POS Toyota

[Silver R/T]

So my mom's 96 Lexus power steering pump was leaking pretty bad. I take it to trustworthy mechanic and he inspects it and p/s pump needs replaced along with all the lines. $740 for that, that's factory quality pump, no rebuild. He has to take engine cradle off to remove it  I tell you guys all this Toyota worshiping has me sick. F Toyota. I can get p/s pump on old car in under 1/2 hr. Why do they make these new shitbox cars so complicated to work on  No wonder I don't want to get a newer car for myself, I'd have to have a 2nd job just to have my mechanic work on one when it breaks.

[Mike DC]

  
Toyotas don't have the market cornered on impossible-to-repair vehicles.  Almost any car line designed after the early 1990s is pretty bad.

I remember hearing about a modern Caddilac that calls for 24 hours of labor to replace an oil pan gasket.


IMHO the drivetrains on newer cars oughtta be held in with giant wing nuts and quick-release fluid lines.  If the whole engine is gonna have to come outta the car for anything worse than an oil change, they need to make it accessible.

 

[Rolling_Thunder]

Agreed man -  Toyotas are not the only ones...        MOST vehicles now adays are meant to have the front suspension/engine/trans dropped to perform ANY kind of repair...     

[A383Wing]

ya outta try a heater core on a Jeep or Durango.....Explorer & S10's are bad as well.....I did core on my 88 Shadow...had to take console, complete dash & both front seats out to change heater core...

[stripedelete]

A different approach to "planned obsolesence".

[rp23g7]

I worked at a Chrysler dealer in the mid 90's  replace a horn in a newer Cirrus, no sweat, umm yeah, gotta take half the friggen right front of the car off.  "The serpentine belt on my 92 Dynasty needs replacing"  Oh no problem, 3 hr book time?!!!!!, yeah about 2 hrs later..........

[ITSA426]

I just got a dealer quote of nine hours just to pull a transmission from a Saturn to check the clutch for a problem with the slave cylinder.  That would be more if there's a problem.  Parts not included.

Problem is the hydraulic clutch doesn't disengage after a two hour highway drive.  Works fine all day in town.  I suspect overheating/slipping but the car doesn't act like a slipping clutch.  It seems the clutch fluid is boiling or fluid is bypassing the slave piston.  Fluid level is normal and not leaking.  Any suggestions for him.  New college grad with no money.

Of course all this info is second hand from step-son who has the car about 150 miles away but will bring it down later today.  I can hardly wait.

[Troy]

I was at a friend's shop a couple months ago and he was changing the battery on a new Chevy (Monte Carlo?). The battery is tucked up inside the front fender behind the headlight with a brace running across the top all the way to the firewall. It took 45 minutes or so to get the thing changed.

Troy

[Brock Samson]

my 300 m is in the same location,... sucks! 

[moparstuart]

most new chrysler car have them in the inner fender , space saver , but a real pain in the ass

   the magnum wagons have them down in the floor in the back .

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

I used to work at a Chevy dealer in the late 80's-early 90's....when the Lumina Z34 came out the warranty time to change an alternator was like 7.2 hrs....thats Warranty time!  Real time is more like 9+!   The alternator was tucked down so low that it needed its own duct work to send cool air to it to cool it down!

[six-tee-nine]

Thats called evolution.......

We all drive smaller cars now but the engines stay just as large as 40 years ago. because of more effiecient aerodynamics the angle of the windshield is so small that the hood gets alot shorter so most of the engines of our Euro desing cars is somewhere half under the dasboard. Insulated like heel to keep everything alot more quit then 40 years ago. then there is the newer environmental sh*t like exhaust gas recuperation to lower emissions extra catalyc convertors and LOT'S of wiring and ECU's...
Several cars I know of like newer Audis and Meredes cars have electric hand brake systems that don't even allow you to bleed the rear brakes without connecting the car to the OBD system to loosen the hand brake....
Ever swapped a radio of a newer car where the radio is part of the dash? In fact I don't even want to go there because I'm starting to feel like this : 

[Cooter]

Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Etc., Etc. Do we really think anything on these type cars was gonna be cheap?

[dpm68]

I was at a friend's shop a couple months ago and he was changing the battery on a new Chevy (Monte Carlo?). The battery is tucked up inside the front fender behind the headlight with a brace running across the top all the way to the firewall. It took 45 minutes or so to get the thing changed.

Aah yes, I worked at a shop a few years back and have to say that the newer Beetles sing the same song. Their batteries are located behind the L headlight and are a royal pain to remove. I can still hear the cussing....

[Mike DC]

It never ends. 

Cars have over-evolved.  They are becoming unrepairable disposable items.  Like a modern TV set or something, very high tech but there's no fixing it when it breaks.  Any problems and you have to just throw the whole thing away.