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Late 2000’s Chevy Impala SS/Monte Carlo SS, Pontiac Grand Prix GXP, and Buick LaCrosse Super… They’re all one in the same, V8 crammed sideways into a W-Body with service as a complete afterthought. Never had a good experience working on one.
That and pretty much anything Cadillac… especially Northstars.
The first thing I look at when buying a car is me fixing it, needless to say I’ll never own one of these cars.
Late 2000’s Chevy Impala SS/Monte Carlo SS, Pontiac Grand Prix GXP, and Buick LaCrosse Super… They’re all one in the same, V8 crammed sideways into a W-Body with service as a complete afterthought. Never had a good experience working on one.
That and pretty much anything Cadillac… especially Northstars.
The first thing I look at when buying a car is me fixing it, needless to say I’ll never own one of these cars.
Listed first to most recent, some overlap in ownership
1984 Chevy Chevette *my first car* 2001-2002
1985 Honda Civic 2002
1984 Dodge Ramcharger 2002
1998 Pontiac Grand Am GT – 2.4/5 speed: fun/POS 2002-2009
1985 Nissan 720 Pickup 2003
1995 Pontiac Grand Am 2007
1990 Olds 98 Touring: Awesome car 2007
1992 Geo Storm 2007-2009, 2013-
1991 Chevy S-10 Blazer 2009
1974 Chevy C20 Pickup 2010
1991 Chevy S-10 Blazer 2009-2010
1971 Chevy Chevelle Malibu (Project car that never materialized) 2010-2011
1991 Chevy S-10 Pickup 2010- (Former daily, current backup/haul rig)
1990 Geo Storm GSi 2011-
1997 Subaru Legacy Outback 2011-2013 (Hit deer)
1997 Subaru Outback Limited 2013 (Ex took it when I kicked her out, worth it.)
1995 Subaru Legacy L Wagon 2013- (current daily driver, 268k miles and counting)Listed first to most recent, some overlap in ownership
1984 Chevy Chevette *my first car* 2001-2002
1985 Honda Civic 2002
1984 Dodge Ramcharger 2002
1998 Pontiac Grand Am GT – 2.4/5 speed: fun/POS 2002-2009
1985 Nissan 720 Pickup 2003
1995 Pontiac Grand Am 2007
1990 Olds 98 Touring: Awesome car 2007
1992 Geo Storm 2007-2009, 2013-
1991 Chevy S-10 Blazer 2009
1974 Chevy C20 Pickup 2010
1991 Chevy S-10 Blazer 2009-2010
1971 Chevy Chevelle Malibu (Project car that never materialized) 2010-2011
1991 Chevy S-10 Pickup 2010- (Former daily, current backup/haul rig)
1990 Geo Storm GSi 2011-
1997 Subaru Legacy Outback 2011-2013 (Hit deer)
1997 Subaru Outback Limited 2013 (Ex took it when I kicked her out, worth it.)
1995 Subaru Legacy L Wagon 2013- (current daily driver, 268k miles and counting)Hi, I’m Kenny.
I’ve spent my whole life with a wrench in my hand and my entire adult life at a GM dealership, starting as a lube tech working my way up and going to school and the last several years as a tech. Somehow I still love it and stuck with it and can’t see myself doing anything else.
Hi, I’m Kenny.
I’ve spent my whole life with a wrench in my hand and my entire adult life at a GM dealership, starting as a lube tech working my way up and going to school and the last several years as a tech. Somehow I still love it and stuck with it and can’t see myself doing anything else.
Short answer: I don’t think so.
Long answer:
About the only time I can think of off the top of my head just resetting the light fixes a problem is if a customer drove around with the gas cap hanging out and caused an EVAP leak dtc.
Just clearing codes will only reset the trouble code’s failure count to 0 and it will run and fail enough times again to set a check engine light in the future. The only way to fix a check engine light is to diagnose and fix the failure that caused the trouble code to fail and set a check engine light.
But… I don’t know what make/model vehicle you own, maybe your dealer knows something that I don’t.
Also the torque convertor code may have failed enough times in a certain number of ignition cycles to only set a check engine light this time, it may never do the same thing again and you may never see a check engine light ever again.
What specific code was it? Usually the tech should note the code and you should be able to see it on the hard copy receipt you get when you pick up the car.
Short answer: I don’t think so.
Long answer:
About the only time I can think of off the top of my head just resetting the light fixes a problem is if a customer drove around with the gas cap hanging out and caused an EVAP leak dtc.
Just clearing codes will only reset the trouble code’s failure count to 0 and it will run and fail enough times again to set a check engine light in the future. The only way to fix a check engine light is to diagnose and fix the failure that caused the trouble code to fail and set a check engine light.
But… I don’t know what make/model vehicle you own, maybe your dealer knows something that I don’t.
Also the torque convertor code may have failed enough times in a certain number of ignition cycles to only set a check engine light this time, it may never do the same thing again and you may never see a check engine light ever again.
What specific code was it? Usually the tech should note the code and you should be able to see it on the hard copy receipt you get when you pick up the car.
Speaking as a dealership tech, it’s a really bad feeling when you break something as you’re tearing down/going back together.
It happens, it happens a lot, and usually its something small just like that prop rod clip.
But… it’s my job as a technician to make it right, no matter what. It may suck, it may take longer, it may make you lose money, and most importantly it may make the customer unhappy. You suck it up and make it
right. If I didn’t do it, I wouldn’t be worth jack as a technician. An customer unhappy about a repair taking longer than expected is better that a customer unhappy that their car isn’t fixed right or has more wrong with it than when it came in.I’m very lucky to work at an amazing dealership, in this event we will work with the customer, 50/50 it or even cover it under shop supplies. If I broke a prop rod clip, I wouldn’t even flinch to walk to the parts dept. and put it on the shop supplies. Not only that, but if we break something and put it on shop supplies, it goes under the tech’s name and gets logged, too much broken stuff in a month and you will get talked to.
There are honest technicians with a conscience out there, I’d say the majority of them are and I’m included it that. I know how expensive repairs are, I couldn’t imagine dropping $6000 on a vehicle repair, and if I get that repair you better believe it will be fixed to a T. It’s just sad that there are those techs out there that give us all a bad name.
Speaking as a dealership tech, it’s a really bad feeling when you break something as you’re tearing down/going back together.
It happens, it happens a lot, and usually its something small just like that prop rod clip.
But… it’s my job as a technician to make it right, no matter what. It may suck, it may take longer, it may make you lose money, and most importantly it may make the customer unhappy. You suck it up and make it
right. If I didn’t do it, I wouldn’t be worth jack as a technician. An customer unhappy about a repair taking longer than expected is better that a customer unhappy that their car isn’t fixed right or has more wrong with it than when it came in.I’m very lucky to work at an amazing dealership, in this event we will work with the customer, 50/50 it or even cover it under shop supplies. If I broke a prop rod clip, I wouldn’t even flinch to walk to the parts dept. and put it on the shop supplies. Not only that, but if we break something and put it on shop supplies, it goes under the tech’s name and gets logged, too much broken stuff in a month and you will get talked to.
There are honest technicians with a conscience out there, I’d say the majority of them are and I’m included it that. I know how expensive repairs are, I couldn’t imagine dropping $6000 on a vehicle repair, and if I get that repair you better believe it will be fixed to a T. It’s just sad that there are those techs out there that give us all a bad name.