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O/T: Time Will Tell
I have a 1999 Toyota Tacoma P/U truck with 128,000 miles on it.
Today it started running "Rough" so stopped by my mechanic to have it checked out. Turns out that a spark plug wire had shorted out. An after market set of four (4) wires were $48 while wires from Toyota were $83. Looks like a straight forward decision, after market parts are the way to go, but there is one more piece of information that is needed to be known. The original wires lasted 90,000 miles with no problems when they were changed out with an after market set of wires which only lasted 38,000 before failure. Based on that information, the Toyota set of wires for $83 looks like the best deal, and they were installed. Time will tell if I made the correct decision. Lew |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On Mon, 23 Dec 2013 17:50:22 -0800, "Lew Hodgett"
wrote: I have a 1999 Toyota Tacoma P/U truck with 128,000 miles on it. Today it started running "Rough" so stopped by my mechanic to have it checked out. Turns out that a spark plug wire had shorted out. An after market set of four (4) wires were $48 while wires from Toyota were $83. Looks like a straight forward decision, after market parts are the way to go, but there is one more piece of information that is needed to be known. The original wires lasted 90,000 miles with no problems when they were changed out with an after market set of wires which only lasted 38,000 before failure. Based on that information, the Toyota set of wires for $83 looks like the best deal, and they were installed. Time will tell if I made the correct decision. I had a '93 Eagle Vision TsI that threw a set of wires every fall[*]. The difference between the aftermarket and OEM wires was ~$20 ($80 vs. $100, IIRC). The kicker was that *every* brand of aftermarket wire had insulators that were 1/4" too long. The OEM ones fit. Every year I'd go through the game of trying to convince the guys at the parts stores that their wires really didn't fit ("See! "They're TOO LONG!"). [*] Turns out that the plug gap spec on the engine label was wrong. It specified a .062" gap, which I thought was a little big, but "what the heck...". The gap *should* have been .035". Doubling the spark wasn't doing the wires any good. :-( |
O/T: Time Will Tell
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O/T: Time Will Tell
On 12/23/2013 8:50 PM, Lew Hodgett wrote:
I have a 1999 Toyota Tacoma P/U truck with 128,000 miles on it. Geez you don't drive much. My 2004 cars are over 190k. My 2010 is at 64k... and that's with lots of unemployed time. Today it started running "Rough" so stopped by my mechanic to have it checked out. Turns out that a spark plug wire had shorted out. An after market set of four (4) wires were $48 while wires from Toyota were $83. Looks like a straight forward decision, after market parts are the way to go, but there is one more piece of information that is needed to be known. The original wires lasted 90,000 miles with no problems when they were changed out with an after market set of wires which only lasted 38,000 before failure. Based on that information, the Toyota set of wires for $83 looks like the best deal, and they were installed. Time will tell if I made the correct decision. Lew -- Jeff |
O/T: Time Will Tell
"woodchucker" wrote: Geez you don't drive much. My 2004 cars are over 190k. ------------------------------------------------------------ After averaging 35-40,000 miles/year for over 35 years, I retired. Today, I drive less than 2,000 miles/year and don't miss it at all. Lew |
O/T: Time Will Tell
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O/T: Time Will Tell
On Mon, 23 Dec 2013 23:18:28 -0500, wrote:
On Mon, 23 Dec 2013 22:07:08 -0500, woodchucker wrote: On 12/23/2013 9:35 PM, wrote: On Mon, 23 Dec 2013 17:50:22 -0800, "Lew Hodgett" wrote: I have a 1999 Toyota Tacoma P/U truck with 128,000 miles on it. Today it started running "Rough" so stopped by my mechanic to have it checked out. Turns out that a spark plug wire had shorted out. An after market set of four (4) wires were $48 while wires from Toyota were $83. Looks like a straight forward decision, after market parts are the way to go, but there is one more piece of information that is needed to be known. The original wires lasted 90,000 miles with no problems when they were changed out with an after market set of wires which only lasted 38,000 before failure. Based on that information, the Toyota set of wires for $83 looks like the best deal, and they were installed. Time will tell if I made the correct decision. I had a '93 Eagle Vision TsI that threw a set of wires every fall[*]. The difference between the aftermarket and OEM wires was ~$20 ($80 vs. $100, IIRC). The kicker was that *every* brand of aftermarket wire had insulators that were 1/4" too long. The OEM ones fit. Every year I'd go through the game of trying to convince the guys at the parts stores that their wires really didn't fit ("See! "They're TOO LONG!"). [*] Turns out that the plug gap spec on the engine label was wrong. It specified a .062" gap, which I thought was a little big, but "what the heck...". The gap *should* have been .035". Doubling the spark wasn't doing the wires any good. :-( Typical American ****box, they couldn't even get the label right. Certainly not typical. Chrysler makes a special class of **** box. Actually I think it's Fiat now. But yeah, it's a **** box. |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On Mon, 23 Dec 2013 21:39:32 -0500, "Mike Marlow"
I buy a lot of after market parts, but there are big differences in quality in the aftermarket. If you know the quality of the stuff you're getting, there's nothing but savings in it for you, but if you don't - it's a crap shoot. It can be hard to get specs on some stuff - like plug wires. Some places like NAPA can tell you the insulation thickness, material, wire guage, etc. of some of their better stuff, but if you can't find that out... Sounds to me like you've just convinced yourself to buy Festool. Evil Grin |
O/T: Time Will Tell
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O/T: Time Will Tell
"Lew Hodgett" wrote:
I have a 1999 Toyota Tacoma P/U truck with 128,000 miles on it. Today it started running "Rough" so stopped by my mechanic to have it checked out. Turns out that a spark plug wire had shorted out. An after market set of four (4) wires were $48 while wires from Toyota were $83. Looks like a straight forward decision, after market parts are the way to go, but there is one more piece of information that is needed to be known. The original wires lasted 90,000 miles with no problems when they were changed out with an after market set of wires which only lasted 38,000 before failure. Based on that information, the Toyota set of wires for $83 looks like the best deal, and they were installed. Time will tell if I made the correct decision. Lew There is a reason that Toyota is one of the most reliable brand vehicles on the planet. Toyota does not use after market parts to manufacture their vehicles. I think you made the right decision Lew. Other brand vehicles, maybe not. I in another life made my living exclusively with selling parts and repairs and warranty work on GM vehicles. When I was the service sales manager for an Olds dealer I was once advised by the Oldsmobile service hot line to use aftermarket parts to solve a brake problem on a customers vehicle while it was still under warranty. Our warranty department literally had hundreds of parts, replaced under warranty, waiting to be inspected by an Olds service rep. Our next door Toyota dealer had 3 items waiting to be inspected. Our latest Toyota vehicle that my wife drives has about 15,000 miles on it and is 16 months old. We have yet to have any warranty work performed on it. |
O/T: Time Will Tell
wrote:
On Mon, 23 Dec 2013 17:50:22 -0800, "Lew Hodgett" wrote: I have a 1999 Toyota Tacoma P/U truck with 128,000 miles on it. Today it started running "Rough" so stopped by my mechanic to have it checked out. Turns out that a spark plug wire had shorted out. An after market set of four (4) wires were $48 while wires from Toyota were $83. Looks like a straight forward decision, after market parts are the way to go, but there is one more piece of information that is needed to be known. The original wires lasted 90,000 miles with no problems when they were changed out with an after market set of wires which only lasted 38,000 before failure. Based on that information, the Toyota set of wires for $83 looks like the best deal, and they were installed. Time will tell if I made the correct decision. I had a '93 Eagle Vision TsI that threw a set of wires every fall[*]. The difference between the aftermarket and OEM wires was ~$20 ($80 vs. $100, IIRC). The kicker was that *every* brand of aftermarket wire had insulators that were 1/4" too long. The OEM ones fit. Every year I'd go through the game of trying to convince the guys at the parts stores that their wires really didn't fit ("See! "They're TOO LONG!"). [*] Turns out that the plug gap spec on the engine label was wrong. It specified a .062" gap, which I thought was a little big, but "what the heck...". The gap *should* have been .035". Doubling the spark wasn't doing the wires any good. :-( It "threw" a set of wires??? |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On 12/24/2013 4:56 AM, Leon wrote:
Our latest Toyota vehicle that my wife drives has about 15,000 miles on it and is 16 months old. We have yet to have any warranty work performed on it. on my third Hyundai Sonata since 2007. First two had 70k, present is 30k. No warranty work. Meantime my Buick was just falling apart in the driveway. |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On 12/24/2013 7:24 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 12/24/2013 4:56 AM, Leon wrote: Our latest Toyota vehicle that my wife drives has about 15,000 miles on it and is 16 months old. We have yet to have any warranty work performed on it. on my third Hyundai Sonata since 2007. First two had 70k, present is 30k. No warranty work. Meantime my Buick was just falling apart in the driveway. I had a 1976 Dodge Aspen I got 200k on it before I got rid of it. I have had a 52 Ford, a 68 Buick, 73 Buick, and several GM vans, and never had less than 150 miles on any or them. I have never had any problems except batteries, tires, and a couple of alternators. I consider a car with 70k just broke in and ready for the next 100k of trouble free driving. |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On 12/24/2013 3:06 AM, Bill wrote:
wrote: On Mon, 23 Dec 2013 21:39:32 -0500, "Mike Marlow" I buy a lot of after market parts, but there are big differences in quality in the aftermarket. If you know the quality of the stuff you're getting, there's nothing but savings in it for you, but if you don't - it's a crap shoot. It can be hard to get specs on some stuff - like plug wires. Some places like NAPA can tell you the insulation thickness, material, wire guage, etc. of some of their better stuff, but if you can't find that out... Sounds to me like you've just convinced yourself to buy Festool. Evil Grin Speaking of higher prices, I received the 2014 Grizzly catalog today and they are. Even higher than the regular prices shown at their web site. I can't blame them, but gee... I was looking at their web site and thought the prices were higher than the past. They are starting to price themselves at higher end pricing. Not yet at the prices for jet but getting there. -- Jeff |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On 12/24/2013 3:56 AM, Leon wrote:
Our latest Toyota vehicle that my wife drives has about 15,000 miles on it and is 16 months old. We have yet to have any warranty work performed on it. Not bad, since you only drive it to WoodCraft for Festools. (g,d&r -- eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net google.com/+KarlCaillouet http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/ KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious) |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On 12/24/2013 7:56 AM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
I consider a car with 70k just broke in and ready for the next 100k of trouble free driving. At 70k my Buick was not broken in, just broke. Transmission, heated seat, climate control, brake lines, dash lights, steering wheel controls and more. Had I known you loved cars like that I'd have given it to you. I did give it away as I felt it unethical to sell it. At two years and 40k miles the seat heater burned out. To have it fixed, dealer wanted $672 to replace the entire seat bottom, not just the element. Since it was under the 3 years but over the miles, I asked GM for some help. They would give me $500 off if I bought a new car. Last GM car for me. |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On 12/24/2013 9:29 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 12/24/2013 7:56 AM, Keith Nuttle wrote: I consider a car with 70k just broke in and ready for the next 100k of trouble free driving. At 70k my Buick was not broken in, just broke. Transmission, heated seat, climate control, brake lines, dash lights, steering wheel controls and more. Had I known you loved cars like that I'd have given it to you. I did give it away as I felt it unethical to sell it. At two years and 40k miles the seat heater burned out. To have it fixed, dealer wanted $672 to replace the entire seat bottom, not just the element. Since it was under the 3 years but over the miles, I asked GM for some help. They would give me $500 off if I bought a new car. Last GM car for me. FWIW, I, being an ex Olds service manager, still see the things that went wrong in the 80's still being built the same way in the current vehicles. This is especially true on interiors. Same cheap crap. When we bought our last Toyota in August of last year I had a heck of an incentive to buy a Buick. The new car sales manager at the dealership is a customer of mine and he offered me a deal that was hard to turn down. AND on top of that I had an additional $2300 credit on my old GM credit card to take off of the total agreed to price. The Buick was going to be approximately $5000 less than the Camry that we bought. And we got to take the Buick home for 24 hours as a test drive. Actually that test drive is probably why we did not buy the car. |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On 12/24/2013 10:29 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 12/24/2013 7:56 AM, Keith Nuttle wrote: I consider a car with 70k just broke in and ready for the next 100k of trouble free driving. At 70k my Buick was not broken in, just broke. Transmission, heated seat, climate control, brake lines, dash lights, steering wheel controls and more. Had I known you loved cars like that I'd have given it to you. I did give it away as I felt it unethical to sell it. At two years and 40k miles the seat heater burned out. To have it fixed, dealer wanted $672 to replace the entire seat bottom, not just the element. Since it was under the 3 years but over the miles, I asked GM for some help. They would give me $500 off if I bought a new car. Last GM car for me. When I was youn I built a Camaro race car, I raced it at a road racing track. not an oval. I also bought a used BMW 2002.. I never went back to American after that. When I opened the engine, there was a major difference in machine work. Americans were like clunkers and the BMW was all machined.. Same with the Honda. I went to Honda's next for quite a while until I had a problem with undersize brakes and they kept telling me that no one had that problem.. During a Honda club meeting everyone was complaining about it. That was my last Honda, as there way of dealing with the problem was to say it wasn't happening. My wheel would shake violently from undersize rotors heating up. I have been in Toyota's camp for a while now.. they are not perfect either.. But it's been a solid vehichle .... the last 4 have been very good. I used to compete against many of the engineers for GM and Chrysler at the nationals.. They explained how Toyotas and Hondas fell apart in the first couple of months.. I asked them if they had ever been in one.. They would never step foot in one. I told them they would never understand, and as engineers they should rent one to understand, give it a month... Very closed minds, and that's why our car makers lost the Car battle.. In order to know the competition sometimes you need to embrace them... in their case they just assumed they were better. -- Jeff |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On 12/24/2013 10:43 AM, Leon wrote:
On 12/24/2013 9:29 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote: On 12/24/2013 7:56 AM, Keith Nuttle wrote: I consider a car with 70k just broke in and ready for the next 100k of trouble free driving. At 70k my Buick was not broken in, just broke. Transmission, heated seat, climate control, brake lines, dash lights, steering wheel controls and more. Had I known you loved cars like that I'd have given it to you. I did give it away as I felt it unethical to sell it. At two years and 40k miles the seat heater burned out. To have it fixed, dealer wanted $672 to replace the entire seat bottom, not just the element. Since it was under the 3 years but over the miles, I asked GM for some help. They would give me $500 off if I bought a new car. Last GM car for me. FWIW, I, being an ex Olds service manager, still see the things that went wrong in the 80's still being built the same way in the current vehicles. This is especially true on interiors. Same cheap crap. When we bought our last Toyota in August of last year I had a heck of an incentive to buy a Buick. The new car sales manager at the dealership is a customer of mine and he offered me a deal that was hard to turn down. AND on top of that I had an additional $2300 credit on my old GM credit card to take off of the total agreed to price. The Buick was going to be approximately $5000 less than the Camry that we bought. And we got to take the Buick home for 24 hours as a test drive. Actually that test drive is probably why we did not buy the car. My sister has a Buick, I too have a Camry, when taking a ride in their car, I could not believe how bad a pot hole felt. My Camry on that same pothole barely notices. The setup on the suspension for the American cars is still lacking. My Camry SE handles way better than that Buick... night and day different. -- Jeff |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On Tue, 24 Dec 2013 04:00:58 -0600, Leon wrote:
wrote: On Mon, 23 Dec 2013 17:50:22 -0800, "Lew Hodgett" wrote: I have a 1999 Toyota Tacoma P/U truck with 128,000 miles on it. Today it started running "Rough" so stopped by my mechanic to have it checked out. Turns out that a spark plug wire had shorted out. An after market set of four (4) wires were $48 while wires from Toyota were $83. Looks like a straight forward decision, after market parts are the way to go, but there is one more piece of information that is needed to be known. The original wires lasted 90,000 miles with no problems when they were changed out with an after market set of wires which only lasted 38,000 before failure. Based on that information, the Toyota set of wires for $83 looks like the best deal, and they were installed. Time will tell if I made the correct decision. I had a '93 Eagle Vision TsI that threw a set of wires every fall[*]. The difference between the aftermarket and OEM wires was ~$20 ($80 vs. $100, IIRC). The kicker was that *every* brand of aftermarket wire had insulators that were 1/4" too long. The OEM ones fit. Every year I'd go through the game of trying to convince the guys at the parts stores that their wires really didn't fit ("See! "They're TOO LONG!"). [*] Turns out that the plug gap spec on the engine label was wrong. It specified a .062" gap, which I thought was a little big, but "what the heck...". The gap *should* have been .035". Doubling the spark wasn't doing the wires any good. :-( It "threw" a set of wires??? Ate them? Um, they "failed"? |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On Tue, 24 Dec 2013 03:56:25 -0600, Leon wrote:
"Lew Hodgett" wrote: I have a 1999 Toyota Tacoma P/U truck with 128,000 miles on it. Today it started running "Rough" so stopped by my mechanic to have it checked out. Turns out that a spark plug wire had shorted out. An after market set of four (4) wires were $48 while wires from Toyota were $83. Looks like a straight forward decision, after market parts are the way to go, but there is one more piece of information that is needed to be known. The original wires lasted 90,000 miles with no problems when they were changed out with an after market set of wires which only lasted 38,000 before failure. Based on that information, the Toyota set of wires for $83 looks like the best deal, and they were installed. Time will tell if I made the correct decision. Lew There is a reason that Toyota is one of the most reliable brand vehicles on the planet. Toyota does not use after market parts to manufacture their vehicles. I think you made the right decision Lew. Other brand vehicles, maybe not. Huh? 1) The parts an OEM uses to manufacture their cars are, by definition, NOT "after market". 2) Toyota does not manufacture all of their parts, themselves. They buy from the same "Tier-1" companies as everyone else. I in another life made my living exclusively with selling parts and repairs and warranty work on GM vehicles. When I was the service sales manager for an Olds dealer I was once advised by the Oldsmobile service hot line to use aftermarket parts to solve a brake problem on a customers vehicle while it was still under warranty. Our warranty department literally had hundreds of parts, replaced under warranty, waiting to be inspected by an Olds service rep. Our next door Toyota dealer had 3 items waiting to be inspected. Our latest Toyota vehicle that my wife drives has about 15,000 miles on it and is 16 months old. We have yet to have any warranty work performed on it. That's not surprising. I'm sure there is even a Chrysler, out there somewhere, that's a couple of years old that hasn't had warranty work done on it. |
O/T: Time Will Tell
"Lew Hodgett" wrote: I have a 1999 Toyota Tacoma P/U truck with 128,000 miles on it. Today it started running "Rough" so stopped by my mechanic to have it checked out. Turns out that a spark plug wire had shorted out. An after market set of four (4) wires were $48 while wires from Toyota were $83. Looks like a straight forward decision, after market parts are the way to go, but there is one more piece of information that is needed to be known. The original wires lasted 90,000 miles with no problems when they were changed out with an after market set of wires which only lasted 38,000 before failure. Based on that information, the Toyota set of wires for $83 looks like the best deal, and they were installed. Time will tell if I made the correct decision. Lew ------------------------------------------------------- "Leon" wrote: There is a reason that Toyota is one of the most reliable brand vehicles on the planet. Toyota does not use after market parts to manufacture their vehicles. I think you made the right decision Lew. Other brand vehicles, maybe not. ------------------------------------------------------------- I'm coming to the conclusion that if you plan to keep the vehicle, use genuine replacement parts. OTOH, if you do not plan to keep the vehicle, use after market parts and pass potential short wear life on to the next owner. After all, it is the seller not the buyer who probably knows the true value of an item. Lew |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On Mon, 23 Dec 2013 17:50:22 -0800, Lew Hodgett wrote:
The original wires lasted 90,000 miles with no problems when they were changed out with an after market set of wires which only lasted 38,000 before failure. While it's most likely that the 2nd set were of lesser quality, there's also the possibility that the aging of the entire electrical system might have had an effect. -- This message was for rec.woodworking - if it appears in homeownershub they ripped it off. |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On Tue, 24 Dec 2013 12:27:34 -0500, krw wrote:
That's not surprising. I'm sure there is even a Chrysler, out there somewhere, that's a couple of years old that hasn't had warranty work done on it. We bought a 2006 PT Cruiser in 2007 that had 18,000 miles on it. We've still got it. The dealer replaced the leaky rear seal (a known problem) before he'd let us buy it. Other than normal maintenance, only thing replaced has been the front brakes at around 50,000. Mileage is now around 60,000 mostly city miles with a lot of stop and go driving. We're pretty happy with the car. I see a lot of them on the road and very few in the for sale ads. The owners must like them. So of course Chrysler stopped making them :-). BTW, with the seats folded down I can carry 8' lumber - one of the reasons I selected it. -- This message was for rec.woodworking - if it appears in homeownershub they ripped it off. |
O/T: Time Will Tell
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 12/24/2013 7:56 AM, Keith Nuttle wrote: I consider a car with 70k just broke in and ready for the next 100k of trouble free driving. At 70k my Buick was not broken in, just broke. Transmission, heated seat, climate control, brake lines, dash lights, steering wheel controls and more. Had I known you loved cars like that I'd have given it to you. I did give it away as I felt it unethical to sell it. At two years and 40k miles the seat heater burned out. To have it fixed, dealer wanted $672 to replace the entire seat bottom, not just the element. Since it was under the 3 years but over the miles, I asked GM for some help. They would give me $500 off if I bought a new car. Last GM car for me. Likewise - after more than 20 years as a died in the wool GM guy, I finally bought a Hyundai for my wife. Imagine my surprise when over the miles and over the years, I did not have to crawl under the car or under the roof to keep making "routine" repairs as I did with all of my previous GM cars. I did have to replace the brake lines at a point but you can't avoid that in the rust belt. Beyond that - only a brake job every year and a half or so. No alternators. No wheel bearings. No crank sensors. No intake manifold gaskets. I could go on and on. Bottom line - a far more trouble free car than ANY of the GM's I've ever owned. My GM's were all top end cars - Buick's, Pontiac's and one not top end... Chevy (car). As far as I am concerned - GM can suck a root. I think it was unfortunate that we bailed out a company like that. We should have let them suffer the consequences of their own actions. But - now we're saddled with them longer. No problem - the market will take care of that issue... -- -Mike- |
O/T: Time Will Tell
Leon wrote:
The Buick was going to be approximately $5000 less than the Camry that we bought. And we got to take the Buick home for 24 hours as a test drive. Actually that test drive is probably why we did not buy the car. Isn't that just a shame? A once legendary badge, and now it is just a piece of ****. -- -Mike- |
O/T: Time Will Tell
wrote:
On Tue, 24 Dec 2013 03:56:25 -0600, Leon wrote: Our latest Toyota vehicle that my wife drives has about 15,000 miles on it and is 16 months old. We have yet to have any warranty work performed on it. That's not surprising. I'm sure there is even a Chrysler, out there somewhere, that's a couple of years old that hasn't had warranty work done on it. I agree. I do not consider 15,000 miles or 16 months of age to be any sort of endorsment of anything. Might just as well say "I just picked up my new car today, and I haven't had a single problem yet..." -- -Mike- |
O/T: Time Will Tell
Mike Marlow wrote:
Leon wrote: The Buick was going to be approximately $5000 less than the Camry that we bought. And we got to take the Buick home for 24 hours as a test drive. Actually that test drive is probably why we did not buy the car. Isn't that just a shame? A once legendary badge, and now it is just a piece of ****. I thought it was interesting (strange) when Buick dropped virtually all of their old models, to introduce new ones ( LaCrosse, etc.). I think Regal is the only one they kept (but I could be mistaken). I've almost owned one of each. I didn't know there was that much difference between the Camry. I'll look closer at it next time. Being tall, but not unusually so, always seems to limit my choices. |
O/T: Time Will Tell
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O/T: Time Will Tell
Lew Hodgett wrote:
I'm coming to the conclusion that if you plan to keep the vehicle, use genuine replacement parts. That really depends on the manufacturer. I've found many - very many, aftermarkete parts that were far superior to the OEM stuff. Can't really boil that down to who/what/when/where, but I can say that one should not simply assume that OEM is better. Too much evidence against that. -- -Mike- |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On 12/24/2013 1:56 PM, Mike Marlow wrote:
Lew Hodgett wrote: I'm coming to the conclusion that if you plan to keep the vehicle, use genuine replacement parts. That really depends on the manufacturer. I've found many - very many, aftermarkete parts that were far superior to the OEM stuff. Can't really boil that down to who/what/when/where, but I can say that one should not simply assume that OEM is better. Too much evidence against that. You can assume the price is higher though. Some aftermarket parts are identical to the OEM, but you don't always know that |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On 12/24/2013 1:53 PM, Bill wrote:
I do not consider 15,000 miles or 16 months of age to be any sort of endorsment of anything. Might just as well say "I just picked up my new car today, and I haven't had a single problem yet..." When we were married 46 years ago my future brother in law told me that I would soon have to replace my 68 Buick with 100k, I got rid of it when it hit 170k, because I wanted a new car. Unless a car is a piece of garbage, any car should give at lease 100k trouble free miles. That mileage should be in all kinds of conditions, over 70mph on hours Interstates and days driving around town. When my 76 Aspen had over 100k I started to use it for a weekly commute on I-95 from Carolina to Maryland. I was putting on about 500 miles per week, I got rid of that car when it hit 200k If you drive a car 5 to 10 miles per day any car will fail as the engines never get up to their designed operating temperatures that keep the engine and systems clean. The muffler system and other parts never get hot enough to dry them out, and the water collects and rust the systems. Gaskets dry out and fail as they never get completely lubricated. Bottom line there is nothing to brag about if your car has less the 100k. |
O/T: Time Will Tell
Lew Hodgett wrote: I'm coming to the conclusion that if you plan to keep the vehicle, use genuine replacement parts. --------------------------------------------------------- Mike Marlow wrote: That really depends on the manufacturer. I've found many - very many, aftermarkete parts that were far superior to the OEM stuff. Can't really boil that down to who/what/when/where, but I can say that one should not simply assume that OEM is better. Too much evidence against that. ---------------------------------------------------------- "Ed Pawlowski" wrote: You can assume the price is higher though. Some aftermarket parts are identical to the OEM, but you don't always know that ----------------------------------------------------- Points of clarification. I don't have to make enough repairs to make it worth investing in the research necessary to evaluate after market parts. Rather I choose to invest in a mechanic who is knowledgeable. My mechanic is an old fart who makes a living rebuilding hot rods. I trust him. That said, there are private label items I buy on a regular basis. Due to the weather here in SoCal, I install a fresh set of house brand windshield wiper blades around Oct 15, which is about 2-3 weeks before the start of the rainy season. Most of the rain has fallen by Mar 1. After that, the weather warms up and the sun spends the next 6 months turning the wiper blades into a brittle junk. When I did my own oil changes, used house brand filters and Valvoline oil. These days, get an oil change in January from whoever has the $19.99 special that week. Hoses are the house brand except for the molded top and bottom radiator hoses which are by the manufacturer. I buy the 2nd level house brand tires in pairs. Put the new tires on the front, rotate the fronts to the rear, remove the rears saving the best as a spare. The four (4) Schrader valves on the air conditioning system are always from the manufacturer. Learned that lesson the hard way. When it's time to flush the radiator, get a complete drain, not the cut the corner special that leaves the block not flushed. Depend on the mechanic to replace with compatable fluids. As you can see, it depends, but when it's truly important, tend to stick with manufacturer supplied parts. Again, will have to wait and see if that was a good choice in this case. Lew |
O/T: Time Will Tell
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 12/24/2013 1:56 PM, Mike Marlow wrote: Lew Hodgett wrote: I'm coming to the conclusion that if you plan to keep the vehicle, use genuine replacement parts. That really depends on the manufacturer. I've found many - very many, aftermarkete parts that were far superior to the OEM stuff. Can't really boil that down to who/what/when/where, but I can say that one should not simply assume that OEM is better. Too much evidence against that. You can assume the price is higher though. Some aftermarket parts are identical to the OEM, but you don't always know that Agreed. -- -Mike- |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On 12/24/2013 11:49 AM, Bill wrote:
Mike Marlow wrote: Leon wrote: The Buick was going to be approximately $5000 less than the Camry that we bought. And we got to take the Buick home for 24 hours as a test drive. Actually that test drive is probably why we did not buy the car. Isn't that just a shame? A once legendary badge, and now it is just a piece of ****. I thought it was interesting (strange) when Buick dropped virtually all of their old models, to introduce new ones ( LaCrosse, etc.). I think Regal is the only one they kept (but I could be mistaken). I've almost owned one of each. I didn't know there was that much difference between the Camry. I'll look closer at it next time. Being tall, but not unusually so, always seems to limit my choices. I'm 6'2" and the most headroom I've had in any car was my 1970 Beetle. -- "Socialism is a philosophy of failure,the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery" -Winston Churchill |
O/T: Time Will Tell
Keith Nuttle wrote:
On 12/24/2013 1:53 PM, Bill wrote: I do not consider 15,000 miles or 16 months of age to be any sort of endorsment of anything. Might just as well say "I just picked up my new car today, and I haven't had a single problem yet..." When we were married 46 years ago my future brother in law told me that I would soon have to replace my 68 Buick with 100k, I got rid of it when it hit 170k, because I wanted a new car. Unless a car is a piece of garbage, any car should give at lease 100k trouble free miles. That mileage should be in all kinds of conditions, over 70mph on hours Interstates and days driving around town. When my 76 Aspen had over 100k I started to use it for a weekly commute on I-95 from Carolina to Maryland. I was putting on about 500 miles per week, I got rid of that car when it hit 200k If you drive a car 5 to 10 miles per day any car will fail as the engines never get up to their designed operating temperatures that keep the engine and systems clean. The muffler system and other parts never get hot enough to dry them out, and the water collects and rust the systems. Gaskets dry out and fail as they never get completely lubricated. Bottom line there is nothing to brag about if your car has less the 100k. While I agree that today's cars generally can be expected to give over 200K miles of near maintenance free service (besides the normal wear stuff), that most certainly could not have been expected of cars 15 years ago in the rust belt. There's a lot more at work on a car in the northeast than what you experience down there in the mid-atlantic. You guys have always enjoyed longer lived cars down there than what we experienced up here. I realize you're not really saying that everyone everywhere should see the kind of life you have experienced - more just pointing out the differences. I do agree - anything under 100K is a yawn these days. Actually - anything under 200k is a yawn these days. -- -Mike- |
O/T: Time Will Tell
Mike Marlow wrote:
Ed Pawlowski wrote: On 12/24/2013 1:56 PM, Mike Marlow wrote: Lew Hodgett wrote: I'm coming to the conclusion that if you plan to keep the vehicle, use genuine replacement parts. That really depends on the manufacturer. I've found many - very many, aftermarkete parts that were far superior to the OEM stuff. Can't really boil that down to who/what/when/where, but I can say that one should not simply assume that OEM is better. Too much evidence against that. You can assume the price is higher though. Some aftermarket parts are identical to the OEM, but you don't always know that Agreed. They charged me about $17 for a replacement knob for the radio. But gas was over $4/gallon at the time. I don't have the car anymore. But I haven't "forgiven" them yet. FWIW, I installed it myself. |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On Tue, 24 Dec 2013 18:04:47 +0000 (UTC), Larry Blanchard
wrote: On Tue, 24 Dec 2013 12:27:34 -0500, krw wrote: That's not surprising. I'm sure there is even a Chrysler, out there somewhere, that's a couple of years old that hasn't had warranty work done on it. We bought a 2006 PT Cruiser in 2007 that had 18,000 miles on it. We've still got it. The dealer replaced the leaky rear seal (a known problem) before he'd let us buy it. Other than normal maintenance, only thing replaced has been the front brakes at around 50,000. Mileage is now around 60,000 mostly city miles with a lot of stop and go driving. We're pretty happy with the car. I see a lot of them on the road and very few in the for sale ads. The owners must like them. So of course Chrysler stopped making them :-). BTW, with the seats folded down I can carry 8' lumber - one of the reasons I selected it. I could get 10' lumber in my Voyagers but they still sucked. Neither made it to 10 years or 100K miles. Neither did my Vision TSi or the Chrysler Intrepid. |
O/T: Time Will Tell
On Tue, 24 Dec 2013 13:43:03 -0500, "Mike Marlow"
wrote: wrote: On Tue, 24 Dec 2013 03:56:25 -0600, Leon wrote: Our latest Toyota vehicle that my wife drives has about 15,000 miles on it and is 16 months old. We have yet to have any warranty work performed on it. That's not surprising. I'm sure there is even a Chrysler, out there somewhere, that's a couple of years old that hasn't had warranty work done on it. I agree. I do not consider 15,000 miles or 16 months of age to be any sort of endorsment of anything. Might just as well say "I just picked up my new car today, and I haven't had a single problem yet..." OTOH, my wife's '14 Mustang was back in the shop 6 times (twice when we were on vacation), the first month we had it. They should have been able to fix it on the first try but they were obviously incompetent. They don't keep any parts on hand, so any service turns into at least two trips to the dealer. The convertible is a lot of fun to drive, though. ;-) |
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