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Manassas, VA Car Consumer Discussions

Grinding sound when shifting

by sublor on Mon Nov 03 12:03:38 PST 2008

I'm having a terrible day! Our 2001 Outback with 150,000 miles, has been making a grinding sound when we shift into 1st or from 1st into 2nd. We thought probably a gear/transmission thing...we are definately not car people...so mechanics can tell us anything. We've just moved here and don't know anyone to refer us to a good mechanic. Anyway, we took it to AAMCO in Manassas, Va. They just called and said it was probably the synchronizer and that to fix it the labor would be $1017.00. They couldn't say what the parts cost would be until they opened it up. We just had a new clutch installed last month--at a different shop. AAMCO told us that the flywheel should have been retooled when the clutch was done, but wasn't. AAMCO said they could do it for us while they had the car. Does their diagnosis of the grinding sound reasonable, and is the $1017 for labor sound reasonable. Could it be something else? We just had a new baby last week and this expense is the last thing we needed! We're going to have to borrow the money from my parents. Thank you--Lori

Transmission synchronizer

by sublor on Mon Nov 03 11:49:54 PST 2008

I'm having a terrible day! Our 2001 Outback with 150,000 miles, has been making a grinding sound when we shift into 1st or from 1st into 2nd. We thought probably a gear/transmission thing...we are definately not car people...so mechanics can tell us anything. We've just moved here and don't know anyone to refer us to a good mechanic. Anyway, we took it to AAMCO in Manassas, Va. They just called and said it was probably the synchronizer and that to fix it the labor would be $1017.00. They couldn't say what the parts cost would be until they opened it up. We just had a new clutch installed last month--at a different shop. AAMCO told us that the flywheel should have been retooled when the clutch was done, but wasn't. AAMCO said they could do it for us while they had the car. Does their diagnosis of the grinding sound reasonable, and is the $1017 for labor sound reasonable. Could it be something else? We just had a new baby last week and this expense is the last thing we needed! We're going to have to borrow the money from my parents. Thank you--Lori

Re: Did anyone bought from FAIRFAX Hyundai? [aalsherri]

by themerg on Fri Oct 31 18:14:38 PDT 2008

Take a look at Manassas Hyundai. They are very comparable as well and I felt I got a better deal from them than I would have at Fairfax Hyundai. They gave me their Internet price, plus since I went through CostCo Auto Buying service, they also waived the doc fee, which was $349. Neither Manassas or Fairfax include the vehicle destination fee in their Internet Price so that would also be additional, although they both include it in the MSRP listing of their vehicles. - Merg

2008 Saturn XR 3.6 - MPG

by ohc6sprint on Thu Oct 16 13:11:15 PDT 2008

I took my first long trip recently, from Pittsburgh to Manassas Va. The car had 5300 miles on it, 37 psi in tires (warm), 55 degrees out, no A/C used. I took the mountain route, lots of up and down grades. I was in 4th and 5th gears climbing the hills and the same gears going downhill to keep off the brakes. I averaged 28.2 MPG over a 181 mile leg under those conditions. My average speed was just under 50 mph. I noticed that the transmission does not shift into 6th gear unless the car is going over 45 MPH. I made extensive use of the manual mode and the tap shifters on the hills. That way I could drop into 5th gear instead of having the auto mode drop into 4th gear from 6th. The result was that for the gentler hills, I never had to go to 4th gear. For the longer or steeper hills, I had to go down to 4th from 5th when appropriate. I was also able to go to 6th sooner than the auto mode would have upshifted me as I crested the hills. I kept forgetting that I had to upshift from the lower gears when in manual mode. A few times, I was stopped at a light in manual mode and the engine rev-ed high when the light changed and I did not upshift. I now put the transmission back into auto mode when I stop. Needless to say, I was very pleased with the mileage under those unfavorable conditions. On the next leg of the trip (57 miles) using freeways only and traveling 60 - 65 MPH, I averaged 33.6 MPH. I checked my speedometer using my GPS and it was 237.9 miles (car) and 237.2 (GPS). When I hand calculated my mileage, I found that the car's computer over estimated MPG by 3% or about 1 mph too high. Still happy with the results. On the return trip, I averaged 33.5 MPG on the expressway using the A/C this time, but saw the MPG fall off to 27.3 when I hit two lane highways, traffic and traffic lights (before 3% error reduction). I expect to get 34 MPG on level uncongested highways and accept that hills, traffic and lights must reduce this figure commensurate with the distance travelled under less favorable conditions. By comparison, my 2000 Chevy Venture van with a 3.4 - 4spd automatic, rarely hit 30 MPG on the trip computer which always read 5% high or about 1.5 MPG less true mileage. The difference was due to weight, aerodynamics and the engine/transmission efficiencies. When I feel that my MPG levels off, meaning that my engine is fully broken in, I will switch to synthetic oil to maybe get even better mileage. If you use synthetic too soon, you may not allow the engine to break in sufficiently.

Saturn Aura Mileage 3.6 - 6spd

by ohc6sprint on Thu Oct 16 13:06:56 PDT 2008

I took my first long trip recently, from Pittsburgh to Manassas Va. The car had 5300 miles on it, 37 psi in tires (warm), 55 degrees out, no A/C used. I took the mountain route, lots of up and down grades. I was in 4th and 5th gears climbing the hills and the same gears going downhill to keep off the brakes. I averaged 28.2 MPG over a 181 mile leg under those conditions. My average speed was just under 50 mph. I noticed that the transmission does not shift into 6th gear unless the car is going over 45 MPH. I made extensive use of the manual mode and the tap shifters on the hills. That way I could drop into 5th gear instead of having the auto mode drop into 4th gear from 6th. The result was that for the gentler hills, I never had to go to 4th gear. For the longer or steeper hills, I had to go down to 4th from 5th when appropriate. I was also able to go to 6th sooner than the auto mode would have upshifted me as I crested the hills. I kept forgetting that I had to upshift from the lower gears when in manual mode. A few times, I was stopped at a light in manual mode and the engine rev-ed high when the light changed and I did not upshift. I now put the transmission back into auto mode when I stop. Needless to say, I was very pleased with the mileage under those unfavorable conditions. On the next leg of the trip (57 miles) using freeways only and traveling 60 - 65 MPH, I averaged 33.6 MPH. I checked my speedometer using my GPS and it was 237.9 miles (car) and 237.2 (GPS). When I hand calculated my mileage, I found that the car's computer over estimated MPG by 3% or about 1 mph too high. Still happy with the results. On the return trip, I averaged 33.5 MPG on the expressway using the A/C this time, but saw the MPG fall off to 27.3 when I hit two lane highways, traffic and traffic lights (before 3% error reduction). I expect to get 34 MPG on level uncongested highways and accept that hills, traffic and lights must reduce this figure commensurate with the distance travelled under less favorable conditions. By comparison, my 2000 Chevy Venture van with a 3.4 - 4spd automatic, rarely hit 30 MPG on the trip computer which always read 5% high or about 1.5 MPG less true mileage. The difference was due to weight, aerodynamics and the engine/transmission efficiencies. When I feel that my MPG levels off, meaning that my engine is fully broken in, I will switch to synthetic oil to maybe get even better mileage. If you use synthetic too soon, you may not allow the engine to break in sufficiently.

Should I???

by plabypla on Mon Oct 06 20:39:15 PDT 2008

I'm in Eastern North Carolina, 45 miles east of Raleigh. The best price I have been able to get in NC on a 2009 Sonata GLS w/pep is $18,750 OTD. Manassas Hyundai outside Fairfax, Va quoted me an OTD price of $16,300 for the same car. Is everything on the up and up here? I don't mind traveling 4 hours if everything is legit and there are no hidden surprises. Would appreciate all responses!!