, we'll all finally come to the conclusion that all
modern cars really are crap. I'm waiting for that day with
baited breath, Give me Carbs, Or Give me death...

SteveL

 

[DrEntropy]

Yeah, Steve, I'm with ya. I reached that conclusion in about '78 tho.

Does this mean I'm ahead of the curve? Or just a retrograde curmudgeon?!?!


...and someone will re-invent maths with pencil and paper: "No batteries (or computer) required!" /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif

 

[drooartz]

...and someone will re-invent maths with pencil and paper: "No batteries (or computer) required!" /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif

There's an Isaac Asimov story along these lines, read it in grade school. I've got to dig it up some day...

 

[DrEntropy]

That was my inspiration for the comment, Drew. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

...I think I read it when it was first published in "Amazing Stories" or somesuch.

 

[Baz]

$260 is what the dealership wanted to replace a $13 thermostat in my minivan, because 'It's hard to get to'.
Clearly a design 'feature' to cram in as many lumps of metal into as small a space as possible, just so I can have a cup holder in the rear seats and the handheld 'check engine light' computer jockey can intake breath sharply, while shaking his head and whispering, "this ain't gonna be cheap"!!!
I do feel your pain. My thermostat still needs replacing.

 

[Steve]

"Does this mean I'm ahead of the curve? Or just a retrograde curmudgeon?!?!"

Do I really need to answer that, Doc? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif

 

[drooartz]

...I think I read it when it was first published in "Amazing Stories" or somesuch.

You wouldn't happen to remember the name by chance? It's one of the few of those stories that stuck with me, but it's hard to search by just a plot line...

 

[bugimike]

...I think I read it when it was first published in "Amazing Stories" or somesuch.

You wouldn't happen to remember the name by chance? It's one of the few of those stories that stuck with me, but it's hard to search by just a plot line...

Hmmm, I have a couple of Azimov anthologies, and cannot come up with a definative answer, though the theme crops up in more than one of his short stories, e.g. "The Final Question" ("Will entropy ever be reversed?" - which you should appreciate, eh, Doc.!)

 

[R6MGS]

Well heres hoping that all our modern car woes are ended as cheaply as possible.
In a step foward...and came home to a flat in the TR6.

 

[terriphill]

I hate the new cars! Can you even imagine someone restoring a 2000 Tahoe? Ha! These things take 5 years to pay off if you finance them and they don't last as long as the loan. I keep the suburban cause regardless of all other things, I am a soccer mom, kids, dogs, trips to the ballpark sheets of plywood in the back, are still a part of my life. But in 5 years....I will buy an older P/U to pull the car trailer and drive my Midget! I figure...no car payment give me $$$ every month for my hobby! Hmmm, saw an Austin Healey today that sure was interesting....wonder if its for sale? Anybody want a real nice 2005 Chevy Suburban?