Price Too High for Radio Repair
Question: The radio cassette player in my 1985 Toyota Camry recently stopped playing. The Toyota dealer said it would cost $120 to repair. The radio in my friend’s Toyota failed and it cost him $130. I finally had the radio fixed at a local radio repair shop for $50. The repairman said there were numerous bad connections on circuit boards. Even my earlier American-made radios lasted longer than five years. What causes so many defects?--LWVO
Answer: I have always contended that unless you are buying a name-brand sound system in a new car, you will be far better off avoiding the radios that dealerships want to sell.
These radio packages often are purely marketing devices used by dealers to add profit. The origin of the radios is uncertain at best. For the same money, you can usually buy a higher quality sound system at a stereo shop or an automobile sound system shop.
The exceptions are the cars that come equipped with a half-dozen or dozen speakers that bear a brand-name audio system. These are almost always factory installed and some of them can be quite good.
Even though the radio in your Toyota may have come with the car, it’s a good bet that it was not installed in the factory. The Toyota Camry, Corolla, Celica and Tercel models generally do not have factory-installed radios.
The only radios that Toyota installs in its factories are made by Panasonic or Fujitsu. These radios are generally installed in Cressidas or in other models that come with a lot of options in special packages.
If the radio was made by a manufacturer other than Panasonic or Fujitsu, then you can be certain you received a shipyard or dealer special. It sounds like you made the right decision in having an independent shop fix the radio. The $120 quoted by the dealer was ridiculously high.
Q: I have a 1985 Oldsmobile Firenza with 54,000 miles that recently was diagnosed as having a defective catalytic converter. The mechanic told me that if I don’t replace it right away, it could damage my fuel-injection system. Is this true, and do we have any recourse with the manufacturers since it failed just after the 50,000-mile warranty expired?J.V.
A: The whole story sounds fishy. An inoperable catalytic converter will not damage a fuel-injection system. Rather, it will cause the engine to emit more pollution and it will result in a drop in engine power.
Catalytic converters transform engine exhaust through a chemical process into less harmful gas. The converters do so by operating at very high temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees and exposing the exhaust gas to platinum metal.
It is not a mechanical device and makes no noise. When it malfunctions, it is virtually undetectable. A good mechanic will need a diagnostic machine that analyzes engine gases to determine whether the converter has failed.
Since a converter can cost as much as $500, it may be worthwhile to get a second opinion before you plunge forward with what may be an unnecessary repair. If your car has recently passed a state smog examination, you can also be confident that the converter is working properly.
