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Sunday, 29 June 2025

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My rule was to never mention a quarter and a year in the same project estimate. So it's okay to say "in the fall", and it's okay to say "next year", but "next fall" is overly specific and will end up causing trouble.

My 2014 Honda Pilot is approaching 200,000 miles. It has never had a repair. Just routine maintenance, tires, oil changes, the timing belt replacement at 100,000 miles, and only two brake jobs in all that time. I was reluctantly thinking about replacing it before the next timing belt replacement is due. It's been such a great drive that I hate the idea of trading it in.

I talked about this with my mechanic. He put it up on the rack and came back saying there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Tight front end, nothing leaking, no rust or other corrosion.

So, I'm keeping it. I'll get the timing belt replaced and see how long it will keep going. No matter what happens, it will always be my best car.

So, I suggest you talk to your mechanic and have him check out your current drive. That information will help your decision.

And, by the way, I disagree about buying new cars. The two ways to spend the least on a car are to buy new and drive it until the wheels fall off, or buy the cheapest old car you can find that runs okay and when it dies, just buy another one. Since I travel a lot I've been buying new cars since it became a financial possibility. I like knowing that the car has never been abused. And that it's likely to get me where I'm going.

I am participating in a photo a week project with various themes each week. The moderator chooses but uploads all of them to a site. People can vote for photos they like so it’s interesting to see which ones get more likes, his picks or the rejects. Maybe you could try that.

I watch and like Sarah n' Tuned on YouTube as well. However, Sarah Greenwood is more "hybrid" than you may think - the supermodel looks you admire are not original equipment...

Re: Servicing cars.

I was just reviewing Honda's service schedule for the 2001 Acura Integra Type R -- my first Honda automobile. A car that I drove about 30,000 miles per year -- I had a long commute to work.

“100,000 MILE TUNE-UP INTERVAL The Type R’s first scheduled tune-up is required at 105,000 miles; during that time only routine inspections and fluid changes are required. Long-wearing, platinum-tipped spark plugs makes this longevity possible. Careful design and engineering of the VTEC valvetrain allows the 1.8-liter in-line four engine to reliably maintain proper valve tappet clearances without inspection until the scheduled first tune-up."

http://www.integratyper.org/specs/images/press/Press_USDM_2001/r_intro_tech_overview.pdf

Since then I have had three additional Honda automobiles with equivalent maintenance schedules.

Our first Honda was a two-year-old ’83 Accord. I then bought an ’80 Prelude as a work car. It got traded in on a new ‘89 Accord; my first ever new car. Went other ways until an ’06 Accord and traded it for an ’09 Ridgeline because I thought I needed a pickup. (Drove it for 10 years; perhaps I was right.). When I was shopping in 2019 for a new car, I naturally went first to the Honda dealer, but I did not like the interior of anything I drove. They’re still great cars, but I just didn’t like them! Clothes, cameras, and cars have to fit!

An automotive warning. A very, very close friend of mine was in a fender bender with an Audi hybrid SUV not quite two years old, with 15,000 miles on it. It was literally a fender bender: a front fender was bent, and after talking to the insurance company, she took it to a body shop where the preliminary repair estimate was $5,500 because it *was* a fender bender -- if you know anything at all about car repair costs, you know that $5,500 is virtually nothing. A week later, the insurance company called and told her the car was being totaled, and she would be getting a check for more than $40,000. The reason? There are so many auto-safety gizmos on modern cars that many of the cars are virtually unrepairable. In addition to the bent fender, it seems the accident knocked out radar (?) and cameras (?) located on the front fender and bumper. I was shocked, frankly, but not as shocked as I might have been, if not for another tiny accident. A very, very close friend backed my Ford F150 into something pointy, and broke the lens on the left rear taillight. Not the light itself, just knocked out a piece of the red lens. I took it to the Ford dealership to find out about replacing the lens, which I'd temporarily patched with transparent red tape (because the light worked fine.) The cost? $1,800 plus tax, bringing the total to over $1,900. Seems that the taillight is a sealed unit and you have to replace the entire unit. The lens alone, no can do. So be careful out there -- a little bump and you can lose your shirt.

I love the idea of 4 portfolios of 13!

Mike - we understand, take as much time as you need. As Wille Nelson has written, and sung: It's not something you get over, but something you get through. Last Man Standing, track 5, 2018. Take care.

I don't understand why modern cars have a center console. Even old sports cars with manual transmissions didn't have a center console, maybe a bit of a transmission hump but that was it.
Now cars are mostly front wheel drive and hqve automatic transmissions and they have this big thing between the front seats. even pickups have it. Apparently, the only way to avoid the center console is to buy a police car, because they need a place to keep the computer and a shotgun.
I really don't like center consoles, but I don't really want a police car either.

Doggonit!

My 2015 Subaru Forester has 223,000 miles on it. The only brake job (at 210,000) cost $200 because I found a mechanic who agreed to not machine the discs. I had the spark plugs changed at 100,000, but the old ones were free from pitting; I'll not make that mistake again.

Under no circumstances should you let a dealer near your car. That $1900 taillight replacement could have been done for a pittance by a Mexican mechanic and his junkyard buddy. Mind you, this advice is easier to follow in Phoenix, where old cars come to die (and never rust).

I had a Toyota Solara 2-door that I really liked. My aim was to get it to 250,000 miles. With a total knee replacement in the offing, I realized that the Solara was no longer practical. I needed a car that I could just park my butt onto, like a chair. So in 2015, traded the Solara with 240,000 miles for a 2010 RAV4. Dealer serviced, all the time.

Geez. Spike looks like he's going to punch someone. Never seen a photo of a dog that so conveys that they don't suffer fools... like, at all ever. Great photo.

RE 4 wheels and an engine:
An early 90's Porsche 911 can get 45mpg, but only at a steady 80mph. Personal experience.

Went down the rabbit hole looking for a new car earlier this year. Ruled out a hybrid for longevity reasons. Doubling the number of systems that can fail was just a bridge too far for my long term ownership plans.

Landed on the least exciting but most competent at everything car - Subaru Outback (non-turbo). Last of its generation (as in 2025 build date), so has all of the inline improvements and quirks engineered out.

It eats miles. And is just good at everything. And it comes alive and is a joy to drive in bad weather. Who knew?

If you're going second hand, the ones designated MY25 (some are built late 2024) include all the latest fixes/upgrades.

What are you basing your recommended oil change intervals on? I hope you're not going to say you found it on the internet! I've never seen any data.

I suspect most of the recommendations other than manufacturers come from oil companies. And the manufacturers probably have different factors driving their recommendation.

I had a chevy sprint back in the '80s (rebadged suzuki). It had a three cylinder engine smaller than many motorcycle engines (at least the big ones), and driving cross-country, I got about 50 miles/gallon. No lie.

Why not go for two dozen or maybe three?

On Vehicles & fuel mileage. 82 Audi 4000 diesel, 54 mpg on the highway for decades now. Original engine nearly a million miles - regular oil changes. One new set of Glow plugs in that time, one new water pump.
Friends 82 VW diesel pickup. 45mpg regularly & up to 52 on highway trips. Newer 92 Jetta diesel engine in it a few years ago - the extra 12 HP sure is nicer than the original 52hp.
The VW Lupo (no longer made) diesel got 78mpg off the showroom floor and top speed was just over 100mpg.

Good fuel mileage is nothing new. Taking care of older vehicles is much less expensive than buying a new one. Lower insurance costs as well.

On the Bakers Dozen of Dogs. A good tribute to Buttars. Looking forward to seeing your choices.

John Camp's comment says everything we need to know about modern life.

I paid $50 to “reserve” one of these. I have fond memories of our old 2wd Toyota pickup, and the simplicity sounds appealing. We will see, maybe.

https://www.slate.auto/en

I too really like my Niro EV. Five years and 100K, battery still at 96% and drives like a new car.
Find a used Niro EV, a Leaf or a Bolt. You won’t regret it.

Many years ago I had the opportunity to drive a 911T. I knew it was a bit more than I needed when I caught myself doing over 80 in a 45mph zone. That car was so smooth at that speed that I didn't realize how fast I was going until a building near the road was a blur. That's when I checked the speedometer.

Later, I bought a 914-2.0. I lived in a hilly area with a twisty road I drove to and from work pretty much daily. One day I pulled on to that road and ended up behind a Pontiac GTO Judge. I'd never seen this car on the road--not many cars used it so never having seen it was a good sign the driver didn't know the road.

The Judge slowed to a crawl when I came up behind it. The idiot wanted to race. He had me with horsepower but the Judge was still a floaty boat. So it was go for it or be late for work while waiting for him to get bored and drive off.

Now I'm in front doing around 100 with idiot Judge on my tail. What I knew and he didn't was that up ahead was a very tight S-curve that dropped off enough that you couldn't see on-coming traffic (likely none, but still...). So I stayed on the gas and split the curve down the middle. It was unnerving. When I looked in my mirror the Judge was stopped on the road. I suspect he was trying to figure out how he was going to clean his pants. I never tried that stunt again.

And speaking of car repairs. Just wait until more manufacturers adopt GigaPress technology to stamp out body panels. Got a smashed rear panel? Sorry, that's not a rear panel, it's the entire side of the car that will need to be replaced. Or use lots and lots of Bondo.

What's a car? What sort of thing do you use it for?

(Swiss resident)

In terms of ground acreage, your father's Buick Electra would have occupied approximately four times that of a normal car. 10 mpg works out about right calculated per square foot of road.

Group the dog pix 4x13… get some blog milage while doing a deeper dive into the group’s characteristics?

Another TOP-tier opinion on the handling of the Porsche 911:

"You had to power through curves as if your life depended on it, because it did. Lay off the gas mid-curve and you were gonna get dizzy right quick, because the car would snap off a few high-G 360-degree spins. I speak from experience."

Copilot's response to a prompt for more info on 911 spinouts:

"It’s part of what makes the 911 so rewarding to drive: it demands respect, but rewards skill."

We're driving a 1.5 litre Golf Mk 8, the 'mild hybrid' model. We bought it new in November 2020 and we do a whole 5k miles per annum in it. We often use public transport as well (we live in a large city in the UK) and we have free bus passes and reduced-fare train passes for that.

I doubt we'll ever replace the Golf - we're both in our 70s - but if I was buying new today I'd probably look at a plug-in hybrid ('phev'). The latest generation can do anything up to 80 miles on the battery (manufacturer's figures), and when that's exhausted you've got the petrol engine. For the kind of motoring we do that's perfect - gentle 30 to 50 mile (at the most) trips out into the country, and a small number of longer journeys for holidays. After each of the short trips we'd recharge the battery on the cheap, slow overnight tariff, and for the long trips we'd just use the petrol engine. That would meet our needs perfectly. But as I say, I suspect that we'll keep the current Golf until we're no longer driving.

One drawback to phevs is that they cost rather more - after all, they've got two engines. In very rough figures, a Golf petrol-engined car can be bought new for about £30,000, the equivalent EV for maybe £35,000 and the Golf phev for about £38,000. So there's an upfront cost.

"The truth is that I could make four portfolios of 13 pictures each, in each of four areas: dog portraits, like the one of Spike above; domestic scenes; dogs in action; and environments with dogs in them, not necessarily featured or rendered large." Just do it - the only constraint is self imposed - they are your rules so just change them - I'm sure there will be four times the appreciation.

Good advice about trying on a car for size before you get too excited about the specs and the looks. Ergonomics, head and leg room, and overall comfort are so important, and completely subjective. Last time I was shopping for a used car, my first step was to go to Car Max and sit in a dozen different models of the vehicle type, from all brands. Before I made my final choice, I took my favorite car on an extended test drive through a Turo rental.

Please, everybody, don't get excited about small MPG differences. MPGs are a logarithmic scale: it's like F-stops, not shutter speeds. Every unit in the F stop scale represents a smaller change. Imagine a car driven 1000 miles. If Car A gets 10 MPG, it uses 100 gallons. Double that for Car B getting 20 MPG and you use just 50 gallons, saving 50. Double that again with Car C getting 40 MPG, and that jump only saves 25 gallons over Car B. And if some Car D got 80 MPG (wow, a big number!), it would only save 12 gallons over Car C. So MPGs under 25 will eat you alive, but figures over 40 won't save all that much. The Euro measurement of gallons per 100 miles is a much better indicator of fuel efficiency.

This is a concept I don't find easy to explain, and I won't take credit for it. Tom of the Car Guys berought it up years ago.

Dave Ramsey's advice is classic "Neither a borrower or a lender be" Puritanism aimed at the serial credit abusers. I'm betting that there was borrowed money backing him when he was a startup, though.

There are some situations when you can't afford not to buy that new car. Back in 2017, Ford was closing out a low selling PHEV, the C-Max Energi. A loaded $34,000 model had a combination of factory rebates and state and federal tax incentives that owners the net cost to $20,000. This ended my long struggle maintaining high-mileage VWs and Subarus, and it turned out to be the most economical vehicle I've ever owned. It's still worth $12,000+ on the used market, too.

(Note to Mike: like you, I'm large bodied and sit tall in a car. I like to look out at the scenery out of large windows. After owning four GTIs, I appreciate taut, accurate steering. Based on those criteria, you would love a C-Max.)

Unless miracles occur, the next month or so will be your last chance to get the $7500 federal tax credit on EVs and PHEVs. Anyone desiring such a vehicle should start shopping right now.

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