Car ?'s

Sludig

Sludig

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I'm used to on some of my fancier cars trans fluid being a more complicated process.

Had a semi sorta friend/handyman has his own shop but mostly works on older cars and side by sides. Pretty much not going to use him for auto in the future anymore for other reasons, but not sure if I need to look at having a shop redo some of his work.

Had him do my Tundra's coolant, trans, diffs. Which as just a drain and fill till its leaking from the port I was familiar with. But he did the same thing for the trans which I thought even on a basic tundra was supposed to involve some amount of running it to a certain temp and doing this or that.
 
Lambourne

Lambourne

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Not sure what transmission is in those but I've DIY'ed it on BMWs, on those the procdeure is add until it starts leaking out the fill port with the engine running and the transmission at something like 25C. I just filled it from cold, started it and topped it off with the transmission being slightly above room temperature as a result.

Still own most of those cars a decade later and none of them had the trans go out so it can't have been too far off the mark. I suspect it's more about avoiding extremes than it needing to be exactly a certain temperature.
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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Sludig said:
I'm used to on some of my fancier cars trans fluid being a more complicated process.

Had a semi sorta friend/handyman has his own shop but mostly works on older cars and side by sides. Pretty much not going to use him for auto in the future anymore for other reasons, but not sure if I need to look at having a shop redo some of his work.

Had him do my Tundra's coolant, trans, diffs. Which as just a drain and fill till its leaking from the port I was familiar with. But he did the same thing for the trans which I thought even on a basic tundra was supposed to involve some amount of running it to a certain temp and doing this or that.
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It's amazing that there's still any independent mechanics around. Every brand of car has all kinds of proprietary software, special tools, etc that you need to work on them and the software is all expensive subscriptions and you can't afford to subscribe to all of them and the tools are hundreds of dollars each. Every mechanic I know either only works on older cars, picks and chooses what jobs they will or won't take, or is planning their retirement. Eventually the dealership will be the only option and they will rape us worse than they already do which I'm pretty sure has been the plan all along.
 
mkopec

mkopec

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BrutulTM said:
It's amazing that there's still any independent mechanics around. Every brand of car has all kinds of proprietary software, special tools, etc that you need to work on them and the software is all expensive subscriptions and you can't afford to subscribe to all of them and the tools are hundreds of dollars each. Every mechanic I know either only works on older cars, picks and chooses what jobs they will or won't take, or is planning their retirement. Eventually the dealership will be the only option and they will rape us worse than they already do which I'm pretty sure has been the plan all along.
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ITs not some grand conspiracy. Blame our government setting unrealistic standards on emissions. Which drives these car companies to try and eek out every MPG they can, and how can they do this? Add more computer controlled shit. Because its just more efficient. This SVT tranny, for example, is nothing more than trying to make the car more efficient with its shifting patterns so not to waste any of that precious MPG.
 
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Lanx

Lanx

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mkopec said:
ITs not some grand conspiracy. Blame our government setting unrealistic standards on emissions. Which drives these car companies to try and eek out every MPG they can, and how can they do this? Add more computer controlled shit. Because its just more efficient. This SVT tranny, for example, is nothing more than trying to make the car more efficient with its shifting patterns so not to waste any of that precious MPG.
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which emission was it that said drain plugs should be plastic now


oh and 1 time use too
 
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mkopec

mkopec

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Lanx said:
which emission was it that said drain plugs should be plastic now


oh and 1 time use too
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Its called weight savings. Another shit outcome because of emissions standards. You see, the less a car weighs, the better the mileage. So throughout the vehicle shit materials being used, because they are lighter which leads to more efficiency.
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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mkopec said:
ITs not some grand conspiracy. Blame our government setting unrealistic standards on emissions. Which drives these car companies to try and eek out every MPG they can, and how can they do this? Add more computer controlled shit. Because its just more efficient. This SVT tranny, for example, is nothing more than trying to make the car more efficient with its shifting patterns so not to waste any of that precious MPG.
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The special tools are not just for the engine and transmission. My mechanic tried to replace a front axle in my 2013 F-350 and got it all torn apart only to realize that he needed a special Ford tool that he didn't have so he had to put it all back together and I had to take it to the dealership. I doubt he even wants to look at the 2023. Also, they could easily meet the emissions requirements by just building smaller cars but everybody wants the biggest car possible.
 
Burns

Burns

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BrutulTM said:
It's amazing that there's still any independent mechanics around. Every brand of car has all kinds of proprietary software, special tools, etc that you need to work on them and the software is all expensive subscriptions and you can't afford to subscribe to all of them and the tools are hundreds of dollars each. Every mechanic I know either only works on older cars, picks and chooses what jobs they will or won't take, or is planning their retirement. Eventually the dealership will be the only option and they will rape us worse than they already do which I'm pretty sure has been the plan all along.
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Don't you live out in the true middle of nowhere USA? The big city should have enough business for independent shops to pay for all the specialty equipment, but I'm sure it is pushing shops to be become more specialized. Most of this board probably lives within an hour or two of large city.

While I have no experience with generalist mechanic shops I still see plenty around in DFW (I have always use specialists when I am unable to do the work myself). It's possible they are turning away newer cars, I guess.
 
BrutulTM

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My guy is just a 1-man operation but there's a month wait to get a car into him most of the time so he's not hurting for business. It would be more affordable for a bigger shop but it's still crazy to have software subscriptions and special tools for a dozen different car brands.
 
Fucker

Fucker

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Araysar said:
The last thing I want is to buy another car, but I am wary of sinking $3400 into a 15 year old car. At this point other hoses might start failing amongst other things and it could turn into an even bigger headache.

The $3400 bill is not a big issue, I just want to be more long-term thinking and make the best use of $3400 instead of finding myself dealing with other repairs in the next 1-3 years and being handcuffed with a sunk cost dilemma because I just threw $3400 at this car. I'd probably replace it with a used Civic, Corolla or CR-V
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Not really worth it to fiddle with if you value your time and sanity for some small cash. Resale likely $4500. $3400+800 repairs and your profit is $300. And this doesn't include the lost time dealing with tire kickers and weirdos from FBMP or CL.

List it "As Is" on FBMP and CL for $2500. Clean it up, take nice pics, say it needs new transmission. I'm pretty sure someone will waddle along and pay you $2k for it. Then you are done with it.
 
Fucker

Fucker

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BrutulTM said:
Fix it. Even if you still want to get another car, you can increase the value of it by 4-6k by spending $3k or you can keep driving it knowing it has a brand new transmission and the engine will probably last at least another 100k if not 200k. It's almost never a smart idea to sell a car that's broke down unless the repair cost is more than the repaired car is worth. I don't know why people knee-jerk want a new car rather than paying a repair bill but tons of people would rather pay $15k for another car in order to avoid a $3k repair bill. Probably because they can finance the 15k and they would actually have to come up with the $3k now.
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There are a few solid reasons to buy new vs keeping an older car.

Primarily, a new car such as a Honda CR-V is engineered with safety in mind. Honda uses high strength steel in the perimeter of the chassis, and they lead the world on offset crash safety. A decade old CR-V has none of these things, and neither do any other cars or SUV's. New cars are wildly safer in an accident than even 10 y/o ones from the same type and manufacturer.

Traffic accidents and fatalities are increasing every year all the while medical costs are out of control. Simple ambulance ride: $30k. New little CR-V....$32k.

And then there's resale value. It is regional. CR-V's are hot property here. My GF sold her 5 y/o CR-V for $1500 less than she paid for it....to a dealership. Granted hers was showroom mint and low miles, but even 50k used ones command almost new prices.

It has nice things like parking sensors which are easy to get used to having.

Finally, little CR-V is a fucking tank. I drove it at night in almost torrential rain 90 MPH. Felt like it was driving on fly paper. Excellent lights. It was planted and sure footed. I owned a Porsche 964 C4, and this felt like it in the bad weather.
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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My girlfriend used to drive a CR-V. It was an old one (2003 I think) but I'm 6' 2" which isn't inordinately tall in my mind and sitting in that car was absolute torture. I refused to drive it if there was any other option because my head touched the ceiling and it really wasn't easy to work the clutch because my knees were hitting the steering wheel which was dangerous. On the passenger side I was miserable but not as miserable. I'm not really comfortable in any small car but that was the worst car I've ever ridden in comfort wise.

Anyway, I said whether you're getting a new car or not, it makes sense to fix it because you're turning a $1000 car into a $6000 car by spending $3000. That's not hard math to do. Selling it with the transmission out would be flushing money down the toilet. The fact that the car is 15 years old is irrelevant.
 
Mahes

Mahes

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BrutulTM said:
It's amazing that there's still any independent mechanics around. Every brand of car has all kinds of proprietary software, special tools, etc that you need to work on them and the software is all expensive subscriptions and you can't afford to subscribe to all of them and the tools are hundreds of dollars each. Every mechanic I know either only works on older cars, picks and chooses what jobs they will or won't take, or is planning their retirement. Eventually the dealership will be the only option and they will rape us worse than they already do which I'm pretty sure has been the plan all along.
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What dealerships?

At the rate things are going, car dealerships will start closing down because they cannot afford the lot interest on inventory that is just sitting. There are a lot of videos out describing how pretty much all dealerships are unable to move current inventory because the average consumer has been priced right out of the market. The videos show the large inventory, but what also sticks out is the lack of people anywhere on the lots. I see the inventory at my Toyota dealership and it is a lot. I also see nobody out there looking at vehicles or coming back from test drives. Dealerships are going to have to drop prices 15-20% to move old stuff. This takes away from profit both for the dealership and the sales people. Dealerships are also having a difficult time keeping sales people(An already fluid environment) because if inventory is not selling, they are not making descent money. The quality of many new vehicles has also fallen. Add to this the paradigm shift with motors in trucks becoming super charged and smaller and the shit just cascades on itself.

The thing that truly concerns me is when we start hearing the word ..Bail Out. I will make it a daily routine to notify my Representative and Senator my thoughts on that if that starts creeping into the news. Let the Dealerships fall....
 
Lanx

Lanx

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Mahes said:
What dealerships?

At the rate things are going, car dealerships will start closing down because they cannot afford the lot interest on inventory that is just sitting. There are a lot of videos out describing how pretty much all dealerships are unable to move current inventory because the average consumer has been priced right out of the market. The videos show the large inventory, but what also sticks out is the lack of people anywhere on the lots. I see the inventory at my Toyota dealership and it is a lot. I also see nobody out there looking at vehicles or coming back from test drives. Dealerships are going to have to drop prices 15-20% to move old stuff. This takes away from profit both for the dealership and the sales people. Dealerships are also having a difficult time keeping sales people(An already fluid environment) because if inventory is not selling, they are not making descent money. The quality of many new vehicles has also fallen. Add to this the paradigm shift with motors in trucks becoming super charged and smaller and the shit just cascades on itself.

The thing that truly concerns me is when we start hearing the word ..Bail Out. I will make it a daily routine to notify my Representative and Senator my thoughts on that if that starts creeping into the news. Let the Dealerships fall....
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yea thats why theyre also referred to as stealerships
 
Kirun

Kirun

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Mahes said:
What dealerships?

At the rate things are going, car dealerships will start closing down because they cannot afford the lot interest on inventory that is just sitting. There are a lot of videos out describing how pretty much all dealerships are unable to move current inventory because the average consumer has been priced right out of the market. The videos show the large inventory, but what also sticks out is the lack of people anywhere on the lots. I see the inventory at my Toyota dealership and it is a lot. I also see nobody out there looking at vehicles or coming back from test drives. Dealerships are going to have to drop prices 15-20% to move old stuff. This takes away from profit both for the dealership and the sales people. Dealerships are also having a difficult time keeping sales people(An already fluid environment) because if inventory is not selling, they are not making descent money. The quality of many new vehicles has also fallen. Add to this the paradigm shift with motors in trucks becoming super charged and smaller and the shit just cascades on itself.

The thing that truly concerns me is when we start hearing the word ..Bail Out. I will make it a daily routine to notify my Representative and Senator my thoughts on that if that starts creeping into the news. Let the Dealerships fall....
Click to expand...
You mean I might have to buy my vehicle straight from the manufacturer and not have a "middle-man" tax involved - aka dealerships?

Oh, darn..
 
Siliconemelons

Siliconemelons

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Fucker said:
There are a few solid reasons to buy new vs keeping an older car.

Primarily, a new car such as a Honda CR-V is engineered with safety in mind. Honda uses high strength steel in the perimeter of the chassis, and they lead the world on offset crash safety. A decade old CR-V has none of these things, and neither do any other cars or SUV's. New cars are wildly safer in an accident than even 10 y/o ones from the same type and manufacturer.

Traffic accidents and fatalities are increasing every year all the while medical costs are out of control. Simple ambulance ride: $30k. New little CR-V....$32k.

And then there's resale value. It is regional. CR-V's are hot property here. My GF sold her 5 y/o CR-V for $1500 less than she paid for it....to a dealership. Granted hers was showroom mint and low miles, but even 50k used ones command almost new prices.

It has nice things like parking sensors which are easy to get used to having.

Finally, little CR-V is a fucking tank. I drove it at night in almost torrential rain 90 MPH. Felt like it was driving on fly paper. Excellent lights. It was planted and sure footed. I owned a Porsche 964 C4, and this felt like it in the bad weather.
Click to expand...

The CR-V has been an insanely good SUV since its 2nd / 3rd generation - once it was not a clone with the.. tracker?



BrutulTM said:
My girlfriend used to drive a CR-V. It was an old one (2003 I think) but I'm 6' 2" which isn't inordinately tall in my mind and sitting in that car was absolute torture. I refused to drive it if there was any other option because my head touched the ceiling and it really wasn't easy to work the clutch because my knees were hitting the steering wheel which was dangerous. On the passenger side I was miserable but not as miserable. I'm not really comfortable in any small car but that was the worst car I've ever ridden in comfort wise.

Anyway, I said whether you're getting a new car or not, it makes sense to fix it because you're turning a $1000 car into a $6000 car by spending $3000. That's not hard math to do. Selling it with the transmission out would be flushing money down the toilet. The fact that the car is 15 years old is irrelevant.
Click to expand...

And this is the reason why I do not have one - haven't checked this current or last generation- but usually I see if I fit...and as 6ft 8 it is usually a no from me dawg - sadly.
 
Control

Control

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Mahes said:
What dealerships?
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And the ones that are there don't want to fix your car anyway. Tried to schedule an appt at a Ford dealership a couple of years ago, and the nearest 4 were booked 5-6 months out. If you can wait 6 months to even get your car looked at, you don't need that car anyway. Got a local shop to take it in the next day, and he said it would be ready next week. Actually took 2 months...
 
Mahes

Mahes

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Control said:
And the ones that are there don't want to fix your car anyway. Tried to schedule an appt at a Ford dealership a couple of years ago, and the nearest 4 were booked 5-6 months out. If you can wait 6 months to even get your car looked at, you don't need that car anyway. Got a local shop to take it in the next day, and he said it would be ready next week. Actually took 2 months...
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That is also part of the cascade. Quality has dropped off, while the ability to repair them has become more difficult. You have less and less mechanics able to work on vehicles due to stringent systems being put into place that prevents anybody, other than the companies, from being able to work on them.

Families will no longer be able to afford to purchase, insure, and maintain two vehicles. This of course drastically cuts into sales, which then decreases manufacturing which leads to companies going bankrupt.

The next five years is going to be a ride...
 
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