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tkNukem posted:Finally, I've noticed going with either of those three companies will mean I deal with some mom-and-pop type insurance agent, whereas with Liberty Mutual, I've come to enjoy helpdesk-style phone support where I'm bounced around "to the next available agent." Are there any pros/cons with to going to the insurance agent model versus the corporate model? I love having a local agent. There's a secretary I can walk in and deal with during business hours, and theres another on-call from her house during other times. In dealing with them for a few years, both of them know me by name when I call. Everybody in the office has an attitude of being on my team against the big insurance company they franchise with, and is willing to bend and rearrange things to lower my bills. The best part is how easy it is to turn coverage on and off for my summer-only car. It takes literally 5 minutes.
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Sep 7, 2010 18:39
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eddiewalker posted:The best part is how easy it is to turn coverage on and off for my summer-only car. It takes literally 5 minutes. What state do you live in that you can do this? Mine charges a $200 no-op fee, or a $250 lapsed insurance fine.
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Sep 7, 2010 18:43
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SaabFanatic posted:What state do you live in that you can do this? Mine charges a $200 no-op fee, or a $250 lapsed insurance fine. I live in Missouri. I don't know what they do paperwork-wise. I pay for a 6-month premium early in the spring. If it's still nice enough to drive by the end of 6 months I pay for another 6. As soon as it snows I call in and the secretary drops the policy and credits any leftover money to my other car. The only time I need to show proof of insurance is when my plates expire mid-summer, or if I were to get pulled over, so there's no reason to carry liability insurance on a tiny RWD British convertible in the winter when it never leaves the garage. I've been doing it for years. eddiewalker fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Sep 7, 2010 |
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Sep 7, 2010 18:49
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eddiewalker posted:I love having a local agent. There's a secretary I can walk in and deal with during business hours, and theres another on-call from her house during other times. In dealing with them for a few years, both of them know me by name when I call. That brings up a good point: would agents charge any fees on things like making changes, processing a claim, etc? When selling my Accord recently, I dropped its coverage to comprehensive only (change 1), then bought the CVPI (change 2), then sold the Accord (change 3) within two months. Each cubicle jockey at Liberty Mutual made the policy changes quick, easy, and free...
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Sep 7, 2010 19:12
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tkNukem posted:That brings up a good point: would agents charge any fees on things like making changes, processing a claim, etc? When selling my Accord recently, I dropped its coverage to comprehensive only (change 1), then bought the CVPI (change 2), then sold the Accord (change 3) within two months. Each cubicle jockey at Liberty Mutual made the policy changes quick, easy, and free... Any agent that wants to keep customers is not going to charge you for changes. It takes them all of 10-15 seconds to make them! Generally your rates should only increase because of accidents, excessive comprehensive claims, tickets, or your credit score going down significantly. I will say, while it was really nice being able to make online changes with Progressive... having a local agent rocks. The downside is the claims service with AAA Texas (yes, they write car and home insurance too) is dragged out as long as possible, it took over 2 weeks to get a check for the car... and it's still sitting at a storage lot. Supposed to go up for auction this weekend, I called the lot to ask them to see if I left a pair of glasses in it. Claim started on Aug 3rd, I was paid a little over 2 weeks later, and finally picked up an Altima a little over a week ago... and my insurance went UP on it because it doesn't have passive anti theft (only $26/year, they do 12 month policies). I had Farmers for awhile.. my agent was kind of a dick, but got stuff done fast. And their claims service was awesome. From the day of the accident to the day I picked up my car from the body shop was 6 days (though the body shop did some shoddy work). I'm not happy with how slow claims work with AAA, but my rates went from $170/month at Farmers to $120/month with AAA (2 at-fault accidents in 5 years, and now a $6,200 total loss comprehensive claim last month). My agent is very pleasant to deal with, if I need to make a change I just fire her an email or pick up the phone, it's done in a few minutes during working hours. Everyone I dealt with in the claims process was exceedingly polite and easy to work with, but since there was only 1 person LOCAL looking at the car, everything bounced back and forth between Dallas, California, and Houston before I finally had a check in my hands, but the check was for nearly double what I expected. And they reimbursed most of my rental expenses too. In TX, they can look up your insurance status on the computer in the police car anyway, but you still have to carry a card with you. My policy on insurance is to go with the cheapest company while sticking with someone that's nationwide and not about to go bankrupt. Since I own very little, I tend to go with state minimums on coverages, but once I win the lottery you better believe I'm going to get a personal liability policy that would make Obama choke. Assuming I win the lottery. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Sep 7, 2010 |
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Sep 7, 2010 20:45
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This is not an automotive question but it relates to self-powered machinery so here goes. I have this Craftsman lawn mower that is about ten years old. It starts up easily, runs like a champ. The self-propelled feature doesn't work quite right. If I pull the lever to activate the SP feature the lawn mower will go and then after some random interval of time it will stop propelling itself. If I pull harder on the lever it starts going again. If I pull on the lever all the time it works just like it is supposed to. Does this mean the cable is stretched out and needs replacement? If that's all it is I will fix it.
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Sep 7, 2010 22:24
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I've recently decided to buy a van to convert into a living space and I was wondering if anyone could recommend me any specific make/model/year's that would be good for this sort of thing. I'm looking to spend <$2,000 but the cheaper the better! The most important thing for me is a vehicle that is going to be reliable and, if something goes wrong, easy to work on. Anyone have any experience with this sort of thing?
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Sep 8, 2010 00:21
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tkNukem posted:Questions about auto insurance... http://www.jdpower.com/Insurance/ratings/auto-insurance-provider-ratings I swear by Amica. I found them via the above webpage, did pricing and found they were the cheapest, and went with them about three years ago. In July my VW was wrecked (hit and run while it was parked) and they handled the claim. I was very happy with them - they returned phone calls, and my settlement was a couple hundred dollars more than my own estimate. So obviously I was happy about that too. I will say though, I didn't get a local agent (I've never had one). Dunno if that'd be nice or not.
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Sep 8, 2010 01:09
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Gremlin posted:I've recently decided to buy a van to convert into a living space and I was wondering if anyone could recommend me any specific make/model/year's that would be good for this sort of thing. I'm looking to spend <$2,000 but the cheaper the better! The most important thing for me is a vehicle that is going to be reliable and, if something goes wrong, easy to work on. Do you have your river plot staked out? This is important.
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Sep 8, 2010 01:30
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Gremlin posted:I've recently decided to buy a van to convert into a living space and I was wondering if anyone could recommend me any specific make/model/year's that would be good for this sort of thing. I'm looking to spend <$2,000 but the cheaper the better! The most important thing for me is a vehicle that is going to be reliable and, if something goes wrong, easy to work on. I see the molestation trial didn't go so well for you. Find a Vanagon. Yeah, maybe not so terribly reliable (though there are certainly much worse vans out there) but if you know how to work on them they are quite simple and parts are plentiful.
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Sep 8, 2010 01:41
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I would suggest you purchase an already converted domestic conversion van. They are based on ford or chevy truck platforms which equals plenty of cheap parts available all over. The transmissions are the weak point, but once you get to the river you should be fine. You might want to fix the parking brake first.
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Sep 8, 2010 01:52
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 Crankshaft Pulley Update!!!Still nothing. Heated the nut up a few hundred degrees, had the trans in 5th with the brakes on, and still couldn't get it to budge. I've got the socket on the nut, then a series of extensions reaching to outside the car (through the wheel well) and then onto a ratchet with a pipe. I'm thinking maybe get a long rear end breaker bar that will attach directly to the socket and hope there's enough room to let it come up between the motor and the fender? Never before have I been so stymied by one nut.
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Sep 8, 2010 03:37
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Mr. Wiggles posted:
Could you stick some pictures of your nut-busting setup? Just from the sound of it it seems like you're not providing a good pivot for your wrench. Try to use only one or two extensions and make sure they are a tight fit (no swivel heads!); you want to be able to reach the crankshaft nut from outside the wheel well so you'll need long extensions. I can't stress the importance of keeping the extensions to a minimum, buy longer ones if you must. So, you've got the socket on the nut and the extensions leading to your big loving breaker bar, good. Now get a floor jack or a jackstand and position it so that it supports the extension(s) as close to the breaker bar as possible. You'll get best results if you position the breaker to be parallel with the ground when you put enough torque on the bar to take all the flex out of the entire setup. This way, you aren't wasting any effort trying to keep the socket from being twisted off of the nut.
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Sep 8, 2010 04:21
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Mr. Wiggles posted:
How powerful is your impact wrench? Do you have a solid air supply for it? I'd try a bigger one if you can. Maybe at this point you should take it to a shop and see if they can bust it loose. At least talk to them and ask if there's a trick to it or if it's normally this hard to remove.
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Sep 8, 2010 04:57
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Nothus posted:1. Sounds like the tensioner could be bad. In other words, it's allowing the belt to be loose on the pulleys, which would explain the squeal and why the belts don't last very long. Thanks for the reply, I'll look into 1 and see what I can do about 2. As for 3, I've owned the car for about two years, and of those I think only the air filter has been replaced (but I'm only about 50% sure of that). I'm not sure what was maintained on the vehicle before I owned it.
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Sep 8, 2010 05:21
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EightBit posted:Could you stick some pictures of your nut-busting setup? Just from the sound of it it seems like you're not providing a good pivot for your wrench. Yeah, I have it braced on a jack stand, but I still think I'm twisting the whole thing like a torsion bar. LloydDobler posted:How powerful is your impact wrench? Do you have a solid air supply for it? I'd try a bigger one if you can. Maybe at this point you should take it to a shop and see if they can bust it loose. At least talk to them and ask if there's a trick to it or if it's normally this hard to remove. It's apart enough that it's not moving until I get this belt changed. Everywhere on the internet says it's a really hard nut, but I didn't think it would be this hard. My impact is okay but it's not putting down much more than 100 foot pounds or so. However my entire strength pushing against a pipe should be putting out more than that, and still nada.
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Sep 8, 2010 05:49
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Is it a nut or a bolt? Most of them are bolts I think, in which case you'd want to hit it with cold (and the crank snout with heat).
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Sep 8, 2010 05:59
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IOwnCalculus posted:Is it a nut or a bolt? Most of them are bolts I think, in which case you'd want to hit it with cold (and the crank snout with heat). It's a nut.
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Sep 8, 2010 06:00
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What would cause a car to not being able to idle and how serious (expensive) a problem is it?
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Sep 8, 2010 16:26
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MrOnBicycle posted:What would cause a car to not being able to idle and how serious (expensive) a problem is it? Vacuum leaks, various issues with idle stepping controllers or other related hardware, the list goes on and on. You will need to narrow it down or be a lot more specific (what kind of car? does it start/drive and die when you let the RPMs drop? etc) if you want an idea on how much it would cost to fix.
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Sep 8, 2010 16:37
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Nait Sirhc posted:Vacuum leaks, various issues with idle stepping controllers or other related hardware, the list goes on and on. You will need to narrow it down or be a lot more specific (what kind of car? does it start/drive and die when you let the RPMs drop? etc) if you want an idea on how much it would cost to fix. It's a car in the ads, a Porsche 924. So I can't really do anything to test. Looks great, except for that problem. Which I have a feeling will suck to fix.. Mostly I want to know just to know, though.
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Sep 8, 2010 16:45
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AC is on the fritz. It'll take about five to ten minutes to get cold, when it usually takes one or two. Same Passat. No weird sounds or anything, but it just seems like I turned the vents on but not the actual refrigeration. Do I need more refrigerant/whatever? What causes this?
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Sep 8, 2010 17:43
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Mr. Wiggles posted:It's a nut. Weird as hell. Hit the nut with heat and the threaded part in the center with an upside down can of air. Alternatively, a nut splitter?
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Sep 8, 2010 17:44
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Jr. posted:AC is on the fritz. It'll take about five to ten minutes to get cold, when it usually takes one or two. Same Passat. No weird sounds or anything, but it just seems like I turned the vents on but not the actual refrigeration. What year? Does it eventually get cold? Sounds like refrigerant, but there's been a few GTIs in AI with failed A/C compressors this month. All 07's (and possibly late 06's). Not sure is the Passat uses the same components.
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Sep 8, 2010 19:00
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How do I loop my power steering? Is it as simple as removing the PS Pump, cutting the two PS fluid lines and connecting them together with a hose? Would adding a T-fitting be a good idea, so I can bleed it? Super Aggro Crag fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Sep 8, 2010 |
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Sep 8, 2010 19:35
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Jr. posted:AC is on the fritz. It'll take about five to ten minutes to get cold, when it usually takes one or two. Same Passat. No weird sounds or anything, but it just seems like I turned the vents on but not the actual refrigeration. Check your front grille and make sure it isn't all plugged to hell with leaves. Then check and make sure your blend door is doing its thing... Usually low refrigerant manifests as "its cool but not cold" instead of "Well it gets cold but it takes 5 minutes."
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Sep 8, 2010 20:03
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MrOnBicycle posted:a Porsche 924. Don't do it
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Sep 8, 2010 20:37
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What's the easiest way to empty the fuel tank on a 2002 Pontiac Grandma with the 3400 V6 if dropping the tank is totally not an option? The tank is about 1/4 full.
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Sep 9, 2010 01:42
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WHEEZY KISS A DUDE posted:What's the easiest way to empty the fuel tank on a 2002 Pontiac Grandma with the 3400 V6 if dropping the tank is totally not an option? Stab it with an ice pick. (Why do you need it empty if you're not dropping it?)
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Sep 9, 2010 02:19
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A friend of mine recently bought a 2000 v6 s10 from my brother in-law which had been sitting for a few years, except for when my brother drove it for a month around a year ago. On the day my friend bought it, he drove it from Cincinnati to Indianapolis (about 150 miles). My friend brings the truck by the house tonight to let me hear the speakers he installed. He starts the truck, and I hear a really loud knock immediately. It only knocked once really loud, but while in idle, it doesn't sound smooth, has a regular knocking sound that does get louder and picks up pace when revved. When coming back to idle from a rev, it almost dies and the lights dim. I told him it seemed like a rod knock, and maybe a fuel starvation issue causing the idle problem. With the gas sitting in the truck for a few years, I figure the pump, filter and possibly injectors have some clogging issues. He did use some Lucas fuel injector cleaner on the purchase date, but I doubt that would solve many if any problems at all. He tells me he has heard the knock before, but it seems to "go away" as the motor warms up. He asked me what he should do, and I suggested sending an oil sample to Blackstone Labs and performing all basic maintenance, since the oil and all filters have not been changed since at least 2009 according to the quick lube sticker. I also told him to avoid "getting on it" until it gets checked out. Am I on the mark here, or are there any other things shy of taking it to a mechanic that I should have considered? Is there any chance some fresh oil, a timing/valve adjustment and other general maintenance could correct the issue, or is my gut feeling correct when I assume he's got a rod knock that more or less means motor rebuild or swap?
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Sep 9, 2010 02:39
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Spicy Chili posted:[...] or is my gut feeling correct when I assume he's got a rod knock that more or less means motor rebuild or swap? The Vortec 4300 is notorious for piston slap, which given how overbuilt those blocks are is really more of a "live with it" issue than reason for a rebuild unless you're hemorrhaging oil or it's ticking like a diesel for an extended period of time. If you do swap the motor, get one from a 2003 or newer s-10 or blazer, those have a slightly different piston design that reduces the slap. corgski fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Sep 9, 2010 |
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Sep 9, 2010 02:57
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That's the kind of good news I was looking for. What kind of signs should I look for that would indicate a worse problem than piston slap? I think his solution will involve turning the sub up louder, I think he'll be happy.
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Sep 9, 2010 03:06
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Super Aggro Crag posted:How do I loop my power steering? Why would you do this versus getting a manual steering rack?
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Sep 9, 2010 04:21
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Spicy Chili posted:That's the kind of good news I was looking for. What kind of signs should I look for that would indicate a worse problem than piston slap? I think his solution will involve turning the sub up louder, I think he'll be happy. A knock that doesn't go away after a few minutes of driving, generally combined with a noticeable amount of oil smoke coming from the exhaust means that one of the piston heads has worn down enough to require replacement, which at this point means a rebuild. Any irregular rattling sounds under load that can't be traced to loose heat shielding or a broken cat is likely a stretched timing chain and/or a failed timing chain tensioner. Other than those two failure modes which seem to be common to the family, it's pretty much your usual weird engine noise stuff. corgski fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Sep 9, 2010 |
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Sep 9, 2010 05:01
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Uthor posted:What year? Does it eventually get cold? Sounds like refrigerant, but there's been a few GTIs in AI with failed A/C compressors this month. All 07's (and possibly late 06's). Not sure is the Passat uses the same components. 2005, base model I think. Where do I find this under the hood? What should I look for?
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Sep 9, 2010 05:30
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Why are conventional car trunks vastly more popular than lift-backs(/hatchbacks)? Is it just design choices? Maybe I'm weird but liftbacks seem to look and function better to me in almost all ways...
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Sep 9, 2010 05:55
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Piano posted:Why are conventional car trunks vastly more popular than lift-backs(/hatchbacks)? They're heavier and insulate poorly. I know I hate how much heat the hatch on my hatchback lets in.
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Sep 9, 2010 06:19
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Persh posted:Why would you do this versus getting a manual steering rack? Only reason I could think of is to retain the PS pump and the pump requires the PS fluid for lubrication. The only reason I could think of for doing that; accessory layout makes it difficult/impossible to route a shorter belt without the pump or a replacement idler in its place. Geoj fucked around with this message at 10:05 on Sep 9, 2010 |
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Sep 9, 2010 09:59
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Persh posted:Why would you do this versus getting a manual steering rack? Don't really have the time or money to source a manual steering rack for the 1.8L. I've heard that since its such a popular 1G Eclipse swap, people sell the manual rack for around ~$250. I was looking at the PS Pump yesterday after I posted that and it actually looks real easy to replace, so I think I'm just going to do it properly. I have to replace the alternator anyways, which is directly under it, so I may as well do both at once.
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Sep 9, 2010 13:40
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Does anybody have a link to more/clearer information about Japan's vehicle registration/permit renewal laws? I've always been curious about exactly how and why cars there get pulled off the road, cut up and shipped off to the US and Canada. I've heard of all kinds of different reasons for it but I'd like to get the whole story.
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Sep 9, 2010 23:37
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