Car(s) Situation

**midlight21** · 10-14-2011, 07:40 PM

We did not have any transmission problems on the 2004 car. I did perform the same maintenance I do for my 2002 car so.....maybe the last owner didn't maintain properly? Who knows at this point.

For those of you with long running commuter cars, may I ask what make and model they were/are? TIA!

**monkeywrangler71** · 10-14-2011, 08:33 PM

Originally Posted by midlight21

The 2002 car I bought brand new. The car looks like crap, lol....peeling paint and a few dings but it still runs and it keeps running as long as I maintain it right. The same shop that has replaced the previous two engines told me that this one needed a new engine too and that it was going to fail about a year and a half ago. Still running!

I think you need a new mechanic, it sounds like this shop is full of crooks. They're a bit too eager to replace all your engines.

We had to have an engine replaced twice on a car, I don't know why the first one went, the second one was entirely a result of the crappy crooked shop that installed it.

That was a Honda, nothing but trouble, like every Honda I've ever had. Best car we've owned is the one we have now, a 10 year old dodge caravan with almost 200k kms on it, we've never had to do a single repair outside of replacing general wear (tires, brakes).

**Samigirl** · 10-15-2011, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by midlight21

For those of you with long running commuter cars, may I ask what make and model they were/are? TIA!

One was a used Dodge Stratus, and the other two were Chevy Cavaliers...one used, one new. The used cars had around 15,000 miles on them when we purchased them.

**Handy Andy** · 10-16-2011, 07:27 AM

All three of my commuter cars have been VWs. But we have the best independent VW mechanic ever (he is not associated with a dealership in anyway), he only works on VWs. We trust him completely. When we bring it to him he fixes only what needs to be fixed and nothing else. He is also honest and fair with his pricing.

The first car had 120k on when we bought it and it was a "family" commuter car as we all were traveling doing sales for the family business, the second had 70k when purchased and the third and fourth one (which I am currently driving) we bought new.

My brother is still traveling and working for the family business and he has had the same experience as me with cars. He drives used BMWs (usually 4 years old at purchase.) And he is even more strict and obsessive with maintainence than I am! He also has never had a car not hit 300k.

**l8eebugg** · 10-16-2011, 07:37 AM

Ditto, the maintenence! It is the key to keeping a vehicle on the road for a long time. I wouldn't go back to that mechanic, maybe he is changing the engine when it doesn't need to be changed.