Gearhead Thread

Rome · December 05, 2019, 08:08:35 PM

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/cannonball-run-drive-new-record

Incredible.

Tomahawk · December 28, 2019, 05:34:19 PM

Some smoke was egressing from the valve cover breather so I did a compression test. The 5 & 7 cylinders were low, but since the compression didn't go up on the wet test, I was hoping it was the head gasket that failed. It was not.

PhillyPhreak54 · December 29, 2019, 11:56:36 AM

Ooooh no bueno!

Diomedes · December 29, 2019, 03:33:36 PM

You don't like fire in your crankcase?

Tomahawk · December 30, 2019, 09:57:22 PM

I mean I do like explosions but can't live with the loss of power

Diomedes · December 31, 2019, 05:12:35 AM

Looks like you'll be having no power at all for a while. A good opportunity to do some other upgrades/maintenance while you have it torn down.

Tomahawk · December 31, 2019, 02:09:50 PM

It's yet another lesson learned in cost versus value. Forged pistons would have likely been able to withstand the detonation events, but at the time $340 for cast pistons was much more appealing than $600.

This is an opportunity to rectify that mistake, upgrade to forged rods, and install a more aggressive camshaft that's better suited to the aluminum heads that flow about 100 cfm more than the iron heads that I had to keep on it when I rebuilt the engine 10ish years ago.

It's also a chance to correct something I've regretted for 10ish years. About three months after putting the rebuilt engine in, I learned about the importance of optimizing quench distance to more efficiently burn the air/fuel mixture and reduce the chance of detonation.

Diomedes · December 31, 2019, 03:00:14 PM

Does the car have a name?

I propose Shiva if not.

Tomahawk · December 31, 2019, 05:27:55 PM

I call it Carcharodon, but it does have a bobblehead buddha on the dash

Munson · May 10, 2020, 04:22:48 PM

Probably gonna get a "new" (used) car soon since my wife's car is up over 100k and we need a bigger car with storage space and a roof rack. Some good options at our local Subaru dealership right now, and I feel like I could maybe negotiate the price down on the Outback were eyeing up with the pandemic going on and car sales probably not being where they usually are.

However, neither of us ever had to finance a car before. All of my cars have been cash bought used cars or inherited from older or deceased family members. Her car was bought and financed originally by her parents, we gave them KBB cash value for it when she moved down here.

She has excellent credit and credit score. Is it better to finance through a bank or the dealership? I've read interest rates from banks tend to be lower but wasn't sure.

Diomedes · May 10, 2020, 06:49:19 PM

Last two times we bought cars on a note, it was better to do both. That is, by financing through dealer, we got a payment off, or doing so was a requirement to qualify for a $2,000 rebate, or whatever. God I hate that shtein. Contracts required we make certain number of payments on the loan before paying it off...so whatever that period was, we paid, and then moved the debt to our credit union at a much better rate. You gotta do the math of course.

Rome · May 10, 2020, 08:26:42 PM

Get pre-approved. If your credit is all all decent you'll get a great deal on financing right now. Call the dealer. Tell them you want a full quote in writing before you even walk in the door. Speak to the GM if they won't give you the deal in writing via e-mail or text. If they try to push you off to a salesman, tell them to farg off and find another dealer.

It's a buyer's market right now and they are desperate to move units.

Buying vehicles is the single-worst thing in the world to go through as a consumer. Nothing but liars, cheats and subhuman scum-sucking pigs.

PhillyPhreak54 · May 10, 2020, 10:47:59 PM

I was looking at trucks last week bc of Ford offering the 0% financing deal. I decided to keep mine bc it's paid off and I didn't want another payment until the Mustang is paid off.

Rome is right this is a buyers market. I highly recommend you securing your own financing prior to going to the dealer. This eliminates most of the song and dance negotiations.

Dealer make kick backs on financing. For example if a bank approves you for 4% APR you'll end up paying, maybe, 6% because that other goes into the dealers pocket.

Also — NEVER answer their question when they ask "what do you want your payment to be?"

Why? Because then those bums have you. Tell them "ahh I'm looking for something around $400 per month." Well they'll come back all smiles and be like "great news Mr Munson! We have you at $414 per month!! And then you realize it's for 72 months (or worse, 84).

When I bought the Mustang I was between my 19 that I ended up buying and a 2018. I told them I'd take the 19 for a certain price and then the 18 for another. Whichever number they hit is the deal we'd make. I actually thought they'd tell me to get farged on the 19 because I wanted to be out the door with TTL at about $10k less than sticker.

SD · May 10, 2020, 11:44:43 PM

Quote from: Rome on May 10, 2020, 08:26:42 PM
Get pre-approved. If your credit is all all decent you'll get a great deal on financing right now. Call the dealer. Tell them you want a full quote in writing before you even walk in the door. Speak to the GM if they won't give you the deal in writing via e-mail or text. If they try to push you off to a salesman, tell them to farg off and find another dealer.

It's a buyer's market right now and they are desperate to move units.

Buying vehicles is the single-worst thing in the world to go through as a consumer. Nothing but liars, cheats and subhuman scum-sucking pigs.

This^^^^

I just leased a 2020 Dodge Durango GT. I've been leasing since 2014. Here's my strategy: email a bunch of dealerships and inquire how much it would be to lease/buy whatever vehicle you're interested. Always be specific if you're leasing/buying mileage/months (if leasing) etc. Important...make sure you tell them you're just in the looking and pricing phase to see what's affordable. Do not by any means walk into a dealership...youve just given them home field advantage. Play them off each other ex: Fred Beans told me they could give me this for this amount can you beat it? Lie and lower the price it's not like the dealerships communicate. They hate losing sales to other dealerships. Like Rome so eloquently put it, they're liars and cheats. This is peak season for them (spring after people get their tax returns) and they're hurting for sales. You hold all the cards. It's a game and a dance...don't fall in love with a vehicle and always be ready to walk away.

Munson · May 15, 2020, 01:46:11 PM

Alright I'm working on getting pre approved at some places now. And did capital ones pre-pre-approval thing lol.

For the gear heads, we want something that can possibly tow a small camper (maybe even as small as a teardrop camper) over long long distances, as we plan on taking ourselves/the kid(s) to camp in national parks in future years. I'm seeing that newer model Outbacks have a towing capacity of 2700lbs. Tried reading around and some folks seem to think that towing anything near that over long distances would basically destroy the life of the car/minimize the lifespan a lot. Is that something to just be expected with any type of long distance heavy duty towing? Others seemed to think the cvt transmission that Subaru uses + regular maintenance and monitoring the transmission temp would alleviate most of that. But I am totally devoid of information in this field so.