Car buying irritations

[ode1]

I was looking at Chevy Trax....think it's essentially the same vehicle with slightly different styling....but I will drive my Vibe into the ground before I buy another vehicle..very similar specs, styling, and the fuel economy looks solid. AWD? Enjoy it!

[thug the bunny]

Auto makers have been packaging their features along 'trim lines' for decades. You can get this with that package, but not with that one. I recently finally got the exact vehicle I wanted, probably just by chance after having purchased 5. It was a Chevy Silverado Extra cab, their 'work truck' trim line, the lowest one. The 4wd is a manual lever, and the steering wheel is plastic, and the computer is controlled by a spindle sticking through the speedometer, and non led regular headlights; it has all the necessary stuff - large V8, traction control, all disc brakes, locking rear differential, but it also has the blackout package which includes a factory spray-in bedliner and 20" black alloy wheels. Looks killer. And brand new for slightly more than used LT trim lines with 20K mi on them. Finally! I got exactly what I wanted.

[spoonhead]

Gotta love a white car. Keep her clean and look after it and I'm sure that it will treat you right.

If you can, get the clear wrap on the front hood and bumper to keep the stone chips to a minimum.

Finding a good shop to put the wrap on is tough, the cost is a bit hard to take but worth it. Dealer will want a mint to do it.

Good luck.

[1puttTUT]

Thanks for buying American!

[AppAlum]

Agree with the paint comments. Rust was an issue after 2.5 years with my last Legacy. Never really had any mechanical issues with our Subaru's though. Recently traded the Legacy in for a 17 Ridgeline and love it!

[hammy83]

It's pretty small, which is fine with me. I like being able to park anywhere etc.

 

Yes engine is tiny. Wanted the upgraded one but this was a demo and i got a good deal so I was ok with it.

 

I will have to cancel all my drag races, that's for sure

 

I hope you have better luck with your vehicle. My cruze has the same engine and the water pump went, value cover needed replacement, purge solenoid (stupid emissions check engine code) coolant housing is now leaking and the computer that controls the heat needed replaced and reprogramming twice.

[rfernando]

Congrats on the purchase. Although I was routing you'd go with the WRX :P

 

I got a WRX STI last year and loooove it!!

[MtlJeff]

It's pretty small, which is fine with me. I like being able to park anywhere etc.

 

Yes engine is tiny. Wanted the upgraded one but this was a demo and i got a good deal so I was ok with it.

 

I will have to cancel all my drag races, that's for sure

 

I hope you have better luck with your vehicle. My cruze has the same engine and the water pump went, value cover needed replacement, purge solenoid (stupid emissions check engine code) coolant housing is now leaking and the computer that controls the heat needed replaced and reprogramming twice.

 

They seem to have decent warranties, was it covered? I think its like 4yrs 80k?

[SilverBullets]

Agree with the paint comments. Rust was an issue after 2.5 years with my last Legacy. Never really had any mechanical issues with our Subaru's though. Recently traded the Legacy in for a 17 Ridgeline and love it!

 

My '15 WRX was splattered with paint chips in a matter of a few months (I avoid driving behind or near any type of truck on the highway at all cost). I got bird poop on the roof right above the driver side door. I saw it at lunch, went home after work, got out the hose and sprayed it down, wiped it off. The bird poop, in a matter of say 8 hours actually ate through the paint down to the bare metal. I have never seen that happen on a car. I have had cars which the clear coat got stained or lost it's luster because the poop ate away at it... generally it was because the poop was left on there for at least 24 hours. We submitted a claim to Subaru to see if they would claim the paint under warranty. They wouldn't (which wasn't a surprise but was worth asking). The dealership actually had their paint/detail guy fix it and they paid for it. I

 

IDK what Subie does with their paint, but, its either really crappy product or put on super thin.

 

I trade the WRX after a year.

[hammy83]

It's pretty small, which is fine with me. I like being able to park anywhere etc.

 

Yes engine is tiny. Wanted the upgraded one but this was a demo and i got a good deal so I was ok with it.

 

I will have to cancel all my drag races, that's for sure

 

I hope you have better luck with your vehicle. My cruze has the same engine and the water pump went, value cover needed replacement, purge solenoid (stupid emissions check engine code) coolant housing is now leaking and the computer that controls the heat needed replaced and reprogramming twice.

 

They seem to have decent warranties, was it covered? I think its like 4yrs 80k?

 

the water pump, and controls for the heat including the computer replacement was. The rest not so much as she is just out of warranty. Apparently there is issues whether the coolant housing should be covered or not as most of the time dealerships are not covering it. Its such a common issue that GM dealerships are stocking a bunch of them and when I do a search its extremely common. Same with the valve cover replacement... amazing no recalls though. I guess no one got hurt because of these lol

[hammy83]

It's pretty small, which is fine with me. I like being able to park anywhere etc.

 

Yes engine is tiny. Wanted the upgraded one but this was a demo and i got a good deal so I was ok with it.

 

I will have to cancel all my drag races, that's for sure

 

I hope you have better luck with your vehicle. My cruze has the same engine and the water pump went, value cover needed replacement, purge solenoid (stupid emissions check engine code) coolant housing is now leaking and the computer that controls the heat needed replaced and reprogramming twice.

 

Turns out things are getting a lot worse with this POS. Along with this issues described above (keep in mind this car has 120k and my wife babbies it... no reving over 3k and drives like a saint) the mother in law decided to crush the right rocker panel on a tree stump (not blaming GM for this) but it now needs new lower ball joints and tie rods or both side. When the coolant housing was off and the car was jacked up you can see the edges of the head gasket are severely rusted to the point were it looks like the rust is going inside. my mechanic and I figure its probably a matter of time before the seal is gone on that.

Its trade in time.

[elwhippy]

All car salespeople, the world over, are emissaries of Lucifer and want your money. I play regularly with several, from Honda to Mercedes and every marque in between. I notice a real personality shift from "that bloke I am playing with" to "Kerching$$$$". If you are not interested in buying they barely say a word. And Lord help you if you don't want finance....

[ohioglfr]

I live in SW Ohio (the rust belt). I've noticed that Jeeps and Dodge Ram (pickups and vans) tend to rust after 4-5 years. With jeeps it's in the rear quarters, especially the wheel arches. With the trucks, it's the front fenders/rockers. I've not observed problems with the Chrysler 300 or other RWD full size cars. The Subarus I've seen resist rust well, even the occasional ones I see from the '90's.

I wanted to get a Legacy in 2016, but wifey wanted a Crosstrek, which now has 23k trouble-free miles. I think the 2.5 litre in the Legacy is a more torquey and flexible engine, and hopefully, the CVT holds up. I was surprised that the WRX used a CVT as the automatic, which historically has not been a high horsepower/torque-friendly transmission. Only time will tell. I'd read the Subaru owners blog sites to see how those trannys are holding up.

[Barnacle]

It seems to be an American car thing to do. They stack up and load so many rediculous packages on their cars. All of the unpackaged cars are sent to rental fleets.

 

I hate American car companies

 

Subarus generally have very few packages. They come in 3 or 4 trims and then have a small amount of options/packages to add. Dealerships generally carry a nice mix of cars in different trims with a mix of options at the Subaru dealerships.

 

I Want to like subarus more than I do. I think they make really solid cars. Very reliable, great AWD, look pretty good... Their interiors and overall cabin noise are seriously lacking though (depending on what you are wanting and what is important to you). I only last 12 months with my 2015 WRX after I realized I just didn't like it. I would own a Crosstrek and/or a BRZ if they didn't have 2 cycle lawn mower motors on them

 

Clearly you've never gone to Ford. Typically you can go in anytime and order exactly what you want. I had the option to do it with my Mustang and my F150, but they had vehicles extremely close on the lot already so I went with what they had. The only time you can't order is when they have stopped making a previous model and are refitting the factories for the new model. For example you can't go order a 2017 F150 anymore because they are refreshing, but don't have the order process set up yet for the 2018's.

[MtlJeff]

So far i'm really liking my Encore. Happy with the decision

 

Some days i have minor regrets about not going with the WRX but whatevs, i would've lost my license had i bought it

 

The Encore is really nice on the inside, and has some cool features that will make it a nice winter car. Plus parents and chicks dig it. It's totally a soccer mom car, so i got that going for me