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Vehicles / bikes šŸ Car Talk

Dan said:
Nice! I had my first Lucid Air sighting in the wild a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't here in town, but still, I was excited to see it.

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There's an olive green Rivian R1T I've seen a couple of times this past week.

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I saw a Polestar 2 on that same stretch of road a while back. I assume it's local, considering its New York plates, and Volvo's popularity around here.

Teslas are common enough around here to the point where I'll sometimes see two next to each other in traffic. The Tesla Supercharger next to Trader Joe's is often full. I see Kia Niro and Chevy Bolt EVs around town all the time. There's also a goofy little Mitsubishi i-MiEV I often see parked at a trailhead about a mile from our house.

My wife commutes to The Town Next Door, about 35 minutes away. She says she almost never sees EVs on the roads there. Ram 2500/3500 trucks tailgating and rolling coal, on the other hand ... :gc:

Students are slowly making their way back here, and that means exotic sightings. At least for a few weeks, until their owners learn how bad city streets are around here.
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A few years back, when I had a ridiculously long commute, I would play a game on the drive to see which brands immediately surrounding me had the most vehicles. My German vehicle almost never won the game but I was happy when domestic vehicles won. "Oh look, there are 5 Chevys around me!"
When we were in San Francisco in 2018, Tesla seemed to be winning (although maybe it was my imagination since I wasn't used to seeing them back then and they were everywhere). Now, they're much more commonplace in places beyond CA but I'm not sure they'll ever win the game unless I was next door to a Tesla dealership/ factory.

It's always interesting to see what vehicles are common in what location. I love driving around Detroit for this very reason.
 
MD Planner said:
I don't know why but I'm planning to replace my front rotors and pads tomorrow evening. This is a job best left to the weekend but for some reason I have it in my head that I can bang it out after work tomorrow. And I just KNOW something is going to go wrong and I'll have to run back to the parts store and be out there using a work light but I'm doing it anyway. Why would I put this kind of pressure on myself?
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If you have changed the brakes & rotors on the car or similar car before; and you have regularly maintained the car, which sounds like you do. I wouldn't sweat it. I changed my daughters brakes and rotors not long ago and things went south because she had some friend of a friend to replace them the last time. One caliper was locked up and a lug nut was cross threaded. I had to rebuild the caliper, bleed the brakes in the process and replace the lug studs. Sourcing the parts was difficult and the most time consuming because no one place had everything. What should have been an one hour job, ended up being 6 plus hour job with most of that being gathering parts.
 
The rain gods have effectively put the kibosh on my planned repair this evening. Maybe Friday after work . . . .
 
Today: Going to attempt to replace the battery on our minivan.

Seems simple enough.

:cool:

EDIT: potentially too much corrosion on the negative terminal connector may be more than I can/know how to do.
 
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mendelman said:
Not taking the chance. Corrosion too severe, taken to our mechanic for replacement tomorrow.
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Take a teaspoon of baking soda, dissolve in a glass of water, and use an old toothbrush to apply the fluid to your battery terminals. It WILL work. Promise.
 
Maister said:
Take a teaspoon of baking soda, dissolve in a glass of water, and use an old toothbrush to apply the fluid to your battery terminals. It WILL work. Promise.
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The connector itself was/is too corroded, so it needs to be replaced.

It was severe corrosion.
 
mendelman said:
Not taking the chance. Corrosion too severe, taken to our mechanic for replacement tomorrow.
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Respect. I only realize that I need the assistance of a professional mechanic when I am sitting on the back porch with greasy, oily hands watching the same youtube video for the third time; and at that point, I have to put things back together to take it to the mechanic.
 
Finally was dry enough to replace the rotors on Saturday. Of course it didn't go quite as planned which is par for the course. I didn't replace them the last time and the little screws that hold the rotor to the hub were all stripped so I had to spend some time extracting them. But victory was ultimately mine and I'm enjoying the shimmy free braking.
 
Aaaaand of course less than a month after I do the rotors and get some new tires my car has suffered what I'm pretty sure is catastrophic engine failure. At least from the noise it was making before I was able to get off the road and into a parking lot before it died it sure seems that way. Crap. I really don't want to be buying a new car right now.
 
Youngest and his grandfather have been working on a 2.3L/manual 1992 Ranger for when he gets his license in a few months. He's done quite a bit of the work himself with his grandfather supervising. Quite a long list: engine mounts, water pump, fan blade, all new brakes, shocks, various seals, and electronic components. The truck was only $400 (and it looks every bit the part) but he is having fun and great bonding time with his mechanic grandfather. AC work will wait until spring.
 
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My 2014 Outback burns through lightbulbs like crazy. The right low beam bulb went out last night. I replaced the left one a couple of months ago. The front lamp assembly is THE ABSOLUTE WORST DESIGN for a DIY change. Le Sigh.
 
I was working in the den a bit ago when my wife was backing out of the garage to take the youngest to school and I heard a big "CRUNCH" come from that direction. I go out there to find she's managed to take the entire passenger-side mirror assembly off of her vehicle. :mad:

Thankfully, there appears to be no body damage to the vehicle and I couldn't see any marks on the side of the house.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I was working in the den a bit ago when my wife was backing out of the garage to take the youngest to school and I heard a big "CRUNCH" come from that direction. I go out there to find she's managed to take the entire passenger-side mirror assembly off of her vehicle. :mad:

Thankfully, there appears to be no body damage to the vehicle and I couldn't see any marks on the side of the house.
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One thing I miss about the old Lexus ES300 was how it had hinged side mirrors. By my reckoning this feature spared mirror replacement on at least two occasions.
 
So I do indeed need a new motor. I have to decide what I want to do. On one hand it's difficult to justify spending the dollars to fix it but on the other, paying that off is still going to be way cheaper than taking on a new car payment on something that I actually want. On the other at least something new comes with a warranty. This weekend I looked around at some dealers including CarMax just to see what's out there. Used car prices are literally insane. And most dealerships still have very few cars. Your best bet is going to be to order a vehicle and then God knows how long before it's actually delivered. Uggghhhh.
 
Maister said:
One thing I miss about the old Lexus ES300 was how it had hinged side mirrors. By my reckoning this feature spared mirror replacement on at least two occasions.
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I had a 1999 Grand Am with non-hinge mirrors. One was taken out by the car wash and one by myself bumping into the mirror. My last several cars have all had hinged mirrors.
 
MD Planner said:
So I do indeed need a new motor. I have to decide what I want to do. On one hand it's difficult to justify spending the dollars to fix it but on the other, paying that off is still going to be way cheaper than taking on a new car payment on something that I actually want. On the other at least something new comes with a warranty. This weekend I looked around at some dealers including CarMax just to see what's out there. Used car prices are literally insane. And most dealerships still have very few cars. Your best bet is going to be to order a vehicle and then God knows how long before it's actually delivered. Uggghhhh.
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We will likely see used car prices drop soon. They actually have been dropping in the wholesale market, but we have not yet seen it on the retail market advertised prices. That said, this drop does suggest that you have room to negotiate since their banks are starting to ask for their loans to be paid back. New cars are going to be bumpy for awhile, especially with foreign brands that are still struggling with supply issues.

I recently stumbled across this YouTube channel that has some helpful tips shopping in today's market. https://www.youtube.com/c/YourAdvocateAllianceYAA

That said, having a dead expensive paperweight in your driveway is hard to sell.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I was working in the den a bit ago when my wife was backing out of the garage to take the youngest to school and I heard a big "CRUNCH" come from that direction. I go out there to find she's managed to take the entire passenger-side mirror assembly off of her vehicle. :mad:

Thankfully, there appears to be no body damage to the vehicle and I couldn't see any marks on the side of the house.
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The ex was backing my 2000 Tacoma out of the garage one day when I hear the same fateful noise. She said it was okay because they were "break away" mirrors. To which I replied that the first word was "break". Fortunately, she didn't damage the garage structure or the overhead door rails.
 
dw914er said:
New cars are going to be bumpy for awhile, especially with foreign brands that are still struggling with supply issues.
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We're working on the new semiconductor plant that makes chips for cars as fast as we can!

My wife has destroyed many mirrors on many garage sides. It's a wonder any of our cars have mirrors anymore.
 
MD Planner said:
So I do indeed need a new motor. I have to decide what I want to do. On one hand it's difficult to justify spending the dollars to fix it but on the other, paying that off is still going to be way cheaper than taking on a new car payment on something that I actually want. On the other at least something new comes with a warranty. This weekend I looked around at some dealers including CarMax just to see what's out there. Used car prices are literally insane. And most dealerships still have very few cars. Your best bet is going to be to order a vehicle and then God knows how long before it's actually delivered. Uggghhhh.
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Ugh. I replaced the engine in my '99 Suburban. It had a 3 year warranty, and failed shortly after the warranty expired. I had to hurry and buy a used car. It wasn't what I wanted, but it was reliable for a few years. At 100,000 miles, it started using more oil than was feasible to buy.

I still miss my big green Suburban.
 
I went and looked at some vehicles this evening. I'm taking this sunset that I saw there as a sign I should buy. šŸ˜šŸ¤£
 

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SlaveToTheGrind said:
Youngest and his grandfather have been working on a 2.3L/manual 1992 Ranger for when he gets his license in a few months. He's done quite a bit of the work himself with his grandfather supervising. Quite a long list: engine mounts, water pump, fan blade, all new brakes, shocks, various seals, and electronic components. The truck was only $400 (and it looks every bit the part) but he is having fun and great bonding time with his mechanic grandfather. AC work will wait until spring.
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I had an 89 Ranger 5 speed in college. Loved that little truck.
 
So a woman my wife works with has inherited a 1981 VW Rabbit convertible, red with a black top. It's a manual and she doesn't know how to drive a stick, it isn't currently running (likely just needs battery and fresh gas), and is just N of Detroit in storage, so she has no way to get it home (we are in N IL). She's been going back and forth between the sentimental value and practicality about keeping it or selling it. My wife has told her that if she decides to sell it, we want it. My wife has wanted a little convertible forever and this little car is in great shape, top is good, etc. I REALLY hope she decides to sell it. I'd be in my truck headed to Detroit to trailer it home within 2 hours. Maybe take the family and make a weekend of it and hit the Ford museum.


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estromberg said:
So a woman my wife works with has inherited a 1981 VW Rabbit convertible, red with a black top. It's a manual and she doesn't know how to drive a stick, it isn't currently running (likely just needs battery and fresh gas), and is just N of Detroit in storage, so she has no way to get it home (we are in N IL). She's been going back and forth between the sentimental value and practicality about keeping it or selling it. My wife has told her that if she decides to sell it, we want it. My wife has wanted a little convertible forever and this little car is in great shape, top is good, etc. I REALLY hope she decides to sell it. I'd be in my truck headed to Detroit to trailer it home within 2 hours. Maybe take the family and make a weekend of it and hit the Ford museum.


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One of my sisters bought a Rabbit convertible (I think hers was about an '83 or '84) back around 2000 and she loved that little car. She has no extensive mechanical skills but that car was so basic that when a few small things did go wrong or needed replacing, she was able to do a lot of those tasks herself. It also probably helped out that there are a couple of notable mechanic shops and parts yards here (also just north of Detroit) that pretty much specialize in working on old VWs (and Audi and Porsche and quirky older European makes like Saab and Volvo and Rover).

She ended up selling the car after she left it out, uncovered, all winter one year instead of putting it in the garage. It got a bunch of snow and water in it from somewhere and developed some electrical issues AND the undercarriage began rusting and crumbling away. There had always been some rust underneath it but before then she had generally been pretty meticulous about storing it in the winter and keeping it clean and covered up.
 
estromberg said:
So a woman my wife works with has inherited a 1981 VW Rabbit convertible, red with a black top. It's a manual and she doesn't know how to drive a stick, it isn't currently running (likely just needs battery and fresh gas), and is just N of Detroit in storage, so she has no way to get it home (we are in N IL). She's been going back and forth between the sentimental value and practicality about keeping it or selling it. My wife has told her that if she decides to sell it, we want it. My wife has wanted a little convertible forever and this little car is in great shape, top is good, etc. I REALLY hope she decides to sell it. I'd be in my truck headed to Detroit to trailer it home within 2 hours. Maybe take the family and make a weekend of it and hit the Ford museum.


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My wife had a '82 that was red with a white top. The yoke on the drive shaft sheared off. My wife loved the car, I hated it with a passion. At some point, the novelty wore off and she realized it was a older car without modern creature comforts; and we sold it. I was impressed with the German engineering, especially the egg carton looking thingamajig under the hood that was a vacuum reservoir.
 
Whatever happened to somewhat affordable fun little cars like that. You can get a Fiat or Mini, but the price just isn't right.
 
estromberg said:
So a woman my wife works with has inherited a 1981 VW Rabbit convertible, red with a black top. It's a manual and she doesn't know how to drive a stick, it isn't currently running (likely just needs battery and fresh gas), and is just N of Detroit in storage, so she has no way to get it home (we are in N IL). She's been going back and forth between the sentimental value and practicality about keeping it or selling it. My wife has told her that if she decides to sell it, we want it. My wife has wanted a little convertible forever and this little car is in great shape, top is good, etc. I REALLY hope she decides to sell it. I'd be in my truck headed to Detroit to trailer it home within 2 hours. Maybe take the family and make a weekend of it and hit the Ford museum.


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I love everything about this post and hope she decides to sell it. I drove a newer Cabrio years ago and it was one of my favorite cars. Even when the automatic top broke, it was actually more fun to stop at a red light, jump out and pull the top down, and jump back in before the light turned green.
DVD said:
Whatever happened to somewhat affordable fun little cars like that. You can get a Fiat or Mini, but the price just isn't right.
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I hear you! We just picked up a Mini as an alternative to driving the truck in the winter and it was not nearly as affordable as I wanted it to be. Also, we chose a local option because it was in pretty immaculate condition but we waffled for days because it was an automatic. I owned a Mini years ago that was my preference -- a stick shift -- and when I get in this Mini now, I keep looking for the clutch.
Sad.
 
DVD said:
Whatever happened to somewhat affordable fun little cars like that. You can get a Fiat or Mini, but the price just isn't right.
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I have one of those little Fiats and it is fun to drive (with a stick). And it was affordable at the time. At this point you can only buy a Fiat 500X, which is a small crossover built on the same platform as the Jeep Renegade. In Europe they still carry a full line of cars.

I really like driving my little go cart around on city streets.
 
Doohickie said:
I have one of those little Fiats and it is fun to drive (with a stick). And it was affordable at the time. At this point you can only buy a Fiat 500X, which is a small crossover built on the same platform as the Jeep Renegade. In Europe they still carry a full line of cars.

I really like driving my little go cart around on city streets.
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They still have something like that for older folks.

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estromberg said:
So a woman my wife works with has inherited a 1981 VW Rabbit convertible, red with a black top. It's a manual and she doesn't know how to drive a stick, it isn't currently running (likely just needs battery and fresh gas), and is just N of Detroit in storage, so she has no way to get it home (we are in N IL). She's been going back and forth between the sentimental value and practicality about keeping it or selling it. My wife has told her that if she decides to sell it, we want it. My wife has wanted a little convertible forever and this little car is in great shape, top is good, etc. I REALLY hope she decides to sell it. I'd be in my truck headed to Detroit to trailer it home within 2 hours. Maybe take the family and make a weekend of it and hit the Ford museum.


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DO IT! That is the best kind of ā€˜small cabrioā€™.

And I even like the color. šŸ˜‰
 
estromberg said:
So a woman my wife works with has inherited a 1981 VW Rabbit convertible, red with a black top. It's a manual and she doesn't know how to drive a stick, it isn't currently running (likely just needs battery and fresh gas), and is just N of Detroit in storage, so she has no way to get it home (we are in N IL). She's been going back and forth between the sentimental value and practicality about keeping it or selling it. My wife has told her that if she decides to sell it, we want it. My wife has wanted a little convertible forever and this little car is in great shape, top is good, etc. I REALLY hope she decides to sell it. I'd be in my truck headed to Detroit to trailer it home within 2 hours. Maybe take the family and make a weekend of it and hit the Ford museum.
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My wife just called and said she wants to sell it and it's all ours. Cheap, too. Going to go pick it up end of October when she'll be up at her parents. We are so excited. I'm not sure whether I will pick up a car dolly in Detroit or bring my 20ft trailer. Need to see how wide car is, as trailer has sides and want to be able to open door to get in and out. Trailer would be nice to be able to winch it up onto trailer. Picking up a dolly means a lot better gas mileage on the 6 hr trip to Detroit. I have a month to decide.
 
estromberg said:
My wife just called and said she wants to sell it and it's all ours. Cheap, too. Going to go pick it up end of October when she'll be up at her parents. We are so excited. I'm not sure whether I will pick up a car dolly in Detroit or bring my 20ft trailer. Need to see how wide car is, as trailer has sides and want to be able to open door to get in and out. Trailer would be nice to be able to winch it up onto trailer. Picking up a dolly means a lot better gas mileage on the 6 hr trip to Detroit. I have a month to decide.
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1981 Volkswagen Rabbit Dimensions - iSeeCars.com

See complete 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit Dimensions at iSeeCars.com
www.iseecars.com www.iseecars.com
 
estromberg said:
My wife just called and said she wants to sell it and it's all ours. Cheap, too. Going to go pick it up end of October when she'll be up at her parents. We are so excited. I'm not sure whether I will pick up a car dolly in Detroit or bring my 20ft trailer. Need to see how wide car is, as trailer has sides and want to be able to open door to get in and out. Trailer would be nice to be able to winch it up onto trailer. Picking up a dolly means a lot better gas mileage on the 6 hr trip to Detroit. I have a month to decide.
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Also, I should commend your wife for wanting a stick-shift. My husband kept having this conversation when car shopping recently:

Seller "well, it's a standard and my wife can't drive it so we've decided to sell"
Husband "well my wife much prefers a standard so it could be perfect for us"

[Not that it's just wives that can't drive stick these days...]
 
I pulled the trigger over the weekend and purchased a new car. Not my original plan as I was wanting to wait about a year to do that but my former POS vehicle decided it had other ideas. My life's plan was to never purchase a brand new car again but with the prices of used cars it made more sense to buy a new one. I paid less than sticker for a really sweet ride and I did find a company that is going to pay me for my inoperable vehicle and tow it away so all things considered it's a win. Paying more a month but it's manageable. Shocked to find out this morning my insurance will only go up $7 a month.
 
This weekend I replaced the mirror on my wife's Traverse that she ripped off last Monday. It took me less than an hour and I only broke three of the little plastic clips holding the door panel to the door itself. Sounds like a success to me!
 
Leaving at 5:30 am tomorrow to head up to Michigan from N Illinois to pick up the wife's VW Rabbit Convertible. Bringing an empty gas can, a transfer pump, fresh gas, jumper cables, and a jump pack along with the stuff to winch it up onto the trailer. Figure it can't hurt to suck out the old gas, put in some fresh and see if it'll start. Way easier to drive it on if it'll start. Added bonus, it's in Grand Haven, not New Haven. Way closer. About 4.5 hr vs 6 hr.
 
estromberg said:
Leaving at 5:30 am tomorrow to head up to Michigan from N Illinois to pick up the wife's VW Rabbit Convertible. Bringing an empty gas can, a transfer pump, fresh gas, jumper cables, and a jump pack along with the stuff to winch it up onto the trailer. Figure it can't hurt to suck out the old gas, put in some fresh and see if it'll start. Way easier to drive it on if it'll start. Added bonus, it's in Grand Haven, not New Haven. Way closer. About 4.5 hr vs 6 hr.
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Grand Haven is beautiful and very much closer for you.
 
A 1981 VW Rabbit! Thatā€™s vintage!
I bought a 1984 Rabbit GTI new in 1984, I kinda missed it until I got the Passat wagon also 5 speed manual. Now Iā€™m in the Outback 2020.

My daughter has a 2000 New Beetle, recently a deer crashed into it, broke the radiator and thatā€™s all the damage mostly. PITA to replace, have to remove the front end to get to it. Finally sheā€™ll be able to replace the burned out headlight at the same time.

Other daughter drives a 2000 Jetta wagon, husband drives a 2000 ford s-10.
 
estromberg said:
Leaving at 5:30 am tomorrow to head up to Michigan from N Illinois to pick up the wife's VW Rabbit Convertible. Bringing an empty gas can, a transfer pump, fresh gas, jumper cables, and a jump pack along with the stuff to winch it up onto the trailer. Figure it can't hurt to suck out the old gas, put in some fresh and see if it'll start. Way easier to drive it on if it'll start. Added bonus, it's in Grand Haven, not New Haven. Way closer. About 4.5 hr vs 6 hr.
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Laughing at the Grand Haven v New Haven. Grand Haven is pretty nice. New Haven is a dump, though there is a good ice cream stand that should still be open for the season. Full disclosure: I grew up a few miles from New Haven and feel I've earned the right to call it a dump.

Be sure to report back on how the Rabbit works out for you and your wife!
 
Well got the Rabbit home. We used my brother in law's trailer that is set up for his RZR UTV. It has bolted down chocks and the wheelbase and width were close enough that we could strap the back wheels in the chocks. Even better was that the car has frame tie down loops on all four corners, so strapping it down on the trailer was a snap.

The good: It's actually an 82 with 103k miles and it's in even better condition than I could tell from the photos. They bought it used in 1985. It's never seen winter or rain since they've owned it and has always been kept inside. No rust anywhere, chrome bumpers are perfect, top is in super good condition (a little vinyl conditioner to soften and shine it up, vinyl boot to cover it when down is perfect). The paint is almost perfect (albeit needs polishing.) There are 2 small door dings on the driver door, but other than that I haven't seen anything that's noticeable. It needs a coat of wax and she'll shine like the showroom.

The bad: The vacuum lines are a mess. The battery was completely dead. Gas has been sitting in it for 2 years. I put a new battery and fresh gas in it and it turns over, but won't fire, it acts like it wants to, but no dice. I have fuel and spark. Plugs are black and sooty (and those dumb 3 electrode ones.) Replaced them with standard NGKs. Still no fire, new ones are getting wet. From my googling, it looks like the car uses vacuum to adjust air fuel mixture, and as a result it is WAY too rich. So my suspicion is that the leaking vacuum lines need to be cleaned up and replaced, which should make for a better mixture that will ignite. Additionally, the fuel injectors probably need to be cleaned. I am getting into the territory that I am not really comfortable tackling myself, so this week it is going back onto the trailer and I'm going to take it over to my VW guy to do vacuum lines, clean the fuel system, and get it running smoothly. As an added bonus, we are leaving on vacation this Saturday for a week, so we will likely come back to it all fixed.

All in all, we are VERY happy with this purchase. I'll post up some pictures later today.
 
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