Car Troubles... Again... What Else Is New

[mandysee_mandydo]

I will neverevereverevereverever buy a vehicle from Benson again. I just had my truck inspected only to find that, on top of the new tires and tie rod end which I expected, I need welding work done. On the frame. Because it's cracked. Yeah. Looks like another year of several hundred dollars to get a vehicle to pass.

So let's recap. In the ten months that I've owned the truck:

• The day I went to pick it up I sat in their waiting area for three hours while they replaced the ignition security system because it failed.
• A week after buying it I had to bring it back under warranty to fix an issue with it bucking under load. Turned out to be a cracked spark plug and some filter.
• The dome lights don't work (yes, minor issue but still...)
• The engine is acting funny and does the weird stalling out thing for no apparent reason (though it may be a voltage regulator, not sure).
• The frame is cracked.
• The brake lines are rusting and, while they pass this year, they will need to be replaced before next year. This is an all-day project on this particular year of Silverado because of how Chevy ran the lines (I really think engineers should be forced to fix their designs so they'll understand just how stupid they really are sometimes).
• The passenger rocker panel and the rear wheel wells are already rusting out and will need to be fixed soon even though they pass for now.
• I paid far too much for this truck and will be paying for another three and a half years.

List Above + Circumstances Around Financing = Unhappy Me. :(

So far I'm not seeing the advantage to buying new or used cars from dealers. I could have paid a few hundred for another junker, done a bunch of DIY repairs and brought it in when it wasn't something I could have done and replaced it when it inevitably died. I would have saved thousands. Lots of thousands.

Comments

[aunrea (from livejournal.com)]

:( I wonder why you have such bad luck with cars. That seems to be the only thing I have good luck with. I had bought a 2005 Chevy Cavalier which I bought in 2006 and I have never had a single problem with it except one. When it's really hot outside, if I put the driver window all the way down it sometimes won't go back up. But since I use AC when it's really hot outside the only time I have encountered this trouble is when I drove onto base and had to open my window to show my ID. I just learned not to open it all the way.

I hope you have better luck in the future.

[srturtle.livejournal.com]

I hope I have better luck, too! Thanks. :)

[chenoachem.livejournal.com]

Part of the problem with being in NH. Everything rusts faster. Sorry you are having trouble.

[srturtle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the rust issue is a pain in the butt. The troubling part of the body rust, though, is that it started to show before it had even been through a single winter under my possession. When I bought it the body looked excellent.

[quantumswordsmn.livejournal.com]

Jeez, you and vehicles. I have to start to wonder if this is more than just a correlation and is actually a cause and effect at this point. Perhaps you have certain driving habits that just beat the bejeezus out of your cars?

Your experience certainly isn't typical though, so maybe Kathy should be in charge of vehicle purchases from now on? Couldn't be any worse at least :P

[srturtle.livejournal.com]

Well, I knew I would need the tie rod or some front end work because of the abuse the truck takes from driving a dirt road every day. That wasn't a surprise and certainly nothing I would be upset about.

The tires I knew were needed because they were showing signs of cracking and such. It's a bit disappointing considering I just paid $13,000 (which is actually more like $18,000 when I'm done paying off the loan) for the damned thing and the least they could have done was throw some new tires on. The cracking tires is just a matter of age.

The rust actually started to bubble to the surface shortly after I bought it less than a year ago and before there was even snow on the ground, so I suspect it was an issue before the truck was up for sale and they did a shoddy job of fixing it (i.e. more like a cover-up body job than fixing it right the first time).

The engine troubles are something wrong pre-existing I'm sure. As I mentioned the first problem surfaced a couple of days after I brought the thing home. I suspect their mechanics probably cracked the spark plug in the rush to get the ignition security problem fixed the day I went to pick it up. The current trouble I'm not sure. I suppose it could be a matter of how I drive. The hesitation upon acceleration when it first starts up and gets moving has been persistent since I bought it.

The cracked frame? I can't imagine anything I did just from normal driving causing that. Cracked frames usually happen from accidents and I haven't had any bad accidents, let alone any that involved the rear half of my truck.

Most of my previous troubles I know were from my horrible eye for picking a good deal and just buying whatever junker I could afford. This time I went to a dealer and had someone with me who had already been through the car buying process who looked the vehicle over, too. I think I'm more sore about this because a) I went to a dealer and hoped I would find a more reliable vehicle, b) I paid a very large sum of money for this vehicle (on credit), and c) I was cornered into the financing by my co-signer.

Maybe I'll just bike everywhere. :P

[chenoachem.livejournal.com]

"Maybe I'll just bike everywhere"

There is the motor scooter option. :)

[srturtle.livejournal.com]

Actually, that's not a bad idea! Kathy and I have both considered it from time to time. It certainly would be more fuel efficient! :)