Alkorahil Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 As some of you may know I work at a large Nissan dealership in the parts department, and have been doing this sort of thing for a long time.... I thought I would start posting parts and maintence observations in a sort of 'mini blog' as well as some parts antecdotes, or some stories of the crazy customers we get from time to time. So I started thinking today...... So I have seen what seems to be a trend over the past few years. Thinking back it seems to have started around the end of 2009 during the economic downturn. We dont sell as many spoilers as we once did on vehicles, and I see this on other lots as well. Not as many vehicles are coming with them new. Deck lid spoilers really took off in the 90's. True, on most cars they really dont do anything, especially front wheel drive cars, its just for looks and aesthetics and tastes and styles change. I am wondering if it is because peoples tastes have changed in that they are 'going out of style', like the chrome craze of the early 2000's and the gold craze in the 90's.....or is it that people are trying to save and dont want to spend the extra money on it when they get a new vehicle because they want the price as low-low as possible? Just some of the thoughts I had today at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devonianwalk Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Interesting observation. I personally don't like them and never had one on any of my cars. I have noticed that I don't see the over sized aluminium (or plastic for that fact) on the rice burners around my town any more. Hmm ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Personally I don't think they fit the look/style of a magority of todays newer designed cars (don't get me wrong, I personally like a little lip spoiler on the edge of a decklid but the stock "wing" for my 98 Escort sedan is mis-proportioned in my opinion. That's why I have one sitting in a pile of stock wings instead of mounted). Fads go on and off, a common one I see right now from my 'office' is Ford Taurus's with JDByrider plate frames, child seats, and black ice scented air freshners hanging from the mirror (yet no inspection and the driver generally don't have a liscence ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Add to that the fact that mpg is becoming a real selling point for manufactures. Anything that would produce any negligible downforce would have a negative effect on mileage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkorahil Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 Add to that the fact that mpg is becoming a real selling point for manufactures. Anything that would produce any negligible downforce would have a negative effect on mileage. I had that thought as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RF600 Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 There are still a few wings on cars where I live. The worst one I saw was a bmw 3 series with one on the deck lid. I don't think I need to say it didn't look right. Fads come and go. Look at the clothes kids are wearing. Pull up your Damn pants! And you hat is on crooked! To each his own. Not enough people who dare to be different, and a little less money in their pocket to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 With how goofy FWD cars have been looking recently, spoilers have become obsolete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkorahil Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 We had a lady mid afternoon Saturday bring in her Sentra with a flat tire. They did a tire repair on the nail in the center of the tread. When the technician was mounting the tire back on to the car the side wall exploded in the technicians face. It made a VERY loud noise, I thought it was an airbag that deployed. Several people rushed over to make sure the guy was ok. He was lucky. What got me irritated was the lady was more concerned about her tire and who was going to pay for it than that a person was nearly seriously injured and was making a big fuss over the whoe thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 It's all me first and the gimme gimmes these days. Glad your guy is ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 That must be a really crappy tire if the belts blew up with a small puncture and repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 if it was ran on with low/no air in it it will chew the tire up from the inside out shredding the sidewall into nothing and not be noticeable without pulling the tire from the wheel, which would greatly weaken the integrity of the sidewall. If all that was done was a pull the nail and plug, and the owner knew of a leak and filled the tire prior to service and gave no history of such the tech would be at risk of such. May not be the situation but don't be quick to jump to conclusions without all the facts. Personal thoughts, I'm just glad to hear the tech wasn't hurt (I'm assuming at least by the 'He was lucky' comment). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5523Pathfinder Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 (edited) At Infiniti, the accessories dropped off fast with the economy downturn. I used to put lots of spoilers and bolt on goodies at least once a week. Before I left, maybe I did one once a month, maybe. On the other hand, now that I work at a Toyota/Ford dealer, they do see a good amount of accessories. DVD players, side steps, side trim, ect. That tire thing is scary! The person changing that tire had to of seen something. As stated, I bet the sidewall collapsed from being ran flat for too long. That or the dude tore the bead and thought he could get away with it. Edited September 17, 2012 by 5523Pathfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkorahil Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 No he was not hurt beyond being knocked down and his ears ringing for a while and being understandibly spooked. It was a Bridstone Turanza El400 tire. The sidewall had been damaged from driving on low but it wasnt apparent/visable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 (edited) Good thing he wasn't hurt. When I was at Schwabbys one of the new guys had a tire explode on him and it cut him up pretty good but he was still lucky. I did stop the same guy from fixing a flat like a month before that. I was walking past and I glanced at the tire and on the inside side wall was a tear that he was blatantly ignoring. Edited September 19, 2012 by Precise1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 (edited) One of my Firestones blew out on me on my sentra one day, I just stopped to pay a toll and was driving to get back in traffic, tire didn't show any signs of being low, car felt normal, wasn't driving fast, maybe 20 MPH, it just blew. And I mounted and installed tires for about 5 years back in the day as well, never had one blow out though, had one blow up but that was planned as tire wouldn't go on the bead and we applied a little starting fluid and a lighter to it. Had to do this once in a while, those old wide Mickey Thompsons after sitting for a while stacked 6 or 7 high, the bottom tire would get pretty squeezed, no one ever got hurt . Not something I remember us doing more than one or two times. Good to hear the tech was OK, I know it would have shaken me up ! here is to the "Most tires these days will run just fine even at very low pressures" comment: the Firestone: Goodyear from my pathfinder: Edited September 19, 2012 by Precise1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trogdor636 Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 had one blow up but that was planned as tire wouldn't go on the bead and we applied a little starting fluid and a lighter to it. Tire bead, starting fluid, and a lighter? Uhhhh.....yea yea. That's pretty cool Beavis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 didn't say I liked having to do it but when the tire needs to get mounted and the boss is the one who suggests it, it gets done. Those old bias tires like I said the old Mickey Thompsons, say a 15/39/15 on a 10" or 12" wide wheel, in cold weather (NY) the bead sometimes didn't want to cooperate LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkorahil Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 So apparently over the weekend the DPS officers around here got their panties in a wad over people not having front licence plates. They are required here in Texas, though you see plenty without rolling around without them. You usually never get pulled over for just that around here, it is something they add on to a ticket when they cite you for something more serious. But apparently this weekend they had orders or something because we had lots of phone calls from people for the licence plate brackets on their cars and the same story from people about getting warnings and such over the past 48 hours. Then I started thinking back to the first saturday of the month....two people I know got tickets, not warning tickets from the same DPS officer on the same road about 30 minutes apart from each other for having HID lights that were too bright...at 8am in the morning. They were not cited for speeding or anything else, just that. Makes me wonder if we have a new DPS officer around here fresh out of the academy wanting to impress higher ups over minor infractions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devonianwalk Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Living in a state where we don't even have vehicle inspections, I never understood the required front plates. I see plenty of Ohio, PA, and NY cars on I-77 (through way to Fla) that have them. Then again, I've never been pulled over from the front ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trogdor636 Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Front plates are required in Cali. When I had my mini truck I would get pulled over for it, got a ticket a couple times. Corvettes and old people? Nope, they don't get pulled over. They liked to pull me over to search my vehicle for other violations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Hell, no front plates down here, no inspections, I see people driving riding lawn mowers and golf carts to the convenience stores around here !! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Well, that's Florida, we expect that. Yep, in Cali, front plates are required but I only have one 1/2 the time and have never been cited for that. 2 reasons for the law and one makes sense; The PO can pull you over for no other reason, and they can run your plate without following you. I see both sides... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Florida really needs safety inspections in my opinion. There are vehicles with deathly screeching brakes and completely bald tires, vehicles with one or no working brake light or have them either stuck on or off, hyperflashing turn signals, absolutely glaring HIDs... I was even following a local cop car with a dead third brake light earlier tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 (edited) Some states are pretty strict, we know California is over the top, I heard way back, no idea if it is still the same that New Jersey actually puts trucks on a test course and if they break it during the test they aren't even responsible, but if the truck doesn't pass the test course it fails inspection, not sure about that as I lived in NY where the test was hard enough, my 87 hardbody with all the emission stuff connected had a hard time passing. I read way back that Nissan rushed the VG30 into production and that is why there were problems, No didn't read that on the internet, there was no internet back than !! LOL Edited September 18, 2012 by ahardb0dy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverton Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Some states are pretty strict, we know California is over the top, I heard way back, no idea if it is still the same that New Jersey actually puts trucks on a test course and if they break it during the test they aren't even responsible, but if the truck doesn't pass the test course it fails inspection, not sure about that as I lived in NY where the test was hard enough, my 87 hardbody with all the emission stuff connected had a hard time passing. I read way back that Nissan rushed the VG30 into production and that is why there were problems, No didn't read that on the internet, there was no internet back than !! LOL I wouldn't necessarily say the VG30 was rushed in to production, I think the TBI they used on trucks and pathfinders before 90 just wasn't emissions friendly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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