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  • #16
    I'm pretty lucky that I must go to a really good GM dealership where I personally know most of the guys who work there. Of course they'll overcharge the hell out of a person, but the other mechanics around here just can't get you the parts you need as quickly.

    I don't enjoy spending that much money, mind, but I have no other option without a backup vechile
    You really need to see a neurologist. - Wagegoth

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    • #17
      Quoth protege View Post
      Why the dealer didn't do that in the first place, I'll never know!
      Because he was getting paid to do it by the auto company. No incentive to prevent a repeat visit.
      Life: Reality TV for deities. - dalesys

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      • #18
        Quoth wolfie View Post
        the Peterbilt of Natural Selection .
        I'm not sure why this struck me as so funny, but I laughed really hard when I read this. It has to be one of the funniest truck nicknames I've ever heard.
        At the conclusion of an Irish wedding, the priest said "Everybody please hug the person who has made your life worth living. The bartender was nearly crushed to death.

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        • #19
          Quoth mathnerd View Post
          I'm not sure why this struck me as so funny, but I laughed really hard when I read this. It has to be one of the funniest truck nicknames I've ever heard.
          The name derives from the same root as the Darwin Awards - if you've seen how 4-wheelers drive around big rigs, despite the consequences in the event of a collision, you'd know why I chose it.
          Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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          • #20
            Quoth wolfie View Post
            The name derives from the same root as the Darwin Awards - if you've seen how 4-wheelers drive around big rigs, despite the consequences in the event of a collision, you'd know why I chose it.
            I've ridden along with an OTR driver and those experiences are probably why it struck me as so funny, though we'd have to call his truck the Kenworth of Natural Selection. While I've seen some remarkably stupid stuff while driving my own car, it pales to what I saw while he was driving his truck. I'm honestly surprised how often y'all come so very close to accidents due to the idiotic 4-wheelers on the road.
            Last edited by mathnerd; 09-01-2013, 04:50 AM.
            At the conclusion of an Irish wedding, the priest said "Everybody please hug the person who has made your life worth living. The bartender was nearly crushed to death.

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            • #21
              Quoth Dave1982 View Post
              So this is going to cost me $1950 to fix......

              Actually, when the dealer called me back (after 4PM....) they started rattling off a whole bunch of stuff besides the noise issue. I don't know if all dealers do this, but the two different Honda dealers I've dealt with over the years both do it. When you bring in a car to have a problem diagnosed (as opposed to specifying exactly what service you need) they charge $109 for a full vehicle check and go over everything. So for instance if you go in with an oil leak, they're going to check the brakes, steering, suspension, exhaust and everything else under the sun, even though those systems have nothing to do with an oil leak.
              My local VW dealership did that to me. They came back with over $7000 worth of "repairs" that were "needed" when all I wanted was for them to find an oil leak and change out a taillight. So we had them put everything back together and found an import specialist who was able to find the leak and plug it for much, much less money.

              I do not trust dealerships because they pull this kind of crap.
              I am no longer of capable of the emotion you humans call “compassion”. Though I can feign it in exchange for an hourly wage. (Gravekeeper)

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              • #22
                Quoth mhkohne View Post
                Because he was getting paid to do it by the auto company. No incentive to prevent a repeat visit.
                Maybe...but if they did that to all of their customers, it's no wonder they're out of business now.
                Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

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                • #23
                  The problem boiled down to the remaining two front compliance/control-arm bushings. The two my regular mechanic didn't touch. The tech who made that determination said they were "blown out" and after fixing them (for an additional $200 which he knocked down from $330) he claimed that they had been so deteriorated that not only was a hydraulic press needed to get them out but the press actually broke.

                  Now here's the thing that really gets my blood pressure up.....

                  The compliance bushings or control-arm bushings or whatever term you choose to use....it's not like they are hidden; you can see them just by getting the car up on a lift.

                  Now unless they flat out lied and did some other repair that the didn't mention or document (which I doubt), then it really was the remaining two bushings that caused the problem, because the noise is now gone.

                  So why then did it take FIVE visits to THREE different shops to find this?????? Two trips to my regular mechanic, one to a Sears Auto Center, and twice to this dealer......and they didn't see this? What was the first tech who worked on my car at the dealer (who they made a point of telling me was Honda Certified with 20 years experience on Hondas) doing? Just coming up with all this other bullshit to do that had NO EFFECT??? They clearly didn't bother test driving it after "fixing it" because if they had they would've noticed the noise.

                  So I'm now the proud owner of an 11 Civic with an entirely new exhaust....and of that I don't believe any of the repairs but the muffler (which had quite spectacularly failed and was replaced by my regular mechanic) were actually necessary. It's got a new motor mount which....ok, fine, that wasn't too expensive. It's also gotten a new valve cover gasket which was leaky. And only about $500 worth of suspension work that was really necessary. Honestly, I should've gotten off for a third what I ended up paying in total.

                  So they knocked $130 off the final repair, and never charged me for the rental car (about $170), and let me use a $25 coupon. $325 out of nearly $3000.....for a car worth $4000.....

                  Really? Come on now......that's way the fuck too much for a car this old. If I had known going in that this was going to happen I'd have just sold the car as a beater and gone ahead with my plan to buy a new CR-Z.

                  Oh, and this is getting ranty already but I'd like to extend a giant middle finger to Honda for deciding that the best way to attach a catalytic converter to an exhaust manifold is to WELD THEM TOGETHER then list the entire assembly as a single SKU, and then charging $720 for it. There was nothing wrong with the cat......so that is just a huge waste of money. Horrible horrible design. What's wrong with bolts and a gasket???? If that's good enough for the manifold-engine head joint.....*throws hands up in defeat*

                  So yeah, I got hosed, big time. That Honda dealer has lost a customer for screwing the entire affair up from end to end....again. If/when I buy a new Honda it most certainly will NOT be at that dealer.

                  But there is a bit of a silver lining to all of this......

                  There had been a couple of outstanding issues with the car. It had an exhaust leak from the exhaust manifold gasket. It was a tiny leak that made a faint squeak at high RPMs. It was only noticeable at highway speed with the air and stereo off. My mechanic evaluated it and advised against fixing it unless and until it got worse, since it'd be a labor intensive repair for a minor noise that did not affect safety. Well, since they replaced that whole assembly including all-new gaskets, that noise has gone away.

                  It's also been slowly consuming oil....two or more quarts between oil changes. Never made any smoke or odors that I saw. I'd just been keeping an eye on it and adding oil as necessary. Never saw any oil on the ground either. It was actually right before bringing it to the dealer that my girlfriend's best friend's husband (that's a mouthful) noticed oil spots on the ground where I'd parked my car.

                  Now IF (and I stress the IF) the valve cover gasket was the source of the oil loss, then that problem should also go away. However, I'm not holding my breath on that because I've read that these particular civic engines are prone to increased oil consumption after 100,000 miles. But IF it does then....well shit that means I might as well just double down on this car and see if I can't make it to 200,000 miles or more. There's almost no rust on it at all. I actually fixed it all myself a few years ago (when my buddy still owned it) and except for one stubborn spot all the repairs have held beautifully. If I can get that last spot licked then I could go get a Maaco special, have the car cleaned (nothing is broken on the interior it's just dirty) and I'll have it about as close to new as can reasonably be achieved.

                  Right now that's anyone's guess but I've already got a few ideas kicking around and have priced out a new hood (irrepairably dented by original owner) and rear bumper cover (broken by idiot friend backing into a tree stump when he still owned it).....

                  One can only hope....
                  "We guard the souls in heaven; we don't horse-trade them!" Samandrial in Supernatural

                  RIP Plaidman.

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