I hate car shopping
 

Well....no I take that back, I don't HATE car shopping.....I actually love the thrill of the hunt. Finding that PERFECT vehicle at that great price. What I DON'T like is dealing with either:

1. Ignorant people that know nothing about the vehicle they're trying to offload onto someone

2. People that think YOU'RE ignorant and lie thru their teeth.





OK, so I got a bug up muh butt to MAYBE look at getting a truck. My 7yr old exploder needs wheel bearings and the rear end (ford 8.8 independent) because the friction plates are eat up. So it needs a ring and pinion eventually too, but it's not bad enough to REQUIRE it. Just means I no longer have limited slip posi. Big deal, it's an AWD...I gots the front wheels still :rockwoot:

If I got all the work done that the stealership SAID I needed done it'd be $4,288



REALLY all it NEEDS is $900 worth of wheel bearings (getting fixed tomorrow), but I eventually I want a truck. SO I STARTED looking at maybe replacing the exploder.

$7000 is what a few dealers were willing to give me for the exploder...so I was looking at maybe $22-$28k trucks. And of COURSE found a $31k truck I couldn't live without
:wtfru:

Thought it over and it just wasn't a good move for my family. We need the 7 passenger capacity of the exploder too bad....so I went from a $31k primary family vehicle to $5k secondary trucks and keeping the exploder. Well $5k went to $10k and of COURSE I found a few $14k trucks I couldn't live without :skep:

I'm stupid like that

Anyway...in my adventure I came across a truck that a local custom bike builder owned. He's been on Discovery channel when they use to have those biker buildoff shows.

Now I admire the heck outta this guy...he does daily what I'd do if I won the lottery and just had money to blow doing something fun. Which would be fabrication of custom bikes and rock crawlers (he doesn't do crawlers...but still)


Anyway...I go to look the truck he has listed in craigslist (since it's like 3 blocks from my office) for $12,500

Looks great...has a dent in the fender, and some molding is coming off, but the interior is awesome. It's a 6 speed 7.3 (not that utter bomb the 6.0) but it's also as long as a football field...however it's not bad...but hi miles.

I ask to drive it....he says "sure" take it wherever you need to go, we won't need it till 2 (it was 11am)

So I decide to drive to home to show my wife (who will ultimately give me permission to either buy or reject whatever it is :lol: )

Keep in mind what the ad says "no disappointments" and up until I got onto the hiway headed home (series of tight downtown roads) there weren't any. But when I made the sharp turn onto the on-ramp...I heard the right front wheel bearing screaming bloody murder.

So right off it needs a $300 wheel bearing

Then I tested the AC...no worky

Then I looked up to see what was behind me...no rear view mirror

Then I went to click the cruise....no worky

Then I went to just stroll down the hiway for 8 miles and found that I had to pretty much keep the wheel turned to 9:00 to go straight.

Got home and noticed that the tires were nearly BALD.....

MAN I was so disappointed. Wife liked the interior and sheer size of the inside of the truck though, but she too was put off by the miles and all that was wrong with it. I figured if it was listed at 12,500 I could make it work and get everything fixed I needed too for 8,500

Took it back and told him what all was wrong and he seemed shocked....turns out he JUST had bought it at auction the week before and was trying to flip it.

Anyway.....I couldn't possibly give him what he wanted and get all the work done in it that it needed. (The ad is below) And the lowest he'd go was 10,500. So no go.

Well this was the 5th truck I had looked at in 2 weeks. The first one, was OK, but just didn't float my boat. Kinda banged up....even for a "cheap truck" Then I go to drive it and the owner tell me "Oh everything works great"....and as I go to test the AC, the friggin button is missing?!?! Then I test the cruise and it doesn't work.

I get back and inform the owner....OH YEAH I need to get a button for the AC, and I forgot the cruise doesn't work.

Truck two was very similar. Owner was from PA and brought it down with him...so on the phone before I ever got there I asked if there was any rust "No man this truck looks GREAT....no rust" (apparently to a northerner it DID look great...but that's relative)

I drive out there, and immediately spot a rusty frame and several steering components that might actually break off under a hard bump :td: Open the door and since it's a super cab it has suicide doors. The latch down on the door sill has bolts that are completely rusted into the bracket solid with blistering paint all around it. Even the aluminum wheels had corrosion issues. And the lug nuts were almost rusted to the studs. NOOOOO... no rust :skep:

I drive THIS one....and cruise on it doesn't work, and the 4wd won't engage.....after asking him directly as well "does everything work?, are there any known issues?"

"Everything works great, no problems at all"

RIIGGHHHT

Trucks 3 and 4 were along the same lines.

I DID however see one the other night I liked.....and have made an offer...but we'll see. If this one doesn't work, I'll stick to the 'sploder and rock it a few more years.

Dude, you need to come down here.

Thats def shitty on the part of the owners being dumb fucks about what works and doesnt work on there vehicles. They most likely assume nooone is gonna check out every little thing with the truck...Hell half of them probably dont use the cruise hence why they arent aware it isnt working.

But sometimes you gotta sift thru hundreds of shitty deals to find that golden nugget.

I'm seeing that!

Damn...in Michigan, if I remember correctly, there was a dealership selling overstock, brand new, fullsize, short bed work trucks for around $18,000.

They sell those here too......but not 4x4 solid front axle F250's It's the 2wd F150's

I got my LAST truck as an overstock W/T

It was a 2002 Chevy Silverado EXT cab short bed. Listed for $23,000 and i got it for $17k OTD

http://www.troybaker.com/red/red034.jpg

i hear you. just went through the same here. last truck i looked at before buying the one I got was a new left over 2010 dodge 2500 4x4 work truck. dealer used it to plow with for 700 miles.
they dented the front and back and just a little bing on the bed as well. he offered to "take all the fat out of the price" and offered it to me for 26,800. i didn't stick around long enough for him to come to his senses and offer a real price.
they had a used one on their lot as well. with 34000 miles on it. it was interesting until he told me the whole front end had been rebuilt. why? didn't matter as soon as we hit the road the front end was vibrating all over the place.
and then there was the 3/4 ton that was really a half ton with 2500 markings. gotta love scam artists

There's a ton of those around here - they're all 4X4 though and on most of 'em, the bed and cab corners are rusted to shit.

Yeah that's why I look for florida vehicles most of the time. If this OTHER one we looked at last week doesn't pan out I'm flying down to see Moira :lol:

STEALERships suck for service too
 

The whole REASON for looking for a truck had to do with the fact that my 2004 exploder (valued at a whopping $7000 trade-in) needed so much work that it wasn't worth fixing.

See it's been roaring for a few months now, and popping and jerking at very low speed turns. I knew the clutch packs had given out in the LS rear. Not a big deal. But I was concerned for the ring & pinion health so I had it checked out when I got it inspected last month.

The mechanic at the inspection station said it WAS pretty worn and maybe I needed to look into it further, but there was no leaking. SO he said no hurry. He priced a new rearend at $1,700 + $200 install.

Since he wasn't a ford dealer he couldnt GET the internals...he needed to get the entire rear assembly from JASPER. But that had a lifetime warranty. See it's a full independent rear suspension, not a live axle so it's a stationary rear assembly with floating axles and rear wheel bearings.

OK...an option.

So I took it to Parkway ford to have them look at everything it needed.

Parkway Ford won't even LOOK at your car unless you give them $95 :wtfru: But I wanted to know everything so I paid it :td:

Their estimate?

$1650 for new gears and clutchpacks
$390 for right front bearing
$634 for BOTH rear wheel bearings
$298 Leaking front pinion seal

OH and you're getting close to 100k.....

$280 for new plugs

I got to thinking....a few months ago when I got tires I decided to put some Jeep Rubicon wheels on...

http://www.troybaker.com/ex/ex4.jpg


had a painter buddy spray them and fill in the JEEP on the centercaps. Thought it'd be "different" but ever since then is when it started acting funny and roaring. I got to thinking, maybe since the JEEP wheels stuck out about 1.5" maybe THAT had something to do with some of the issues. So I thought....I'll just put the stock wheels back on it while I'm at it.


So I took it to King, NC to Piedmont Radiator and Tire where I have all my work done.

He replaced the front wheel bearing and threw the stock wheels back on then drove it. Said I didn't NEED any of the other work done (well, I'll need plugs in another 1000 miles) and said as long as I didn't care that I now had an OPEN rear diff instead of an LS, then he wouldn't do squat about the rearend....that ALL 8.8's hummed like a bad streetlamp. Since it's an AWD model I don't care about the LS.

I literally had to argue with him about the rear bearings though. I figured he just didn't have the time that day to DO the rear bearings or didn't WANT too. I told him I'd schedule another day to do the rear bearings if that would help him?!?!

He said "You don't NEED them man....I'm serious!"

?!?!?!?!

SO I happily paid him $300 for the front bearing and jumped in the exploder. On the ride home I found that it road fine, no roaring, no vibration....no nothing. Smooth as silk....other than the typical 8.8 rearend hum.

Apparently the rubi wheels caused most of the vibration, slow speed wheel hop, and chatter....and the roar was just the front wheel bearing. :rockwoot:

Give me a list of vehicles you'd be interested in and with what options and I'll keep an eye out. I see sweet deals around here all the time. I'll even stop and check them out for you.

Your first mistake was taking it to a dealer...They try and assfuck you for all they can.

I went in to the dealer WITH THE diagnosis of my truck and they STILL charged me 65 Dollars...when they called me to tell me what was wrong with it they spat back exactly what I told them when I dropped it off...Shit imagine that someone who knows what there looking at.

They gave me the estimate which was well over 2k I told them to fuck off and I fixed it myself for about 2/3 of the price they wanted.

I like the truck with the Rubi wheels...ashame they caused so much issues.

Sounds like you went into the dealer saying can you check out my car for "whatever", but I think "whatever: is the problem. So they wrote on the R.O. to check for "whatever" and you paid for them to check for "whatever".

I don't see a problem unless you specifically told them to replace a part and they charged you 65 dollars in diagnostic time.

Wait until gas crosses $4/gal. You'll have a much wider selection of vehicles to buy - both new and used...

Yeah that's the plan now.

I went to the dealer and told them I hear the rear-end roaring louder than normal, and a popping and jerking upon slow reverse turns. I asked them to look at the rear-end and confirm that the clutch packs were toast and to see if there was concernable wear on the ring & pinion, as well as to check the wheel bearings at all 4 corners.

I was very specific.

Afterwards I insisted on speaking to the tech that worked on it outside away from the service writers. He then confirmed that the ONLY work I NEEDED was the front wheel bearing.

Most of this I suspected going into it…but just needed confirmation on the rear-end issue from the dealership.

My Vette that I've had since 2002 and neither of the two bikes that I've had since 2007 have ever been back to the dealership. The Jeep has but is under full warranty and the little SRT was taken there when under full warranty but no more.

It seems more dealerships are charging for diagnostics rather than just doing what the owner tells them to. A couple, but far from all, around here will at least credit the diagnostic fee toward any repair that is done.

My guess is the policy is a result of idiot car owners coming in, telling the service writer what the problem is (because someone on a forum, their dad, or whoever told them so), only to have the repairs made and the problem still remains. The idiot car owner is pissed and blames the dealership even though it is the idiot car owner's fault.:shrug:

i think the diag charge comes from people who go to the dealer to get something diagnosed and then they do the work themselves or have someone else do it.

i am not one to defend dealers at all but if your going to take thier time to tell you something you should pay for it.

Having worked at a dealership, these two nailed it on the head.
You tell me what to fix/replace, I fix it and the "problem" still exsists... not my problem.
You want me to take my time to check it out and tell you what wrong for free, so you can go fix it yourself? Not so much.

Dont some auto parts places do free diagnostic checks?

No.

I walked in and said My transfer case has a hole the size of a quarter because the driveshaft is bent by the rear yoke the undercarriage is covered in ATF and I had a vibration at crusing speed because of the driveshaft. Then I said the T case cracked b/c of the driveshaft vibration as it was clearly cracked on the T case where the Input shaft from the driveshaft goes INTO the Transfer case.

They then had my truck for 6 hours called me back to say this. "Your driveshaft is bent which caused your transfer case to crack...But since it was physical damage to the driveshaft and not mechanical we cant cover it under your warranty so the total cost will be 2200"

I literally laughed at him when he told me this and then said...Thats exactly what i told you when I dropped it off and you would've saved both of us 6 hours by just telling me then it wouldnt be covered under warranty. They clearly wanted nothing but my money.

Dealerships are greedy bloodsucking bastards and thats why you should haggle them till your blue in the face and if you dont get what you want..Go elsewhere.

Further more...This was the Old T case after I dropped it from the Bellhousing.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._4216813_n.jpg

Cost me 800 to do it myself Vs there 2200 Pilgramage of my wallet

So you expect the dealer to write a repair order, pick up your truck, figure out the weight is still on the driveshaft, but it's bent which caused the transfer case to crack, but didn't cause any other damage to the the rear end for free?

Are u Jewish?redflip

Seriously...you cannot ask a dealer to "look" at something even though you told them what was wrong and expect them not to be paid.

It sounds to me, like there was some chance in hell you thought this would be covered under warranty, so you took it to the dealer and they denied the warranty and now you are pissed you have to pay diagnostic time. :idk:

Lol...I get your point I do...You weren't actually there with me at the dealer. I specifically asked the service writer if it would be covered under warranty and if it wasnt then I wasnt gonna waste my time.

I would be fine paying the Diagnostic fee if they actually Diagnosed something. They didnt...They pulled my truck in put it on a lift and said oh look the guy said this was wrong and thats whats wrong...Where's the work in that? The labor for pulling my truck in and putting it on a lift? Give me a break...thats why this world is fucked...

And They sold me the truck with the bent driveshaft...Excuse me for thinking they would actually own up to the issue and fix it.

And no, I'm also not jewish...Far from it actually...I dont mind paying for something if it warrants payment...this was NOT one of those circumstances.

I understand why dealers and other shops in general have started charging diognostic fees in MOST cases like has been mentioned in this thread but not all...like when my elderly father's CEL came on in a PT Cruiser that my step mother drives. I was out of town and unable to check it and he didn't call me to ask about it.

He drives it into the local Chrysler dealership and they check it and tell him it's the computer (ECM) and it needs to be replaced...$98 diagnostic fee !!

$800 dollars to replace the computer !! It's a 2001 PT Cruiser. He then calls me...thank god... about the price of the computer and is already out $98.

The reason I say "out the $98" is because all you have to do to get the code in a PT Cruiser is turn the key to the on position 3 times and the code displays right there on the dash. No mechanic has to spend any real time to do anything other than that and then look the code up...yep I think that falls into the BS category. I wish he would have called me first so I could have saved him the $98...turn the key three times to the on position and then just look the code up on the internet and it tells you the same thing.

Luckily he did let me take care of the computer for him $150 and guaranteed for life....DONE. It's been one year and they have had ZERO issues and ZERO CEL's.

I ordered the ECM from this place and they shipped it to me quickly and it was plug and play. Looks like they had a price increase since then but it's still not $800.

http://www.allcomputerresources.com/...FQI8gwodIH0fKw

I call them...Stealerships.

Nothing after 2008....as that's when this GREEN crap started on a lot of the diesels and you have to add the additives when filling up :td: PLUS on a 08-up dodge you can't do squat to them power-wise without spending a boatload on controllers.

4x4 (solid front axle)
4 door
Straight drive
Diesel
Duallie prefered (but not required)
Short bed
under 60k miles
Bench front seat (youngest daughter wants that so she can ride up front next to me)
Cloth interior

To get REAL specific

PRE-2007.5 Dodge 3500 MEGA cab 6-speed 4x4 duallie

prefered colors in order

white
black
silver

But I'm interested in most any SOLID front axle 4x4 diesel straight drive 4 door diesel trucks (prefer Duallie)

PERFECT truck would either be a Chevy SAS HD 3500 diesel 4dr 4x4
Or a F350 with a 5.7 common rail swap but those are as rare as a honest politician

Don't really want to consider a ford because most of them have the 6.0 or 6.4 timebombs (But if I found a 7.3 it might be interesting) so I'm kinda stuck looking for a dodge..though I don't like the dodge trucks themselves, the engine and axle config is awesome.

C'mon, you don't need a big diesel 4x4.

2006 Dodge Dakota V8 w/ 6-speed MUST SEE - only 30,000 miles - $12999 (Dalton, GA)

I'll deliver if you'll fly me home.

Everybody needs a big diesel 4x4! :whatwhat: