There has been plenty of posts about F250 owners getting gouged for dealer repairs, some of which were the result of mis-diagnosis. My perception was that, as all the posts I'd read were from F250 owners, it was a Ford thing.

Anyway, reading a reader letter in the NRMA Open Road mag, there's a sorry tale of a couple towing their caravan behind a Navara - 3 breakdowns, with NRMA tows to nearest Nissan dealers, and $20,000 in repairs later - they're home.

Reckon an F250 would have been a cheaper option.

 

Lucky he wasn't in an Audi then...


I am guessing the Navara had the fancy pants Renault V6 diesel and 7 speed transmission?

In general, the beauty of most American vehicles and engines, is they often share a lot of parts with other models, often of a pretty simple design, and were designed with the thought that a mechanic might have to work on it in the future. I am yet to see many European vehicles/engines that keep a similar philosophy, they might drive really nicely when you roll out of the stealership, but you will want to bring it back by the time it hits 100k km, otherwise it gets expensive fast.


The main problem with the 7.3 in Aus, is most mechanics in the dealerships never really see a diesel, and certainly not one with a HEUI injection system.

 

The letter didn't say what sort of Navara it was - but is sounded like engine/turbo/exhaust issues cost them $20,000 in dealer repairs.

It's funny - the vehicle market, including ute buyers, are being lured by diminishing returns, i.e. more and more complexity to save less and less fuel. Then when it breaks or wears out as ALL mechanical things will do eventually, due to the cost of maintaining the complexity, the cost of the necessary repairs would be many times all the dollars saved in fuel, be it 7 speed transmission, or sequential turbos, or whatever other marketting ploy they come up with next.

My wife's Subaru XV is a good example here. It has that auto-stop-start engine thing which turns the engine off when the vehicle is stopped - if the engine is warm, & if the steering is straight ahead, & if the brake pedal is pressed firmly, & if the override button is not pressed, etc, etc. In the 8 months we've had it the engine has been auto-stopped for 22 minutes. This has saved just under half a litre of fuel, or 80 cents. It's only driven in a country town & then not usually in rush hour. It would be a different story in a big city where the engine would be off a lot more of the time, but all that stopping & starting has got to wear something out.

The nice thing about the F250 7.3 is that it is advanced enough to do its job well, but it is not OVER complicated so DIY maintenance is within easy reach.

 

Fellas - I never own anything that I am not confident in my own abilities to repair.

Stealerships?

Let them go "Ned Kelly" somebody else - I wasn't born yesterday, and I know damned well the time will come when I am halfway between noplace and nowhere with something gone out of kilter...

This is why I spend the balance of my money on tools

~ It is the general nature of anything with moving parts for some or all of those parts to cease movement at the least convenient moment...
(just an observation)

 

I think I'll be buying an electic eel machine next. Just paid $400 for a plumber call out to clear a blocked drain. The problem was a tree root intrusion due to the drought here.

Well I can buy an electic eel machine off flea-bay for that much & have a go at cutting the roots out myself next time, & the time after, & the time after....

 

You could also do your neighbours and pay for it real quick.
Bob,