People who don’t understand automobiles will make unfounded claims and draw irrational conclusions in a misguidedly ignorant way of trying to explain the problems they perceive to be real to themselves. Most people are uneducated morons who stumble from one self-inflicted disaster to another, too lazy to get engaged in their own lives. You cannot reason with them, so just ignore them and their toxic behaviour.
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The remaining 25% of the general public consist of moderately to extremely intelligent and capable individuals who invest the time to solve problems instead of blaming others. These people know the difference between waiting for a miracle or acting responsibly, and take steps toward solutions to minimize the amount of time needed to resolve problems. They know that time is a precious and non-renewable resource, so they use it wisely.
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There are no “bad” Pilots, but they are manufactured by humans who are imperfect, so mistakes that result in problems experienced by owners occur. There are only two types of owners: people with bad attitudes and people with good attitudes, and these take a radically different approach to solving problems with their vehicles. Most will go about this pursuit in a destructive and unproductive manner. The minority will set out to understand and intelligently and efficiently reach solutions.
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After all is said and done, the morons vastly outnumber the intelligent. This has the effect of casting an unfair representation on the product. Life is unfair, just deal with it and ignore the idiots. That’s the best you can do.
Sleep, what a GREAT post. Very well written. I might add that the more you KNOW (not "think you know") about modern day automobiles, the better off you are in dealing with car issues and service departments. I had a an eighth grade "industrial arts" teacher that would drill into his classes "When you get out in that work-a-day world, next to your house, your car is going to be the biggest expense of your life (excluding children). You better learn how to service it, and if you don't AT LEAST learn how it works !!!!" For me, no truer words have been spoken.
In my opinion (for what it's worth), a manufacturer doesn't "make" the brand.... The DEALER makes the brand. If you go to a less than reputable dealer/service department that perhaps upsells/oversells, does or suggests repairs or services that really aren't necessary but are money makers, you may rightly so get or have the feeling that "Gee, this car sure does cost a lot to keep on the road". "My (insert your brand here) really isn't that reliable. "
Am I an automotive expert? By no means. But I feel I do have a very good command of most of the systems within an automobile, and I CERTAINLY know (in most cases) when I'm getting bamboozled.
And yes, I do realize that with most dealerships, we hammer out the best deal we can get on a new vehicle, thus restricting their margin on a new car sale, leaving the dealership's parts and service departments to be the profit center for the organization.
I have never been a service writer, or worked for a dealership, but I have to think that from a consumer perspective, I would be a decent service writer. However, at the same time, I have a feeling that from a dealership perspective I would be a lousy one. Should this hypothetical situation ever happen, I would whatever income we would lose in the short term, would be made up and even increased as word spread as we gained a reputation for pure honesty, customer satisfaction and customer service. Could/will it happen ?
Without going into specific examples, I have been the subject of a few of these "less than scrupulous" service writers and (called them on it). Further, I have personally witnessed MANY more.
My point is, reliability can be determined a few ways. Some would base reliability strictly on defects, recalls etc. Some, (like me) on personal experience or conversations with others that have a fair knowledge of automobiles. The bulk in my opinion, go by "owner reported" repair records and/or consumer publications. Which, as I mentioned above are mostly based on "what the service writers sell them".
I am not suggesting ALL service departments are crooks.... I've been to ones on "both sides of the aisle". Unfortunately, in MY experience, the numbers of not-so-good outweigh the good.
Just my $.02.
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