Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

andres3

nyccarguy said:

28firefighter said:

Took the ZHP to get tires and got the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s installed. A set of 4 (staggered size front and back) mounted and balanced was $575 including tax at Discount Tire.

Initial impressions are very very good. It holds grip incredibly well, has about 90% less road noise, and has nearly eliminated the tram lining I experienced relative to the Bridgestone Potenza S04s that were on the car. Completely changes the driving dynamic for the better.

Very impressed so far.

Besides driver training, tires are one of the most effective modifications you can do to your car.

Firestone Firehawk? I’ll keep them in mind when I search for tires for my Prelude this spring/summer.

Being forced to have mediocre Pirelli P7's on the A4 (since they were free under "warranty" sort of), is making me realize buying less than great tires is penny wise and pound foolish.

It was raining cats and dogs today, as the last two years, San Diego has had massive rainfall as if we were in the NW.

With a quattro A4, or any VAG AWD product, I'm usually easily able to go whatever speed I desire with new tires (because I usually buy great tires). Today.... not so much. Had to limit my speed as conditions exposed the P7's limitation even with quattro.

qbrozen

Was perusing Charger mods today. I’m afraid to spend the money right now, though, even though relatively cheap. About $400 for a tuner and a pair of straight pipes to replace the mid muffler suitcase thing. Wife would also complain that I’m spending time working on a perfectly good car while the Coronet collects dust.

oldfarmer50

28firefighter said:

Took the ZHP to get tires and got the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s installed. A set of 4 (staggered size front and back) mounted and balanced was $575 including tax at Discount Tire.

Initial impressions are very very good. It holds grip incredibly well, has about 90% less road noise, and has nearly eliminated the tram lining I experienced relative to the Bridgestone Potenza S04s that were on the car. Completely changes the driving dynamic for the better.

Very impressed so far.

Just curious, had you considered one of the Michelin Pilot Sport derivatives? We’re they less suitable? Too expensive? I’m considering them for my Ford and would love some feedback.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

Was perusing Charger mods today. I’m afraid to spend the money right now, though, even though relatively cheap. About $400 for a tuner and a pair of straight pipes to replace the mid muffler suitcase thing. Wife would also complain that I’m spending time working on a perfectly good car while the Coronet collects dust.

I choose the Borla Touring cat back for the Mustang. It has a small resonator vs the large OEM one. On the mild side as these things go but perfect for me as I want to be able to listen to the radio. Just the right amount of rumble in normal driving but screams when you step on it.

What sold me on it was that the resonator section can be removed and replaced with an x or h pipe if you want to increase the volume. I don’t know how you really can know what a system sounds like except in person.

stickguy

qbrozen said:

Was perusing Charger mods today. I’m afraid to spend the money right now, though, even though relatively cheap. About $400 for a tuner and a pair of straight pipes to replace the mid muffler suitcase thing. Wife would also complain that I’m spending time working on a perfectly good car while the Coronet collects dust.

both are certainly reasonable points right about now. Especially since this is the part of the year where you could actually use the old car.

omarman

No need to overwhelm her with specifics. "I really should use this time to fix up the Dodge. Gotta go now."

kyfdx

oldfarmer50 said:

28firefighter said:

Took the ZHP to get tires and got the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s installed. A set of 4 (staggered size front and back) mounted and balanced was $575 including tax at Discount Tire.

Initial impressions are very very good. It holds grip incredibly well, has about 90% less road noise, and has nearly eliminated the tram lining I experienced relative to the Bridgestone Potenza S04s that were on the car. Completely changes the driving dynamic for the better.

Very impressed so far.

Just curious, had you considered one of the Michelin Pilot Sport derivatives? We’re they less suitable? Too expensive? I’m considering them for my Ford and would love some feedback.

Way more expensive. I put Pilot Super Sports on my ZHP when it was my daily commuter and only had 75K miles. For the next set, I went with the same tires as @28firefighter . 90% of the tire for 1/2 the price.

And, that's 90% of possibly the best tire available, so still very, very good.

mjfloyd1

@qbrozen- speaking of working on old cars - I had my dash gauge cluster restored and gauges calibrated, new light bulbs, new speedo and tach cables, new dash wiring harness. I put it all in and the wiring harness pins behind the fuse block were not all secured at the factory soooo I got to pull it all back out and send the wiring harness in for repair. Do over. Ugh.

Now I have to wait for the factory to reopen, repair it and send it back.

nyccarguy

qbrozen said:

Was perusing Charger mods today. I’m afraid to spend the money right now, though, even though relatively cheap. About $400 for a tuner and a pair of straight pipes to replace the mid muffler suitcase thing. Wife would also complain that I’m spending time working on a perfectly good car while the Coronet collects dust.

I'm with you. This weather & zero traffic conditions mean it is the perfect time to drive my Prelude a few days per week. As I've said before, it is overdue for some major, costly maintenance (timing belt, tensioner, water pump, balance shaft seals). I've read that the spark plugs need to be removed to perform the timing belt replacement (so those should be replaced while they are out). The power steering pump needs to be disconnected and swung out of the way, but that should get new fluid. The radiator should get drained and filled. I need new tires and rear swap bay bushings installed. At the end of the month I'll have owned the car 19 years. This is going to end up being another $2K or so.

qbrozen

mjfloyd1 said:

@qbrozen- speaking of working on old cars - I had my dash gauge cluster restored and gauges calibrated, new light bulbs, new speedo and tach cables, new dash wiring harness. I put it all in and the wiring harness pins behind the fuse block were not all secured at the factory soooo I got to pull it all back out and send the wiring harness in for repair. Do over. Ugh.

Now I have to wait for the factory to reopen, repair it and send it back.

Remind me what car this is? Who did the gauge refurb for you and what did it run?

mjfloyd1

1963 corvette split window coupe. I'll have to look his name and cost up- I'm thinking $900-1200 as I also had clock refurbished and converted to quartz (I had him send original movement back too). Also had wiper motor refurbished

I didn't go crazy with rechroming since the car is a driver

Used Ricks Restoration services, Joppa, Maryland

pensfan83

oldfarmer50 said:

28firefighter said:

Took the ZHP to get tires and got the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s installed. A set of 4 (staggered size front and back) mounted and balanced was $575 including tax at Discount Tire.

Initial impressions are very very good. It holds grip incredibly well, has about 90% less road noise, and has nearly eliminated the tram lining I experienced relative to the Bridgestone Potenza S04s that were on the car. Completely changes the driving dynamic for the better.

Very impressed so far.

Just curious, had you considered one of the Michelin Pilot Sport derivatives? We’re they less suitable? Too expensive? I’m considering them for my Ford and would love some feedback.

The PSS are great tires but for a car that gets limited use it's hard to swallow a $1K bill. I'm happy with the Firestone's and will probably stick with them when it comes time for replacements.

graphicguy

corvette said:

Quarantine is getting expensive. Picked up a pair of AirPods Pro from Amazon. The noise cancellation on them is astoundingly good - and also probably dangerous if you’re walking or running near traffic, but fortunately, it’s easy to disable for those situations.

How do you like the sound? I’m getting tired of hauling around the big Bose Quiet Comforts with me when I fly (if I ever fly again).

nyccarguy

28firefighter said:

Took the ZHP to get tires and got the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s installed. A set of 4 (staggered size front and back) mounted and balanced was $575 including tax at Discount Tire.

Initial impressions are very very good. It holds grip incredibly well, has about 90% less road noise, and has nearly eliminated the tram lining I experienced relative to the Bridgestone Potenza S04s that were on the car. Completely changes the driving dynamic for the better.

Very impressed so far.

I just looked up the Indy 500s for my Prelude. $105 each from tire rack. Very highly rated.

imidazol97

oldfarmer50 said:

28firefighter said:

Took the ZHP to get tires and got the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s installed. A set of 4 (staggered size front and back) mounted and balanced was $575 including tax at Discount Tire.

Initial impressions are very very good. It holds grip incredibly well, has about 90% less road noise, and has nearly eliminated the tram lining I experienced relative to the Bridgestone Potenza S04s that were on the car. Completely changes the driving dynamic for the better.

Very impressed so far.

Just curious, had you considered one of the Michelin Pilot Sport derivatives? We’re they less suitable? Too expensive? I’m considering them for my Ford and would love some feedback.

I consider Michelins prime. But if I still own the Cobalt when it needs tires, I'll replace the tires with something lower on the scale. I should have done that the last time, but I got the Defender H&T because that tire was doing great on the Cruze for my son. But it's too stiff. The factory tire size on the Cobalt is too big for its weight and those tires are stiffer for higher speed.

My Malibu might be getting tires. Michelin has a new touring that's in its size. But I'm open to other replacements.

What's most important is a tire store that guarantees happiness with your tire for 30 days or you can switch to another tire they have. Many tire sales managers know what tires have caused disappointment on certain cars and needed replacing. They'll steer you right usually with their suggestions.

I want tires to be very round and roll round (road force variation). My Malibu tires at 6 years old now. About 50% tread or more at 40K Mi. To replace? or not to replace? Size not available in all tire models: 235x50x18

It's hard to trust most reviews as written on TireRack and other sources.

kyfdx

@imidazol97 50% tread? Keep on truckin...

28firefighter

nyccarguy said:

28firefighter said:

Took the ZHP to get tires and got the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s installed. A set of 4 (staggered size front and back) mounted and balanced was $575 including tax at Discount Tire.

Initial impressions are very very good. It holds grip incredibly well, has about 90% less road noise, and has nearly eliminated the tram lining I experienced relative to the Bridgestone Potenza S04s that were on the car. Completely changes the driving dynamic for the better.

Very impressed so far.

I just looked up the Indy 500s for my Prelude. $105 each from tire rack. Very highly rated.

Check Firestone nearby if you have one. They were ~25% less than Tire Rack.

And to @oldfarmer50, it is exactly what @kyfdx and @pensfan83 said. This was a set installed for $575. The cheapest I found Michelin PSS or PS4s was $1100 installed. Given what I’d heard about the Firehawks, I figured it was worth a gamble.

jmonroe

omarman said:

No need to overwhelm her with specifics. "I really should use this time to fix up the Dodge. Gotta go now."

It looks to me like that guy should be using the dining room table. It's dangerous to keep looking over your shoulder; good way to trip and be caught. She seems to have some speed but it looks like he can take her in the turns. At least that's the way I do it.

jmonroe

corvette

graphicguy said:

corvette said:

Quarantine is getting expensive. Picked up a pair of AirPods Pro from Amazon. The noise cancellation on them is astoundingly good - and also probably dangerous if you’re walking or running near traffic, but fortunately, it’s easy to disable for those situations.

How do you like the sound? I’m getting tired of hauling around the big Bose Quiet Comforts with me when I fly (if I ever fly again).

I'm not an audiophile, but I think it's fine. The transparency function can sound a little artificial at times. If background noise is really loud, like my mower, you can still hear it, but can also still hear whatever you're listening to.

tifighter

Here's a funny one from Hemmings. I will admit that it did clean up well.

roadburner

As promised, here are a couple of before shots and one after shot of our great backyard deck/fence renovation:

explorerx4

That SHO brings back memeories. I had an 89, although mine was the Titanium color.
It has the wrong grille and not sure the cheese grater wheels were available in 1990.

stickguy

Nice looking deck rails.

kyfdx

@roadburner Can't beat the powder coated aluminum deck rails. We have the same thing.

What is the decking material?

pensfan83

Looks great @roadburner, we went with powder coated aluminum railing and pillars for our deck project too.

28firefighter

My Dad had a white over black 1991 SHO (manual) and then a green over tan 1993 SHO (Gen2 automatic). Loved both of those cars.

roadburner

kyfdx said:

@roadburner Can't beat the powder coated aluminum deck rails. We have the same thing.

What is the decking material?

Trex.

roadburner

pensfan83 said:

Looks great @roadburner, we went with powder coated aluminum railing and pillars for our deck project too.

The old railing, fencing and decking looked awful; we love the new railings and fencing.

Sandman6472

Goodyear Eagle GT's on the Golf back in September and still looking brand new. Think I've maybe put on 2500 miles since then, if that! Since my work plans changed and all this Covid-19 stuff going on, looking like the Golf will be staying in the stable for the forseeable future. Just makes no sense to buy something new at this juncture. Just under 64K on the clock and putting on maybe 40 miles/week now, if even that! And once things go back to normal, think I'll have this Enterprise gig for as long as I want it. But just seems foolish to trade it in on something new right now.
Finally got some definitive info on the 2020 VW Golf and not what I was expecting. The "SEL" model is dead, gone for good, and the only new model will have what looks to be 16" wheels/tires in a alloy wheel which doesn't appeal to me. I like my current 17" alloys and like I said earlier, it's sneakers are basically brand new, would be a dumb financial move to cut it from the stable. And getting the same exact model again, just doesn't float my boat. And the biggest turn off is the Fender audio system with the sub-woofer and nine speakers is no longer being made available. Basically a deal breaker for me. All these little things makes me think that I'd be making a big mistake going forward, so the whole idea is off the table. Like what I got too much to go down a bit in features I really want.
Have considered a new GTI but, a bit pricey for the version I'd want. Still am liking the Toyota Corolla SE hatch as I can get it with SAT radio Still need to listen o it and then take one out for a drive. Like the size but just not sure. But, hate to admit this, but really really am liking the new Buick Encore GX in that gray color I sat in in Vero Beach. Size wise, it fits and the model I like has the upgraded Bose audio system. Haven't driven one yet but the regular Encore I drove back in 2018 wasn't that awful to be honest. Think it could work. So, that's where I'm at. Probably not the best time to do anything with the portfolio taking a hit due to this Covid-19 situation going on. The 0% financing and 90 day deferral on payments is very tempting to be honest but just not enough to make me do anything rash right now.
Best I just wait things out and get back to work first. Then, take a test drive and see if it's a vehicle I really like enough. Will the Bose system sound that good, will it have the acceleration that I like so much in my Golf. As much as I like the new Seltos, AWD is not something needed in South Florida and it's mpg's aren't great. It does have the Bose audio system but not sure that's a good enough reason to jump either. So, just going to do nothing and wait. Will re-visit the whole thing in maybe 6 months or so and see where we are then. Want to do things smart this time and not make a stupid move. Now, let's hope the Golf behaves itself as do not want to put another dime into it going forward!

corvette

Drove around aimlessly in the Tundra this afternoon. Filled up the tank in Lexington with $1.39 regular. Low fuel warning had just come on. I was able to squeeze in less than 32 gallons into the 38 gallon tank. The "distance to empty" was fairly accurate but should actually be called "distance until low fuel warning."

explorerx4

My F 150 has a 36 gallon tank. Low fuel light seems to come on after using 33 gallons.

nyccarguy

Watching Saturday Night Seder on you tube. It’s good so far.

28firefighter

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/amp32067802/acura-tlx-type-s-confirmed-2021

For our Acura fans here.

stickguy

sharp looking. and the new MDX looks good too. That desperately needed an update. once these come out, I expect the iLX updates soon, but as a compact hatch/quasi CUV like an X2 BMW.

oldfarmer50

roadburner said:

kyfdx said:

@roadburner Can't beat the powder coated aluminum deck rails. We have the same thing.

What is the decking material?

Trex.

But you kicked the dog off it?

oldfarmer50

I would love one of these:

https://youtu.be/5VOtBhW7cKE

Sandman6472

Not a fan of the new ILX and they really need to bring a hatch back...it's time. Would definitely consider one if they did have a hatch for folks like me that really like 'em. Since the new Golf is no longer a viable candidate when I am ready to get new, have to set my sights on other manufacturers. And even though I do like the Kia Sportage, the Seltos size works so much better for our parking situation. But please, no AWD vehicles down south here...totally unnecessary!

Sandman6472

Got good news yesterday! Am off the hook for that medical bill that came in last month. Was sent a bill 22 months after I was in the hospital for my sepsis/pneumonia/gall bladder removal surgery and the insurance only paid like 10% and they wanted me to pay the balance, which was almost $1300! Insurance said "too bad" as the time limitation had passed for review of bills so, called the business office of the doctor. They are all working from home and the first lady I dealt with was of no help. Second time, got a nice guy who could see right away they made a mistake in the coding. Told me after a long wait to throw the bill away and he would re-file with my insurance.
Got the explanation of benefits yesterday, and owe $0.00 now, nothing! Turns out the wrong codes were used for the 11 hospital visits and since the doc is in-network for our plan, they accepted what the "negotiated allowed amount" the plan has and my part came to $0.00 since we had already met the family out of pocket and reached the medical catastrophic limit, so that was great to see and hear. If not for insurance, we would've gone into bankruptcy or close to it to pay the whole bill which has gone over $180K for a two week hospital stay plus a 30 hour rehab clinic from hell experience! Still paying off the hospital monthly as we owed an amount around $4300. But I knew something was wrong and did all I could to make it right. Was lucky to get the right person, finally, to see their mistake and follow through with my health insurance company.
Sad thing is, if we were poor and not a middle class family, it all would've cost us nothing...nothing! Don't get me wrong, I was happy to pay what I was supposed to pay but wasn't going to pay for someone else's coding error just because I didn't get the right help at first. That's why one must check all their bills, no matter how small, because folks do make mistakes in this world, and one must be their own advocate most times to get these mistakes resolved the way they were supposed to be. Hopefully, this will be the last bill and eventually, the hospital will get what I owe them as they refused to negotiate a full payment smaller sum!

benjaminh

28firefighter said:

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/amp32067802/acura-tlx-type-s-confirmed-2021

For our Acura fans here.

"Underpinning the new model will be an all-new unibody designed exclusively for the TLX that ditches struts for a control-arm front suspension to improve handling and feel. The standard TLX powertrain will borrow the 10-speed automatic transmission and turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four from the current-generation Honda Accord...."

Sounds like a winning combination. I wonder if the new TLX will still have 4-wheel steering on two-wheel drive models. I either turn in or buy out my current TLX in late June or early July of 2021, and so maybe I'll take a test drive at that point.

explorerx4

@nyccarguy,
We have been watching Sunday services on my wife's laptop.
Usually 150 to 2000 people watching.
Will be interested to see how many today.
After that, we are having a group video get together for Easter Brunch.

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

Got good news yesterday! Am off the hook for that medical bill that came in last month. Was sent a bill 22 months after I was in the hospital for my sepsis/pneumonia/gall bladder removal surgery and the insurance only paid like 10% and they wanted me to pay the balance, which was almost $1300! Insurance said "too bad" as the time limitation had passed for review of bills so, called the business office of the doctor. They are all working from home and the first lady I dealt with was of no help. Second time, got a nice guy who could see right away they made a mistake in the coding. Told me after a long wait to throw the bill away and he would re-file with my insurance.
Got the explanation of benefits yesterday, and owe $0.00 now, nothing! Turns out the wrong codes were used for the 11 hospital visits and since the doc is in-network for our plan, they accepted what the "negotiated allowed amount" the plan has and my part came to $0.00 since we had already met the family out of pocket and reached the medical catastrophic limit, so that was great to see and hear. If not for insurance, we would've gone into bankruptcy or close to it to pay the whole bill which has gone over $180K for a two week hospital stay plus a 30 hour rehab clinic from hell experience! Still paying off the hospital monthly as we owed an amount around $4300. But I knew something was wrong and did all I could to make it right. Was lucky to get the right person, finally, to see their mistake and follow through with my health insurance company.
Sad thing is, if we were poor and not a middle class family, it all would've cost us nothing...nothing! Don't get me wrong, I was happy to pay what I was supposed to pay but wasn't going to pay for someone else's coding error just because I didn't get the right help at first. That's why one must check all their bills, no matter how small, because folks do make mistakes in this world, and one must be their own advocate most times to get these mistakes resolved the way they were supposed to be. Hopefully, this will be the last bill and eventually, the hospital will get what I owe them as they refused to negotiate a full payment smaller sum!

That’s good you got someone who knew what they were doing. I know from personal experience how hard that can be. Being poor is no guarantee that you won’t have a bill to pay. When my wife got sick about 15 years ago we were the very definition of poor. Unfortunately, we had our farm so the government programs simply told us to sell our house to pay the bill. In fact, the government added 10% to the bill as a penalty for not having health insurance.

In other bad news, I found out that 250 of the 3500 rental cars that burned up in Fort Myers belonged to our company.

Happy Pesach.

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

@nyccarguy,
We have been watching Sunday services on my wife's laptop.
Usually 150 to 2000 people watching.
Will be interested to see how many today.
After that, we are having a group video get together for Easter Brunch.

That’s great. Happy Easter. The family holidays are tough these days.

oldfarmer50

corvette said:

Drove around aimlessly in the Tundra this afternoon. Filled up the tank in Lexington with $1.39 regular. Low fuel warning had just come on. I was able to squeeze in less than 32 gallons into the 38 gallon tank. The "distance to empty" was fairly accurate but should actually be called "distance until low fuel warning."

Careful, there’s been news reports of police ticketing people for doing that. They also are chasing people down the beach for running alone, calling the Coast Guard on surf-boarders, pulling people off trains and forcing people to wear ankle bracelets to compel say at home.

suydam

Regarding beaches: A little hyperbolic, maybe? If they are closed, then you aren’t supposed to be there.
Regarding health insurance, if you have nothing and pay nothing, you still have nothing. You’re not exactly ahead of the game. My father was like that. If he hadn’t come to live with us he would have been homeless.

Sandman6472

OF, thought you said most of the burned rentals were Hertz vehicles? So now you're sayin' that some were owned by Enterprise also? Just curious but a bad situation all the way around as they thought they had them in a safe place but then Mother Nature throws a curve ball anyways. Luckily they're all insured but still, it's like kicking someone when they're already down!
Again, can not wait till this whole thing is over and done with!

Sandman6472

Since we need to cover our faces when we go into a supermarket now and we have no masks to wear, got me thinking. When I carried mail, always carried bandana, be it red or blue, so went through my drawers and there they were, 12 bandanas just sitting there since 2010. Took them out, no tear or rips, showed them to the other half and said, we got this! In the wash as we speak as I need to go to Publix tomorrow so will have a clean face mask as required. It's not as nice as the ones the health workers wear, but it'll do the trick. Hopefully, no one will think I'm trying to rob the supermarket and call the police!
Glad I didn't throw them all away as this solves the problem of having to cover one's face. And won't cost me a cent since it's something I've already got. Did order four packs of hand wipes for when we do go back. Will be able to use one and clean each wheel of very vehicle I end up driving. Not sure if necessary but, doesn't hurt to be proactive as eventually, travel will resume and I'll be driving rentals that folks leaving South Florida will be driving. No one really knows how long it'll take for this virus to completely disappear. Will give the Mrs. a pack or two for when she goes into her work places so she can also clean her mouse and keyboard and phone if she has one at her desks. They were a decent price for the number of sanitized wipes per package so I jumped. They accepted PayPal, so all was good!

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

OF, thought you said most of the burned rentals were Hertz vehicles? So now you're sayin' that some were owned by Enterprise also? Just curious but a bad situation all the way around as they thought they had them in a safe place but then Mother Nature throws a curve ball anyways. Luckily they're all insured but still, it's like kicking someone when they're already down!
Again, can not wait till this whole thing is over and done with!

I originally talked to my friend who works for Hertz and he said they were all from his company. Later, our boss told one of my crew that “a few hundred” were from Enterprise. So yes, most of them belonged to Hertz if my friend is correct.

I also read a report that our rental vans were being used as make shift morgue wagons down in NYC. I sure hope we don’t have to go pick those up when we return.

breld

On the TLX, clearly the Type S is the big news, but putting the Accord’s 2.0 turbo as the standard engine is a good move, though not particularly surprising. But I was pleased to see they’ll add AWD as an option on the base model.

explorerx4

Probably tough to justify a bespoke engine/transmission at that volume/price point.
Engine will probably be tuned for premium fuel to differentiate it(at least on paper) from the Accord.

nyccarguy