Registered: May 2005
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 208

Now what? My 1999 Pontiac Montana, which is the perfect Tour Easy Bike Bus, is in need of a new transmission to the tune of $3570. This, BTW, is the second transmission. No wonder GM is going out of business.

I digress ... I now don't know what to do to haul our Tour Easys. I own a Pontiac Vibe as well. I followed the link to the racks from the home page, but it's all just "information." Can anyone offer anything specific in context with their experience with racks?

So sad to see my van go. It has hauled many a cargo loads, including four teenagers during those "soccer mom" years. I almost wonder if it isn't worth it to spend the money for the trannie. It's then warranteed for 3 years.

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Debbie
Rockin' and Rollin' TE
Richmond, VA

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Saco, Maine
Posts: 196

Debbie, I use the ATOC tandem (roof) rack; it works great with bikes of all sizes and attaches to any standard crossbars (Yakima, Thule etc.)

Ed

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Registered: Nov 2002
Location: San Francisco, CA USA
Posts: 466

A rack won't cost what a transmission costs, but it won't be free, so be sure to include that in your math.

One TE and one rider will fit _inside_ a Vibe. I've done it with a Matrix.

More than that, fix the van, or get another one. They should be cheap now.

I don't see TEs and a rack on a Vibe working very well. I know people put long bikes cross ways behind small cars, but I won't do that. On the roof, you would have to remove the seats, and the fairings if you have those.

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Registered: May 2005
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 208

Yeah, I drove my TE down to south Florida in the Vibe with the passenger seat down and luggage piled on top of the bike. Definitely not a convenient way to travel. I've been talked it over with the other half and we kind of agree it's worth fixing. We're going to have it towed from the dealership to a local mechanic and are thinking of having a rebuilt transmission put it. It's just too good of a vehicle otherwise to let it go. It's our personal U-Haul (trademark violation aside). ;-)

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Debbie
Rockin' and Rollin' TE
Richmond, VA

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Registered: Nov 2002
Location: Vancouver, WA
Posts: 307

quote:

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Originally posted by CycleFitness
It's our personal U-Haul (trademark violation aside). ;-)

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FWIW: my wife and I have a very similar moto-transport combination: a Toyota Matrix and a Dodge Caravan. It works well.

I wonder if U-Haul would sue me:

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Jeff Wills' bikes:
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Guru to the hot dog vendor:
"Make me one with everything."

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Registered: Oct 2008
Location: Rockland County NY
Posts: 125

IMHO: If you own bikes; then you should also own a mini-van. A few weeks ago, I hauled my AX Tandem, dog crate, my dog Charlie; and of course my wife and stoker+ all of our stuff out to Montauk LI for a little beach vacation. Everything was inside the van, and I could have put a lot more stuff in the van. Nothing on the roof. I do have a roof rack - but I only use it for hauling my canoe. I use a Saris slotted floor rack inside the van. All I have to do is remove the front wheel. With the middle and rear seats removed, the interior space of my Toyota Sienna is awesome. I bought my Sienna new in 1998, and it is still going strong. Best bike car I have ever owned.

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Registered: Aug 2006
Location: South Florida
Posts: 273

I hate vans. On Saturday, though, we loaded a TE and a GRR in a Caravan no problem. So I admit they make sense for hauling bikes. I have a station wagon that can handle my GRR, or for more bikes I use a Saris on the back. I also own a very neat trailer (Sportsrig) set up for my kayaks that has the same bars and spacing as a Yakima roof rack, but without the thrill of lifting the bikes up to the roof, spraining shoulders and back and who knows what else in the process. But I have never bought the adapter necessary to carry the GRR. Too cheap I guess.

My advice is that you find a new vehicle and not spend big bucks to fix what is obviously a not very robust, old transmission. If the thing lasts 3 more years that is still over $1000 a year with no guarantee that something else will not go wrong. GM went bust for a lot of reasons, one of the main ones being that many of their vehicles weren't competitive in today's world market. Why throw good money after bad?

Bill

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Registered: May 2005
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 208

I hear 'ya, Bill. Which is worse, though, the devil you know or the devil you don't? I know the history of this vehicle; I'm the original owner. If I were to get something else used there is an entirely new set of risks. Which is worse? It's hard to tell.

I'm still waiting on the estimate for a re-built transmission. The cost is mainly in labor, though, so I'm only expecting about a $1K difference from new.

Other than the transmission, this car has never given me a problem. It has 109K miles, though, so otherwise should have life left.

It's a tough call.

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Debbie
Rockin' and Rollin' TE
Richmond, VA

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Registered: Nov 2002
Location: San Francisco, CA USA
Posts: 466

I haven't done a lot of research, but ISTR hearing about several different vans (other than GM) with tranny trouble over the years. I think the car companies more or less took components from mid-size cars and used them for the heavier vans. Sometimes the transmission became the weakest link.

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Registered: Mar 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 34

"GM went bust for a lot of reasons, one of the main ones being that many of their vehicles weren't competitive in today's world market."

The most accurate word in this statement is "weren't". GM does "now" make some very good vehicles. The JD Power rankings show GM neck & neck with Honda and Toyota. The problem is that this wasn't always true and many people won't give them a chance. The thing that put them over the edge was a perfect storm of ecomonic conditions. GM isn't the only company fighting this, Toyota actually lost more money in the first quarter of this year.

I have one the afore mentioned vans that has been trouble free while carrying my GRR for 6 years.

Mike

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Registered: Dec 2008
Location: St. Louis, MO
Posts: 8

I welded up a hitch carrier for my Plymouth Voyager minivan, just copied a design that was in production.
Then my wife bought a Dodge Caravan with stow and go seating. It is fantastic for carrying everything. We take our trikes and camping gear and go to Wisconsin for the airshow. It is a large tent and we take a pile of other stuff, including potty, stove, grill, air mattresses and a roll of carpet for outside the tent and lounge chairs. I am mentioning all this so you have an idea how much we carry. There is plenty of room left.
My Plymouth transmission has had transmission troubles also. I found a shop near my house that just replaces them with rebuilt units. They charged me $875 for the first one and $925 for the second. I haul tools and quite a load of construction equipment in my van and it now has about 300,000 miles on it and I bought it used. Really for the punishment those transmissions take they are worth the price. I call the shop and have the van towed in and they do it either that day or the next. It is a one day or less job for them. Might be worth you time to find a shop that does this as it saves a bunch of technical labor for them and that means lower prices.
dennis

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dennis

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Registered: May 2005
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 208

Interesting note ... new mechanic says I don't need a transmission at all. He says the computer errors could be false positives, which is what the GM dealership relies on with 100% certainty. They told me the "gears were chewed up and the engine was smoking." He laughed, saying they couldn't have seen the gears unless they took the thing apart, and confirms he cannot find the cause of the bucking. He says this van has had trouble with the cellanoid and could replace it, but doesn't want to unnecessarily. He also said it could have been debris and recommends driving it further to see if it happens again. AAA will be close at hand and I get my van back tomorrow!!!!

And we're bailing this darn company out while they try to rape consumers. <shaking head>.

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Debbie
Rockin' and Rollin' TE
Richmond, VA

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Registered: Nov 2002
Location: Vancouver, WA
Posts: 307

quote:

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Originally posted by CycleFitness

And we're bailing this darn company out while they try to rape consumers. <shaking head>.

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Jeff Wills' bikes:
http://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/Gallery/index.html

Guru to the hot dog vendor:
"Make me one with everything."

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Registered: May 2005
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 208

That's exactly what mine is doing, Jeff. He said there is some type of a clutchy thing that is a virtual 5th gear when you're highway driving and that times when you slow down it "sticks." In my case, though, I had slowed down, stopped at a light, and re-started so the logic didn't add up. It started at a slow speed and continued for about 2 miles until I got it home -- only at slow speeds.

I'll try the gassing it thing, if it happens again ;-)

As for the dealership; honestly, I don't care how they train their mechanics or on what. I expect, as a customer, that the end result is a fair and accurate assessment of my situation. If the mechanics aren't trained beyond following a procedure, then they should have another level of service personnel who can do the root cause analysis ... maybe even go so far as to engage me in a Q&A, which they never did.

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Debbie
Rockin' and Rollin' TE
Richmond, VA

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Registered: Aug 2006
Location: South Florida
Posts: 273

Mike is right about GM quality. And we should add that Ford Quality is world class as well. I am quite careful how I word things, but of course can't qualify every statement in a forum like this. In a different economic climate, I would have purchased a new Cadillac earlier this year to replace my aging BMW 5 Series. The Caddy is THAT good. But like everyone else I am hanging on to my money. In any event, GM went bust for a lot of complex reasons. Taken in aggregate, a big factor was that their products had not measured up for too many years in a row and they lost the youth market.

What is interesting for those of you who may be car buffs is to look at what kind of money old cars are fetching at auctions like Mecum and Barrett Jackson. GM cars in particular from the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s often sell for X times more than even new cars today. And common mass produced cars like Chevys and Fords and Plymouths often sell for more than limited production, performance cars like Porches or Ferraris do from the same years. A lot of us baby boomers couldn't afford a GTO or a Mustang or a Road Runner when we were kids, but we can recapture a bit of our lost youth by buying one now. Unfortunately, today's youngsters find no appeal for any "Detroit Iron" so when we die out, these cars are not likely to continue to enjoy their current cult status.

And now that GM stands for "Government Motors" the chances that the company can recapture the imagination of the youth market is about as likely as us being able to use human powered vehicles for space exploration.

Bill

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