Hi Sajeev, I own a 2005 VW Passat with V6 that has 92000 miles on the odo. VW says I should replace the timing belt ASAP. I let my last Passat (2001.5 V6) go until 120K and my local dealer’s shop lectured me on the danger of letting it go for so long. How much am I tempting fate by waiting until I get to 120K this time? Is a timing belt change too complicated for a decent independent mechanic to tackle? Your sage advice would be most appreciated.
There are a number of people on the VW forums that are posting that VW issued some kind of revised maintenance schedule for TB’s? I bought mine used (from a VW dealer) so I may not be on the mailing list. As usual, the opinions run the gamut. I will be very interested in the comments on this issue. And, I will check with my mechanic (authorized VW repair shop, non-dealer) on Monday to see what he says.
If you are tired of carmageddon, and you are not ready for the dizzying near-triple-digit growth rates of China, go to Ye Olde Country (as long as your $ still buys something). Europe as a whole is slowly clawing its way back into a territory long forgotten: Growth. Slow, but steady growth. (Read More…)
60 Day Satisfaction Guarantee Dealer Participation Agreement
On Monday, September 14, 2009, GM will begin to offer a national 60 Day Satisfaction Guarantee program to eligible customers.The Program will be announced initially through November 30, 2009. As a dealer, your full participation in this program is absolutely critical to the Program’s success.The terms and conditions of your participation in the program are fully explained below.We urge you to participate in this exciting Program designed to help drive traffic and build confidence in you and in your products.Starting on September 11, 2009, dealers can go to www.gmprograminfo.com to opt-out of this program.Click on the “GM 60 Day Guarantee Program” button, and then click on the “I Decline Participation” button at the bottom of the page. If you do not opt out of this Program by the close of business Tuesday September 15, 2009, you are participating under the terms and conditions described below.
I don’t expect an automatic car wash to clean my car particularly well. As long as it takes the bird shit and obvious dirt off and doesn’t scratch my paint, I’m happy enough. I’ll do the wheels myself. But if the machine’s going to leave water drops all over the surface, so that I have to chammy [ED: Chamois?] every damn square inch of the Beast’s sheet metal, what’s the friggin’ point? I might as well have washed it myself. I’ve never been in an automatic car wash that A) washed all the dirt off the back end of an SUV and B) dried a car properly. I’m sure there’s an association somewhere that’s already got an e-mail teed-up for this one; something about the 85th percentile of automotive shapes and hi-tech blowers. Never made the tech guys. If car wash owners weren’t trying to save a few pennies on electricity costs, the line would proceed slowly enough to let a couple of hair dryers finish the job. And what happens if I complain? They offer me a free wash. I’ve got an idea! How about YOU come out here and dry my car by hand, instead of peddling refined sugar, corn syrup, starch, fat, salt and nicotine whilst waiting for the day you have to say, “I can’t open the till, I swear!” Just sayin’.
Getting involved in European companies is likely to bring a complexity of personnel management that will blow their minds.
European auto analyst Graeme Maxton in an Automotive News [sub] report on potential issues with Chinese buyouts of western auto brands. “I’m not sure they can handle a brand like Volvo and turn it around,” adds an anonymous “senior executive working in China with a major U.S. automaker.” To be fair, Maxton concedes that auto-sector mergers are difficult under any circumstances, but that doesn’t stop AN [sub] from trotting out an ominous quote from BAIC chairman Xu Hey, who blames “western discrimination” for China’s trouble wooing established brands.
Bob Lutz’s latest Fastlane livechat was dominated by discussion of GM’s “May The Best Car Win” campaign. As you might imagine, things got . . . interesting. Right out of the gate, Lutz confirmed that he would be racing Jalopnik’s Wes Siler. He also more or less confirmed TTAC commentators’ suspicions that GM would, well, cheat. “We’ll see if age and treachery beat youth and skill one more time,” Lutz said, echoing sentiments expressed by a famous pop chanteuse of which he is no doubt unaware. You want more?
As a former car salesman, I can tell you that relations between the front line troops and management is usually no better—often much worse—than the relationship between the dealership and its customers. To wit, this email just in:
I used to work at —– Toyota in —–. My friends working there told me that during cash for clunkers, —– cut the sales commisions on the cash for clunkers deals by “packing” the gross of the deal with a bogus internal charge to screw the sales reps out of money. Pretty pathetic. The dealers get a bailout, raise the prices on cars to the consumer, and cut the salesmans commission. You might see if this was an industry practice. PS. I work for CARMAX now and I love it. It’s like car sales heaven. Tom
We noted a few months back that $6.25B worth of Delphi pensions were being dumped on the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, in what we termed part of GM’s “stealth bailout.” The Detroit News reports that bills have been introduced in the Senate and House now that would appropriate $3B worth of stimulus funds towards paying those obligations. “There was a promise made that health benefits would be available for Delphi employees when they entered their golden years and we are going to leave no stone unturned in our effort to see that they get what they’ve earned,” says Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), who introduced the House version of the bill.
Calling all history buffs! Identifying this car shouldn’t be all that hard. But there’s something unusual and extremely rare about this particular variant. An oddity of history, if you please. To win, you need to explain.
Sadly, footage of an SLS mule skittering and gargling around the Nürburgring has been taken down, but back in those early tests the AMG gullwing really did sound like “death on a stick,” as Robert put it. Now, in final production form, the SLS sounds a lot more . . . refined. Which makes sense for a Merc, but part of us still wishes that some of the mule’s TVR-esque hairyness were still evident. A small taste of that early-mule insanity can be found here at about 55 seconds in.
UPI reports on recently-released documents which detail the extent to which states went to secure GM’s recent compact car manufacturing contract. Wisconsin had committed “$213.14 million in concessions from United Auto Workers Local 95, $100 million in Enterprise Zone tax credits and $24 million in discounts from health insurers and providers,” according to the report. Another $100M was added to the incentive package after Wisconsin officials learned that it was falling behind in the bidding, bringing the total package to $409M. Which wasn’t even close to enough to beat out Michigan’s winning bid, which totaled $1B.
Distracted driving is fast becoming the bête noir du jour for hysterical “safety-first” types. Following the standard blueprint for these kinds of panics, the New York Times got pulses racing first with a series of articles aimed at making a general problem (most drivers suck) seem like a specific, solvable “crisis.” Then Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called for a “distracted driving summit,” and the campaign to get America to stop texting and start paying attention to the damn road before you kill us all was well underway. But these things never really take off until a major corporation smells a chance to make money, and signs on. Which Ford has apparently now done, by officially endorsing HR 3535 at its “The Ford Story” blog. But why?
The Treasury has placed new rules on TARP recipients like Chrysler and GM requiring the bailed-out firms to disclose policies on “luxury expenditures” after several banks were found to be spending exorbitant amounts of money on aircraft and offices. The Detroit News reports that firms have until Monday to disclose their spending policies, except for GM which has been granted an undisclosed extension to the policy due to the relative lateness of its emergence from bankruptcy protection. And the decision to take private jets to a bailout request keeps biting GM and Chrysler from beyond the news cycle.
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