Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

corvette

tjc78 said:

mlevine said:

tjc78,
I agree the XC90 is amazing for 4 cylinder. For this engine to perform best need super unleaded fuel.

Yes both my Volvo’s get 93. My wife put regular in the S60 early on and I swear I could tell a difference.

Legitstreetcars had a harrowing video recently in which he filled up his recently purchased AMG Mercedes with premium. Apparently he bought the premium from a gas station in the podunks that didn't sell a lot of premium. It had water in it, and the car complained quite a bit. A tank of 87 and some Heet water absorber seemed to fix it.

28firefighter

corvette said:

tjc78 said:

mlevine said:

tjc78,
I agree the XC90 is amazing for 4 cylinder. For this engine to perform best need super unleaded fuel.

Yes both my Volvo’s get 93. My wife put regular in the S60 early on and I swear I could tell a difference.

Legitstreetcars had a harrowing video recently in which he filled up his recently purchased AMG Mercedes with premium. Apparently he bought the premium from a gas station in the podunks that didn't sell a lot of premium. It had water in it, and the car complained quite a bit. A tank of 87 and some Heet water absorber seemed to fix it.

I really like him. And watching him diagnose that on the fly was even more interesting. A lesson most of us have had passed on, but I think it’s the first time I have seen such an extreme result from bad fuel.

corvette

I've never had that experience... if it happened immediately after a fillup, I think I'd probably infer "bad fuel," but I'd have to Google what to do about it.

stickguy

well, it was a beat up V12 Mercedes, so assuming anything horrible or random is perfectly reasonable.

nyccarguy

corvette said:

nyccarguy said:

explorerx4 said:

@nyccarguy,
You won't like the mileage the Tundra gets(or doesn't get).

That’s why I’m open to all makes and models of trucks. I will do a total lease cost and compare the different trucks and programs. I will take into consideration the fact that the Tundra has a 36 gallon gas tank and gets somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 - 15 mpg.

38 gallons and an 8-9 gallon reserve, despite what the manual says, so if you fill before it hits E, you'll never put in more than 30 gallons. My real world range before getting a warning is not much better than the Tahoe, which had a smaller tank, but also a smaller reserve.

At today's prices ($2.79/GAL RUG), that would cost me about $84 to fill up. Makes sense as the gas tank takes a little less than double what my Tacoma takes. I usually take 16 - 17 gallons. I usually get gas with somewhere between 100 - 75 miles of range remaining. I always fill up in CT so this way my gas tax dollars go into the pockets of local politicians as opposed to the NY politicians towards road repair projects in CT as opposed to NY

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

OF, still can't find out if we got any profit sharing this year. Some folks got like $800 last year but with the pandemic of 2020, doubt we'll see anything near there. Besides calling HR, how do I tell?

Yeah, I’d call HR. It’s a legitimate question, especially since you know other offices have received the payment. It’s not like it’s a million dollar loss if you don’t get it.

Heavens knows we deserve some sort of hazardous duty pay. Last week we had to console a furious sales manager who bought a car that had a bad CarFax. That it had a bad one was a surprise since we’re self insured and repairs usually don’t get reported. Anyway, he was fuming and yelling as if we were the ones who did the damage.

Sometimes we’re the dog that gets kicked.

oldfarmer50

corvette said:

fintail said:

The grey market days must have been fun.

I'm sure I've told this story here before, but... Good friend of my dad's employer in the 1980s bought a grey market BMW. I can't recall whether it was an M5 or some sort of 7-series that wasn't sold here at the time. Anyway, employer and the friend take off for Florida in the grey market BMW. They made it to Atlanta and blew a head gasket. No warranty, of course, and the parts had to be ordered from Germany in the days before FCP Euro had a huge presence. I think it took months to get fixed.

Grey market cars were big back then. Remember what Tom Cruise did for a living in Rain Man?

A local county executive did that as a side hustle until he got sent to jail for bribery.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

tjc78 said:

mlevine said:

tjc78,
I agree the XC90 is amazing for 4 cylinder. For this engine to perform best need super unleaded fuel.

Yes both my Volvo’s get 93. My wife put regular in the S60 early on and I swear I could tell a difference.

I have used both and never noticed the difference in the RDX. Old or new one.

https://youtu.be/Bb5VfiFy0kY

au1994

nyccarguy said:

corvette said:

nyccarguy said:

explorerx4 said:

@nyccarguy,
You won't like the mileage the Tundra gets(or doesn't get).

That’s why I’m open to all makes and models of trucks. I will do a total lease cost and compare the different trucks and programs. I will take into consideration the fact that the Tundra has a 36 gallon gas tank and gets somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 - 15 mpg.

38 gallons and an 8-9 gallon reserve, despite what the manual says, so if you fill before it hits E, you'll never put in more than 30 gallons. My real world range before getting a warning is not much better than the Tahoe, which had a smaller tank, but also a smaller reserve.

At today's prices ($2.79/GAL RUG), that would cost me about $84 to fill up. Makes sense as the gas tank takes a little less than double what my Tacoma takes. I usually take 16 - 17 gallons. I usually get gas with somewhere between 100 - 75 miles of range remaining. I always fill up in CT so this way my gas tax dollars go into the pockets of local politicians as opposed to the NY politicians towards road repair projects in CT as opposed to NY

I filled up for 2.59 RUG last night. Definitely ticking up here too and it looks like that trend will continue. The ridiculous excuses of weather and the usual ‘converting from winter to summer blend’ on top of some increased travel will drive demand. We are getting into spring break season and seeing more than a few families traveling this year. Glad to be WFH so the thirsty Cruiser can stay in the garage!

Not looking forward to the high prices on the water this year as there’s only 2 marinas on the lake. We will probably pay close to 5/gal. I hold 40 gal and burn 3/hr at 3500 rpm. Ouch.

oldfarmer50

au1994 said:

nyccarguy said:

corvette said:

nyccarguy said:

explorerx4 said:

@nyccarguy,
You won't like the mileage the Tundra gets(or doesn't get).

That’s why I’m open to all makes and models of trucks. I will do a total lease cost and compare the different trucks and programs. I will take into consideration the fact that the Tundra has a 36 gallon gas tank and gets somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 - 15 mpg.

38 gallons and an 8-9 gallon reserve, despite what the manual says, so if you fill before it hits E, you'll never put in more than 30 gallons. My real world range before getting a warning is not much better than the Tahoe, which had a smaller tank, but also a smaller reserve.

At today's prices ($2.79/GAL RUG), that would cost me about $84 to fill up. Makes sense as the gas tank takes a little less than double what my Tacoma takes. I usually take 16 - 17 gallons. I usually get gas with somewhere between 100 - 75 miles of range remaining. I always fill up in CT so this way my gas tax dollars go into the pockets of local politicians as opposed to the NY politicians towards road repair projects in CT as opposed to NY

I filled up for 2.59 RUG last night. Definitely ticking up here too and it looks like that trend will continue. The ridiculous excuses of weather and the usual ‘converting from winter to summer blend’ on top of some increased travel will drive demand. We are getting into spring break season and seeing more than a few families traveling this year. Glad to be WFH so the thirsty Cruiser can stay in the garage!

Not looking forward to the high prices on the water this year as there’s only 2 marinas on the lake. We will probably pay close to 5/gal. I hold 40 gal and burn 3/hr at 3500 rpm. Ouch.

We’re hovering around the upper $2.70s. I managed to fill up with regular for $2.59 but I just happened to be 20 miles from home so not worth it to drive that far again.

Does the boat burn some special blend?

au1994

I believe it’s just ethanol free. But being in a remote area, only 2 marinas on the lake that sell gas and probably 80% of the boats on the lake are stored there, they can pretty much charge whatever they want for gas. I’m certainly not pulling ours out every time I need gas nor am I toting 40 gallons of gas.

oldfarmer50

au1994 said:

I believe it’s just ethanol free. But being in a remote area, only 2 marinas on the lake that sell gas and probably 80% of the boats on the lake are stored there, they can pretty much charge whatever they want for gas. I’m certainly not pulling ours out every time I need gas nor am I toting 40 gallons of gas.

Just have a bring your own bottle...of gas party.

stickguy

reminds me. I need to run out to the fruit and veggie store now, and will need to stop for gas. Though at current usage, I get it about once a month so have no clue what I paid the time before.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

reminds me. I need to run out to the fruit and veggie store now, and will need to stop for gas. Though at current usage, I get it about once a month so have no clue what I paid the time before.

At once per month, it won't matter what price.

stickguy

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

tjc78 said:

mlevine said:

tjc78,
I agree the XC90 is amazing for 4 cylinder. For this engine to perform best need super unleaded fuel.

Yes both my Volvo’s get 93. My wife put regular in the S60 early on and I swear I could tell a difference.

I have used both and never noticed the difference in the RDX. Old or new one.

https://youtu.be/Bb5VfiFy0kY

he does a good job explaining it. And doing a commercial for Shell.

would have been a lot shorter to say read your owners manual. If it says required, use premium. Recommended for better performance, means whatever you want. If like with our car, and it rarely exceeds 3,000 RPM, the engine likely almost never is in the range where there could be an adjustment in timing anyway.

I actually normally put in mid grade anyway as a compromise!

Michaell

stickguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

tjc78 said:

mlevine said:

tjc78,
I agree the XC90 is amazing for 4 cylinder. For this engine to perform best need super unleaded fuel.

Yes both my Volvo’s get 93. My wife put regular in the S60 early on and I swear I could tell a difference.

I have used both and never noticed the difference in the RDX. Old or new one.

https://youtu.be/Bb5VfiFy0kY

he does a good job explaining it. And doing a commercial for Shell.

would have been a lot shorter to say read your owners manual. If it says required, use premium. Recommended for better performance, means whatever you want. If like with our car, and it rarely exceeds 3,000 RPM, the engine likely almost never is in the range where there could be an adjustment in timing anyway.

I actually normally put in mid grade anyway as a compromise!

I use mid grade (87 here in Colorado) in the Outback. Was $2.90/gal last week when I filled it up.

The MINI requires, and gets, premium (91)

corvette

stickguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

tjc78 said:

mlevine said:

tjc78,
I agree the XC90 is amazing for 4 cylinder. For this engine to perform best need super unleaded fuel.

Yes both my Volvo’s get 93. My wife put regular in the S60 early on and I swear I could tell a difference.

I have used both and never noticed the difference in the RDX. Old or new one.

https://youtu.be/Bb5VfiFy0kY

he does a good job explaining it. And doing a commercial for Shell.

would have been a lot shorter to say read your owners manual.

Hard to make a YT video the required 10 minute length to get monetization if you go around doing that, though!

ab348

Up here, the price of mid-grade is only a couple of cents per liter less than premium, while being 5 or 6 cents more than regular. So I make my own midgrade by alternating tanks of premium and regular. Since I never let the tank get much less than half-full, my custom blend should be pretty close to midgrade.

tjc78

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:

reminds me. I need to run out to the fruit and veggie store now, and will need to stop for gas. Though at current usage, I get it about once a month so have no clue what I paid the time before.

At once per month, it won't matter what price.

Exactly.

stickguy

Regular was 2.82, mid 3.00. Premium I think 3.20

Mid is weird. Sometimes barely more than RUG, other times barely less than PUG. Which seems odd, since I think they just blend from the 2 tanks since there is not actually a mid grade fuel tank.

oldfarmer50

Michaell said:

stickguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

tjc78 said:

mlevine said:

tjc78,
I agree the XC90 is amazing for 4 cylinder. For this engine to perform best need super unleaded fuel.

Yes both my Volvo’s get 93. My wife put regular in the S60 early on and I swear I could tell a difference.

I have used both and never noticed the difference in the RDX. Old or new one.

https://youtu.be/Bb5VfiFy0kY

he does a good job explaining it. And doing a commercial for Shell.

would have been a lot shorter to say read your owners manual. If it says required, use premium. Recommended for better performance, means whatever you want. If like with our car, and it rarely exceeds 3,000 RPM, the engine likely almost never is in the range where there could be an adjustment in timing anyway.

I actually normally put in mid grade anyway as a compromise!

I use mid grade (87 here in Colorado) in the Outback. Was $2.90/gal last week when I filled it up.

The MINI requires, and gets, premium (91)

As stickguy says, I read my owners manual. 3 of my vehicles are fine with regular. The forth is “91 recommended” according to the book but you could use 87 with a 5% horsepower loss. However, with the mild tune it is now “91 REQUIRED”. I even have a sticker on the gas door. I shudder to think what it will cost when it comes out of storage in about 6 weeks.

My company only puts 87 in it’s vehicles so I assume most unmodified cars are fine with it.

sda

I was under the impression that 'winter blend' gas cost more to produce than the 'summer blend'. I guess they spin however they want. RUG $2.40, PUG $3.10 yesterday at Mobil.

carnaught

I saw RUG today priced at $3.10 - not the cheapest in my vicinity, but not the most expensive either. Glad I have two hybrids now even though some on this board would die a slow death from boredom driving them.

roadburner

corvette said:

fintail said:

The grey market days must have been fun.

I'm sure I've told this story here before, but... Good friend of my dad's employer in the 1980s bought a grey market BMW. I can't recall whether it was an M5 or some sort of 7-series that wasn't sold here at the time. Anyway, employer and the friend take off for Florida in the grey market BMW. They made it to Atlanta and blew a head gasket. No warranty, of course, and the parts had to be ordered from Germany in the days before FCP Euro had a huge presence. I think it took months to get fixed.

Back in the early ‘90s I was the East Coast Technical Advisor for the M Register- membership was restricted to owners of the E24 M6 coupe and E28 and E34 M5 sedans. We had about a 50/50 split of gray market and US spec cars. In the pre-internet days an M6 or M5 owner was in a world of hurt if he/she wasn’t a member. We had connections to obtain parts for the gray market cars and in a couple of cases we were able to supply European recall parts to owners free of charge thanks to our good relations with BMW Motorsport in Munich.

tifighter

Specs debate aside, handsome car-

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-bmw-330ci-29/

Apologies if this was already posted.

au1994

tifighter said:

Specs debate aside, handsome car-

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-bmw-330ci-29/

Apologies if this was already posted.

They just don’t make ‘em like they used to...

corvette

tifighter said:

Specs debate aside, handsome car-

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-bmw-330ci-29/

Apologies if this was already posted.

That is my favorite E46 color... I think factory nav and PDC were fairly rare options on the E46, but would have been especially so so early in the model run.

oldfarmer50

tifighter said:

Specs debate aside, handsome car-

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-bmw-330ci-29/

Apologies if this was already posted.

Nice stance. Look plenty low without being slammed to the pavement.

28firefighter

This, my friends, is the view of an E46 started for the first time in 3 months. Zero issues - no stored codes or pending codes - and drove like a dream.

Only thing I did was leave it on a trickle charger, put stabil in, and inflate the tires today.

kyfdx

@28firefighter Naturally.

28firefighter

In fairness I did follow a very conservative startup. Let the fuel pump prime, kicked it over, then let it idle for 15 minutes to temperature.

I’m sure I’ll have a CEL tomorrow.

fintail

That reminds me, been around 2 months since I last drove the fintail, and I just parked it and covered it. Might take it for a drive this weekend, we'll see how it fared.

explorerx4

@28firefighter,
Isn't that kind of a low bar? Hopefully, just a joke.

stickguy

28firefighter said:

In fairness I did follow a very conservative startup. Let the fuel pump prime, kicked it over, then let it idle for 15 minutes to temperature.

I’m sure I’ll have a CEL tomorrow.

well, it is an E46 so either that, a window regulator will stop regulating, or the cooling system will explode (did I miss any of the usual suspects?)

28firefighter

Haha all fair. Thankfully those nagging items have been addressed by myself or POs in the last couple years.

corvette

stickguy said:

28firefighter said:

In fairness I did follow a very conservative startup. Let the fuel pump prime, kicked it over, then let it idle for 15 minutes to temperature.

I’m sure I’ll have a CEL tomorrow.

well, it is an E46 so either that, a window regulator will stop regulating, or the cooling system will explode (did I miss any of the usual suspects?)

Or the thrust arm bushings will expel their fluid (I think that was a common problem with both E39 and E46 chassis vehicles).

corvette

I'm baffled by this, mainly because the MSRP is in Raptor territory.

Sandman6472

Still talking about possibly going electric for my next vehicle. Very curious to check out the new Chevy Bolt coming out by the end of the year. Figure as long as we have one vehicle that can do the long distance hauling, might be the right time to try electric since I hardly put much mileage on my d d now. That or possibly a hybrid that gets insane mpg's. But going electric seems to be the right thing, good friends have a couple Tesla's and they've been bugging me to climb aboard with them. I'm the perfect candidate since I've been averaging less than 60 miles/week since I went back to work in mid June. As long as the range could be around 300 miles per fill, I'd be fine with that since I could trickle charge at night if need be. Heard that Chevy will be paying to retro-fit folks garage's that do decide to go electric as an added incentive. Sounds compelling to be honest. Am hoping that this will be my last job as I slowly ride into the sunset of working, whenever that time will be. Think as well as I'm healthy, being if my spinal issues let me, can see me doing this driving gig for a few more years. Even if we relocate upstate, think I might be able to transfer to a new crew there.
Finally got the new set of center caps for the Golf yesterday and popped one in earlier. What I thought were metal turned out to be plastic! Very surprising, and still have three left if any of the other ones decide to take a hike. Since day 1, I've been waiting for one to just be gone one day and sadly, that day was last week. Turned out that I actually got them for free from Amazon by just jumping through a small hoop, so wasn't a hard decision at all. Now, the alloy looks proper again with that empty hole filled in! I'm a happy camper again as I'm still loving my Golf, even after all my smallish issues plus it's unfortunate accident back in 2018!

pensfan83

Jealous @28firefighter

roadburner

I'm taking the Club Sport to work tomorrow; it hasn't been on the road for at least a month.

cdnpinhead

28firefighter said:

This, my friends, is the view of an E46 started for the first time in 3 months. Zero issues - no stored codes or pending codes - and drove like a dream.

Happiness = Reality - Expectations

28firefighter

I have to say. The difference between the 5er’s 0-60 in 7.6 vs the sub-6 of the ZHP is quite noticeable.

corvette

I think a 535xi would probably be more competitive with the ZHP, performance-wise. No comment on repair frequency, though!

nyccarguy

I need to have my Prelude’s emissions tested by the end of this month for $20. Once I get it tested, I can register it again for the next 2 years for $155 ($120 registration, $15 Passport to Parks, $15 Clean Air Act, & $5 Greenhouse Gas Reduction).

[Deleted User]

I dropped off paperwork at the DMV yesterday to register the Tacoma, the temp tag expires Friday. I received the title compete notice in the mail last Thursday. I went online to get an appointment but they were booked out until April. I was told the turnaround time was about two weeks, so they emailed a “get out of jail free” letter in case I’m pulled over for the expired tag before then. I think there’s a 30 day grace period once they expire anyway so not too worried. The online estimator pegged my plates right under $1,000

28firefighter

I can relate to this, too, @dad23. Crazy fees in western WA.

oldfarmer50

nyccarguy said:

I need to have my Prelude’s emissions tested by the end of this month for $20. Once I get it tested, I can register it again for the next 2 years for $155 ($120 registration, $15 Passport to Parks, $15 Clean Air Act, & $5 Greenhouse Gas Reduction).

What happens if it fails the test? I know that for 25 year and older cars in NY, they get tested but if they fail it doesn’t hurt you passing the inspection.

explorerx4

@nyccarguy,
I used to have to find an emissions testing location with working rollers for my Mustang since it is pre OBD2.
At least registration renewal can be done online.

nyccarguy

oldfarmer50 said:

nyccarguy said:

I need to have my Prelude’s emissions tested by the end of this month for $20. Once I get it tested, I can register it again for the next 2 years for $155 ($120 registration, $15 Passport to Parks, $15 Clean Air Act, & $5 Greenhouse Gas Reduction).

What happens if it fails the test? I know that for 25 year and older cars in NY, they get tested but if they fail it doesn’t hurt you passing the inspection.

Once the car is 25 years old, I believe it does not have to pass emissions inspection anymore. @explorerx4 can confirm this. No lights are on. I recently (maybe 2 years ago) had the catalytic converter & exhaust system replaced. The O2 sensors work. I'm not worried about it passing.

tjc78

Sandman6472 said:

Still talking about possibly going electric for my next vehicle. Very curious to check out the new Chevy Bolt coming out by the end of the year. Figure as long as we have one vehicle that can do the long distance hauling, might be the right time to try electric since I hardly put much mileage on my d d now. That or possibly a hybrid that gets insane mpg's. But going electric seems to be the right thing, good friends have a couple Tesla's and they've been bugging me to climb aboard with them. I'm the perfect candidate since I've been averaging less than 60 miles/week since I went back to work in mid June. As long as the range could be around 300 miles per fill, I'd be fine with that since I could trickle charge at night if need be. Heard that Chevy will be paying to retro-fit folks garage's that do decide to go electric as an added incentive. Sounds compelling to be honest. Am hoping that this will be my last job as I slowly ride into the sunset of working, whenever that time will be. Think as well as I'm healthy, being if my spinal issues let me, can see me doing this driving gig for a few more years. Even if we relocate upstate, think I might be able to transfer to a new crew there.
Finally got the new set of center caps for the Golf yesterday and popped one in earlier. What I thought were metal turned out to be plastic! Very surprising, and still have three left if any of the other ones decide to take a hike. Since day 1, I've been waiting for one to just be gone one day and sadly, that day was last week. Turned out that I actually got them for free from Amazon by just jumping through a small hoop, so wasn't a hard decision at all. Now, the alloy looks proper again with that empty hole filled in! I'm a happy camper again as I'm still loving my Golf, even after all my smallish issues plus it's unfortunate accident back in 2018!

Did you ever get your electric system at home fixed?