Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

I must say, one redeeming quality about my Failturn is the awesome AC. I see many Failturns of it's vintage with windows up and air turned on during hot days, when other cars of that age have their windows down because the AC doesn't work.

I think even Spectre would agree that one thing that GM does well is air conditioning.

(Okay, maybe not Spectre, but most people would agree that GM air conditioning is pretty good.)
 
So the Accord died.

Rather then me trying to recount the story, I'll just leave you with a link.

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Accord/2003/transmission/transmission_failure.shtml

Read any of those. I have the same exact problem. Woooo.

Parents are now looking at a 2011 TSX. Also going to go test drive the Infiniti G sedan, and maybe the Buick Regal (Opel Insignia).

Replacement acquired. 2012 Acura TL. Haven't had a chance to drive it yet (just came home fresh off the dealer lot less than 20 minutes ago), but I'll give a report when I do.

They did. But they didn't do anything at all except check off that you brought it in to a dealer.


Also, on an unrelated topic. BlaRo and I just went to an estate auction. I bid $1100 on a 1979 Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9. The winner got it for $3200, but I got his contact info just in case.

So it turned out the guy that bought it was a dealer. Its now for sale on his site. All he did was give it a wash, and apply his dealer sticker to the back :)shakefist:).... oh and mark up the price by $7300. Here it is http://eurocargarage.com/webtemplate.aspx?IID=3304456. Don't mind the patios that are the US-spec bumpers.

I really hate it when dealers (new and used) apply their stickers to the backs of cars. The dealer where we got the TL has these massively huge ugly stickers, but lucky ours was trucked in from another dealer that doesn't do the whole sticker thing. We stopped the salesman from applying it right as he was about to. He was a bit annoyed (I don't see why), but he ended up giving us a license plate frame.
 
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I think even Spectre would agree that one thing that GM does well is air conditioning.

(Okay, maybe not Spectre, but most people would agree that GM air conditioning is pretty good.)

Most of the domestic auto makers seem to do AirCon pretty well.

My Jeep's is great, as was my dad's old Jeep's. My step mum's old Focus was incredible (had that car in Mexico for 3 years and it could make you shiver on a 40 degree C day)
 
And sound. Terrible PT Cruiser had a kicking sound system.
 
I think even Spectre would agree that one thing that GM does well is air conditioning.

(Okay, maybe not Spectre, but most people would agree that GM air conditioning is pretty good.)

Yeah, it's been pretty good in my brother's Impala so I'm in agreement. :)
\

*is looking over now*

My first car was $3.5k and it lasted 3 years with only minor repairs (not counting when I crashed it. Badly.) Could have lasted longer too, I only sold it because I had the means and desire for something better. So you don't need to break the bank for somthing better than the failing Saturn.

True, I certainly don't, but remember that back then used car prices were lower overall so you got a lot of car for your money.

You could probably buy a half destroyed old civic with 600,000 miles on it or something. Pretty much anything is better than what you have right now.

Haha :lol: Eh maybe..

^^
Some more issues to consider

I pushed it to the repair shop but yeah I totally get that I'm only enjoying a time before it's broken again. I plan to get a tune up this weekend.
 
I pushed it to the repair shop but yeah I totally get that I'm only enjoying a time before it's broken again. I plan to get a tune up this weekend.

A tune-up is not going to help. It's just going to be more money you're pissing away on that thing.

I think even Spectre would agree that one thing that GM does well is air conditioning.

(Okay, maybe not Spectre, but most people would agree that GM air conditioning is pretty good.)

Actually, I would agree. The reason Jaguars had good air conditioning systems once they began to be factory fitted was because they bought them from a company in Fort Worth, Texas that had cloned the automatic climate control systems used by Cadillac in their nine passenger giants. The Series III has an A/C system that can literally freeze you out. (There is some thought that Delanaire was also a GM supplier at one point, but that's been lost in the past and the resulting acquisitions and mergers.)

However, this only applies to their rear drivers and larger cars. They've been known to blow it a number of times on their FWD ecoboxen.

Sorry but 85 degrees is not all that hot. Put another 20 degrees on top of that and let me know how the A/C keeps up.

This. 85F isn't a challenge to air conditioning systems.

Uh...we Texans get to inhale water during summer- we've got the Gulf of Mexico. It gets to nigh on 100% humidity. The temperature may be 90*, but the heat index is more like 98*. Arizona and New Mexico have dry heat. It's nice there, sans the whole fires thing.

I wouldn't say it was nice, but it feels better because your body's evaporative cooling system works better there.

Right now in Dallas, it's 'only' 96F, but the current heat index (due to humidity) is a flat 100F. And the blacktop outside is at about 140F right now.

Rick: SELL YOUR DAMN SATURN BEFORE YOU HAVE TO SCRAP IT AND MAKE $200!

This.

^^
Some more issues to consider

Because of the Saturn component failure rate and the fact that they're mostly plastic, most junkyards around here will only give you $100 for a Saturn. If you take it directly to a metal recycler, you will get $42 for it.
 
Actually, I would agree. The reason Jaguars had good air conditioning systems once they began to be factory fitted was because they bought them from a company in Fort Worth, Texas that had cloned the automatic climate control systems used by Cadillac in their nine passenger giants. The Series III has an A/C system that can literally freeze you out. (There is some thought that Delanaire was also a GM supplier at one point, but that's been lost in the past and the resulting acquisitions and mergers.)

However, this only applies to their rear drivers and larger cars. They've been known to blow it a number of times on their FWD ecoboxen.

So I cannot have the magic AC? :(
 
So I cannot have the magic AC? :(

Not the one I have in the Series III. The climate control core for that thing is about half the size of your entire engine. In fact, it's the first major component they put in the bodyshell when they were assembling it, then they built the rest of the car around it.

It also runs off R-12, which means that you can literally get down to 28F inside the car (if you disable the limiter). R-12 has turned out to be not anywhere near as damaging to the environment as they thought (the ozone hole got BIGGER after we stopped using it and concentrations of CFCs in the atmosphere went down!) and it's better for health if you have a leak because you will be able to tell and leave the area. R-134a, which replaced it, is less efficient, requires higher pressures, will suffocate you if you have a large leak because you won't start coughing and gasping (you just pass out and die) and may cause testicular and other cancers.

(In order to keep buying R-12, I had to get my EPA technician's license. I can legally buy, possess and use R-12.)

Old car climate control > newer car climate control.
 
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Well then. Time to update the car spreadsheet.
 
Well then. Time to update the car spreadsheet.

Yup. Consider the Jag X300 - the A/C system in those, despite being R134a, is spectacular. Most other Euro makers just don't seem to get the concept and fit undersized units to all but their luxury models.

The Japanese (except Mitsubishi) seem to get the idea just fine, though. Likewise most of the larger domestic vehicles - the Crown Vic has an excellent if crude system. I'm also not worried about the A/C capability of my potential Ford diesel pickup (which I will hopefully be getting soon.)

Edit: To be fair, though, getting awesome air conditioning is a perennial problem in the ecobox class as there simply isn't room or necessarily the engine power to devote to a great system. Ford seems to do well with theirs, Chrysler has done well in the past, GM ecoboxes can be hit or miss, and VW just falls on their face often.
 
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I enjoy excuses for getting cars not powered by asthmatic mice :dummy:
I am going to go out on a limb though an guess any modern car probably has the AC power way capped down due to MPG and crap? The outback is not pathetic like my car is but until the recent "fix" my glass and cloth bubble was kicking it's ass in the AC department. Now both of them are so gutless you get more cooling from rolling down the window.
 
I enjoy excuses for getting cars not powered by asthmatic mice :dummy:
I am going to go out on a limb though an guess any modern car probably has the AC power way capped down due to MPG and crap? The outback is not pathetic like my car is but until the recent "fix" my glass and cloth bubble was kicking it's ass in the AC department. Now both of them are so gutless you get more cooling from rolling down the window.


No, but usually the AC compressor is sized so that you don't lose half your engine power when you turn it on, as well as to the thermal load of the system. There's also the matter of sizing the condenser to fit the car as well as the thermal load.

Also, if it was recently 'fixed' and is now worse, someone screwed up. Nothing to do with new regs, everything to do with someone doing the job wrong. I'd suspect someone halfassed the vacuum and recharge, just off the top of my head. You're supposed to leave it holding a vacuum for at least an hour or two to ensure that there aren't any leaks and to boil out any moisture; a lot of shops cut corners here because they can get away with it and it takes up time they can't bill for as it's a start-it-and-wait procedure.
 
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Greeaaat another trip to the mechanic <_<
 
Greeaaat another trip to the mechanic <_<

Kat, we've covered this before... be more assertive when you deal with shops and don't just accept whatever they fob off on you as "done." That's what the idiots are expecting you to do and they will continue to abuse your good graces until they get the message that they can't any more.
 
Well to be fair, I got it fixed in november, the defrost doesn't work right without it. I didn't notice because it was already about 30 out every day.

And I fail at assertive, it is even worse when it is doctors not mechanics.
 
OK, though it read more like you'd had it fixed recently.

Yeah, I'd have the charge level checked at least. I suspect you're probably low on charge. What'd they fix last time?
 
OK, though it read more like you'd had it fixed recently.

Yeah, I'd have the charge level checked at least. I suspect you're probably low on charge. What'd they fix last time?

Last time they fixed the wiper fluid. The hose was disintegrated past the point of patching and the trunk wouldn't pop because victor's RX8 was contagious apparently. The time before that was the transmission which I believe they accidentally repaired properly because the car is not as painfully slow anymore and revs higher.
 
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