FUCKING CAR

I'm pretty frustrated. While my Subaru Impreza has been flawless in reliability lately, something failed me last week that just made me mad: The HVAC blower resistor module. At first I lost fan speeds 1 and 2 out of 3 and 4. The next day I was driving and I smelled something burning. Fan speed 3 no longer worked and my HVAC only worked on full blast. A quick search on the internet showed this to be a frequent complaint not only from Subaru customers, but pretty well from every make and model of vehicle. They all share the same basic design flaw: A set of metal coils (resistors) are used to create voltage drops for the HVAC fan blower. When the resistors get hot (red hot), the solder melts and the fusible link gives away. 

The problem is I can't find the God damn resistor module in my 2007 Impreza. I checked against these online pictures of the 2005 Subaru Impreza RS and fuck, it doesn't look to be there at ALL!

I ripped out my fucking dashboard and STILL couldn't see the module plug as pictured above. I just don't get it. I ordered the part from the Subaru Dealership which costs - are you ready for this? $62 fucking dollars. Unbelievable. For a simple piece of wire and solder.  If you're interested in seeing the whole process of replacing this module, head on over to the RS FORUMS.


Of course the dealerships won't help me because I'm not a faithful customer to them. I understand from a business perspective why they can't help me - it simply costs money. I don't do my servicing at the dealerships because it's too expensive. I do my own service work. It's cost-effective and I know what I'm doing. But the parts guy was honest so I can't fault them. The warranty expired 4 months ago, my Subaru is scheduled to go back to the dealership next March 2011. I've not decided what I'm going to do but I do know the car is going back. I need an automatic, I'm tired of shifting gears (although it's fun, it gets old in rush hour traffic). 


I've also realized that the era of cheap oil and gas is almost over. There is no need to drive a large vehicle anymore such as those huge Expeditions and 4x4 trucks. Get ready for the Chinese cars that should hit North America in the next few years. Are you ready to buy a car that will cost about $2,500 and have most of the features available from cars costing five times as much? As soon as they pass safety tests and quality assurance gets ramped up, you can bet consumers will be jumping on board to buy one. If Hyundai can rise high from it's abysmal quality issues of the early 90's, then so can the Chinese car companies that are literally waiting to jump into Europe and North American markets.


Personally I would never buy such vehicles. In their current form of safety (which is non-existent) and shitty quality of materials (including crappy steel), they are deathtraps. From my point of view, the only car companies that deserve your money are the ones who listen to customers and provide a safe, reliable, and efficient vehicle. While GM has made efforts to rise up, it has not done enough to merit a second glance from my decision tree. Ford has caught my eye with the recent Fiesta. I am not ready to buy a Chrysler-branded Fiat 500. Chrysler is one of the worst companies in the marketplace for reliability and resale value. 


Brand Winners for 2010


Honda, Subaru,  Nissan, Ford, Hyundai, BMW, Mazda, Mitsubishi, and Cadillac

Brand Losers for 2010

Chrysler/Dodge, Suzuki, KIA, Mercedes-Benz, SAAB, Saturn, Volvo, Land Rover, Toyota

Each loser brand I identified are for a variety of reasons. Chrysler/Dodge - for basically doing nothing and using old products. Lack of innovation and inspiration - with the exception of the Dodge Challenger, the only noteworthy thing they did in 2009/2010 was killing the halo VIPER brand.

Suzuki tries hard but can't compete with the bigger guys. The Kizashi (Sp) is a worthy but unequal shot at Honda, Subaru,  etc. 

KIA is trying hard by bringing in new and refreshing designs.

SAAB and Saturn are dead brands. SAAB should have been killed off a long time ago - who aspires to drive one? Nobody I know. Ever hear someone say "ooohhh... there's a SAAB!". Exactly. Saturn just sucked. With designs right out of the plastic parts bin, and their idiotic no-haggle policy, you'd be stupid to buy a car from them.

Toyota shot themselves in the foot with the recent recalls of acceleration issues. Their ability to handle the recall was fairly shitty considering how large the customer base is. Toyota got too complacent and began to lose it's luster in quality. 

Volvo and Land Rover. Brand driven by people who are almost dead. You know what I thought when I saw the crappy C30 hatchback? "Who the FUCK would buy that ugly bitch?". I don't know anyone who aspires to drive a Volvo. I haven't even seen anyone look twice at any Volvo when driving by. My experience with the local dealership is horrendous. Pretentious and arrogant, the owner of the dealership refused to let me test drive any car. It was almost as bad as the Porsche dealership (owned by the same guy btw). Only Porsche wanted a $2,500 deposit if you wanted to "test drive" a car. Fuck that. Two years ago I drove a $98,000 mercedes-benz truck right off the lot in Winnipeg. They even backed it off the ramp for me and gassed it up. Unbelievable.

I still remember the conceited asshole at Porsche of Winnipeg who not only ignored me in the showroom, but actually went away to the back room and avoid talking to me. Customer service like that is abhorrent.