What kind of car do you drive?

[calibuck]

When bought wife's Highlander, salesfolk left us alone in a room to discuss. We agreed to purchase, but wanted a 7-year extended warranty thrown in. As soon as we finished the sentence, the salesfolk came in and offered to us to 'sign the deal'. OK, we did so, drove the car away, and haven't had any problems with the car since (other than normal things that wear out). Bottom line, if you purchase extended warranty, you won't need. If you don't, the day the warranty runs out, car will go kaplooey. After rolled my ES350 (long, sad, unusual story), bought a Subaru Outback. Coming to the end of my 3-year 36,0000 warranty (have less than 18,000 miles), and after got used to not having the power to get out of trouble, do enjoy it. Certainly not a chick-magnet, but very useable.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

When bought wife's Highlander, salesfolk left us alone in a room to discuss. We agreed to purchase, but wanted a 7-year extended warranty thrown in. As soon as we finished the sentence, the salesfolk came in and offered to us to 'sign the deal'. OK, we did so, drove the car away, and haven't had any problems with the car since (other than normal things that wear out). Bottom line, if you purchase extended warranty, you won't need. If you don't, the day the warranty runs out, car will go kaplooey. After rolled my ES350 (long, sad, unusual story), bought a Subaru Outback. Coming to the end of my 3-year 36,0000 warranty (have less than 18,000 miles), and after got used to not having the power to get out of trouble, do enjoy it. Certainly not a chick-magnet, but very useable.

I disagree. It's DEFINITELY a chick magnet. Just not the ones that are interested in us dudes.

 

[sparcboxbuck]

Managed to pull off a minor repair. Audi wanted almost 800 to replace the door lock actuator (BTW, one of the most annoying parts failures ever; imagine all four door locks clicking twice every time you cross 10mph). Part was 130 plus another 25 for some weird German screwdrivers and socket drivers. It took me about an hour and a half, so I'm sure a dealer mechanic would knock this out in 30 minutes tops..

Didn’t figure you for a wrench. More wench than wrench.

Which Audi do you have? Just had to send in the (college) kid’s Q7 because there was apparently some corrosion on the TCU leads and he couldn’t shift out of park as a result. Only $350 charged by the kind folks down in Oxford.

I still love my S6, I’ll probably die with that car. It’s likely the last ICE daily driver I’ll ever own.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Didn’t figure you for a wrench. More wench than wrench.

Which Audi do you have? Just had to send in the (college) kid’s Q7 because there was apparently some corrosion on the TCU leads and he couldn’t shift out of park as a result. Only $350 charged by the kind folks down in Oxford.

I still love my S6, I’ll probably die with that car. It’s likely the last ICE daily driver I’ll ever own.

Nothing too fancy, just a Q5. It's paid off and has pretty low miles on it since I'm in the center of the city, but it's out of warranty which causes me some worry. As for doing work on a car, I could never do anything real in a million years. This was pretty simple. Getting the door trim off to get at the thing was the hardest part.

 

[NJ-Buckeye]

FWIW... After decades at Goodyear I know about tires...
They can make tires that could last 150,000 miles and give you outstanding mileage... but you'll never stop and will feel every bump in the road
and vice versa, tires that will last 5-10,000 miles and soft as a pillow

Back in 1990, I asked my buddy who was head of Eagle tire marketing how in the hell did we have Eagle tires that cost $650 each and who in the world would ever buy them... he responded, 'the guy who has a car that can do 200+ mph and would like to live when it hits a curve.. and not only will he gladly pay $650 per, he'll pay to have them premium shipped for tomorrow delivery'. I got to do a test run on those tires.. when you rolled down the windows and crawled.. you could hear the tires suck the road.. The testerosa used 4 different sizes.. because "Mr Ferrari wanted it that way"

Tire engineers are wizards with chemistry. I was our point of contact for the movie companies.. so 20th Century sent me the script for Volcano years in advance.. They had a scene that a car was going to drive thru lava with tires on fire for like 10 minutes. A tire on fire is done in 2.. so I contacted the wizards and sure as hell, they made the tires to fit the scene...

 

[AKAK]

Nothing too fancy, just a Q5. It's paid off and has pretty low miles on it since I'm in the center of the city, but it's out of warranty which causes me some worry. As for doing work on a car, I could never do anything real in a million years. This was pretty simple. Getting the door trim off to get at the thing was the hardest part.

That kind of stuff (trim) is so maddening

I had a rear shock failure on my wife's 328. It's a bolt at the top and the bottom. Easy. Bottom bolt you just take off the rear wheel. Top one? "And now remove everything you see in the trunk area... " Ugh

 

[sparcboxbuck]

FWIW... After decades at Goodyear I know about tires...
They can make tires that could last 150,000 miles and give you outstanding mileage... but you'll never stop and will feel every bump in the road
and vice versa, tires that will last 5-10,000 miles and soft as a pillow

Back in 1990, I asked my buddy who was head of Eagle tire marketing how in the hell did we have Eagle tires that cost $650 each and who in the world would ever buy them... he responded, 'the guy who has a car that can do 200+ mph and would like to live when it hits a curve.. and not only will he gladly pay $650 per, he'll pay to have them premium shipped for tomorrow delivery'. I got to do a test run on those tires.. when you rolled down the windows and crawled.. you could hear the tires suck the road.. The testerosa used 4 different sizes.. because "Mr Ferrari wanted it that way"

Tire engineers are wizards with chemistry. I was our point of contact for the movie companies.. so 20th Century sent me the script for Volcano years in advance.. They had a scene that a car was going to drive thru lava with tires on fire for like 10 minutes. A tire on fire is done in 2.. so I contacted the wizards and sure as hell, they made the tires to fit the scene...

Will confirm. When you consider that the patch of rubber from your four tires are the only think keeping you from meeting your maker, you quickly realize that the science that goes into making these things is well worth the price.

 

[NJ-Buckeye]

Remembering a story
Few years back, a buddy told me it cost him like $1000 to have his front headlight changed
They have to completely remove the front fender.. and it was a known vehicle.. maybe a Chevy or Beemer

 

[calibuck]

Hence why car insurance rates are going through the roof. A long bill to change a headlamp sounds like alot, except when you consider the technology in the way, well, then it makes sense. Oh yeah, test that stuff out before you leave the lot. Had to circle back when had something done to the rear end, the back up cameras weren't working. Go an 'oh yeah' from the wrench, but was fixed (for free) and was on my way.