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ScooterMcTiny posted:I have a specific car feature question, apologies if this isn’t the right thread. I rented a Volvo XC-90 a couple weeks ago, and their adaptive cruise control/lane assist feature was a real game changer for me in California highway driving. Are there other manufacturers with similar feature sets I should be looking at as I dive into new car research? It's such a game changer in bay area traffic. I got it on my Subaru and went from never using cruise control to turning it on as soon as I merge onto the freeway
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Oct 24, 2018 16:37
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howdoesishotweb posted:I know you said no coupes, but the Audi S5 hatchback holds more than my old Acura TSX sedan. 360 hp, and with all the desirable options can be had for 62-65k. The latest gen also comes as a 4 door "sportback" in America. I drove one of the previous gen sportbacks when I lived in Europe and it was surprisingly roomy with the hatch-type trunk.
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Oct 25, 2018 02:40
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Speaking of sportbacks I'll suggest you check out the Kia Stinger as a kind of budget option.About 50K for the GT, which checks most of your boxes.
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Oct 25, 2018 17:39
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EvilMerlin posted:My SO has a 2018 F-Pace model S. Sits on Pilster posted:What about a Porsche Macan S or an Audi SQ5? Both start well below $80k, have plenty of power and are a big upgrade in terms of space.
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Oct 25, 2018 23:53
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So my brother has a 2006 Chevy Trailblazer. The transmission just went out and the two quotes he's gotten are $2200 and $2800 to rebuild it. It also needs front brakes, is in overall OK condition (the driver's door sometimes doesn't open or lock/unlock) and a couple of weeks ago when I scanned the engine it had a pending P0014 (camshaft position - timing over-advanced or system performance) fault. So it could have a camshaft sensor failing, or the timing chain could be either stretching or have bad guides or something. I talked to a salesman that I trust at a local dealership and he said that he had a similar situation and he's probably offer $400 for it as-is and have it towed in, or $1000 - $1500 for it with a rebuilt transmission. I don't know what to tell my brother to do. His girlfriend wants him to trade it in and get something new(er), but overall that'd be the more expensive option, unless his engine is about to explode. He's also dead broke and just got out of a month-long rehab program, just started a new job last week and is trying to get on his feet. He has no money and will be borrowing money from my dad to fix this.
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Oct 29, 2018 16:07
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Tough. What's his job situation? That probably has a greater bearing on whether he should try to keep the car or replace it. At 12+ years in an early model there's a lot of opportunity for more and more expensive poo poo to go wrong. Assuming he will keep the car: Try to diagnose that P0014 situation. If it's stretch or guides that is fairly expensive to go in and do. I think you're mechanically inclined so you should be able to figure something out. What engine is it? If it just looks like a bad sensor throwing the code, the thing I'd do is try to get a used transmission from a pick and pull rather than do a rebuild. There are about a million 4L60Es out there so don't spend that kind of money to get it fixed.
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Oct 29, 2018 16:53
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AC question ahoy. My wife has her heart set on a low mileage Forester. There's '14 for sale locally, that seems to fit the bill. When I went to test drive the car on saturday, it was about 40 degrees [freedom] and raining. After I got back to the dealership, I popped the hood and noticed two things, first that the AC compressor was a little noisier than I would have expected, and second that the... expansion valve(?) had frost on it. I have a feeling that's not what should be happening, but I have also never really looked closely at AC lines, especially on a cold, wet day. I did not have the AC on (the toggle in the middle of one of the dials), but I did have the HVAC turned to the windshield defrost, which, I *think* gets the compressor working as well. For the visual learners out there, this block of aluminum in the AC system is what had a layer of frost on it (this is a stock photo, sourced from GIS):  I see these cars have a TSB (10-84-16r) for AC stuff, and I have no idea to know if the TSB has been acted on. I didn't know to get a picture of the serial number on the compressor. After much ado, here are the questions I've arrived at: 1. Do AC lines frost up on cold, wet days? I'm on the fence here- it was cold and just about 100% humidity, so frost didn't seem completely unlikely, however I can't say I ever noticed a frosty AC component on a cold, wet day. 2. General car stuff: this car has a clean carfax (linked on site linked above), but it's also wearing its second set of tires (with 55 section sidewalls instead of the OEM 60!) and had this barcode on the left front headlight:  Is that a rental company/fleet sticker? I'm a little on the fence about this one, it is HER cash and will be HER car, but something feels a little off. Thoughts? E: The numbers on the sticker on the headlight, is the last 8 of the VIN. What the crap? E2: edited out VIN poo poo. glyph fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Oct 30, 2018 |
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Oct 29, 2018 17:00
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Agree, tough decision. Generally I recommend fixing a known vehicle, you have a good idea of what's wrong with it, whereas buying something he can probably afford is a crap shoot. Does the transmission have to be fully rebuilt, or can it be repaired? Agree on the used 4L60E route Kyoon recommends as well. Dime a dozen out there. Is this all going to be fixed at a shop or is some DIY a possibility? Cam sensor and door wiring sounds like easy fixes to me, but I don't mind working on my own cars when it's something I can handle with the basic tools I have on hand. If he can sink say 3600 into the car and have it last longer than a year, I call that a win. It'll probably go much longer than that, but I figure fixing a known vehicle for less than 300/mo is better than buying an unknown vehicle with who knows what is wrong with it. Best wishes to your brother, getting back on your feet is tough.
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Oct 29, 2018 17:01
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Not sure what's with that sticker. But today I did learn the last part of the VIN is the serial number so my guess would be it comes like that from the factory but I can't get google to confirm. CornHolio posted:I don't know what to tell my brother to do. His girlfriend wants him to trade it in and get something new(er), but overall that'd be the more expensive option, unless his engine is about to explode. Rough. Maybe you can get the word out around town that you need a hobbyist to put a new transmission in? After that; fix the timing issue ASAP. If he still doesn't trust the car after being fixed, sell.
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Oct 29, 2018 17:30
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glyph posted:E: The sticker on the headlight, code: EH495532, is the last 8 of the VIN. What the crap? That's not (to the best of my knowledge) a rental car barcode. Those are usually on the front windshield, side glass, or back windshield depending on the company. I always rent with Avis for work and they have theirs on the lower left corner (looking out) of the windshield. That might be a barcode for the dealer's inventory system maybe. The CarFax would show rental/fleet usage anyway. That carfax actully looks pretty clean. Someone put the first 18K on it on a 3 year lease, then someone else (possibly the lessee) bought it and put another 12K miles on it. I think the general consensus is tires should be replaced every 6 years regardless of wear. They can dry out and rot and become dangerous, so the 2nd set of tires isn't a red flag. They just put the wrong tire on that car, one of the other trim levels takes a 55 sidewall. I'd be pulling those cheap rear end tires off first thing anyway and replace them with a quality all season.
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Oct 29, 2018 17:50
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skipdogg posted:Agree, tough decision. Generally I recommend fixing a known vehicle, you have a good idea of what's wrong with it, whereas buying something he can probably afford is a crap shoot. There's a shop real close to me that I trust that will put in a junkyard transmission for 1600. They can also check the camshaft sensor and see if it's a sensor or the chain and determine if it's worth fixing. It's still a lot of money but it's nothing I want to sign up for. I have a driveway but I kind of need and and I wouldn't want to do a transmission on any of my own cars, let alone somebody else's. I just don't have the room or the knowledge.
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Oct 29, 2018 18:15
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glyph posted:1. Do AC lines frost up on cold, wet days? I'm on the fence here- it was cold and just about 100% humidity, so frost didn't seem completely unlikely, however I can't say I ever noticed a frosty AC component on a cold, wet day. No. This indicates a low refrigerant charge. In a vehicle of that age, if it's never been topped of before it could be just fine - barrier hoses are slightly permeable, and depending on how much hose is in the AC system it's not at all unheard of to need a recharge in 5 years or so. It could also be leaking somewhere and the previous owner has been topping it up weekly. No real way to know without proper testing.
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Oct 29, 2018 18:50
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Re: tires, also the tires have to be replaced in a set on subarus, so new set could just mean an unpatchable leak.
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Oct 29, 2018 22:24
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forester guy that car looks fine you can call any dealer to see if that campaign has been closed or you can look at the serial on the A/C compressor. if it begins with 51001 it is the new clutch.
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Oct 30, 2018 13:44
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nm posted:Re: tires, also the tires have to be replaced in a set on subarus, so new set could just mean an unpatchable leak. Tire rack and others can shave tires to depth.
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Oct 30, 2018 16:51
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She's going for the forester. The dealer will recharge (NOT just top off) the AC charge, and there's a line in the agreement about if there's a leak... Thanks for the quick answers, it was all little stuff, but... yeah, I'm the default mechanic on this thing, so I wanted to know what we were in for. Oh, and the serial on the compressor is 30901*****, so not the updated one. As best I can suss out, this is a clutch thing, not a compressor (minus the clutch) thing. I have zero qualms DIY'ing this if it's truly a clutch thing. Thankfully, the compressor is RIGHT THERE as is the tensioner for the belt. Do any of you have experience with this? Why don't modern subarus have a temperature gauge? Tires were dated between week 5 and 18 of this year.
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Oct 30, 2018 17:01
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Temp gauges are getting rarer and it sucks
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Oct 30, 2018 19:27
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Motronic posted:Tire rack and others can shave tires to depth. I know, but most people don't, or they're in BFE and need to drive today. I'm just saying the new tires aren't cause for concern.
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Oct 30, 2018 19:33
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:they break, a lot Diesel is antiquated? The internal combustion engine is older. In fact the diesel is a refinement of the ICE. A diesel is more efficient than a gas based engine. A diesel produces more TQ than a gas based engine. Because a diesel is more efficient than a gas burning ICE, it has less emissions. Not to mention the use of recyclables to burn in the diesel. And last but not least, typically a diesel engine is more reliable than a gas ICE.
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Oct 30, 2018 20:15
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tetsuo posted:Consumer Reports isn't very kind on their reliability but this does seem right up my alley. Have you two had many issues with yours? Two issues only one was "serious". The front left magno-strut got a frayed sensor cable because it was placed poorly and locked the strut in limp mode. The vehicle was safe etc, but it still needed to have the sensor package replaced. 2 days in the shop total. The entertainment deck does seem to lock up a lot. One time it locked up so bad even turning off the vehicle left the entertainment deck (which honestly is the entire dash) on for about 10 minutes before it shut down. There was a firmware/software update that supposedly fixed this. Getting a new Macan S for under 80k is almost impossible. Sure it STARTS at 55k. To get a Macan S to the same level as the Jag with the S package (and R-Dynamic) you are looking at an easy 80k. To get performance similar to the Jag, more like 95k. Again the Audi is a great vehicle, but to compete directly with the Jag, you still need to drop about the same amount as you would on the Jag (65k or so).
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Oct 30, 2018 20:24
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CornHolio posted:There's a shop real close to me that I trust that will put in a junkyard transmission for 1600. They can also check the camshaft sensor and see if it's a sensor or the chain and determine if it's worth fixing. It's still a lot of money but it's nothing I want to sign up for. I have a driveway but I kind of need and and I wouldn't want to do a transmission on any of my own cars, let alone somebody else's. I just don't have the room or the knowledge. Just FYI, early Trailblazers, to my knowledge, all have a 4.2L ‘Atlas’ inline-six that has it’s own unique bellhousing pattern so the only 4L60-E transmissions that will fit must also be from Trailblazers. Also, from my experience, they don’t really suffer from the poo poo-sandwich timing-chain stretch issues that plague the GM 3.6 V6 - the tensioner will gently caress up sometimes and develop a knocking noise, but the chain’s pretty solid. If it’s not the sensor(s)(there’s an upper and lower), it’s likely the actuator solenoid , which can be replaced fairly easily. This guy has a pretty good explanation of possible P0014/Trailblazer causes and fixes. https://www.fixmyoldride.com/Trailblazer-camshaft-position-sensor.html
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Oct 30, 2018 20:26
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EvilMerlin posted:Diesel is antiquated? The internal combustion engine is older. In fact the diesel is a refinement of the ICE. A diesel is more efficient than a gas based engine. A diesel produces more TQ than a gas based engine. Because a diesel is more efficient than a gas burning ICE, it has less emissions. Not to mention the use of recyclables to burn in the diesel. And last but not least, typically a diesel engine is more reliable than a gas ICE. psst friend ICE is dead too there is not a big enough [citation needed] in the world for the emissions claim
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Oct 30, 2018 20:32
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:psst friend ICE is dead too Dead? says who? The claim is a valid one. Diesel is more efficient than gas, thus less fuel will be burned per distance traveled. Thus less emissions.
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Oct 30, 2018 20:57
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EvilMerlin posted:Dead? says who? Diesel has lots of problems with NOx and particulates, which are proving rather difficult to clean up.
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Oct 30, 2018 20:59
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:psst friend ICE is dead too How's that Tesla stock doing?
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Oct 30, 2018 22:59
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Deteriorata posted:Diesel has lots of problems with NOx and particulates, which are proving rather difficult to clean up. Those don't mean poo poo, CO2 is a near term existential threat, they should patch all diesels on the road today to minimize CO2 at the expense of all other emissions imo
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Oct 31, 2018 02:54
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shovelbum posted:Those don't mean poo poo, CO2 is a near term existential threat, they should patch all diesels on the road today to minimize CO2 at the expense of all other emissions imo People living in cities would choke to death on the smog long before the CO2 can get them.
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Oct 31, 2018 02:59
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EvilMerlin posted:Dead? says who? I don't think you realize how little you know about diesel vs gasoline engine emissions.
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Oct 31, 2018 03:45
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JnnyThndrs posted:Just FYI, early Trailblazers, to my knowledge, all have a 4.2L ‘Atlas’ inline-six that has it’s own unique bellhousing pattern so the only 4L60-E transmissions that will fit must also be from Trailblazers. Some of them came with the 5.3 LS engine too. Probably the I-6 though.
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Oct 31, 2018 04:16
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JUST MAKING CHILI posted:Some of them came with the 5.3 LS engine too. Probably the I-6 though. True, but since it’s a cam sensor timing code, it’s going to be the I-6, I don’t believe the LS motors used variable valve timing until after ‘06.
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Oct 31, 2018 04:49
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Chunjee posted:How's that Tesla stock doing? I don't think it's fair to lump in all electrics with Car Citizen.
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Oct 31, 2018 13:36
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zapplez posted:I don't think you realize how little you know about diesel vs gasoline engine emissions. Uh, I'm assuming we are talking smaller diesels here. Not the larger ones that require a few other control mechanisms to reduce particulates. And we can always talk about Biodiesel which is far better at both CO and particulate release... sometimes in huge numbers when using gas recirculation systems.
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Oct 31, 2018 14:30
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I'm just talking about battery cars that face the following challenges: Take forever to charge Batteries are expensive and degrade to a smaller extent, Limited range Hybrids seem cool though I guess; I bought one. I'm more interested to see more how hydrogen cars shake out. shovelbum posted:CO2 is a near term existential threat 
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Oct 31, 2018 14:31
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EvilMerlin posted:Uh, I'm assuming we are talking smaller diesels here. Not the larger ones that require a few other control mechanisms to reduce particulates. We're talking about NOx emissions. Maybe you've heard of the VW diesel emissions fraud thing? It's the reason why all car makers are abandoning diesel, even the garbage German ones.
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Oct 31, 2018 14:49
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if you think hydrogen cars are going to pan out loving lol
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Oct 31, 2018 20:21
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:if you think hydrogen cars are going to pan out loving lol What you don't like fuel cells? We all know compressed hydrogen is totally safe!
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Nov 1, 2018 14:07
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Has anyone used a car buying service like Automatch? We're going to be in the market for a new car for my wife soon. She has a 2007 forester and loves the hell out of it, so we want to put her in a 2019 forester, likely one of the top trims. I've been hearing that pre-orders are through the roof, so I anticipate problems getting our hands on one and also getting a decent price. Also we both work full time and we have a 13 month old kid, so the whole going to/from dealers and shopping/comparing/negotiating thing is going to be a PITA. I realize there's no guarantee, but looks like the "premium" package for this company is $500, so they could easily pay for themselves in the negotiation phase. I'm poo poo at negotiation, and the problem we have is that we always research and figure out exactly what we want ahead of time (for cars and everything else), so we're at a severe disadvantage of not being willing to settle for the alternatives. DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Nov 1, 2018 |
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Nov 1, 2018 19:22
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Tom writes neat articles over at Jalopnik but not sure if you'd get much value out of his services. Do you have a Costco or Sams club membership? Does your bank or credit union have a car buying service? You know exactly what you want, you just need someone or some system to streamline the purchase. I've used Costco in the past and it was pretty straight forward. My credit union has a car buying service as well.
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Nov 1, 2018 19:36
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skipdogg posted:Tom writes neat articles over at Jalopnik but not sure if you'd get much value out of his services. Do you have a Costco or Sams club membership? Does your bank or credit union have a car buying service? You know exactly what you want, you just need someone or some system to streamline the purchase. I've used Costco in the past and it was pretty straight forward. My credit union has a car buying service as well. Yup, that's exactly what we need. I know these services are more geared towards finding "the one" car, but it surprised me how cheap it is. I figured there'd be a % commission or at least $1k in fees. I guess my biggest concern is that the car may be in high demand, so it'll be hard to find a the car and also get a decent price. We have (had? not sure if it's still active) a BJ's membership, and it looks like they do have a program. But there's a Costco down the street so I could probably join up for a short while to take advantage. Is talking to the dealer's "internet sales manager" still a thing? Or are they wise to that? The other thing we're interested in is good financing. Maybe we're spoiled, but we're just about finished paying off my car at 0.99%. Current rates seem to be in the 3+% range, which is a bit of a sticker shock coming from where we're at. I guess all this is why we were looking for a service. Finding the car, plus getting a good price, plus getting good financing is a lot to ask of us right now. And then there's trying to get good money for a trade-in...
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Nov 1, 2018 19:57
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Not sure where you live but I have heard good reviews for this lady in the Seattle area : https://www.amazingautowoman.com/ https://www.yelp.com/biz/amazing-autowoman-bellevue I know 2 people that used her and they never even stepped into the dealer. Car was delivered to their front door. Edit: She charges a flat $395 fee for the whole buying process. Meydey fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Nov 1, 2018 |
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