Do not buy a Toyota!21:34 Aug 17 2009
Times Read: 565
Three years ago my dad got a Toyota Rav4. He uses it to commute to work every day, but gets very regular maintenance through a certified Toyota mechanic and takes great care of it.
On the day he dropped me off at the airport in San Francisco, we heard a weird noise, but it was nothing too concerning, so my dad decided to leave it until he got back to Washington. At the point of him leaving San Francisco, he was still just under the warranty limit. (100,000 miles.)
Back in Washington, as he was driving it to the mechanic, the belt broke and my dad had to pull over to the side of the road and get towed. (Bear in mind that no warning light for the engine ever came on, and no flashing light, which means "pull over immediately.") At the mechanics, they told him that the noise he heard was his water pump breaking. As a result of this, they said, his engine was warped and he needed a new one! Despite the fact that he is just over the warranty, Toyota denied him financial help. The Toyota mechanic decided to try and convince them otherwise, since an engine should not fail because of a broken water pump and only after 100,000 miles. They had records of his regular upkeep and maintenance, and were going to use these also to vouch for him.
Toyota got in contact with my dad a few days ago and told him they would cover up to the whole thing, under the condition that the mechanics looked further into the engine issue and see if all it needed was a new head gasket. A new engine at this point was priced at $7000.
Today, they got in contact again, upon finding out that a full engine replacement was needed, and get this. They will only cover my dad for $1500, and only if he buys a brand new Toyota engine, which costs $12,000! If he goes with anything that costs less than that, they will not cover him at all!
They have lost a customer in my dad and a future customer in me. I want to spread the word about how unaccommodating and cheap Toyota is, and hopefully discourage people from buying their cars. Spread the word!
Valuable Advice
13:39 Aug 08 2009
Times Read: 579
This piece was presented as Kurt Vonnegut's commencement address at MIT in 1997. It's great stuff, but apparently it wasn't written or delivered by Vonnegut. It's still a beautiful piece...
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:
Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
COMMENTS
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ThothLestat
21:42 Aug 17 2009
that sucks.
I bet he can find a slightly used RAV4 engine on Ebay for $3000 or less. The RAV4 is only worth about $14k with 100,000 miles. Why put a 'new' engine in it? That dealership is insane.
(proud Honda driver)
Evren
22:30 Aug 17 2009
Yes, that's what he plans to do. He's found one for about $5000 with only 25,000 miles on it.
I don't know who they think they're fooling, or who'd be dumb enough to pay $12,000 on a car that isn't even worth that much. They have a lot of nerve...