Share the anger

[NYEngineer]

This isn't an anger thing but more of a whatever thing. My stepdaughter bought herself a brand new Honda CRV this past March. When she had it about two months, someone hit it and did very minor damage. For some reason she called the dealer and they said oh, get it here immediately. No one else will have the correct paint. She paid through the nose to have this tiny panel on the rear corner of the car resprayed.
Today, she calls me. I'm at work in the city. She asks if 190 dollars is a lot for a tire rotation and differential. I said What?? She then goes on to say they want to rotate the tires for 35 bucks, change the oil and all the filters on the car for 140 and service the all wheel drive for 190. I said hang on. I called my friend who owns a very reputable trans shop and asked why the dealer wants to service the AWD diffs on a car with 19,000 miles on it. He said they're robbing her. Bring the car here and I'll do the engine oil and tire rotation for fifty bucks. I called her back and by then they already had drained the diffs and claimed she needed a tire. It was like as soon as they saw her on the phone they worked as fast as they could.
All I could do was ask her how she takes the car in without saying anything to me first. I've been a mechanic forever and have a handful of very talented shop owner friends who would have taken excellent care of her.
I gave up and said do what you want.
BTW, I know... Car was BRAND NEW in March and now has 19,000 miles on it. I don't think it's ever fully cooled off since she's owned it.

 

[blupupher]

Originally Posted by Fawteen
I'd just replace it and not fret over it. Out of all the things to be concerned over, it would be at the very bottom of the list.

My thought exactly.
You changed it. It is resolved. Cost a few bucks.

Originally Posted by joekingcorvette
... As far as the cabin air filter they are not a necessity. My 2014 Ford F-150 doesn't even have one.

I like them. Helps keep the interior of the vehicle cleaner (I notice less dust on the dash in vehicles with them), fewer outside odors, wife has less allergy issues in vehicle with them.
Plus they keep that stray leaf from getting into the fan and buzzing till it is finally shredded.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted by NYEngineer
I gave up and said do what you want.

Good story NYEngineer. You provided my morning chuckle. I feel a bit sorry for today's young parents pushing their kids around in Cadillac strollers that think once their kids are out of college they can finally relax from parenting. LOL, it IS a lifetime commitment - mostly rewarding, but often mind numbing! Ha!. Our idiot kids. If only they would follow all of our advice...... And the cycle continues.

 

[NYEngineer]

Originally Posted by doitmyself
Originally Posted by NYEngineer
I gave up and said do what you want.

Good story NYEngineer. You provided my morning chuckle. I feel a bit sorry for today's young parents pushing their kids around in Cadillac strollers that think once their kids are out of college they can finally relax from parenting. LOL, it IS a lifetime commitment - mostly rewarding, but often mind numbing! Ha!. Our idiot kids. If only they would follow all of our advice...... And the cycle continues.


Thanks. The only one I won't have to worry about is my fourteen year old son. He may only be fourteen but he's totally old school.

 

[DweezilAZ]

Blaming the Acura dealer for this is an assumption too far. In 20 years the owner just never went under the hood and screwed around with things ? Nonsense.

The scotch tape sounds like an owner DIY attempt at changing the air filter, who screwed it up and applied an ignorant fix to it.

Lots of smack to talk about stealerships but laying this one at the dealer's feet is BS.

 

[willbur]

Originally Posted by windeye
I share your anger... but don't let anger get into you. Over the years, I have had quite a few simple service issues with dealerships and repair shops. for instance, coming to dealership for LOF + tire rotation, but only oil was changed, filter was not touched, tires were not touched. Had the same thing happen at a Toyota dealership. Another Toyota dealer changed oil but oil was still dripping when I took car home (~5 miles) from the mess they managed to create. Another dealer broke the batter cover, and put back not telling me anything. Another dealer broke license plate light holder, not telling me anything....the list goes on an don. People don't seem to care.


Funny you should say that. I often tell my friends my cars come back from the dealer in worse shape than when I bought them in. Paint scratches, "foul" smells, broken parts, missing fasteners, etc.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

A lot of cars from the 90s that have cabin filters have them in a weird location

In the 3rd and 4th gen Camry, from 92-01, and the equivalent Lexus ES300, the cabin filter is behind the gas pedal! US-market cars didn't come from the factory with the CAF, but the space to install one is still there. Here is how you install it

If you want to see that the 90s Camry CAF looks like, check out Denso 453-1002

Cars from the early 2000's usually have the CAF under the hood

Modern cars from the past 10-15 years or so seem to put it behind the glove box, the best location.

Here is a picture of the Denso 453-1002 as used in the Camry and ES300 from 1992-2001:

 

[WylieCoyote]

I dreamt up some interesting new profanity changing the CAF in my '09 Mazda 3. What a thoughtless installation that was on the part of Mazda. It was buried against the firewall, behind the center stack. Some folks instruct you to remove the entire glove box assembly, others say you can skip it. Either way, there are 2 fuse blocks that must be disconnected and removed before can even see the filter door. If that wasn't fun enough, the filter is in 2 pieces. Insert one, then lift it and hold it with one hand, while simultaneously inserting the other one underneath it.

Their engineering team should be horsewhipped.

 

[Hootbro]

Originally Posted by bullwinkle
I'm still trying to find out how we survived in the old days without them, especially in the days of "460" A/C (4 windows down, 60 MPH). I've been tempted to take my chances & throw the old ones away (without replacing them)...


People survived in the old days without them because the evaporator cores that would eventually clog with gunk were either easier to replace without ripping out the dash or the vehicle was in the boneyard for other stuff by the time it was needed.

Modern vehicles with the tight under dash spaces and smaller evap cores need those cabin air filters or you are more than likely have an expensive evap core replacement or cleaning if possible before you reach 100K miles.

 

[HangFire]

You think that's bad. My 99 Ford Taurus (the "Quality is Job 1" years) had no cabin air filter. Don't tell me it was removed, the plastic cowl's plastic Philips head fasteners were unmarred when I started. They were all broken when I finished, 4 years old and all the plastic retainers broke. I put a filter in there after wiping the duct down and just shook my head. That was the one of the first, and and of the least of my problems with that beast. It exuded lack of quality from every square millimeter.