car junk

hey, car dealers have to put their kids through private school too, ya know...

I get the medium price batteries at Auto Zone.

Well if her car went dead 2 years ago, and it was replaced with a 15 month battery (for an outrageous price mind you) and it lasted up until 2 days go (give or take 24 months) then the battery lived for 9 extra months. Not really an up side more of just me talking/typing out loud.

dealerships are way over priced. I try and get them to tell me what is wrong and then go buy the parts myself and do it myself or have a friend help. Hell of a lot cheaper that way.

batteries is kind of a game, but once you eliminate the crooked players, you mostly get what you pay for...

(never buy one from wally)

have you thought to check one of those silent recall sites

not sure about now, but a few years back (10 or so) the auto companies had silent recalls, non emergency recalls, a buddy had this happen to him, can't remember what the problem was but it was electrical, and after numerous trips to the dealership he hears about this silent recall site, and finds out that his car had a problem that should have been fixed for free but nobody told him, he went to the dealer, presented the info, got the problem fixed and even got reimbursed for previous expenses (some stuff that wasn't covered by warranty)

Unless you disconnect the battery and do a full trickle (not quick) charge and then when it's expected to be fully charged, do a properly timed load test, you cannot with certainty confirm the condition of the battery.

dealer shops are useless

isn't that why you go for the hiredryer option?

I solemly believe this also. The dealer and the garage in back are two separate profit centers no?

they got their hands in each other's pocket.

each is driven by the other, is it not?

Husband's a mechanic at an independent (non-dealer) shop.

More & more lately, he sees problems that only dealers can repair, because only they have the pricey/proprietary scanners that can diagnose the problem... usually with the computer components laced throughout the car.

These days, this independent shop often has to bring the car to the dealer after a component is installed, because only the dealer has the equipment to re-program the pesky computer bits. This sucks!

And at dealers, y'know, mechanics are almost always paid "flat-rate," meaning by the number of parts that are installed. More parts (needed or not) means more money for the mechanics. This sucks too!

Dealers suck... oh, did I say that already? Just a little rant.

Oh, and husband is paid By The Hour, not flat-rate. I don't know of ANY dealers that pay hourly.

dealers and auto makers are 'scratch m y back and i scratch yours' situations.

Make a car that requires something made with uranium to fix, and only the dealer will carry the uranium.
Dont pay your employees more per hour, just let them know that the uranium is only available there and that the life span of that part is only 6 months. Promise them a visible raise in pay because they are paid by parts installed and you dont have to give them any benefits.

We, the consumer, are left to be screwed out of our money 3 times over. NOt only to we have to pay extra money to the dealer to purchase, we have to pay the bank to finance, and now we have to REpay the dealer for that uranium part.

Dealers charge WAAY to much for basic labor. With new cars requiring more complicated parts they are getting more and more of a simple monopoly on work removing our ability to choose who we want to do the work.


blah.
Poo dealers.

Agreed! And I think this entirely purposeful on the dealer's part.

I think modern auto-repairs are a huge rip-off scheme (by dealers) that's largely gone unreported.

If you're NOT lucky enough to be married to an auto mechanic these days, I can only suggest, well, come to think of it, more than one thing:

1) Get a pre-1990 car, which can be repaired by your local independent shop. (Our cars are 1986 and 1980.)

2) Pester your dealer for a diagnosis, using their equipment, and do your best to pass this information on to your local independent shop. (Write it all down!)

3) Talk directly with the mechanic, who's doing the work (your dealer will try very hard to prevent this), and ask what is really wrong with your car. Beg him/her to only fix what really needs to be fixed.

4) Get a horse & buggy instead.