General Rant about Cars, the US and Eric :P

[Agustin Alfonso Cesar Charles]

Don´t worry, is nothing bad about Eric or the US guys 😛

Let me start with this,

Did you knew that the Geo Metro equivalent here where I live costs around $ 9.523, that´s 9 thousand…

Did you knew that most Insurance companies here only give insurance if your car is less than 10 years old, or less… More than that you get kinda like something like a insurance that only give you tow service and some recovery money to pay for some expenses.

Did you knew that most of the shops here that sell “certified engines” or “certified transmission” just buy used transmission and engine from yunkjards in the US and sell them here like NEW? (I actually found this the hard way and after knowing that in the US, reputable shops sell transmission that have been dyno tested, is thanks to Eric that I do know now that THERE ARE TRANSMISSION DYNOS :woohoo: and shops actually tests them)

Did you knew that most of the “transmission specialist” here only get the master kit and rebuild the transmission and that´s it. You put it back to the car and test if it runs Ok, no dyno or such… A job like that costs around $800 only in labor, parts excluded, and the parts can go up to almost $400.

After thinking about it, for real, there are SO MANY THINGS WRONG in here, you may have heard that this is the ONLY country in which 1 Liter of Water costs around 10 times more than 1 Liter of Gasoline.

And you know? there are no mechanics like Eric here, and if there is one, they don´t have not even HALF of the equipment that Eric has. That´s why I decided long time ago to do my own repairs and manteinance.

Changing a Head Gasket costed my twice (long time ago) around $250, parts excluded remember. And I doubt, HIGLY DOUBT that they used a torque wrench.

Remember when I posted about the overheat problem I had and someone say “but you can use a block tester”… I tell my friend, that doesn´t exists here 🙁 most of the tools you mention are quite Alien to me, and damm… they could make my work far more easier and they are quite inexpensive. Also a mechanic here wouldn´t know what to do with them. Remember that there are no certifications here, just raw knowledge, is quite rare to see somebody certified in something.

The whole problem lays in one thing, Dollars. Did you knew that each person (who have Credit Cards only) receives $400 a year to spend, and if you travel you get like 1000 (when you return you need to show proof of the expenses you made) just for that time only, and you don´t get to travel again until next year. I spent my 400 bucks on getting that rad and some spare parts (most of the Geo Metro fit the Suzuki Swift like a glove, even the Geo Tracker engine parts fit 😛 1.6L model of course)

For me, that I am a fan, I find it so hard to understand why some cars in the US suffer from problems like rust, overheating, oil starvation and such, I mean, you got the tools, the mechanics, the knowledge, and some times I still don´t understand why? I mean… for the love of God :angry: sometimes I see such good cars, and models that I haven´t seen in my whole life with such troubles… I mean, Oh God Why? is just not fair.

You know, when I mentioned “The Poor Man´s Way”, I meaned the most extreme and poor way to do a block test and I meant that, for real.

You know, I have a challenge for you (no bets involved 😛 just for the kicks) http://www.tucarro.com.ve/ That´s a local page that has ads for car and stuff, you select the type, brand, model and year of the car. And I DARE YOU to find a car that is sold in a price equivalent in the US. One car and you win. 😉

Just to start:
http://articulo.tucarro.com.ve/MLV-42901266-ferrari-348-spider-1994-_JM

Ferrari 348 Spider 1994 $230.158 (That´s 230 thousand BTW)

Have fun, and think, you are pretty lucky, believe me, you can get the gasoline sky high in price but it won´t matter because you have all the means to overcome that and keep going, believe me… you do guys…

Cheers…

Excuse my imprecise writting, also for jumping from one thing to other, when I started thinking about the whole injustice here, I just felt sad, for real. :blush: Sorry for that guys, my bad. I just really need it to vent some stuff, I bought the oil and filter for my car to change it over the weekend too and was almost $100 bucks.

Topic

[Hokiedad4]

Thanks for an interesting post.

Here in the US, prices tend to reflect market forces more than most countries. Repairs by experienced, trustworthy mechanics at a reasonable price are an expectation of even the least informed consumer. There’s simply too much competition on average for dealers or independent shops to do otherwise.

Venezuela is not unlike many other countries where the government tries to micromanage the economy and this approach has been shown over and over again not to be best for consumers.

My two pesos.

[Justin]

I was reading your post and through… $9000 for a Geo Metro :sick: :blink:

I would NOT want to be driving a Geo, but it would sure beat walking. We in the United States are silly with our cars… We love gas guzzlers.

Pretty much anything with a bigger engine is BETTER! Who wants a 4 cylinder when you can have a V6 or even a V8 Hemi? Just saying!

[Steve]

Thanks for the post CarDogg. I find it very interesting to hear how “common folk” like me live in other countries. We are spoiled to a large degree in America in many ways. I didn’t realize that that also included used car prices and the services of a reliable mechanic too! I commend you for trying to learn to do your own repairs in those conditions. Good luck and God bless!

[Author]

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