Car problems

[nicbordeaux]

Not necessarily, could be a used car salesman :)

Still, a 911 is cool. Nothing like as good as a Seven of course, but a nice car.

[FunWithGravity2]

Funny thing is Doc, i leave the race cars at home most days, i have several vintage VW beetles right now that i love to play with. Of all the hot rods and classic american muscle i have owned nothing draws a crowd like a classic VW. We are backdating a 74 standard to look like a 64 right now, baby blue with whitewalls. Low back white interior ETC ETC. We usually drive the sb vert that looks like a lady bug around the beaches in the summer, it gets nothing but waves and thumbs up.


Used car salesman, Hmmm, actually never tried that, yet, Spent many years on the hill. Moved to get away from the element, who says you can't leave. fuh ged a boud it.


Crazy Dave.


I thought about Mikes issue because i had the same issue with another car a few weeks ago. It would stay half in the start position and the wipers/and defrost light would not work as well as some other AUX things, but the headlights and car were working fine. Almost all you electrical system passes through that switch. Check a shematic youll be amazed. and because new cars have so many circuts they tend to have numerous contacts inside that damned thing so each circut can handle the load. I would bet a 6pack of beer after all the money is spent and the car is running again it will be the ign switch. I would be willing to bet if you checked the diagram for that car you would find all the things that aren't working probably piggyback of the same lead in the switch.


IMHO

[FunWithGravity2]

Thanks everyone. Thought I'd make Bessler Wheel my first place of inquiry since there is such an eclectic group of people here. Yeah I too noticed the bad electrical systems in my Jetta, even though other things like the suspension is top notch. After buying it the cd player would start to sound static-ee if it was played too long or the car ran too long ( hours ) because of over heating. And the radio antenna works though the window ( old 70's technology ) instead of having its own antenna.

This can be one and the same problem, and still hasn't been figured out, My Chrysler 300 hemi had the defrost and antenae in the rear window, whenever i would turn on the defrost it would cause the radia not to recieve radio stations, Gotta love chrysler, NEVER again, 06 hemi, last chrysler i will ever buy. Gone now.

[Michael]

This can be one and the same problem, and still hasn't been figured out, My Chrysler 300 hemi had the defrost and antenae in the rear window, whenever i would turn on the defrost it would cause the radia not to recieve radio stations, Gotta love chrysler, NEVER again, 06 hemi, last chrysler i will ever buy. Gone now.

That's exactly what they did in the Jetta, like I said old cheap technology.


Well I just came back from the shop and they supposedly found the faulty component, but they also noted the battery wasn't able to absorb a charge so they replaced it. Thing is a month ago they did a scan for something else and the readout showed a low electrical readout. The batteries over three years old and it's been drained at least twice of power, plus I haven't checked the fluid levels and I was going to do that but got sidetracked. So now they've replaced the battery and I'm left wondering if that might have been the only problem all along. Enough charge to start but not enough to keep everything else running like it should.

[docfeelsgood]

Dave ;

i agree on the ign. switch . sometimes a too heavy ring full of keys will cause them too screw up . they aint built too special !

really nice job you did on your yellow buggy . i appreciated that . thank you for putting some of them rightous ol timers back in shape !! guess you aint as crazy as you make out to be , lol . i worked in RI for two years straight and noticed a lot of upper end cars there . you can usually tell the economy of an area by the cars coming at you . i think that was 86 & 87 . stayed at motels at johnston and coventry . i'm sure our paths crossed dozens of times . nice state , i enjoyed it . was sad to see so many old water powered mills closed . you would think those old raceways should be providing electric !!

[FunWithGravity2]

Mike ,

Glad it worked out OK, kinda jealous about your MPG, great little cars. It is hard to be in love with your car when its having problems, but let me tell you from my experience with ALOT of cars, VW is right up there, not as dependable as the Toyota/honda staples but then you also don't get the farfugnuven or whatever they call it. I would have bought a Jetta over my most recent purchase (hyundai sonata for the wife) but i was to cheap, and i figured that i had never given the Koreans the chance and the reviews were so high that i had to, and they were given them away.

Doc,
yes i love the Olde Mills, been in many abandoned and restored ones here in RI, we do have many tributaries that allowed much development, problem is the over built on a lot of the smaller rivers and only could operate for the rainy season, the family yacs and we have to get out every 1/2 mile on some of these rivers because of so many old dams.

RI being a very small state we can appear to have some affluent people here, but we are just like the rest of the world, although for a small state we still have some pretty good industry. Unfortunately right now we are battling with Michigan for the highest unemployment, somewhere around 13 percent. O well,

Crazy Dave

[jim_mich]

Unfortunately right now we are battling with Michigan for the highest unemployment, somewhere around 13 percent.

Michigan's unemployment rate is officially about 15%, but the actual real unemployment rate is closer to 25%. One out of six homes are either behind in their mortgage payments or are now in foreclosure. Over 1% of the houses in our rural township are sitting vacant where the owners just walked away. About half the stores in the local village are closed. About 106,000 people left Michigan during 2008 and probably more last year. Property values have dropped more than 25% and in the case of foreclosed homes some have recently sold for pennies on the dollar. One foreclosure house just sold for $18,000 that previously sold for almost $100,000. Who would believe you could buy a house for the price of an automobile?

[nicbordeaux]

18 000 bucks for a house ? Can you rent them out and stand a chance of collecting rent ? I might want 5 to ten houses, always enjoyed monopoly.

May the imbeciles who bought about this sort of disatrous economical situation, Stateside and elsewhere, roast in hell.

[FunWithGravity2]

Jim

I was involved in that mess, i would go to work everyday and just sit their in awe at the people that would qualify for loans. The government had such a great 10yr bond that the banks were fighting with each other to one up the next guy with an easier loan, no this, no that, I remember a bank called New century was giving out loans to non citizens for a while. Mark to model made no sense because their was no model, but the swiss banks and everyone else buying the paper in blocks of who knows what on the secondary market did not care.

Smart money was holding for 120 days and selling all they owned to wall street in blocks of mismatched paper called whatever they wanted because their was no real ratings system for the derivatives they were packaging. I lost alot of money not giving loans to people that i knew could not pay for a home but the banks said they would, I constantly told people, "just because you qualify does not mean you can afford" their typical response was, that's not what the other guy told me.

I believe their should be hybrid loans for people with out of the box scenarios, but some things should be required no matter what, the biggest thing should be a sizeable down payment. This requirement alone would have reduced the issue almost completely. I was lucky and saw the writing on the wall early, i refused to chase good money after bad and got out of business in the early part of 2008, it had already slowed quite substantialy begining in January 2007, many of the banks that i worked with were taking longer to underwrite and they were suddenly dropping programs weekly were they had been adding. Then the rumors of millions of one block of paper not being able to be sold started and the loans in that block would get sent back. It was real ugly real fast for many people in the business. Just like the public their were many people in the business that were just as oblivious to the impending doom. I can remember guys saying they were going to go buy a new Mercedes because they thought that would motivate them to work harder.

Anyway sorry for the ramble, yes we are at 13 percent unemployment, but when you consider the people no longer searching, those that have left and other factors i'm sure it is much higher, and their are those that are working for alot less than they used to, me included. But i thoroughly enjoy my job and fortunately i did not buy things to motivate myself.

[FunWithGravity2]

18 000 bucks for a house ? Can you rent them out and stand a chance of collecting rent ? I might want 5 to ten houses, always enjoyed monopoly.

May the imbeciles who bought about this sort of disatrous economical situation, Stateside and elsewhere, roast in hell.

who should go to hell the one who ate the apple or the one who offered it ? greed without responsibility is everyones fault, the bank who gave the loan they knew would not be able to be paid and the borrower who took the loan they knew they could not afford. Its a chicken and egg argument that noone will win, obviously, many lost. For every person i know who lost a home half were bankers, they were all drinking the same koolaide. They ALL got what they deserved.

[rlortie]

The subject of Banking and mortgages is a little off track for automobile problems, so I will add my 2 cents and get out of here!

I am currently packing a mortgage, all I have to do is pay the monthly interest and the principle never drops. Makes for low cost living with the interest rates as low as they are.

Question is What happens when that loan matures and I have to roll it? Will they renew based on the fact that I have never missed an interest payment, or are they going to foreclose biting off their nose to spite their face.

Another issue I often think about is; with the low interest rates and losses of unsecured loans, how does the average bank earn enough to meet payroll and pay the light bill? Apparently they are not.

Ralph

[FunWithGravity]

Ralph,
to answer your first, not sure if you want to send me a PM or post some info here i can tell you the best and worst possible scenario,
whos the bank, whats the term, what was the original LTV (loan to value)and what has happened with property in the area since then. Some mortgages that were very predatory for some were actually perfect for other people.


If you were an intern at a hospital in atlanta in 2002 and wanted a 2.5 million dollar mansion then and interest only or even a reverse mortgage made sense. You knew you were going to be making more in a few years. But if you were a line worker in Detroit looking at 3% COLA for the next 20 years it was probably stupid.

If your an older person with a pension and well to do children then a reverse or IO loan is a great idea. It allows you to stay in a larger house longer with a much lower payment. The downfall is you don't pass on equity or the house to your kids. In the next few years reverse mortgages will become a huge industry with people retiring and realizing they don't have enough to enjoy themselves. Why not use the money they have been saving all their lives in their home.

How do the banks make money. Easy. your 6% mortgage pays them alot more than that. In the US the average lenght that a person keeps a mortgage is 7 years and ALOT have it less than that. Considering that All the interest is frontloaded on a mortgage they make all their money back very quickly without having to hold it for 30 years.


Consider this, i give you a mortgage for 100K, its 800 a month for 30 years. I hold it for 6 months collecting 750 each month, (all interest). I have made 4800 on the loan, I also made a few points over the overnight lending rate when i borrowed my money at half what i lent it to you at. So double my 4800 to 9600. I then put it with 20 other mortgages that i have that all look alike and sell it to credit suisse for them to hold and service or whatever they want. they juice me another 1 percent. So now i have made 10% on my 100K in less than 6 months and have no more liability. Do it twice a year and you've made 20% on that 100K. Mortgage interest is not simple interest like on CAR loans (back on subject) mortgage interest was designed from day one to make the banks lots of money.

If you look at your mortgage servicing agreement when you sign your papers it will tell you how many loans by that company have been sold of. Almost ALL banks sell their paper to someone else. Even your local bank that advertises they keep it just means that THEY retain servicing, which means they get a piece of juice for that. But rest assured if you looked at your banks asset sheets your property would be nowhere in site.

Would a bank bite of its nose to spite its face, well that all depends on whether the face was a good write off and what quarter it was. :). The bank MAY roll your loan even if the value is higher than the properties is worth. But you'll have to decide whether the newly amortized payment with what will surely have PMI is actually worth keeping the home.


Crazy Dave

[getterdone]

This thread seems like a good place to vent my fustrations.I bought my wife a new jetta tdi in 2006 I got the expensive one, fully loaded, leather seats, sun roof etc.. It now has 109 000 kms or 65 000 miles.

The car has always been lady driven, never abused. Two weeks ago the transmission started skipping into neutral. I was working out-of town, so she brought it to the dealership. they said that they didl't know if it was the megatronics unit or the transmission,so they changed they megatronics box, 1800.00 . The car worked fine for a week and then the same problem started again. I told the dealership that wathever had caused the first one to burn out must have caused the second one to burn out also, and Ithough that that 's what they would work on this week.

My wife goes by the dealership everyday and says that the car hasn't moved all week . Yesterday they called and said they needed to change the transmission and the flywheel ,another 8700.00.

Are they nuts

I'm going there this morning, I think I might snap.

[nicbordeaux]

It's simple enough, they charge you 1800 for a part which blows again in a week. That is their entire liability. Either the unit they fitted was faulty, in which case they owe you either a new unit or 1800 and they refit the old unit. Or the fault lies elsewhere, they failed to identify it, and the above applies too.

If it blew due to a cause further down the line, their responsability for not fixing that. You should, BTW, even though they hate it, always ask to be given the replaced (faulty) part.

All you need is a lawyer who specializes in car repairs. The damages should pay for the lawyer. Your prejudices are just too many to name : loss of mobility incurring monetary loss, severe rectal pain which qualifies as pretium doloris, loss of libido due to worry...

[Grimer]

Reading this thread makes me realist how lucky I am to live in London with a free travel pass for trains and buses. I gave up my car some years ago now and am so relieved not to have all the hassle that a car brings with it.