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I just finished replacing the water pump in our 2005 Grand Caravan (3.3 engine). Due to some "good old American engineering", a job that SHOULD have taken about an hour took 3 hours.
I do all kind of mechanical work for our entire family, and I get more and more frustrated with some of these American-made vehicles. I WANT to like them, and WANT to be very pro-American in everything, but sometimes it's just hard to do - especially after working on Subarus, VWs and Hondas.
I find it hard to believe that a foreign car is easier to work on than a domestic. ALL minivans are hard to work on because half of the engine is tucked underneath the dash.
Some are better than others. Water pump on 87 Camry is inside the timing belt, when you change one, you change the other too, if you know what you are doing. Older VW are easy to work on.
In general Subaru are well-thought-out for service, our 92 Legacy is about the easiest car to change brake pads on that I have seen.
Some of the worst thought-out cars from a service point of view are the ones that have transverse-mounted V-6 (FWD). Usually the back 3 sparkplugs are a genuine PITA to access.
Some are better than others. Water pump on 87 Camry is inside the timing belt, when you change one, you change the other too, if you know what you are doing. Older VW are easy to work on.
In general Subaru are well-thought-out for service, our 92 Legacy is about the easiest car to change brake pads on that I have seen.
Some of the worst thought-out cars from a service point of view are the ones that have transverse-mounted V-6 (FWD). Usually the back 3 sparkplugs are a genuine PITA to access.
One of my sons had a 92 Subaru Loyale. You're right, they are well thought-out for service. It's amazing how easy it is to replace a front axle on those things!
We're currently driving a 97 VW Golf. 2 liter 4 cylinder. Now THAT car is GREAT to work on!
I also picked up a 91 Cutlass Supreme Olds for my daughter. 3.1 V6. Changing the spark plugs was actually pretty easy IF you disconnect the stabilizer rod and rock the engine forward.
I think the all-time WORST car I EVER worked on was about a 90 Olds Calais with that stinking Quad 4 engine. I think that if I ever met the people who designed that car, I'd like to kick every one of them in the butt!
Yeah, wait till you have to replace the head gaskets on the Subaru. You have to remove the engine to do it, although even that isn't very difficult.
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