Wife's old car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Non-repair car talk
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bill25
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Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 2:20 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by bill25 »

Even at 10x the repair costs over 5 years, I would still be far, FAR ahead of a brand new vehicle with warranty which has no repair costs for 5 years. It's just not even remotely close.
Why do you keep saying this? That was never the point. I never said "sell the SRX and buy something brand new to avoid repairs". That was never the argument. Just that maybe a less luxury brand would have less and simpler repairs. Not even less expensive. That was it.
kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

Well, none of the luxury stuff has broken. If these are the big repair items:
- HID low beam
- License plate bulb
- Rear wheel bearing
- Power steering pump

Then I will say this:
- HID low beam - this is going to be a bumper pulling process for most cars with HIDs
- License plate bulb - a lower line vehicle would probably have been an easier job here
- Rear wheel bearing - nothing to do with anything
- Power steering pump - this job would have been easier if there wasn't a Northstar crammed into this engine bay

The thing is, the cost is what I am sensitive to. I don't think I have spent excessive time working on it. Car time for repairs/maintenance is always authorized. I will tell you this - if I couldn't stand to look at or drive her car, I'd probably feel differently. Good thing I like it.
kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote:
billgiacheri wrote:I was basically arguing that the Cadillac has almost German over complication for no reason. Sure it is cheaper to fix than the German counterparts, but with all that luxury, there is more to break, and when it does it is more complicated to fix.
That is correct, I don't disagree in principle. However, nothing associated with any of the luxury stuff has broken! Notionally, we are looking at:
Broken things that had some kind of cost:
- HID low beam
- License plate bulb
- Rear wheel bearing
- Power steering pump

Maintenance or wear/tear items (all vehicles need these at some point):
- Spark plugs? Hardly a repair but I did do the job.
- Brakes? Maintenance, but I did all 4 rotors and pads.
- Tires?

Stuff that cost me zero dollars that I did:
- When I got it, I lubricated the ultraview roof and tightened a loose bolt
- Dried out the driver's side HID ballast and restored operation

So for true repairs, where are we at here?
- HID low beam - $70?
- License plate bulb - this was almost free at like $1.50 for the bulb
- Rear wheel bearing - Around $146 from memory
- Power steering pump - Around $155

Total: $372.50. Had it for almost exactly 2 years now. That is $186.25 per year or $15/mo. Even at 10x the repair costs over 5 years, I would still be far, FAR ahead of a brand new vehicle with warranty which has no repair costs for 5 years. I would need to take into account the resale on a 5 year old car though. Let me do that in a bit - have to put Ian to bed.
Residual value on a 5 year old crossover type vehicle is going to be 35-40% for the best in class according to that kbb article on resale. So if I spent $35k on a new vehicle which would meet SOME of my requirements, it would be worth $12,250 to $14,000 in 5 years or having lost $21-22,750k. Which is exactly what the SRX would cost in 5 years if the repairs were 10x what they have been. And that doesn't even take into account the residual value of the SRX in 5 years. It won't be zero dollars.

I looked up the value of an 04 with 174k just to project a little bit. $6k private party. So let's do some math.

$14,500 purchase
$6k sell

Cost $8500 to own in depreciation. If we assume zero out of pocket repair costs on a new to 5 year old vehicle, then that midsize crossover cost me about $22k. Which leaves me with a repair budget of $13,500 to equal the cost of a vehicle that isn't even as nice as the SRX - that is $2700/yr - I am averaging 7% of this. Of that repair budget I've spent less than $400, so right now I am a little over $13k ahead. If we assume another, hell let's call it $200/yr in repairs for the remaining 3 years of ownership, that is still $12,500 ahead. The secret is doing my own repairs. Which isn't really a secret. It doesn't work for everyone but it clearly works for me.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote: That is correct, I don't disagree in principle. However, nothing associated with any of the luxury stuff has broken! Notionally, we are looking at:
Broken things that had some kind of cost:
- HID low beam
- License plate bulb
- Rear wheel bearing
- Power steering pump

Maintenance or wear/tear items (all vehicles need these at some point):
- Spark plugs? Hardly a repair but I did do the job.
- Brakes? Maintenance, but I did all 4 rotors and pads.
- Tires?

Stuff that cost me zero dollars that I did:
- When I got it, I lubricated the ultraview roof and tightened a loose bolt
- Dried out the driver's side HID ballast and restored operation

So for true repairs, where are we at here?
- HID low beam - $70?
- License plate bulb - this was almost free at like $1.50 for the bulb
- Rear wheel bearing - Around $146 from memory
- Power steering pump - Around $155

Total: $372.50. Had it for almost exactly 2 years now. That is $186.25 per year or $15/mo. Even at 10x the repair costs over 5 years, I would still be far, FAR ahead of a brand new vehicle with warranty which has no repair costs for 5 years. I would need to take into account the resale on a 5 year old car though. Let me do that in a bit - have to put Ian to bed.
Let me try to estimate hours. These are rough and I am counting, mostly, the entire job, not just concentrated sections. So keep in mind these hours aren't all balls to the wall.

Broken things that had some kind of cost:
- HID low beam - I dunno, maybe 2.5? It was my first time pulling the bumper cover so I was being careful.
- License plate bulb - Around 2.5
- Rear wheel bearing - Around 3 hours
- Power steering pump - Probably like 8.5 hours between one afternoon and the next morning

Subtotal of the repairs that cost money: 16.5 hours

Maintenance or wear/tear items (all vehicles need these at some point):
- Spark plugs? Hardly a repair but I did do the job. - 3 hours
- Brakes? Maintenance, but I did all 4 rotors and pads. - I don't think I even put this on the forum. 4 hours?
- Tires? - Shop does this...

Subtotal of the repairs that are maintenance: 7 hours

Stuff that cost me zero dollars that I did:
- When I got it, I lubricated the ultraview roof and tightened a loose bolt. - Uhh, 45 minutes?
- Dried out the driver's side HID ballast and restored operation - I dunno, 1.5 hours?

Subtotal of the zero cost repairs: 2.25 hours

Total of everything: 25.75 hours

That averages out to 1.08 hours per month. I don't feel like this car is running my life at an hour a month.

One hour and $15 per month is what it has cost to maintain this car over the past 2 years. That was a fun exercise actually.

I did not count the cost of the maintenance items (brakes, spark plugs, tires) because this cost applies to every car. But I did include the hours.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

Oh I forgot about the tie rod. I didn't do the job yet and I will make a separate thread for it. But I will put my predictions here.

I already know the part itself cost me $50.

As for labor, it is a very simple job. The highlights that would take any time at all are as follows:
- Measure from a good reference point before I disconnect everything so I know where to set the new tie rod so the steering is at least in the ball park for my short drive to the shop (for tires, an alignment and inspection). Or I could just do the tape measure method on the front and rear tire tread.
- Loosening the jamb nut/adjuster to prepare for removing the tie rod
- Pulling the tie rod stud from the steering spindle - I don't know if I have the exact right puller but I think I will manage with what I have

I predict it will take me 1.5 hours for everything. 2 tops if something fights me. Quicker than the license plate bulb, hilariously.
kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

There may be burnt out turn signal bulbs in the outer part of the headlight assemblies. Both seem to be burnt out. But with the headlights on, it kind of looks like they are running lights, because the light shines through. So I think they get overlooked. I don't feel like replacing them right now and they didn't say anything about them before. I wish I noticed previously as I've now had both headlight assemblies out and in my hands...

They may have been burnt out since we got the car. Which means the Barrys inspection did not catch them...and they missed another burnt out bulb anyway which I made them replace a week later.

So I think the only ones that have burnt out since we've actually owned the car are: passenger HID (likely was the original bulb) and the license plate bulb.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

Let's count bulbs.

Each headlight has:
- HID low beam
- Halogen high beam
- Clear running light at the lower, inside corner
- Turn signal light on the outer part of the assembly

In the lower front fascia there is:
- Fog light for each side
- Amber DRL/turn signal

At the rear:
- LED main brake/turn
- LED center high mount
- Backup lights
- License plate bulbs
kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote:They just wanted to confirm a different billing and shipping address. The guy was very nice it just took forever on hold to get to him. We spoke for a while about various things. They are AZ based and the closest store is in Ohio, but they are working on doing a PA store next. He said they are the largest independent tire chain in the US with 900 something stores.

I asked about the tire warranty (70,000 on these) and he didn't have anything particularly specific but that they'd try to help if it came up. They said for the shop to document the installed mileage and since I do my own rotations to just keep some kind of record of it. I said that these warranties can be kind of picky with regard to treadwear (i.e. anything other than perfectly even is grounds for not being covered) and he didn't have anything too helpful to say about how Cooper handles these.

Anyway, false alarm - I was sure I was going to get an upsell.

FWIW, Tire Rack doesn't even sell Cooper tires, but I have always been pleased with their customer service. Plus their website is awesome. Discount Tire Direct's website is...very basic, with hardly any info on the tire. I had to go to Cooper's website myself to get info!
Tires arrived at the installer. This is all going smoothly so far.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

Finished light bulb and did the tie rod this morning. Waiting to get picked up in the Caprice...

This thing is going to drive so much better with new tires.

I usually run tires at higher than recommended pressure to increase handling response, fuel economy and extend tire life. However, these clearly wore more in the center so with the new tires I will run recommended pressure. I believe that is 30/32 F/R. I will double check.
kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Wife's new car (2008 Cadillac SRX)

Post by kevm14 »

Car is done. Apparently everything is good now. Picking up later...
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