Ummmm... if it won’t start, the battery light being on and the oil pressure warning light being on are completely normal for bulb check mode with a stopped engine for most manufacturers. And the brake warning light can be because the parking brake is applied, or the master cylinder reservoir is low or empty.

Fly into Burbank.

And yet today you can get a GM transponder key made at any Home Depot for $39, and the GM VATS keys that were hideously expensive and only dealer available when they were introduced in 1986 are now $13 on Amazon or any local locksmith.

You left out a recently deceased brand; just died today, in fact.
I think it was called Deadspin, and I heard their head guy Spanfeller killed it by ham handed mismanagement.

It’s not that simple though. Repair quality? Sure. Repair costs? Not at all - Management sets labor rates, repair times, shop fees and parts markups. Service advisors quote prices and pitch upsells, whether necessary or optional.

With all due respect, I have never seen any independent tire shop yet (at least in 20 years of car ownership in California, NJ, NY and PA) that will balance your wheels for free every 7500 miles for the life of the tire. I have seen some that will rotate them for free. And for people who drive a lot and go far away…

Techs - dealer or independent - tend to 1) work with the systems and training they have, and 2) do what they know they will get paid for. This is especially true for warranty and recall work, where doing it the way the manufacturer says to is essential to getting the claim approved and paid.

Also, generally speaking,…

side note:
Costco tire shop uses torque wrenches to torque your lug nuts at install, and every rotation. And for tires bought there, you get free rotation and rebalancing every 7500 miles for life, which can save you a lot of money.

As a 25 year ASE master tech, three time dealer service manager (NYC, L.A., East Bay area) and former independent shop owner I agree with everything you’ve said here. My vehicles only go to the dealership when there’s no choice - like warranty or recall work - or to get maintenance when the vehicle is new and under…

Did FedEx or Shell Pennzoil win that fight? It’s hard to tell from the video.

Depends on the lease terms, how many miles you put on the car, and how much flexibility you want/need. If you buy - especially for cash - you can get out of the car anytime you want. If you lease, you’re stuck for the lease term (or you often have to pay off your remaining balance to terminate the lease). And if you…

That’s a dealer trade in value, not what you buy it from them for. Big difference.

see answer below
TL;DR: sometimes, sometimes not.
It depends on what you’re buying and how you’re paying for it.

Sometimes. It depends on what you’re buying and how you’re paying for it.

If you’re a cash buyer and the car you want takes a steep depreciation hit in the first year, used can be a better deal. But consider: new car finance rates are significantly lower than used, which over time can eat the savings of buying a…

Some of that is quite a stretch. In an era when hatchback and car sales are falling, how do you get to higher fuel economy standards creating more suburban sprawl? That is a bizarre take. Even more bizarre is stating that fuel economy standards hurt the environment, or that fuel economy standards will spur more road…

Yep, this. One of the cheapest ways to own a car is to buy new and keep it for a decade or more, as long as it’s reliable. And the most expensive is to buy new and trade it in every year or two, ensuring that you lose as much money as possible.

Europe is compact and dense, and mass transit works well over there because of that. The US is neither of those things in most places, and mass transit is non existent in many of those areas. Texas is larger than France, for instance. Driving from NYC to Los Angeles is a similar distance as driving from coastal…

While I agree with most of this article, it’s got some problems:
1) Scrapped cars don’t end up “covered in oil and antifreeze and tossed in landfills”. Even the ones scrapped under cash for clunkers. They get drained of fluids, batteries removed, aluminum wheels and engines removed, crushed and shredded. The steel and…

Your gas station pumps don’t work in a blackout either. And homes with solar and a powerwall don’t need grid power; something you can’t say at all with a ICE car.

Hi! 14 time manual trans car (and 26 manual shift motorcycles) owner here. Current owner of one automatic trans car and an automatic trans truck. Because San Francisco traffic is the worst in the country, and I drive a lot for work and for fun, and my knees aren’t getting any better. I’ve spent hours crawling forward,…