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Piece of s* car

Started by densie 20352, February 23, 2005, 05:33:08 PM

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densie 20352


   Heres a copy of a message that I posted on another board, expletives deleted.  It might be interesting.  I hope that you guys who are buying new Cadillacs are happy with them, but Ive suddenly realized that the 70s luxo-barges are disappearing quickly, and that Im never going to want to drive anything else!

---

  I might have mentioned before that I am NOT impressed with my 2004 Grand Malarchy.  The longer Ive owned it, the more I have grown to hate it.   Its been back at the dealer twice to have the steering looked at.  Both times, theyve told me that nothing was wrong with it and that my driving was what was causing it to run off of the road.  Then Tony drove it to Dallas, it ran out of its lane several times, and when he corrected it, it swerved and smacked me up against the door.  Then on the way home, the CD player ate Tonys Pink Floyd disk and we had to tip the edge of another CD in there to get it out.  The $1400 extended "bumper-to-bumper Gold Service warranty" doesnt cover the radio. and even if it did, I wouldnt pay $100 deductible to have that same --- expletive deleted --- when I could get a good one at Best Buy for $130.  Oh, and did I mention that after an hour or two, the seats are like sitting on toilets?

  I got a survey envelope a month or so ago from what appeared to be an independent company, asking me about my car buying experience and how well I liked the car, and the dealership, so I let them have it with both barrels.  Imagine my surprise when the salesman called me a couple of days ago to ask if I was happy with the car.  So I let him have it with both barrels too.

  Now, since I owe $27k on the car, and trade-in value is about $15k, Im stuck with this --- expletive deleted ---.  I went through the terms of the "Gold" warranty plan, and the GAP insurance, and I went down there and cancelled them both today.  Of course the finance manager tried to talk me into not doing that, so I let him say his --- expletive deleted ---, then I told him that I would like to cancel them...because it seemed like he didnt understand me the first time.

  So Im feeling a little better about doing that.  Maybe now I will owe $25k and change, and I will be a little closer to being able to dump this --- expletive deleted --- and get a 70s car.

 Whatever you do, dont buy a new car.  Theyre absolute --- expletive deleted---, and they get worse every year.

-densie

Randall McGrew CLC # 17963

I am really sorry for your terrible experience.  I hope it can be righted but I suspect you are really stuck with it.  It is bad enough to have to keep the POS, but to be locked into an upside down loan is a total insult.  

Isnt it nice to be called a whinner when you post your opinions?  Ah well.  Such is life.

David #19063

Denise,

I do not know what model and options you have or the mileage, but here are two links, Edmunds and Kelly.  See what the trade-in, private party, and retail values are.

If you sell it yourself, you will get way more than trade-in.  Most time, what you get for a trade-in is a big rip off.  And if you get a good trade-in value, then you are probably not getting near the best price on the vehicle.

http://www.edmunds.com/tmv/used/index.html?tid=edmunds.u.mainindex.tradein..1.* TARGET=_blank>http://www.edmunds.com/tmv/used/index.html?tid=edmunds.u.mainindex.tradein..1.*

http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/ke.kb.sp?kbb&&&usedCarsslp TARGET=_blank>http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/ke.kb.sp?kbb&&&usedCarsslp

Tell us what these say for each?

Since you hate the car so much, I suggest you sell it yourself, in the paper, or ebay, or whatever, even if you take some loss at private party value, as you always will on a new car for depreciation, and get on with you life.  This is not helping you.

Trust me.

David

Todd Rothrauff

Denise,

I read with interest your post concerning your new car.  Honestly, I dont know how to react.

I have been a Ford technician for about 5 years now.  In that time, I have seen a few Ford products with, how shall I say it, "issues."  Taurus/Sables, for instance, have ball joint issues.  Escorts break rear coil springs.  And, the Contour/Mistique/Cougar platform has too many to list here.  However, the Town Car/CV/GM platform is relatively issue free.  The only question I have ever encountered concerning the steering on the new models had to do with a steering wheel nibble at highway speeds.  That had to do with the switch to a rack-and-pinion setup (i.e. more sensitive to road inputs).

I am assuming that you are over the 36k mileage limit for the manufacturers warranty, because the radio problem would have been covered.  I have replaced many radios under warranty for display problems, CD operation problems, etc.

However, I am not about to give new cars the cold shoulder.  Looking at the numbers, new cars perform better, are more efficient, and are easier to maintain.  While I may question some of the engineering decisions, I have no desire, from a technicians perspective, to return to the past.

Having said all that, I agree with when you say you want a 1970s car.  I would trade my 1996 Mark VIII in for a 1977/78 Eldorado Biarritz in a heartbeat (they have the most comfortable leather seats of any automobile on the planet).  But, If I wanted the Eldorado because I thought it accelerated/handled/braked better, I would be a fool.

My suggestion, (which you may have already tried), is to talk to your service manager.  Take the shop foreman or technician for a ride to duplicate the problem.  If that doesnt work, ask to drive a new 05 model and see if it does the same thing.

Happy motoring,

Todd Rothrauff
(who misses his 1965 DeVille Convertible)

JIM CLC # 15000

02-23-05
Densie, why dont you say /tell it like it really is?
Good Luck, check out the "lemon Law", Jim

Bruce Reynolds # 18992

Gday Jim,

I dont think the "Lemon" laws are going to hepl Denise in any way.

You see, there is nothing actually wrong with the car, it is just that poor Denise has suffered a major injury, and cannot drive it properly without suffering mucho pain.

It sounds like the manufacturer went to a stiffer suspension and tighter steering in the new model, andit turns out, that that is the trouble.

Bruce,
The Tassie Devil(le),
60 CDV.

P.S.   Denise, please pardon me if I am talking out of turn.

JIM CLC # 15000

02-24-05
Bruce, as I recall, densie relatedin an early post that the "powersteern pump" or something was making quite a fuss and was acting-up in general.
Good Luck, sure hope she can get some relief, Jim
P.S. you know the old saying, "it is the squeeking wheel that get the grease"!

Bruce Reynolds # 18992

Jim,

It wasnt actually the car being at fault, but the fact that Densie was finding it too hard to drive it.   When one is aching all over, anything requiring effort is a pain.

The change from a normal steering box to a Rack and Pinion tyle, and the recalabration of the suspension, made the vehicle a drivers car, and not a boulevard cruise liner.  

The steering has been designed to compete with the european imports where a normal 2.5 turns lock to lock is the norm.   Not like the steering box types where 5 turns lock to lock is the norm, and the power steering pump really meand power steering, but no road feel.

Hopefully, Densie will get her health back, instead of a sore back, and she will find the car easier to drive.

Bruce,
The Tassie Devil(le),
60 CDV

densie


  I dont mind.  Ive seen so much whining about the board lately, I thought maybe they took the worthwile conversations over to the tech forum and left this one for us whiners.  ;)

  I could have edited that a little more, because it was originally posted to another forum.  The main point here is that the 70s cars are worth hanging onto, and that I was realizing that they are getting harder to come by, and nothing like them will ever be made again.

-densie

Porter 21919

Densie,

This would be the anything goes forum, on topic, off topic, whining, etc.

We have a separate forum now for the serious whiners,the ones that started all the whining in the first place.

Hopefully you can arrive at some type of resolution, actually I see many nice 70s cars for sale, living in the desert you should be able to have a car like that indefinitely for a daily driver, with necessary rebuilding as required.

Porter

JIM CLC # 15000

02-36-05
Hello Bruce!
Hope all is well in the land of rust.
Re; Densies problems, she has stated more then once that the PS unit "groanes and tuggs" when the car is not moving. Also, if memory serves me correctly, that the technicen (sic) did not check anything.Mearly told her that all of the new cars were that way.
I feel she has a fair-to-good shot at gettening something done.
She should take the car to more then one dealer and get a second ,third, and forth opinion.
Good Luck, happy rust scrapn, Jim