Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Widen, West Virginia

Widen, WV Car Consumer Discussions

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by dsk4 on Sat Nov 15 18:04:40 PST 2008

Hi All, just drove my new Murano SL Lease home. Thanks to this forum I feel good about the experience. It took me talking with 3 dealerships, 2 at site, one by email and phone. I got what I think based on what I have read hear and elsewhere a fair deal. For a while the dealer were stuck at $520.00 with 1K down. finally today I got this offered after mentioning I was beginning to widen my search. Black/Black Leather SL AWD,fully loaded including Nav. & Moon roof 39 months 12k miles per year 1k out of pocket Monthly Payment $488.92 Car pirce is $33,500 off a MSRP of $38,500 (appox. don't have contract in front of me.) I hope this helps someone else in there decision as this forum has with me. Thanks

Tip in case of alternator failure...

by caribou1 on Fri Nov 14 01:45:40 PST 2008

Just in case you intend to replace your alternator, get hold of a 7mm hex key plus a 7mm closed ring wrench (offset or flat) before you start. To remove the alternator, there are two long bolts: - One is close to the engine (where the serpentine belt passes); you will need to pass the hex key through the ring wrench first and use both tools to remove this soft steel bolt. This is a pain because 7mm hex is not really standard and the low profile female hex bolt head should have been made a little harder :( - The other bolt uses standard sizes (13 and 15mm). The ring wrench can apply torsion onto the hex key right next to the head of the bolt without the risk of widening the female hex. The complete alternator changing time including battery disconnection / re connection, serpentine belt removal and reassembly took me less than 30 minutes once I had the 7mm hex key in hand. Once I re started the engine, I measured the new alternator output: - Idling voltage immediately reached 14.20 Volts A/C was still 'ON' - With front and rear fog lights + headlamps + blower set to '4' + mirrors and boot de-icing I measured 13.70 Volts at idle speed. - There is no voltage loss between the alternator body and vehicle ground. The same applies between the '+' terminal of the alternator and the '+' of the battery. - Measured AC ripple is less than 25 mV with the new regulator. This value was measured 9 times higher (.23V) when the regulator had gone.

Re: It's simple really...Unions need to go away! [jimbres]

by andre1969 on Thu Nov 13 11:02:46 PST 2008

For all of the loose talk about another 1930s-style Great Depression, we aren't even close to the lows of the 1981-82 recession. I agree that we're nowhere near a Great Depression scenario. I was born in 1970, so I was just a kid when we had that downturn in the late 70's/early 80's. The main thing I remember was Mom griping about paying $1.10 per gallon for gas, and trading her '75 LeMans 350 in on an '80 Malibu with a 229 V-6. Still, I wonder if overall, this time around might actually be worse, even if we're not calling it a recession just yet? Back in the late 70's and early 80's, house prices kept appreciating for the most part, even though the recession. And in those days, pensions were much more common. The federal government had its own retirement system. And if you were a federal employee, you were basically like the Pope...guaranteed a job for life! Sure, people would still get laid off. And if you didn't get a new job in time, you ran the risk of burning through your savings and losing your home if you started missing payments. But today's economy is much worse. Many people are getting hit not only with a job loss, but a house with plummeting value, and a 401k, if they even started one, that's quickly eroding in value. Another problem is that most of the "success" of this current decade has been based on bubbles. First the tech, then the real estate and the rampant consumption fueled by easy credit and rising equity. This decade has also seen the gap between the rich and the middle class widen. Many high-paying jobs from the 1990's were wiped out, and have been replaced by much more menial, low-paying jobs. Truth be told, the economy was pretty jittery through most of the 1970's, so the recession that ensued actually managed to straighten things out, to the point that the 1980's and 1990's would be a good long period of prosperity. Sure, there were some blips, like Black Monday in October 1987, a relatively mild recession in the early 1990's, and another blip around late 1998. I think that the bad times that started hitting in 2000, and were exacerbated by the 9/11 tragedy, and then pretty much bottomed out around late 2002, would have been much worse, but lowering interest rates and relaxing credit standards sort of delayed it. Didn't make it go away, but just put off the inevitable. And now, we're finally starting to pay for it. As for upswings in violent street crime, depression, suicide, homicide, etc, sad to say, it's already been happening. With the mortgage/credit meltdown, suicide prevention hotlines have been ringing off the hooks. People have also been resorting to extreme measure, such as torching the house to collect on insurance, having a car that they can no longer make the payments on mysteriously get stolen, shooting their entire family because they somehow feel it's more honorable than living on the street, etc. If anything, we might be even more ill-prepared today if another Great Depression came along, than our forefathers were. Back in the day, many people knew how to live off the land. But just imagine a scene like that today...people raising their own chickens, pigs, cows, etc...that would really get their HOA's panties in an uproar! And how many people nowadays would even know how to slaughter a chicken or pig or whatever? Sure, it's one thing to kill it, but then you have to prep it just right, or the meat goes bad, and if done wrong I think it's even possible to poison yourself. How many people could grow their own crops these days? Or do their own home repairs? Or patch up the car when it breaks down? Needless to say, if we entered another Great Depression, most of us would be screwed!

Re: Breakeven Point.... [kipk]

by hybridvue on Wed Nov 12 06:43:04 PST 2008

Typo on my part - Back in December of 2006 Hybrid Vue cost $2250 MORE that the Regular view. The numbers in my situation follow my logic. One should run the numbers prior to making a decision. If the Hybrid is substantially more expensive and federal tax credits are considerably less or zero - those are factors to consider in your purchase. Back in 2006 the difference was small. Seems for the 2008 models that gap has widened. The issue Saturn had with was with a potentially faulty wiring harness. The fix was not intended to impact your hybrid operation one way or the other UNLESS your vehicle is one that has the wiring / alternator issue. To over-simplify, the wiring harness can intermittently mis-communicate with the alternator. The alternator says "I don't know what you're trying to tell me to do, so I won't do anything". That includes charging the batteries. The fix is a more robust harness to alternator interaction via the replacement harness. Again, I am over-simplifying, but hopefully now you get the gist. I had it replaced in March of 2007. I did not have any problems before or after the installation.

The LPS life. . .

by markcincinnati on Mon Nov 10 19:22:19 PST 2008

. . .must be passe, based on activity level here on this board. Well, what the heck, I, too am no longer in the LPS life or lane, I am, er, in the NEAR LPS crowd, now that I have my, er, $49,000 "entry level" LPS Audi A4 (and the thing has a 4 cylinder in it to top it off.) I must say, however, that I have sacrificed little. My outgoing A6 (2005) was about an inch longer in wheel base and perhaps 5 inches longer in overall length. Audi wisely widened the new A4 too, so even tho it isn't quite as wide as the outgoing A6, I don't miss it one bit. Now, I am in a lighter, better balanced and more powerful car (258 pound feet of torque at sub 1,900 rpm vs 243 at over 3,200.) Of course the new ride is lighter, has RWD biased AWD, 19" wheels full sport everything and Bang & Olufsen 550watt sound system and "four golden rings," couldn't resist considering the upcoming season. The engine sips gas and with all the stuff at this price point, I even get the Audi Drive Select system and Blind Spot warning, backup camerat and an automatic power rear window sunshade. Sport seats, sport suspension, sport this that and the other thing -- great great great sound system and paddle shifters, bi-xenons, full voice command and a much improved map system for the DVD nav (next guy will get the hard drive and new MMI). The CD player is an in dash changer which is a nice step up from the outgoing A6. In any case, I dropped from a $53K+ car to a $49K car as equipped. I have made a major step forward in engine, handling, transmission, sound system and overall comfort. I did not get a heated steering wheel, rear heated seats or a power actuated steering column (all of which I would expect for this much money.) I also had to buy my own tail pipe tips to round out the upscale look of a brilliant white paint job with 5 spoke 19" wheels with 255 wide tires on a 35 series shoulder. This thing is seriously fast and quick -- and the smoothness defies and belies that it is a four cylinder powerplant. If fours can be made this smooth and this powerful and this frugal, who needs a six? (Well, the new supercharged V6 would probably change my mind in about 4.5 seconds, eh?) This is the quietest car I have ever had -- and remember I have had an A8. In full on dynamic mode, this thing is painfully capable of making you think "sports sedan." I keep it dialed down ONE notch from full on dynamic mode. I keep all the other modes, however, at full tilt boogie. One dollar more per month on the lease than the outgoing A6. I had had the C6 A6 for 60,000 miles and it still felt new to me. I hope the same can and will be said about the new A4 which I leased for 50,000 miles (up 5K from the outgoing A6.) I was considering the Infiniti G35X (which seemed cramped) and a 3 series BMW (ditto), an outgoing A6 was offered at a super sweet deal, but this 2009 A4 beats even my patriotic CTS choice -- by far. So, I bid you all, as it were, a fare thee well and will be checking back from time to time to see if there is any activity here in LPS land. Drive it like you live.

Chrysler merger

by 62vetteefp on Mon Oct 27 16:24:49 PDT 2008

General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC's owners are discussing a merger that would keep some of Chrysler's operations intact and save jobs with the aim of securing U.S. government financial aid the high-stakes deal would require, people familiar with the talks said on Sunday. A merger under these terms would give control to GM but leave Chrysler's owner, Cerberus Capital Management, with stake of less than 10 percent in the combined company, according to the sources who were not authorized to discuss the talks publicly. Such a merger would shake up the U.S. industrial landscape and create an automaker with about a third of the U.S. car market by sales. But its immediate success would hinge on the willingness of the next U.S. administration to step up with billions of dollars in immediate aid. Costs and production would have to be slashed. But the merged company would also have to show it represented a less painful alternative for American workers and suppliers than the failure of one or both of the struggling auto giants. "It's clear that there are three parties at the table. There's GM, Cerberus and then there's the government," said one person briefed on the talks. Until now, attention has focused on the prospect of a GM acquisition in which the larger automaker would move quickly to cull Chrysler's slow-selling vehicle line-up and cut more than half of Chrysler's 66,000 employees. LENDER OF LAST RESORT? While a deal that keeps more operations afloat would risk deepening those problems of excess capacity, it could also win government backing and provide GM with much-needed liquidity. Analysts say GM would also almost surely opt to shut down Chrysler's separate supply of engines, transmissions and powertrain components and merge those with its own. GM sees a retained Cerberus stake as helping to align the interests of finance company GMAC with sales for its brands including Chevrolet and Cadillac, helping to bridge a widening gap between GMAC and GM's more than 6,500 U.S. dealers. Cerberus bought a 51-percent stake in GMAC in 2006 from GM as the automaker looked to raise cash for its restructuring. But under Cerberus, GMAC has pulled back hard on its auto lending, restricting loans to the most credit-worthy borrowers and costing GM sales in an already tough market. GMAC has cited tough credit markets as a reason for the tighter standards. But many dealers see it as a tactic by Cerberus to exert pressure on GM at the bargaining table. "This is an area where you can say the costs of prevention are less than the costs of a cleanup," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, which receives support from the industry. Cole estimated that up to 2 million U.S. workers will see their jobs threatened in the event of a bankruptcy by GM or rival Ford Motor Co as the knock-on effect topples suppliers and other related companies. "I think there is a 90 percent chance that both parties will realize what has to be done and do whatever it takes," Cole told Reuters on Sunday. Morgan Stanley and Evercore Partners are representing GM, while JP Morgan Chase and Citgroup are advising Chrysler and Cerberus, according to a person familiar with the talks