Red Ring Tupperware Party, Autumnal Equinoctal Edition (24)

JWright wrote in post #17441200
I'm learning of the pitfalls of buying high-mileage older vehicles. My 1998 Dodge Dakota needs a complete front end rebuild and my wife's 2004 Suzuki (never gonna buy one of these again) XL-7 is currently in the shop getting the rear axle seals replaced (for the second time) and the rear brakes completely redone because of the oil leakage.

Rebuilding the front end of a Dodge truck is common. I don't know much about the Suzuki's. Whether you buy new or old, research needs to be done. Some vehicles completely fall apart when they get older, others simply won't die. My truck has 319k kms on it and has all the original front end components. GM's are good for that, Ford's are horrible.

LV Moose wrote in post #17441209
Nothing but new cars for us. I don't feel like dealing with previous owners' leftover problems. And I like that new car smell. Hondas and Toyotas only.

That new car smell is a toxic soup of glue, carpet, plastic, and other fumes.

Spend a summer working at a dealership detailing cars. Every car you get in has been closed up and baking in the hot sun, you can barely breathe from the overwhelming fumes.

That new car smell makes me sick.

I sold my Audi A8, bought a Subaru and I am very happy with it. Yea it's not as luxurious or fast but heck of a lot cheaper to repair and maintain than the A8.

I have to do a timing belt on my 2004 Sienna as it has 205k and the first was replaced at 95k. Contemplating just bringing it to a shop to do. But it would be much cheaper doing it myself.

I like Subaru's well enough. They have their downfalls and the old ones are ugly, but they have some good stuff going for them. Wish I could have stayed longer at the Subaru dealership. Power steering racks, exhaust clamps, and head gaskets seemed to be weak spots. And not keeping the brakes serviced would lead to all kinds of problems.
I worked there during the winter and I loved test driving. It was really nice to drive cars that had traction in snow.

I would love to have an STi hatchback. Stick shift, turbo, Brembo brakes, with the sports seats. I would have a lot of speeding tickets.

Jill-of-all-Trades wrote in post #17441219
Rebuilding the front end of a Dodge truck is common. I don't know much about the Suzuki's. Whether you buy new or old, research needs to be done. Some vehicles completely fall apart when they get older, others simply won't die. My truck has 319k kms on it and has all the original front end components. GM's are good for that, Ford's are horrible.

I was not terribly surprised that the truck needs front end work, considering the mileage. I'm pissed that the Suzuki needs rear axle seals again as we had them done shortly after we bought the car. When it's finally paid off later this year, we're going to see about buying a new car. We need something with some hauling capacity as Heather has to haul merchandise and supplies out to the gift shop at the railroad museum periodically.

What do you know about the Ford Transit Connect? I looked at an SUV version of it at the air show last October and she's driven them at work and seems to like them.

JWright wrote in post #17441283
I was not terribly surprised that the truck needs front end work, considering the mileage. I'm pissed that the Suzuki needs rear axle seals again as we had them done shortly after we bought the car. When it's finally paid off later this year, we're going to see about buying a new car. We need something with some hauling capacity as Heather has to haul merchandise and supplies out to the gift shop at the railroad museum periodically.

What do you know about the Ford Transit Connect? I looked at an SUV version of it at the air show last October and she's driven them at work and seems to like them.

I didn't work on them much, because they were so new, but they seem to be pretty decent. For a new vehicle there were very few service bulletins and recalls, which is always a good sign. They do hold a whole lot of stuff without being a very big, heavy vehicle.

Axle seals can be a tricky thing to fix. Any slight nick in them and they leak. I had some pretty tricky ones to fix that I was always nervous about whether they would seal. It's no fun that the brakes got contaminated.

LV Moose wrote in post #17439363
I wonder how the folks in the south are feeling about "global warming". On the news this morning they were saying some places down there are 45 degrees (F) below normal temps, and parts of Georgia and Tennessee were colder than Anchorage, Alaska.

We've been colder than anywhere in Alaska for the past two days. This crap can move out any time.

Traci_Ann wrote in post #17441229
I sold my Audi A8, bought a Subaru and I am very happy with it. Yea it's not as luxurious or fast but heck of a lot cheaper to repair and maintain than the A8.

We see a lot of Subaru's around here, and I've considered them, but I keep wondering about the CV transmissions. How well do they hold up?

LV Moose wrote in post #17441194
These are for you poor people back east. Springs coming

Took these about an hour ago.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/qkp3​B5 DW0A0133_1024X by mistermooster, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/qkp3​CN DW0A0128_1024X by mistermooster, on Flickr

Great shots, Mr. Moose! I've been trying to get some shot of a humming bird by my house, and I'm really appreciative of how difficult it is to take a great shot like these two.

solepatch wrote in post #17439483
Eggs always get thrown in too around here when people are panic shopping so I always assumed that everyone just wanted to eat french toast when they were stuck at home.

Bread, milk and toilet paper are the first things wiped (lol) out here. I guess eating bread and milk gives you the trots.

Greg_C wrote in post #17440210
Almost hitting 100mm rain today at 4:30 pm.

Heading for flooding like you had a couple years ago?

Timphoto wrote in post #17441344
We see a lot of Subaru's around here, and I've considered them, but I keep wondering about the CV transmissions. How well do they hold up?

You don't have to get the CVT. They were new enough when I was there to not have any problems. Volvo has been using them for years. Ford borrowed Volvo's transmission and they weren't as good for some reason. Not horrible, just not as bullet proof as they were in the Volvo's. I don't like the way they feel, so I personally would never buy one.

Woolburr wrote in post #17441345
Bread, milk and toilet paper are the first things wiped (lol) out here. I guess eating bread and milk gives you the trots.

Gotta have the TP. Life gets rather messy without it.

Woolburr wrote in post #17441350
Heading for flooding like you had a couple years ago?

Probably not, downgraded to a tropical low now and it is almost right on top of us. Just heavy rain that will continue for a few hours. We are below yesterday's totals so will be lucky to get 200mm in total from it.

It ended up a Cat 5 as it crossed the coast and destroyed about 400 homes. 60K without power, but we don't look after that area. We'll probably send crews to help the restoration though.


Great Hummers Moose.

Track grinder is working out in front of the house at 1 am.