Hyundai's are shitty, shitty cars. I don't care how "good a deal" it is, just pass that sucker up. Fuckin' hyundai. Thorn in my side.
No, they stopped production in 2008, but what does that matter? I'm talking about used cars anyway. We bought it as an investment from a military person who had to leave the island soon. Got a ~$6000 car for 1650. If you like driving clown cars that feel like they may explode into a million pieces at any time, this is the car for you.
I know a girl who just bought a new Sonata. It's a top-of-the-line car. It even has navigation. I thought that was cool-she got herself her first brand new car, and it was probably a good deal. Right? ...then I found out that sumbitch cost THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS. For a HYUNDAI. That's more expensive than my wife's 2010 Honda Accord EX-L (leather seats, sunroof, etc., but still has a 4-cylinder), which we bought new. Now, I've never owned a Hyundai myself, but for that kind of money, why wouldn't you just go for the Honda or Toyota? Ten years from now, I'm pretty sure my Honda will have a higher resale value than a damn Hyundai of the same age.
I've discovered a circle of hell previously unknown to me. Have you ever tried to chase down warning lights and bells in a Saab? In a 100 degree garage? Jesus. These things have more interconnected sensors that can trip indiscriminate codes and leave you wanting to kill someone trying to figure out "What the fuck?" The speedo gets it's signal from the ABS. The boost gauge from the ECU. Every damn gauge gets its info from a different and unrelated system, but if one goes down they all sympathetically go ape shit, just because fuck you. I'm about to declare my own personal holy war on Sweden for building this thing. If the damn thing wasn't such a kick in the ass to drive I would've shot it by now.
Survey question: how long would you wait before putting a coat of wax on a new car? I know that, back in the day, you wanted to wait at least a few months for the paint to fully cure. But with a new car (2012 Toyota Tacoma), shouldn't I be OK to go ahead and wax it? Also, what would you guys suggest for wax? I like Zymol, but I wanted to get everybody's opinions.
I tend to like synthetic glaze over the traditional wax. Best I have found is Klasse products. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/Klasse-High-Gloss-Sealant-Glaze/dp/B0002LBKFQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.amazon.com/Klasse-High-Gloss ... B0002LBKFQ</a> EDIT: And you can wax your new ride, the paint is cured at the factory with ovens and infrared lights.
Meguiars NXT 2.0 wax. It is synthetic also, i love synthetic waxes. I also put it on with a nice random orbital buffing pad. And yes you can wax right away.
Detailedimage.com My go to detailing website. They have a blog that lots of pro detailers contribute to about products, techniques, full car details, etc. I recommend it to anyone looking for exterior car care advice.
Since buying my Saab I've discovered a whole automotive sub-culture previously unknown to me. That would be Saab owners. There are some seriously bad ass Saabs roaming our streets looking all docile and shit, when in reality they are anything but. I always thought they were a bit odd looking, but kind of cool in their own way and when I'd see one with a turbo badge I'd think "Isn't that cute? The little 2.0 liter has a turbo." Then I drove one and realized that even stock they made some decent power....not a lot, but way more then I expected. According to zeroto60times.com it ran 0-60 the same as a '96 Mustang GT and a tick faster in the 1/4 (15.0 sec.) Once I had mine I began looking into potential, and Holy Shit! Saab built these engines stronger then shit. Slap on a bigger turbo, upgrade the factory intercooler and injectors, a header and exhaust, and a remapping of the ECU and you're running low 12's. With bone stock internals. We're talking maybe $3K in upgrades if you do the work yourself and they're all bolt on. I'm not talking high dollar, fully tricked out cars. These are street driven, box stock appearing, 4 door sleepers with every creature comfort known to man. I'm really starting to dig this car. Sleepers are fun.
I'm in the Saab world, too. I think it's a self-deprecating interest. I've got a 93 9000 for whatever reason (killer deal), and a 2001 9-3 Viggen. The Viggen is by far the most fun car I've owned, it's fast and with some upgrades handles very, very well. Too bad it's been plagued with odd throttle body problems and shoots codes almost daily now (OBD II in the glove box for the win). toytoy, what do you have? Check out genuinesaab.com if you haven't already. Get the 22mm rear sway bar, and steering rack brace. These are things that should have been stock. The steering rack brace almost completely eliminated torque steer on the Viggen.
Bought a tan Chevy Silverado a few months back and while its a nice truck and fully loaded I can't get it out of my head that it reminds me of something a Grandfather would drive. Plans were to add a few things to make it less old person looking. So far I've added a cold air intake (exhaust was already on it) next up is probably some sort of a billet grill, color matched mirrors and a mild lift. Then I saw these on Best Buy's Deal of the Day and couldn't pass them up Spoiler $39 each 12" Pioneer Championship series. Going to get one of those prefab speakers for under the rear seat and I'll have a whole set up on the super cheap
There is a small dealership I pass on my commute that sells used high-end imports, Hummers, etc. I went to their website during lunch to see what his inventory was like and found 2007 BMW 750 iL, 59k miles, one previous owner. The site had 65 photos posted and this car looked immaculate. White on tan and the leather seats looked as though they were never sat on. Price: $34k. Fuck me. That's what I paid for my Titan--a far less equipped Titan. I see a shift in car buying strategy when it's time to replace the truck.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I wouldn't buy any luxury brand unless I could afford a brand new one, and afford to have it maintained by the dealer after buying the car. Otherwise, I can't afford the car. I have a friend who writes service for BMW. He once told me a story about a guy getting mad about his '95 7-series costing ~$500 to replace the battery because of the car's age. My friend just said, "it was an expensive car then, and it's an expensive car now." Besides that, I'm way too particular about my cars to trust anyone's used car. I just downgraded trucks so I could get a new one with a warranty and a better interest rate, plus I know each and every mile that has been put on that truck. My new truck has also never had cigarettes, dogs, kids, etc, etc in it. Yes, I'm anal like that, thankyouverymuch.
I dunno. I once bought a Caddy STS used and had a good experience with it (with the exception that I couldn't get it up my driveway in NH in the snow, but that was the case with any vehicle not equipped with either AWL or 4WD). $90k+ for a new car that's going to take a big depreciation hit in the first 2 years is a little hard to swallow.
We're having issues with our 2005 Honda Civic and I was wondering if any of you lovely idiots could offer me some insight. In February it started doing this thing where you could turn the key and it would make a click noise but not start, and you'd have to keep turning the key til it roared on. Then it died about a week ago. We have a neighbor who does part time mechanic work on the side and he replaced the ignition switch, which got it to start but do the original click thing, but said the starter also needed to be replaced because our starter is faulty and that faulty part caused us to burn out the switch. Long story short, he actually originally put in a starter but put the old one back because we originally thought it was only the starter that was burned out, but that didn't fix it.... so el husband learned how to install that part. El husband and his friend who knows about cars installed the new starter on Sunday and it turned on perfectly. No delay...just turn the key and we're in business. Problem: Monday comes along and he tries to leave for work. The car will not start. It makes that sound like it is cranking on... EeeEeeEeeEee but it just does it the entire time you're turning the key instead doing it for a split second before the engine roars on. Help?
Clicking or cranking? Clicking usually means its not getting enough voltage to kick the starter. It'll be a pretty fast clickclickclickclick where as the cranking noise is the noise it'd make if it was out of gas or ignition (spark not the key) If its engaging the starter and turning (cranking) the motor over but not starting it could be something ignition related. Assuming you're not out of gas. Could be a bad coil(s), spark plugs (doubtful) or something other electronic gizmo. When it did start was the Check Engine Light on?
Does anyone remember these car air fresheners? In Australia they stopped selling them in the mid 90's.