# Got a $4,800 Repair Estimate Today



## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

That's after $950 for a new thermostat and fan assembly last month and $200 on new tires and battery this month. The Blue book value is only $1,900. Maybe I'll get a few hundred dollars for it as a trade-in.

At least it's still driveable. For now.


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

More breakdowns mean higher earnings for our partners that are still out on the street.


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## Jufkii (Sep 17, 2015)

Coachman said:


> That's after $950 for a new thermostat and fan assembly last month and $200 on new tires and battery this month. The Blue book value is only $1,900. Maybe I'll get a few hundred dollars for it as a trade-in.
> 
> At least it's still driveable. For now.


Where do you get new tires and a battery for $200? I'll be due myself in less than a yer.


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## Cklw (Mar 18, 2017)

200 for 4 tires and battery? Buying used?


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## Telsa34 (May 7, 2017)

Coachman said:


> That's after $950 for a new thermostat and fan assembly last month and $200 on new tires and battery this month. The Blue book value is only $1,900. Maybe I'll get a few hundred dollars for it as a trade-in.
> 
> At least it's still driveable. For now.


I have no idea where you're taking your car in hopefully you're not silly enough to be taking it to the dealer but there's no way you're gonna pay $950 for a fan assembly and thermostat at any reputable garage what kind of vehicle do you have a lamborghini Look up your fan on rock auto will send it to you in 3 days and then take it somewhere and have somebody install it


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## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

Jufkii said:


> Where do you get new tires and a battery for $200? I'll be due myself in less than a yer.


Walmart: Two new Douglas $55 tires and one $49 battery plus installation. Less than $200.


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## SuzeCB (Oct 30, 2016)

Jufkii said:


> Where do you get new tires and a battery for $200? I'll be due myself in less than a yer.


Don't we still have the Uber deal with Firestone where we can buy four tires for 10% over wholesale?


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

Jufkii said:


> Where do you get new tires and a battery for $200? I'll be due myself in less than a yer.


I found a clearance on walmart for brand new Goodyear suv size tires. Normally around $80 each going for $30. Just under $200 for a set of 4 out the door with tax, installation, and everything. I had to check several stores to find one that still had 4. Most were sold out.


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## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

Telsa34 said:


> I have no idea where you're taking your car in hopefully you're not silly enough to be taking it to the dealer but there's no way you're gonna pay $950 for a fan assembly and thermostat at any reputable garage what kind of vehicle do you have a lamborghini Look up your fan on rock auto will send it to you in 3 days and then take it somewhere and have somebody install it


No I don't go to the dealer. I go to a reputable mechanic that I've been using for a decade now. I know the price I pay is a premium but I trust them implicitly and I've never had a single problem with them in all these years.


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## Jufkii (Sep 17, 2015)

SuzeCB said:


> Don't we still have the Uber deal with Firestone where we can buy four tires for 10% over wholesale?


Don't know , but anything Uber is involved with I personally avoid.


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## SuzeCB (Oct 30, 2016)

Jufkii said:


> Don't know , but anything Uber is involved with I personally avoid.


SMH


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## Telsa34 (May 7, 2017)

Coachman said:


> No I don't go to the dealer. I go to a reputable mechanic that I've been using for a decade now. I know the price I pay is a premium but I trust them implicitly and I've never had a single problem with them in all these years.


Well my friend you're paying more than a premium price for cooling fan and a thermostat for $950 I hope he threw in a free jar of Vaseline I own the garage for 20 years why don't you tell us what kind of car it is and what size engine is in it and I'll tell you what the fan should cost


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## NoDay (Jul 25, 2017)

You could fly me to your location (and back), I would complete your repairs and you would still come out ahead. thermostat for $950 outrageous.


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## Mole (Mar 9, 2017)

Crush the car and turn it into a coffee table.


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## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

NoDay said:


> You could fly me to your location (and back), I would complete your repairs and you would still come out ahead. thermostat for $950 outrageous.


Fan motor assembly and thermostat. But I'm not here to get into a bickering match about how much I've paid for repairs.


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## unPat (Jul 20, 2016)

Buy tires on Amazon. Cheaper than Walmart.


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## Jc. (Dec 7, 2016)

unPat said:


> Buy tires on Amazon. Cheaper than Walmart.


Then take them to a shop and pay a premium for installation since you didn't buy it from them


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## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

Telsa34 said:


> You're the one that started the post and I don't see any bickering all I ask was to to put up your make model and year of your vehicle and the engine size and I'll gladly look up the price and that fan assembly and I would be willing to bet it's not over $250 so I think your friend is applying rotation to your sugar plum without Vaseline. Thank God it's not Vicks vapor rub.


Fine. So give me a quote for a fan motor assembly and thermostat on a 2008 PT Cruiser.


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## Telsa34 (May 7, 2017)

Coachman said:


> Fine. So give me a quote for a fan motor assembly and thermostat on a 2008 PT Cruiser.


 Thank you I will help what size engine.


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## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

Telsa34 said:


> Thank you I will help what size engine.


2.4 L 4 cyl


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## SuzeCB (Oct 30, 2016)

Jc. said:


> Then take them to a shop and pay a premium for installation since you didn't buy it from them


Or find a reputable shop that doesn't pull that crap.


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## Telsa34 (May 7, 2017)

They are absolutely taking advantage of you the thermostat is a little bit labor-intensive the thermostat alone cost about 20 bucks the fan cost less than a hundred bucks so your friends not doing you any favors he's actually taking advantage of you and I didn't mean to come across as a ass I owned a garage for 20 years I just get tired of people trying to rape each other, you need to shop around if the price sounds high to you, it probably is and in your case it is.


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## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

Telsa34 said:


> They are absolutely taking advantage of you the thermostat is a little bit labor-intensive the thermostat alone cost about 20 bucks the fan cost less than a hundred bucks so your friends not doing you any favors he's actually taking advantage of you and I didn't mean to come across as a ass I owned a garage for 20 years I just get tired of people trying to rape each other, you need to shop around if the price sounds high to you, it probably is and in your case it is.
> 
> View attachment 155359
> View attachment 155360


Thank you.


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## Telsa34 (May 7, 2017)

Buy your tires at tire rack and go to Walmart or tire kingdome and have them mounted and balanced this will save over a 100.00 on any estimate you have.


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## Cableguynoe (Feb 14, 2017)

$4800 estimate can be fixed for $1200


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## MoreTips (Feb 13, 2017)

If I didn't do most of my own work on my vehicles, I would probably keep the fact that I drive Uber or Lyft from a mechanic. Some mechanics are certainly honest but unfortunately alot are not and will definitely take advantage of someone without automotive knowledge. My advice to anyone would be to not say a word about using their vehicle for rideshare as the mechanics first thought is that "this guy makes alot of money with this car and needs the vehicle back fast."


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## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

Cableguynoe said:


> $4800 estimate can be fixed for $1200


Transmission, engine mounts, airbag clock spring assembly... you tell me what it should cost. RepairPal says for the engine mounts alone the repair will cost between $709 and $1342. My mechanic quoted $1,030. Clock spring replacement: $300 to $800. My quote was $518.


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## Cableguynoe (Feb 14, 2017)

Coachman said:


> Transmission, engine mounts, airbag warning indicator... you tell me what it should cost. RepairPal says for the engine mounts alone the repair will cost between $709 and $1342. My mechanic quoted $1,030.


Not everything they quote needs to be done. If it's a car you'll be parting ways soon, only do what you need to keep it running.


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## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

Cableguynoe said:


> Not everything they quote needs to be done. If it's a car you'll be parting ways soon, only do what you need to keep it running.


It's running now. But it's kind of limping a bit. The transmission is the real kicker. I don't want to wait until I break down somewhere at 2am.


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## M.209 (Aug 16, 2017)

Coachman said:


> That's after $950 for a new thermostat and fan assembly last month and $200 on new tires and battery this month. The Blue book value is only $1,900. Maybe I'll get a few hundred dollars for it as a trade-in.
> 
> At least it's still driveable. For now.





Coachman said:


> That's after $950 for a new thermostat and fan assembly last month and $200 on new tires and battery this month. The Blue book value is only $1,900. Maybe I'll get a few hundred dollars for it as a trade-in.
> 
> At least it's still driveable. For now.


Can you earn by doing other job?


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

Telsa34 said:


> They are absolutely taking advantage of you the thermostat is a little bit labor-intensive the thermostat alone cost about 20 bucks the fan cost less than a hundred bucks so your friends not doing you any favors he's actually taking advantage of you and I didn't mean to come across as a ass I owned a garage for 20 years I just get tired of people trying to rape each other, you need to shop around if the price sounds high to you, it probably is and in your case it is.
> 
> View attachment 155359
> View attachment 155360


I live in Phoenix. The first thing we do here is take the thermostat out so water constantly runs through the block.


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## pacifico (May 13, 2017)

Coachman said:


> Fan motor assembly and thermostat. But I'm not here to get into a bickering match about how much I've paid for repairs.


your post is not elaborate enough 4800$ estimate for repairs in what, why, which car? where in the world


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## MoreTips (Feb 13, 2017)

Coachman said:


> It's running now. But it's kind of limping a bit. The transmission is the real kicker. I don't want to wait until I break down somewhere at 2am.


Have you tried any of the transmission sealer and conditioner bottles that are out there? If not I would highly recommend adding a bottle before having work done on it. A ten dollar bottle has extended the life and saved on expensive repairs as long as it hasn't "slipped" very much. Especially if your just wanting to keep the car going as long as you can without spending alot.


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## Telsa34 (May 7, 2017)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> I live in Phoenix. The first thing we do here is take the thermostat out so water constantly runs through the block.


Well my friend you can't do that anymore that was old school most cars today are designed to run at 210 degrees or sometimes even higher if you take the thermostat out of the car it will run lower than 210 degrees which will adversely affect the way the car runs by some of the sensors that are required to see 210 degrees temperature such as the computer coolant temperature sensor which constantly monitors the water temperature of the engine and can change parameters to improve fuel economy it's totally different than 10 years ago.


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

Telsa34 said:


> Well my friend you can't do that anymore that was old school most cars today are designed to run at 210 degrees or sometimes even higher


With our air temperature at 120 degrees in summertime then most vehicles in Phoenix will easily be at 210 before you can even back out of your driveway. You know that was a joke.


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## Telsa34 (May 7, 2017)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> With our air temperature at 120 degrees in summertime then most vehicles in Phoenix will easily be at 210 before you can even back out of your driveway. You know that was a joke.


Well actually I didn't know it was a joke I was just kind of giving you my insight since I was a mechanic for 25 years and specialized in high performance tuning and have a very good knowledge of computers and their subsystems


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## Telsa34 (May 7, 2017)

Well I decided to drive a while today, most of the gas stations in and around Jacksonville are selling out of gasoline but will get refilled tomorrow. So that's going to be the scenario probably for the next week to 10 days with the fact that gas is now it about $2.83 a gallon by the end of next week it'll be close to four dollars.


I drove with both apps on this morning and by the end of the day I had run up about $110 on lyft and about $30 on Uber so at least uber paid for my gasoline when I could find it. Now I picked up a young female sailor and was going to take her to the Naval Air Station Jacksonville and as soon as she got in the car she got a phone call, and of course I overheard the conversation she'd apparently take her car in somewhere and they were calling her with a estimate for repairs, I heard her say $450 she got off the phone and she really looked depressed. So I spoke up and I says you taken your car in for repair and she said yes and I asked her where and she said AAMCO transmissions and I said and they want $450 to repair your car and she said yes and I asked her what the repair was and she said a right rear wheel bearing immediately my blood pressure rose.


So I calmly said they want $450 to replace your right rear wheel bearing is that correct and she says yes and they also charge me a $200 diagnostic fee, so now I'm really pissed off, she said she had taken the car in because she heard the right rear wheel making noise and she told him the noise was coming from the right rear she left the car there on Monday and they called her today. I'm kind of glad they did call her today because last night Gov. Ridge Scott put up the one 800 scam alert for anybody that attempts to price gouge anyone during the hurricane approaching Florida.


So I told her I says why don't you call that guy back telling you need 15 min. to make sure you've got enough money in the account and you're calling him right back. I told her I was retired 20 years Navy and I owned a garage for 20 years and I would call and find out how much the parts were. I called AutoZone it's a sealed bearing that you can press out of the rear hub assembly that cost $40 or you could buy the whole hub assembly for $90 I've done this procedure there's not more than two hours labor in so yes they were absolutely price gouging this young woman serving our country and the United States Navy.


So I told her to call him back if she wanted to and that I would make the repairs on her car and it probably would not be more than $250 she was in tears I drove her out of the Naval Air Station I dropped her off the controlled are and she's going to call me back in the morning and I'll go out and pick her up and I'm going to drive her over to AAMCO transmissions. And then I'm going to go in with her and I'm going to calmly and very professionally tell them that I am her father and that if they want to charge for one hour diagnostic fee for hundred dollars there's nothing I can do about it but if they think that they're going to charge her $200 diagnostic fee for right rear wheel bearing when she told him the noise was coming from the right rear they could go ahead and do that but if they did, I would file a report with the Florida Department of Agriculture which controls the licensing of all garages in the state of Florida, then I will call one 800 scam alert line and tell them about the price gouging they attempted to do this young sailor.


Then along with filling the complaint with the Better Business Bureau not that anybody that unscrupulous would care about what the Better Business Bureau thinks, and finally I will call corporate AAMCO transmissions and report to them what they attempted to do to a sailor in Jacksonville Florida this really passes me off.


Last night I seen here on the forum about a driver somewhere that had an estimate for $950 to replace a cooling fan and a thermostat on his car and of course I spoke up and said what kind of car do you drive a Lamborghini is I don't know of any normal passenger car where a cooling fan and a thermostat would cost $950. He finally answered and said it was a PT cruiser I looked those parts up the cooling fan was $59 at AutoZone a thermostat is a little labor intensive it's underneath the intake but that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad it would stand to reason that if the cooling fan went bad of course the cars can overheat and a thermostat not may not even be bad but it's not a bad idea to change it the bottom line is any reputable shop could make those repairs for around 250 or $300 not $950.


I post this up because this is why I like driving for Uber I was able to help this young lady out and I will do everything that I can to make sure that doesn't happen to someone else and I feel that a lot of you absolutely feel the same way I guess I'll stand by with a bag of popcorn and see if somebody wants to make some facetious remark about it, as we so often see here when people try to post up something decent. I hope everyone has a good safe week and all my fellow drivers in the state of Florida are careful.


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## Snowblind (Apr 14, 2017)

Thermostat = up to $12.00
Fan motor assembly with Shroud = $90.00
On line Prices. YMMV.
Give or take 10% less or more.
Just need a good mechanic to install these.
Doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to install a damn Thermostat or Fan.


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## dirtylee (Sep 2, 2015)

Coachman said:


> Fine. So give me a quote for a fan motor assembly and thermostat on a 2008 PT Cruiser.


You're screwed. That thing is worse than the Chrysler 200. Literally a flaming money pit.


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## Snowblind (Apr 14, 2017)

btw,
The Cooling Fan of a Lamborghini Gallardo cost the same like your PT Cruiser.
Just the Mechanics charge a bit more to install it.


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## dirtylee (Sep 2, 2015)

Snowblind said:


> btw,
> The Cooling Fan of a Lamborghini Gallardo cost the same like your PT Cruiser.
> Just the Mechanics charge a bit more to install it.


FYI - Lamborghini are shit boxes when it comes to reliability.


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## Snowblind (Apr 14, 2017)

> FYI - Lamborghini are shit boxes when it comes to reliability.


Not anymore, dirtylee,
It is all Audi Technology now.


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## dirtylee (Sep 2, 2015)

Snowblind said:


> Not anymore, dirtylee,
> It is all Audi Technology now.


Audi are shit boxes as well. Check out how many different transmissions the A4 has.


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## Snowblind (Apr 14, 2017)

My Brother In Germany drives an A4 Turbo; no problems whatsoever.
Exactly what kind of Car do you drive?


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## pacifico (May 13, 2017)

dirtylee said:


> FYI - Lamborghini are shit boxes when it comes to reliability.


they are not built to last, those who can buy them, use them for fun or collect


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## wb6vpm (Mar 27, 2016)

Anything VW Group is shit nowadays... shit electrical, shit transmissions...

And maybe I missed it, but can we get a breakdown of this $4800 repair estimate? Also, where are you (as this does affect price)?


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## Fuber in their faces (Feb 19, 2017)

SuzeCB said:


> Don't we still have the Uber deal with Firestone where we can buy four tires for 10% over wholesale?


I tried that once. They said it was only for the bridgestone potenza a $200/each tire wholesale. They are badass, but expeeeeeeensive...its just a scam to make uber look good when you tell your friends, "they even give me tire discounts"



Telsa34 said:


> Well my friend you can't do that anymore that was old school most cars today are designed to run at 210 degrees or sometimes even higher if you take the thermostat out of the car it will run lower than 210 degrees which will adversely affect the way the car runs by some of the sensors that are required to see 210 degrees temperature such as the computer coolant temperature sensor which constantly monitors the water temperature of the engine and can change parameters to improve fuel economy it's totally different than 10 years ago.


I noticed you work on high performance ecus...i dont think family cars care if the temp is necessarily 210 like a race car would. You want the higher oil viscosity on the track or stuff breaks.

But if im not mistaken family cars are fine with anything between a certain (kinda wide) range. The whole reason for finely regulating coolant temp is to regulate oil viscosity, which has a broad range on most roading vehicles. Not to mention, if i crank my car in subzero weather, i dont get a check engine light before the temp goes up, which should indicate all sensors are happy.

Now a tuned ecu for an induction system i can see, because it will adjust intake air pressure depending on temp, and simply not run as efficiently.



Snowblind said:


> Thermostat = up to $12.00
> Fan motor assembly with Shroud = $90.00
> On line Prices. YMMV.
> Give or take 10% less or more.
> ...


You can install all of this yourself for the cost of the time.

1.)The tools will cost less than paying a mechanic to do it

2.)youll have the tools next time.

3.) Theres tutorial videos all over youtube, not to mention you have UP at your back as well. We are a resourceful bunch if I do say so myself. And theres a professional mechanic already watching the thread. Just put everything back like you found it and finesse the parts off. We have faith in you.

Youre right, its not rocket science. You are probably smarter than the guy who wanted thousands to do this job. Do it yourself


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## SuzeCB (Oct 30, 2016)

Fuber in their faces said:


> I tried that once. They said it was only for the bridgestone potenza a $200/each tire wholesale. They are badass, but expeeeeeeensive...its just a scam to make uber look good when you tell your friends, "they even give me tire discounts"



No, actually that was the Firestone location trying to weasel out of the deal.

Tried it on me with the discount for servicing on my car that I don't use for Uber. They tried to tell me the discount was only for the car listed with Uber (untrue). Eventually they caved when I brought up the page that gives the terms on the app.


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## newdriverintown (Sep 20, 2017)

Coachman said:


> Fine. So give me a quote for a fan motor assembly and thermostat on a 2008 PT Cruiser.


All this yappin for a PT Cruiser? Lol no offense


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## Tysmith95 (Jan 30, 2017)

Chryslers/Dodges are the least reliable vehicles you can buy.


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## Fuber in their faces (Feb 19, 2017)

Actually the four cylinder in the PT Cruiser is a Mitsubishi motor and one of the most reliable four cylinders ever made... How would engine reliability, or even manufacturer reliability have anything to do with a fan assembly?


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## TBone (Jan 19, 2015)

Am I the only one who saw a $1900 car value and wonder wtf you are doing dropping $950 on repairs and possibly another 4800? Just buy another car


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## Fuber in their faces (Feb 19, 2017)

Or spend 5 bucks on it as I mentioned earlier...

I hate that we value cars strictly in money value alone. Kelley Blue Book says my car is only worth $3,000. That is bullshit. My car is worth at least $20,000 to me and I don't even think I would sell it for that. **** mr. Kelly and his book of blue


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## bsliv (Mar 1, 2016)

Fuber in their faces said:


> Or spend 5 bucks on it as I mentioned earlier...
> 
> I hate that we value cars strictly in money value alone. Kelley Blue Book says my car is only worth $3,000. That is bullshit. My car is worth at least $20,000 to me and I don't even think I would sell it for that. &%[email protected]!* mr. Kelly and his book of blue


Mr Kelly is telling you market value, the price at which most buyers and most sellers will agree is fair. If they're worth $20,000 to you, maybe go buy 6-7 more at $3000 each.


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## Snowblind (Apr 14, 2017)

What puzzles me the most is when *Car Experts* like dirtylee and wb6vpm tell me that Lambo's and Audis or VW's are all Shitboxes,
yet they never tell me what kind of Car *they* drive.
Pathetic.


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## Fuber in their faces (Feb 19, 2017)

If there were six or seven more readily available I definitely would... One in each color



Snowblind said:


> What puzzles me the most is when *Car Experts* like dirtylee and wb6vpm tell me that Lambo's and Audis or VW's are all Shitboxes,
> yet they never tell me what kind of Car *they* drive.
> Pathetic.


Yeah they're obviously experts... Audis are some of the best cars in the world... usually people are afraid of things they don't know much about


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## dirtylee (Sep 2, 2015)

Snowblind said:


> What puzzles me the most is when *Car Experts* like dirtylee and wb6vpm tell me that Lambo's and Audis or VW's are all Shitboxes,
> yet they never tell me what kind of Car *they* drive.
> Pathetic.


They are shit boxes, luxurious non reliable crazy expensive eye watering depreciation shit boxes FACT!!!

Team Camry has spoken!


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## Fuber in their faces (Feb 19, 2017)

LOL at Volkswagen being luxurious... LOL at Camry

Usually people who drive a Camry do so because of lack of other options, not because they've tried Audis and Lamborghinis and they don't fit the bill


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## Snowblind (Apr 14, 2017)

> Team Camry has spoken!


I rest my case.


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## wb6vpm (Mar 27, 2016)

For the record, I drive a VW, and it has had nothing but problems, electrical issues, AC system issues, transmission going into limp mode for no reason. My experience is not unusual. To the point that VW paid 75% of the one of the electrical issues outside of warranty (car had 39K on the clock at the time), service writer (who I do know, and know that it wouldn't BS me) stated that electrical gremlins are so common in VW's, that there is a procedure in place to get out of warranty work covered by VW.


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## Snowblind (Apr 14, 2017)

> it has had nothing but problems, electrical issues, AC system issues, transmission going into limp mode


wb6vpm
That can happen to any Car make or model. What you need to do is to play your Cards right.
I happen to have a very good connection to top VW Managers.... Just talked to one of them.
If you PM me your VIN #, Mileage, possibly some Error Codes, he told me "let me see what I can do".
No guarantees. But maybe we can get something done about it.


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## Chada75 (Aug 16, 2015)

If you can't fix your own vehicle doing Uber and/or Lyft, then don't do Uber/Lyft.


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## Fuber in their faces (Feb 19, 2017)

I agree with that...but rewiring a car is something a lot of mechanics wont even do. Electrical problems are car specific, not model specific or year or manufacturer...each specific VIN could have an electrical issue that none others do. Biggest cause of a lemon and usually first thing to go out beyond repair.


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