[DUMBGRUNT]

Nothing is more expensive than a "cheap" high-zoot car.

A cousin who made good and likes top-of-the-line Volvos claims there is nothing on the car that does not cost $1,000!

He is also a serious gearhead who has built a few project cars in his garage from the frame up.

The idiot light on his XC90 came on... The dealer will pick it up and drop it off, but he took a look. It was a switch on the seatbelt; it should be a nothing burger.$800 plus.

The car was only a couple of weeks old, and warranty work. Dealer warranty work is always pricey. And more so at Volvo.

[Cold_Red_Steel]

My wife has a 2019 Hyundai (Korean VIN). The check engine light came on and it was running rough. The local ABC Auto diagnosed it and wanted to order parts. I had to tell them repeatedly that it was under warranty. It ran VERY ROUGH on the way back to the dealership. They replaced all of the valves and it still was rough. One of the techs noted that the battery shown as at the initial stages of failure in the diagnostic readout.

I went into an O’Reily’s and bought a battery and it ran perfectly.

[hecticskeptic]

I was at a new car dealer recently and took a car out for a drive. After coming back the salesman asked me what I thought... told him “I hated it.... I wanted a car to take on test run, not a computer with 4 wheels attached.”

[Antoninus]

The dashboard on my 12 year old Honda Accord is permanently lit up like a Christmas tree with warning lights. Why? Because the "lane departure warning" and "forward collision warning" sensors -- neither of which I wanted -- have failed. The drivability of the car is not impaired at all. In fact, it drives great and never gives me any other trouble. It's a $6,000 fix, or so the dealer tells me. The fix is too complicated for my local guy to even consider it. So I have been driving around with about six warning lights lit for about four years now. Fortunately, it passes inspection. I expect the car to last another 200K miles.

The bells and whistles on the newer vehicles suck.

[Organic Panic]

I was just hanging out at my mechanic’s shop while his guys were replacing the glow plugs on my diesel. He showed me a radiator cap for a new truck. $370 just for a radiator cap. He was still waiting for the new thermostat price. All because they had sensors that had to work with the new computers. New cars are so outrageous.

[Wuli]

The technologists will one day own all the car companies as among their subsidiaries.