Extended warranty HOSERS claim $825 for an alternator swap!!

[fixizin]

There's a new extended warranty SCAM on the block, called USfidelis.com... the same week they "somehow" got my CELL phone # , I started seeing their scare-mercials on Duh TV (CNBC, IIRC...)

These douchebags are telling the sokker moms they could be in for an $825 charge if their ALTERNATOR goes bad, or (more believable) $2,500 for a transmission! Bloody hell, before I report these hosers to the FTC, perhaps I should call the local Ferrari dealer, and see if ANY car, even a mid-engined exotic, can rack up $825 for a simple alternator swap!

 

[rickcdewitt]

does the message start with "this is an important message regarding your new car warrantee"? i hate that crap!

 

[Jason]

Some Honda Accords have $575 alternators. That's the part. Then add in labor to removed the right CV axle (Yep, the axle) and all that jazz. You are going to be over 90 for sure. Especially with dealers getting $85-100 an hour for labor.

The alternator on a low level Porsche Boxster can be close to that in parts only if you use Porsche parts.

 

[fixizin]

We got it sweet in terms of ACCESSIBLE belt-driven "accessories", don't we? ;')

Still, I'm tempted to get an old Porsche 914, and drop a Subaru WRX turbo engine into it! It's a proven killer-combo, and I'd be spankin' Boxsters, Caymans, and even 911s all over town!

 

[Jason]

Most likely. Just stay away from anything that says turbo on the back. Or the Carrera GT. No beating that.

 

[4x4RangerGuy]

An alternator on a 2000+ VW Passat w/V6 can easily cost that much to do since you have to remove the front of the car. I know, I used to do them all the time. That or timing belt/water pump.

 

[fixizin]

Pretty shocking info on these NON-exotic but FWD vehicles... which is why I avoid FWD in general... I do remember having to do a quick pull of the RF wheel and fender skirt to replace lower rad hose on ye ol' Taurus 3.0L, but no axle or anything "involved"...

does the message start with "this is an important message regarding your new car warrantee"? i hate that crap!

Yep, them's the f*ckw*ds I'm rantin' 'bout! Finally used some night&wkend minutes to go back and listen, and there's no indication they know anything about me or my vehicles... just BLIND DIALING... which should be illegal too.

 

[fixizin]

An alternator on a 2000+ VW Passat w/V6 can easily cost that much to do since you have to remove the front of the car. I know, I used to do them all the time. That or timing belt/water pump.

Do you remember how many hours "the book" allocated for labor on that? Germans definitely lead when it comes to ease of assembly over ease of servicing.

 

[fixizin]

Just stay away from anything that says turbo on the back. Or the Carrera GT. No beating that.

Not a problem with the Tiptronic sans-a-belt losers who are usually driving those in my neck of the woods, LOL. It appears that the "Carrera" GT is more of a Cayman, i.e. MID-engine, judging from position of rear wheels... also sad/amusing how they de-power the Cayman, so that its mid-engine stability doesn't outshine the flagship 911.

The fact that a Chevy 350 fits in a pancake-flat car like the 914 blows my visual judgement out of the water... but the Subie flat-4 is really the way to go in 914-land... engine crane--buy or rent?... hmmm... I bet the hosebags at USfidelis won't write an extended warranty for that hybrid.

 

[AllanD]

Ahhh... 914's the porsche that the porsche purists loved to hate.

then there was the friend that bought one from an estate sale.
as soon as he got the title transfered and tags for it he took it
for a drive and noticed it was missing so he called my brother
to help him went and got the parts to do a tune up, you know
plugs, wires, cap& rotor and brought by my place so my brother
could help him on the tuneup, my brother dived in and was back
out real quickly... "You need a different cap and you don't have
enough plugs", Eric said "what???"
MY brother called me and I got back to the shop to find them both
wearing shit eating grins.

His 914 wasn't a 914 (read "boring mid engine's Volkswagen like vehicle",
instead it was one of 3300-odd 914-6 models fitted with a real Porsche 6cyl.
But the story doesn't stop there...

it didn't have the 2.0liter flat six engine it was supposed to
have had, but instead had a fuel injected 2.7liter Carerra engine
that had been swapped in....

Once we got the ignition working and I cleaned out the fuel system from
the 5year old gasoline that the car was filled with and that car turned
out to be a SCREAMER.

He had originally planned to take the 1.7liter 4cyl apart and replace it with
parts from a 2.1liter (4cyl) Fuel injected transporter engine and add a
turbocharger to it...

those plans DIED when he discovered the extra two cylinders

Remember back in the early 80's there were no Scooby engine's to play with.

BTW on a 914 where were you planning on putting the radiator?

On a VW Vanagon they were built with a "wet" engine.

The 914 in all it's incarnations and machinations is an AIR COOLED engine.

AD

 

[fixizin]

GREAT find and MAJOR SCORE by your friend in 914-land!... hope it had enough transaxle to handle the extra torque.

Porsche purists... I always LMAO at those who "worship" the ALLEGED quality and mystical attributes of the "marque". Some even insist Porsches are "hand-made" vehicles. Hey, if that makes it feel better to pay too much, have at it.

But a German friend FROM Germany, and a Finnish co-worker FROM Finland, confirm from their own BUSINESS (not TOURIST) visits to various Porsche-Audi, Porsche-VW, and Valmet-Porsche factories, that indeed they are mass-produced vehicles, STAMPED out of sheet steel, and welded up by grumpy union workers (or ROBOTS operated by grumpy union workers), pretty much like every other automobile on the planet.

Their abysmal ratings in JD Powers quality/reliability surveys throughout the 1990s confirm this... they've improved since then, but still, no pixie dust in the glove box. To me it's just a donor car. It doesn't become MAGIC until *I* transform it, LOL!

 

[fixizin]

BTW on a 914 where were you planning on putting the radiator?

The 914 in all it's incarnations and machinations is an AIR COOLED engine.

Haven't done THAT much homework yet, but both the Chevy 350 and various Subie flat-4s have been done many times, and the conversion kits are out there, so I'm not pioneering any new radiator solutions... I'm guessing you'd lose the spare tire well up front...?

OTOH, it's not really accurate to call the classic Porsche engines AIR-cooled, as they are OIL-cooled to a large extent as well, and IIRC, there was a sizeable oil-cooler up front there somewhere... which will no longer be needed... or... ?

I dunno what it is about the 914, but it's just so "fonky" and LOW to the ground that it just BEGS for wider tires and serious HP... serious HP that's very well-muffled below 3,000 RPM... soze people think you're slow... until they get "schooled"...

 

[chittybangbang]

Some Honda Accords have $575 alternators. That's the part. Then add in labor to removed the right CV axle (Yep, the axle) and all that jazz. You are going to be over 90 for sure. Especially with dealers getting $85-100 an hour for labor.

The alternator on a low level Porsche Boxster can be close to that in parts only if you use Porsche parts.

I can tell you that the local Honda stealership wanted close to 580 bucks+ labor for a new starter on a 05 Oydessy.Umm yeah

 

[fixizin]

I can tell you that the local Honda stealership wanted close to 580 bucks+ labor for a new starter on a 05 Oydessy.Umm yeah

Damn, just where'd they HIDE that starter? That's quite a bend over job on your wallet. I'd call some indy shops on that one.

 

[chittybangbang]

Damn, just where'd they HIDE that starter? That's quite a bend over job on your wallet. I'd call some indy shops on that one.

Yup and didn't even get a dinner out of that. Just remember this a happy wife=a happy household.What really pisses me off the most is about 2 weeks later the battery took a shit.I told them that it was probably a bad battery to begin with and not the starter.GRRRRR Problem is fixed anyways and end of story.