You Are What You Drive - Truth Or Legend?by Leo Russ

First of all, I have a confession to make: the title of this article is intended to attract a reader's attention… not entirely, however, - it covers only small portion of the topic, and is the first in a series with a much wider spectrum that - as a whole - should be entitled as "AN AUTO IGNORAMUS' GUIDE TO SURVIVAL". The "You are what you drive…" part is just as good an opener as any other. <BR><BR>So why do we choose one vehicle over the other? What drives us - no pun intended - into making mostly irrational yet the second largest purchase of our lives, the one that most of us will have to co-exist with for five or more years? I am not a psychologist by any means but being in this business for so many years as I have been, I inevitably came to some conclusions that you - the reader - can be the only judge of. <BR><BR>Professional salespeople - whatever their expertise might be in - know that the color of a vehicle - interior and/or exterior - is one of the if not the most important consideration. Sometimes, however, people use more "commonsensual" approach. I knew a guy who bought an extremely poorly made yet quite expensive vehicle because it had radio control on the steering wheel. That guy once barely avoided an accident while being busy looking for volume button… Makes sense? In a sense, it does. But what good do fancy buttons on the steering wheel do when the owner is riding a tow truck or patiently sitting in a repair shop since both locations are unlikely to provide so much sought luxury? Same goes for heated seats, sunroof, hi-fidelity stereo, and suchlike. All these features are good only when a. the vehicle is drivable, and b. they [the features] are operational. And if anybody thinks that they do not break, or are easy to fix - time to start thinking more realistically in order to avoid major disappointments. <BR><BR><BR>It's been pretty hard to choose the examples for these articles since out of about <B>7000 inspections I've personally performed </B>- yes, that's <B>SEVEN THOUSANDS</B> - over the last few years, about <B>800</B> deserve to be mentioned here - that's <B>more than 10%</B>!. Some cases are remarkable because of the number of unrelated to each other defects at the same time. I was involved in 3 claims with 18(!!!) independent problems on a <BR>single vehicle. You probably are curious what those vehicle were, aren't you? I will let you know when we get to that topic. Promise. <BR><BR>Other noteworthy cases involve outrageous repair charges comparable with the price of the vehicle - like a four-year-old Oldsmobile Aurora with 60,000 miles on the odometer. Two weeks after the dealer had sold the vehicle, the customer brought it back with multiple complaints that resulted in a <B>$12,540</B>(!!!) repair bill. By the way, all defective items were "minor" (no engine or transmission replacement), and were related to luxury, comfort, and convenience features - this case fits perfectly into the subject of this article. By the way, do I need to specifically mention that the Extended Warranty company denied payment because of pre-existing condition while the selling/repairing dealer refused to participate since the vehicle was sold "as is"? Now, imagine the customer's excitement when he learned that on top of nearly $20,000 original purchase loan he owned $12,540 for repairs... Maybe he should have had that vehicle inspected prior to signing the papers. Just a thought... <BR><BR>The other category of noteworthy cases includes vehicles with huge number of repairs over a short period of time like this <BR><BR>http://www.anti-lemon.com/articles/YouAreWhatYouDrive/Graphics/IntrepidHist_LE781750.JPG <BR><BR>Dodge Intrepid with <B>seven visits to a dealership over a 9,000 mile/ one year period</B>. Or this <BR><BR>Dodge Ram with five visits to the dealership with multiple repairs per visit over 9 month/less that 3,000 mile period. <BR><BR>I could show a nice pile of 48 (!!!) repair orders for a luxury European vehicle with less that 40,000 miles on the odometer but I guess the point has been made... <BR><BR>Now, it's time for a few more specific real-life examples. <BR><BR>My one-day-old work truck had unbalanced tires. What could be more basic than balancing them??? My cat could do it. A very respected local dealer tried four (4!!!) times, and every time damaged the rims. After the second time, I suggested that they replaced the entire wheels since it seamed to be a more feasible way of dealing with the problem. Not that easy! The truck is equipped with a nice little feature - air pressure sensors in each stem valve on each wheel. The sensors communicate with one of the on-board computers, and a warning light illuminates on the dashboard if pressure in any one of five (spare included) tires drops below certain limit. The sensors are matched with the computer, and cannot be replaced separately. Can you reprogram the computer or the sensor? No. Finally, the dealer assigned a Master Technician who managed to balance the tires without major damage to the rims. This true story is intended to demonstrate that <B>no repair goes unpunished</B>, and simplicity is a key factor in overall reliability of any system while reliability is a key factor in avoiding repairs and associated with them hassles not to mention expenses. <BR><BR>Another one: Mercedes Benz feels that it's upscale customers cannot shut the door or the trunk lid without assistance, and it used a vacuum pump to implement the pull-down function. Essentially, this pump is not any different than a blood pressure measuring device that can be purchased for $25 at any drug store while the Benz implementation is sold by dealers for about $1,000. Plus labor. In fact, there are a few differences: unlike the MB $1000+ component, the blood pressure measuring device has a fancy display, control buttons, power supply, electronic controls, etc. <BR><BR>And one more: ABS [Anti-Lock Brake System] is a very useful device. It's intended to prevent wheels from locking up during brake application thus allowing the driver to maintain "steerability" of the vehicle. Unfortunately, like everything else, the system has its drawbacks. First of all, it increases braking distance, and this is something salespeople fail to tell the buyer when selling every imaginable option. More than that, at one point the American Insurance Institute reported that vehicles equipped with ABS had a greater probability of being involved in an accident because drivers felt that they could stop on a dime even on pure ice. In fact, ABS only allows to pick the target. Don't get me wrong - this function is a good enough reason to have ABS as long as the driver is aware of its shortcomings. <BR><BR>Now, why have I started this ABS discussion in connection with automotive blows and whistles? This is yet another complicated add-on device but unlike heated seats, pull-down trunk lids, etc., it has a significant practical value… when implemented correctly. <BR><BR>Most manufacturers design ABS system so that in case of a failure brakes operate just like on a regular vehicle not equipped with this feature. <BR><BR>A few years ago, one of the European "luxury symbols" had a little problem: all of a sudden, one of its front wheels would lock up without prior warning, and - considering the fact that driving that vehicle in normal operating condition was about the same as driving an 18-wheeler - staying on the road was a task beyond the capabilities of an average driver… During one of the inspections, I encountered that problem @ 15 MPH, and it was anything but fun when I found myself at the opposite side of the road. <BR><BR>While we are at the ABS topic, I just could not help not to show you this picture <BR><BR>of an ABS pump that came from a 4-year old Dodge Avenger, and it's not the only one I have encountered in this miserable condition... Replacement cost - about $1,500, and as always, "rust or corrosion" is not covered by extended warranty. <BR><BR>And to conclude, look at the following photograph <BR><BR><BR>It depicts a window motor that came from a 4-year old Mercedes. Nasty, isn't it? And you still don't know how much the dealership would charge for replacement... and you don't want to know! By the way, an Extended Warranty the customer might have had would not cover "rust or corrosion". <BR><BR>This example is intended to demonstrate that even a so common luxury - or rather convenience - feature as power windows that comes standard on more and more vehicles every year, could be a source of a ridiculous problem caused by faulty design and/or manufacturing, obviously the price of the vehicle - as you can see - plays no role here. Needless to say, a window or a sunroof tends to get stuck in open position when it's snowing or raining - preferably at a below freezing temperature. <BR><BR><B><I>CONCLUSION:</I></B> every extra part, or device like seat heaters, traction control, voice activated stereo, pull-down trunk lid, automatic nose wiper, etc. reduces reliability, increases maintenance costs, and may be very difficult or impossible (in the best case-scenario - expensive) to repair in case of a failure. Also, a tow truck may not be equipped with any of these conveniences thus making them completely useless when installed on an overall poorly built vehicle. <BR><BR>Don't get me wrong - I am not advocating slipping into the Stone Age but we all need to realize what we are getting ourselves into, and <B>we are in business of helping you in making an informed and logical decision when buying a used vehicle</B>.