Toyota: "Oh What a Feeling!" (We're Fucked!)

[Nitro Express]

With Chinese stuff you have to buy stuff they make for themselves. Not what they make for export. I needed a set of calipers and had a friend in Shanghai go into a tool store and buy what I wanted and he sent them to me. Swiss quality. They are beautifully made but you aren't going to see those at Harbor Freight. Where the Japanese and Chinese differ is the Japanese want everything off the line to be to a certain standard. The Chinese play favorites. The good stuff goes to the special customer and the shit goes to everyone else. It's all about connections in China and who you know. Sure it's that way everywhere but more so in China. There is always that back room full of magic if you are invited in. LOL!

[Nitro Express]

With the Chinese they don't forget for good or bad. Not the kind of people you want to screw over. If you do them a favor they remember that as well. I helped an owner of the Chinese restaurant get a work visa for a cook he wanted to bring over from Hong Kong. We were in Hong Kong and went to the US Embassy and not only were they no help, they were fucking rude. I got pissed and started calling my local representatives back home. One of our US Senators offices got in touch with me and it so happened that he dealt with the State Department on some committees he sat on and got to the right person and got the problem solved. Anyways the asshole in the US embassy in Hong Kong wanted to know who I was and who I knew. I just told the fuck he worked for me because I was a US taxpayer and the lesson he needed to learn was don't fuck with taxpayers.

So I never had to pay for a meal at that restaurant ever again and it never was what was on the menu. It was the special stuff in the kitchen the average customer didn't get. It also opened up huge contacts in Hong Kong and there seemed to always be a cousin who sold this and that. So favors go a long way in China and it's all about connections. Friends and family get the best stuff. That is why their manufacturing is real random. You aren't going to get quality across the board in China. The place just doesn't operate that way so it's going to be interesting.

[Nitro Express]

So with the up and coming Chinese auto industry, I guess there will be that special line of cars available if you are a good friend of cousin number 5. There is a pecking order with cousins I learned as well. It's a big insult to go to cousin number 5 before you see cousin number 2. So to get that suit from cousin number 5, you better visit cousins 1-4 because they will find out about it and if you don't do that they will be insulted. So if you do a lot of business in China be prepared to have lots of lunches and dinners out trying to get that one thing accomplished.

[ELVIS]

I looked hard at the SRT4 last year, based on your praises of the thing...I didn't like the ride, but the fact that I wanted to save money on gas was the main reason I stayed away..it takes premium only. Fuck that. And the base model Neon? Oh, no...I want to DRIVE it, not constantly FIX it!

I still have my ACR Neon...

The biggest problem with neons and some Chrysler products from the same era are the relays...

Many neons died due to overheating because a bad relay kept the cooling fans off...

I have good quality relays in mine and I apply dielectric grease to ALL electrical connections and I have never had a problem...

I'm on my 4th neon and I still like 'em...

[PETE'S BROTHER]

I still have my ACR Neon...

The biggest problem with neons and some Chrysler products from the same era are the relays...

Many neons died due to overheating because a bad relay kept the cooling fans off...

I have good quality relays in mine and I apply dielectric grease to ALL electrical connections and I have never had a problem...

I'm on my 4th neon and I still like 'em...

bad relays have burned out shitloads of gm truck fuel pumps for the last ten years...

[ELVIS]

I also have a '99 Suburban...

A relay can't burn out a fuel pump...

GM has several TSB's on this subject...

What burns first is the fuel pump wiring harness that plugs in over the rear axle - usually due to a bad ground...

I converted mine from SFI to MFI, changed the fuel tank, fuel pump, sending unit, wiring harness, fuel filter and pressure regulator...

I pull a travel trailer with mine and I don't like fixing it while on vacation...

Many people who replace their pump experience a premature pump failure because that's all they changed...

I'm sure there are a few GM truck owners here...

You can thank me later...

[Nitro Express]

bad relays have burned out shitloads of gm truck fuel pumps for the last ten years...

They always love to put the fuel pump inside a big ass tank and it usually fails with a full tank of gas. I just scrapped the stock in tank pump and put a Mallory inline pump instead. I left the tank stock and just put a fuel pickup tube and filter on where the pump motor was and never had any problems. I also changed the regulator for one that has a PSI gauge on it so if I have problems I can see what I have at the fuel rail. Overkill but why not.

What's nice about GM trucks is there are enough good after market parts to remedy the factory fuck ups.

[Nitro Express]

I like the old Bosch relays because you could pop the metal top off and clean the contacts. I never had one actually go bad but the contacts corrode or get dirty. I did that fix on a road trip. With the new sealed plastic relays you can't do that.

I hear you on the dielectric grease. If you are driving a fuel injected vehicle in the dirt, water, and grime you want to grease all your connectors. Chances are it's an electrical connection fault over anything else.

[Nitro Express]

I'm pretty amazed at how reliable fuel injection is in very harsh conditions. I just grease the connections and put the computer and relays in a water tight lunch box. I've driven through water so deep its coming in the cab but the engine keeps running.

[Nickdfresh]

You don't know shit...

The 200 IS a Seabring with a new interior, new lights and the new pentastar V6...

Which would make it almost a completely different car, eh fuckwit?

It's a major redesign, dummy! You forgot the major suspension upgrades that allow the car to perform better than a cinder-block on a skateboard, unlike the notoriously embarrassing Seabrick.

It is a nice car, much nicer than a camry any day, but it's due to be totally scrapped and replaced mid to late 2012...

As far as Toyota, they are having GM like quality problems and they are bland bland bland, inside and out...

Not to mention they are somewhat difficult to work on and parts are very expensive...

Never had one and never will...

If I 'don't know shit," then you must know less as you've pretty much agreed with and regurgitated everything I've said....

[Nickdfresh]

True. Most Japanese stuff is not made in Japan anymore. Most German stuff is still made in Germany. If you look at exports, tiny Germany is only behind China and not by much. I find I'm buying German appliances now because the US brands have gone to shit and I'm tired of the stuff breaking all the time. The thing is Meile isn't any more expensive than the Chinese and Mexican made shit with GE or Maytag on it. A sad story but it's true.

I'm looking for a good deal and I don't buy junk. Whoever makes it get's my business. If we continue to buy disposable crap that breaks, then that's all they will sell eventually.

Dude, you drive a German car largely constructed in Mexico. Who the fuck are YOU lecturing?

BTW, German cars are amongst the worst when it comes to reliability and cost-of-ownership...