I have a friend that owns a 1999 Geo Metro. Great car, especially the gas mileage. I guess that is where ‘cheap’ ends. It needed a muffler. He goes to the local Chevrolet dealer and asks about replacing the muffler. He about fell over and shit his pants when they told him how much the muffler was. They told him that the muffler was $850.00 plus the labor to install it!!! $850.00 for a lousy muffler!!! Just exactly what in the H… do they make mufflers out of these days, anyway? GOLD??? That is just plain way out of line as far as I’m concerned. Needless to say, he took it to Midas and got one installed for a whole lot less. It is no wonder that people don’t trust auto dealerships anymore!! $850.00 indeed!!!
Never, ever, ever, ever, never go to a car dealer for car parts unless you can’t get them anywhere else! They’ll take a part, made for $5 on the assembly line, shipped to them for $50 and sell it to you at the bargain price of $150. They will charge you $60 for an oil change that you can get at a 10 minute lube place for $21.95.
THESE PEOPLE invented leasing cars! I mean, come on! Joe or Josephine Public lease a car for $2,000 down plus $400 a month and when the lease is up – they have no car! (Unless they choose to buy it - at a reduced rate, of course.) I still have not managed to get a real good explanation from an average leaser as to why they lease and not buy. Most only say that they get a new car each year if they wish.
These people knew about the plastic parts they dumped in the motors of cars for the 70s and 80s that wore out within a few thousand miles – and that they did not work and they ‘just happened’ to have a ready supply of the metal replacement parts on hand – for a price.
One of the 89 Ford Vans could not keep it’s front end in line. It seemed that normal road bumps would knock it out but the dealership never mentioned it and just kept right on realigning the front ends until people caught on. Then they sold the damn vans.
I had the starter changed on my Ford Wagon and a mechanic friend did the work for me and swore that he had never seen anything like it. He had to undo the motor mounts and jack the motor up to get the starter out! He said the designers made the damn car so that the starter was put on, then the engine dropped in and the starter was blocked by the frame!
An other friend broke the tail light on his 99 Ford truck and since the assembly was not all that big, figured he could buy the lens and replace it. No way! He had to buy the entire assembly at a cost of $100 and no ‘clones’ were in the shops yet. He drove around with his tail light taped in red tape until a few trucks got wrecked and bought the replacement lens from a junk yard for $2.
Auto dealers have one of the few legal rights to screw the general public for as much as they possibly can get away with. So do auto makers.
Geo Metro - Great car.
I must say, it’s the first time I’ve read those words together without the word “NOT!” immediately following the phrase. Did your friend actually look at the crash statistics for these cars? How about the repair history of previous models and general customer satisfaction?
In any case, even a GEO Metro comes with a warranty. Particularly if it’s a 1999 model. My guess is that the muffler should be covered for the first year or two of it’s life, no? Yes. Sounds like your friend did not do his/her homework.
A base Ford Focus or even Hyunday Accent would have been a far better and not significantly more costly choice. Particularly the Hyunday which comes with a 10 year warranty these days. You can’t beat that for basic no frills transportation. IMHO.
Call a parts store, give them the year the model, ask them what a muffler costs…
Geo Metros are okay for the first 75,000 miles, then you need just about every part.
I keep a JCWhitney catalog around to check prices. They are also a good supplier.You shouldn’t forget the salvage yard as a parts outlet.
JCWhitney? I dont like them, their parts are cheaply made, don’t send what I ordered, take a long time to get the right part, part doesn’t fit, etc. Just try your local parts store & say you want a discount.
Handy
I’ve heard some bad things about their parts before but haven’t had any problems myself. I don’t think they could stay in business if that were the rule instead of the exception.