ray

So, I have a 2002 Toyota Camry. Two Fridays ago I brought my car in for it's first major service at 29,000 miles. They kept my car for a day, changed my tires, ran their tests, etc etc etc. I drove my car home that afternoon and all was well and dandy.

The next day I noticed that when I was in reverse, it would have to nearly floor my pedal to get it moving. Though it was strange, I figured I just had to break things in a little bit.

That afternoon I went to the Projekt Revolution concert out in Devore. That's where the entire left side of my car became a drawing board. As we left the parking lot, I put the car in reverse and again the car would stutter when in reverse. Strangest feeling.

So, the following week I brought my car into the Body Shop to get my car fixed up after the mofo's keyed up my car. I picked up my car from the body shop yesterday everything nice and dandy and the first thing the repair guys said to me was that they had trouble getting my car in reverse.

So, this morning I brought my car to the service department and told them the story. 40 minutes later the manager came and spoke with me and handed me the Order Bill for a new transmission. I just looked blankly and asked him what the **** was wrong with my car. Apparently when they were performing the major service somebody went and overcompensated on some things and it screwed up my tranny altogether.

Next tuesday I am going to have to drop my car off for the entire day (again) so they can replace the entire transmission. Part of me is pissed off they screwed up my car and I have to lose it again, but the other part of me looks at this as a good thing. 1) everything is covered under warranty and I don't have to pay a cent. 2) I just replaced my tires, so after the tranny is replaced, i'll be riding in a nearly brand new car. All i need now is for them to tell me they're replacing my engine for free!

Oh well, I'm glad nobody has gotten hurt from my tranny being all messed up.

speedracer120

Yeah, it sucks major when a tranny goes out. You're lucky only the reverse gear was causing trouble. When we lived up in Cupertino we had a Caddy with a tranny that went out on us somewhere in the mountains between Half Moon Bay and the 280. That was one long ass drive crawling along the freeway at 45 mph.

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bachviet

That sucks man. Good thing the car is still under warranty so it doesn't cost you anything.

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Showtime

Be nice to the guys in the front service dept. One of the guys I work out with runs one and he can make it all go fairly smoothly or screw you over.

-j

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p3rsian

thats why u buy a bmw

Showtime

BMWs are a lot better nowadays, but still arent as reliable as the much less expensive toyotas.

-j

psycho-

Last i checked, almost all the BMW auto Transmissions were sourced from GM

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LegendKiller

My fiancee had her Accords tranny go out at 33k because it was shifting gears at random.


Personally, I think that foreign cars aren't really all what they're cracked up to be anymore. I think that people have problems with their cars but don't really either report it or just think its not a big deal.

For example, steph thinks that Honda is just great for fixing the tranny and then giving her 100k on it, so she probably wouldn't report it to CR or anything like that. Her pride in a foreign car would skew results, and I think this is a common thing.

Another example, when she got it fixed after an accident she got an aftermarket bumper put on at the Accura repair shop. It fit like crap, yet they still charged for a factory bumper. I went in and bitched and they put a new one on. Yet, they still haven't sent her a few things they took out of the car and need to replace.

Sure, this is anecdotal evidence, but I really do think that Honda, Toyota, et all really have a good rap for no reason.

As far as BMW's go, I think it could be the opposite situation, American cars 10x as bad.

Steph's brother has a good friend that bought a 330ci, a temp sensor went out and it overheated. Instead of just getting it fixed, he sold it right away. Then he bought an M5 and there was some minor glitch, sold it again. Of course if it has one minor glitch "It has many or will have in the future". It seems as if BMW owners are really particular about their cars, if they don't run "tip top" then they bitch. Of course, no manufacturer can live up to a perfect rep.


Just my thoughts.


LK

ray

I would still buy a Toyota over a BMW any day of the week. Just because some service tech screwed up my tranny doesn't make my car unreliable.

Now, if I were driving my car and for some reason all the cylinders weren't running, then I would say that my car is a piece of crap. But I guess that would never actually happen to anybody with a bimmer bimmer bimmer, right p3rsian?

cheapie

jumping the shark here...i drove my buddie's new 325i. i don't think he liked it when i told him my minivan was faster.

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InfiniteNothing

I think there was an under lying problem.

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rofl

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psycho-

If you think the 2.5 litre i6 is slow, you should check out how slow a 10 year old 4 cylinder BMW 'vert is.


I wonder how much slower it was when 2 cylinders weren't firing

rasetsu

I honestly think the quality of "Japanese" cars has slipped a lot since they started letting UAW employees build them. I have a 94 Accord with 190K miles on it with no major problems other than wear and tear. My dad put 300K miles on his 81 Maxima. Original engine and transmission. One of the main reasons we went with the Accord sedan was because all the coupes on the lot were leaking coolant from the thermostat housing. The coupes were all built in Ohio.

On the other hand, my friend's 2.5 Altima shut down completely on the freeway because of a bad manifold gasket and my gf's 02 2.5 Altima is already on engine number 2 because of a faulty catalytic converter.

DarkFury

Just goes to show that even an IMPORT car can have mechanical failure...

If it is man made, then one day it shall fail... That is almost guaranteed.

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ray

In response to Japanese cars losing quality, sure, they probably have. But they still produce reliable cars in most cases...mine's clearly not one of those cases. heh. If I had to replace my car tomorrow, I'm pretty sure I'd go buy another Toyota.

rasetsu

Oh, I would still buy an American made Japanese brand car over a GM or Ford product.

InfiniteNothing

All manufactures have similar failure ratings today. It's much more important today how you treat you car than what kind of car it is. It seems like reliability shouldn't factor in as much as it did. But that's a good thing...it means you can get the car you want with little worry except in extreem cases.

p3rsian

seems like your obssesed with me in a way ..
u check all my posts in all the boards i visit... guess u dont have anythign better to do ...


thats why u go with manual transmission

SnowSurfer

well at least the warrenty covers it....

mitsubishi checks race records to see if anyone has been racing their evo and voids the warrenty....subaru doesnt do that

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rasetsu

I've been told that Subaru will void your warranty if you participate in any racing event even though the purchase of a STi comes with a free one year SCCA membership.

psycho-

It's funny because you're funny. You talk about your old car like it's the coolest thing in the world.

BTW, I don't even read bimmer forums. My cousin pointed it out one day how all his friends on Bimmerforums think you're an idiot.

DarkFury

Yup... but we'll still have people who snobbishly think that theirs is better just because it wasn't made here.

Honestly, I just think that they like paying more money sometimes for the "somewhat status" of it... not that a Toyota is gonna impress me as much as a Lexus would (unless it is a totally hooked up Supra or something).

Heh.. small world huh?

InfiniteNothing

I've always wanted a new MR2 but they are hella expensive

rasetsu

$25K on Carsdirect.com

That's not that expensive. It's expensive for a 138hp roadster but it's in the range of most decent cars these days.

InfiniteNothing

That's what I meant. I don't see why any one would pick it over a 180 hp miata

SnowSurfer

i think you may have been mistaken, mitsu voids your warrenty, subaru does not, unless they suddenly changed it and im wrong...which i dont think i am but whatever

rasetsu

That's what I thought too until I asked the salesman at Santa Monica Subaru who let me test drive a STi. This was a few months ago though and I know that I can't believe much that a salesman tells me.



The only reason I could think of is the unique midship layout for under $30K and the sequential clutchless manual tranny.

Mmmm...Mazdaspeed Miata...

SnowSurfer

hmmm.... the only thing i could think of besides them changing the policy is that the sales men have to give the customer a warning incase the car gets really wrecked, but im sure if you brought it in they would warrenty it, who has a shiny new sti that wants to test this?

ski

My 96 Dodge Grand Caravan can beat a 325 and give a good run to a 330, especially since I took out all the back seats to make it lighter And if you say "Well a Caravan's not going to get you laid" I suggest you think again... you'd be surprised that with all the seats out of it, it's a portable shaggin wagon

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