How We Made A Customer For Life

We recently had a new customer come to us with a problem on his GMC pickup. This truck made the run from Houston to Louisiana and Mississippi on a regular basis for his job. Every now and then as he drove all of the dash indicators, clock and radio would begin to blink on and off. If the truck died, or he shut it off it would not restart. If he wiggled the negative battery cable the truck would start and run well until the problem repeated, maybe in a few miles or perhaps a few days.

On his travels he had been to 4 dealerships and several small garages to have to problem checked out. No one seemed to be able to find the problem and one dealer told him he just needed to trade it in.

Of course we suspected a cable problem from the start based on his story. But he had told this story to every other shop or dealership he visited too. We needed to see the problem to verify the cause. We drove the truck over a 3 day period for more than 300 miles and it never appeared to act up. We explained this to the customer and no charged him. We also told him that if it did act up to bring it right to us. Several days later he was in our driveway and the truck was indeed acting up.

Because we suspected the cable our first test was to measure the “voltage drop” through the cable. It was losing 9 volts. We hooked up a bypass wire and the voltage came up to normal.

We replaced the cable and the customer left not quite convinced that such a simple fix was his answer. Two weeks later after trips to Mississippi he came back to report that it was indeed fixed.

In this particular case it wasn’t that we at Freedom Automotive were particularly smart (though we are). It was that we LISTENED to our customer. He told us what was wrong and had told every other shop too…but we had heard what he was saying and acted accordingly.

Battery Blues

The modern car battery is a maintenance item much like an oil change or tune up. Because of the high electrical demands on newer cars and the critical need for a stable operating voltage car batteries should be changed before they fail completely.

Summer heat increases the stress on our vehicles including the battery. The extreme under hood temperatures combined with the extra load of an air conditioner running on maximum output constantly forces our batteries to require much higher charging rates. This high charge rate adds even more to the heat load of the battery.

The sensitive electronics operating our engines, A/C, stability systems, brake systems and entertainment consoles require a consistent and steady voltage. A weak battery’s voltage can fluctuate several volts driving these computers nuts. We often see unusual and odd symptoms cured by a simple battery replacement.

Of course our alternators also work much harder on late model cars and they too are susceptible to heat stress. With a weak battery the alternator must work even harder, leading to early failure.

We recommend that you get the battery and charging system on your car check periodically and immediately if you have any odd behavior with the onboard electronics. You can save up to $25 on high quality NAPA parts (see our July Coupons below).

Court Reporter Notes...

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
____________________________________

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: He's 20, much like your IQ.

New CAFE Standards and You

What do the new CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards mean to you as a car owner and consumer? The current administration, working with the Department of Transportation and the EPA has issued the new standards for fuel economy through 2016. The new target is 34.1 miles per gallon fleet average.  That means the combined average gas mileage of all the cars and light trucks they sell must be over34 mpg.

Wow! At first blush that sounds pretty good, our cars will get about 25% better mileage. If you look a little closer and dig into the numbers and unintended consequences of the new rule it isn’t quite so thrilling.  It is very possible that these new regulations will drive up car prices, decrease sales, cause job loss and push food costs even higher.

To start with this year’s CAFE is 27.3. Does your car get anywhere near that? When the EPA did the modeling to calculate the savings that would result from the new standard they used 22 mpg as the average. Why 22 when their rule for this year is 27? Well that’s a little complicated.

Under the rules when a car maker produces a vehicle that uses an alternative fuel; hybrid, electric, natural gas, propane or E85 they get extra credits to offset the mileage. That’s one of the reasons you see so many Flex Fuel and hybrid vehicles now. Using these offsets the “real” fuel economy standard is a lot closer to the 22 mpg used for the model. There is a small but very significant change coming to that practice.

The manufacturers have produced millions of Flex Fuel (E85) cars. The theory is that by using the highly subsidized ethanol fuel we will reduce our use of petroleum. The problem is that we are not using it, but filling these Flex Fuel tanks with regular gas. In the Houston Metro area there are only 12 locations that even sell E85. There are only 5 in the whole environmentally fanatical state of California, and 3 in Oregon! Under the new rules the car maker will have to prove that the motorist is actually using the alternative fuel or not be able to take the mileage credits.

This may cause the car maker to build engines that will run on E85 only, somehow partner with filling stations to offer more E85 locations, or incentivize car buyers to use the E85 with vouchers or discounts. Should the car maker lose this offsetting credit on the CAFE standard for its fleet it could result in Tens of millions of dollars in fines. The increased demand for ethanol will push up corn prices and result in higher food costs.

Car makers are going to have to do all they can to shift the ratio of small fuel efficient cars versus large low mileage units sold. To do this they will produce as many hybrid models as possible, push all their small models with massive marketing, develop small trucks and a larger selection of compact SUV’s and Crossovers. Those of us wanting a real pickup or large SUV will have a limited selection of high priced, option loaded trucks.

The DOT and EPA estimate that this rule change will cost the industry 54 BILLION dollars to achieve. With slumping car sales and little or no profits this massive cost will have to be passed on to the consumer. If car sales remain steady at the current levels it will mean about $1000 increase per car. Basic economics tells us that as prices increase sales decrease. If the car makers see drops in sales they may be forced to reduce staff and production again ending what little rally there has been in the industry.

Many people are already opting to keep their car longer to avoid both the high price of replacement and the higher cost of maintenance on the newer cars. That trend can only increase as consumers still struggling with the economy either cannot or will not commit to the even higher prices of future vehicles. Businesses needing pickups or SUV’s capable of hard work may have to move to a heavier duty and even more expensive trucks to avoid the EPA standards, or keep the existing fleet on the road longer.

These new fuel economy standards may result in several unintended consequences.  If motorists do not trade up to the new higher mileage cars the average age of the US fleet will increase holding down the much touted total US fleet average. If more vehicles opt for E85 ethanol fuels and use of it is somehow encouraged the price of food and feed stock will increase. If sales drop due to increased pricing layoffs at the plants and dealerships can result putting even more downward pressure on our economy.