BY ALAN VONDERHAAR
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Dear Al:
My '94 Rodeo has 77,000 miles, and doesn't handle as well as it used to.
Any general suggestions on what needs to be checked, what bushings, etc. should be replaced? I see a lot of ads in the car magazines for polyurethane bushings. What are your feelings?
- Patrick D.
via the Internet
Dear Patrick:
How much do you want to put into your old friend? And how much time have you spent off-roading? These days 77K is still young, if the service has been easy.
You're going to get the most bang for buck replacing the shocks. I would do that first and see if it suffices. Resist the temptation toward overkill, but it's probably a good idea to move to a premium item somewhat better than original equipment.
If that doesn't do it for you, the next thing to look at would be springs. They could be a little saggy now, and that could account for some of the sloppiness you're feeling. A dealer or suspension shop might be able to tweak them rather inexpensively.
I wouldn't be too concerned about bushings, though it wouldn't be a bad idea to have them checked, along with motor mounts, when the Rodeo is in the corral.
Dear Al:
I agree 100% with W.R.'s recent comments. In the otherwise outstanding 1997 Cadillac Seville SLS, the automatic brightness control system is a classic example of technology gone mad, engineers' arrogance (we think we should do it, so we'll do it) or lousy customer needs assessment. Put bluntly, the brightness control system fairly often makes it impossible for the driver to have instrument panel brightness when needed in the daytime.
Unfortunately, the suggested solution of turning on headlights does not work. If you do that, the system says, in effect, "I don't agree that headlights are needed, so I WON'T allow instrument panel brightness.".
The ONLY way to get the instrument lights on is to: (1) manually turn on headlights, and (2) cover the light sensor in the center of the dash. Then the instrument display says HEADLAMPS SUGGESTED and the instrument panel lights up automatically. My light sensor assumes it is always night, since I have a piece of tape over it (except when it's in for service) and I have instrument panel brightness on call.
The correct fix for this is for Cadillac to move instrument panel brightness control into the 21st century by introducing a dramatic, innovative improvement called "driver input" (100% manual control).
- Jack M.
via the Internet
Dear Jack:
Bet that electrician's tape looks real spiffy on your $50,000 ride. This is one of many things that have me shaking my head when I test cars.
Didn't any of the testers notice that the instruments were hard to read in bright sunlight?
Luxury car buyers look for automation as a sign of value. I don't even like cruise control and whenever I have a car with what GM calls the Twilight Sentinel, automatic headlamps, I must confess I hang around waiting to see if they really go off after a while when I remotely lock the car. So far, they always have.
I'm with you - go ahead and show off with all your bells and whistles. but give me the option to override these fancy features, too.
Alan Vonderhaar welcomes email at avonderhaar@enquirer.com and snail mail c/o The Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati OH 45202.
