| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
Is it just me or do these guys beg to be disliked? Some of you recall that a couple of months ago I went in to have a light bulb in a dash instrument changed. It's a long, and ugly, tale but I left $2,500 later. Now you'd lime to ink that after something like that yup had the bugs gone....... At least for a bit. Today I am driving to work and suddenly get a " check engine" light. I have some time so I headed to dealer #1 and got the " you'll need to leave it for 2 days" ....no can do. I check the iPad and find another dealer is only 8 miles away so I head over. Nice young lady greets me....." no problem, we can get it right in" After about a hour she pages me. We have a "lazy" O2 sensor and it'll be $444. Ouch. But she also tells me ........ "the tech checked and it also needs 8 new plugs and boots as well as complete service and a transmission flush" I laugh and walk to the truck. I get in the glove box and walk back and hand her the receipt for all of that work ( some of you recall the story of the $600 spark plugs) being done just a short time ago. "Oh" ......she said. "They just kinda guess based on miles" I'm waiting now and can't wait to sell this thing.  | ||
| Drkside79 |
Wow..... I'm speechless. Care to share the company in question. | ||
| No_rice |
yep, you have to be on your toes, and make sure your as educated as you can be before doing most anything automotive anymore. then on top of that you have to be willing to stand your ground and not get bullied into stuff you dont want or want done. its a good thing im a stubborn ass... | ||
| Court |
I'm getting more stubborn and becoming a fan of cheap disposable cars. I was actually thinking about trading this thing for another pickup but I think I got a " glimpse behind the curtain". I confess to being a tad curious as to if the plugs were actually changed before. Where is the best place, in this market, to sell a used F-150? | ||
| No_rice |
personally i have good luck with craigslist. yes you get a few numbskulls once in awhile, but its easy to put an add up, and free. although i will say im sure you cover a bigger market by putting stuff on ebay, i just really get tired of all the hoops they want you to jump through and pay to do it. if you not in a bind to get it gone and have a little time to sit on it for the right price to come along, clist eventually comes through for me. | ||
| Koz5150 |
I own a 2002 Jeep Wrangler. I bought it new and it now has 112,000 miles on it. I have changed the spark plugs twice, the serpentine belt once, and the starter. I once took it to the dealership due to the check engine light coming on. It was due to a low vacum code from the gas vent. However that wasn't covered under the "Gold bumper to bumper 100,000 mile" warranty. Stealerships suck. I now believe if you can't fix it yourself, it just ain't worth fixing. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Koz...just keep in mind that you have the most reliable inline 6 cylinder (gas)engine ever built...as long as you maintain it, keep off the rev limiter and don't run it hot...it will be good for around 300k miles. | ||
| Strokizator |
Where is the best place, in this market, to sell a used F-150? What with all the construction companies that either closed their doors or downsized, there's a glut of pick-up trucks on the market, at least around here. On the bright side, a half ton truck may appeal more to the everyday consumer than would a 3/4 or 1 ton. Take it to Carmax and have them make you an offer. | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Got it fully covered?... just saying, it's new york, stuff happens  | ||
| Slaughter |
I'd actually considered a consignment sale after what a friend of mine told me. With the current economy, the consignment lots are springing up like weeds. That way you can advertise wherever you like and not get all the looky-loos coming over to scope out your house for robbery. I hate the thought of new vehicles. I still use my 84 Toyota SR5 for everything - dump runs, hauling bike to races - everything. Costs me about $200 in insurance each year and it just will not die. Every time I dream about getting something else, I realize how nice it is to NOT make payments. Got 3 vehicles, 6 motorcycles I'm looking at buying a used truck from Enterprise fleet sales. They are thoroughly de-bugged. They only sell about 5% of their fleet - the rest go to brokers. You get the vehicle log when you buy. Got Family in Enterprise so this has been a topic of recent discussions. I've got too many other toys and wanna-do's to be spending my hard-earned money on vehicles. ZERO monthly payments is always nice. (helps pay for toys this way) I'll never sell a used vehicle. When I'm done with it, there is NOTHING LEFT. (Message edited by slaughter on June 15, 2011) | ||
| Daves |
Good car/truck dealers are as hard to find as good Buell dealers once were. They are out there though. Hard to find? Yes. But every area has at least one. Just like anything else, find a good dealer, develop a relationship based on honesty,trust and loyalty. I could go on and on about the car business. Good luck! | ||
| Prior |
Heather had an 05 Civic that always had the oil changed at the dealer- $25 since she was a repeat owner and it saved me the hassle of crawling under that short thing to do the job myself. Last oil change she had before we sold the car, she got taken for $250 for a brake fluid change. I had done the full brake job just a few weeks prior when she was out of town and couldn't believe that they said it needed done. Again, based on mileage, that's it. I do all of my own maintenance, other than tire alignments and the like (and she still gets her oil done at the dealer). Even the $35 in parts and 8 hours of labor I had in doing the $900 serpentine belt change that the dealer quoted was more than worth the time just to know it was done right. I still drive my '97 S-10, only vehicle I've ever owned with 4 wheels, and she's getting pretty ratty, but hope it'll make a few more years yet. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I dodged a ripoff from a pepboys: It was winter and my toyota pickup needed an oil change. I went in to pepboys since they were near where I worked and I didn't want to lie in the slush. The guy was entering in my data into his comouter I was casually watching his screen from the side. He asked for the miles. When he entered in 140000, the price magically doubled! The bitter anger and hatered kept me warm as the slush soaked into my back while I did my own oil. | ||
| 01_turbowolf |
And those are the type of shops that make the rest of us in the auto industry look bad. i dont think ive ever had to replace the coil boots on a 3v assuming thats what engine you have. id get rid of anything with a 5.4 3v in it, they are dropping like flies lately from oil pressure problems. | ||
| Swampy |
Is that an F150 with an 8ft box extended cab with 4 wheel drive? Because if it is this might just be the best forum to sell that truck at.... | ||
| Court |
>>>Is that an F150 with an 8ft box extended cab with 4 wheel drive? Nope . . . . Garden variety F-150 XLT with not much of anything . . . just works.        | ||
| Leftcoastal |
Buyer beware: - on another thread there was a story told (after being reminded, of course) of an incident in the city where this truck owner was hauling a fellow 'badwebber' (Saro) out for steaks, and had to perform sudden evac. measures to avoid local constabulary confrontation. Be sure to check passenger seat for, well.... effluvia. | ||
| Fordrox |
The Buell sticker adds to the value. Nice truck Court. | ||
| Court |
Hahahahaha . . . Yep . . "The Truck" has some great tales to tell. We'll see . . sounds like it may be gone soon. | ||
| Court |
By the way . . one thing I've learned is that doing all sorts of routine maintenance makes not an iota of difference when it comes time to sell or trade. I have this anal habit of putting Mobil 1 in everything from the day it's new. . .flushing all the fluids (brake, power steering, transmission) annually and renewing. The last time tried to get a dealer to change transmission fluid they wanted to suck it out with a vacuum hose. I told them to go ahead if they could suck the filter out and blow the new one back in . . they told me "the filter doesn't really do that much". I explained I wanted the pan taken off, the filter changed and a new gasket. They looked at me like a Martian. Lesson learned is that you do that stuff . . unless you are keeping it forever . . pretty much for your own peace of mind. I'm about "Forded Out" for now . . . love the vehicles . . dealers scare me. Gosh . . sounds familiar, eh? | ||
| Brumbear |
yep | ||
| Just_ziptab |
I dread the day I can't do ALL my own repairs. The auto industry is "all about gouging" to cover overhead...........overhead that is mandated by the mother ships, Sadly,they have nearly driven out to extinction, the 'Mom & Pop' shops that operated with minimal overhead. | ||
| Greatnorthrider |
I have a local mechanic that I know and trust. Because of this, I am not afraid to buy used because I know he can fix anything for a reasonable price. (I also have him pre-inspect every vehicle I buy.) I feel sorry for those of you who have to deal with a "dealer" that is just trying to increase revenue. Find an honest, independent mechanic that you can build a good relationship with and take your vehicle to them. They are really out there, you just have to spend the time and effort to find them. | ||
| Slaughter |
That bears repeating. If we have learned ANYTHING from the Harley/Buell experience is is this one thing. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Court, you're a smart guy, why are taking this truck to a dealer for service? You don't even need a dealership for warranty repairs. $444 for an O2 sensor? That's about a $50 part that gets replaced by screwing the old one out and screwing the new one in and plugging the wiring in. 5 minutes on a scan tool the clear the code and you're done. I worked for an independant shop for a long time - we had as much overhead as any dealership service department (really nice customer waiting area) and a state of the art facility - I used to think we ripped people off until I hear stories about things like this. When we wrote up a car for brakes or tires, we measured how much material was left and told the customer. For transmission service, we generally didn't drop the pan and replace the filter (many don't even have a filter), but the system was flushed with a special machine to pump in new fluid and push out ALL of the old - not just suck it out with a tube. Don't even get me started on these chain-type places like Valvoline, Midas, Pep Boys, etc. These guys are trained to do your $1.83 oil change and then write you up to replace everything on your car every time you come in. | ||
| Thumper74 |
OUCH! MSRP on the upstream O2 sensor is 93.11 and down stream is 70.85. Labor for one is .8 hrs... Plus diagnosis is 1.0 hrs at one shop. Seems to be a bit much for an O2 sensor. Note: Unless the light is flashing, you're probably okay to drive it and shop around. Thumper(ASE A1-5) | ||
| Raceautobody |
MSRP on the upstream O2 sensor is 93.11 and down stream is 70.85. There is two upstream and two down stream so if they are going to replace all 4 than $444 is about right. | ||
| Thumper74 |
The likelihood of all four sensors going out at the same time is nil, unless Court's running race gas. I run it in the Buell sometimes and no issues with fouling the O2 sensor there either... | ||
| Just_ziptab |
I've bought quite a few genuine OEM parts on Ebay for nearly 20 cents on the dollar. As far as 02 sensors,one may code bad.....because something upstream will cause the 02 as bad,even tho it's good,...such as the air pump locked up.Yeah,my 01 Sonoma did that to me. Local Chevy shop scans it for free...even KNOWING I'm going to fix it myself. | ||
| Just_ziptab |
Leaded race gas will kill an 02 sensor.......but I think(?) race gas is now lead free with some sort of other additive to replace the T lead. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
They couldn't tell which O2 sensor was bad so they replaced ALL FOUR of them? That sounds logical. |
