2022 has been the worst year of my life when it comes to vehicles.
Some fuckers stole the catalytic converters off my work van last week. It's a 2005 Chevy Express cargo van. It happened last Wednesday overnight, and I discovered it Thursday afternoon when I was getting ready to do a delivery. I started up the van and it was explosively loud and vibrating hard. I called my mechanic in the next unit over and he told me it was the cats, and that one of my other neighbors in the complex also had his cut off. Fucking assholes. Next the long weekend came along so we couldn't do anything until yesterday and today.
Found out the cost for replacing them was going to be in excess of $1,000. Insurance said this vehicle did not have comprehensive coverage, so I (the company) would need to pay out of pocket. The other option was to put straight pipes - the legality of which was up in the air, but at least there was no further fear of cats being stolen again. Apparently this is happening everywhere and is like an epidemic now. So today the mechanic straight piped it and I drove it after and was almost suffocating because of the fumes. Holy shit it was bad. Came back from delivery and told the mechanic and he said just drive it for a few weeks and don't idle behind somebody's door. The smell was atrocious. If I can't tolerate it then I'm just going to absorb the extra cost and tell them to replace the cats. I can always park inside the shop every night to avoid having them stolen again.
Now my personal vehicles.
A couple of months ago my 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe needed to have its engine replaced. You read that right. Apparently this is a well known problem for 2013-2015 Santa Fe and related Kia SUVs. What an absolute disaster and embarrassment for Hyundai, as a company and as a brand. Car had only about 130K kms (81K miles) on it, but I had no warranty left. The engine didn't actually seize yet, but was well on it's way to that fate. Was knocking very hard. Something to do with a bearing fucking up inside. Engine block replacement was $7,000 which they didn't charge me for, and called it a "goodwill warranty" to keep me as a future customer. But I did have to pay about $1,600 for all the related components like pullies and belts and shit. Now I'm thinking of putting it on the market and taking what I can get for it.
My 2012 Acura TL has been a money pit since day one. I heavily regret buying this car, and it will be my last used car from a "mom and pop" type corner shop. If I do ever buy used again it will be from a dealer. Fucking thing has given me nothing but headaches since the very beginning (August of 2020). Early on I noticed it was eating gas like crazy. The fuel mileage was absolute shit - avg 14-15L/100kms, (translate that to about 15/16 mpg), which is terrible considering these cars are celebrated for their excellent fuel efficiency. Mechanic scanned it early on and said fuel was reading rich. I did everything and spent a fortune in less than two years trying to find the solution. Replaced everything from air filters to O2 sensors to the timing belt (which was normal scheduled maintenance), serpentine belt, cleaned MAF sensor, and to this day still can't figure it out. Recently the engine started making a whining/whistling sound, and my mechanic speculated it could be an air leak but was unable to trace it. Plus I'm starting to hear funny sounds from the transmission, and other generally weird noises. The two mechanics I mostly deal with locally have given up trying to figure this car out, and have been urging me for months to sell it while it still has value. In one final attempt at saving this car I decided to call up Acura and made an appointment to have them diagnose these issues. Conversation was going good via phone and email and they told me there would be a $160 diagnostic fee, which I agreed to. Appointment was all set for a few days away till they emailed me to clarify that it would be $160 PER issue. WTF??? That was the last straw for me as the costs had just gotten so absurd, and I cancelled the appointment.
I'm going to sell this fucking piece of shit in the next week or so. There's about 1.5 months of warranty left, (which is a huge selling point), and I can probably get a decent amount for it. With excessively rising fuel costs, (and having to put premium gas), it makes sense to get rid of this now. Maybe go back to a Honda Accord. I drove my old 2004 Accord for 16 years without any major incident. It never gulped gas like a greedy motherfucker and the engine never even once thought of quitting. I should've kept it. Oh well
I think I am going to get two new cars which will be strictly leases. That way when the problems start after 4/5 years, they will be someone else's problems.
I fucking hate 2022.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by sandydandy
