Sure, as you should, after you paid his kids college with unneeded repairs. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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VW Warranty nightmare!
- Thread starter Mad Mike
- Start date
D
Deleted member 50930
Guest
Spending too much on preventative maintenance
I guess simplicity isn't all that easy to achieve. The simplest M/C is a Briggs & Stratton pull start mini bike. The car would be a similarly powered go Kart. The electric car would be a golf cart with lead acid batteries. They wouldn't be a big hit with the general public but the DIY wrenchers could fix them with a monkey wrench and duct tape. Pollution would be nasty except the golf cart.
The golf cart would be the simplest to service but one can't compare golf cart technology to a Tesla.
One of the biggest problems with technology is pollution. The percentage of easily recycled material in a 1940's vehicle is far greater than today with all the plastics. Early electronics were tube radios. They could be fixed by replacing a capacitor or resistor. Now they get scrapped because the labour to replace a micro component is too high. The practicality of making a replacement for an obsolete chip isn't there.
What does one do when an ignition module dies and someone else just bought the last one on earth? If it's a popular vehicle there might be aftermarket components but would the manufacturer use patents to stop the production?
Plastics are hard to de-polymerize. Steel gets melted down relatively easily with a fairly high energy cost. From a longevity standpoint plastics deteriorate over time while steel and wood last centuries if kept dry. So we're back to the horse and buggy with leather upholstery.
In short we're just moving the problems into someone else's backyard.
It's whimsical thinking but an early VW Beetle would be the ultimate DIY vehicle but a death trap from safety standards. Come to think it they were basically a four passenger go kart with a body.
The golf cart would be the simplest to service but one can't compare golf cart technology to a Tesla.
One of the biggest problems with technology is pollution. The percentage of easily recycled material in a 1940's vehicle is far greater than today with all the plastics. Early electronics were tube radios. They could be fixed by replacing a capacitor or resistor. Now they get scrapped because the labour to replace a micro component is too high. The practicality of making a replacement for an obsolete chip isn't there.
What does one do when an ignition module dies and someone else just bought the last one on earth? If it's a popular vehicle there might be aftermarket components but would the manufacturer use patents to stop the production?
Plastics are hard to de-polymerize. Steel gets melted down relatively easily with a fairly high energy cost. From a longevity standpoint plastics deteriorate over time while steel and wood last centuries if kept dry. So we're back to the horse and buggy with leather upholstery.
In short we're just moving the problems into someone else's backyard.
It's whimsical thinking but an early VW Beetle would be the ultimate DIY vehicle but a death trap from safety standards. Come to think it they were basically a four passenger go kart with a body.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
The Altima replaced a Q45 - that car the most reliable I can remember, It went 400k without a major repair. At 150k the Altima heading out of warranty, as it had already had several expensive warranty repairs, a couple that left me stranded for days.
Preemptive note - I did not read this entire thread.
My daughter bought a used 2010 Golf with light corrosion. We called Owasco VW in Whitby that directed us to Whitby Collison and Glass. They assessed within a couple of days of the call and got approval to do the repair within a few days of that. Vehicle was scheduled in about 90 days after the approval. From there everything was done on time and done well.
Perhaps call Whitby Collision and Glass directly. We really didn't need the referral from Owasco at all.
My daughter bought a used 2010 Golf with light corrosion. We called Owasco VW in Whitby that directed us to Whitby Collison and Glass. They assessed within a couple of days of the call and got approval to do the repair within a few days of that. Vehicle was scheduled in about 90 days after the approval. From there everything was done on time and done well.
Perhaps call Whitby Collision and Glass directly. We really didn't need the referral from Owasco at all.
Maybe they never tried a Toyota and like paying for maintenance.
2000 Echo with Manual transmission. Over 400K with the original clutch and tranny fluid. Motor never apart. Never changed the rad fluid. Plugs once but didn't need them. At the time best mileage (gas) short of a hybrid.
The echo/yaris was a decent little car. If you wanted something a little bigger though, you go into soul crushing boredom.
The most expensive car (for maintenance) my brother ever owned was a 201x corolla. He has owned some stinkers (ford and dodge trucks, hyundai accent, focus, etc) but the corolla blew them all out of the water. He was overjoyed when it was written off in a crash.
That's every car company now using that metric.
Using lightweight oils, low drag piston rings, and turbos to improve fuel economy means an engine is going to burn oil.
And since it's going to be either dropping a crate engine in it, or pay a tech to keep fiddling with it. The allotted oil consumption has been pegged sky high.
Soon every car is likely to have a low oil sensor. Just for other "improvements" coming for fuel economy.
I don't like the 1L/1000 km but that is common across many vehicles. It is interesting that manufacturers say service intervals are 15,000 km, engine has 5.5 L of oil and loss of 1L/1000 km is acceptable. That's BS. They know that the vast majority of their owners never open the hood. They should either drop the service interval or fix the oil loss.
Aren't some modern briggs and stratton engines advertising no oil changes? They have gone back to the old days of oil disappears and you just keep topping it up.
Actually currently driving an Echo lol. Will replace something on it every now and then, but it's 17 years old now and at 357K so I'm not gonna hold that against it. And all the parts are super cheap (changing the water pump in situ was a bit frustrating though). Have been thinking about something less austere but seems like COVID keeps pushing up the prices of anything I'd be interested in... so not in a hurry.
No idea what that means but I'm guessing "I don't understand good value when I see it"
manual or automatic. an automatic would be the definition of slug. it doesn't have much power but the stick let's you it all in one place.
Relax
Well-known member
I recommended the 2nd gen Lexus IS300 to my brother-in-law when he wanted to buy his first new car. It looked great on paper, and in my mind at the time Lexus was the king of Japanese reliability. But then within a year, the car was shutting off on the highway multiple times, and the dealer could never figure out what the problem was. He got rid of it and switched to a Mercedes C-class, and has been sticking with those for his past 3 cars. Obviously he hasn't had any issues, but then he changes cars every 3 years or so and never runs out of warranty.
Relax
Well-known member
If I were to boil down the biggest problem with any vehicle ownership, I'd say it's the dealership service department. Most products are pretty good these days, but if you end up at a bad dealer, they'll either milk you or break stuff trying to fix something else. I always make it a point to find out which dealerships have good service advisors as well as which mechanics are good, and only deal with them when I have to.
Manual... though I do wonder sometimes about how bad could the automatic actually be. First gear is pretty short, combined with a torque convertor you could just about drop it entirely... but on paper at least the auto is slower than I'd be willing to deal with.
The thing I find really interesting about the Echo is how long Toyota kept using the 1NZ-FE. Toyota sold it in North America nearly unchanged for almost 20 years... though it doesn't do as well when you add 500lbs to the car lol. You DEFINITELY notice the difference when you are driving with passengers
Haha, growing up my dad normally had 50 hp diesels. You'd turn off the A/C every time you had to make a left turn as it significantly impaired acceleration.
My last car was a 2011 VW Golf 2.5. It was last of the Golfs that were made in Germany . Not sure if that matters much. But I had almost 300,000 kms on it when I traded it in. For the most part the car was extremely reliable. Just basic maintenance over the years. No surprises until just before I decided to trade it in. The wiper motor went. That was over $1,200 for the part alone. On a repair that took 15 min. So although the car was great. Once things start to go. You have to get rid of them. Parts are crazy expensive.
My paint and body work still looked immaculate. Everyone though the car was only a few years old.,In comparison. My friend had the exact same car and year. His is rusted all over. As others have explained although VW says they have a 10 year rust warranty etc. They make the process soo time consuming they hope the owners will just give up or get another vehicle.
My next car is a Toyota . Although my experience with VW was good. I just don't have any faith in any of their current products. They became really cheap cars that cost too much for what you get and are too expensive once warranty is up.
My paint and body work still looked immaculate. Everyone though the car was only a few years old.,In comparison. My friend had the exact same car and year. His is rusted all over. As others have explained although VW says they have a 10 year rust warranty etc. They make the process soo time consuming they hope the owners will just give up or get another vehicle.
My next car is a Toyota . Although my experience with VW was good. I just don't have any faith in any of their current products. They became really cheap cars that cost too much for what you get and are too expensive once warranty is up.
A free Echo would be a good value. Problem is, it would be on the list of cars that my friends would be instructed to kill me if I pulled into their driveway in one.
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