heneghan@ihlpf.UUCP (Heneghan) (02/15/86)
I've been boasting about how great my 81' Skylark is and it's time for me to eat my words: I'm the kind of guy that changes the oil and filter every 3k miles, gets chassi lube every other oil change, rotates the tires, back flushes the radiator every year, washes about once a week year round, waxes twice a year and touches up dinks constantly. My car had 92k miles on it and my "high tech computer system" crapped out on me. The Buick dealer (Stillwell in Downers Grove, Ill.) told me I needed $700 in repairs and proceeded to charge me for .9 of an hour labor for the 5 minutes it took them to diagnose my computer, costing $40. This dealer, where I bought the car, would not buy the car back (without even looking at the car itself). At this point I was prepared to drive the car through the showroom window. As I considered the other problems with the car I decided that the car would cost more to fix than it was worth. I then unloaded the car at the Plymouth Dealer where I bought an 86' MiniVan the week before. I hope Chrysler nails GM to the wall in sales. The point I would like to make is that maybe all the TLC you give a car doesn't mean **%$##@@# if the car was designed to die young. So, maybe the manuals are right when they say change the oil every 7k. Then, the car depreciates the same throughout, and you don't have a good engine and body, with everything else being waisted. Now I have a 1986 Plymouth Voyager and a 1972 Dodge Dart. I hope the Dart doesn't outlast the Voyager! I submit this to you and specifically those of you who are thinking of "running your car into the ground" because cars are so %%$#@@# expensive! It might pay to unload it sooner than later! Especially a newer car! Joe Heneghan