Car maintenance: Is a "carbon flush" worth $150?

[Asher]

I told them no because I'm always suspicious. What is it? They say it "improves fuel efficiency" and a "machine does it".

[SlowwHand]

Must be something newish. I've never heard of it.

[Asher]

They always find new ways to screw you.

[SlowwHand]

You can buy products that will clean fuel injection.

[Asher]

They're also monumental retards. They replaced my windshield 6 months ago but didn't seal it properly. In periods of extended rain, I get water that seems to pool somewhere and eventually drip into the car from the passenger side pillar area. There's clear water marks around the area, it happened most recently on Friday. It was substantial.

I take it in and tell them the seal is bad. They poke at it and tell me they can't find the leak. You have to be ****ing kidding me.

So I tell them just to trust me and remount it and reseal it, but they won't do it because it's a warranty repair and as far as they can tell it's not a broken seal.

****.

[snoopy369]

Did you pour a bucket of water on the front?

In any event, this is why small town repair shops are far superior. We had a rental car with a tire that kept losing pressure last time we went down to Tam's parents, and took it in; they took off the car tire, dumped it in a bucket of water, found that the rim was bent, and hammered it out right away - and no charge (well, I tipped them of course, but no official charge)

[Asher]

Yes, I usually go to a real mechanic and not the dealership. But the windshield needed to be done under warranty at the dealership.

And yes, they poured water on it. I told them they need to have TONS of water on it for it to work, it needs to hit a threshold for the leak to be visible inside.

As an update...

They just called an informed me they needed TWO HOURS of labour in DIAGNOSTIC TIME to try to figure out where the leak was. AT 95 DOLLARS PER HOUR.

I told them to **** right off and don't touch a thing, and send the shuttle to come pick me up as I'm taking my business elsehwere.


****ing ****ing *******s.

[snoopy369]

I'm guessing that's not covered under warranty... Sigh.

[rah]

150 for carbon cleaning is a rip off.

[Asher]

I'm guessing that's not covered under warranty... Sigh.

It wouldn't be covered under warranty since they "could not validate a leak existed".

[DanS]

What kind of car is it?

[Asher]

Mazda 3.

(BTW, the leak was from the replacement windshield that this dealership installed, the original one was just fine but it got cracked from a rock on the highway)

[SlowwHand]

This is from 2006, but good advice. I know STP makes cleaner for fuel injection.
Am I on the right page, or way off?

Q: A year ago, my car started making sputtering noises when I accelerated from an idle. I put fuel injector cleaner in the tank and the problem went away. Now, to be safe, I add fuel injector cleaner about every 10,000 miles. Is this good preventative maintenance, or am I doing more harm than good? Sincerely, ADAM J. BENNETT, Columbus, OH

A: Good plan. Keep it up.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/blog...c/2881211.html

[snoopy369]

Mazda 3.

(BTW, the leak was from the replacement windshield that this dealership installed, the original one was just fine but it got cracked from a rock on the highway)

Get it fixed, then take them to small claims court for the cost [if Canada has such]. Just get written proof that they wouldn't fix it.

[Asher]

I'm not going to screw around with small claims court. Apple Autoglass will remount the windshield for $95 total, I'm just going to do that.

When I pick up the car I'm going to make a big stink about it, so they may back down there and fix it but I doubt it.

[snoopy369]

Hmm, if it's only a hundred bucks then I suppose it's not worth it.

I love how it takes them twice as long to identify the problem as the other place to just fix it...

[Asher]

Yeah, that's why it's a joke. My brother got the windshield on his Mazda 3 replaced for $300 total -- and that's including a genuine Mazda replacement windshield AND labour for removing the old and installing the new.

So when they ask for $200 just to diagnose it, my bullshit alarms went off.

[snoopy369]

Sounds like I should get into the auto repair business... plenty of cash to be made there

[chequita guevara]

The place where I get my oil changed has something like this carbon flush, I'm guessing. They charge $60. The difference between the flush and just putting STP in is like running hot water over a greasy plate and scrubbing it. The STP will get some of it, but not all of it.

I have found, interestingly enough, that when I put a bottle of STP (or similar products) in my tank, my mileage increases noticeably, from about 31mpg to about 36-38mpg.

[chequita guevara]

dp

[MrFun]

By the way, I have a couple of major repairs that I need done on my '99 Chevy Lumina. I'm considering looking into buying into an old car warranty service such as provided by US Fidelis.

But does anyone know how legit and honest US Fidelis is? I suppose I can also call the Better Business Bureau and ask them too.

[Asher]

Update: So I raised a stink about it there, talked to the service manager.

He brought out the head mechanic and they discussed the problem after I showed them the water damage indicating there WAS a leak. The head mechanic instantly thought of the problem: if it needs to pool up a bit before it shows, the problem probably isn't the windshield itself...but the draining hose for the sunroof.

So they spent an hour or so and took things apart to look inside and...sure enough, when they replaced the windshield the first time they had to uninstall the drainage hose and they "forgot" to reinstall it. So the hose was draining in the front-passenger pillar of the windshield area, which is where the water was coming in from.

So they hooked it up and reinstalled everything and didn't charge me for that. They took 25% off all of the other service as an apology...but I'll still never go back.

And I still didn't get the "carbon flush". I talked to my brother (PhD mech eng, does race car stuff ) and he told me it's a scam for me to get it done ('04 Mazda). He said it might make a difference on older American cars with rough idles, etc but it's not going to do jack **** for me.

[rtwinger]

That's what you get for buying a POS vehicle like a Mazda 3.

[Asher]

As opposed to buying a car that doesn't have a windshield?



If I could squash your small testicles with a nutcracker, I'd do just that.
[action=Asher]CRACK.[/action]

Just like that.

[Japher]

rtwinger is my favorite new troll

[chequita guevara]

rtwinger isn't a troll, he actually asks intelligent questions and thinks.

Or, he's a new bread of troll, one crafted by Mordor with more intelligence.

[rtwinger]

As opposed to buying a car that doesn't have a windshield?



If I could squash your small testicles with a nutcracker, I'd do just that.
[action=Asher]CRACK.[/action]

Just like that.

It's called getting a decent car like a BMW, or at least a VW/American make instead of a POS Japanese budget-brand made Mazda. Sorry, that's not trolling, it's called having half a brain and realizing that Mazdas suck.

[Wezil]

I don't know anything mechanical about Asher's particular Mazda (I do like the look of it though).

I do know the Mazda Protege is a complete POS.

[Wiglaf]

Oh, look what I found while browsing gay wheels: http://www.gaywheels.com/2010_mazda3.htm.

Surprising to see the Mazda 3 there. No, not really. Let the record show that I never get my car serviced WITHOUT requesting the carbon flush. We can't forget that carbon is a silent killer, and this is why smoke detectors come with carbon detectors. The last thing I want to do is die slowly while sitting in traffic.Flush that out. Just flush it out.

[Asher]

It's called getting a decent car like a BMW, or at least a VW/American make instead of a POS Japanese budget-brand made Mazda. Sorry, that's not trolling, it's called having half a brain and realizing that Mazdas suck.

No, this must be a troll.

VW has awful reliability post-warranty, as do virtually every American brand.

If you had read the thread, my problem has nothing at all to do with my Mazda's reliability (which has been stellar). I had to get the windshield replaced because a giant rock got kicked up from a semi going at about 70mph and it cracked the windshield and needed to be replaced. I got it replaced but the dumbass mechanic forgot to hook up the drainage hose when he was done.

On the other hand, I've got a friend with a VW Passat and another with a Chevy Cavalier -- both of which got their vehicles within a couple years of mine -- which have been endlessly problematic and expensive in maintenance.