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Chevy Cavalier.
I bought one when I was 18. It was a nice looking car and fun in the summer (convertible). Not even a month after I bought it, they had a recall on for the transmission. It went in for that, and an entire tank of premium gas disappeared. They even told me “uuh yeah, you might want to get it to a gas station quickly..” Thanks “goodwrench” techs.
About a month after the tranny recall, the power top starts to lag. I took it back and expected it would be covered by the warranty I paid $1800 for, which covered all electrical components. The answer? “Uuuh yeah.. see, that warranty doesn’t cover convertibles.” I fought that all the way up to the head office of GM. They wouldn’t fix it. If lipped the switch, and for the remainder of the time I had th car, it was a manual top.
The driver’s side power window switch stopped working., which was a pain because I’m not one of these guys who rides around in a convertible, with the windows up and wearing a snow suit. Personally, I think top down/windows up looks goofy. Anyways, they wanted $146 for one switch. I caught a lucky break on that though. It turns out some oaf in an entirely too big pick up truck clipped my quarter panel (just under the quarter window) and the car had to go in for repairs. They called me up and said they were going to replace my window switch, because the bodyman tried to put the window down but it got stuck. I kept my mouth shut, I wasnt going to tellt hem it was always like that. It turns out they were calling about the PASSENGER side. It broke as well. I got two new switches out of that.
The dash vents all broke. If I hit the gas too hard from a stop, they all rolled out onto the floor.
A $30 strap on the muffler broke and caused the exhaust system to come apart at the flex pipe. That was loud. They wanted $1500 for that. I fixed it with a coat hanger.
The top leaked at the top of the windshield frame. The water would drip on my leg making it look like I had pissed my pants. My dad said he had the same problem with his ’65 Paresienne convertible.
During a blizzard the power steering hose exploded and ruined the pump, but because of the snow on the road I couldn’t feel the steering revert to manual. When I got home I had to shovel my driveway to get in. When I finished that I noticed the drivers side window was down. I thought I maybe hit the auto down button. Nope. For some reason the window had shattered when I closed the door. BY the time a new window was found for it, the weather had turned bitterly cold. On my way down to the glass shop, I realized something was amiss with the steering (now on dry pavement). Another expensive repair that was.
Two weeks after the window/power steering boondoggle, the drivers side door latch crapped out, so the door just hung open. It was another long, cold ride to the dealership with my arm out the door holding it shut.
The body was starting to sag, so the doors wouldn’t open and close properly.
The module for the interior lights went crazy (something GM knew about and had a recall for). None of the dealers around me would honour it. The interior lights would randomly switch themselves on and kill the battery. The last time I took the car to the dealer for that, some smart assed “tech” billed me $90 and put on the bill “checked interior light switch: left on”. THAT was NOT the cause, but that was it for me and GM.
Mazda B3000 (basically a re-badged Ford). I don’t care much for Ford either. I remember many days spent working on an 84 Ranger of my dad’s. It wasn’t a happy time.
This Mazda, strangely, belonged to my dad originally. He swore he would never buy another domestic after his last Ford, yet he ended up having 3 Mazda trucks. Just over a year ago my brother bought it off of him, but decided not to use it since it used so much gas. The truck only has 121000kms on it, and from new was driven by a retired man, which is why I can’t understand why it has been such a headache.
– Brakes seized up.
– The key to access the spare tire sheared off in the tumbler.
– Coil pack went.
– Every time it rains the doors fill with water.
– The door locks jam up.
– Climate control only works on highest setting, and only on the defroster.
– It leaks oil like a colander. Four spots of oil 3″ across when backing across a 25 foot driveway.
– Strange clunk you can hear and feel coming from the front end when pulling way from a lightIt has low kms, and rarely ever gets driven. When it does, it’s around the block on a nice paved road. In spite of being babied, it’s falling apart faster than I can put it back together again!
I haven’t had any major screw ups, probably because I work like old people do you know what…
2003 Mazda Protege. Changing the air filter. I opened up the air box and lifted the top up just a tad so I could pull the old filter out. I replaced it, and went on with my day. Later, the car developed a loud hissing, like a garden hose. I had a sneaking suspicion what it could be, and I was really disappointed when I found out I was right. Turns out the snorkel split when I lifted the top of the air box a couple inches. I had to go out and buy a new one, which was equally as flimsy. Next time I’ll tie a splint to it!
A:(Cheap chintzy design.
2003 Mazda B3000.
Oil change from hell.
I ran the engine for a couple minutes to warm the oil. Crawled underneath with a couple metric wrenches and find… nope, it’s standard. I forgot, I was working on a Forzda.
Drained it out with no problems. I as annoyed to see I couldn’t access the filter from the bottom. I was comfy under there, laying on a nice piece of carpet. I got up and was pleased to see that the bottom of the filter is angled down and away from the motor. I like this because the oil doesn’t spill out all over the place when you start unscrewing it. I reach down and.. ouch.. ahh! Burn myself a couple times on the exhaust manifold. I start turning the filter, it comes off easily, which I was happy to see. Finally.. it’s free! Now *struggle* to *struggle* get it *struggle* past the *struggle* manifold without tipping it over. No dice. With one hand holding the filter, I used the other to jam a wad of paper towel into the end of the filter so I could turn it completely upside down and fish it through the manifold. That was harder than it needed to be.
On to the filling. Throw the funnel into the filler neck, and fill it up with oil. Funny thing though, the filler neck is on a peculiar angle and the funnel doesn’t quite like it. So the the funnel full of oil… yeah, it tipped over and spilled all down the inner fender and dripped out onto my nice, luxurious piece of carpet. It then made it’s way through the carpet to my nice, clean garage floor. I spent the next few minutes shoveling cat litter the way a politician shovels.. well you know where this is going.
I got it all cleaned up though and everything was great, until a week later (a week of sitting), I discovered it was leaking something else all over my brand new drive way, and the climate control unit stopped working.
L:D Anyone want to buy a 2003 Mazda B3000? Auto, CD player, 121000 KILOMETERS.. 25
My dad has had a set of Craftsman tools for eons with no problems. I have Mastercraft (equivalent to Craftsman, but from a Canadian retailer). I would say, bare minimum, look for, and stick to tools with a lifetime warranty and are made in north America, or somewhere similar. No made in China stuff (no offense to any Chinese folks here). You want to know that odds are, the tool you are using won’t break, but on the off chance it does, the manufacturer will take care of you with no hassle.
Price wise, you have to look at your use of the tools. Are you going to be using them all day, everyday? Or are you a DIYer? I would say, to get your monies worth out of Snap On tools, you would have to probably be a professional (you’d have to be one to pay for them heh). If you are a DIYer a more middle-of-the-road set would probably do just fine, and be more cost effective. For example. I picked up a $700 tool set for $165 as a door crasher at a grand opening of a new store. With the work that I do, $165 is a great deal. $700 not so much. I could have gotten by with a smaller and cheaper set of tools. On the other hand, if I was like Eric, then the work I’d be doing would justify a more expensive set.
1) Lifetime guarantee. Don’t settle for anything less.
2) If you are a professional, do heavy jobs all the time, or are rich, go for snap on.
3) If you are a DIYer Craftsman/Mastercraft (depending on your location) would probably do the trick and be more cost effective.