The Tables Have Turned

ON THE MARKThe Tables Have Turned 

"The tables have turned." That's an interesting saying, isn't it? I recently learned the history of that phrase, and a waitress explained its meaning during a recent visit to a 275-year-old colonial inn here in Massachusetts. 

To "turn the tables" refers to the 18th century colonial tavern tables that flipped up to form chairs. Back then, to say, "the tables have turned" would imply that the tavern has stopped serving food, as the tables have been turned upright to chairs. 

Sure enough, she "turned" one of the old tables, and in few seconds, it was transformed into an old chair. Although people use this saying quite frequently, 21st Century usage of the phrase does not normally refer to furniture. Most often, it is now used to refer to something in life that has taken on a dramatic change.

I have spoken with many customers in the past 20 or so years. In all that time, I've seen a clear definition in what a customer's perception of a "well-built" car is. People buy what they feel is "good." People also buy based on experience and the past performance with a certain brand. 

In the 1980's, I found that customers in the 20- to 40-year-old age bracket often purchased import cars. I can even tighten that group up a little further to say that they even preferred Asian built cars. At that same time, I found that the "over 40" customers were mainly fixated on the American products. The phrase "Buy American" was still at the top of their vocabulary list. Many of these customers served our country in one way or another. Some would even tell me that purchasing a car produced overseas was simply not patriotic. Even the thought of saving money on annual fuel costs back then could not convert many of these "dyed in the wool" American car buyers into purchasing imports. 

Well, in the past five to 10 years, I can tell you that the tables have turned. On a daily basis, I am consistently amazed by the number of 40-, 50-, 60- and even 70-year-old customers that will not even consider purchasing an American car. It is sad in a way. After all, we do live and work here. We are all Americans. 

Why the sudden change of automobile preference in the customers of these older age brackets? Why the conversion of that final group of former American car buyers? Whatever happened to that sense of patriotism when it comes to an automobile purchase? All one has to do is strike up a conversation with any of these prospective buyers and they will tell you why. Let me tell you, the conversations aren't very nice. You will hear many a troubling tale. 

Ask these customers, and you will learn the common denominators that molded their new buying philosophy. They are all sick and tired, and even fearful, of the same things. They are tired of all the abuses and violations they had to endure in an effort to purchase a car that saved American jobs. They are tired of all the large ticket repairs that seemed to strangely happen right after the warranty period ended. Tired of all the bad engines and failed transmissions. Tired of being picked up by that truck with the bright orange lights. Tired of bumming rides and missing so many hours out of work. Tired of being late for appointments and family obligations. Tired of all the water leaks, electrical problems and strange noises that no one could find. Tired of the frequency of alternator, water pump and starter motor replacements. Tired of that "loose suspension feel" after 30,000 miles. 

Worse than all these sins though, is the fear that they still remember: The fear that is so indelibly visible in their eyes as they recall what happened. The fear caused when their car died out in the middle of the intersection at rush hour. The fear caused when their car suddenly stopped running on the interstate in the middle of the night. The fear caused by those "phantom intermittent" problems that so suddenly, and without warning, rendered the car inoperative. The fear caused when these phantom problems disappeared at the service facility, hampering any possible diagnosis. Finally, the fear caused by the technician being forced to release the car not knowing whether the car would quit again. 

Believe me, I know. I test drove one of those cars home tonight. It is an American car that has a history of leaving its 70-year-old female owner stranded every four to five months over the past two years. We have driven, inspected and tested systems and subsystems on this car during that time frame. Typically, as with intermittents, this car will rarely become symptomatic while it is with us for service. It always starts fine and runs well after the tow truck drops it off here. Today, I briefly witnessed some strange data readings while our scan tool was connected to the vehicle. Unfortunately, the problem did not happen long enough to pinpoint a solution. I will drive it a few more days. Again, with no resolution, I am worried I will have to return the car to its owner. That bothers me because I can see the fear in her eyes. 

These owners have had to endure a lot. Frankly, they have had to endure too much. Now, those same buyers are making more educated car purchasing decisions. Decisions based on past product performance and current quality ratings. These people are the 21st century, Internet-savvy, automobile buying public. There's another old saying that comes to mind: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." You can bet that these people decided they will not be fooled again.

Perhaps this change in buying trends will be good for the industry. Perhaps it is stirring the pot a little. Maybe, at some point, quality will improve enough to gain these past owners back. Even General Motors has now realized this. 

As an update to the story of the American make car, I finally did figure out what was causing the stalling on it. It was actually two separate items. You would never think that a brake system part could cause a driveability problem, but it did on this car. During moderate braking, I noticed the car stumbled at stops and the O2 sensor in the datastream swung lean and stayed there. It took a while to figure out. A vacuum leak in the brake booster was causing the admittance of unmetered air, resulting in a lean exhaust. The computer, seeing this, kept adding fuel to the mixture to the point that the car started stumbling, although it never caused a stall. 

The stalling situation was caused by the computer itself. After about 20 trips and numerous hours of test-driving, I witnessed low voltage readings on the ECM voltage line in the datastream. After checking the three power and two ground wires, I was able to verify that this was an internal computer problem. Every time the internal voltage dipped below 5 volts, the car would stall. 

In the end, the customer decided not to repair the car. She bought a 2002 Toyota Avalon. I guess I won't be seeing her in the service department much any more.