The 10 most beautiful cars on sale today.

Originally posted by hotstocks ↑

Yes I know what you mean - there are some excellent guys around - and thankfully the internet has made life much easier searching and the euro forums do have some knowledgeable and helpful guys too.

A few years back I was doing an oil change and needed an oil filter for my 2.5 litre E46. Went to Gold Coast BMW who wanted the engine number which I supplied as per usual. They made a big deal out of the issue of getting it right and supplied the part which is a cartridge type filter - price was Ok too at $22. Picked up a pack of synthetic oil and went home and drained the sump, removed the filter cartridge and found it was slightly smaller than mine so I was not happy.

Under protest BMW then arranged for someone to deliver the correct part to me. So it is not only the public who have problems sorting the correct part even with the numbers.

As for parts and costs, on the weekend a mate brought his 2005 Ford Territory over as the rear door lock was not working properly. We dismantled and found the gear on the electric motor had broken in two - made of plastic of course so they break regularly (according to the Ford dealer). It is a small simple worm drive arrangement probably worth $20 wringing wet but from Ford $177 + gst plus installation. Good lord how crazy is that.

In another case my wife's friend has a Mazda 3 with driving lights low down in the front bumper where they get hit with stones. She went to Mazda who wanted $330 for the part and fitted price $450 (15-20 minutes work). Now just how is that $330 part justified? On US ebay you buy two Mazda 3 driving lights plus wiring plus switches for $58 but cunning Mazda Australian use a slightly different mounting so the US one doesn't fit. It is just a racket perpetrated on the unsuspecting Australian motorist of course. Not sure how thick the US glass is in the light but the Australian one is under 2 mm thick so extremely fragile - yep it sells more overpriced parts that way.

Another Mazda ripoff was/is? the old 6 monthly service trick. Aussie car must be serviced every 6 months or warranty is voided - strange isn't it that the exact same car and engine in the UK is a 12 month service schedule - this was revealed on TV too - not sure if Mazda ceased this rorting yet. Yep just good ol Mazda Australia ripping off the public again. And while I am on the Mazda trail, the driver's window lifter in an MX5 back in about 2005 was quoted at $750 from Mazda - now that even exceeds BMW prices for similar part of $298 priced in 2012. Thankfully the aftermarket part for BMW is just $29 (rear) on ebay. BMW has made these breaking parts consistently since the late 1980s and the truly worst criticism is that for not 1 cent extra the part could be made such that it would never break in the life of the car - it just requires the metal stamping to be changed by 2mm to make it unbreakable. But of course this gravy train continues because most people do not understand what is going on. Incidentally the BMW charge to fix the window lifter is $450 rear doors and $600 front doors so no prizes guessing why the parts break - of course they still use the same deliberately designed part yet again lol. Keep the suckers coming back for service work $$$$$.

Plenty of other stories and experience I can relate too but suffice to say it boggles the mind what goes on lol.

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Toyota parts are cheaper ( if they are needed at all )