The Automotive Thread

[Dexman PE PMP]

"championship winning Miata" sounds like such a huge contradiction...

 

[Road Guy]

so does that wing actually do anything?

 

[Road Guy]

so going on week 3 with no jeep, finally did get a loaner vehicle (brand new Cherokee POS) - will defin put as many miles on that thing as possible.. they told me their best guess at the parts needed is 2 more weeks. guess they only manufacture around 10% manual transmissions? and that is making parts hard to come by , seems really dumb, torn between glad I am saving some miles on the vehicle and wanting to be joining the rest of the jeep world in top down, doors off condition

I saw a funny video on one of yours FB pages with a Camaro driving through the ocean, wish I was close enough to one to do that just before I turn the loaner vehicle back in

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

I saw a funny video on one of yours FB pages with a Camaro driving through the ocean, wish I was close enough to one to do that just before I turn the loaner vehicle back in

My brother sent me that video and asked if I plan on doing the same with mine.  All I know is that saltwater is murder on vehicle components...

 

[Supe]

"championship winning Miata" sounds like such a huge contradiction...

It is easily the most raced car in the US, with several series dedicated to the various iterations.  They handle like nothing else.  It's the constant running joke - "let the Miata by when they catch you in the turns."

so does that wing actually do anything?

500-700 lbs of downforce approx. at 160 MPH depending on angle of attack.  100-300 # at the more typical cornering speeds (80-120).  Because I gave up some rear weight bias reworking the car, I am actually going to cantilever the wing further back.  This will also let me move the side support laterals behind the hatch to cut drag and let the wing work more efficiently.  I decided to move up a class, so I'm no longer stuck working within the original footprint of the car.

Of course, if that still isn't enough, it's $2500 for the big ass dual element wing that APR makes... ouch.

 

[Road Guy]

so the parts 'estimate' arrival date for the jeep is AUGUST 14th!!!!!!!

I've been lighting up Chryslers customer no care number every day for a few days, trying to get them to just buy the god damn thing back from me..

The part needed is basically the whole transmission? I mean cant they fucking just take one out of the assembly plant?

Also I am thinking about just reporting it stolen?

What really pissed me off is before this all happened I went to CarMax, they offered me $21K for it, but told me about the engine tick (original reason I took it to the stealership) when all this other shit came up - wish I had just have sold it to CarMax and been done with it...

Any good  complaint strategies I can use?  We have a year of legal counsel we signed up for my wifes work with, I have wondered about reaching out to them to see if they can generate a nasty letter?

 

[MA_PE]

so the parts 'estimate' arrival date for the jeep is AUGUST 14th!!!!!!!

I've been lighting up Chryslers customer no care number every day for a few days, trying to get them to just buy the god damn thing back from me..

The part needed is basically the whole transmission? I mean cant they fucking just take one out of the assembly plant?

Also I am thinking about just reporting it stolen?

What really pissed me off is before this all happened I went to CarMax, they offered me $21K for it, but told me about the engine tick (original reason I took it to the stealership) when all this other shit came up - wish I had just have sold it to CarMax and been done with it...

Any good  complaint strategies I can use?  We have a year of legal counsel we signed up for my wifes work with, I have wondered about reaching out to them to see if they can generate a nasty letter?

I say keep calling the customer care number and demand to go higher up the ladder.  Say you need to talk to the supervisor, then HIS supervisor, and so on until you get someone that is ia position of authority that can make a decision.  All the underlings do is log the complaint but they have no real authority to offer any guaranteed deal.

And focus on getting the attention of the people responsible for the local dealership:  are manager/regional manager/state level, etc.  Lastly, you could call the local news station and see if they want to air your story about the local dealership.

 

[Road Guy]

yeah the escalation is the only option for me - contacting news is a good idea -

I don't honestly fault the dealer folks, I believe if they had the part they would install it.  I haven't reached out to them about making a trade, but I know if I did I'll get screwed in the process by a few thousand - especially since my vehicle is paid off. about to help buy junior a new ride for college - just terrible timing...

defin going to return the loaner car with a dead rabbit somewhere - they said I cant smoke in it but didn't say I can leave a rotting animal corpse in the trunk!

 

[Road Guy]

think something like this is a bad idea?

(not lemon party I promise)

http://colorado.lemonlawgrouppartners.com/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Colorado&utm_content=textad&utm_term=lemon law

 

[Road Guy]

using the legal plan my wife added to her works insurance this year I talked to a consumer attorney this afternoon (those plans are surprisingly good if you need them by the way)

As shitty as it sounds, it seems like I just have to bend over and take it - lemon laws only apply to new vehicles in the first year and to the original owner, not me so nothing much they can do. The attorney basically told me be happy I got a free rental car and to try and look at the positive of not putting miles on my vehicle for a couple of months and then plan to try and sell it when its fixed. The lawyer advised me not to be too "unprofessional" with them because there is nothing in the powertrain warranty that says they have to provide me a loaner vehicle and he said normally when they invoke the lemon law claim on other clients usually the auto manufacturer will usually withdraw anything 'extra' once notice is filed..

Also did some digging around on Jeepforum (I haven't been too active there) sounds like this is happening to a bunch of people, something about the Pentastar transmission being suited well for the automatics and not the manuals - in the "old" days it was the opposite and Chrysler only makes a small percent of manual transmissions anymore - but tons of manual new jeep owners having this issue and the automatics are basically fine - really sucks cause that was something I actually thought I wanted..

Someone remind me why did we bail out the auto industry again?

 

[mudpuppy]

The situation sucks, but like your lawyer pointed out at least you have a loaner and aren't stuck having to borrow or rent a car in the meantime.  Chrysler has never been known for good transmissions (I know a K car I had as a kid had to have the transmission replaced.)

Ford didn't take a dime of government money.  Not the sole reason we dropped a bunch of money on a new Escape a couple weeks ago, but it is there in the back of my mind.

 

[knight1fox3]

Chrysler has never been known for good transmissions (I know a K car I had as a kid had to have the transmission replaced.)

That's for sure! When I worked on a few of their rear axle assembly machines in Detroit, I was shocked at what they considered a "passing" part was. We joked and called some of them "banana axles". LOL

 

[Road Guy]

what's still just fucked up is the normally the manuals are the ones that last!

I've got a new group of friends having the same issue around the country (on jeeper sites) one guy has had his out of commission since JANUARY! - so far it seems they are all giving us the same story - August - but JFC!  guess no mosquito pass trail run or Ouray trial rides for me this summer

Another annoying thing, the Cherokee is an 2017 & it has some Obama type rule I guess where the engine automatically shuts off when you stop the car - say at a red light, which is nice in the summer when its 92 degrees and sunny out...

 

[MA_PE]

what's still just fucked up is the normally the manuals are the ones that last!

I've got a new group of friends having the same issue around the country (on jeeper sites) one guy has had his out of commission since JANUARY! - so far it seems they are all giving us the same story - August - but JFC!  guess no mosquito pass trail run or Ouray trial rides for me this summer

Another annoying thing, the Cherokee is an 2017 & it has some Obama type rule I guess where the engine automatically shuts off when you stop the car - say at a red light, which is nice in the summer when its 92 degrees and sunny out...

that auto-stop "feature" is a royal PITA.  I've had it in a couple of rentals.  I believe that now GM lets you override it but there's a least one year where you cannot.

You might check online and see if there's a way to override it on your loaner.

 

[Flyer_PE]

A buddy of mine has a Lincoln with Auto-Stop.  It has an over-ride but you have to activate it every time you start the car.  The car is two years old and you can tell the over-ride button gets hit every time he drives the car.

My biggest worry is rolling into a busy intersection and having the car fail to start.

 

[knight1fox3]

My biggest worry is rolling into a busy intersection and having the car fail to start.

Also really seems like unnecessary wear & tear on an engine. I don't think a combustion engine was intended for that type of operation. :dunno:

 

[Road Guy]

you defin need to make sure you step on the gas for some left turns -

 

[MA_PE]

you defin need to make sure you step on the gas for some left turns -

what are you driving NASCAR?

 

[Road Guy]

The Cherokee has No power so add that to the engine cut off hard to make a turn from a stop taking advantage of a use able gap

 

[Road Guy]

anyone have any experience with a Mazda CX-7? its got 90K miles but owner only wants $3000 for it? has a little hail damage on the hood, but basically a car for a kid to keep at college.