sdd@druxi.UUCP (DensmoreSD) (04/25/85)
a service center says something is broken when it really isn't? Yesterday, I took my car to Firestone for an oil change and to have the tires rotated (remove snow tires, etc). As I was leaving, I noticed that the mechanic had penned in at the top, "FT struts (leak)". I immediately went back in and asked him what the problem was. He said the front struts of my 11 month old car were leaking. We dicussed price and what would happen if I ignored the problem ($139.00, and the ride would get mushy). I then stopped in at the dealership where I had bought my car and asked the service manager to check the the front struts as Firestone had said there was a problem. He found no leaks whatsoever (and also showed me where to look). He then told me he had a friend that worked at a Firestone, and they're having a contest this month to see who can sell the most shocks and struts, the winner getting an all-paid trip to somewhere (I forget). My question: besides writing a letter to the manager telling him what I think of this practice, is there anyone else I should talk to? Sue Densmore inhp4!druxi!sdd 303-538-1393
review@drutx.UUCP (Millham) (04/26/85)
> My question: besides writing a letter to the manager telling > him what I think of this practice, is there anyone else > I should talk to? Tell us what the name of the shop is that did this so that people can stay clear of it! (Is it the one near 104th and Melody?) -------------------------------------------- Brian Millham AT & T Information Systems Denver, Co. ...!inhp4!drutx!review
bae@fisher.UUCP (Shiva the Destroyer) (04/26/85)
> a service center says something is broken when it really isn't? > > Yesterday, I took my car to Firestone for an oil change and > to have the tires rotated (remove snow tires, etc). As I > was leaving, I noticed that the mechanic had penned in at > the top, "FT struts (leak)". I immediately went back in and > asked him what the problem was. He said the front struts of > my 11 month old car were leaking. We dicussed price and what > would happen if I ignored the problem ($139.00, and the ride > would get mushy). I had the same sort of thing happen to me this last summer. I went in to purchase a new set of tires and to have them installed. While the car was on the lift, the "nice man" showed me how the rear shocks on my newly-purchased '68 Datsun were gone (they were), and the front struts were leaking. The leak was just some machine oil which had been dribbled onto the struts. Fortunately, having some amount of mechanical competance, I told the guy that he was BS'ing me, ran across the street to the parts store, and bought a pair of Koni's to have the "nice man" install in place of my rear shocks, and told him that I'd leave the front struts as they were, saving the $180 he had quoted me. Urrr..... -- Brian A. Ehrmantraut Ad Maioram Gloriam Hasturi! UUCP: {allegra, astrovax, princeton, twg} !fisher!bae BELL: (609) 452-8991 / (609) 734-7761 USnail: 184 Little Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
neal@denelvx.UUCP (Neal Weidenhofer) (04/29/85)
> and the front struts were leaking. The leak was just some machine oil > which had been dribbled onto the struts. Fortunately, having some amount > of mechanical competance, I told the guy that he was BS'ing me, ran across the > street to the parts store, and bought a pair of Koni's to have the "nice > man" install in place of my rear shocks, and told him that I'd leave > the front struts as they were, saving the $180 he had quoted me. Urrr..... > > -- > Brian A. Ehrmantraut You have a lot more trust in your fellow man than I do. If someone tries to pull a scam like that on me, I want my car back NOW before they can really damage it. Regards, Neal Weidenhofer "The law is for protection Denelcor, Inc. of the people" <hao|csu-cs|brl-bmd>!denelcor!neal
dca@edison.UUCP (David C. Albrecht) (04/29/85)
Boy I sure hope those wonderful macpherson thingies have made terrific inroads into improved handling and ride because they certainly have ****ed up the maintenance of your suspension. Replacing the damper elements on the front end of a car has escalated from ~50$ (for damn good shocks) to ~140$ (for good macphersons) and this doesn't count that replacing the strut usually requires a front end alignment (if you are lucky you can replace just the cartridge and forgo the alignment). Can some of our automotive afficianados educate me as to the wonderful things Macphersons do for me so that when I have to go chip in my $140 I can at least pretend to be happy about it? Since my car is new I hope this will be some time to come. David Albrecht General Electric
ark@alice.UUCP (Andrew Koenig) (05/01/85)
> Can some of our automotive afficianados educate me as to the wonderful > things Macphersons do for me so that when I have to go chip in my > $140 I can at least pretend to be happy about it? Since my car is > new I hope this will be some time to come. 1. They cost less to manufacture. 2. They do not require adjustment for caster or camber.
wunder@wdl1.UUCP (05/03/85)
Write a letter to the manager of the place, the local better buisiness bureau, and the Firestone company. Firestone should be pretty pissed about one of their outlets tyring to cheat you. You might also send a copy to the consumer fraud people or the DA or whatever down at the local courthouse. What the shop did was against the law, and you should raise a little hell. Go get 'em. wunder
mat@mtx5b.UUCP (Mark Terribile) (05/04/85)
MacPhereson struts? What are they good for? Well, I don't understand all of the geometry involved, but here are some guesses: 1) They are lighter than the double-A-arm. When you are trying to cut total weight down, you have to avoid doing too much violence to the sprung/unsprung weight ratio. 2) It looks to me (like what do I know....) that they free up a little room under the hood. You can put something where the upper A-arm's pivot would have to go. 3) When you are designing for lightness and bringing in computers for finite element analysis, the double-A-arm might (and then again might not) result in a much simpler set of equestions to get ground down. How would you like to have the length of your compiles tripled? Does anyone know better than I? -- from Mole End Mark Terribile (scrape .. dig ) hou4b!mat on 5/1/85 ..,,. mtx5b!mat ,.. .,, ,,, ..,***_*.