Bye Bye Chevy!
My family has owned Chevy trucks since the 1950's. When I met my husband in 1998 he was driving a 1986 Chevy Blazer that had no major systems failures in its history until the transmission went in early 1999. The car had over 200,000 miles on it by then.
We bought a brand new Blazer in 1999. (the car has 56k miles on it). Since we bought it, he's had to:
I think there may be more, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Plus he takes GREAT care of this car. He gets the oil changed ever 3k miles. He takes it in for all it's scheduled maintenance check-ups. Most of these repairs were covered by an after-market warantee. (except the rotors, brakes and batteries) However, that doesn't cover our time or our panic at being stranded by the side of the road with a baby until somebody with a tow-truck can be bothered to show up. So, this summer, when the warantee goes, the car goes. We had planned to keep it for 10 years. But it's not safe. It's just not going to happen. When did Chevy trucks become so completely unreliable?
I might add that I've never had to replace a thing on my 1998 Honda Accord. It only has 10k less miles than the Chevy. So, we may end up with a Honda Minivan. We are succumbing to the lure of the minivan... Once there are 2 kids in the picture, the minivans whisper your name as you sleep. There is no resisting the lure of the third row seating...
My family has owned Chevy trucks since the 1950's. When I met my husband in 1998 he was driving a 1986 Chevy Blazer that had no major systems failures in its history until the transmission went in early 1999. The car had over 200,000 miles on it by then.
We bought a brand new Blazer in 1999. (the car has 56k miles on it). Since we bought it, he's had to:
- replace the front rotors twice
- replace the rear rotors
- The Ball joints failed, and the front wheels nearly fell off, so those had to be replaced
- replace the battery twice
- replace all brake pads and shoes at least twice
- replace the altinator
I think there may be more, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Plus he takes GREAT care of this car. He gets the oil changed ever 3k miles. He takes it in for all it's scheduled maintenance check-ups. Most of these repairs were covered by an after-market warantee. (except the rotors, brakes and batteries) However, that doesn't cover our time or our panic at being stranded by the side of the road with a baby until somebody with a tow-truck can be bothered to show up. So, this summer, when the warantee goes, the car goes. We had planned to keep it for 10 years. But it's not safe. It's just not going to happen. When did Chevy trucks become so completely unreliable?
I might add that I've never had to replace a thing on my 1998 Honda Accord. It only has 10k less miles than the Chevy. So, we may end up with a Honda Minivan. We are succumbing to the lure of the minivan... Once there are 2 kids in the picture, the minivans whisper your name as you sleep. There is no resisting the lure of the third row seating...
posted by Margaret at 10:28 AM
3 Comments:
We did very poorly with a '95 GMC Jimmy (essentially the same car as the Blazer). We had the transmission rebuilt two or three times until we traded it in in 2001 for the Yukon XL. The Yukon has been pretty much fine. I think Blazers have gone downhill, and at least in the '90s certain model years are absolute disasters.
Here's hoping for labor soon! And cushions sooner!
Hugs!
-P
How many miles do you have on your Yukon? I suppose it's a real truck, not one of these SUV thingies that seem to get everybody into trouble these days.
It's technically an SUV, but a lot of horse people buy them for towing as an alternative to a pickup. It has the official tow package with the class 4 hitch and the tow/haul mode, and I have to say when hauling a load it's very efficient. It also has true 4wd with a high and low mode. It's just not a commuter car - uses lots of fuel and is a monster to park in average size parking spaces. When I see people driving sparkly clean ones here in the 'burbs I really wonder. Mine is pretty much always covered in mud and dust. Anyway, I think it has about 70k miles on it right now.
So I'm watching your blog for baby news!!!
Hugs!
-P
Post a Comment
<< Home