Questions that don't deserve their own thread / QTDDTOT

t-this is just a meme r-right

Without any details on the driver, do you think it would be cheaper to insure a 2009 WRX sedan or a 2013 FR-S?

Probably the FR-S right?

not for model years before 2008

2008-2009 is when mazda changed the steel they used but I don't have a source on this, my dealer may have just been bullshitting when I was buying a 2009 (it still had rust underneath because salt, but that's every car).

i dont really 'love' my car because of rust so I'll definitely buy a brand new one in a few years.

No. It's got the eurocuck engine. Just get a twingo.

probably the WRX because AWD sedan if you're in a snow area

also depends on how many people drive either car. Corollas and Civics have the highest insurance in my area over sportier cars.

They handle really well. They rust just as well if your in a salty ball state.

>meme reply
is the twingo meme funny enough to make you waste time of your life write it

i live in albania idk if its one of the states u speak of

It's not a joke. It's a good car for 500 bucks.

What car is this?
instagram.com/p/BRsGNslhxOK/

My car is a shitty 01 Buick Century and I have to stand on the pedal to even accelerate to like 40. One time I saw this video of a guy knocking on an engine's fuel injectors to supposedly "clear the blockage." I was about to just buy new injectors but if Veeky Forums can attest to such a method then I'll do that instead.

Does it "lug" like the engine is misfiring to get up to speed? Or does it feel like you have a tiny engine in a car that just weighs too much? I'd do a full maintenance tune up. Cars lose power over time due to use or misuse. Valve adjustment, new spark plugs, oil change, timing chain/belt replacement, clean the maf, clean the throttle body out, replace the air filter. I'm certain you'll only see a difference with the timing or valve adjustment, but all the little other things add up you know?

We have 2 Škodas at home. One is '98 Felicia 1.4 50kW and the other is '00 Fabia 1.4 50kW.
There's been an issue with the Fabia for as long as I can remember in that it accelerates like shit (I know it's only 50kW but the older Felicia is much better).
The gas pedal feels like it has 90% effect in first 20% travel and after that it does nothing.
It's really difficult to get up the small incline from our garage to the main road because the car almost stalls unless you rev the shit out of it and burn the clutch.
Could this be mechanical or do you think it's got to do with the ECU (when the car was still in warranty the whole electrical system was replaced by the dealer due to a massive failure)?

why not.
it's a ferd btw.

Most of what I said here applies to you as well. Fix the car first then look into the ecu. You might also need a new throttle cable if it's that useless after moving the pedal 20%. Get a multimeter and start testing the electrical systems on the car to see if the voltage is where it should be. Alternator, idle control valve etc.

Should I buy an RX-8? Memes aside, does anyone have any actual experience with one. It wouldn't be a daily just a fun weekend car

I found a very cheap car and I need some advice on whether or not it seems like a decent buy.

Thank you for your time.

I only needed to read
>1987
>ultra poorfag

Don't buy, you will drown in repair costs. That car looks literally like a heap. 350$ may seem cheap to buy and it might run for a week, but I suspect something like that is just priced to make someone else pick it up and get rid of it. Most cars sell for 500$ scrap value. Bring your budget up to 2k and get something reliable from late 90's or early 2000's. Like a simple civic.

I have a 08 Chevy Silverado
Yeah ha ha ha make fun of me for being retarded

I drive my truck and it runs fine. During the winter, or anytime the weather is cool my engine guage will stop working and my truck will register that the engine is heating up and won't allow the A/C to come on. When it first happened I pulled over and missed all my classes that day because I kept looking for the problem worried as shit about my truck so I got towed home. Start my truck up the next day to see if I could move it to a shop and as soon as I turn it on the truck told me it turned off the A/C because the engine was hot and again the guage was not working, as in it rest all the way to the left. I then realized something was fucky.
I took a risk, said fuck it and drove it. I ran it hard and nothing happened, checked the engine and it was fine.
Fast forward to the following summer, I'm driving down the freeway when out of fucking nowhere my A/C starts blasting cold ass air and the guage starts reading again.
This has happened two years in a row now, does anyone know what it could be? I changed the temperature sensor on the engine and that didn't help. My next guess is faulty cables or bad connections. Has anyone heard of something like this happening before?

Have you tried replacing your thermostat? So what it seems like you're saying is that in cool weather, the truck thinks it's overheating and disables the a/c? What do you mean your gauge stopped working? like it sits at the bottom or just never moves ever anymore? How have you lived with this for two years and never fixed it? Check the voltage to the temp sensor, look up online and it should have a voltage reading that you can compare to the water temp reading on your code scanner. Check all the fuses and relays related to the a/c compressor.

just read this on a gmc forum:
>If your thermostat is bad, the engine will never warm up, and that can make it look like the gage is bad

So i'd check the thermostat first.

>Have you tried replacing your thermostat?
I have not but will definitely do this
>So what it seems like you're saying is that in cool weather, the truck thinks it's overheating and disables the a/c?
Yeah, it says the engine is getting hot and that it has disabled the A/C
>What do you mean your gauge stopped working? like it sits at the bottom or just never moves ever anymore?
Yup that's exactly what happens, everything turns on but the guage rest like if it the truck wasn't even on
>How have you lived with this for two years and never fixed it?
The broke ass student life, friend. I know it's irresponsible but after I realized it wasn't affecting performance besides my A/C being disabled during the winter I said "fuck it". I came up on some money and want to fix it now.
>just read this on a gmc forum:
>If your thermostat is bad, the engine will never warm up, and that can make it look like the gage is bad So i'd check the thermostat first.
Your googlefu is obviously better than mime as I tried looking it up first and found jackshit. Thanks for the friend, I'll try this tomorrow.

I wouldn't want my eyes to look at any of the cancer posted on instacuck but all you had to do is read the status it said it right there. You owe me 5 trillion internet points but is a mazda cosmo fgt

Just another backup to my theory of the thermostat:
youtube.com/watch?v=w5vbWYbcecg

Literally your exact problem in a video.

> gutless 3.1 or 3.4l

May be working as intended unless you've seen it any better. I had a 98 cutlass with the 3.1 and it was gutless as hell

Holy shit dude
I get those lights on the A/C control too! Fucking thanks man! Didn't think it was relevant but this is literally what happens to me.
May your car(s) run silky smooth eternal

houston.craigslist.org/cto/6117115871.html
As a second car for fun. Yes ?

idk senpai, that picture of the trunk and the fucked up bottom of the front bumper makes me question what kind of life the car had. The new top is nice, you'd have to check the car out yourself and maybe run a carfax.

Yea...seems sketch. Oh well.

Can you transfer auto policies across vehicles? Paid the whole 6 months in advance, and then it got hit while parked not even 2 weeks later. Their insurance wrote it off as a total loss, and gave me a decent bit more if i didnt keep the car. Going from a 92 firebird to an 07 fit, and somehow its over double what the FB's policy was, and i dont see anything saying what i paid will transfer. Im not paying another 1.7k on top of the 600 i already paid for the first policy. Called the company but they wont do anything without the vin, and i dont have that on me atm

You will receive a check in the mail for the prorated amount of what was left in premium.

T. I write software for the insurance industry

/a/non here. I have a question about car maintenance. Hope you br/o/s can help out.
I'm getting conflicting word on how often I should have my car maintained. I only bring it into the shop if I notice or think something is wrong.
Do I have to get the car checked out on a seasonal basis, yearly, at a certain mileage, or just keep up what I do and bring it in if I think there's an issue?
I'm buying a newer used car soon but want to take better care of it than my shitbox right now.

Get a cheap OBD reader and check what your fuel trims are at. also just install a new fuel & air filter and see if that helps.

Knocking on the injectors can only fix blockages after the injector's filter. And if you got a blockage after the filter just clean the injectors or just get refurbished ones.

Yeah like the software guy said they should cancel the policy and prorate the premium. Just call them up and request it.

Im taking my 2002 rwd Ranger to the mechanic tommorow because of a vibration im getting at around 80km/hr (approx 50mph)
The droning is felt in my shift stick for the most part... it particularily bad when coasting in neutral, but after around 100km/hr is settles down

Balance?
Ujoints?
Allignment?7

My girlfriend is coming from overseas and will have difficulty getting a proper job.

Thoughts on buying a car for her to be an uber driver?
Should she try to do Uber Black rather than UberX if the overall idea is good?

Regular maintenance, like an oil change should be done on a mileage basis (5000mi for most cars).

Spark plugs, accessory belts, tires, trans or coolant changes should be done around 60,000 mi. Some people will argue with me on these number, but they're just a rough ballpark.

Long term maintenance is like your timing belt/chain, valve adjustment, flushes etc. Those only need to be done once every 100,000mi.

Like most of us, except the under the hood autists, only start working on a car when we percieve a part failure or obviously something has gone wrong (randomly overheating, clunking coming from suspension, ticking noise from the valves etc). You sound like a decent owner, at least you don't run a broken car for an extended period of time. Just keep doing what you're doing, maybe learn how to diagnose and fix problems yourself.

Should I get an evo as my first car

>You sound like a decent owner
I try. I check the oil every now-and-then and change it at around 6000mi. I've had battery/alternator issues a few months back and the workers were nice enough to check my trans as well, so I'm not worrying about those right now.
>Spark plugs
I keep forgetting about these things.

Otherwise, I take relatively good care of the car. It's a 2004 Ford Focus. Thankfully not the wagon/hatchback. I'm surprised it's still alive for a Ford but it's getting old now, so I'm not as fast to fix issues. Hoping to be a lot more car-smart with the newer car soon though. I'll keep on doing what I'm doing and improve on some things. Thanks for the help.

2000-2005 Buick LeSabre.

Where's the best place to get project cars? Craigslist? I would think a junk yard, but I'd assume most of the cars there have a salvage/no title or you aren't allowed to buy a car from there.

How do you find a cheap cargo van in the US that isn't 5 mpg 200,000+ miles and rusty

How likely am I to shit out my transmission by changing its oil? It's got 130k and I'm not sure if the person I bought it from ever did it. Also why the fuck does no one ever pay attention to this if it's the second most important part of the car behind the engine

Thanks man. The car is due for chain pulley and water pump replacement anyway so I'll wait until after that's done.

Unfortunately today another issue came to be. A 2 month old battery died all of a sudden. When I recharged it for 2 hours it was back to full and I tested if the alternator worked. The battery itself was at 12.3V and when alternator kicked in it charged at 14.6V (seems normal to me).
Where do I check the voltages? Fuse box, steering column,...?

How much are Nardi steering wheels generally?

2006/7 xr4 or 2006-10 suzuki swift sport?

I got a used one off of eBay for like $130

new they can get up to $300ish

Personal is cheaper, Nardi's "budget" brand. And still pretty damn good

Everybody learns manual in Europe (picture's prices are in €).
You have to be a real sperg and go out of your way and ask for passing an automatic only (in the sense that you're not allowed to drive a manual) driver's license.
Most driving schools might not even have the cars with an automatic transmission to provide you with.

What's the proper order to detail a car?

Top down, windows to floors

am I stupid for wanting to get one of these?
would one be a decent dd? are they reliable enough to take on 8 hours cross state drives a few times are year without breaking down?

seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/6117758818.html

same guy, does this seem good?

how the fuck has that not rusted out completely
yeah, preludes are underrated, and finding a clean 4th gen manual is rare

Whats the best place to look for a cheap, but still decent floor jack, preferably used. I have the money to buy a brand new one, but I don't want to. What are some places like craiglist I could look at?

Garage sales around town. Unless free shipping is offered don't order one online, they're heavy as hell. Personally I would just get a new one at harbor freight for $150

Where to get your exterior mods in Europe, front spoilers etc?
Similar to mstyle.co.uk and schmiedmann.com.

Should I order new wipers? They streak badly if it starts raining and it's been dry all day, but if I turn them on when it's been raining all day, they don't streak a bit.

After some time and use the paint that's on the wiper washes off and a yellow warning triangle will appear. This signals that it's time to change

Riddle me this...

How are brake pads pulled back from the surface of the rotor when you let off the brake pedal?

I had something similar in my Corsa a while ago.

The main issue was the drive shaft was worn out and was knocking about. Ball joint was also fucked as well but mechanics replaced that first and it wasn't much better and still had vibrations in the stick. They did the shaft the next day and was perfect after that.

Essentially this seal pulls it back a very, very short distance after you release the pedal.
Because of how the pressure and fluid in the brake system works the piston won't retract to back all the way in, meaning that you won't feel the pedal going soft through the duration of the pads lifespan, unless you start running low on fluid, get air in the system or when the pad is starting to get worn out

Shit I always thought the force of the rotors moving shoved the pads away if nothing was applying force towards them.

The 3 ton HF is $80 right now. I've had one for over five years and it still works great.

The trans while important, isn't subject to the heat and vibration like the engine is. All the shafts are tightly held in place. Generally all you'll ever need to do to it is flush the trans every 100k mi or so. Trans fluid also don't really get hot enough to build oil deposits like an engine, you shouldn't hurt your car if you flush it.

No, bigger rims don't necessarily make the outer circumference of your tire larger.
If the question is: do larger tires last longer, I would guess that they do.

She will get proper rape

The problem with a system like that would be that you'd get the pistons pushed back in unevenly, and thus they'd apply unevenly as you started to brake before they settled in.

You'd also see a lot more wear on the brakes and rotors if they had to be pushed back in, as that would mean having to push the piston, and thereby the fluid on both/all four calipers and thereby requiring a bit of force.

Also; as the seal prevents the piston from retracting back in you'd might even have the piston go aaaall the way back into the caliper, which basically means you'd have a brake pedal as soft as room-temperature butter, and little to no braking power

I usually check the voltage at the part/sensor. If I'm not reading what I think I should be reading I start moving backwards (follow the red wire) until I find where the voltage is fine. Say, if the leaving voltage of the part is out of spec, but the entry voltage reads 12v for instance, you can guess that the part is bad. Thats not to say something like a idle air control valve is fine electrically, but broken mechanically. Don't forget that something thats new doesn't mean that it can't come from the factory broken. But if it can hold a full charge and full voltage for any real period of time, or even if you just idle your car in the driveway for 15 min, the battery should stay the same. Also keep an eye on that alternator. Those two electrical parts should have constant voltage, not jumping around up and down.

>fun weekend car
They aren't fun though user. They're underpowered and have meh handling. They also break a lot. Get an S2K or an 86GT or a Miata.

>1.7k insurance for a Fit

What the fuck. I have full coverage and comprehensive on four vehicles and a million dollar liabilty limit on each one for about $1500 a year.

I would watch the weather and wait until the day before its supposed to rain, then go buy some. Where I live, socal, I made the mistake of waiting until early march to finally buy wipers and it's only rained once since then. Supposedly it's supposed to rain sunday and monday. But I really should have bought wipers at the start of the rainy season. I can live through streaky wipers once every few months until the next rainy season.

so I was driving in a hurry, and both me and this one dude in a 00s accord tapped each other on an intersection. We both ran stop signs, but when i pointed to his stop sign, he forgot that I did so as well, and just flew out of there in panic.

Now what im confused is that despite the both of us tapping each others front, he actually got his bumper damaged, while my turn signal got slightly pushed inwards, with no actual damage to my car.

I stopped on the side, looked at the none existent damage, noticed he didn't stop as well and bailed. I think he left thinking my shitbox miata was worth alot more than he thought it was

if he decides to try shit, should I be worried? I could just prove that nothing ever happened, since my car is perfectly fine. I was honestly going to pay the guy for damages, but he left in such a hurry

First car was a m3 2.5l, no regrets. Fun econobox.

Questions:

NA8 Miata head gasket blew towards the front. Will this socket set allow me to open everything I need to? There are actually no detailed DIY guides for Miata head gaskets surprisingly.

harborfreight.com/64-pc-14-in-38-in-12-in-drive-sae-metric-socket-set-67995.html

I also plan on getting a couple torque wrenches to put everything back together. I'm opting for Harbor Freight so I can just replace whatever breaks.

Opinions?

They're also 3 years old. I don't remember 2014 being wet and I know 2015 was fucking dry.

Thanks user, I think I will just change out half to be safe

Now I'm sure there's some insurance guys in here, but I'd make a note with your insurance company, but don't admit fault. I'm not sure if it's safe to make a note with insurance without making a claim without having your bill go up. And if you really want to cover your ass, file a police report. Just so there's something on the books, the guy who calls in second will always look more suspicious.

Looks like a decent set, you will possibly need a breaker bar to get the head bolts off. Maybe a 8-12" 3/8 socket extension. Radiator to timing belt to intake and valve cover to cams to the head bolts. If you have all the tools, It shouldn't take you more than a day or two. Don't forget to put that copper anti seize shit on your head bolts. Whoever does the next head job will thank you.

Thank you. It's been tough trying to find answers for my situation. I made a big post in the Miata general and I'm hopeful for more advice. I plan on picking up tools tomorrow morning and pretty much working through the weekend trying to figure out what my next step should be.

I'm between getting the head off, sending it to be machined, and putting it back on with new gaskets, all the while risking having a non-working car on a city street. Or I could buy a refurbished head and drop it on the block with new gaskets and ideally have the car working just fine after a long Saturday's worth of work. Would be a little more expensive but it would be much easier than trying to clean the entire head assembly myself and probably cheaper than having a shop clean the possibly damaged one.

Any thoughts / opinions are appreciated.

My car is Japanese and still has the Japanese radio that someone installed in it, so it doesn't go any higher than 90Hz

Is it possible to listen to another country's radio stations, like Japan's for example, instead of the stations in my country?

Thanks for the answer. I'll start measuring the battery and alternator daily to see if there's any irregularities and I'll go through the engine bay tomorrow. I hope my hobby multimeter is good enough.

>Is it possible to listen to another country's radio stations, like Japan's for example, instead of the stations in my country?

no..... at least not FM.

Hey Veeky Forums, what's the most reliable 'prestige' car from 10 years ago, that hasn't aged like shit? Either big or small sedans. I'm learning towards an IS250.

toyota avalon

So, a few days ago I accidentally spun out after accelerating a little too fast over a patch of water on the road. The car went over the curb and landed on some grass.

Is there anything I should be worried about? Maybe it's just me and I'm being a little paranoid, but on the same day of the accident whenever I accelerated just a bit the car revved to 2-2.5k RPMs and I feel like it didn't go that high before. And also I feel slightly more vibration on the accelerator than I normally do. It's a very small amount, but it feels like it wasn't there before.

There's more at play here than just contact patches. The answer to your question comes down to how you drive and treat your tires, not how much tire you have. Hope this helps.

Why is my new car's manual transmission so whinny in 1st and 2nd gears?

Plenty of things can end up bent or broken if you hit a curb with any speed. If you're asking this question then you should be getting someone who knows what they're doing to check your suspension and wheels.

Unlikely to have affected your accelerator since most are cable activated or electronic and it won't have been in harms way in a crash like that. Probably just in your head. Shaking in the pedal is also probably in your head but could also be caused by feedback through bent suspension components that are particularly noticeable through the pedal because they are moving parts mounted with a small amount of play and not solid steel.

Redpill me on the W211 E Class Facelift version.

Also, women's car general ? My gf has some money saved and wants to buy herself a car, she's a make-up artist that travels alot in the city, so it ought to be a petrol hatchback.
So far it's a battle between the Fiesta, the Clio, the Hyundai i30, Toyota Auris and Mazda 3

no fault state, so insurance is out of the question. plus he never saw my license plate. I'm going to remove my way stickers, and sell my wheels just in case

What does the right sign mean?

Tell her to buy a Twingo and shut the fuck up