The "I hate American made cars" thread (1 Viewer)

[Jay H]

GOD I LOVE MY AUDI!!!!yes it does cost more to fix, but paying more for repairs comes with the territory.

Yeah, it is more expensive to fix Audis/BMW/MB, parts are more money, but they seem to make their engines and routine maintenance super easy to DIY. I so far have done all of my non-warentee items on my '97 BMW 328i myself, I can change the oil with simply a 17mm and 36mm socket without even jacking the car up. Getting to the oil filter is as simply as popping the hood open and the canister is right there. My first car, a '79 Datsun 510 hatchback you had to snake you way past all the control arms and pipes to get to the filter.

I've also done the brake pads/rotors and coolent changes myself, saving myself a small fortune in labor and cost.

Jay

 

[Tim Markley]

i just don't get why gm can't build a quality vehicle?

They can. I've owned 4 GM vehicles and every one of them has been excellent. The quality of the vehicles isn't on par with my BMW but I don't expect it to be. My current Corvette has had a few minor problems but everything has been fixed under warranty to my satisfaction and I LOVE my car!

The one area that I feel is very lacking for American made vehicles is the service department. I love the service I get from BMW but you definitely pay for that service. Luckily I have a very good Chevrolet dealership near me but I know that it's in the minority.

 

[Brandon_S]

Jay,

Did you buy your pads and rotors from the BMW service department or someplace else? I am needing new rotors on my 99 Volvo S70 and am looking for cheaper alternatives than buying from the dealer.

 

[David Susilo]

Brandon_S,

this may not apply to you, but for cars such as Honda, Toyota, Nissan, VW, Porsche, Audi, you can find online parts store for OEM parts on the cheap(er).

For brakes, you may want to try Brembo, if it is available for your car. It really stops.

 

[Jay H]

Brandon S, I bought all my parts from 3rd party sources, such as Bavarian Motorsports or Mesa Performance Parts. The only things I get from BMW itself is the oil filter and the synthetic oil because I tend not to buy in bulk. The rotors I got for the front are made by Brembo and the rear rotors are made by ATE. They're the basic plain jane rotors, not wasting my money on cross drilled, slotted, striped, or spoted rotors cause I don't race. The pads I bought are Repco Metalmasters which are sooooooooo much better than the stock ones that would leave brake dust on your rims after 2 miles of rush hour traffic.

Anyway, I got a full set of rotors and pads for all 4 wheels for about $350 I think while the local BMW dealer wants $900 simply to change the rotors. Ack! You know how many DVDs that is?

You might want to check if there are any Volva clubs in your area, they tend to have sponsored dealers and you might get a small discount if you buy parts from them that it might be worthwhile to join. I know if I joined the BMW CCA, I could get 10% off parts, but BMW parts are still more money with the 10% than buying online so I have never joined.

Jay

 

[Brandon_S]

So do you think Autozone rotors would do the trick? I just gave them a call and they are 30 bucks apiece as compared to 90 for the ones from Volvo. Thanks for the help!

 

[brentl]

"they said they didnt know what the bill would be, and they'd call later"

If you didn't sign a blank work order and they didn't call you for approval they cannot charge you for the work performed!! At least that's the case in Ontario.

Brent

 

[BrianW]

After owning a plymouth Neon for two years (1998 model, bought used two years ago), I've spent more repairing it than I have spent repairing my Honda, which I've owned for 15 years. The Neon has needed a new compressor, alternator, evaporator, distributor, harmonic balancer (why aren't harmonic balancers cheap?), head gasket - even one of the cam shafts broke in two!

I know that all of this is anecdotal, but it's difficult for me not to find all these stories compelling.

I recently had to replace the compressor on my Honda, but after 150K miles, I'm happy to do it. I expect to drive it another 150K miles before I'll need another compressor.

My friends and family used to ask me why I drive such an old car. Now when I drive up to their houses in my Honda (especially if I've recently washed and vacuumed it ) they look at my car longingly and remark about what a great car it's been, that it still looks brand new, and how they've gone through three or four (or eight!) cars since I've had my one Honda. And who could blame them? After 13 years with no car payments, instead of driving a peice of junk, I get to drive this:



I rest my case.

 

[Mike Lenthol]

Yeah, it is more expensive to fix Audis/BMW/MB, parts are more money, but they seem to make their engines and routine maintenance super easy to DIY.

Quite the contrary to what I experienced. You'd have to through the exact shibang to change an oil filter on an A4 as you would on the Datsun. It's really like this in DIY: domestics = poor layout but plenty of space to work; Germans poor layout and very cramped; Japs cramped also but good layout. With Audi parts are not that expensive, it's the labor. While spending quite a few hours in the service room ($90 per hour mind you) I overheard numerous quotes given out over the phone, and most brake jobs range from 500-1200 on lower end, to 3500-4500 on the bigger models. Thankfully a brake job can be DIY, but troubleshooting anything else, forget it, it's too computerized.

All cars break, some more than others, and that’s what makes owning different cars fun. The dealership experience is the slightly unpleasant part but if the objective was to get from point A to point B only we'd all be driving hybrid Civics.




Brandon_S: see www.alloemautoparts.com best prices from what I've seen.

 

[Todd Hochard]

As many know those American cars (that we loved) in the pre-obsolesence era were great and built like a tank.

What reality are you living in? Have you owned one of these tanks? I've owned several, and I can tell you my experience is quite different. When people say "they don't make them like they used to," my response is "thank God for that."

Todd

 

[Jim_F]

Must've been before my time. I'm only 45.

 

[Jay H]

I've never seen the inside of an A4, when I was shopping, I knew I like the 3 series styling and never really looked at one. How do you change the oil on the A4? On the E36 328i, the oil filter is a simply paper kind, not the canister kinds on my old Datsun or my MR2 Spyder. You pop the hood and in front of the main engine block is a black canister with a 36mm (big) cap with an o-ring. Take the cap off and the paper filter is attached through a rod through the center. Take an old plastic bag to be neet, wrap the bag aroudnd the old filter and take off. Then all you need to do is reverse the procedure to put the new filter in (and a little voodoo that's not important).

Does the A4/Audis/VWs use a canister?

Brandon S: My suggestion would try to find a Volvo forum and ask which is the recommended brand of brake pads to use, some of the car-specific forums tend to be racers and stuff, but there should still be good information for people who just want quality stuff. I don't have any Autozone stores near me (just a lot of their commercials) so I have no idea what kind of brake pads they carry. Does your Volvo have a brake sensor? If your Volvo has a brake sensor AND the sensor is on, you may have to change the sensor, however, if you're changing the pads based on look/feel the sensor may still be usable. Of course, if you don't have a sensor, then this is moot, but the BMW sensor uses a simply friction relay where if your pads are so worn out the sensor itself will be grinding and eventually trip the relay signally your OBC to say "Change your front brake pads you silly boy" (or something to that effect )

I know the BMW pads are good stuff, but they just leave soo much brake dust, it's impossible to keep it clean. So far, these aftermarket brake pads are great, the same stopping power that I can tell and they're very clean.

All cars break, some more than others, and that’s what makes owning different cars fun. The dealership experience is the slightly unpleasant part but if the objective was to get from point A to point B only we'd all be driving hybrid Civics.

..or ride a bike like I do!

Jay

 

[Jay H]

As many know those American cars (that we loved) in the pre-obsolesence era were great and built like a tank.

My older sister had an mid-70's Ford Gran Torino at one point, that WAS a tank

Jay

 

[brentl]

BrianW; I wish they'd brin that car back!! Now that I can afford one I had to get a coupe. Don't get me wrong, I'd love my car, but I'm a hatcback kind of guy and the only one they make is overpriced.

Nicest CRX EVER was a 91SE with this beautiful black leather I saw 4-5 years ago!

Brent

 

[Andrew_A_Paul]

You want to talk crappy vehicles? My parents owned a 95 Windstar, first year model. New engine, 2 new transmissions (both in one year), the damn check engine light would always come on (for now reason) and its not cheap to reset the computer to get the damn thing to go off. 95 was a first year model I think, and if I remember right they had problems with head gaskets. This van was a total lemon. Now my mother drives a 99 CRV, the only thing we’ve done to it is change the oil.

My brother drove a 90 cutlass, which was a hand-me-down to me. When my brother drove it we put a new engine in it and this was less than 100,000 miles. If you drove over 60 the dash felt like it was going to fall off in your lap. When I had it there was a spell for about 2 or 3 weeks where it would just sputter and die on me, the next day it would run fine, then it would start doing it again. We had it in 2 different times, and they couldn't ever fix it, much less figure out what it was.

 

[Steve_Tk]

This van was a total lemon

No that's wrong. When talking about Fords or GMs, if you get a lemon, that means you got one that actually works and doesn't require a lot of service. It's a total accident from the company and they usually don't mean to put these out there.

 

[Andrew_A_Paul]

Yes you are correct. I should rephrase what I said to be more clear. What i meant was the Whole line of 95 windstars were crap, not just the one we got. Many of them had problems. And I believe a lemon is a car that is a total bomb, that you put more money into than ever should be needed, say two transmissions and a new engine.

 

[Max Leung]

My friend has a company van, a 2001 Ford Windstar. It has half a dozen foot-long cracks on the windshield already, and has been recalled 6 (or is it 9 now? there is a new recall every couple of months) times for various stupid design or manufacturing flaws.

A couple of silly ones:
- seat belt fasteners may not work (won't lock!)
- windshield wiper motor has to be replaced -- may cause a fire!

There are many more that are equally stupid, but I don't recall (oooh a pun!) what they were.