24:00 I really need to comment on this. I'm an aerospace engineer at a large aircraft company in the R&D department and I'm directly involved with design. The issues facing our design choices are the same of those facing cars: popularity contests internally. I can't stress enough how absolutely full of bs my wing of my company is when it comes to complete, total idiots with even 7+ years of experience whose only answer to any question is "I don't know". We have very talented people, but some complete idiots are in seats of more decision power and they got their because they "fit in" or sucked up (or off) to the right people. It's the reason why start ups are disruptive and come up with the 'why didn't we think of that' ideas/products. I'm sure the crap I see plagues car R&D engineers just as much.
Shankovich I was part of a restructure layoff at an aerospace company. Me and another young guy were killing it in our first year, moving product and slowly changing the culture, but were part of layoff nonetheless. I remember distinctly one of the senior engineers kept had asked me for help because he couldn’t navigate the file server from his PC to find his project docs. That was my welcome to corporate work, and maybe that’s how all aerospace is based on what you’re saying. Crazy how results and talent were ignored. We were probably half the cost too.
Just how it is...useless idiots move up to positions of little importance as far as production, but somehow directly affect production. Who ya know and who knows you.
I was an engineer for a major electronics company. Colleagues used to pick my brain for help with their assignments and then present my work as theirs without giving credit to me. Instead they would backstab me and others whose ideas they stole to upper management. I'm glad I'm retired, and I don't risk getting fired, so I'll spell out what happened. In the seventies and eighties we had cooperation among colleagues. In the nineties they flooded the workgroups with women, who were grossly incompetent, nasty, and ruthless. Like I said. I'm glad I'm retired. If you dared to mention that the women were doing substandard work, you'd be fired on the spot. The backstabbers I referred to were all women.
Now what's this on vortec engines always leaking oil, my grandfather's Chevy astro 4wd leaks oil very slightly through the drain bolt. AND THEY WANT 500+ DOLLARS FOR IT.
These guys are crazy biased; he thinks the 3V Triton 5.4 is great, but the 3800is junk. The 5.4 Triton is the worst mass produced engine of the last 20 years.
Pre-2007 Toyota, still made in Japan! And the guy biased in favor of Subaru lost all credibility, in my eyes. GM 60 degree V6s up through the 3400 were great. Chevy chevette was a nightmare. The old Ford Windstar and Cadillac Northstar had gaskets designed by accountants, not engineers. 96-99 Taurus SHO V8.....don't even get me started! 😡
when they were asked what car to buy or recommend to a family or friend or themselves, and they said Lexus, Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Hyundai, i knew they're legit honest mechanics.
@@ikarugaxx3749 German cars are expensive to repair....every owner that owns a Benz, BMW, Audi, Porsche, VW, they all know how expensive it is to fix and maintain.
@@441meatloaf Porsche is expensive to maintain, but I've heard that they're quite reliable. Not much of their fleet uses VW parts, besides the Cayenne and Macan.
@@williammorales3859 Porsche is german its always expensive to maintain. Riding in luxury is great, but I hate fixing it especially if you need to order parts that only comes from Europe.
@@ikarugaxx3749 I think there's an assumption that german cars are good, and then when something to the contrary is said it creates a cognitive dissonance and more than likely the person returns to their entrenched belief. So no amount of experience or word of mouth can change existing beliefs.
@@VietnaMilk open an incognito tab and search casting couch video, make sure the sound is on low and your significant other (if the there is one is sleeping or not around) make sure you have tissues near by. Please no sharing after.
The level of comedic sarcasm is only barely outdone by Scott and ToddDs clear annoyance about sitting on a smelly old garage couch. You guys are really great to watch and I love the reviews and this Q and A, keep them coming,
@Your moms HITACHI Yea, "Dude", I bought a Sirius lifetime subscription back in 2006 when they where competing head to head with XM for subscribers for $300 on sale. After 14 years its now down to a cost of only $1.78 per month and will continue to decrease! I can listen to any broadcast content I like, including various News, Sports (NFL, NHL, ...), Politics, Comedy etc. Also Ad Free music of course. No other "single service" offers all that and I don't have to fiddle with my phone while I drive to jump content.
On the topic of customers and not trusting mechanics one time I went to one of those chain brake shops to have my brakes looked at and the manager comes out and says I need all my brakes replaced but then two minutes later one of the mechanics snuck into the office area and said hey man you really only need your front left brake replaced everything else is fine don't let him over charge you
That is why I became a mechanic...My first car at 16,went in to Midas for a brake hose that blew and they told me "by law we cant let you drive out of here with unsafe brakes"...gave me an estimate for 800 dollars..Rolled home and learned how to replace a brake hose and bleed a brake system.
There is business side of it I can't deny that but some are practicing robbery, most people accuse mechanics for being crooked but in reality it's the business owners who are crooked not the mechanics, the boss take the decisions not the employee, but I do feel bad that they did that to you took your $800 at that age, by the way I have been a auto mechanic for over 25 years I have seen many things, many shops are honest but some are not.
devils advocate - of course they didn't know if you're going to be one of the "customers from hell" so replace the whole subsystem, since if one is worn the rest could be close, so do them all "just to be safe", not in your interest, but as a shop manager, or shop owner, it might be the right choice, what happens if customer comes back in 2 weeks "now my brakes are squeaking" should have done them all at once.
I used to go to this really good guy but when he got divorced he would just overcharge anyone my sister and my niece went for an oil change and a month later their engines were gone we stopped going to him too bad he was one of the best mechanics I've known
I used to be a Subaru guy....and they'll always hold a special place in my heart.......but I am absolutely a Hyundai man now. Since my Subaru, I've since purchased 2 Hyundais and have been more than happy with both those purchases.
I own 2 subarus and a toyota and i really dont like the direction of the 2015 and newer subarus. I may get a kona hybrid or ev next or a stinger. Dont know yet
This is PRICELESS. It is such a treat to have the real world visit TH-cam once in a while . BTW I am one of those people who used to throw good money at worn out cars. I hope this episode saves at least one person from that horrible fate 😉
Hi sickflow, I wish someone had made the following rule part of the Driver's Test, "When the value of the repair exceeds the value of the car, it is time to get another car." As you just heard in the video, honest mechanics HATE to see customers waste massive amounts of money on cars that should be sent to the scrap yard. I learned this lesson the hard and very expensive way. I also came to realize I was financing a fight against the engineering department of the car company itself. By this I mean I was trying to keep a car on the road for years after the manufacturer had designed it to fail.
@@rightlanehog3151 I'll disagree, and here is why: Some of the cheapest new cars you can buy is going to run you $250/ month or $3,000/ year. If you have a car that you can sell for around 2k that needs a 3k repair then you are saving money every single day the car lasts over 1 year. People need to consider the total cost to own a car over time, not just "welp, the car is totaled since the repair is more than the value" Of course every situation is different so I'm not saying this will always work but I am saying that it isn't an obvious decision.
@@PeterMurrayj I finally bought a very good new car 15 years ago and have taken good care of it. I have not had a car payment in 12 years and can easily see this one lasting me for 5 more years. Now, what were you saying?
@@rightlanehog3151 sure I'll rephrase my comment if you don't understand:. Your blanket statement that "when the value of the repair exceeds the value of the car it is time to get another car" is mathematically incorrect a lot of the time when considering total cost of ownership. It is simply not always true and I would estimate it's not true a majority of the time.
This was the most entertaining and informative video I’ve seen yet! Great segment. Thank you! I’ve had conversations with mechanics who’ve railed against GM’s. Also, I’ve grown so attached with my 2000 Civic and I totally relate with those owners. Even though I’ve bought a few cars since, I refuse to part with my Civic. Very reliable despite the nuisance of of exhaust lines and tire rot from not driving it enough!
txmoney I just took my '98 Mercury Mystique off insurance. Looking forward to blowing it up myself, but if I succeed I will keep the damn gem as a classic. So smooth & good enough, parts are rapidly disappearing though. Sad to see.
Shooting the breeze with a dryer repairman and he said the best car he ever had was a 2001 Civic that was totaled. Showed him my wife's same car in my garage.
Fantastic interview. I'm glad you brought up Hyundai as making good cars. I have an Elantra and it I am surprised at the relative ease of working on this engine. I also didn't mind working on my older Kia Sedona van with the 3.5L v6. I agree with GM being crap to work on and Toyota and Honda being pretty reliable and easy to work on. I cringe at thinking about working on my wife's Buick Encore (Opel?). Also agree with the cost of repairs. My local independent repair shop is getting clobbered with all the subscription fees for diagnostic tools and special tools required.
I mentioned this in another video of yours. There is so much extras in new cars that I don’t need. I’m a 53 yr old retired police officer, I know how to drive, I keep my eyes on the road, use my mirrors, and stay off the phone. I know how to reverse, maintain my lane. I don’t need 16 speakers to listen to my radio. I just want to turn a knob not go into different menus for volume, or increase or decrease air flow, or more heat or cool. Who actually “needs “ a heated steering wheel, or side mirrors, and I live in Canada! Does my car seat need 18 way adjustments? Hell, my wife’s Sienna van has so many cup holders for her and I and our 3 yr old twins...really! I think back to my dad’s 1969 Datsun 510, bare bones, hauled my parents and us 3 kids, and he ran it to 240,000 miles (before metric). It wasn’t the most comfortable ride (more like a stagecoach) but rarely broke down, and when it did, an easy fix.🇨🇦
I felt this was a pretty informative video. And I agree, auto manufacturers have to add all the crash/safety sensors because of STUPID drivers who now expect, and want the car to do the actual driving for them so they (the drivers) can send text messages while supposedly driving. Thank you car manufactures for dumbing up cars, for the dumbing down of the driver.
These guys are a credit to their profession. Doesn't look like they're having a great time, but it restores some faith that not all mechanics are incompetent or cheats. Service managers and writers - that's another story.
I've heard mostly sensors and electronics go bad easy on the german cars. Secondary problem is that there are very few non oem parts on the market. so when they do break it's stupid expensive.
I have this idea, and correct me if I’m wrong, that “peak car” was (except for Mercedes) from 1995 to 2005. In this era lots of great engineering work was done: - Good engines; the engines weren’t made of planned obsolescence plastics - The engines weren’t forced to be less reliable to pass strict emissions tests - The on board entertainment was still a radio, not a proprietary software package with a failing touch screen - Cars weren’t online and selling your data or forcing you to go to the dealer for maintenance - No complex nonsense and 500 computers that all tie in with the main computer that is vulnerable for heat & age - Handling, suspension, hvac and nvh were already at modern standards (although on the cheaper end of the spectrum nvh would be less performing) - Cars weighed considerably less and thus - Cars weren’t as gas hungry as modern day counterparts My personal sweet spot of daily drivers has been 1996 for years & years. Now it’s hard to find gooduns from that era so now I drive 2003’s. I’m dreading the years that second hand old cars are all those new shit boxes they make nowadays. Please correct me if I’m off and maybe mistaking, but also let me know if I’m on to something here. I’m curious if this is something that others also feel or that it’s just in my head.
Oh the honda D16 - 10 mm socket, wrench, screw driver. keep ours running for 560K km or 347K miles. Jesus, they were great engines, Oil, filter, transimission fluid, change the timing belt every 100K km and it would run forever. Sold it years ago and I still see it driving around. Don't know how many KM it has now though
I currently drive a 92 Civic SI hatch with 432 thousand kms on it and it still runs great. Just replaced the timing belt,this one had almost 200 thousand kms on it since I last changed it,compression is a quite a bit low on three cylinders but I still get awesome fuel mileage,I use this as my winter car to drive to northern British Columbia and Alberta to work on pipelines. All our new trucks wouldn’t start last week when it was -41 Celsius out,jumped in my Civic and it fired right up,no block heater or nothing. I want to find another one in Arizona that’s rust free and drive it until I get old and die🚗
@@Whateva67 Hold on to that car for as long as possible, just deal with the rust in the wheel wells and it will last forever. Honda really knew how to build engines back then. Nobody needs an engine that can go 500,000 km with only basic maintenance while returning 6L/100 km consistently highway and 9L/100 km city but is it ever a joy to own. My 2015 GTI barely manages these numbers and I doubt it will go 500,000 km without being rebuilt once or twice.
I’m glad to hear good things about Hyundai. I bought my wife a 2015 Elantra Limited 33000 miles ago and it has been perfect. All we have had to do is regular maintenance and it still gets me over 40+ MPG on the highway.
FCA makes many excellent cars, they just need to continue to improve their manufacturing. I think their newest vehicles are designed well, it’s just that when they need to build 100,000 of these the quality can be inconsistent.
@@FM4AMGV Not necessarily. FCA is modernizing those muscles, so they could ruin it, but they haven't. Quality IS improving, for example new Pacifica is better than any Chrysler product in last years
Karl P, sounds great, congratulations. I live just a few miles from Honda in Alabama. I love my 2016 Accord coupe, 3.5 liter V6 and manual transmission. It's a great car, good gas mileage and plenty of power.
Starfighter USSCV-66. Nearly all of the Hondas imported into Australia are made in Thailand, I thought you might be interested to know. The quality, like from Alabama is good - very few defects/warranty jobs.
I love this channel and the 2 mechanics are awesome. Thanks for all your pearls of wisdom. My next door neighbor is a mechanic love him too. He’s honest and would do anything to help me out, and he has!!!
I'm a valet. Ive had several of these brand new Cadillacs with the nice glass touchscreens that are curved at the corner of the screen to fit flush with everything, be broken despite being very new.
The moment that cars blew my mind, was when I was watching a video, and the guy said "all that a car really is, is a glorified air compressor on wheels".
Love this channel and you guys!! Couldn’t finish the video because I was getting heart burn remembering all the stress and headaches from 10 years spent working in a Chevy dealership..thank god I found a job as a diesel tech in the oil field
Top 3 used car recommendation ! 1) Toyota Corolla / 2) Toyota Camry /3) Toyota Tacoma Whenever you see their is a war on TV theirs dam Toyota’s rolling around !
I put $6,500 into an 18-year old LS400 that was worth $1,500 when I took it in and $1,500 after spending the money. The car continued to run, not squeak, not use oil or drip and drive better than most new cars. I sold it four years later to my service rep for $1,500. Now the car is 30 years old and still runs perfectly. I miss it, but don't need such a exquisite beast. I added up all the repairs, gasoline, insurance and it cost me just over 50-cents a mile. Note that gasoline doesn't reach 50% of the per-mile cost until you are paying about $5/gallon. When does it pay to trade for a new car ( over repairs ). NEVER. I know lots of people in their 40s-60s with no retirement savings so they could make payments on something new. They freak out over gasoline going up by a quarter, but a couple hundred in interest every month. THAT'S worth it!! Idiots.
I was completely down to watch this, as soon as he joked about having a 300 dollar Festiva, and one of them unironically said 'it's not a bad car'. I used to drive around in a Toyota Starlet that I bought for 600 bucks. Never had any issues with it, drove quite ok, always ran like a dream and it only needed very little maintenance. I checked the license plate, and it's still driving around this date.
No mention of eco boost engines or German cars on the naughty list?! This video is great. I feel bad when customers get the big repair bills and wonder why. This video gives a bit of insight to the other side of the counter.
Wow. Mechanic of 6 years here. I agree with a lot of what they say. But I'd have to disagree with Turbowski on mindless work. Brake work is easy money, as long as you have to right tools you can whip that repair out quick on almost any car, drum or disc. I would also disagree on GM, especially the 4.3L. Yes, the Northstar V8 is a pain to work on, and they had other engines that were lemons, 4.0 straight six comes to mind. But any truck, van, or SUV is extremely easy to work on, and pretty reliable. Any 4cyl GM is junk, V6 cars are hit or miss. Very cool video, and great to hear similar opinions from fellow mechanics.
Your channel just continues to get better. Between customer complaints, people expecting something for nothing, and the complexity of new cars, how could these guys not be grumpy, haha.
I am quite surprised that they didn't mention any European brand when talking about the worst engines to work on. Like that audi allroad, where you apparently have to pull the engine out, through the front of the vehicle just to change a thermostat
Just got a 2017 Sorento 3.3 V6 AWD love it, simple, Quite. Can Overtake when needed and can hold 7 people. I can look at the engine and just see realiabity. First new vehicle. Holds my dogs comfortable. It has a turn key ingintion and analog gauges. Recommend this wagon. I'm 23 and my wife and I love it. Someday Accuair will be added. The dream is putting a supercharger or twin turbo it with methnol injection. Has 16,000 miles on it. So I'm in no rush. Thanks for your review of the drive train SavageGeese.
Really enjoyed this segment ....if you get ANY group of people talking honestly about their job with their peers it’s going to be interesting. Most people (in any profession) think YOU’RE over paid ....when in reality a day in your life would leave them crying and rocking in the shower.
Great video. Have to disagree with the gm 3.8 being bad. Aside from the intake fiasco they are some of the most reliable engines out there in my experience.
the thing I don't get is why are LED headlights and taillights so expensive? LEDs are simple and cheap af... but put them in a headlight and suddenly its some pinnacle of technology and cost more than HID's? the OEM are turning like 9000% profit on that...
yes, I understand that there's different grades of LED, but its still nowhere near expensive as the oem headlight prices suggest. They're still making an enormous profit from it.
i don't think its the housing because you can get aftermarket bulbs that are the same size as the stock halogens. they're just using LEDS as a package upgrade point. pretty sad that in 2018 cars costing more than $25 k come with ugly not very bright halogens.
Factory led lights are usually non user serviceable. Which means that the whole housing would have to be replaced. Keep in mind that the vehicle manufacture doesn't not necessarily make the headlight assembly. So the headlight manufacturer charges their markup to the car maker who in return charges their markup to the dealership who will mark up the product for retail. This is the reason why your headlamps and taillamps are expensive.
I personally believe their experiences had been based off mostly off cars in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Where American, Japanese, and European designs had been distinctive in their own ways. Newer modern cars regardless of national origin had been very similar in design and serviceability. A handful supplier supplies majority of the brands. GM uses Denso/Toyota AC compressors, Toyota uses GM Dexron oil, etc. car manufacturers today are really just designers and logistic companies, they source parts from same suppliers.
I went from a Volvo S60 2.5t with the "Geartronic" manumatic, wonderful car that ran like new at 200K+ miles. I took perfect care of it and it treated me well. It was totalled, so i picked up a 04 Saab 9-5 Arc (2.3 hp turbo) for $1600 @145K miles and the engine and transmission run like butter.. after replacing eeeeverything. Everything brakes on the car. Moon roof hasn't broken, only thing i haven't touched other than little pads to remove a rattle on the moon roof. Thing's just replaced when i got it from the old owner; - New coil pack/cartrage - New turbo - New front shocks - New tie rods (all) - New lower control arms - New rear swaybar links (misdiagnosis I'm guessing because of the rear passive searing) - Transmission flush - Timing chain Then I'm certain the guy was sick of fixing it as i got it with a few things wrong with it. List of parts i had to replace; - All the engine mounts where torn or sagging, causes horrible engine harmonics and rumbles the whole car - Cleaned the gunk out of the throttle body, it was causing a small jam (engine code) - Fuel pump, pressure regulator, and filter - all 6 of the front sub-frame bushings - put some Moog swaybar links, stock are garbage or maybe they where replaced with garbage ones idk - All vacuum lines (a lot of them). - All 0-ring seals for the hardline vacuum lines. Causes vacuum loss to brake booster :-/ and uses a cam driven vacuum pump to run it (yay! more failure points) - Rear shocks, when they are just a little bad they cause the rear to jump sideways because it has a rear geometry for passive searing (small upgrade to some KYB shocks) - Trunk wire harness has a design defect (the car has a lot) that cuts into it, soldiered on more cable to add slack, rounded off the plastic piece that cut the wires (i know solder causes a stress point, but crimps wouldn't have fit inside where the cable was going). - (just annoying) Wheel hubs are long that make it easy to get the wheel stuck on and i have to drive around with loose bolts hitting large bumps, swerving, and slamming on the brakes. - Memory chip on stereo looses memory when battery is disconnected so i have to use a scanner to marry it back to the car. - Replaced all the lights inside the stereo and HVAC unit, and had to hot press on a new ribbon because they thought it would be a good idea to use a sticker as a ribbon cable. - Both front windows rail guides - Northstar antenna on top of the car fell off, i just plugged it. - Top center brake light dry rotted the clips over the years and fell off one day, replaced that. - Center console was all warn, not from misuse. Replaced the accordion for the shiftier which was a PITA and all the lights when i was in there. - Whoever changed the spark plugs before i had it left them loose and blow by built up carbon on the threads that prevented that spark plugs from sitting and walk out. So i cut grooves into the sides of one of the spark plugs and cleaned it off well then used it to "tap" out the carbon crud. That was over 30K miles ago.. so it worked ;-) I'm sure I'm leaving out more, but this car although it has a great engine and transmission is not for anyone else other than someone who is very good with mechanic work because all of that would have cost someone in the 1,000's to get fixed lol Only other car that i worked on more was was a 88 Turbo Supra 5 speed i had as my DD for about 7 years. Every nut and bolt, everything on that car i took out and fixed or replace. In that case it was almost all preventive because i really liked it. Got it at 90K and sold it at 165K miles still running with near perfect compression. Told the guy to either get a whole new engine wiring harness because of its age or go full stand alone ECU replacement to go past the ~320hp to the wheel safely that it was making on fully stock electronics. I saw it a year after running kinda funny.. I'm sure it was in a junkyard soon after. Never saw it again. Sold it for what i would have sold the engine and trans alone without accessories. Still have a little warehouse in my attic for MK3 Supra parts lol. Also had a base 95 Civic DX 5 speed as a second car for about 5 years when i had the Supra; - Map sensor - timming belt - entire front suspension, took about 3-4 hours including alignment which was just me pushing the car back and forth on a flat surface - $30 eBay piston rings, about 3 hours of me taking my time *never seen a pair of rings last longer than 140K miles on a D15B7, especially on an auto that puts more strain on the little guy BUT nothing else seams to brake. - distributor, Spark plugs, and wires that's it Point of my story, Everything will brake on a Saab.. good engine bottom end and transmission though ;-) *I'm sick at home, hence my story
I have a topic requests. 1) Review British manufacturer quality and difficulty to maintain 2) Review German manufacturer quality and difficulty to maintain 3) Which cars, per segment, they most recommend 4) Specific video on sports cars that they like.
The worst engines ever are the bmw 4 zylinder engines that you dont get in the US. The 316, 318, 116, 118 engines. My homie mechanic refuses to work on those because its a never ending story.
Surprised to read that. I get it there are a lot of problematic BMW motors but that more to do with the lack of oil servicing that BMW recommends. My personal experience with the M40/M42 motor found in the 1991 318is has been spectacular aside from the oil pump bolts backing themselves out and valve cover gasket leaks. Simple very easy DIY repairs that need only once to do.
My 320i Turbo exploded on the highway and the car was almost completely burned totally! Since then BMTrouble you is for me no option and will never be!
49,000 miles on my BRZ. Started it in gear and it stalled. Started it back up blinking CEL. Code? Miss on number 2 cylinder. 4 spark plugs and a coil later had it towed to the dealer. The dealer charged me $400 to pull the head. Needs an rocker arm? $4000. No thank you . Put it back together I will sell as is. Look for my cover photo to change to my 2001 300,000 mile Cherokee. I am so disappointed.
Yep. That would only be for the right cylinder bank. I will most likely tow it from Baltimore to Ny so my cousin can do it for me. Still selling it though.
The Buick 3.8 3800 L36 L67 SC is bulletproof if you do the most basic maintenance. The trans 4T65-E / HD is the only weak point and its because there was no bulletin to service fluids often, which you should, if you replace the fluid and filter every 30K miles or so the trans can last as far as 400K miles, as shown by a user with his lesabre. The plastic intake manifolds failing and the whole blah blah coolant blowing the engine is extremely rare, so you're giving a bad wrap to a great engine with highlighting rare failures.
I changed a starter on a 93 Grand Prix. Piece of cake..took me like less than an hour, that includes coffee breaks. 5yrs later, there is a '00 Audi A6, starter died. It took me a week, because I quit after 1hr of working on it every day, pissed off and cursing Audi to burn in hell for placing it in behind everything down below, that swapping an entire Subaru engine takes less time.
Yeah new volvos? With both turbo and electric supercharger running game a separate battery bank. Yeah these cars are filled with failure points regardless of quality. Benz and BMW make quality but that doesn't stop the inevitably of part failure
I had to come back,posted too soon. It was reassuring to see them recommend the car I just got. It's a 2007 LS460L w/89k miles. And it's tighter, quieter, zero rattles or squeaks and is a better car than many brand new domestics I've bought over the years.
this feels more like a therapy session for mechanics
@Clifton Vranes lol bots
Mechanics need therapy, too! (Your comment brought a big smile to my face. Thanks for making my day).
You can see the pain in their faces when they talk about some of this.
24:00 I really need to comment on this. I'm an aerospace engineer at a large aircraft company in the R&D department and I'm directly involved with design. The issues facing our design choices are the same of those facing cars: popularity contests internally. I can't stress enough how absolutely full of bs my wing of my company is when it comes to complete, total idiots with even 7+ years of experience whose only answer to any question is "I don't know". We have very talented people, but some complete idiots are in seats of more decision power and they got their because they "fit in" or sucked up (or off) to the right people. It's the reason why start ups are disruptive and come up with the 'why didn't we think of that' ideas/products.
I'm sure the crap I see plagues car R&D engineers just as much.
Great point and it likely the same story with cars.
Shankovich I was part of a restructure layoff at an aerospace company. Me and another young guy were killing it in our first year, moving product and slowly changing the culture, but were part of layoff nonetheless. I remember distinctly one of the senior engineers kept had asked me for help because he couldn’t navigate the file server from his PC to find his project docs. That was my welcome to corporate work, and maybe that’s how all aerospace is based on what you’re saying. Crazy how results and talent were ignored. We were probably half the cost too.
Just how it is...useless idiots move up to positions of little importance as far as production, but somehow directly affect production.
Who ya know and who knows you.
I was an engineer for a major electronics company. Colleagues used to pick my brain for help with their assignments and then present my work as theirs without giving credit to me. Instead they would backstab me and others whose ideas they stole to upper management. I'm glad I'm retired, and I don't risk getting fired, so I'll spell out what happened. In the seventies and eighties we had cooperation among colleagues. In the nineties they flooded the workgroups with women, who were grossly incompetent, nasty, and ruthless. Like I said. I'm glad I'm retired. If you dared to mention that the women were doing substandard work, you'd be fired on the spot. The backstabbers I referred to were all women.
You probably work at Boeing...
Keep these coming, very informative and hilarious!!
There has to be a more efficient way of advertising your dating scam than to post spam on Savagegeese videos.
Now what's this on vortec engines always leaking oil, my grandfather's Chevy astro 4wd leaks oil very slightly through the drain bolt. AND THEY WANT 500+ DOLLARS FOR IT.
Ps it is from 2002, and I don't know the size.
I swear it's like he has ptsd from repairing GMC cars lol.
GM, not GMC. GM is a conglomerate and GMC is one of it's brands
@@EdPMur just like they stated in the video weather its gmc chevy pontiac Cadillac its all the same cheapo bullshit
29 min gone just like that. Awesome video guys. Well made.
Summary of this video: Don't buy anything GM, get an old $3000 Accord.
Or Toyota.
These guys are crazy biased; he thinks the 3V Triton 5.4 is great, but the 3800is junk. The 5.4 Triton is the worst mass produced engine of the last 20 years.
Pre-2007 Toyota, still made in Japan!
And the guy biased in favor of Subaru lost all credibility, in my eyes.
GM 60 degree V6s up through the 3400 were great.
Chevy chevette was a nightmare. The old Ford Windstar and Cadillac Northstar had gaskets designed by accountants, not engineers.
96-99 Taurus SHO V8.....don't even get me started! 😡
5.4 are junk but easy to work on
@@taylorc2542 Very true. The 3800 was one of the best GM engines of all times.
Bring Toddd back for more of his blunt honesty
Todds realistic approach is what we need more of in todays world! xD haha
when they were asked what car to buy or recommend to a family or friend or themselves, and they said Lexus, Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Hyundai, i knew they're legit honest mechanics.
They sure seem not to have any liking for German, or other European, cars...
@@ikarugaxx3749 German cars are expensive to repair....every owner that owns a Benz, BMW, Audi, Porsche, VW, they all know how expensive it is to fix and maintain.
@@441meatloaf Porsche is expensive to maintain, but I've heard that they're quite reliable. Not much of their fleet uses VW parts, besides the Cayenne and Macan.
@@williammorales3859 Porsche is german its always expensive to maintain. Riding in luxury is great, but I hate fixing it especially if you need to order parts that only comes from Europe.
@@ikarugaxx3749 I think there's an assumption that german cars are good, and then when something to the contrary is said it creates a cognitive dissonance and more than likely the person returns to their entrenched belief. So no amount of experience or word of mouth can change existing beliefs.
Basically everyone talks out their ass when it comes to car brands. These guys dropping years of actual experience is killer. Keep it coming!
You need to meet new car guys, or change your company.
Thanks Scott, I purchased a Lexus LS on your advice and it broke down on the way home.
Turbowski is a national treasure
ooooh yeah
He's definitely the Nicolas Cage of auto mechanics
Turbowski 2020 !!!!!!
These two technicians are very honest and he is lucky to know and have them as friends.
Weirdest casting coach video ever.
R you going to the mall later?
Wut...
Yep good coaches
@@VietnaMilk open an incognito tab and search casting couch video, make sure the sound is on low and your significant other (if the there is one is sleeping or not around) make sure you have tissues near by. Please no sharing after.
Casting couch?
The level of comedic sarcasm is only barely outdone by Scott and ToddDs clear annoyance about sitting on a smelly old garage couch. You guys are really great to watch and I love the reviews and this Q and A, keep them coming,
Loved this series a lot. 29 min video has never felt short like this. I want to see more of these mechanic QA series. Good work!
This was a great 30 minutes, please do this again. I love hearing experts talk about their memorable experiences.
The three of you should start a podcast
Definitely
Or a channel on Sirius/XM
Deadass
@Your moms HITACHI Yea, "Dude", I bought a Sirius lifetime subscription back in 2006 when they where competing head to head with XM for subscribers for $300 on sale. After 14 years its now down to a cost of only $1.78 per month and will continue to decrease! I can listen to any broadcast content I like, including various News, Sports (NFL, NHL, ...), Politics, Comedy etc. Also Ad Free music of course. No other "single service" offers all that and I don't have to fiddle with my phone while I drive to jump content.
"The Fine Print Podcast"
On the topic of customers and not trusting mechanics one time I went to one of those chain brake shops to have my brakes looked at and the manager comes out and says I need all my brakes replaced but then two minutes later one of the mechanics snuck into the office area and said hey man you really only need your front left brake replaced everything else is fine don't let him over charge you
That is why I became a mechanic...My first car at 16,went in to Midas for a brake hose that blew and they told me "by law we cant let you drive out of here with unsafe brakes"...gave me an estimate for 800 dollars..Rolled home and learned how to replace a brake hose and bleed a brake system.
There is business side of it I can't deny that but some are practicing robbery, most people accuse mechanics for being crooked but in reality it's the business owners who are crooked not the mechanics, the boss take the decisions not the employee, but I do feel bad that they did that to you took your $800 at that age, by the way I have been a auto mechanic for over 25 years I have seen many things, many shops are honest but some are not.
devils advocate - of course they didn't know if you're going to be one of the "customers from hell" so replace the whole subsystem, since if one is worn the rest could be close, so do them all "just to be safe", not in your interest, but as a shop manager, or shop owner, it might be the right choice, what happens if customer comes back in 2 weeks "now my brakes are squeaking" should have done them all at once.
I used to go to this really good guy but when he got divorced he would just overcharge anyone my sister and my niece went for an oil change and a month later their engines were gone we stopped going to him too bad he was one of the best mechanics I've known
If the mechanic told you just to replace the front left brake then you need a new mechanic.
12:03 When the mention of Globe sends Scott into a deep dark hole from his past that he didn't expect to see ever again.
Yeah saw that too.
I used to be a Subaru guy....and they'll always hold a special place in my heart.......but I am absolutely a Hyundai man now. Since my Subaru, I've since purchased 2 Hyundais and have been more than happy with both those purchases.
I agree. I'm a Honda guy myself but modern Kias and Hyundais are very impressive cars.
I got 260k km out of my 2006 Sonata with nothing but oil changes and one failed window motor. Great car.
I own 2 subarus and a toyota and i really dont like the direction of the 2015 and newer subarus. I may get a kona hybrid or ev next or a stinger. Dont know yet
Force these guys to do this as much as possible.
Jeffrey Salzman that’s gonna need a lot of superglue.
Imagined add Scott Kilmer in this conversation...Uhhhh that will be lit special Todd with that Subaru passion.
xudyline language is too harsh for Scotty! 🤣🤣🤣
This is PRICELESS. It is such a treat to have the real world visit TH-cam once in a while . BTW I am one of those people who used to throw good money at worn out cars. I hope this episode saves at least one person from that horrible fate 😉
Right Lane Hog not everyone is ready for the next vehicle purchase though
Hi sickflow, I wish someone had made the following rule part of the Driver's Test, "When the value of the repair exceeds the value of the car, it is time to get another car." As you just heard in the video, honest mechanics HATE to see customers waste massive amounts of money on cars that should be sent to the scrap yard. I learned this lesson the hard and very expensive way. I also came to realize I was financing a fight against the engineering department of the car company itself. By this I mean I was trying to keep a car on the road for years after the manufacturer had designed it to fail.
@@rightlanehog3151 I'll disagree, and here is why: Some of the cheapest new cars you can buy is going to run you $250/ month or $3,000/ year. If you have a car that you can sell for around 2k that needs a 3k repair then you are saving money every single day the car lasts over 1 year. People need to consider the total cost to own a car over time, not just "welp, the car is totaled since the repair is more than the value" Of course every situation is different so I'm not saying this will always work but I am saying that it isn't an obvious decision.
@@PeterMurrayj I finally bought a very good new car 15 years ago and have taken good care of it. I have not had a car payment in 12 years and can easily see this one lasting me for 5 more years. Now, what were you saying?
@@rightlanehog3151 sure I'll rephrase my comment if you don't understand:. Your blanket statement that "when the value of the repair exceeds the value of the car it is time to get another car" is mathematically incorrect a lot of the time when considering total cost of ownership. It is simply not always true and I would estimate it's not true a majority of the time.
Being a (retired) mechanic I know exactly how you guys feel and agree with everything you say. Well done!
Sometimes I can't tell if Turbowski is being serious or sarcastic
It’s a mystery
Seriously sarcastic
From my experience, a lot of mechanics can be like that. I guess it's the culture.
Nd thats what we love. xD
You mean the superglue and his ass?
Excellent upload! As a car guy & amateur mechanic, I really appreciate the no-BS approach here (as with all your vids). Keep up the great work!
Hands down Savage Geese rocks. Keep up the good work. We need a part 2. Wish there was more time for questions.
This was the most entertaining and informative video I’ve seen yet! Great segment. Thank you!
I’ve had conversations with mechanics who’ve railed against GM’s.
Also, I’ve grown so attached with my 2000 Civic and I totally relate with those owners.
Even though I’ve bought a few cars since, I refuse to part with my Civic. Very reliable despite the nuisance of of exhaust lines and tire rot from not driving it enough!
txmoney I just took my '98 Mercury Mystique off insurance. Looking forward to blowing it up myself, but if I succeed I will keep the damn gem as a classic. So smooth & good enough, parts are rapidly disappearing though. Sad to see.
Shooting the breeze with a dryer repairman and he said the best car he ever had was a 2001 Civic that was totaled. Showed him my wife's same car in my garage.
Fantastic interview. I'm glad you brought up Hyundai as making good cars. I have an Elantra and it I am surprised at the relative ease of working on this engine. I also didn't mind working on my older Kia Sedona van with the 3.5L v6.
I agree with GM being crap to work on and Toyota and Honda being pretty reliable and easy to work on. I cringe at thinking about working on my wife's Buick Encore (Opel?).
Also agree with the cost of repairs. My local independent repair shop is getting clobbered with all the subscription fees for diagnostic tools and special tools required.
I mentioned this in another video of yours. There is so much extras in new cars that I don’t need. I’m a 53 yr old retired police officer, I know how to drive, I keep my eyes on the road, use my mirrors, and stay off the phone. I know how to reverse, maintain my lane. I don’t need 16 speakers to listen to my radio. I just want to turn a knob not go into different menus for volume, or increase or decrease air flow, or more heat or cool. Who actually “needs “ a heated steering wheel, or side mirrors, and I live in Canada! Does my car seat need 18 way adjustments? Hell, my wife’s Sienna van has so many cup holders for her and I and our 3 yr old twins...really! I think back to my dad’s 1969 Datsun 510, bare bones, hauled my parents and us 3 kids, and he ran it to 240,000 miles (before metric). It wasn’t the most comfortable ride (more like a stagecoach) but rarely broke down, and when it did, an easy fix.🇨🇦
REALLY liked this forum and look forward to many more like this. Very well presented thank you.
This was so entertaining...love Toddd and Scott, keep convincing these two to come on the channel...cookies are cheap.
I felt this was a pretty informative video. And I agree, auto manufacturers have to add all the crash/safety sensors because of STUPID drivers who now expect, and want the car to do the actual driving for them so they (the drivers) can send text messages while supposedly driving. Thank you car manufactures for dumbing up cars, for the dumbing down of the driver.
People never get it, the only way to be safe, it’s if u drive safety, with all that safety tech, turn people into lazyass,
It's like they are trying to prevent natural selection.
These guys are a credit to their profession. Doesn't look like they're having a great time, but it restores some faith that not all mechanics are incompetent or cheats. Service managers and writers - that's another story.
I'm surprised no German car came up
cause germans make pretty good cars
I'm also surprised. Seen so much crap from Germany
I was surprised nothing German came up either. I know they have their issues, but expected an honorable mention for Golfs or Audi 1.8s.
I've heard mostly sensors and electronics go bad easy on the german cars. Secondary problem is that there are very few non oem parts on the market. so when they do break it's stupid expensive.
no bmw or benz
I have this idea, and correct me if I’m wrong, that “peak car” was (except for Mercedes) from 1995 to 2005.
In this era lots of great engineering work was done:
- Good engines; the engines weren’t made of planned obsolescence plastics
- The engines weren’t forced to be less reliable to pass strict emissions tests
- The on board entertainment was still a radio, not a proprietary software package with a failing touch screen
- Cars weren’t online and selling your data or forcing you to go to the dealer for maintenance
- No complex nonsense and 500 computers that all tie in with the main computer that is vulnerable for heat & age
- Handling, suspension, hvac and nvh were already at modern standards (although on the cheaper end of the spectrum nvh would be less performing)
- Cars weighed considerably less and thus
- Cars weren’t as gas hungry as modern day counterparts
My personal sweet spot of daily drivers has been 1996 for years & years. Now it’s hard to find gooduns from that era so now I drive 2003’s. I’m dreading the years that second hand old cars are all those new shit boxes they make nowadays.
Please correct me if I’m off and maybe mistaking, but also let me know if I’m on to something here. I’m curious if this is something that others also feel or that it’s just in my head.
Oh the honda D16 - 10 mm socket, wrench, screw driver. keep ours running for 560K km or 347K miles. Jesus, they were great engines, Oil, filter, transimission fluid, change the timing belt every 100K km and it would run forever. Sold it years ago and I still see it driving around. Don't know how many KM it has now though
I currently drive a 92 Civic SI hatch with 432 thousand kms on it and it still runs great. Just replaced the timing belt,this one had almost 200 thousand kms on it since I last changed it,compression is a quite a bit low on three cylinders but I still get awesome fuel mileage,I use this as my winter car to drive to northern British Columbia and Alberta to work on pipelines. All our new trucks wouldn’t start last week when it was -41 Celsius out,jumped in my Civic and it fired right up,no block heater or nothing. I want to find another one in Arizona that’s rust free and drive it until I get old and die🚗
@@Whateva67 Hold on to that car for as long as possible, just deal with the rust in the wheel wells and it will last forever. Honda really knew how to build engines back then. Nobody needs an engine that can go 500,000 km with only basic maintenance while returning 6L/100 km consistently highway and 9L/100 km city but is it ever a joy to own. My 2015 GTI barely manages these numbers and I doubt it will go 500,000 km without being rebuilt once or twice.
How is this channel not at at least 2 million subscribers? I’m subscribed to dozens of automotive channels, and this is the best by far!
Got to love the D series engines from Honda in 80's-90's.
The iconic no-fuss simple durable mass engine from Toyota that I remember: 4A-FE.
I’m glad to hear good things about Hyundai. I bought my wife a 2015 Elantra Limited 33000 miles ago and it has been perfect. All we have had to do is regular maintenance and it still gets me over 40+ MPG on the highway.
I fully expected them to say FCA to that first question, especially given some of the things Tod-d has said on other videos.
Les Invisibles FCAs are too new for them.
FCA makes many excellent cars, they just need to continue to improve their manufacturing. I think their newest vehicles are designed well, it’s just that when they need to build 100,000 of these the quality can be inconsistent.
ezekiel1hen no its fcas design. People are happier with the chargers and challenger, cars that predate fiats involvement
@@FM4AMGV Not necessarily. FCA is modernizing those muscles, so they could ruin it, but they haven't. Quality IS improving, for example new Pacifica is better than any Chrysler product in last years
GREAT SHOW, IT WAS GREAT TO HEAR HONEST OPINIONS FROM HUMBLE HONEST MECHANICS AND THANK GOD THEY ARE PATIENT DEALING WITH BELLIGERENT PEOPLE
I started with Honda as a QHSE consultant five weeks ago, you making me feel good.
Karl P, what the heck is that?
Quality, Health, Safety, Environment Management Consultant.
Karl P, sounds great, congratulations. I live just a few miles from Honda in Alabama. I love my 2016 Accord coupe, 3.5 liter V6 and manual transmission. It's a great car, good gas mileage and plenty of power.
Starfighter USSCV-66. Nearly all of the Hondas imported into Australia are made in Thailand, I thought you might be interested to know. The quality, like from Alabama is good - very few defects/warranty jobs.
I love this channel and the 2 mechanics are awesome. Thanks for all your pearls of wisdom. My next door neighbor is a mechanic love him too. He’s honest and would do anything to help me out, and he has!!!
BMW's need MORE screws holding the covers on the bottom. I'm not happy with the 50 there already.
🤣 I’m (pleasantly) surprised there wasn’t any rant on BMW’s. I’m a fan of them but there are a few points that could have been mentioned here.
@@Conservator. Would have been pretty funny if he ranted against BMW with that hat on.
I'm a valet. Ive had several of these brand new Cadillacs with the nice glass touchscreens that are curved at the corner of the screen to fit flush with everything, be broken despite being very new.
The moment that cars blew my mind, was when I was watching a video, and the guy said "all that a car really is, is a glorified air compressor on wheels".
Well, that was easy.
Love this channel and you guys!! Couldn’t finish the video because I was getting heart burn remembering all the stress and headaches from 10 years spent working in a Chevy dealership..thank god I found a job as a diesel tech in the oil field
This has made me rethink rebuilding my high mileage MX-5 now ...maybe just get a low mileage one and be done with it thanks guys great video
Brilliant presentation! These are the guys we need access to. Pure honesty and no BS approach.
Mechanic Todd was spot on with the gm 4.3 vortex. I have 325000 miles on it but a real bitch to work on. Great video...thanks.
I have a 2000 Astro with 176k miles, original spider injectors and regulator. Only thing it’s needed is lower manifold gaskets and a fuel pump.
This brings back so many memories, except didn't have any issues with the 4.3L. But those 90's GM 60 degree V6, those were so problematic.
I grew a beard while watching this
Ye
Got to do more of these, Love to see them calling out engines.
Top 3 used car recommendation !
1) Toyota Corolla / 2) Toyota Camry /3) Toyota Tacoma
Whenever you see their is a war on TV theirs dam Toyota’s rolling around !
The Triton 5.4 was a great engine, THANK YOU for mentioning that!
I hope there's gonna be a part 2 of this!
I put $6,500 into an 18-year old LS400 that was worth $1,500 when I took it in and $1,500 after spending the money. The car continued to run, not squeak, not use oil or drip and drive better than most new cars. I sold it four years later to my service rep for $1,500. Now the car is 30 years old and still runs perfectly. I miss it, but don't need such a exquisite beast. I added up all the repairs, gasoline, insurance and it cost me just over 50-cents a mile. Note that gasoline doesn't reach 50% of the per-mile cost until you are paying about $5/gallon.
When does it pay to trade for a new car ( over repairs ). NEVER. I know lots of people in their 40s-60s with no retirement savings so they could make payments on something new. They freak out over gasoline going up by a quarter, but a couple hundred in interest every month. THAT'S worth it!! Idiots.
The mazda is back! (In the back!)
Priceless!!! You should do more of this.
Three mechanics on a couch. I can smell the Columbian, all the way back in Detroit.
bubble gum vape because it's not the 80's any longer.
to add: after dealing with the insanity that is the public at large...
they deserve a good buzz!
“Gizmo Thewytchdoktor”: EXACTLY.
Colombian coffee?? Lol
LOL As soon as he said he glued his ass to the couch, I knew exactly how he did that. These guys are high A F.
@@repoman6508 I swear; in half the videos at least one of the guys will be stoned.
I was completely down to watch this, as soon as he joked about having a 300 dollar Festiva, and one of them unironically said 'it's not a bad car'. I used to drive around in a Toyota Starlet that I bought for 600 bucks. Never had any issues with it, drove quite ok, always ran like a dream and it only needed very little maintenance. I checked the license plate, and it's still driving around this date.
Where you all hiding scotty kilmer?!
No mention of eco boost engines or German cars on the naughty list?! This video is great. I feel bad when customers get the big repair bills and wonder why. This video gives a bit of insight to the other side of the counter.
Todd is totally a Dennis Miller clone, right?
I have been thinking this for the past two years he looks like some comedian but never could put my finger on who it was!
Wow. Mechanic of 6 years here. I agree with a lot of what they say. But I'd have to disagree with Turbowski on mindless work. Brake work is easy money, as long as you have to right tools you can whip that repair out quick on almost any car, drum or disc. I would also disagree on GM, especially the 4.3L. Yes, the Northstar V8 is a pain to work on, and they had other engines that were lemons, 4.0 straight six comes to mind. But any truck, van, or SUV is extremely easy to work on, and pretty reliable. Any 4cyl GM is junk, V6 cars are hit or miss.
Very cool video, and great to hear similar opinions from fellow mechanics.
Except for the old 4cyl. engine that GM discontinued. It was called the Iron Duke
@@stepside2839 the Iron Duke was reliable and simple, great mechanically but driving a vehicle with it was a bore.
@@kobihoover7378 hahaha,
yeah . .. That's True
But, sometimes we miss reliable
Miss Iron Duke--->She's Reliable
I want more videos like this. I wish I had friends like these
I don't know if Turbowski knows it, but holy jeez, he is so funny. I like all of you guys, but Turbowski is just something else.
The honest thoughts of all three of you was genuinely interesting. Sometimes similar, other times completely opposite. Keep up the couch talks.
This channel and especially this episode have taught me more about cars than I've learned in my entire life.
My favorite casting couch
Your channel just continues to get better. Between customer complaints, people expecting something for nothing, and the complexity of new cars, how could these guys not be grumpy, haha.
I am quite surprised that they didn't mention any European brand when talking about the worst engines to work on. Like that audi allroad, where you apparently have to pull the engine out, through the front of the vehicle just to change a thermostat
they mentioned landrover and saab
Just got a 2017 Sorento 3.3 V6 AWD love it, simple, Quite. Can Overtake when needed and can hold 7 people. I can look at the engine and just see realiabity. First new vehicle. Holds my dogs comfortable. It has a turn key ingintion and analog gauges. Recommend this wagon. I'm 23 and my wife and I love it. Someday Accuair will be added. The dream is putting a supercharger or twin turbo it with methnol injection. Has 16,000 miles on it. So I'm in no rush. Thanks for your review of the drive train SavageGeese.
If the world made cars designed by mechanics... like Honda and Toyota.
@jonny j new Honda is a bit complex but if still take one over a Ford especially over any GM vehicles their new pilot uses a ZF Transmission I think
@@bryanmartinez6600 They use the ZF 9 speed automatic tranny, yes.
Old guy probably feathered brakes all the time. You made a potentially fatal appear. You saved his life and he should thank you.
GM trucks and suvs are super easy and convenient to work on. All there cars and crossovers are junk. The full size are good.
Really enjoyed this segment ....if you get ANY group of people talking honestly about their job with their peers it’s going to be interesting. Most people (in any profession) think YOU’RE over paid ....when in reality a day in your life would leave them crying and rocking in the shower.
Great video. Have to disagree with the gm 3.8 being bad. Aside from the intake fiasco they are some of the most reliable engines out there in my experience.
Honesty is so rare these days.Thank you for saying what we all believe but never hear anyone say.
the thing I don't get is why are LED headlights and taillights so expensive? LEDs are simple and cheap af... but put them in a headlight and suddenly its some pinnacle of technology and cost more than HID's? the OEM are turning like 9000% profit on that...
yes, I understand that there's different grades of LED, but its still nowhere near expensive as the oem headlight prices suggest. They're still making an enormous profit from it.
i don't think its the housing because you can get aftermarket bulbs that are the same size as the stock halogens. they're just using LEDS as a package upgrade point. pretty sad that in 2018 cars costing more than $25 k come with ugly not very bright halogens.
They charge that much because theyre the only option. Unless you know electronics and can find faulty components
Factory led lights are usually non user serviceable. Which means that the whole housing would have to be replaced. Keep in mind that the vehicle manufacture doesn't not necessarily make the headlight assembly. So the headlight manufacturer charges their markup to the car maker who in return charges their markup to the dealership who will mark up the product for retail. This is the reason why your headlamps and taillamps are expensive.
“Heat”
Toddd, brilliant observation that today's vehicles are not specific. Everything is a luxury, sport, economic, flexible, family car.
I personally believe their experiences had been based off mostly off cars in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Where American, Japanese, and European designs had been distinctive in their own ways. Newer modern cars regardless of national origin had been very similar in design and serviceability. A handful supplier supplies majority of the brands. GM uses Denso/Toyota AC compressors, Toyota uses GM Dexron oil, etc. car manufacturers today are really just designers and logistic companies, they source parts from same suppliers.
I went from a Volvo S60 2.5t with the "Geartronic" manumatic, wonderful car that ran like new at 200K+ miles. I took perfect care of it and it treated me well. It was totalled, so i picked up a 04 Saab 9-5 Arc (2.3 hp turbo) for $1600 @145K miles and the engine and transmission run like butter.. after replacing eeeeverything. Everything brakes on the car. Moon roof hasn't broken, only thing i haven't touched other than little pads to remove a rattle on the moon roof.
Thing's just replaced when i got it from the old owner;
- New coil pack/cartrage
- New turbo
- New front shocks
- New tie rods (all)
- New lower control arms
- New rear swaybar links (misdiagnosis I'm guessing because of the rear passive searing)
- Transmission flush
- Timing chain
Then I'm certain the guy was sick of fixing it as i got it with a few things wrong with it.
List of parts i had to replace;
- All the engine mounts where torn or sagging, causes horrible engine harmonics and rumbles the whole car
- Cleaned the gunk out of the throttle body, it was causing a small jam (engine code)
- Fuel pump, pressure regulator, and filter
- all 6 of the front sub-frame bushings
- put some Moog swaybar links, stock are garbage or maybe they where replaced with garbage ones idk
- All vacuum lines (a lot of them).
- All 0-ring seals for the hardline vacuum lines. Causes vacuum loss to brake booster :-/ and uses a cam driven vacuum pump to run it (yay! more failure points)
- Rear shocks, when they are just a little bad they cause the rear to jump sideways because it has a rear geometry for passive searing (small upgrade to some KYB shocks)
- Trunk wire harness has a design defect (the car has a lot) that cuts into it, soldiered on more cable to add slack, rounded off the plastic piece that cut the wires (i know solder causes a stress point, but crimps wouldn't have fit inside where the cable was going).
- (just annoying) Wheel hubs are long that make it easy to get the wheel stuck on and i have to drive around with loose bolts hitting large bumps, swerving, and slamming on the brakes.
- Memory chip on stereo looses memory when battery is disconnected so i have to use a scanner to marry it back to the car.
- Replaced all the lights inside the stereo and HVAC unit, and had to hot press on a new ribbon because they thought it would be a good idea to use a sticker as a ribbon cable.
- Both front windows rail guides
- Northstar antenna on top of the car fell off, i just plugged it.
- Top center brake light dry rotted the clips over the years and fell off one day, replaced that.
- Center console was all warn, not from misuse. Replaced the accordion for the shiftier which was a PITA and all the lights when i was in there.
- Whoever changed the spark plugs before i had it left them loose and blow by built up carbon on the threads that prevented that spark plugs from sitting and walk out. So i cut grooves into the sides of one of the spark plugs and cleaned it off well then used it to "tap" out the carbon crud. That was over 30K miles ago.. so it worked ;-)
I'm sure I'm leaving out more, but this car although it has a great engine and transmission is not for anyone else other than someone who is very good with mechanic work because all of that would have cost someone in the 1,000's to get fixed lol
Only other car that i worked on more was was a 88 Turbo Supra 5 speed i had as my DD for about 7 years. Every nut and bolt, everything on that car i took out and fixed or replace. In that case it was almost all preventive because i really liked it. Got it at 90K and sold it at 165K miles still running with near perfect compression. Told the guy to either get a whole new engine wiring harness because of its age or go full stand alone ECU replacement to go past the ~320hp to the wheel safely that it was making on fully stock electronics. I saw it a year after running kinda funny.. I'm sure it was in a junkyard soon after. Never saw it again. Sold it for what i would have sold the engine and trans alone without accessories. Still have a little warehouse in my attic for MK3 Supra parts lol.
Also had a base 95 Civic DX 5 speed as a second car for about 5 years when i had the Supra;
- Map sensor
- timming belt
- entire front suspension, took about 3-4 hours including alignment which was just me pushing the car back and forth on a flat surface
- $30 eBay piston rings, about 3 hours of me taking my time
*never seen a pair of rings last longer than 140K miles on a D15B7, especially on an auto that puts more strain on the little guy BUT nothing else seams to brake.
- distributor, Spark plugs, and wires
that's it
Point of my story, Everything will brake on a Saab.. good engine bottom end and transmission though ;-)
*I'm sick at home, hence my story
This should be a weekly podcast! Also I see that 2018 Mazda 6 behind you, are you dropping a hint?
These kind of videos are great.
Honda D Series represent!
I have a topic requests. 1) Review British manufacturer quality and difficulty to maintain 2) Review German manufacturer quality and difficulty to maintain 3) Which cars, per segment, they most recommend 4) Specific video on sports cars that they like.
The worst engines ever are the bmw 4 zylinder engines that you dont get in the US. The 316, 318, 116, 118 engines. My homie mechanic refuses to work on those because its a never ending story.
I have a 95 318, is my 4cyl the one you mentioned? ☝️
Its an E36? They're okay more or less as far as I know. Everything from the E46 4-Zyl. is trash.
Surprised to read that. I get it there are a lot of problematic BMW motors but that more to do with the lack of oil servicing that BMW recommends. My personal experience with the M40/M42 motor found in the 1991 318is has been spectacular aside from the oil pump bolts backing themselves out and valve cover gasket leaks. Simple very easy DIY repairs that need only once to do.
My 320i Turbo exploded on the highway and the car was almost completely burned totally! Since then BMTrouble you is for me no option and will never be!
I have the E90 330i and the engine is great. Can't Imagine having the 4cyl.
One of your best shows yet. Informative and entertaining all rolled up in one laid back pkg. kudos!
49,000 miles on my BRZ. Started it in gear and it stalled. Started it back up blinking CEL. Code? Miss on number 2 cylinder. 4 spark plugs and a coil later had it towed to the dealer. The dealer charged me $400 to pull the head. Needs an rocker arm? $4000. No thank you . Put it back together I will sell as is. Look for my cover photo to change to my 2001 300,000 mile Cherokee. I am so disappointed.
You kidding, thats bullshit. Is your car unmolested? So they basically want to replace the entire head?
Yep. That would only be for the right cylinder bank. I will most likely tow it from Baltimore to Ny so my cousin can do it for me. Still selling it though.
And I thought Subaru wasn't that bad. I was considering the Crosstek, but I have heard horror stories about their CVT's.
This is like sitting around a campfire with all my car people telling stories. This is great. We need more of this..
Todd'd? Coulda sworn that was Rex Texican...
The Buick 3.8 3800 L36 L67 SC is bulletproof if you do the most basic maintenance. The trans 4T65-E / HD is the only weak point and its because there was no bulletin to service fluids often, which you should, if you replace the fluid and filter every 30K miles or so the trans can last as far as 400K miles, as shown by a user with his lesabre.
The plastic intake manifolds failing and the whole blah blah coolant blowing the engine is extremely rare, so you're giving a bad wrap to a great engine with highlighting rare failures.
I'm surprised they didn't say Audi is the worst to work on with everything crammed in there
volvo would give them a run for their money.
Ever since I heard of Audi's "service carrier position", I've had nightmares
jay bosher Sorry, what?? Volvos are some of the best things work on period. High quality components and a bunch of room. New Volvos are still not bad.
I changed a starter on a 93 Grand Prix. Piece of cake..took me like less than an hour, that includes coffee breaks. 5yrs later, there is a '00 Audi A6, starter died. It took me a week, because I quit after 1hr of working on it every day, pissed off and cursing Audi to burn in hell for placing it in behind everything down below, that swapping an entire Subaru engine takes less time.
Yeah new volvos? With both turbo and electric supercharger running game a separate battery bank. Yeah these cars are filled with failure points regardless of quality. Benz and BMW make quality but that doesn't stop the inevitably of part failure
Found your channel a couple days ago and this earned my sub. You have a really good thing going on here.
Funny cuz the only cars I would buy are Hyundai or Lexus
I had to come back,posted too soon. It was reassuring to see them recommend the car I just got. It's a 2007 LS460L w/89k miles. And it's tighter, quieter, zero rattles or squeaks and is a better car than many brand new domestics I've bought over the years.
"Pulled up, you mean towed up"
I agree with the Honda D16 I have one and those engine are super simple to work on and run everytime no matter what's wrong with them lol.