Pittfan03 wrote:

td11 wrote:

Pittfan03 wrote:Actually got a question. The dealer I go to for car work says I need two new front wheel hubs for my 2000 Chevrolet Impala. He quoted about $950 for parts/labor/tax. I am going to ask around on Monday, but that seems really high for that. Is that normal price range for two?

Second question is that if these were bad would it throw my car out of alignment? I've noticed a definite pull to the left recently.

wait, are you talking about hubcaps?

No, I'm not.

So, when you say "wheel hubs," do you mean the rim/wheels? $950 sounds steep, but not unlikely for OEM wheels. If you definitely want your new wheels to match the old ones, you may not be able to do much better (but then again, you might, so you should definitely ask around). Getting aftermarket wheels could probably save you a lot though.

My car had a bent rim, I went on ebay and bought a replacement. It was scratched a little, but I don't really care at all about that, I think it cost me $100 for the rim shipped and I took it to the local tire shop and they put it on for a few bucks.

I'm pretty sure he's talking about the "hubs", meaning the things that attach to the axle and have the bolts onto which you attach the "wheel". I think they're called "rotors" if you have disc brakes, and "hubs" if you have drum brakes.

If my take is correct, that does sound very high (but I know nothing about that individual car). I would expect $500-$600 for hubs on a "normal" car.

Bucky wrote:I'm pretty sure he's talking about the "hubs", meaning the things that attach to the axle and have the bolts onto which you attach the "wheel". I think they're called "rotors" if you have disc brakes, and "hubs" if you have drum brakes.

If my take is correct, that does sound very high (but I know nothing about that individual car). I would expect $500-$600 for hubs on a "normal" car.

Yes, that is what I'm talking about. I thought that sounded high, but I wasn't sure.

Pittfan03 wrote:

Bucky wrote:I'm pretty sure he's talking about the "hubs", meaning the things that attach to the axle and have the bolts onto which you attach the "wheel". I think they're called "rotors" if you have disc brakes, and "hubs" if you have drum brakes.

If my take is correct, that does sound very high (but I know nothing about that individual car). I would expect $500-$600 for hubs on a "normal" car.

Yes, that is what I'm talking about. I thought that sounded high, but I wasn't sure.

You were right, I talked to an independent auto shop, and they quoted $650 plus tax.

So I'm finally getting my new car tonight, almost two weeks after putting down the deposit.

The dealer and/or Mazda USA really shat the bed on this. They didn't have the car in the color and with the equipment we wanted on the lot, so they had to redirect it from another dealer. Unfortunately, that other dealer was on "finance hold" and their inventory was maxed out, so the car was actually being held at the port in Newark. The second dealer didn't tell our dealer this, and the car just sat in port for a week until we complained last Friday. Supposedly this was all worked out then and the car was supposed to be trucked out right away, but it still hadn't made it to our dealer yesterday, so I inquired again. They sent someone to go to Newark to pick it up in person and it came in yesterday evening.

I'm pretty soured on the dealership and Mazda in general, but I still want the car because its really the only thing like it on the market today and it's a great fit for our needs. I don't like making a stink, but have made my feelings known to the salesman, the sales manager at the dealerhip, and also to the regional sales manager who got involved as well. Everyone was apologetic but nobody has done anything to make it up to us, other than give us a loaner to drive.

Did you go to North Penn Mazda?

Yup.

okay, so what would you want/expect? They offered a rental, so I dont see why you feel slighted. You even admit that it's not the dealer's fault but the other's dealer fault.

I don't really care whose fault it was. We've been jerked around for two weeks.

We were originally told the car would be available by roughly Wednesday of last week. We inquired about it on Thursday (giving them an extra day due to the snowstorm) and were told that there was no news. We asked again on Friday and again got no new information. At that point I complained to the sales manager and he got on the phone with the other dealer and the regional manager and figured out the inventory snafu.

This was supposed to be fixed right then and the car was going to be on its way. Five days (three business days) later, not only was it not at NP Mazda, it wasn't even en route. Again, we had to complain before anything happened -- in this case, sending somebody to the port to pick up the car in person.

Maybe the dealer doesn't owe me anything, but they could have been more forthcoming with keeping me apprised of the situation, and they could have been more proactive about getting the car from the other dealer in the first place. Mazda USA could have better inventory control that could have prevented this in the first place.

The loaner car is nice, but it's not OUR car (in particular it doesn't have the manual transmission which is largely what made the sale in the first place). We have a bunch of stuff to transfer from my old car that's been waiting in a box for over a week now. And of course our deposit has been tied up and we've had nothing to show for it.

You seriously wouldn't be pissed if you were in my position?

as pissed as I get from corporate bungling and poor service, no I wouldnt be as upset as you are. For starters they actually apologized, which is rare in most business practices. Plus they made sure you had transportation (all loaners are going to be automatic). As far as I can tell your inconvenience is having to wait longer than you wanted to and was told it would take. I'm willing to bet the reason they didnt have the car you wanted in stock was mostly due to it being a manual tranny. Now it sucks for you that you have to either order or get a dealer trade to get your desired car but 98% of the population wants automatic transmissions.

The biggest crime of the dealer is their lack of communication, but when you request for out of stock inventory it sometimes takes a while to get what you want exactly. I think you should realize that your manual transmission and getting what you want is worth a 2 week wait.

You sound like a car dealer (yes, I know you used to be one).

I know for a fact that the manual transmission (and the color) is the reason they had to go get the car from elsewhere. But if they had told us at the beginning it was going to take two weeks, I wouldn't be pissed now.

We were originally told to expect the car five days after we put down our deposit. That, combined with the lack of communication from the dealer, combined with the repeated inventory/shipping fuck-ups is what has me steaming.

I don't really care that the loaner is an automatic, and I understand why they all are. I was just pointing out why I'm annoyed despite having the loaner. It's nice, but it's not my car. I just want my car.

On second thought, if we had known it was going to take this long or be this much trouble, we probably would have gone with one on the lot (they had a manual there, but in a different color).

I think phatj wants that handjob that any new car buyer in this market is entitled to.

Well, yeah.

New car:

Interesting. I didn't even think that this was an option, but they give you a credit to trade-down from the nicer stock wheels to those?

i havent driven my car in like 2 weeks. if it wasn't parked on the street right on my way to walking to the gym every day id forget where it was parked. luckily they make an iPhone app for that.

Bucky wrote:Interesting. I didn't even think that this was an option, but they give you a credit to trade-down from the nicer stock wheels to those?

What? Those are stock.

Looks like PhatJ got jobbed after all....