Goddamn, I Hate My Wife's Car - A Rant

"OmerCarrothers333" (omercarrothers333)
04/10/2018 at 21:52 • Filed to: None

In 2016 I made a mistake, or a series of mistakes: I traded in a 2013 Honda CR-V that was almost out of it’s lease for a 2007 Acura MDX that was just a hair under 100,000 miles and it would be financed for six years. When we were signing the paperwork, my wife convinced me to get the extended warranty.

The warranty would be better used as a toilet paper as over the last two years I’ve had to: replace a key (there was only one available when we bought this shitbox), replace the timing chain, replace the tires, replace the brakes, replace the motor-mounts, get a new power-steering hose (the one that requires dropping the subframe), some of the important fluids (brake, transmission, power steering), the battery, and now the fucking alternator is shot.

I do not claim to be a mechanic, I can do some of the basics, like oil changes, plugs, and the like, but shelling out the money every couple months to fix this damn thing is killing me.

I fucking despise this car and I want to only drive it off a cliff.

Meanwhile, I’ve had my 2012 GTI a year and I’ve only had to do an oil change and swap out the filters.

Thank you for letting me get this off my chest.

The MkI GTI pic is for whatever fees are necessary for my rant.

DISCUSSION (19)

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > OmerCarrothers333
04/10/2018 at 22:18

Dude those 2007 mdxs and really 2007 Acura’s in general were shit. They look so pretty and drive well when they didn’t have issues, but yeah my dad bought the mdx and tsx new in 2007 and a few years ago had to get rid of them both cause the issues were many, tho like you my dad isn’t much of a mechanic.

dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford > OmerCarrothers333
04/10/2018 at 22:30

I can’t say I’m surprised, most of that seems about right for any car with 100k miles, except for the power steering hose. That’s the reason why I never suggest anyone buy a car with 90-110k unless you know the service history and are prepared to do that work.

OmerCarrothers333 > dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford
04/10/2018 at 22:36

Don’t get me wrong, I get that cars can be money-pits, especially if they were never taken care of or Italian, I just wasn’t expect to spend soooooo much money in what’s a relatively short period of time on what basically, a Honda Pilot.

OmerCarrothers333 > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/
04/10/2018 at 23:48

You’re not making me feel too good about possibly keeping this thing... I am curious about what went wrong with your dad’s MDX?

Svend > OmerCarrothers333
04/11/2018 at 05:04

I worked with a guy who had a Mk1 GTi in the same Mars Red. The thing was like a go-kart. You pointed it and fired, stick a few bends and corners in the mix and the thing was like it was glued to the road.

Regretably someone stole it from outside his house one morning, such a shame. She was a great car.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > OmerCarrothers333
04/11/2018 at 07:28

I’m with you on that front, surprising to have so many issues right at the 100k mark. I could imagine the 150k mark for a fancy Honda, but sounds like the 100k mark is where the wheels fall off. So the timing chain needed to be replaced? That seems extreme. 100k is the a typical interval for a timing belt, not a chain. Was the tensioner bad? I’ve heard of those getting weak and causing issues. And the warranty didn’t cover it? Keep your head up, you’re in it now, hopefully you e done the heavy lifting to make it a more reliable car now. But also, brakes and tires are typical consumables that are easily checked when making a purchase to know how much life is left in them. I’m happy to get 30k miles on a set of tires for my Dakota, and that has over 170k on it, I’ve put lots of tires on that one, lots. And brakes are probably only going to last you about 30-40k at most, but that’s a great DIY job to do with rockauto parts. Good way to start wrenching. Sounds like you’re on the right track with fluid replacements though. That’s the cheapest way to keep the car running. Just wait for the suspension parts to need replacement. Those are fun. Ball joints and struts, good times. Oh yeah, and wheel bearings, those will be fun too. But other than that, you should be able to just drive the thing now. Fingers crossed.

E92M3 > OmerCarrothers333
04/11/2018 at 08:28

Most of that was just maintenance. You bought it right right before it’s major timing BELT service. My 2009 is going to hit 100k in the next month. So far I’ve only replaced the oil pressure sensor, and a power steering o-ring, as far as non scheduled maintenance. $30 in parts, and an hour of my time.

I think you need to rent a Honda Pilot off Turo for a couple of days, and you’ll appreciate it more. The AWD in the Pilot is crap compared to SH-AWD. It doesn’t mean much today, but back then it was one of the few SUV’s that’s suspension was tuned on the Nurburgring. The 2nd gen MDX is only .1g off the BMW X5 of the same time period. Ranked 3rd place in handling for SUV’s behind only the Cayenne and BMW X5.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > OmerCarrothers333
04/11/2018 at 09:44

I’ll have to ask him. I can’t remember. Didn’t mean to discourage you :/. I did love driving both cars!

OmerCarrothers333 > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/
04/11/2018 at 11:11

Like I said, I get that older cars, even ones made in the 21st century, have issues. I would just rather not have so many crop up in what seems like all at once.

Also, I would get it even more if I bought something that was known to have issues, but I have the automotive equivalent of a fancy refridgerator.

OmerCarrothers333 > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc
04/11/2018 at 11:15

I meant timing belt, I think I put timing chain because this emergency fix on my wife’s car has delayed my own repairs/inspection on my car; I’m due for the DSG service and I need to make sure the timing chain tensioner does not need to be replaced, as certain years of VW TSI engines had that gremlin.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > OmerCarrothers333
04/11/2018 at 11:57

10-4, that makes a lot more sense. Did the warranty cover any of the timing belt?

rillweid - Now with more TRD and less TDI > dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford
04/11/2018 at 12:45

We have a 06 Oddessy that has had continuous power steering problems through our ownership. Honda did a terrible job on that system.

OmerCarrothers333 > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc
04/11/2018 at 13:45

Nope

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > OmerCarrothers333
04/11/2018 at 13:49

That’s a bummer.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > OmerCarrothers333
04/11/2018 at 15:20

My dad said it kept draining the battery and the dealership couldn’t find out why. To which I asked if they changed out the alternator and such... but he’s at work so no reply on it yet.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > OmerCarrothers333
04/11/2018 at 20:37

Apparently it wasn’t the alternator and that he got rid of it cause he got tired of trickle charging to allow the battery to make it through the next day (which only really worked somewhat).

Also the tl (not tsx) type s he had was fine, he just sold it cause they needed the money. So I retract my previous statement about 2007 Acura’s (tho your experience is a strong case against them :/)

Good luck with it! Beautiful car!

OmerCarrothers333 > OmerCarrothers333
04/11/2018 at 22:38

I’m not gonna lie now; after replacing the alternator, I’m wondering if I should just get rid of the car now, even though I’m upside down, just because I don’t know if I can afford to keep repairing the damn thing.

Any advice from the Oppos?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > OmerCarrothers333
04/19/2018 at 18:00

Some of the ugliest-in-the-extreme cars I’ve seen lately have been Acuras. Does Missus like the car? (That’s what’s important.)

OmerCarrothers333 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
04/19/2018 at 23:44

She does, but after we did the math that we spent over $5,000 for repairs, she doesn’t like it as much as she did when we got it.