New Tow Vehicle Woes

[papajoe222]

It had to happen sooner or later, my tow vehicle (Honda Pilot) will be going to the scrap heap in the near future. I was heading back from a northern Wisconsin fishing trip when the check engine light started flashing and she started bucking. I coaxed her back the remaining 300+mi. Luckily, there weren't a lot of hills to climb. My dealer says it'll be $4K-$7K to fix it. She served me well for almost 12yrs and 222,000+mi.  I went car shopping today.

I'm suffering from a severe case of sticker shock and am attempting to self medicate. My Pilot is the top of the line Touring edition that I paid just under $40K for.  You can't even find and entry level AWD SUV for that kind of money today and the only thing left on the lots around here are the ones with all the bells and whistles and their $55K+ price tags will do more than make you whistle.  

So I'll be waiting out the shortage and doing a lot of shore fishing for the next three or four months and doing a lot of self medicating.

[jbsoonerfan]

Depending on the fix and the warranty, it might be worth it to fix yours. I was in the market for a used truck, but there is no way I would pay what they are asking for them.

[desmobob]

52 minutes ago, papajoe222 said:

It had to happen sooner or later, my tow vehicle (Honda Pilot) will be going to the scrap heap in the near future.

 

I'm sort of in the same boat.  I tow my Tracker Pro170 with my base model 2009 Subaru Forester.  Luckily, the boat launch is about 3 miles from my house.

 

The heavy use of road salt in the long Adirondack winters is starting to take its toll on my 12-year-old car.  Even though the vehicle has less than 80K miles on it, the body is ready to rust through.  I have some bubbling in the paint near the body panel joints.  And that means the important stuff underneath is also compromised.  

 

I wanted to trade for a new Forester a year or two ago but the newer ones have a CVT transmission (mine has the old four-speed automatic) and a 1500lb towing capacity.  For some reason, the newer Outbacks have more towing capacity but they also cost a little more and the ones left on the lot are the fully-loaded expensive ones.

 

I drove 4WD pick-ups most of my life but the price of trucks has become obscene.  I have a long, steep driveway and 4WD/AWD is very important to me.  I have been extremely happy with the Forester.  It actual goes better on the snow and ice than my Toyota, Chevy, or Dodge trucks did.  

[Koz]

I was new vehicle shopping earlier in the year and didn't pull the trigger. Since then the value of my current vehicle has gone up $2,000.

 

In the past 6 weeks I've had to replace the AC compressor, master cylinder, and two front tires. In the past I would have immediately sold the car instead of foot the cost of the AC compressor replacement, but with both new and used car prices what they are I had teh repairs done instead.

 

Dealers aren't even dealing now. Car selling prices are sticker price or above thanks to inflation and the chip shortage. I drove past a new car dealer the other day and was surprised at how empty their lot was. It's going to take a long time for production to catch up and bring prices down again.

 

You just might want to bite the bullet and get the repairs done.

[throttleplate]

1 hour ago, papajoe222 said:

It had to happen sooner or later, my tow vehicle (Honda Pilot) will be going to the scrap heap in the near future. I was heading back from a northern Wisconsin fishing trip when the check engine light started flashing and she started bucking. I coaxed her back the remaining 300+mi. Luckily, there weren't a lot of hills to climb. My dealer says it'll be $4K-$7K to fix it. She served me well for almost 12yrs and 222,000+mi.  I went car shopping today.

I'm suffering from a severe case of sticker shock and am attempting to self medicate. My Pilot is the top of the line Touring edition that I paid just under $40K for.  You can't even find and entry level AWD SUV for that kind of money today and the only thing left on the lots around here are the ones with all the bells and whistles and their $55K+ price tags will do more than make you whistle.  

So I'll be waiting out the shortage and doing a lot of shore fishing for the next three or four months and doing a lot of self medicating.

what went bad that is costing 7k to fix?

[K1500]

Just something to think about…you can get a brand new 4x4 1/2 or 3/4 ton with a mid level package in the mid $40’s. As an added bonus the truck won’t depreciate nearly as fast as a car or suv will, and it makes a far better tow rig. Throw a camper shell on it and you have all the utility of an suv and the value and capability of a truck. 

[Smokinal]

I just went through all of this when I upgraded boats. My new boat is much heavier than my old and my 2000 Lexus RX300 was struggling up hills with it and at the ramp.

I did tons of homework and found the best bang for the buck, with a decent tow capacity is the Jeep Grand Cherokee. I like an SUV for the enclosed space and most of these, even with a 6 cyl, have a 5000 capacity. My son already has one and I've used it a few times and it tows great.

You can find a nice clean used one in the $8-10k area.

I ended up not having to worry about it as I got a promotion at work which included a new 1500 Silverado 4x4 but that's neither here nor there  ?

[BrianMDTX]

And yet my wife keeps asking me why I still drive an '05 Ram 1500 QC 4x4 with 176K on the odo and more rust than the Titanic's anchor. Thankfully (knock on wood) the drive train is tight and runs like a well-oiled machine. Well, it is well-oiled lol, but it does run great. Looks a little ragged, but for what they want for new trucks today, I have zero interest in upgrading. 

[galyonj]

7 hours ago, throttleplate said:

what went bad that is costing 7k to fix?

 

I wanna know, too. Cause he described a misfire. And that ought to not take more than some new ignition coils and plugs to be good as new.

[volzfan59]

7 hours ago, Koz said:

I drove past a new car dealer the other day and was surprised at how empty their lot was. It's going to take a long time for production to catch up and bring prices down again.

 

The Chevrolet/ GMC/ Buick dealership in my town had three, yes three new vehicles on their lot. Three, all small Buick SUV's. Drove buy the Ford/ Dodge dealership in the next town over. No new Ford's, none. One Jeep Wrangler, one Ram pick up. This is nuts!

[gim]

No one should be surprised by the cost of used or new vehicles at this point.  There has been a shortage of them for a while.  Its probably not going to improve anytime soon either.

[galyonj]

3 minutes ago, gimruis said:

No one should be surprised by the cost of used or new vehicles at this point.  There has been a shortage of them for a while.  Its probably not going to improve anytime soon either.

 

Yeah. I dunno about new car pricing, but used car prices (since I only buy used) are up about 35% from last year. Used truck prices are up 45% on average for the same period.

[gim]

1 minute ago, galyonj said:

Used truck prices are up 45% on average for the same period.

I have heard of some people being offered more for their used vehicle than what they paid for it.  And that's after they put more miles on it too when they owned and used it for a period of time.  That's just ridiculous.

[galyonj]

1 minute ago, gimruis said:

I have heard of some people being offered more for their used vehicle than what they paid for it.  And that's after they put more miles on it too when they owned and used it for a period of time.  That's just ridiculous.

 

It is, but scarcity does funny things to people, and makes them okay with taking a bath on an item that will never be worth what they're gonna pay in the end.

[TnRiver46]

I know a “couple two three” car guys that can find anything 

[BrianMDTX]

2 hours ago, galyonj said:

 

It is, but scarcity does funny things to people, and makes them okay with taking a bath on an item that will never be worth what they're gonna pay in the end.

Like when gasoline first starting approaching $4.00/gallon nationwide years ago, and idiots were selling or trading in trucks and big SUV's and losing $$$ in order to buy an econobox. That would take driving for 8-10 years to make up the difference lost in fuel savings. 

 

P.T. Barnum was right. So was H. L. Mencken. 

[Stratocat_Joe]

My wife and I were in the market for a SUV last year after the birth of our son.  I had just purchased my Bass Tracker Classic XL and wanted something family friendly to tow it with.  We decided we wanted the 3rd row capabilities and looked at several options (Honda Pilots, Dodge Durango, Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia).  We decided on the Chevy Traverse due to its cargo capacity.  I used Car Gurus to find vehicles that met our list of demands (AWD being among them).  I tried negotiating with the local dealer but they wouldn't come down on the $35K price.  I found a 2019 with only 3K miles on it, still under factory warranty, for just under $30K (after taxes) in Houston, TX.  It cost me $150 for a plane ticket to Houston and a 10- hour drive back home but I was willing to do that to save $5K!  I'd recommend using Car Gurus to check prices.

[Darth-Baiter]

27 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

Like when gasoline first starting approaching $4.00/gallon nationwide years ago, and idiots were selling or trading in trucks and big SUV's and losing $$$ in order to buy an econobox. That would take driving for 8-10 years to make up the difference lost in fuel savings. 

 

P.T. Barnum was right. So was H. L. Mencken. 

This is a bit harsh.  Some people I assume legitimately are hoping to reduce their carbon footprint.   To each their own. 
 

OP. What happened? You spun a bearing? 

[papajoe222]

5 hours ago, galyonj said:

 

I wanna know, too. Cause he described a misfire. And that ought to not take more than some new ignition coils and plugs to be good as new.

That's what I assumed and I replaced all the plugs and the ignition coil for that cylinder. Turns out there is only 20% compression for that cylinder. To find out the cause would require tearing down the valve/cam system,$4000, plus the cost to repair said problem, $1500 to $3000 above the inspection cost.  Kelly's Blue Book lists its value at $4800.

The reason I'm so shocked is I didn't expect a 25% increase in prices. If you are unaware of that increase, when you see it, if you're not shocked, you have a lot more money than I do.

[galyonj]

2 minutes ago, papajoe222 said:

That's what I assumed and I replaced all the plugs and the ignition coil for that cylinder. Turns out there is only 20% compression for that cylinder. To find out the cause would require tearing down the valve/cam system,$4000, plus the cost to repair said problem, $1500 to $3000 above the inspection cost.  Kelly's Blue Book lists its value at $4800.

 

I gotcha. Yeah, that cylinder's in a bad way.

[BrianMDTX]

1 hour ago, Darth-Baiter said:

This is a bit harsh.  Some people I assume legitimately are hoping to reduce their carbon footprint.   To each their own. 
 

OP. What happened? You spun a bearing? 

I’m not referencing that particular scenario. I’m talking about folks who bought $40K and up trucks not so long ago, and when gasoline went from $2.00 to close to $4.00 a gallon, they panicked and lost $$$$ because they thought they were going to face bankruptcy on fuel costs and traded in their truck for something small and economical. When the reality was they would have come nowhere near the monetary loss incurred in higher fuel costs than they did losing $10K or more dumping their trucks. 

[Boomstick]

Car prices go up so fast since the end of 2009 and on that it may be worth fixing believe it or not. I bought a car before the prices started skyrocketing later in 2009, drove it for 4 years, put all sorts of miles on it and traded it in because it was RWD with fat tires when I bought a house on a fairly steep and narrow road because I needed something that could make it up the hill in the winter and still got a large chunk of what I paid for it back. A few years later, I bought a Dodge Charger, everything on that car besides the engine went near literally and a year later I traded it in when the transfer case went right and the warranty was expiring, and got what I paid for it.

 

I bought a '14 GMC Sierra with 26k on it in 2018 from a local dealer. I probably could have saved a few grand if I was willing to leave Massachusetts (which has the highest used car prices in the world) but I opted to keep local as I was undergoing chemo at the time, plus this dealer is very good. You may pay more, but they replace brakes and rotors if they're 50% and feel a shimmy. I'll probably have this truck until 2034 at least.

 

Now they have a near identical short box (aka not long enough to fit bass rods) '14 with 70k on it and the asking price is the same.

[throttleplate]

1 hour ago, papajoe222 said:

That's what I assumed and I replaced all the plugs and the ignition coil for that cylinder. Turns out there is only 20% compression for that cylinder. To find out the cause would require tearing down the valve/cam system,$4000, plus the cost to repair said problem, $1500 to $3000 above the inspection cost.  Kelly's Blue Book lists its value at $4800.

The reason I'm so shocked is I didn't expect a 25% increase in prices. If you are unaware of that increase, when you see it, if you're not shocked, you have a lot more money than I do.

hondas make some of the best engines of any manufacturer. With routine oil changes using the proper oil that engine should last 300,000 miles or more.

 

 honda engines use camshaft to rocker, rocker pushing down on valve ,eliminating a pressurized hydraulic lifter, what this means is you have to manually adjust your valve train about every 100,000 miles.

 

You may have a valve that is not closing and to get rid of a honda pilot which are very sought after vehicles is bad judgement.

Did the mechanic do a wet compression test? a compressed air test to determine if valves are seating? Is this a dealership that wants to sell you a car then turnaround if you trade in your pilot will fix it for pennies and make thousands?

[WRB]

Check your Costco Auto program, generally 3% over dealer cost!

Another option is check with dealers who have vehicles that sponsor major golf events. The SUV’s used are usually driven less then a few thousand miles with full warranty saving thousands $$$$$.

[Boomstick]

1 hour ago, throttleplate said:

Is this a dealership that wants to sell you a car then turnaround if you trade in your pilot will fix it for pennies and make thousands?

Even assuming the dealership was correct in what it needs, it's usually beneficial to fix it then sell it, or even trade it in. Dealers will offer a trade for a vehicle that needs a lot of work for $2-3k and then fix it, change the oil and put it on the lot for $12-13k or whatever often, but fixing it can get your money back in a trade.