I'm NEVER buying a car with power windows ever again.

[asthmaticeog]

$400. Four. Hundred. Fucking. Dollars. Both the motor and the regulator gizmo are busted, and the window's stuck open. I have half a mind to have them just put the thing up and never open it again, but I'm going to need to sell or trade that car someday, and you lose SO MUCH value for every little thing that doesn't work. But $400 literally out the window? Fuck. Fucking Fuck.

[Squatch]

1. Warranty?

[asthmaticeog]

5. It's a '97. No more warrantee.

I bought warrantee coverage for the drive-train when I got the vehicle (I bought it used), but aftermarket warrantees that cover those kinds of nonessential systems cost a friggin' TON, like I-might-as-well-buy-a-new-goddamn-car-then kind of money.

[Squatch]

9. Any other major fixes you had to pay for?

What make and model?

Did you have it fixed at a dealer?

[Coventina]

2. not only that, but if your car ever falls in deep water....

You have to make sure you get those windows DOWN before the motor shorts out or you are royally SCREWED!

That's what worries me.

[asthmaticeog]

7. OK, that's a way scary thought that never occurred to me. Eeeek. (n/t)

[progmom]

3. i hate that

just kissing a bunch of money goodbye...i'm sorry.

[terrya]

4. FOUR HUNDRED dollars??!!??

That's out and out larceny. Ridiculous.

I don't blame you. Are power windows THAT much of a necessity? I don't think so.

Fuck, fucking fuck is right.

T

[RPM]

6. they are the worst

i think they put the junior interns on the window switch and window motor design duties

[redqueen]

26. No, it's rather like "planned obsolescence", isn't it?

These things (most durable goods) are designed to wear out after a certain amount of time.

If they didn't make things that way, we wouldn't have to spend any more money, see...

[HereSince1628]

8. Same thing with power mirrors...

[Misunderestimator]

10. Yep... this has happened to TWO windows on my car...

New regulator... almost $400 a pop.

I was able to pull my window up manually before it was fixed. If the regulator is broken, you should be able to do that.

[asthmaticeog]

17. I tried that, it stuck at halfway up!

It was probably a pretty amusing struggle to watch, though - I'm a bit of a marshmallow. Perhaps if I were a stronger fellow I could have closed it, but maybe not, I dunno.

[fudge stripe cookays]

20. Yes, but you're...

a CUDDLY marshmallow!

Ya big lug!
FSC

[asthmaticeog]

23. Awwwwwwww!

[seemunkee]

11. Junk yard

Get a motor and regulator and put it in yourself.

Window on my wifes car stopped working but we lucked out. Took the door panel off and wiggled the thing and it started working.

[readmylips]

12. This is funny...we're on the same page..

With the heat in Phoenix 116 degrees, I parked my 14 year old car and for the first or maybe second time in its life-time, I cracked opened the back windows when I parked. To my surprise, one of my back windows dropped all the way down inside the panel. My hubby was able to pull it out but of course, $400 or more for my Mercedes-B to fix my window is in the works, and it's a must necessity.

I know it's not funny but it's early morning in Phoenix and with this heat, I need funny. We were on vacation across the US for three weeks. The rest of the country was rainy, cold and hurricanes in the works. I was glad to be home in the heat and running around half naked.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

13. My husband is a mechanic and he'd never let me

buy a car with power windows. It's just one more thing that can go wrong in an older car and end up costing a fortune to fix.

The wind-up, wind-down windows do just fine for me. The only time they got stuck is during the winter from snow/ice and even then all I have to do is turn the heat on.

[MsAnthropy]

14. $180 to replace a power side mirror on my Saturn Ion

I told them to forget, I'll use superglue.

[Beware the Beast Man]

15. What a racket.

If I recall, when my window left motor went out, the part itself was only $80. I tried to fix it myself, but it's no easy task. That really sucks, man.

[dhinojosa]

16. What kinda car do you have? nt

[SoCalDem]

18. We paid $331.00 for the exact thing in our '91

No one ever even used the damned window, but we had to fix it because we could not lock the car

[johnnie]

19. That sucks!

You could have had one of these instead:


Cars suck.

[formerrepuke]

21. Those pop-up headlights are a pain, also.. but at least they can

be hand-cranked open when its little motor finally dies.

[asthmaticeog]

25. Ah yes, another "never again!"

I had those on my old Accord - when the car got older, the wires became brittle and the repeated open/close of the flip up gizmo eventually snapped them, so they'd go up, they just wouldn't light up. Grrrrr...

[derby378]

22. You need eBay

They sell parts for cars on eBay that you might not find anywhere else.

[ProfessorGAC]

24. Good Luck Finding One

I rent cars a lot for travel. I sometimes just rent the little, disposable transportation if i'm not going to be doing any significant highway driving and lots of stop and go, city stuff.

I haven't had even a subcompact in at least 3 years that didn't have power windows.

Maybe the absolute, bottom of the line, basic transportation models come that way, but even the Geo Prism has power windows!

So do most Kia's! And those things are almost solely marketed as basic transportation, starter cars.
The Professor

[trogdor]

30. Thank you.

Last time I went car shopping, every car in which I had the slightest interest had power windows as standard equipment.

A motor/regulator for a 94-97 Honda Accord (generation immediately previous to my car) costs $60 on
eBay. I'll bet the installation cost for a new car, in which the door is off the car, and is sitting on a table or something, is minimal. Yet the service department would probably charge you $400 to put a new one in. Bastards.

[ProfessorGAC]

31. No Doubt About It

Quick story. My wife and i had a power window TRACK break on her car. $360 repair, paid for on March 31st, but with track on back order. The car is there TODAY having the track installed! Almost 15 weeks on backorder for a stupid window track!
The Professor

[JimmyJazz]

27. I hope there isn't rain in the forecast.

[Fenris]

28. I can top that.

I spent $1000 to fix the A/C in my '93 Integra, and then 4 months later spent $400 to fix the automatic door locks, which then became manual door locks because the mechanics couldn't find a replacement part. It took me only one month to have my tire blowout on the free way and my car to get totaled when I crossed the grass median into traffic moving in the opposite direction. Final price for my automobile: $250.

[asthmaticeog]

32. Holy shit, what a bum run of luck!

I hope you weren't injured in the oncoming traffic! My god...

[XNASA]

29. Are they American power windows? Or Japanese power windows?

Let me guess..........American.