Author Topic: Anything related to automobiles  (Read 100725 times)

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Offline Cable

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #280 on: July 25, 2015, 04:01:24 PM »


Drove an Audi back from Cali with a CVT and it was pretty strange. From 65-85 sat pretty close to the same 2k RPM (only the gear ratio changes, not the engine speed). Cruising along at 65 it'd show 400 miles range remaining, and then you bump it up to 82 or so and now you're looking at 460 (which you'd never, ever get realistically).

The Forester had it, and an older car my wife had used one. While I am a fan of the concept and how they work, it's a bit false advertising IMO. And I don't know why they cannot have lower RPM's after 55mph if it is truly Continuously Variable. It's a concept that continues to elude me on car makers- why is 55 the optimal speed for mileage vs. 65mph or greater. The interstate speed limits for most states outside of urban areas has been 65+ for decades now. Most people stick to interstates vs. state roads/routes that are 55.
It's not about optimizing the speed, but rather the engine speed. Ideally with a CVT you want the car to remain in the peak spot of its powerband. It would appear that 2k is the sweet spot in that car providing the most power/fuel. That tranny would keep it there through about 35mph on the highway. It didn't start creeping up until 85 or so. All that said, I really never noticed much of a benefit MPG wise. Got about the same mileage as any other 6-banger I've owned.


I think the Forester went beyond 2k RPMS after 55mph, so is probably different for each car maker. Sounds like yours was a solid one. Then again, I expect better performance and tuning from an Audi vs. a generic Subaru (not counted the Impreza WRX STI).

Yeah, they are very minimal in MPG improvements. The previous gen Forester had a traditional gear transmission, and the CVT one only got about 2 MPG better in the city. And that can be accounted for in other areas too due to the redesign.
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Offline El Barto

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #281 on: July 25, 2015, 04:54:07 PM »
Higher RPM doesn't necessarily mean worse mileage, though. It's entirely possible that the sweet spot in that Suburu was at 2500. Both of my BMWs hit their stride at 3k, and running it less than that was inefficient in the long run.
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Offline El Barto

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #282 on: July 25, 2015, 05:01:20 PM »
No shit, in the coincidence department, but yesterday I was taking my daughter to camp and at the stop light, a late-70's black Trans-am with the gold hood decal and everything drove by me.  It appeared to be in great shape, though it was driven by what looked to be a soccer mom.  :)
I throw SatB on from time to time, including a couple of months ago. It's funny that the 77 Black Edition was such hot shit back in the day, and at this point it might as well be your mom's astrovan.  :lol

Absolutely gorgeous car, though. Man, talk about style.
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Offline bout to crash

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #283 on: July 26, 2015, 10:28:06 PM »
Help, my check engine light has been on for about 24 hours. What does it mean?!? I'm afraid whatever the problem is, it will leave me broke. On the bright side, I just finally paid off my car last month :D
Oh Jackie, always jumping to the most homoerotic possibility.

Offline El Barto

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #284 on: July 26, 2015, 11:15:50 PM »
Help, my check engine light has been on for about 24 hours. What does it mean?!? I'm afraid whatever the problem is, it will leave me broke. On the bright side, I just finally paid off my car last month :D
Not sure what sort of car it is but if it's anything halfway modern and not particularly exotic the minions at Autozone will pull the codes for free and tell you what the trouble is. Then you can decide what to do (and ignoring it is often an option).  Most likely culprit is the O2 sensor (got one of those on, myself). Honestly, most CEL problems turn out to be pretty minor. There are a ton of car problems worth losing sleep over but CELs aren't really one of them.

Until you do get it looked into you might keep an eye out for some sort of limp mode. If there's something actually wrong then the car might hobble itself so that you can drive (limp) home or to a garage, but not out to run a day's worth of errands. For a CEL it might be something like refusing to exceed 2k RPM. My E36 would also shut off the AC in limp mode. Transmission limp modes like to lock you into 2nd and 5th gear. Either way you get s sluggish ride to safety but that's about all.

Just don't worry much about it. Get it fixed at some point pretty soon, be mindful of the car behaving strangely until then and you'll be fine. I really can't think of much that'll throw a CEL that would cost too much.
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Offline Chino

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #285 on: July 27, 2015, 06:47:23 AM »
It's funny how wimpy a lot of those older cars were compared to modern ones. My old man's Opel would get blown away by an Astrovan nowadays. Our Z cars wouldn't fair much better. Yet some of them are so stylish it's ridiculous. Bandit's '77 Black Edition TA is so fucking cool it belongs in a museum, yet it was pretty pedestrian, honestly.

That's the thing, though; those old cars had SWAG.  I don't know what it is, though I suspect it's the same thing that makes the Astrovan a challenge; they get designed by man but optimized - read:  homogenized - by computer. 

They can make some of those engines so much smaller and more efficient these days.   I remember my Dad had a 'Vette with a 454 in it ('67?  '69?); that's INSANE, and totally unnecessary to get the same performance today.

The 5.0L mustangs from the 90s made just over 200HP and had crap fuel economy. Today, Mini can squeeze nearly 230HP out of a 1.5L and still average 33mpg.
And creak, rattle and shake while doing it.  :P

I'll admit, outside of my whole two waterpumps dying before 30k miles, I haven't had a single issue. I'll be passing 70k miles next week.

I spoke to soon. I have a loaner right now. My Mini went into the dealer on Saturday because of a check engine light and no power. There's a very noticeable shaking when the car is idling, and there was no umph under 4k rpm.

Offline JayOctavarium

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #286 on: July 27, 2015, 07:50:12 AM »
Oh Minis.  Lol
I just don't understand what they were trying to achieve with any part of the song, either individually or as a whole. You know what? It's the Platypus of Dream Theater songs. That bill doesn't go with that tail, or that strange little furry body, or those webbed feet, and oh god why does it have venomous spurs!? And then you find out it lays eggs too. The difference is that the Platypus is somehow functional despite being a crazy mishmash or leftover animal pieces

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Offline El Barto

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #287 on: July 27, 2015, 09:31:10 AM »
It's funny how wimpy a lot of those older cars were compared to modern ones. My old man's Opel would get blown away by an Astrovan nowadays. Our Z cars wouldn't fair much better. Yet some of them are so stylish it's ridiculous. Bandit's '77 Black Edition TA is so fucking cool it belongs in a museum, yet it was pretty pedestrian, honestly.

That's the thing, though; those old cars had SWAG.  I don't know what it is, though I suspect it's the same thing that makes the Astrovan a challenge; they get designed by man but optimized - read:  homogenized - by computer. 

They can make some of those engines so much smaller and more efficient these days.   I remember my Dad had a 'Vette with a 454 in it ('67?  '69?); that's INSANE, and totally unnecessary to get the same performance today.

The 5.0L mustangs from the 90s made just over 200HP and had crap fuel economy. Today, Mini can squeeze nearly 230HP out of a 1.5L and still average 33mpg.
And creak, rattle and shake while doing it.  :P

I'll admit, outside of my whole two waterpumps dying before 30k miles, I haven't had a single issue. I'll be passing 70k miles next week.

I spoke to soon. I have a loaner right now. My Mini went into the dealer on Saturday because of a check engine light and no power. There's a very noticeable shaking when the car is idling, and there was no umph under 4k rpm.
DTF presents: You Make The Call.

You're definitely missing a cylinder. Causes it to shake at idle and lag something mighty under a load (accelerating up to higher RPMs). As for the cause, my customary first guess is a bad coil pack. Could be anything, though. Seems those cars are prone to a very rapid buildup of carbon deposits. If that's the case I'd take it to somebody that isn't a dealer and have it dealt with on the cheap. Very likely that a $14 can of Seafoam would straighten it right up.
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Offline Chino

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #288 on: July 27, 2015, 10:43:57 AM »
It's funny how wimpy a lot of those older cars were compared to modern ones. My old man's Opel would get blown away by an Astrovan nowadays. Our Z cars wouldn't fair much better. Yet some of them are so stylish it's ridiculous. Bandit's '77 Black Edition TA is so fucking cool it belongs in a museum, yet it was pretty pedestrian, honestly.

That's the thing, though; those old cars had SWAG.  I don't know what it is, though I suspect it's the same thing that makes the Astrovan a challenge; they get designed by man but optimized - read:  homogenized - by computer. 

They can make some of those engines so much smaller and more efficient these days.   I remember my Dad had a 'Vette with a 454 in it ('67?  '69?); that's INSANE, and totally unnecessary to get the same performance today.

The 5.0L mustangs from the 90s made just over 200HP and had crap fuel economy. Today, Mini can squeeze nearly 230HP out of a 1.5L and still average 33mpg.
And creak, rattle and shake while doing it.  :P

I'll admit, outside of my whole two waterpumps dying before 30k miles, I haven't had a single issue. I'll be passing 70k miles next week.

I spoke to soon. I have a loaner right now. My Mini went into the dealer on Saturday because of a check engine light and no power. There's a very noticeable shaking when the car is idling, and there was no umph under 4k rpm.
DTF presents: You Make The Call.

You're definitely missing a cylinder. Causes it to shake at idle and lag something mighty under a load (accelerating up to higher RPMs). As for the cause, my customary first guess is a bad coil pack. Could be anything, though. Seems those cars are prone to a very rapid buildup of carbon deposits. If that's the case I'd take it to somebody that isn't a dealer and have it dealt with on the cheap. Very likely that a $14 can of Seafoam would straighten it right up.

The dealer fucked me in the ass today. You're spot on.

I brought it in on Saturday (already had an unrelated service appointment scheduled) with the light on and told them the problem. I authorized them to do a diagnostic at the sweet price of $135. Got a call a little while ago that all four of my plugs are shot and one wasn't functioning at all. Carbon buildup is a bitch in those little 4-bangers. I gave it the seafoam treatment at 25K and 50K miles just to be safe.

Had I not had to go in for the service appointment, I probably wouldn't have even bothered bringing it to the dealer. I would have gone to a shop in town. There is a big perk about going to the dealer though. I can can a loaner if I need to. If the shop in town has my car for a week, I don't have a car for a week. The money I had to spend today is a little easier to swallow when I consider that I got to put 400 miles on someone else's car at no extra expense to me.

Offline El Barto

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #289 on: July 27, 2015, 12:01:41 PM »
So how'd the dealer fuck you? What's their recommendation? You've seafoamed it twice and still have carbon deposits? A one week rental will cost you less than the difference between a local mech and a dealer.
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Offline Chino

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #290 on: July 28, 2015, 09:45:26 AM »
I'll give the brief version.

1) My car was due for a scheduled service appointment.
2) The day before that my car lost power on the highway. It could still drive, but it hit a wall at 55mph and sounded like shit.
3) The car was at the dealership and I was told the plugs were shot and one was no longer functioning. I saw them and they looked terrible.
4) Convinced that that was the problem, and I'd have to tow the car home to do it myself (on top of paying the $135 diagnostic fee), I authorized them to give me all new plugs and a tune up for a whopping $387.
5) I picked the car up and got about 50 feet down the road before the issue came back and the engine light re-illuminated.
6) Brought the car back and took the loaner for another day.
7) Just got a call that my coil pack died. I guess it's normally about $250 with labor to replace, but they are giving it to me for $105 for the inconvenience.

Either way, I'm still a good $500 into this repair.

Offline El Barto

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #291 on: July 28, 2015, 10:02:44 AM »
I'd want to know why the plugs looked so bad.  All in all, assuming they applied the diagnostic charge to the tune up it doesn't sound all that unreasonable for dealership work. Although I'd certainly want to know what all they put into the tune-up.

And it sounds to me like they just charged you for the coil and waived the labor (all of 15 minutes anyway). A buck-fifteen seems to be pretty normal for those things.
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Offline Chino

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #292 on: July 28, 2015, 10:08:29 AM »
I'd want to know why the plugs looked so bad.  All in all, assuming they applied the diagnostic charge to the tune up it doesn't sound all that unreasonable for dealership work. Although I'd certainly want to know what all they put into the tune-up.

And it sounds to me like they just charged you for the coil and waived the labor (all of 15 minutes anyway). A buck-fifteen seems to be pretty normal for those things.

They were the original plugs with 70k miles on them. I thought they got replaced at 50k miles, but I guess not.

I'm not sure about everything the tuneup includes. I know I'm getting new transmission and brake fluid and they'll be checking the condition of all my belts and chains. I'm pretty sure new wipers all around are including that as well. The diagnostic charge was applied to the tune up. I'm less upset today than I was yesterday. Despite having to shell out more money, I feel like I'm getting a better deal.

Is a coil pack just the modern name for a distributor?

Offline El Barto

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #293 on: July 28, 2015, 10:21:22 AM »
They fill the same role (firing the plugs) but are very different things. In older cars there was one or two coils and then a distributor which sent current to each plug in sequence. In modern cars each plug has its own coil and the ECU tells it when to fire. Definitely more efficient and effective, but in the old days your points wore down and you slapped a new distributor/rotor into the car for $20. Nowadays you've got 4 to 12 coil packs in there which run you $100+ when they fail. Once your car gets old enough that you're not hung up on new, factory parts you start buying them used on eBay.
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Offline bout to crash

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #294 on: July 28, 2015, 05:15:05 PM »
Help, my check engine light has been on for about 24 hours. What does it mean?!? I'm afraid whatever the problem is, it will leave me broke. On the bright side, I just finally paid off my car last month :D
Not sure what sort of car it is but if it's anything halfway modern and not particularly exotic the minions at Autozone will pull the codes for free and tell you what the trouble is. Then you can decide what to do (and ignoring it is often an option).  Most likely culprit is the O2 sensor (got one of those on, myself). Honestly, most CEL problems turn out to be pretty minor. There are a ton of car problems worth losing sleep over but CELs aren't really one of them.

Until you do get it looked into you might keep an eye out for some sort of limp mode. If there's something actually wrong then the car might hobble itself so that you can drive (limp) home or to a garage, but not out to run a day's worth of errands. For a CEL it might be something like refusing to exceed 2k RPM. My E36 would also shut off the AC in limp mode. Transmission limp modes like to lock you into 2nd and 5th gear. Either way you get s sluggish ride to safety but that's about all.

Just don't worry much about it. Get it fixed at some point pretty soon, be mindful of the car behaving strangely until then and you'll be fine. I really can't think of much that'll throw a CEL that would cost too much.

Thanks! It's an '06 Impala, btw.
So the light went off last night, but I took it in today anyway because it's been feeling kind of funny (not quite accelerating the way it should and running more loudly than usual, mostly). Apparently the check engine light had been on due to the fuel being too rich? I still don't quite understand this concept but read up a bit on it.
I do need a new muffler, which I've known for a while (well, I knew I would need one soon) because it has some holes in it. So he's replacing the muffler, which won't come til tomorrow morning- huge pain in the ass in my line of work, with me having to be driven around by other people.
He also said this probably doesn't need immediate attention, but the catalytic converter is loose and "going bad," whatever that means, and some other stuff that was like a foreign language. Right now the plan is to replace the muffler tomorrow afternoon and then drive it around about ten miles to see how it's running and clean things out a bit because of the whole "rich" thing. Then I may have to come back to get whatever else fixed down the road when it gets worse. The muffler work is going to be about $280. Could be a lot worse!
Oh Jackie, always jumping to the most homoerotic possibility.

Offline El Barto

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #295 on: July 28, 2015, 05:28:42 PM »
Help, my check engine light has been on for about 24 hours. What does it mean?!? I'm afraid whatever the problem is, it will leave me broke. On the bright side, I just finally paid off my car last month :D
Not sure what sort of car it is but if it's anything halfway modern and not particularly exotic the minions at Autozone will pull the codes for free and tell you what the trouble is. Then you can decide what to do (and ignoring it is often an option).  Most likely culprit is the O2 sensor (got one of those on, myself). Honestly, most CEL problems turn out to be pretty minor. There are a ton of car problems worth losing sleep over but CELs aren't really one of them.

Until you do get it looked into you might keep an eye out for some sort of limp mode. If there's something actually wrong then the car might hobble itself so that you can drive (limp) home or to a garage, but not out to run a day's worth of errands. For a CEL it might be something like refusing to exceed 2k RPM. My E36 would also shut off the AC in limp mode. Transmission limp modes like to lock you into 2nd and 5th gear. Either way you get s sluggish ride to safety but that's about all.

Just don't worry much about it. Get it fixed at some point pretty soon, be mindful of the car behaving strangely until then and you'll be fine. I really can't think of much that'll throw a CEL that would cost too much.

Thanks! It's an '06 Impala, btw.
So the light went off last night, but I took it in today anyway because it's been feeling kind of funny (not quite accelerating the way it should and running more loudly than usual, mostly). Apparently the check engine light had been on due to the fuel being too rich? I still don't quite understand this concept but read up a bit on it.
I do need a new muffler, which I've known for a while (well, I knew I would need one soon) because it has some holes in it. So he's replacing the muffler, which won't come til tomorrow morning- huge pain in the ass in my line of work, with me having to be driven around by other people.
He also said this probably doesn't need immediate attention, but the catalytic converter is loose and "going bad," whatever that means, and some other stuff that was like a foreign language. Right now the plan is to replace the muffler tomorrow afternoon and then drive it around about ten miles to see how it's running and clean things out a bit because of the whole "rich" thing. Then I may have to come back to get whatever else fixed down the road when it gets worse. The muffler work is going to be about $280. Could be a lot worse!
Ya might be putting the cart before the horse. If the car is running rich it can cause all sorts of failures (eventually--nothing immediately dangerous) including damaging the exhaust. The cat in particular, and those things aren't as cheap as mufflers. In any event, that CEL will leave codes in the computer telling a mechanic what was going on, even if the light is now out. Somebody should be able to pull those codes and tell you exactly why it's running rich, and it probably won't be anything too bad. Then you can get that fixed and save further troubles down the road.  It's also possible that just a simple tune-up will solve your fuel problem, and will likely need to be done anyway (your plugs are probably bad now). However I wouldn't do that until you have all of the pertinent information.
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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #296 on: July 28, 2015, 11:10:56 PM »
Thanks. I will be going in there with a fucking notebook tomorrow to try and make sense of all this  :lol
Oh Jackie, always jumping to the most homoerotic possibility.

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #297 on: July 29, 2015, 06:57:59 PM »
Sooo my muffler was replaced but I will need a new catalytic converter. That is the reason for the CEL and the fuel running rich. Apparently there are little pieces that come loose and plug the muffler/restrict airflow. He said it's supposed to be heating up 100 degrees but instead is cooling down 10? I don't fully get it, but that's the story.
I thought that I could survive until my next paycheck before dealing with that $700+ bill, but about ten minutes after I left the shop the light went back on and the car felt even worse than when I had brought it in. I called and the guy explained that yeah, it could fluctuate and get a bit better, but it could also just keep getting worse until it's replaced. So I told him to go ahead and order the part and it should be here in the next few days. Oy vey, my wallet.
Oh Jackie, always jumping to the most homoerotic possibility.

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #298 on: July 30, 2015, 12:35:11 PM »
Life is punishing you for going to Alaska.
I just don't understand what they were trying to achieve with any part of the song, either individually or as a whole. You know what? It's the Platypus of Dream Theater songs. That bill doesn't go with that tail, or that strange little furry body, or those webbed feet, and oh god why does it have venomous spurs!? And then you find out it lays eggs too. The difference is that the Platypus is somehow functional despite being a crazy mishmash or leftover animal pieces

-BlobVanDam on "Scarred"

Offline El Barto

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #299 on: July 30, 2015, 01:05:16 PM »
Sooo my muffler was replaced but I will need a new catalytic converter. That is the reason for the CEL and the fuel running rich. Apparently there are little pieces that come loose and plug the muffler/restrict airflow. He said it's supposed to be heating up 100 degrees but instead is cooling down 10? I don't fully get it, but that's the story.
I thought that I could survive until my next paycheck before dealing with that $700+ bill, but about ten minutes after I left the shop the light went back on and the car felt even worse than when I had brought it in. I called and the guy explained that yeah, it could fluctuate and get a bit better, but it could also just keep getting worse until it's replaced. So I told him to go ahead and order the part and it should be here in the next few days. Oy vey, my wallet.
I'll be curious to see if that resolves your mixture problem. I still think you're going to be putting an O2 sensor in there before it's all said and done.
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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #300 on: July 30, 2015, 08:41:19 PM »
He said the O2 sensor is okay itself but isn't working properly because it's behind the catalytic converter so it's not registering the way it should and it locked up. Does that make sense to you? Again, all foreign language to me  :lol

The CEL went on and then off again today but I noticed my car driving a lot better as the day went on, so he was right about the fluctuation thing...
Oh Jackie, always jumping to the most homoerotic possibility.

Offline El Barto

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #301 on: July 30, 2015, 09:09:16 PM »
Yeah, it actually does make sense. At the same time, this just seems like an odd sequence of events to me. I've had cats fail after years of deterioration so that eventually it won't pass an emissions test. For one to go so categorically bad that it disrupts the running of the car isn't an experience I'm familiar with. Moreover, running particularly rich is a surefire way to hasten the death of one. What you said in your last post is plausible, though, if a it strange to me.

Regardless, hope it works out.


edit: a tiny bit of googling says that yours is indeed a common problem. Chevy just used shitty cats, by the looks of it. Bummer.
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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #302 on: July 30, 2015, 09:16:38 PM »
Well, that makes sense then. I've also beaten the SHIT out of this car since I got it five years ago. I've put something like 87,000 miles on it driving around for work all day and taking epic road trips. I'm surprised it hasn't cost me more money up until this point, TBH. Usually it's just an expensive brake job every once in a while, and the one time I totally fucked up my wheel hitting a curb. Mr. Humbert has been very good to me  :heart
Oh Jackie, always jumping to the most homoerotic possibility.

Offline Chino

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #303 on: September 15, 2015, 07:30:39 AM »
Looks like Tesla has it's first major competitor.

https://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/220c660c-5b2c-11e5-a28b-50226830d644.html#axzz3ljHmtSLP



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The world’s biggest carmakers have made a fresh show of commitment to electric vehicles, with Volkswagen unveiling a battery-powered Porsche capable of travelling 500km on a single charge and refuelling to almost full in 15 minutes.

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Though it loses out to the Model S in terms of acceleration — doing 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds, versus less than 3 seconds for Tesla — the charging time is impressive. Porsche says it can reach an 80 per cent charge of electrical energy in only 15 minutes.
The car is only at the concept phase, but Porsche — which is owned by VW — said it would decide by the end of the year whether to bring the car into production.
Concerns overshadow show
Range Rover Production At Jaguar Land Rover Plc's Halewood Factory...Employees work on a Range Rover Evoque SUV automobile, produced by Jaguar Land Rover Plc, a unit of Tata Motors Ltd., as it travels along the production line at the company's assembly plant in Halewood, U.K., on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. Carmakers from Ford Motor Co. to Audi AG and Jaguar Land Rover Plc are using record amounts of aluminium to replace heavier steel, providing relief to producers of the metal confronting excess supplies and depressed prices. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
By far the dominant concern in Frankfurt will be China.Falling sales in China are taking a toll on the jumbo pricing and outsized margins that carmakers have been enjoying in the country for several years.
VW also used its traditional eve-of-show party to display a similarly capable electric vehicle under its Audi brand. The e-tron quattro, teased several weeks ago, is a sport utility vehicle that can also do 310 miles and boasts no less than three electric motors.
Again, the car is only at the concept stage, but VW promises it will be delivered by early 2018.

Offline ReaperKK

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #304 on: March 19, 2016, 09:46:49 AM »
This is just insane, I love the Agera

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SywqgH7n-5g

Offline El Barto

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #305 on: March 19, 2016, 12:28:49 PM »
I guess if you can afford the car you can afford to trash $2,400 worth of tires in a single afternoon impressing chicks.
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Offline Chino

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #306 on: April 01, 2016, 06:31:21 AM »
115,000 preorders in the first 3 hours. 

Starting price of $35,000 and autopilot comes standard on even the most base models. I would lovvve it if Tesla released a mid-sized pickup.




Offline jasc15

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #307 on: August 15, 2016, 11:55:16 AM »
I own a 2007 Volvo V50.  There was some suspension noise and I knew I needed to replace the control arms (the ball joints and bushings are integral to the control arm).  I have an account on All Data DIY, which is just an online service manual with lots of great info.  I bought OEM parts online from a volvo parts seller, and drove to my mother's house to have access to a garage and my tools.  After some difficulty in the heat and rain last week, I removed the old arms and began to install the new ones.  With the passenger side installed, I begin the driver side only to realize that I was sent two passenger side control arms.  Now what?!  I checked the packing list and the parts themselves when the arrived, but I didnt actually take them out and place them side by side to make sure I had a matching pair.  The other "passenger" side was labeled with the driver side part number so I concluded that this was not my error.  The online seller sent me a return label to ship the wrong part for a refund, but the correct part wouldn't arrive for 2 days since I called them after normal working hours.  I decided I didn't want to wait, so the next morning I went to my local Volvo dealer who said they had it in stock.  When I arrived, the guy pulled the part and put it on the counter, and I scratched my head for a minute since I swore it looked like the passenger side.  He insisted it was the driver side since the part number matched his database, but I then asked him to pull the passenger side part.  Lo and behold, they were the same!  Now I realized that it was a good thing I was able to lay my hands on the part because there was a good chance the "correct" one being shipped to me was also wrong.  There must be hundreds or thousands of them mislabeled for me to encounter this problem on the first 2 randomly selected parts from different areas of the country.  So I drive back to my mother's (using her car that I stole for the night) and put on the correct part.  This error wound up costing me about $100 more than it should have, and I will contact Volvo corporate to see if I can get some credit or something.  Since both parts would have fit the passenger side, it is fortunate that i installed the one with the correct part number, otherwise I would have to try returning a correctly labeled part.

tl;dr, I bought driver and passenger side parts from an online seller.  Received two passenger side parts, one with a driver side part number.  Encountered the same problem at a local parts dealer and realized this is some factory screw up.  Cost me about $100 and a day without my car.

Offline El Barto

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #308 on: August 15, 2016, 03:48:26 PM »
That's a drag. I know the folks at the local BMW dealer can be pretty flaky with parts and numbers. One guy told me flat out that a part didn't exist for my car. I found the part number, called him up and ordered it the next day. I had another guy quote me $48/ea for spark plugs, which is so over the top there had to be something screwed up in their system. 
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Offline SystematicThought

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #309 on: August 15, 2016, 07:11:45 PM »
Sold my 2004 Ford Ranger and bought a 2014 Ford F-150. I checked back on the dealership to see what they were selling my Ranger for and they want $10,000 for it. I paid 8000 for it two years ago. I took really good care of it though and it essentially looks new
https://www.hudsonford.com/used/Ford/2004-Ford-Ranger-hudson-wi-5d81f77f0a0e0ae8595b246c4dd6a2ae.htm?searchDepth=1:2

I'm really happy with my F150 though. It's fun to drive and I love having all of that room.
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Offline mikeyd23

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #310 on: August 16, 2016, 07:15:08 AM »
Sold my 2004 Ford Ranger and bought a 2014 Ford F-150. I checked back on the dealership to see what they were selling my Ranger for and they want $10,000 for it. I paid 8000 for it two years ago. I took really good care of it though and it essentially looks new
https://www.hudsonford.com/used/Ford/2004-Ford-Ranger-hudson-wi-5d81f77f0a0e0ae8595b246c4dd6a2ae.htm?searchDepth=1:2

I'm really happy with my F150 though. It's fun to drive and I love having all of that room.

I'd love to get a F-150. I've also had my eye on the Chevy Colorado, the new body style is gorgeous.

Now I just need to convince my wife to let me buy a truck...  :lol

Offline jasc15

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #311 on: August 16, 2016, 07:17:23 AM »
I'm still amazed that the F150 is the best selling vehicle in the US.  Something like one sold every 40 seconds in 2015.  How many people actually use them to their capability, rather than commuting to their office job and towing a bass boat twice a year?

Offline mikeyd23

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #312 on: August 16, 2016, 07:32:25 AM »
I see F-150s on the highway everyday commuting back and forth into my office park I work in all the time. Most often they are in immaculate condition and look like they have heard seen a hard days work. I think I read somewhere F-150s are the most bought car of millionaries, so clearly not everyone is buying one to haul a trailer or a boat or work a trade.

Offline Chino

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #313 on: August 16, 2016, 07:47:31 AM »
I'm still amazed that the F150 is the best selling vehicle in the US.  Something like one sold every 40 seconds in 2015.  How many people actually use them to their capability, rather than commuting to their office job and towing a bass boat twice a year?

That's because they are the standard government vehicle for pretty much any utility. The town I grew up in had a fleet of about 20 of them. They'd get replaced every 6-10 years. Some had plows and sanders, others were used for landscaping the parks, the police had some, etc.. When every town in the nation buys your product for contracting and work related matters, you're going to have serious numbers. If you took the F-150s purchased with tax payer money out of the equation, the numbers would be nowhere near as high.

Offline SystematicThought

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Re: Anything related to automobiles
« Reply #314 on: August 16, 2016, 08:17:41 PM »
I can 100% honestly say I'm not a millionaire nor a construction worker. :lol I just have always liked trucks and love driving them. I like sitting up high and the space, man the space is awesome. I haul a decent amount of stuff in the summer for our gardens at home. And it's nice for these long Minnesota winters.
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