Jeramie Posted September 12, 2011 Report Share Posted September 12, 2011 Here is the long of the short of it. I drive minimum of 110mi a day to the office and back. I need something good on gas that will get me there with no issues.... Should that be too hard to find? IT IS.... Case 1. Several years ago I bought a Kia Optima. Honestly I knew better but the price was really good, it has 48k miles, etc. I drove it about a month and it quit. Come to find out the timing belt had lost teeth, trashed the head, and the car lot patched it together with JB Weld (literally) to get it out the door. The lot sold two weeks after I bought the car. We spent about $900 on new parts and hours and hours. Got it running, traded it off immediately. I didnt lose any money, thank God. Case 2. I traded it for a 2005 Chevy Classic with 30K miles. It had a gutless 2.2L Echotec engine. The car itself ran fine but got horrible gas mileage. It averaged 24.5mph. Again, gutless 4cy. What the heck. The body and other parts of the car is where the issues came in. Trunk leaked, drivers window switch went out, passenger mirror literally fell off while driving, the car eats brake pads like they are going out of style (had to be changed every other month), etc. It did run good and hold up, had a timing chain, but other stuff was getting really annoying. Finally ran it up to 140,000 miles and it was time to go (in about 4.5-years). Case 3, the current case. I looked around for a while. I tried the carmy, accord, nissan products, and VW. I liked the Camry but a used camry with no frills runs on average $17,000 - $18,000. The Accord starts there and goes up. Nissan gets too bad of mileage. Finally I found a 2007 VW Passat and fell in love with it. I shopped the price hard and was even willing to drive to Dallas for a better deal but couldnt find it. We bought the car. It looks brand new, had 35,000 mi. It was a business car, the guys company gave him a new car, this thing sit in the garage for over a year. The car is loaded, leather, heated seats, sun room, 6-disk changer, 2.0T 200-horse 4 cy. It averages 30.5 mph and is a wonderful fun car to drive. I thought my worries were over. Ive put around 4,500 miles on the car (pushing it to the 40k mark) and it has been flawless.....until Saturday. My wife and I had to make a quick run to Tulsa. We cooked there and back with no worries. We made it about 3 miles from the house. I turned onto our road and the car died. I pulled to the side and tried to start it again. The engine rolled one time and it wouldnt do anything else. After letting it sit for about ten minutes it rolled one more time and again... nothing. The windows all operated fine. The radio came on, etc. My wifes dad showed up and we got the car home. I hooked the wife's van to the car and charged the battery. After about 20-minutes the car fired right up. I let it set running and pulled off the hot wire on the battery and the car didnt die... I know have two warning lights on the display, reduced power to the anti slip and reduced power to the power steering. The car will fire up but im afraid to drive it anywhere. I need to take it to Autozone so they can test the Altenator (my first guess) but thats a 15 mile drive and it concerns me DEEPLY. After I got the car home it didnt start (low battery) and the battery tested out at just under 12v. In my experience if an altenator goes out it literally goes out. There is no working one minute, not working the other and that concerns me. How else could the battery have went flat while driving down the road? I am SO frustrated. I havent even made the first payment or put new tags on it yet. It has literally been a month. There is no such thing as a good car anymore..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUDRUNNER Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 Sheesh. Your luck with vehicles sounds about like mine. We bought our Suburban from my father in law a few months ago. He put about 30,000 miles on it with out any problems whatsoever. The week we buy it the service airbag light comes on because a sensor in the front bumper goes bad. Last month the front passenger axle seal starts leaking. I usually check the alternator by starting the vehicle and unhooking the positive battery cable. If it stays running the alternator should be charging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 i have an 2003 cavalier coupe with the 2.2L Ecotech. I think that motor will run forever. For college I actually toured where it was made. The rest of the car is close to junk though. Lots of cheap plastic parts and sensors that I'm not sure where they came from. The top coat of paint on a rear quarter panel has peeled from the primer underneath. No rust or anything. It just separated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 So this would be a bad time to let you know I'm happy with my Chevy Cruze that's averaging 36 mpg, and cost me under 16K? As for the alternator, I had one slowly go bad on one of my trucks, so it can happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbeck Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 wife has a Subaru Forester, 194,000 miles on it. Love that car, gets about 30 mpg. I have had this car 9 years and only had to replace the head gasket twice. minor stuff but am more than happy with the subaru vehicle. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 I'm insulted you don't think 18MPG is good mileage MY Dmax gets anywhere from 17-19 MPG unless its in REGEN then it falls to about 12MPG for 30 mins or so. Jenns challenger gets around 26MPG....not bad for a monster sized car. I hate buying used simply due to the fact YOU DONT KNOW what, where, or how the car got those 25k miles. Mighta been a nice easy driven car in a garage or it mighta been abused from 1 mile. Of course buying used usually saves you from eating the new car price, and you can definitely run into great deals.....but you can also end up in your shoes too. Doesn't VW have warranty? If it were American made ( :D ) it would have 36K bumper to bumper and should be covered. I am pretty sure VW has the same doesn't it? I would wager that you have a bad alternator as well. Seeing as how it set for a year, I'm not surprised it would be out. I hope it's something simple and CHEAP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 So this would be a bad time to let you know I'm happy with my Chevy Cruze that's averaging 36 mpg, and cost me under 16K? .... QUOTE] my cavalier was just under $10k new. 36 mpg though?! what the heck, my car only gets 34. I must have gotten a lemon 8 yrs ago! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted September 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 I usually check the alternator by starting the vehicle and unhooking the positive battery cable. If it stays running the alternator should be charging. Ive done the same thing many, many times. However, apparently this is VERY bad with newer cars as they pull from both the battery and alternator. If you pull the post while its running you can literally fry the computer... Just FYI, I wouldnt do it again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted September 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 Doesn't VW have warranty? If it were American made ( :D ) it would have 36K bumper to bumper and should be covered. I am pretty sure VW has the same doesn't it? I would wager that you have a bad alternator as well. Seeing as how it set for a year, I'm not surprised it would be out. I hope it's something simple and CHEAP! It does have benchmark warranty. However, the one that would cover this stuff went out in june... lucky me. I owned a Chevy as the last car and it was junk. Honestly that little Echotech ran like a dream but I got sick of having to change stuff on the body on a regular basis. So this would be a bad time to let you know I'm happy with my Chevy Cruze that's averaging 36 mpg, and cost me under 16K? As for the alternator, I had one slowly go bad on one of my trucks, so it can happen. Yes, yes it would..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted September 14, 2011 Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 So this would be a bad time to let you know I'm happy with my Chevy Cruze that's averaging 36 mpg, and cost me under 16K? .... my cavalier was just under $10k new. 36 mpg though?! what the heck, my car only gets 34. I must have gotten a lemon 8 yrs ago! lol That's an average. There are times on the highway where it's getting over 40. 9 gallons of gas and we are getting 320-370 miles to the tank! I'm thinking the engine is still breaking in because when we first got it, the computer was saying averages of 32-33. 2 days ago it said 34.2. This morning it said it was averaging 36.2, so it's steadily been increasing. I think a lot has to do with driving habits. It's pretty easy to get that turbo revved,but I'm learning to accelerate without the use of the turbo, which I think is helping the mpg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUDRUNNER Posted September 14, 2011 Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 Ive done the same thing many, many times. However, apparently this is VERY bad with newer cars as they pull from both the battery and alternator. If you pull the post while its running you can literally fry the computer... Just FYI, I wouldnt do it again! Thanks for the heads up! Nowadays, since my tool box is a little better stocked I just use my meter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted September 15, 2011 Report Share Posted September 15, 2011 That sux Jeramie . I was teasing about the whole made in USA comment too. I have an old yota truck thats still runs n rides and it's as old as me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted September 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2011 I had the altenator and battery tested... both tested fine. However, the guy at Autozone (old mechanic) told me that newer cars pull off of the battery too almost as much as the altenator. He suggested I replace the battery. I did but dont plan on driving the car until this weekend. Ill cruse around in it and hopefully all is well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted September 15, 2011 Report Share Posted September 15, 2011 hope it is just the battery... that'd make your day a little better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted September 15, 2011 Report Share Posted September 15, 2011 yea i'd think the turbo kills your gas mileage a bit. my car is getting a little old by today's standards. the cobalt replaced my car and then your car replaced the that. sounds like they're getting better on gas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted September 15, 2011 Report Share Posted September 15, 2011 After about 20-minutes the car fired right up. I let it set running and pulled off the hot wire on the battery and the car didnt die... I know have two warning lights on the display, reduced power to the anti slip and reduced power to the power steering. With that being the case you should be able to rule out the alternator. Hope the battery replacement solves the problem Jeramie. As for these 30+ mpg cars being bad mpg's,:turned: sheesh I wish one of our vehicles got better than 20. Still looking at getting an impala here and will be happy with 24 mpg or better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted September 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 I drove it around a little this weekend with no issues. Bit the bullet and drove it the 55 miles to the office (after I took our youngest to my sisters and the oldest to school). Ran like a champ. Hopefully that is all it was. I did have it load tested once more this weekend at a local mechanic shop. It was a little light on Voltage, averaged about 13v for the altenator so hopefully if it wasnt the battery it will be the altenator. It looks pretty easy to change as is its right in the front. My fondest prayer is that the battery was gone... Only time and miles will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 at least it wasn't something major! glad to read it's running good now Jeramie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted September 25, 2011 Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 Good to hear it wasn't anything serious Jeramie, you've been having bad luck with vehicles lately! I priced out a Chevy Cruze, the ECO model, 1.4 Turbo and the 6-speed manual, fully loaded for around $20K. Remember cars are quite a bit more expensive in Canada so that's pretty good price for us. Base model LS is around $15. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted September 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 So far so good.... Its running with no issues. Im keeping my fingers crossed that the issues are solved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hungry hunter Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 Got a good horse to sell ya, only roped off on weekends. Honesty have had good luck with KIA vehicles, my wife used to herd cattle and move goats and other livestock with her RIO nowdays she uses a Sportage 33 mpg and good little car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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