One thing I've always hated... phone calls that start "Are you in a good mood?" When it's from the mechanic, even worse. Bottom line, ten minutes ago I was $1400 "richer" than I am right now. By the way, anytime someone says that to me, I answer either with "NO!" knowing that something's coming I won't want to hear or "Yes, but I suspect that's about to change."
Wow, I never had a bill more than $500 on my old Altima but had a few in its last year. Thankfully, my old ex had an acct with Firestone here in Fresno and when he moved back to Ohio and we split he always said for me to put it on his acct. he was generous in that way.
This post just reminded me that thankfully we don't have vehicle inspections here. Remember them from other places I've lived. Did have to have a smog check every 2 yrs for the Altima, I was so worried it wouldn't pass, but it did. Don't have that with my new car, at least not that I know of....
Yeah, I kind of wish that we wouldn't have spent so much on a luxury car for "better ride"... because that means everything it needs is more expensive, too. On the other side of the coin, though, it's really not needed a lot at all and most inspections don't find anything wrong... but I have a 2,000 mile round trip coming up next month, so it's important.
Yes, very important on that long of a trip. I got rid of my old car because of my 300 mile round trips to daughters, was getting too risky. I had to be towed once, almost 100 miles.
We have yearly inspections in Texas, which I really don't mind. They check lights, steering, tires, all the regular stuff. It doesn't cost much, and it seems to get the 'accidents waiting to happen' off the roads. People living in the more populated areas ... Houston, Dallas, etc., get to pay more for the emission testing part. .. but in exchange, I get a detailed car wash inside & out for free at the place I go to. Not bad at all!
I have onstar with my new car and every month I get an email telling me about any problems or what needs attention, etc.
Nice to have those features, and a new car .... My old car has none. .. just me listening for strange noises .
I'm like you and never really minded it either, @Bonnie Thomas ... catching those things before there's a major problem is a good thing. As far as emissions testing goes... some counties here have it... and some don't. Mine doesn't and I'm glad for that.
Well, not new anymore....got it in 2012. My old car was just getting too dangerous. The trunk wouldn't stay open unless you held it with one hand, I was afraid of it falling on me one day. AC only worked full blast. These are just the problems I remember. I like the onstar feature but they keep upping the price, pretty soon I may cancel. This is one I found in my email, must have saved it. It's from a year ago.
With all that information available with Onstar, I think I would keep it if I were you . .. especially since you travel alone. .. that's good information to have, and keeps you from a guessing game.
We have mandatory vehicle inspections here but if you have a good relationship with an auto repair shop that is licensed to do inspections, you can do much better than if you were to just stop in at one cold, just to get the inspection. Some of them will find problems where they weren't indicated so that you can let them fix them for you, since they don't earn very much from the inspection itself. One shop near here was making a friend of mine repair small rust spots under the car or on the body of the car and, since was doing the work himself, every time he fixed one set of things they said he needed, they came up with more stuff that needed to be fixed. I recommended another shop, almost literally across the street, and unless they find something that is actually dangerous, they pass the inspection. If it's a stand-alone inspection center, as some states have, it's probably not such a problem, but when an auto body or auto repair shop does the inspections, they will often look for stuff for you to have them fix, and not all of it is necessary.
True, but I think some of this info is in the menu on my steering wheel if I click on it. I know my tire pressure is. Another good thing for keeping it is if I'm in an accident somewhere and nobody sees and I'm unable to call, I think they can locate my car and call for help.
I think I would like the car telling me that there is a problem so that I am not caught off guard. My friend just had a huge car repair she just went in to get something simple done.