Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

breld

@28firefighter - a little delayed response, but I think it’s absolutely the right way to go to finance/purchase the Tesla as opposed to leasing. I could be wrong, but I believe a Tesla lease is very restrictive - I think Tesla basically has all the rights to take the car back from you whether you want to terminate early or run to the lease maturity. So no flipping it to another dealer or Carvana or whatever.

And like you pointed out, if by chance additional federal tax incentives are passed, you may become eligible for that. I’m certainly hoping that happens.

ab348

Sandman6472 said:

Still waiting to try the new 2022 Corolla Cross but since it's a 5-door Corolla, think I'll feel right at home. The CH-R is also a strong contender if I can get a light interior to help down play that rear blind spot where the rear door handle is. With the black interior, it's a real issue for me but less so with a lighter interior. And I do prefer the white pearl paint. So, we shall see what the future brings. I'm finally ready to let go of the Golf, a long time coming as I truly have liked it overall. I just want something simple going forward, easy to drive and easy to maintain.

Sandy, have you driven or looked at the Hyundai Venue? Not my sort of vehicle but I see them everywhere locally and they certainly meet your size requirements at 159" in length. They appear to have good visibility too. The Kona is 166" so it might fit also. The Kia Seltos is 172" so I don't know if that works for you.

corvette

Took the Prius to Discount Tire this morning for a balance and rotation--they did that for free even though the tires weren't bought there and I didn't buy lifetime B&R. They also found two bad TPMS sensors, so my wallet is about $125 lighter.

Also, the CEL came back on with the same P0420 code, so I ordered two bottles of Cataclean from Amazon, as @roadburner (and maybe others) have recommended. Much cheaper than a new cat!

breld

On another note, regarding garage floor coatings, does anyone have experience on Epoxy vs. Polyurea?

I’ve received two quotes for coating the new garage floor, both from co-workers/friends who are very happy with their results. The place that boasts the benefits of Polyurea is significantly higher than the Epoxy. Both will be done professionally, meaning it’s commercial grade product and a thorough prepping of the surface.

Given my neighbor with the Epoxy is very happy with the results after a couple years, I’m leaning strongly to saving the money, but just figured I’d see if anyone has experience here.

jmonroe1

qbrozen said:

Changed brake pads at all 4 corners on the van this morn. 2 hrs total, without a lift, jacking up one wheel at a time. Pads were $80. This is a job the dealer wanted $800 for.

That dealer is never going to talk to you again. :@ His kids college fund gets no help from guys like you (or me).

jmonroe

28firefighter

At CarMax now. Appraisal on the Subaru was $37,000. Waiting to see if they can get the payoff and take it away today.

Will walk away with a check for $12k. And have gotten paid ~$4000 to drive this car for 28 months.

jmonroe1

corvette said:

Took the Prius to Discount Tire this morning for a balance and rotation--they did that for free even though the tires weren't bought there and I didn't buy lifetime B&R. They also found two bad TPMS sensors, so my wallet is about $125 lighter.

Also, the CEL came back on with the same P0420 code, so I ordered two bottles of Cataclean from Amazon, as @roadburner (and maybe others) have recommended. Much cheaper than a new cat!

Gee, folks in my hood can’t give cats away.

jmonroe

tifighter

28firefighter said:

At CarMax now. Appraisal on the Subaru was $37,000. Waiting to see if they can get the payoff and take it away today.

Will walk away with a check for $12k. And have gotten paid ~$4000 to drive this car for 28 months.

oldfarmer50

corvette said:

Took the Prius to Discount Tire this morning for a balance and rotation--they did that for free even though the tires weren't bought there and I didn't buy lifetime B&R. They also found two bad TPMS sensors, so my wallet is about $125 lighter.

Also, the CEL came back on with the same P0420 code, so I ordered two bottles of Cataclean from Amazon, as @roadburner (and maybe others) have recommended. Much cheaper than a new cat!

Take a look at the active ingredients in that product. Regular Acetone or lacquer thinner might be cheaper. Check out some of the YT videos on doseage rates.

oldfarmer50

breld said:

On another note, regarding garage floor coatings, does anyone have experience on Epoxy vs. Polyurea?

I’ve received two quotes for coating the new garage floor, both from co-workers/friends who are very happy with their results. The place that boasts the benefits of Polyurea is significantly higher than the Epoxy. Both will be done professionally, meaning it’s commercial grade product and a thorough prepping of the surface.

Given my neighbor with the Epoxy is very happy with the results after a couple years, I’m leaning strongly to saving the money, but just figured I’d see if anyone has experience here.

roadburner

corvette said:

Took the Prius to Discount Tire this morning for a balance and rotation--they did that for free even though the tires weren't bought there and I didn't buy lifetime B&R. They also found two bad TPMS sensors, so my wallet is about $125 lighter.

Also, the CEL came back on with the same P0420 code, so I ordered two bottles of Cataclean from Amazon, as @roadburner (and maybe others) have recommended. Much cheaper than a new cat!

I followed these directions:
Run your car until you have no more than a quarter of a tank left – approx 4 gallons
Pour in the whole bottle
Drive normally for at least 15 minutes
Refuel when you need to – suggest waiting until the low fuel light comes on

explorerx4

Doesn't the Prius have something like a 9 gallon fuel tank?

tjc78

@breld said:
On another note, regarding garage floor coatings, does anyone have experience on Epoxy vs. Polyurea?

I’ve received two quotes for coating the new garage floor, both from co-workers/friends who are very happy with their results. The place that boasts the benefits of Polyurea is significantly higher than the Epoxy. Both will be done professionally, meaning it’s commercial grade product and a thorough prepping of the surface.

Given my neighbor with the Epoxy is very happy with the results after a couple years, I’m leaning strongly to saving the money, but just figured I’d see if anyone has experience here.

Interested in this as well. I need something in my garage. The raw concrete floor isn’t working for me. I was thinking about doing the DIY Rustoleum kit.

benjaminh

corvette said:

Took the Prius to Discount Tire this morning for a balance and rotation--they did that for free even though the tires weren't bought there and I didn't buy lifetime B&R. They also found two bad TPMS sensors, so my wallet is about $125 lighter.

Also, the CEL came back on with the same P0420 code, so I ordered two bottles of Cataclean from Amazon, as @roadburner (and maybe others) have recommended. Much cheaper than a new cat!

Your Prius must be in really good shape now!

I think Toyota's hybrid system is better than Honda's. Alex on Autos has had some videos about this, and it's complicated but overall Toyota's system gets better mpgs. Ford's hybrid system, which is more like Toyota's, now seems to be really good too.

And it seems like the Prius often goes over 200,000 miles, and so like all Toyota's they are really built to last.

What year is yours again, and how many miles do you have on it?

stickguy

I would go with the epoxy if you trust the installer. Especially since you are not going to give it hard use (such as working on cars, dropping tools, spilling lots of fluids).

when I move, I plan to do something. Depending on condition (and price) either epoxy or racedeck tiles. That I can install myself.

corvette

explorerx4 said:

Doesn't the Prius have something like a 9 gallon fuel tank?

10.9 in my generation. It has the bladder fuel tank, though, so usable capacity seems to vary.

benjaminh said:

What year is yours again, and how many miles do you have on it?

It's a 2007 with 223,000 miles on it. I'm debating on taking it on a road trip to Charleston next week. The Tundra would be more comfortable overall.

Also, thanks for the instructions, @roadburner!

28firefighter

And the Outback is gone. Took about 90 mins start to finish. They were very pleasant about it.

greg128

mjfloyd1 said:

How were you able to listen to a 20018 vehicle’s sound system? Time travel? Is this a DeLorean rather than a Buick?

got me. In 20018 the music will probably be beamed directly into the driver's brain via advanced electromagnetic WIFI waves. No need for speakers.

explorerx4

A lot of people listen to talk radio or podcasts, so speaker quality maybe not as important.

jmonroe1

greg128 said:

mjfloyd1 said:

How were you able to listen to a 20018 vehicle’s sound system? Time travel? Is this a DeLorean rather than a Buick?

got me. In 20018 the music will probably be beamed directly into the driver's brain via advanced electromagnetic WIFI waves. No need for speakers.

There ain’t no fun in that.

jmonroe

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

And the Outback is gone. Took about 90 mins start to finish. They were very pleasant about it.

Congrats!!

stickguy

quite the good deal. Congrats.

corvette

Got the registration renewal for the Tundra in the mail. US Bank already paid the property tax, so I only owe $21 for the tag. Annoyingly, you can't renew the registration for a leased vehicle online.

breld

@tjc78 said:

@breld said:
On another note, regarding garage floor coatings, does anyone have experience on Epoxy vs. Polyurea?

I’ve received two quotes for coating the new garage floor, both from co-workers/friends who are very happy with their results. The place that boasts the benefits of Polyurea is significantly higher than the Epoxy. Both will be done professionally, meaning it’s commercial grade product and a thorough prepping of the surface.

Given my neighbor with the Epoxy is very happy with the results after a couple years, I’m leaning strongly to saving the money, but just figured I’d see if anyone has experience here.

Interested in this as well. I need something in my garage. The raw concrete floor isn’t working for me. I was thinking about doing the DIY Rustoleum kit.

I’ve done the DIY kits - they’re not bad at all, but within a year or two, there are spots that become worn.

28firefighter

Punch!!

28firefighter

Few minor issues for Tesla to resolve. Fog light cover has some condensation, one minor panel gap, and they forgot the mudflaps and PPF…not enough to reject delivery.

corvette

Nice Model 3 you have there!

tjc78

Congrats!

roadburner

Nice!

nyccarguy

@28firefighter - new car day! Big Mazel-Tov & congrats!

xwesx

qbrozen said:

Changed brake pads at all 4 corners on the van this morn. 2 hrs total, without a lift, jacking up one wheel at a time. Pads were $80. This is a job the dealer wanted $800 for.

Sounds like you had a better time of it than I did. I was planning to install two circulating block heaters (one on each Subaru) and replace the rear struts on my Q7.

However, since I had to design my own setup for the block heaters, I figured this might take more time than I anticipated. After your aforementioned two hours, I had pretty much got things squared away with the Forester, modified a few lines on it, and got the plumbing all buttoned up. I still needed to refill the coolant and test so, after the refill, I put it to work instead of just sitting there idling.

I ended up moving my trailer to a different location with the Forester while I was letting it warm up and working on burping any air bubbles from the system. That was fun, honestly, getting to move that trailer (still loaded mostly loaded, so probably around 5500#) with the little car. But, with those HD springs on it, it was really no problem at all. I definitely knew there was some weight on when I was trying to pull up a slope though.

After I sorted everything out, I was reaching up to close the hood and, of all things, my darn back spasmed on me. The rest of the day is just pain. I tried to get the Crosstrek ready for surgery, but, after I saw everything involved in getting the heater installed on it (same general solution as the Forester, but much more complicated due to differences in the FB20 engine), I decided it wasn't worth it today. We shall see how I feel tomorrow.

xwesx

Congrats on the car change-over, @28firefighter ! That's some solid wheelin' and dealin'!

Michaell

CarMax (via Edmunds) just offered $22K for our 2015 Outback 3.6R, with 45,000 miles on it.

Problem is, it's not a spare car, and replacing it would be quite expensive.

28firefighter

My wife tonight: “I’m never driving a gas car again.”

…that didn’t take long.

benjaminh

@28firefighter : Congrats! Looks like an awesome vehicle. Looking forward to more impressions.

benjaminh

Inside the Ford Maverick factory....

benjaminh

Getting access to the spare tire in the Maverick. The spare for our 1986 Mazda B2000 was in the same place, and getting it out was a similar process.

benjaminh

@stickguy : Iirc Ford has already given you a vin for your future Maverick build. Just for kicks, have you considered plugging the vin into the Edmunds or Carvana sites? But since it's new maybe they won't have values for it yet.

https://www.edmunds.com/sell-car/

benjaminh

A 12-minute video of a guy taking apart a 2004 Prius engine with c. 300,000 miles. The engine was still working, although burning some oil. Impressive.

stickguy

benjaminh said:

@stickguy : Iirc Ford has already given you a vin for your future Maverick build. Just for kicks, have you considered plugging the vin into the Edmunds or Carvana sites? But since it's new maybe they won't have values for it yet.

https://www.edmunds.com/sell-car/

Troublemaker! No, I had not thought of doing that. I assume they don't have data yet anyway. Plus the estimator tool only goes up through 2021 MY.

I was discussing this with the wife over dinner Friday. Unless I detest it, will probably buy it anyway considering the chances that more raw materials shortages can shut down production even worse. Banking on prices staying strong and if something pops up I really want in the spring (like an Integra) I can just trade it in. as long as I get about what I paid for it, with sales tax credit I pretty much would drive it for free!

qbrozen

@xwesx so what is in the trailer and what do you normally pull it with?

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

My wife tonight: “I’m never driving a gas car again.”

…that didn’t take long.

Congrats, again!!

stickguy

nice videos. I think the assembly process is fascinating. Just keeping track of everything to get the parts in the right place at the right time is impressive.

and that spare tire process is quite convoluted. Hopefully never have to do that on the side of the road.

benjaminh

A detailed Ford 2.0T Ecoboost teardown. As you know stickguy, this engine is similar to the one that will be in your Maverick. The engine came from a 2014 Ford Focus ST with 170,000 miles. The engine was apparently well maintained with regular oil changes, and it looks good inside. As he says there was almost no "malice in the combustion palace" (lol). Starting at 4:40 you can see that the top of one of the valves is dirty, but it's actually better than I expected for a direct-injected engine with those miles. This gives me hope that my wife and I might get similar results with our direct-injected engines. If we can get 170k out of our engines I'm good with that. The 2.0T in the video actually had lots of life left in it according to the guy doing the video.

The Ecoboost 2.0T has gotten some upgrades starting in 2015. According to wikipedia....

"A redesigned 2.0 L EcoBoost four-cylinder was introduced with the second-generation Ford Edge, followed by the 2017 Ford Escape in spring 2016.[49] It features a higher compression ratio than its predecessor (10.1:1 vs 9.3:1) along with twin-scroll turbocharger and fuel and oil systems upgrades.[50] This new engine will deliver more low-end torque than its predecessor...."

carnaught

@28firefighter, congrats on the new Tesla. Wish you many safe miles!

dad23

Yep, congrats @28firefighter, enjoy!

Sandman6472

28, how are y'all charging the new Tesla? Did y'all retrofit your house so the garage plug will charge it or it it just being charged with the regular plug in the wall? Guessing the time needed to get back up to full capacity will vary depending on how it's being charged at home. We did talk about getting one the other night and the subject of retrofitting the garage power plug came up. Depending on how long the charging takes could be an issue. Since I don't drive more than 40 miles/week, I'd have no problem as I could just plug it in to a regular socket a few nights each week and be pretty much full most of the time. I did mention that if we did go EV, we'd still need one vehicle that uses gas for those longer trips and times that the power might go out. It is the future I get that but, still a few issues that need to be worked out before most average folks like myself will fully commit to one.
Am just not at the point where I need to have an EV though I do enjoy driving them every so often at work.

28firefighter

We have an L2 in our garage and it comes with an adapter.

Sandman6472

"L2"? Not sure what that means to be honest. But am sure there must be a Wawa or other place near that has free charging.

fintail

Now that I have a house with a ~600 sq ft car hole, I wonder if I will be tempted to get on the EV bandwagon.

Got an offer from Carvana on the wagon last night, just for kicks - just a fancy dinner shy of 58K. Residual is 45K.