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witesoxfan

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How do y'all evaluate a repair shop? I thought I needed brake pads (65,000 miles) and went looking at local shops. The dealerships in my area all require appointments. There is a Goodyear shop less than a mile or so from my house. A small looks like it has been there forever shop with lots of cars outside. And a really nice looking independent shop with pretty good reviews.

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QUOTE (Tex @ Jun 23, 2016 -> 12:17 PM)
How do y'all evaluate a repair shop? I thought I needed brake pads (65,000 miles) and went looking at local shops. The dealerships in my area all require appointments. There is a Goodyear shop less than a mile or so from my house. A small looks like it has been there forever shop with lots of cars outside. And a really nice looking independent shop with pretty good reviews.

 

I mostly go by word-of-mouth from friends/family with location/price being part of it as well.

 

It also depends on what exactly I need repaired. I've found that some places are better at certain things that others.

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QUOTE (Tex @ Jun 23, 2016 -> 12:17 PM)
How do y'all evaluate a repair shop? I thought I needed brake pads (65,000 miles) and went looking at local shops. The dealerships in my area all require appointments. There is a Goodyear shop less than a mile or so from my house. A small looks like it has been there forever shop with lots of cars outside. And a really nice looking independent shop with pretty good reviews.

I try to use my customers when i can, otherwise I also go by word of mouth. I value recommendations from people I trust more than reviews. But i do look at them as well, realizing that people are more apt to leave negative reviews than good ones.

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Dealership called me yesterday telling me that they know I have a car on order, but they got one in a dealer trade that is basically the same car with the exception of the exterior color. The one I ordered is black with black trim, this one was white with aluminum trim.

 

I figured what the hell, I'll go test drive it.

 

The good news is, since that is pretty much the same car I had built, and I loved the test drive, I suspect I'll be very pleased with the vehicle I ordered when it gets here. It's currently on a boat somewhere in the Atlantic.

 

The tough part about this decision is that I ordered a vehicle right when a certain trim option became available, so I ordered it basically sight unseen. I was a little concerned about how it might look, which is why I considered this white vehicle.

 

In the end, while this car was beautiful, I didn't want to be kicking myself for not sticking with the entire ordering process and waiting for the car I built to get here. I've waited this long - I may as well wait the remaining 3 weeks or so until it arrives.

 

Pretty stoked though!

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  • 3 weeks later...
QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 10, 2016 -> 09:44 AM)
So ended up choosing the initial brown Q7 that I ordered, rather than the black one. Love how it turned out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Man, Audi's are so damn sleek. I've been trying to convince this girl I am talking to in to getting one of those instead of the Jeep Grand Cherokee she wants so bad. The one she wants is about $50K.

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  • 1 month later...

I have 2003 Chevy Suburban that we bought specifically to replace an older Suburban that was starting to fall apart and had no working A/C.

 

So sometime early last year the A/C quit working in the new Suburban. Around the middle of August last year I took it to a shop that was suppose to be known for being good at fixing A/C. They did some work, it didn't last and I had to take it back to them a week later. $1200 later they said that it worked great when hooked up to their diagnostic machine but as soon as they took it off the machine, it quit working. So basically I spent a ton of money and nothing got done.

 

Fast foward to about a month ago. We took it to another shop to get an estimate. He figures it will be about $1100 and he has to replace a few things. Says he filled it up with Freon to check it and it all leaked out about 10 minutes later. This is an important point.

 

Last week somebody from the first shop (the owner's brother or son I think) happened to overhear my wife talking to one of her customers about our ordeal. He said we should take it back to them so they can try to make it right. I dropped it off last night and they just called me about an hour ago.

 

The guy told me that he drove it around for about 20 minutes and the air worked great. Said it got down to 42 degrees. :o That's pretty impressive since it hasn't worked for me for over a year and the other shop said it HAS NO FREON IN THE SYSTEM!

 

Somebody is lying here... :angry:

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So apparently the problem was the AC compressor clutch, which I didn't even know existed until my parents had theirs replaced on their Suburban just a few months ago.

 

What's funny is the guy that replaced theirs is the very same guy that quoted me $1100 to fix my AC problem. I don't understand how he could diagnose the problem on their suburban but not mine. He's also the one that said all the Freon leaked out while the first shop says it's still full.

 

Somebody is lying here and I'm not sure who to believe anymore.

 

I'm picking it up tonight and we'll see how it goes. They only charged me about $100 for the part and no labor.

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QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Aug 31, 2016 -> 09:54 AM)
It's paid off and only has 124,000 miles on it. So I don't mind putting a little money into it. I'm hoping it can last another 5+ years.

 

It was the fan clutch, not the compressor clutch that they replaced. Seems to be working so far...

What a random part name.

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I bought a Mazda CX-5 last month, totally loaded. I love it. I also want to thank all the fellow SoxTalk posters in this thread with tips/advice for purchasing a new car. I hadn't done it in 14 years and that was my first experience. I said I would never do what I did that day, which was basically buy a new car on my first day of shopping. I did plenty of research this time, test drove a bunch of cars and then had the dealerships try to beat each other on price. I got them down a good amount and it all went smooth on the day I decided to make my purchase.

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  • 1 month later...

So we've had this Q7 a little over 2 months, and I have to say, this is by far the best car I have ever owned.

 

The advancements in technology in regards to autonomous driving have really occurred more quickly than I anticipated. This isn't necessarily the most fun vehicle I have ever owned, but it offers by far the safest and most solid driving experience from a car I have ever owned.

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QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 3, 2016 -> 06:40 PM)
So we've had this Q7 a little over 2 months, and I have to say, this is by far the best car I have ever owned.

 

The advancements in technology in regards to autonomous driving have really occurred more quickly than I anticipated. This isn't necessarily the most fun vehicle I have ever owned, but it offers by far the safest and most solid driving experience from a car I have ever owned.

 

Tell me about it! Every time the current Tesla fleet gets updated, I get more and more excited about my Model 3 that will have all of these updates on DAY ONE. It's moving so damn fast.

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QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 3, 2016 -> 06:40 PM)
So we've had this Q7 a little over 2 months, and I have to say, this is by far the best car I have ever owned.

 

The advancements in technology in regards to autonomous driving have really occurred more quickly than I anticipated. This isn't necessarily the most fun vehicle I have ever owned, but it offers by far the safest and most solid driving experience from a car I have ever owned.

Adaptive cruise control is something I can never live without. As I shop for new cars if it doesnt have it I am not interested.

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QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 4, 2016 -> 03:01 PM)
I've had a couple of cars with that and found it extremely annoying.

I almost never use that function, but what I do have now is something called active lane assist, which will literally adjust the steering wheel to keep you inside the lanes if you begin drifting. I find that mostly helpful, but it can be annoying during certain circumstances.

 

The heads-up display is my favorite feature, as it shows the speed limit, any kind of road sign (such as a school zone), navigation instructions, as well as your current speed right in front of you on the windshield. It's extremely helpful for allowing you to keep your eyes on the road.

 

 

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QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Oct 4, 2016 -> 03:45 AM)
Tell me about it! Every time the current Tesla fleet gets updated, I get more and more excited about my Model 3 that will have all of these updates on DAY ONE. It's moving so damn fast.

Agreed. I just worry that there will be some severe markup on the Model 3 to get all the features we as end users expect.

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QUOTE (Deadpool @ Oct 5, 2016 -> 12:03 AM)
Agreed. I just worry that there will be some severe markup on the Model 3 to get all the features we as end users expect.

 

Are you planning to get the Model 3? I am a rabid Tesla fan and have been dreaming of owning once since I showed everyone their concept Roadster back in 2006 or 2007. As far as I have heard, there will be a cost for Autopilot, and assuming it's around the rumored $2000, I would not even think twice about adding it on.

 

Assuming I can figure out a way to earn the entire $7500 tax credit, I plan on using that $7500 to budget for upgrades/fees on it. $2000 on autopilot, $1500 for delivery cost, that leaves me with $4000 for upgraded sound system and maybe the cold-weather package. Or I might just use that $4000 on a larger battery.

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QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 4, 2016 -> 05:01 PM)
I've had a couple of cars with that and found it extremely annoying.

Do you make long highway trips? I can literally drive from Detroit to Chicago without touching a pedal. Thats invaluable to me, especially with knees that ache when driving.

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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 5, 2016 -> 08:33 AM)
Do you make long highway trips? I can literally drive from Detroit to Chicago without touching a pedal. Thats invaluable to me, especially with knees that ache when driving.

 

The few times I've had it have been in rentals in California that were for long-ish drives. I dunno, maybe I just wasn't used to it.

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