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Johnson City, TN Car Consumer Discussions

Keeping Us Safe From The Lawn Tractor Menace

by oldfarmer50 on Mon Nov 17 10:08:48 PST 2008

GLENS FALLS--A city man was arrested Saturday morning for allegedly driving a lawn tractor on Glen Street while under the influence of marijuana, city police said. Police charged Donald Johnson,42 with driving while ability impaired, driving without headlights or seatbelts and driving an unregistered vehicle. Riding on the hood of the tractor, Johnson's passenger, Carl Critelli, 49 was ticketed for not wearing a seat belt. I'm so glad the local LEOs are keeping the citizens safe. I can only imagine how many people are killed each year while mowing their lawns without a seat belt. My only question, where do I go to get plates for my roto-tiller, Motor Vehicles or the Farm Bureau? :confuse:

Re: The American People have spoken.... [Mr_Shiftright]

by dtownfb on Thu Nov 13 12:56:52 PST 2008

I think the mistake GM is making is they have taken bankruptcy off the table. Quite honestly, that is not their decision. it bothers me that they feel they are "too big to fail" and are doing a full court press to pressure the government into bailing them out. I listened to the Cramer video. I agree that we need jobs but why is GM more important than the folks at Circuit City, Hershey Foods, LInen 'n things, Johnson controls, harley Davidson, etc.? Yes I know GM, the company, is bigger and tangentially supports more jobs but what about the 1.2 million workers who have lost their jobs this year? No one bailed out these companies. Even with a bailout of $50B (this number keeps going up), GM is going to have to re-structure their business. They think they are re-structuring but until they make the painful decision to cut unsustainable divisions like Saturn, they are still at the tip of the iceberg in my mind. Cutting shifts, cutting labor, cutting benefits, etc are reactionary items that any manager can do when sales go into the tank. A visionary realizes that moving forward we can't sustain 7 separate auto divisions when your market share continues to shrink. A smart manager looks at what his successful competitor is doing and adopts it to his/her company. You also announce this plan to everyone who will listen so maybe they will invest in your company. The dumbest thing Wagoner could have done is announce to the world that GM will run out of money by January. Who wants to invest in this company knowing that it is a better than average chance, it may not be around come 2009? Also he is using fear to pressure the government instead of using the supposed leadership skills he possesses to develop a plan. If I was on the board of directors, Wagoner would be gone!!! GM cannot be successful with him as the leader. If this is his best plan for GM to survive, they need a change of leadership. NOW! Wagoner should be shouting form the rooftops his plan to turn around the company. Going to all his top investors and showing them how GM return to profitability even in a down market. Instead his plan is to instill fear in the American people which is why people are saying "let them fail". GM needs to sit down with the UAW and have a heart to heart. Open all of their financial books and figure out a way with the UAW to make GM profitable. The UAW will have to make concessions but in return maybe Gm can offer employee ownership for the UAW (stock options) so the workers are invested in the company. GM succeeds, the worker succeeds. Also maybe for lower wages, they move the plants from Mexico back to the US so they can hire back some workers. Work with the dealerships to reduce the number of franchises based on fewer car divisions. How about selling the remaining 49% of GMAC to Cerebus and negotiate loosening the credit lines so more people qualify for loans. I think Ford is already on the right path and has taken drastic steps to return to profitability. They can make it and they do have the products in place. They just need the original $25B (I have no problem with this money since it is related to upgrading plants for fuel efficient cars) and maybe a safety net just in case things don't work out (car sales go lower next year). Offer Ford a line of credit. Chrysler/Cerebus: No money. Cerebus wants out of the auto industry. Let them sell Chrysler or individual divisions. They have no commitment to the workers, so no money. Plus they have money to invest and/or the ability to obtain it, they don't want to.

Re: Bluetooth and Navigation [themerg]

by jlindh on Wed Sep 10 15:22:10 PDT 2008

A local shop installed the same bluetooth into my '08 Sonata as the dealer or his out-source shop will install on a '09 Sonata. I also happen to have a Parrot 4200 in our Ford Explorer, and also have a Garmin Nuvi with built-in bluetooth that can be used in either vehicle. First of all, the Garmin bluetooth is basically unusable due to poor audio quality. It also only integrates with the car audio system if you happen to be playing the audio from the Nuvi over your car radio via the FM transmitter. If you live anywhere near a large city, you're not going to find a clear FM channel to play the Nuvi thru. Forget the Nuvi bluetooth IMHO. The Parrot does integrate with, and silence, the Explorer radio using the radio mute input on the radio. Therefore, the radio will automatically mute when a call comes in or you make an outbound call. The audio will come from the car speakers. The Parrot can also be removed when you sell the car, but certainly doesn't look very "integrated" into the dash. The Parrot is voice operated although you're going to have to do a moderate amount of repeating in order for it to understand. The dealer installed bluetooth is made by Johnson Controls and is available online for $250 or so. The unit is not voice activated so you'll have to mute the radio with the steering wheel lever and push the button on the unit to initiate a call. After the initial "wake-up" button push, the unit does understand voice prompts. Not a big deal to accomplish. You can set the Johnson unit up to auto answer incoming calls, but you'll still have to mute the radio. Despite the small built-in speaker, I'd say the audio is slightly better from the Johnson unit than the Parrot. Of course, the Johnson unit looks better installed than the Parrot. I never used the overhead cubby for sunglasses, anyway. Yes, you could have a Parrot installed into your Hyundai and get the auto mute function and audio thru the speakers. They are both good, functional units. If I were forced to chose one or the other, I'd pick the Johnson unit because of the audio quality and appearance. One final suggestion, don't get 2 different type units if you're doing installations in multiple cars. The operational differences will drive you nuts.

Tips for Sorento Owners and Problems

by zowwie on Thu May 08 11:16:11 PDT 2008

OK all... I will admit there are times that I regret my purchase of a Sorento. But I am about to share with you my findings on various topics to help you! 1) Dealers and Issues involving the BBB or the State are pointless. Contacting corporate is tricky... But simply google for CEO names of KIA or their sister company Hyundai. You will find the corporate number under Hyundai. When you call (say executive Bob Johnson). Simply say... This is Janet XYZ calling on behalf of Mr. Doe for Bob Johnson. Normally when it's formal like that... The receptionist gets the impression that you are a secretary calling for your CEO or executive for their executive. When I did it, they put me RIGHT through and boy did he get an ear full. DONT ACT UNPROFESSIONAL AND COMPLAIN!!! Simply stick to the facts, be very business like and be sure to let them know that you have already compilled all the data for the media. More than likely they will fix your issues VS that of having to be bad mouthed on your local TV consumer watch group and possibly lose 10-100,000 customers! 2) Headlights - I have blown headlights, parking light bulbs, etc. I found the contributing factor! You have too much air in your tires and more than likely you live on a bumpy road or have slow bumps that you drive over daily! Since gas is so high... Don't let the air out! Just go to autozone and buy the proper bulbs. But be sure they have a LL designator! LL stands for Long Life and the filement is much stronger than a standard bulb. Once I made that change with ALL LIGHTS (turn, bake, head, parking)... I have not had an issue. 3) Get rid of your factory air filter! It's junk and is terrible. Go get yourself a 20-25.00 code filter. Unscrew the thottle body hose that goes to your air box (two screws) and simply hose clam on the new filter to it. Then every month you can simply wash it out in the sink and re-oil it. Sometimes the air filter oil may cause a trouble code with your MAP sensor. This is common... Simply get some electronics cleaner from rad shack and spray down your MAP sensor. It will get the oil off there. You will notice TONS more power and your Sorento will have a nice sound to it! Plus if you add this and drive like a normal person... Your MPG will increase. NOT recommended for very hot climates. 4) Watch your dealer like a hawk!!! They will wessle our of any warranty coverage in a heart beat! Know your rights before you go in there! If there are recalls, service bulletins, etc. Now your stuff before you see them. 5) If it's a standard KIA issue that is common on google... DEMAND a loaner car or tell them you will simply file suit in your county for the cost of your rental car. They will tell you that rentals and loaners are not covered by warranty. However if they don't want to cover it, just tell them you will submit the complaint to the feds and encourage others to do the same. With that said... they can bite a 100 rental bill... Or end up with a recall on over 50,000 vehicles. Do the math? They will normally provide you a loaner. Overall... Try to be nice and polite. But be firm and stand your ground. If they start being butt heads... Then get all crazy on them, but remain professional and courteous. Lastly... I built an HHO generator for my Sorento and doubled my MPG!!!! :) In the city I am getting about 29 MPG instead of the 15 MPG the manufacture says. NO, I am not going to give you step by step plans on how to build one! Simply go to youtube and search for HHO. be sure to use a 20amp type1 circuit breaker inline. Good luck to everyone and I hope my tips have helped. ==Zow

Re: Real EPA Mileage tests ARE long overdue [gagrice]

by larsb on Tue Aug 19 07:32:02 PDT 2008

Gary says, "Which further strengthens my position that it was because the hybrid under the old tests were so far from reality." Gary, nothing ANYWHERE in any of the EPA revision proposals says ANYTHING about hybrids !!! When AAA tested a whole large group cars back in 2005, it found that almost ALL the cars they tested performed below the EPA numbers, and some of the worst offenders were not even hybrids !!! USA Today story March 2005 AAA data come from tests done by drivers across the country "getting groceries, getting stuck in traffic jams, driving the same way you would," says AAA spokesman Mantill Williams. The organization concedes that its tests aren't scientific but insists the results are representative. Among vehicles that were farthest off of EPA: 2004 BMW Z4 sports car, which AAA says hit just 14.5 miles per gallon in combined city-highway use, vs. 24 mpg EPA rating; Chevrolet TrailBlazer SUV, 13.6 mpg in AAA testing vs. 17 mpg EPA rating; Chrysler PT Cruiser, 17.5 mpg from AAA vs. 25 mpg EPA rating. Fuel-economy numbers posted on new vehicles are generated by 30-year-old EPA tests in which vehicles are run without air conditioning, never exceed 60 mph, never accelerate hard enough to hit 60 mph from a standstill in less than 18 seconds and always go far enough to fully warm up the engine. EPA uses correction factors to try to get closer to actual mileage. Most highway driving now is faster than 60. Even slow family cars will accelerate to 60 in less than 12 seconds, and many trips are too short to warm the engine. The so-called Fuel-efficiency Truth-in-Advertising act would require EPA tests to "reflect modern driving patterns and experiences, specifically speed and highway-vs.-urban driving," says Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., co-sponsor of the bill with Rush Holt, D-N.J. "Those are no-brainers," she says. EPA itself is mulling changes. It is considering how to account for factors that "will lower fuel economy," including, "air conditioning, aggressive driving (e.g. high speeds and quick accelerations), cold weather, traffic congestion and others." In a statement, EPA promises to "propose appropriate changes this year." I'm sorry that you are not familiar enough with the fact that everyone knew the the EPA numbers were high on almost all cars LONG before hybrids were a thought in 'Yota's mind. But the fact (FACT) remains that everyone DID already know it, and long before hybrids came along. Did you see the earlier post where I listed the new parts of the test? Did you notice how I annotated the parts of the test which were HARMFUL to hybrid mileage? I didn't see a comment on that post? Did you miss it? Here is a post you missed - notice the hybrid MPG CAME DOWN in the new test. With it coming DOWN, how was the new test put in place for the sake of the hybrids? The fact that the proposals finally happened in 2006 merely reflects that the Congress got tired of hearing about the problem and wanted to do something to resolve it. In other words, finally seeing the problem and addressing it. None of that CAFE formula stuff matters in the discussion we are having. CAFE is a separate entity and a separate subject.

Re: Forester pauses before shifting into drive? [arielphf]

by morte on Thu Aug 07 15:07:33 PDT 2008

I had the same "pause before shifting into drive "problem with my 1999 Subaru Forester (94,000 miles). I took the car to a transmission repair shop (Croteau's in Johnson City, NY) and they said it was "defective low clutch seals" which they replaced for a grand total of $1028.74. Here's the cost breakdown if you're considering having this repair done on your car: Labor ($690) + Parts ($262.54) + Tax ($76.20) = $1028.74 The parts include: Gasket/Seal Kit ($196.55) + Internal Filter ($15.43) + Spin-On Filter ($10) + Transmission Fluid ($40.56) = $262.54 The shop owner said that except for the seals, the transmission was in great shape. Furthermore, he said he has seen enough 1999 Subaru Foresters come in to his shop with this problem that he knew exactly what was going on as soon as I described the "pause before shifting into drive" problem to him over the phone. By the way, before I took my car to Croteau's, I called my local Subaru dealer. The Subaru dealer gave me the following quotes: $6000 to rebuild the transmission, or $4000 to replace the transmission with a new, remanufactured transmission, or $2200 to install a used transmission from a junk yard. Before Croteau's did any work on my car, they estimated that the replacement of the seals would cost about $1000. Or, in the worst case scenario, once they opened up the transmission and saw that it had to be rebuilt, they could rebuild it for about $2300. The $1028.74 I spent to replace the seals was a lot of money, but compared to the prices the Subaru dealer quoted, I'm not complaining. Based on my limited experience, my advice is: if your Forester goes in reverse with no problem, but hesitates when put in drive, it's probably the seals that need to be replaced. If you want to have the seals replaced, find a reputable transmission repair shop. Avoid the Subaru dealer and their outrageous prices.