Help me buy a new car (and what about cars and gender?)

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Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

No idea about reliability of the Range Rover. A friend has one and never seems to have any trouble. They have one advantage for your location--you sit really high in a Range Rover, I mean you look down on other suv's. Considering how many T-bone intersection crashes they have down your way, that might be a nice feature to have.

Cars (trucks, SUVs, etc), are often a matter of luck when it comes to reliability. So like your had good luck with your Corvettes, and I had bad, and your friend had good luck with his Rover and my friend had bad, it can be very random.

Maybe this is a major factor in why Japanese cars have such good reputations. They are built with total consistency. For example, all Hondas drive the same. British cars each have their own "personalities". Some people complain the Japanese cars lack "personality". I guess it is a matter of luck and preference when you get a car with it's own "personality". Certainly British cars are renowned for having their distinctive traits and "personalities". (I assume this is becoming less and less the case, but I have had British cars in the past, and you had to learn what they like....how to get the windshield wipers to work could be different car to car). I am sure that Nitro's soon to be delivered Enzo will have plenty of "personality" and need to be talked to. And I am sure no two Enzos will be alike.

RS

 

[max401]

Quote from Error 404:



Cars (trucks, SUVs, etc), are often a matter of luck when it comes to reliability.

... and preventive maintenance.

 

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Quote from max401:

... and preventive maintenance.

My wife accidently filled our Saab with diesel fuel. The car had to be towed to the dealership. The dealership gave us a brand new Jeep Grande Cherokee. We took it to the Keys for the weekend (figuring why take our Lexus and put the mileage on it).

Halfway there, I put the driver's side window down (to pay a toll). The window would not go up. But I found I was able to pull it up by grabbing the part of the glass that was still showing. I shoved a few packs of matches between the rubber and the glass to hold the window up.

So while maintaining a car (preventative maintenance) is always a good thing, sometimes just not buying a car is the best "preventative" measure there is.

When my wife wanted to get the Durango, I reminded her of that time with the Jeep. I told her she was going to buy another Chrysler product.

She said one thing had nothing to do with the other. It was just "bad luck" that we got a Jeep that had problems when it was brand new.

She of course was right. But I sincerely believe that the probability of that kind of problem arising in a new Japanese car are so remote as to be virtually non existent.

If it happened in her Durango, it would not have surprised me. If it happened in a new Rover it would not surprise me. If it happened with a new Japanese or German car, I would be shocked.

Peace,
RS

 

[LongShot]

why would she put diesal fuel in a Saab. thats not too bright .keep an eye on her ...she does it again,,, take her keys and make her walk..thats right

 

[vulture]

After going through that sales b.s., that the car salesman put you through(i.e. first salesman, second salesman, manager, president of sales, etc, etc..) which you pointed out a few posts ago, I decided a few years back to submit my bids for a car via a fax to about 4-5 dealers and let them make their counter-offer...Surprisingly, that worked very well and I did get the cost down about $5,000 under the list and a small percentage over the cost...In person, they would have tried any number of techniques to work around that, but through either fax, or possibly e-mail, I think it takes away that intimidation technique...

 

[LongShot]

Quote from vulture:

After going through that sales b.s., that the car salesman put you through(i.e. first salesman, second salesman, manager, president of sales, etc, etc..) which you pointed out a few posts ago, I decided a few years back to submit my bids for a car via a fax to about 4-5 dealers and let them make their counter-offer...Surprisingly, that worked very well and I did get the cost down about $5,000 under the list and a small percentage over the cost...In person, they would have tried any number of techniques to work around that, but through either fax, or possibly e-mail, I think it takes away that intimidation technique...

the first thing you do is your HOMEWORK. determine the BLUEBOOK, then what the dealer has in the car. (note: not the same thing)

then off them 100 bucks above that.

if they balk, walk.

f ck em!

:-/

 

[max401]

Quote from Error 404:



My wife accidently filled our Saab with diesel fuel. The car had to be towed to the dealership. The dealership gave us a brand new Jeep Grande Cherokee. We took it to the Keys for the weekend (figuring why take our Lexus and put the mileage on it).

Halfway there, I put the driver's side window down (to pay a toll). The window would not go up. But I found I was able to pull it up by grabbing the part of the glass that was still showing. I shoved a few packs of matches between the rubber and the glass to hold the window up.

So while maintaining a car (preventative maintenance) is always a good thing, sometimes just not buying a car is the best "preventative" measure there is.

When my wife wanted to get the Durango, I reminded her of that time with the Jeep. I told her she was going to buy another Chrysler product.

She said one thing had nothing to do with the other. It was just "bad luck" that we got a Jeep that had problems when it was brand new.

She of course was right. But I sincerely believe that the probability of that kind of problem arising in a new Japanese car are so remote as to be virtually non existent.

If it happened in her Durango, it would not have surprised me. If it happened in a new Rover it would not surprise me. If it happened with a new Japanese or German car, I would be shocked.

Peace,
RS

Did you ever happen to notice that the Lexus dealer has a lot less service bays than other brands?

 

[max401]

Quote from LongShot:



the first thing you do is your HOMEWORK. determine the BLUEBOOK, then what the dealer has in the car. (note: not the same thing)

then off them 100 bucks above that.

if they balk, walk.

f ck em!

:-/

Try that on a new Bimmer or Benz. What do you mean by "Bluebook?" That usually relates to used cars.

 

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Quote from LongShot:

why would she put diesel fuel in a Saab. thats not too bright .keep an eye on her ...she does it again,,, take her keys and make her walk..thats right

Yeah, it was an amazing thing. I was pretty certain that a diesel nozzle wouldn't even fit into a regular car's gas tank. But I went back to where she did it. A very bad set up.

It was at a Texaco station. The diesel pump was right with the gas pumps. And though it was a very lame move on her behalf, I found out that it has happened relatively frequently at that gas station.

The funny thing is I went to check it out, and the bank of pumps where they have the diesel was occupied by some woman. I walked over to where she was, and she was a at first a bit uncomfortable about me being right there. I explained to her why I was looking, and what happened. She told me she had done the exact same thing my wife did at that same place.

Bad configuration. . Most places have diesel separate from gasoline. And yeah, the hose nozzle fits right into the gas tank.

And as good and as accommodating as the Saab dealership was, they did charge me something like $500 to drain the diesel fuel from the tank, the motor, and the crank case. And change the oil and oil filter. They told me that I was actually kind of lucky.....the paraffin in diesel fuel prevented any large amount of fuel getting past the fuel filter and really doing a lot of damage to the motor.

Peace,
RS

 

[LongShot]

hey,,,

hi