Owned by the dealership. *Rant*

[Lsmith]

Well I'm giving up on my venture into the DSM universe. After taking my Talon to the dealership a week and a half ago to get the belts and water pump changed, the thing is going to be ending up there for another week now. Situation:

At work today when I get a call from the guy at the dealership. He tells me that he has some bad news. The front cover (what protects belts, pulleys, etc...) is "cracked" in a few places and needs to be completely replaced for a nomial fee of $700! After adamatly telling the mechanic that there is no way I can do that I tell him that I will research it some tonight on the net and get back to him tomorrow.

Twenty minutes later the mechanic calls back and said that "since I was so cooperative....bullshit bullshit bullshit" that he was going to be able to cut me a deal. Ends up he can get the damn part and install it for $300 now. I don't give him the go ahead yet though and that is where things are left off right now. Tomorrow I'm gonna make a surprise trip down there and see if they didn't just decide to break the thing trying to get it off.

Right now I feel like my skin is boiling and haven't been this stressed about anything for quite a while. Needless to say, im sadly going to give up the DSM lifestyle. It was extremely fun while it lasted and I highly doubt that I will ever own a car as quick as this was. I just need more reliability and the comfort of knowing the dealer isn't going to ream my ass everytime I take the car in. /end rant

 

[Onsoku]

That unfortunate to hear..

It seems as though to own a DSM you have to do a lot of the work on the car yourself.

 

[Justins99GSX]

first off your venture into the DSM world doesn't start at satan(dealership) always try and do the work yourself (hence the fun of being a DSM owner)......... don't mean to sound like an asshole but the dealer is the last place you should go.....

 

[Lsmith]

Yeah, I know I've done all of the work to date (new fuel pump, mbc, intake pipe (not hard I know), boost gauge, and all the maintenence, and actually bought the timing belt kit from prostreetonline.com but backed out of the deal b/c I didnt have anyone to really help me with the whole project. All of my "friends" own honda's and have ridiculed me since the day I bought the car so they weren't in for helping me change the belts unfortunately, and I'm not Mr. Mechanical know how. I wanted to avoid the dealership if at all possible but this was about the only way this was going to get done, now im kicking myself in the ass.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

Your honda friends are dumb ####ing idiots. With that said, Sorry to hear you're leaving just because of a simple fix. Everyone is leaving dsm's anymore.. You're not the first, Or even the 6th I have counted in the past few months. Don't go giving dsm's a bad name like all the other know-nothings, That try to work on dsm's. Cya.

 

[rowlex]

the front case? or the timing belt cover? Your description leads me to believe it is the plastic piece that protects the timing belts. This piece is something that is taken off in order to do the timing belt job in the first place. Usually under 100$ from the dealer.

 

[92awddsm]

the front case? or the timing belt cover? Your description leads me to believe it is the plastic piece that protects the timing belts. This piece is something that is taken off in order to do the timing belt job in the first place. Usually under 100$ from the dealer.

Actually, last time I checked(about 3 months ago) it was $170 from the dealer and there shouldnt be any labor cost involved since they already have it off for the tb/wp replacement. I would go to the parts counter, price the cover, and then go speak to the mechanic and ask him why he is jacking the price up so high and trying to charge labor for something he is already charging you labor on to r&r.

 

[HighPsi92GST]

People get all worked up about stupid stuff that happens at a dealer or the high costs and usually end up making the problem worse, or at least sound worse then what it really is. Solution - do the work yourself or find a mechanic that is not associated with the dealer. Dealers charge that much because people pay that price to have the work done. If you don't like the price or the work, why go there? All dealers are the same, so leaving the "DSM world" and going to another make, you will find the same when you go to a dealer.

Good luck

 

[Lsmith]

Yeah, don't worry about me trying to bad mouth DSM's and people who own them. I love my car and would love to own one again here in the future, but when money is more abundant (I'm getting ready to start college), as well as another car that could be used when it does decide it wants to flare up on me. The three months that I have owned the car it has managed to break some part or screw up something every two weeks. Odds are whatever make that I move onto next will not be one that I will mod or anyting, im just looking for some solid dependability and good fuel economy. The "front case" is how the mechanic refered to the part, and he said that it was aluminum which is really beside the point anyways. Tomorrow though im going to go down there and check out the "cracks" and make sure the mechanic didn't make the "cracks" himself and decide I should pay for his goof.

 

[92awddsm]

Yeah, don't worry about me trying to bad mouth DSM's and people who own them. I love my car and would love to own one again here in the future, but when money is more abundant (I'm getting ready to start college), as well as another car that could be used when it does decide it wants to flare up on me. The three months that I have owned the car it has managed to break some part or screw up something every two weeks. Odds are whatever make that I move onto next will not be one that I will mod or anyting, im just looking for some solid dependability and good fuel economy. The "front case" is how the mechanic refered to the part, and he said that it was aluminum which is really beside the point anyways. Tomorrow though im going to go down there and check out the "cracks" and make sure the mechanic didn't make the "cracks" himself and decide I should pay for his goof.

OK, I know what you are talking about and what he is seeing is not cracks, its casting marks. Every front cover I have ever seen has them. I think he either doesnt know what he is talking about, or just trying to screw you out of some $. Here are a couple of pics I just snapped for you to see what hes talking about.

Those marks are all over the cover, not just there. I just took those pics because it was the clearest location to see.

 

[mavisky]

There are only two places on the motor that he'd be seeing cracks according to his description. The Front case that was just posted and always has those little cracks, and this could cost you $300 with the gaskets/time to install but in no way protects the timing belt. The other is the timing belt cover which is simply a piece of plastic that keeps things from getting inside the timing belt area and shouldn't be anywhere near $300.

To hear that you're getting out of dsm's because one particular dealership is trying to screw you over a cheap part is really sad to hear.

 

[quicksilver]

Well I'm giving up on my venture into the DSM universe. After taking my Talon to the dealership a week and a half ago to get the belts and water pump changed, the thing is going to be ending up there for another week now. Situation:

At work today when I get a call from the guy at the dealership. He tells me that he has some bad news. The front cover (what protects belts, pulleys, etc...) is "cracked" in a few places and needs to be completely replaced for a nomial fee of $700! After adamatly telling the mechanic that there is no way I can do that I tell him that I will research it some tonight on the net and get back to him tomorrow.

Twenty minutes later the mechanic calls back and said that "since I was so cooperative....bullshit bullshit bullshit" that he was going to be able to cut me a deal. Ends up he can get the damn part and install it for $300 now. I don't give him the go ahead yet though and that is where things are left off right now. Tomorrow I'm gonna make a surprise trip down there and see if they didn't just decide to break the thing trying to get it off.

Right now I feel like my skin is boiling and haven't been this stressed about anything for quite a while. Needless to say, im sadly going to give up the DSM lifestyle. It was extremely fun while it lasted and I highly doubt that I will ever own a car as quick as this was. I just need more reliability and the comfort of knowing the dealer isn't going to ream my ass everytime I take the car in. /end rant

Not ALL DSM dealers are the same! along with our dealership (Mopar/Plymouth Laser ) and the local Mitsubishi in Boardman Ohio most of the guys working there are dyed in the wool Mitsu & Mopar performance street guys who have produced some of the areas fastest street DSM & Mopars and have helped many local guys keep their DSM & Mopars running full speed between the 2 dealerships we have more than a few dedicated HI PERFORMANCE people who don't rip the eyes out of customers...there are still some honest ones around

Just my 2 cent, sorry
Larry

 

[Lsmith]

Thanks for those pics. I went in yesterday to check out the cracks for myself, and these cracks were coming from where a bolt goes in by the oil pump, and were splitting out from around the center of that hole. I also saw the casting marks and these were definitly different. Im not getting out of the DSM world simply b/c I had to have a considerable amount of work done to the car that needed to be done, but from a combination of things also. The main thing that is steering me away is my car needs new rings, and I just dont really have the cash or the resources to try and do that myself, or to have someone do it for me. I'd just rather buy something slow for now until I can get out of college and back onto my feet, and they I would LOVE to own another DSM one day.

 

[projctWraith]

Yeah the cover you mentioned earlier is one of the first things I've seen end up being removed from the actual engine by some tuners. Should be cool without it as long as you don't encounter a lot of airborn debris.....you'd have to keep the belt and gears clean though. And you could see what condition the belt is in easier. The rings though.......sorry about that. You can still get a few more easy-driven miles out of them though....whats a little blow-by ever hurt. The part won't cost too much but the labor will......especially satans labor.

 

[Lsmith]

Yeah, a buddy got new rings, rod bearings, resealed the oil pan, new timing belt and a few other misc. things done by the Mitsu dealership for like $1700. Thats just more than I can really fork over right now, being as poor as I am.

 

[Lsmith]

Dry 130 125 164 (heard loud pop) 170 (heard pop agian)

Wet 170 180 215 (pop again) 210 (sprayed oil so i quit)


Those were the numbers.

 

[92awddsm]

Seafioam wold probably help the compression #. And those cracks that you saw at th lower right bolt next to the oil pump are also on my cover, Again, they arent cracks on mine. Just really bad casting marks. Mine are on the boss of the bolt munting surface and a lot worse as the spread.

All in all, you are giving up way to easy. But seriously, if you give up that easy, a DSM isnt for you. All joking aside, you are probably better off getting an Accord or something equivilent.

 

[Lsmith]

All in all, you are giving up way to easy. But seriously, if you give up that easy, a DSM isnt for you. All joking aside, you are probably better off getting an Accord or something equivilent.

Blunt but I'll take it. You're probably right too, I just need something with a little more reliablitly making the hour and a half drive to an from college every weekend.

 

[ColdAudio]

so what did you end up telling the mechanic to do?

 

[Lsmith]

I told him to go ahead and fix it.