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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  3110 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: #Dieselgate

It's been a rough time for car companies. Ignition switches, airbags, hackable cars, dirty exhaust . . . I mean, it doesn't really phase me cause I see recall notices on a weekly basis, but these have been some pretty high profile stories lately. It'll be interesting to see what these companies will do to try to win back public perception.





kleinbl00  ·  3110 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Well, a little perspective - compared to the Pinto, the Corvair, the Suzuki Samurai, the Amazing self-driving Audi, or the Ford-Firestone "underinflated tires are more stable" scandal, the only two that really hold a candle are Chevy and their ignition switches and Volkswagen and their "fuck you I won't do what you tell me" emissions play. "Hackable cars?" No body count yet. No deliberate and pervasive conspiracy to commit fraud.

I think they mea culpa the shit out of it, offer stupendous trade-in rebates and wait for everyone to forget.

user-inactivated  ·  3110 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Well, the hackable Jeep is a bit of an outlier I guess, if only because even though it did lead to a recall, it was more of a spectacle story than an outright risk. Though, it did highlight an issue that is going to become more and more prevalent in cars as computers really start to take a central roll.

However, I think that the Takata airbag issue is just as serious as GM's ignition switches and VW's dirty exhaust if only because the recall is so massive.

The crazy thing about cars is a lot of people don't have any brand loyalty. They'll jump from brand to brand on a whim. To make matters worse though, when we're burned by a certain car maker we're a lot less likely to buy from them ever again. How many times in your conversations with every day folks have you heard someone say "I had an car from Company X and my experience was awful. I'm never buying from them again and I tell everyone I know to avoid them." Hell, here in this thread alone, there's a strong circle jerk against VW (who deserve it, fuck VW). One of my coworkers took part in RAM's buyback program (video auto play warning) and felt not only shafted on the issues of the truck itself, but Fiat-Chrysler. Know what he said? "Fuck RAM. I will never buy another one of their trucks again." Similarly, one of my friend's dad is having problems with his Ford Focus. Last I heard, he and the dealership are still at odds, so his Focus sits on his front lawn with a wooden giant lemon cutout that says "My Focus is a Lemon and [Ford Dealership's Name] is run by crooks!"

People and their cars man. Testy. Let me tell you.

kleinbl00  ·  3110 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Oh god. You're right.

    The issue involves defective inflator and propellent devices that may deploy improperly in the event of a crash, shooting metal fragments into vehicle occupants.

HOW DID I MISS THIS PART

    For its part, Toyota said it would begin to replace defective passenger-side inflators starting October 25; if parts are unavailable, however, it has advised its dealers to disable the airbags and affix “Do Not Sit Here” messages to the dashboard.

That one had me cackling, I'll admit. OH HOLY FUCK you ain't kidding. That right there is the mark of an industry caught flat-footed.

Something I think needs to be said here - dealers are detrimental to brands. When we set out to buy my wife's Fit, the first place we went started the negotiation at $4k over MSRP. When I said "why are you offering to charge me four thousand dollars over the sticker in the window?" they said "because we have costs to cover." When I said "so am I to believe that the price in the window is the price you pay?" they said "that's a nice watch. How much does a watch like that cost?"

That's something I think Tesla is absolutely doing right - i suspect Elon Musk made the calculation that dealers could only hurt his product and decided that the only people who would be selling Teslas would be Tesla employees on salary.

user-inactivated  ·  3110 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The thing about the Takata recalls was that it was never ending. Every time you turned around more cars were falling under the recall umbrella and Takata, who to their credit handled it about as well as possible, seemed to just keep stumbling.

As for dealerships, every experience I've ever had has been pleasant, though I'm a but curious as to what it would be like to purchase a car without a dealership.

user-inactivated  ·  3110 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I've built a solid relationship with my local Toyota dealer and use them for all my service as they are only 6% higher than anyone else around me. I make sure to stop by the sales guys and say "hello" when I am there. Last time I was there for an oil chance I was joking about how much longer I can keep the car running before I need one of them.

Not saying that this will help me, but it can't hurt. Still fretting the next car purchase, hopefully not for a few years yet.

kleinbl00  ·  3110 days ago  ·  link  ·  

When I was buying the Stealth not one, not two, but three different dealerships wanted me to sign a "release" in order to test drive vehicles. These "releases" were actually agreements to buy at prices higher than those advertised.

user-inactivated  ·  3110 days ago  ·  link  ·  

This is one reason that the dealers are shitting themselves over Tesla's business model. I'll never buy on of their cars (too expensive for what they are), but I'd buy from any car company that sold cars in the same way.

This is sort of how I ended up with a Scion. Back when I got the car, I wanted a manual. There were none available within 150 miles. Sigh. Thy told me to go onto the web site and custom out a car, click "have financing will settle at dealer" or something along those lines and wait for an email (in 2002!!) that the car was ready to be picked up. No haggle, no sales crap, got the car for exactly what Consumer Reports said the car was worth and got the exact vehicle I wanted. I had to go to the dealer, sign paperwork, deal with my trade-in, hand over the loan info from the bank, and within an hour of showing up I was out the door in my new car.

I am filled with nothing but dread for when this car finally bites the dust. No car buying experience will ever be that good again.

user-inactivated  ·  3110 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Man. Fuck that. The only thing worse than that was when a local Nissan dealership tried to talk my friend into a $650 a month lease on a Maxima. Fuck that too.

coffeesp00ns  ·  3110 days ago  ·  link  ·  

However, I think that the Takata airbag issue is just as serious as GM's ignition switches and VW's dirty exhaust if only because the recall is so massive.

FUCK THIS FUCKING RECALL

this is the shit that's had my vehicle in Import Purgatory for 6 fucking months. I FINALLY get the replacement part tomorrow, so I can fucking import my fucking car so I can get a new insurance policy so I can fucking get it registered. SO much weight off my shoulders.

user-inactivated  ·  3110 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Hey. On the upside, at least you didn't order yourself a TDI engine two weeks ago. ;)