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Vehicles / bikes 🏍 Car Talk

There's a lot of work to certify headlights and taillights for the various countries. That's an expense that carmakers would want avoid on a limited run vehicle (which most of those are). You see the same thing on motor homes.
 
I drove my new car to work today.

Love the feel, the updated security features, dashboard layout, and lots of other things about the car.

I don't like how the headrest in the center of the backseat is right in my LOS through my rearview mirror. It blocks a part of the road section. I need to figure out how to remove that headrest or something . . . and that the rear door does not have power lift gate.

I'm sure other things will pop up that aren't to my liking, but right now, I am HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY with my new car.
 
My daughter sent me an instagram video which explains why a Ford Bronco Raptor is the perfect first car for a teenager. It didn't convince me to go out and get her one. It did inform me that such a beast exist (I was aware of the Ford f-150 Raptor) and it convinced me that If I every had an extra $100k laying around doing nothing that I now know what I would spend it on. I reiterated that the budget for her first car and explained that it was significantly closer to $0 than it was to $100k.
 
kms said:
It's been a while since I had an old car, but getting the call that my car passed inspection is still a great relief.
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Back when the dinosaurs still roamed NJ, you had to take your car to a state inspection facility. You would operate the vehicle for the first 2/3 of the testing, then they would operate it the last 1/3, including a brake test. It was always nerve-wracking until they affixed the sticker to your windshield - green for passed and red for failed. I had taken the afternoon off work to get my inspection done and was extremely pleased to see the green sticker get applied to my windshield. I decided to pop over to a local park to visit a friend that had a summer job there. As I was parking my 1972 VW Beetle, the brake failed. Quite literally. The floor had rusted through and the pedal fell right out of the car.

Apparently, the tester at the state center really put his foot down hard! I had it towed to a VW whisperer and they welded/affixed a new fiberglas floor section where the old rusted out floor had been. I still had my green sticker, though. :cool:
 
My wife's Chevy Traverse has suddenly started sounding very rough when idling or when just pressing on the gas. Once you're up to speed or on cruise control or something, it sounds normal. Doesn't seem to be coming from the exhaust so that's the extent of my knowledge. I popped the hood to take a look to see if anything looks out of the ordinary but everything is so closed up ad covered with plastic shields in there it's hard to know what's going on.

Oh well... we're taking it into the dealership later this week for them to take a look at.

Her car is now 12 years old with about 100k miles on it. Other than whatever this noise is, we haven't had any real issues with it and it's in pretty good shape but I think my wife gets into my Jeep or her parents newer vehicles and sees the newer safety features or creature comforts and does sort of want to upgrade (a lot has changed in regards to vehicle interiors and features in the past decade+). Part of me hopes that there is some sort of $$$ problem with her car so maybe that will make the decision to upgrade a little easier.
 
Well, my 16 y.o. is likely looking at either abandoning his 92 Ranger 2.3L or rebuilding the engine. Loud knocking coming from engine and lost power on a nearby highway yesterday. His grandpa brought up the trailer they winched it on and hauled to the farm. Diagnosis today but we all know the likely outcome.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
My wife's Chevy Traverse has suddenly started sounding very rough when idling or when just pressing on the gas. Once you're up to speed or on cruise control or something, it sounds normal. Doesn't seem to be coming from the exhaust so that's the extent of my knowledge. I popped the hood to take a look to see if anything looks out of the ordinary but everything is so closed up ad covered with plastic shields in there it's hard to know what's going on.

Oh well... we're taking it into the dealership later this week for them to take a look at.

Her car is now 12 years old with about 100k miles on it. Other than whatever this noise is, we haven't had any real issues with it and it's in pretty good shape but I think my wife gets into my Jeep or her parents newer vehicles and sees the newer safety features or creature comforts and does sort of want to upgrade (a lot has changed in regards to vehicle interiors and features in the past decade+). Part of me hopes that there is some sort of $$$ problem with her car so maybe that will make the decision to upgrade a little easier.
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It's likely something simple like a bad airflow/oxygen sensor.
 
DVD said:
In my case it was a whole in one of the hoses. Check all the hoses coming out of the exhaust system.
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That could be the case too, especially if the issue is not causing the check engine light to be on.



I am working on my '67 mustang on a slow push to get it running and road worthy. It was my first car and working on it is bringing out a flood of memories. I had a difficult time turning in the starter for the core deposit, as it was a starter that I installed in spring of '98 in a grocery store parking lot with a pair of slip joint pliers and flat head screw driver. I rode the city bus to go get the part. I never imagined that I would have a sentimental attachment to an auto part but here I am. I was able to turn it in at lunch today but I did manage to get a picture of it before doing so.

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Big Owl said:
That could be the case too, especially if the issue is not causing the check engine light to be on.



I am working on my '67 mustang on a slow push to get it running and road worthy. It was my first car and working on it is bringing out a flood of memories. I had a difficult time turning in the starter for the core deposit, as it was a starter that I installed in spring of '98 in a grocery store parking lot with a pair of slip joint pliers and flat head screw driver. I rode the city bus to go get the part. I never imagined that I would have a sentimental attachment to an auto part but here I am. I was able to turn it in at lunch today but I did manage to get a picture of it before doing so.

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Picture of Mustang, please.
 
DVD said:
In my case it was a whole in one of the hoses. Check all the hoses coming out of the exhaust system.
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Big Owl said:
That could be the case too, especially if the issue is not causing the check engine light to be on.
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No misfire going on in the Traverse and it definitely sounds like some sort of airflow issue but the lack of a warning coming on or some sort of code getting shown was throwing me so maybe there is some sort issue with a hose somewhere that's past where a sensor would pick it up. I like that idea.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
No misfire going on in the Traverse and it definitely sounds like some sort of airflow issue but the lack of a warning coming on or some sort of code getting shown was throwing me so maybe there is some sort issue with a hose somewhere that's past where a sensor would pick it up. I like that idea.
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It took a few days for the check engine light to come on and report a mass air flow problem.

I have this. I would like to fix up some stuff like the window tint, but money for the car keeps getting used by money for the family.
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DVD said:
It took a few days for the check engine light to come on and report a mass air flow problem.

I have this. I would like to fix up some stuff like the window tint, but money for the car keeps getting used by money for the family.
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Didn't know there was another New Edge Mustang owner on here! I've got a 2001 Mustang Cobra convertible in near-mint condition.
 
Suburb Repairman said:
Didn't know there was another New Edge Mustang owner on here! I've got a 2001 Mustang Cobra convertible in near-mint condition.
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Yeah, the Bullitt isn't mint anymore. Over a lifetime of kids scratching the outside, the tint bubbling, and the interior ripping it's time to fix it all up, but maybe when the kids are out of the house in three more years.
 
I was shocked and disappointed when they canceled the old Ranger. They just seemed like such an able, dependable small pickup. The new Rangers are too upscale and too big. The Maverick is closer to the old Ranger but Ford hasn't been able to produce enough of them.

And yes, they are dependable. The video makes fun of it, but you still see a ton of them on the road 10+ years after they stopped production.
 
A few people had Rangers in high school, and all suffered from power steering issues. I personally liked the Toyota offerings more (and previously have owned two different Tacomas), but the Ranger is desirable by avoiding the Toyota tax.
 
I really liked my old Mazda RX-7 with the Wankel rotary engine. For such a small engine, it really cranked a lot of horsepower. Yes, it burned oil, but I sold it before any seals went on the engine.

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Doohickie said:
I was shocked and disappointed when they canceled the old Ranger. They just seemed like such an able, dependable small pickup. The new Rangers are too upscale and too big. The Maverick is closer to the old Ranger but Ford hasn't been able to produce enough of them.

And yes, they are dependable. The video makes fun of it, but you still see a ton of them on the road 10+ years after they stopped production.
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dw914er said:
A few people had Rangers in high school, and all suffered from power steering issues. I personally liked the Toyota offerings more (and previously have owned two different Tacomas), but the Ranger is desirable by avoiding the Toyota tax.
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Shortly after I graduated high school in '96, I bought a '93 Ranger off of a guy my dad worked with. I loved that truck. It was the prefect size and survived all the abuse a dumb teenager put it through. I ended up selling it before leaving on my second 6 month deployment in 2000 instead of letting it sit for all that time and bought my first Jeep when I returned. Rangers (and the slightly larger Dodge Dakota) were pretty common in my high school parking lot and Toyotas and other Japanese trucks were basically non-existent here in Metro Detroit in the mid-to-late '90s.

As far as the newer trucks go, I think the current Ranger is a great size for most people and looks pretty nice too. I don't know that I'd call it "too big" especially compared to something like the current F150 or Ram or the GMC/Chevy trucks which seem particularly massive now. I'm surprised Ford doesn't seem to be making a stripped down version for work trucks (or maybe the are but it just hasn't caught on or maybe Ford is afraid of the Ranger cannibalizing F150 sales?) but yeah, they cannot seem to build the Maverick fast enough. I see tons of them on the road now and they do seem to be particularly popular among contractors and for work trucks.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I don't know that I'd call it "too big" especially compared to something like the current F150 or Ram or the GMC/Chevy
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My comparison is to the old Ranger. The new Ranger is huge compared to that. I am a little baffled as to why so many people need such massive vehicles.

I know for some people they are work trucks, and others use them to carry/tow stuff, but even then 90%+ of the time they are just people movers. To me that just seems like unnecessary expense to have something that big. Much of the time my wife's Escape is too big to my eyes. When our kids were growing up, our family vehicle was a Ford Escort wagon and it was adequate for me, my wife and my two sons. We even moved from Detroit to Fort Worth in it, with a golden retriever and a cat, along with enough stuff for the first 30 days we'd be in Texas.

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My biggest complaint for modern trucks is the lack of bed space. Might as well buy the suburban instead of the silverado cause all you've got is an oversized grocery getter the can pull your 5th wheel that one time you decide to go camping this summer.
 
DVD said:
My biggest complaint for modern trucks is the lack of bed space. Might as well buy the suburban instead of the silverado cause all you've got is an oversized grocery getter the can pull your 5th wheel that one time you decide to go camping this summer.
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Minivans rule!

Happy Honda GIF
 
mendelman said:
Minivans rule!

Happy Honda GIF
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My wife is ready to move on from our 2015 Honda Odyssey and wants a Tahoe or some other big SUV. I do not, but it's her decision. I have been trying to steer her towards a Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander or VW Atlas. Thankfully, due to interest rates, we'll be waiting a while before doing anything.

Main reason I want to keep the van besides the fact that it's paid for and only has 140k on it is that it is our main family vehicle and gets 25+ mpg. I don't really want to replace it with a vehicle that gets 17 on a good day.
 
I have no problems with trucks for people who need them for their job. Outside of that, they are an asinine waste of resources. We have a glut of sub 40 year old males that have tricked out trucks. These are the first ones to whine when gas prices rise.
 
estromberg said:
My wife is ready to move on from our 2015 Honda Odyssey and wants a Tahoe or some other big SUV. I do not, but it's her decision. I have been trying to steer her towards a Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander or VW Atlas. Thankfully, due to interest rates, we'll be waiting a while before doing anything.

Main reason I want to keep the van besides the fact that it's paid for and only has 140k on it is that it is our main family vehicle and gets 25+ mpg. I don't really want to replace it with a vehicle that gets 17 on a good day.
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That Odyssey is making money for you. Don't get rid of it...especially for something objectively functionally worse.

Our 2016 T&C minivan only has ~85,000 miles and we plan on keeping it as long as absolutely possible.
 
mendelman said:
Our 2016 T&C minivan only has ~85,000 miles and we plan on keeping it as long as absolutely possible.
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My wife's 2015 Ford Escape has about the same, I think 82k (she's on the road right now so it might be more) and it still feels like "new" to us. We always drive a car until the repairs start to be significantly expensive or disruptive, usually around 150-200k miles. The car the Escape replaced was a Taurus that we ran for 15 years and 190k miles. It was actually running fine until the catalytic converter went, restricted the exhaust which blew out some vacuum hoses which caused other problems. While we were trying to decide if we were going to fix it, a friend offered to buy it for her son who needed a car so we walked away from it. He drove it for some time after that.

Edit: As for fuel efficiency, the Escape gets around 25 mpg around town. On our road trip it was putting down 30 mpg.
 
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My Mustang gets crap fuel economy, but thankfully I don't have to drive much. The wife has an Escape hybrid and I think that gets around 35. I'd have to care enough to ask her. The problem car is the old Lebaron convertible with the wrecked door that she wants to spend $1000 to get repaired because she "loves" that car even though she never drives it.
 
Whose Yur Planner said:
I have no problems with trucks for people who need them for their job. Outside of that, they are an asinine waste of resources. We have a glut of sub 40 year old males that have tricked out trucks. These are the first ones to whine when gas prices rise.
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If things stay on track, I will be purchasing a replacement vehicle by the end of summer. I am leaning toward a truck. Do I need a truck? Occasionally, I do. Could I make do? I have for the last 10 years, but it has been a pain in the tail. Could I save money if I bought something else? Absolutely but I would only spend the savings on hookers and blow, so buying a truck will save my marriage. It's also worth noting that I drive less than 5,000 miles a year so $5 a gallon of gas while driving something that gets 16 miles to the gallon, I am looking at $30 a week.
 
Big Owl said:
If things stay on track, I will be purchasing a replacement vehicle by the end of summer. I am leaning toward a truck. Do I need a truck? Occasionally, I do. Could I make do? I have for the last 10 years, but it has been a pain in the tail. Could I save money if I bought something else? Absolutely but I would only spend the savings on hookers and blow, so buying a truck will save my marriage. It's also worth noting that I drive less than 5,000 miles a year so $5 a gallon of gas while driving something that gets 16 miles to the gallon, I am looking at $30 a week.
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Have you considered buying a smaller vehicle and a utility trailer? I think it would be the best of both worlds. You could be good to the environment AND have hookers and blow.
 
Doohickie said:
Have you considered buying a smaller vehicle and a utility trailer? I think it would be the best of both worlds. You could be good to the environment AND have hookers and blow.
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I have thought about it and it's a good idea in theory. I don't have a great place to store one at my house. I could store it at my father's house but that's inconvenient.
 
Doohickie said:
Have you considered buying a smaller vehicle and a utility trailer? I think it would be the best of both worlds. You could be good to the environment AND have hookers and blow.
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I'm actually interested in your theory of small vehicle with a trailer. Like BO there are times I could use a small truck to haul stuff like an old school MF Ford Ranger. The new Ranger is nice, but I don't need that size and I don't need 4 door plus a tiny bed. I swear the old Ranger has a bigger bed. I've been looking at an old Jeep with a trailer, unlike BO I have a place to store it. Just not enough money to buy it since I'm already spending a lot on hookers and blow.
 
Big Owl said:
If things stay on track, I will be purchasing a replacement vehicle by the end of summer. I am leaning toward a truck. Do I need a truck? Occasionally, I do. Could I make do? I have for the last 10 years, but it has been a pain in the tail. Could I save money if I bought something else? Absolutely but I would only spend the savings on hookers and blow, so buying a truck will save my marriage. It's also worth noting that I drive less than 5,000 miles a year so $5 a gallon of gas while driving something that gets 16 miles to the gallon, I am looking at $30 a week.
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No, no, no. Get yourself a vintage Ford Ranchero.

About as much utility and will be much cheaper than the cheapest new truck or newer used truck.
 
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Maister said:
I really liked my old Mazda RX-7 with the Wankel rotary engine. For such a small engine, it really cranked a lot of horsepower. Yes, it burned oil, but I sold it before any seals went on the engine.

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I had a 1983 GSL from 1992-1997. Loved that car. Yes, the case seals were bad on mine - 1 quart of oil added between changes. Sold it to my old roommate who also had a 1983 but his oil pump went out. Color of mine:

1687993664318.png
 
DVD said:
I'm actually interested in your theory of small vehicle with a trailer. Like BO there are times I could use a small truck to haul stuff like an old school MF Ford Ranger. The new Ranger is nice, but I don't need that size and I don't need 4 door plus a tiny bed. I swear the old Ranger has a bigger bed. I've been looking at an old Jeep with a trailer, unlike BO I have a place to store it. Just not enough money to buy it since I'm already spending a lot on hookers and blow.
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I've actually gotten a lot of stuff in my Fiat 500 and even more in my wife's Escape. The fatal flaw for both is that neither one can handle 4 foot wide cargo. So when I bought drywall for my remodel I had to cut it in half (the long way) in the parking lot before loading it into the Escape. I would not hesitate to tow a small trailer behind the Escape though, at least for a short local trip, and if it wasn't too much weight I'd even use my Fiat (which has a hitch install for my bike carrier). My neighbor has one parked next to his garage and I don't think he's used it since we moved here 5 years ago. I've thought about offering to buy it.

I was curious to see how much I could get a basic trailer for. This one is from Northern Tool and can be ordered but free pick up at the store.
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SlaveToTheGrind said:
Mini-vans were great when my boys were young.
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And they're great without kids.

The hauling capacity of our old 2008 T&C was awesome with the 2nd and 3rd rows stowed. Plus, since it was fully depreciated and nearing the jalopy stage I didn't have to any longer spend unnecessarily on repairs.
 
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DVD said:
My biggest complaint for modern trucks is the lack of bed space. Might as well buy the suburban instead of the silverado cause all you've got is an oversized grocery getter the can pull your 5th wheel that one time you decide to go camping this summer.
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YES! While I understand the argument that the truck part is used much less than the passenger part, it annoys the crap out of me to see a 4' bed on a full sized pickup. Our 65 has a long-bed at 8' and, when a hurricane was coming and the whole city was at Lowes Depot strapping supplies into the tiny beds of their trucks, my SO was able to have the fork lift unload full sheets of plywood right into the bed. He then closed the tailgate and drove away, chuckling a bit at the other truck drivers.
 
Good to know I'm not the only one that hates 4 door trucks. I also happen to hate 4 door Jeeps. It's just wrong to me.
 
RandomPlanner said:
YES! While I understand the argument that the truck part is used much less than the passenger part, it annoys the crap out of me to see a 4' bed on a full sized pickup. Our 65 has a long-bed at 8' and, when a hurricane was coming and the whole city was at Lowes Depot strapping supplies into the tiny beds of their trucks, my SO was able to have the fork lift unload full sheets of plywood right into the bed. He then closed the tailgate and drove away, chuckling a bit at the other truck drivers.
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My Tundra Crew Max has a 5.5' bed and it works just fine. I can fit 4x8 sheets in the bed with the tailgate down. I bought the truck for towing a camper and my other trailers and I need the passenger space a lot more than the bed space. A full 8' bed on this truck would make it even more massive than it already is.
 
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