Want a NON-LEAKING valve cover install on Toyota Cressida w/7MGE DOHC 6

Yeah, right Vic...

Mine and hundreds of thousands of others failed. I am not ranting, unless you consider telling the truth about GM crap is ranting.

Felpro and others beat GM to the punch. Do you REALLY think that GM designs, tests, and manufactures all their gaskets...Hell, no!! They buy from contract manufacturers BUT when GM screws up, they leave it to the customer to take the hit.

Not once, but several times, Vic.

I understand what you mean. Early run GM products may have had a plethora of faults....which they tried to dump on the customer.

I have seen this too. Gaskets look like they should have failed earlier, but maybe did not.

Aftermarket parts CAN be a blessing. Or not.

That is probably true. When you have a chronic "leaker", usually some other factors are in play. Most can be "fixed", or made acceptably reliable. When you look are reasonable engineering principles, you can normally determine why some engines tend to leak like sieves, and why others are nearly bulletproof.

Some engines come from the factory nearly as junk. Others are really tough.

I have had a few troublesome Ford engines (some earlier engines which were prone to crack), and GM, which did a lot of undesirable things.

In my youth, if I wanted a car that would run like billyhell, I would buy a GM. If I wanted a car that would idle well, I might choose a Ford.

Both have their advantages and their heartbreaks.

Vic, I had many failures from GM products. I could recite a LIST but it wouldnt help anything.

Yes, I have a grudge against them, and it is NOT undeserved.

Anyone who wants to be a cheerleader for GM must put his personal credibility on the line. GM has SUCKED>

I hope that, if GM survives, that they will come back with top quality, responsive, performing and durable automobiles.

But this has NOT been their history over the past few decades.

the only way that'll happen is if the chinese do it for them. because it sure isn't going to be a product of anything stateside management is focused on.

My experience is 180 from yours. Sure, I've replaced failed parts. But that's par for the course. Only Ford, Chrysler and VW have stranded me. The ignition lock on a Corsica broke on my wife once though as she left work. Had to pick her up and get the car towed. Not bad for +40 years of driving mostly Chevys. To me anyway..

I could cheerlead every GM car I've owned to my team only. Mostly because I got them dirt cheap compared to the alternatives. Doesn't mean anybody would watch or listen. Pretty much like I ignore what you say. And what others say here about their brand preferences or dislikes. We all have our unique experiences. I enjoy the tech stuff.

I don't care what happens to GM, except what their failure would do to the economy. Never been a brand fanatic. Only bought used GM and got very good value. I fully understand where you're coming from. If GM dies, I'll move on to whatever replaces them near the bottom of the used car price scale.

And I'll get good value there by picking and choosing the flaws I can easily deal with. I'm a real cheapskate with my car-buying, but don't blink at the price of needed maintenance. But that's always been a low price. That's the advantage of studying what you buy and knowing what work you can do yourself. New car buyers are on their own. I'd probably buy a Toyota if I was a new car buyer. But that may be old thinking, since the Malibu gets good marks. Doesn't matter. I'll never buy a new car. Good luck to new car buyers.

--Vic

I've done it both ways, towed some cars home to fix them and drive, but the best value I found were the over priced lower mileage used cars.

What do you mean "over priced?" Value and "over priced" don't go together. You mean to say "under priced?"

This is just rattling, so don't read if easily bored. Pure opinion. Don't expect anybody to agree. I'd start worrying if they did.

I would never buy a car I had to tow. Deal-killer right there. What works for me is sticking to the cars I know. And for sure knowing any weakness. It's much easier to know that now with the internet. I used to talk to mechanics all the time for advice. Now it easy to find cars that can go 200k miles without major repair expense.

I don't pay any attention to Consumer Reports ratings except to browse the worse cars. Why would anybody buy a car with known bad reliability? With a used car you start with the Kelly book value. Private owners, not car lots. Although back in the day I did real well with lot cars. Ugly ones with bad cosmetics. Got me there as well as a pretty car.

My '97 Lumina was $4500 Kelly book "good condition." First off, that price is determined by the market, and the market is guided by the likes of Consumer Reports, brand fanbois, and a "mass consciousness" desire for perfection that has nothing to do with my reality. HLS, and some of the brand fanbois here are examples. Not that they aren't right from their perspective. Just got nothing to do with me.

But the Lumina had a broken tail light lens. It had a slightly dented trunk and rear fender. Turn signal didn't work.. Locks clicked on/off frequently at random times. So I got it for $2500. If it was a Honda or Toyota it would have been fixed to maintain the resale value. But it's a Chevy, so the owner didn't bother. That's just how it is. And why I like Chevys. Bad resale price, then lowered more by owners not fixing the small stuff. Not always, but common.

I knew the 3.1, trans and suspension were good from a test drive. Nowadays I don't like doing much car work, but my son loves it. He had a perfect boneyard trunk, fender and lens assembly on it within a week. Lumina boneyard parts are dirt cheap too. Same deal with market forces. It's a Chevy. Less than $100 for all that. Bought a turn signal assembly from GM. $105. He had that done in an hour. Took him half an hour to find the random lock/unlock was caused by a loose wire in the alarm system. I gave him 3 bills for the work. Now I had a perfectly running and looking car. I've put 70k miles on it since with no unusual maintenance.

Without him I would have just paid $4500 for a genuine "good" condition Lumina. I'd still be ahead. Because some GM used cars are just plain and simple good value. If you can recognize trouble of course. I'm batting 1000 on that for drivetrain/suspension.

The '93 Grand Am I have as my second car worked differently. Bought it for my daughter to weekend college commute from Chicago to Champagne. Wife saw a for sale on it a few blocks from my house. One of prettiest blues I've seen, but I'm not a fan of blue. He wanted book price for it. $3500. I drove it, and it was perfect. I offered 32, he said 35. I gave him 35. Second most expensive car I ever bought. But he was a salesman for a sausage company and gave me a case of sausages. They were pretty good. The Grand Am has the 3.3, a shortened 3800. She drove it for 4 years with no problems and gave it to me when she bought a $30k Hyumdai SUV. I haven't spent $30k on all the cars I've had in 45 years of owning cars.

Had to unplug the Grand Am TCC, but I only drive it locally. My son keeps bugging me to let him fix it.

30 buck part and an hour to do it. It'll happen this spring. I don't care about the TCC, but it throws codes and I don't like seeing that light. The Grand Am has hardly any rust at all. You have to look closely for it. Best GM I've seen in that respect. My '90 Corsica was second best. Both went 19 years without holing. My '88 Celebrity holed rockers ten years in. The '97 Lumina holed the rockers 12 years in. That's the hardest thing to predict - rust.

Buying used cars isn't an arcane art. Just bargain but be fair in the end. We drove a '90 Corsica 2.2 as both primary and backup for 13 years. Saw a for sale in it locally. Some of it is luck and getting on it when you see it. Best to buy it before you *really* need it. This one was driven by a H.S. kid who was going off to college. He wanted $3000, which was a couple hundred below book. I took it for a ride, an noted to him it needed struts. He went to $2700. We got out, and my wife noted to me a little scratch. Just idle talk, but the kid heard her. He said $2500. Done. All I ever put on that in 13 years was struts, an o2 sensor, and an ignition lock.

--Vic

frankly, i'd rather tow and fix having paid an appropriate price - that way you know what you're getting and that it's going to work when you're done.

Im sure you do what works for you, and I do what works for me. When I was young and couldnt afford better, I had to take chances on used cars, beaters, etc.. Some of them lasted a long time and were very reliable. Pain comes when I buy a brand new car and it turns out to be unreliable and troublesome.

Some things can be repaired but never "fixed". Got one in my yard right now. Nice body style, but there seems to be no way to get ahead of the basic nature of the beast. Well, it was a "project" car anyway.

It almost seems like some people are destined to own some brands of car, and some aren't. When I was younger and had to pick my transportation out of the bargain bin, I had outstanding luck with a whole string of sub-$2K watercooled VWs. Now some people have nothing but problems with them. Perhaps this subject needs more research?

nate

nate

******** Probably so, Nate. There are some brands and year models which are know for their weaknesses.

It might be nice to assemble a database, or at least open a website, so that people could rag or rave some of them

I had a couple of VW Passats which were great cars...but a lot of people just have had bad experiences with them... Italian cars seem to be born to fail, but I have had a very good FIAT.

Rolls Royce bought rights to GM Hydramatic technology, believing that this was the best in the world at the time. Then, they tried to re-engineer the things to make them more polished, more durable, better. The re-engineered ones didnt work out, and they had to go back to GM to find out what was wrong. GM basically told them that they had tried that route too, and found that high levels of parts finish and tolerances did not work out and they had to go back and de-engineer...Took RR over 10 years, IIRC, to make improvements.

The 1967 Rolls catalog noted that chauffeur models were not available with a slushbox, "a skilled driver being smoother than even our Rolls automatics". Perhaps they should have left it at that.

Hey, I would feel the same as you. And I wasn't "happy" when I felt compelled to do the LIM gasket on my Lumina. Just lucky it didn't fail on me before 160k. But I'm so far ahead with GM, it's an acceptable trade-off.

The 2.8 Reata? My kid would go to town on that, but he's a youngster. Body parts are probably rare though.. I've had real good luck with 2.8/3.1's. My all-time favorite car was my '88 Celebrity with 2.8. Most I ever spent on a car, $6k in '91. My first V-6. Had 31K and I took it to 190k before it rotted out. Hard miles. Beat the snot out of it for 10 years. "Engine" work was 3 injectors, an ECU, fuel pump, alt. And a water pump at 120k. Started weeping in Florida. Now I just replace GM water pumps when I do coolant/hoses, every 4 years or so. Pumps are $15-20 and take ten minutes. That's what I'm talking about!

--Vic

Early on it seemed to run in the family with the big 3. That's the only thing that still explains why anybody would buy a Chrysler product. Acorns from the tree. Nowadays it's more price, "reliability," and looks, especially with the girls. I've got 7 kids, 3 sons, and only one drives only GM. He's a mechanic. Not for GM either. But he was raised by me, and started wrenching young on GM's. He's wrenched many others. He's a truck suspension specialist and if had a truck it would be called "Ford."

Car failure points and weaknesses are pretty well known. Some people are luckier than others, some people take better care of their cars, and some people lie. There was a study done some years ago about what people lie about the most. Think it was the top 5 lies. The top 2 lies were how much they paid for their house and how long was their commute. That's all I remember, but I'm sure many people always lie about their cars. I worked with a girl who was asking me if she got ripped off for what she paid for CV boots and a half-shaft on her 5-year old Civic. It was about 400 bucks. I just said it didn't sound bad to me. A year later she was saying her Honda was perfect and she never had to have any work done. I didn't even bother reminding her. Human nature. I try to be inhuman about that kind of stuff, and have a memory that never forgets paying 400 bucks for anything.

--Vic

You have a good memory, but it was a 3800 Reatta, 1990 model. I still think it is a beautiful car. Engine is good, so is tranny. Body parts can be high. A new windshield (which are made every few years on "campaigns") will set you back near $2 grand.

The electrical system has always been the problem. Too complicated for the era in which it was built.

No, I paid to much for them, probably close to full used car book price. But they had had good care and they were trouble free for the most part and it actually worked out very well. I look at the total cost to travel a mile, I include everything, cost, resale, tires, insurance, fuel, oil, parts, tag, mileage etc.

Nothing wrong with paying full book if you like the car. Same with buying new. People have different priorities with cars. Cost per mile is an easy calc for my cars. Initial price, maintenance cost, and gas. No resale. I junk them when done. If I won't drive it any more, I don't expect anybody else to. Tags, insurance don't matter. I do save on insurance because I pay for liability only. Tags and insurance are just the cost of admission. And cost per mile can be pretty meaningless. Still need that second car while my wife still goes to work in the Lumina. Since I don't have long commutes any more, and we use the Lumina for long trips and even local when together, the Grand Am goes a few hundred miles a year max. I don't want to be locked in the house, and it's a spare if her car goes down. Doesn't look good on a cost per mile basis, but doesn't bother me one bit. That's how it works

--Vic