First Day at the New Job

"Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection" (itsalwayssteve)
04/11/2014 at 23:09 • Filed to: joblopnik, CVTs

So I'm now working for an automotive aftermarket company — one that fits aftermarket leather interiors (not Katzkin) into cars and I feel like I'm a decent fit.

I've met the whole staff and the guys in the shop are pretty cool. The drivers who pick up and deliver the cars are a bunch of retired guys who just need to get out of the house. And Everyone seems to be able to jump in wherever someone needs a hand. Within an hour of arriving, I was told to go follow a driver named Jerry (at 68, he's the youngun on the driver team) to a dealer to return a '14 Outlander Sport. The Outlander Sport is kind of a depressing vehicle, although it looks nice. This was a mid-level model that came into the shop for a leather interior. It had the CVT, which is probably why it was so depressing.

Now, this was the first time I drove any non-golf-cart with a CVT and it simply felt weird.

Back about a decade and a half ago, I had a Plymouth Sundance with a dying clutch. It got BAD. For example, I could leave it in gear while I was at a stoplight and it would just sit. I didn't have to shift from first to get up to 55 mph because the clutch was slipping so badly that once it got up past about 2000 RPM, the revs just climbed up to the fuel cutoff regardless of what gear I was in. The front fender was hot to the touch when I finally got it back to the pizza place where I was working. I called my dad to pick me up and we limped it over to a transmission shop where I spent almost two weeks' worth of tips to have the clutch replaced .

That's how the CVT felt. The engine lunged into action and it felt like the transmission was taking its damned sweet time to catch up. I didn't like it one bit.

So anyway, I'm working for an automotive aftermarket company who does some good work. I can do this until I finish school.

DISCUSSION (7)

PatBateman > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
04/11/2014 at 23:15

How much for an ostrich skin interior?

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > PatBateman
04/11/2014 at 23:20

Depends on the vehicle — The Outlander, an Accord, and a few other small SUVS and mid-size sedans ran around $750 for a standard single-color leather interior. A three-row two-tone on a Suburban was like $1200. The ostrich may cost more. I don't do price quotes yet.

PatBateman > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
04/11/2014 at 23:22

F150 Crew Cab. My guess is $1,500.

dogisbadob > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
04/11/2014 at 23:33

Congrats on the new job and good luck!

jdjonesdr > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
04/19/2014 at 10:13

CVT's suck.

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > PatBateman
04/19/2014 at 12:24

at my branch it's about $1000-1100 actually

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > jdjonesdr
04/19/2014 at 12:32

Yes they do. The chase cars are all CVT Versas. It's weird to drive them. I drove a Grand Cherokee with the Pentastar V6 and 8-speed auto and it was satisfying to feel the kickdown. On another note, I understand why people who don't like to drive like Priuses. It was like I wasn't even driving when I was delivering it to the Toyota dealer.