Car Thread - VROOM VROOM

[Car Won't Crank]

My decision was made for me lol. The secondary cats started to rattle so i had them cut open, gutted and welded back up. Sounds far better now. It's nowhere near as loud as a domestic but you can tell its a V8, especially above 2500 rpm on throttle. Idle and cruising is around the same. Feels a bit quicker too. Done some work on the fuel system the other day plus gave the engine bay a good clean (which I didn't take a picture of), it's slowly coming together for a 23 year old car.

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I should probably have got a 4th gen F body considering what I usually look for in a V8 coupe but the CL is like driving on glass its so smooth. I might try px for a 4th gen Firebird at some point if it starts costing me.

edit- spelling

The b pillarless design will never get old. You have a nice krautrocket amigo.

 

[McKennai]

Was wondering where someone would/should look for buyng Car Headunits? (Webstores/Local retailers depending on Region EU/US/...)
In my case I'm looking for a 2 DIN Unit with a max-depth of 150mm that isn't some offbrand Chink one which usually tend to last less than a year.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

Was wondering where someone would/should look for buyng Car Headunits? (Webstores/Local retailers depending on Region EU/US/...)
In my case I'm looking for a 2 DIN Unit with a max-depth of 150mm that isn't some offbrand Chink one which usually tend to last less than a year.

If you're US, browse Crutchfield's online store. They sell the good stuff from Pioneer, Alpine, JVC, etc.

 

[Obeah Mon]

I just need a vehicle to get from a to b. I dont need any electronic junk other than ignition and even that is'nt a must, i'll take points. I want to be able to fix it cheap on the side of the road w/o analyzers, special tools, not having to pull the engine to change a timing belt. I had a Chevy p/u I stuck a 350 Mercruiser marine engine in it..clean engines with no bullshit on them in the 80's. You should standardize on a drivetrain & use it thru the years, accumulating spare parts. You'll become very familar with it. This is what I shouldve done but didnt. cue "then you'll have to fix it by the side of the road".

 

[Darkholme's Dungeon]

I just need a vehicle to get from a to b. I dont need any electronic junk other than ignition and even that is'nt a must, i'll take points. I want to be able to fix it cheap on the side of the road w/o analyzers, special tools, not having to pull the engine to change a timing belt. I had a Chevy p/u I stuck a 350 Mercruiser marine engine in it..clean engines with no bullshit on them in the 80's. You should standardize on a drivetrain & use it thru the years, accumulating spare parts. You'll become very familar with it. This is what I shouldve done but didnt. cue "then you'll have to fix it by the side of the road".

Old 80s diesel engines were pretty indestructible, except for the Mighty Max aluminum head. Shame they all rusted away.

I knew someone who blew a fucking quarter sized hole in his piston face on an Isuzu/Chevy diesel and the engine ran just fine, just got shitty mpg. No electronics on the engine aside from glow plug system and you can push start it going about 40mph down a hill..

 

[Obeah Mon]

Old 80s diesel engines were pretty indestructible, except for the Mighty Max aluminum head. Shame they all rusted away.

I knew someone who blew a fucking quarter sized hole in his piston face on an Isuzu/Chevy diesel and the engine ran just fine, just got shitty mpg. No electronics on the engine aside from glow plug system and you can push start it going about 40mph down a hill..

People are stupid taking house payment sized loans on depreciating junk with high cost parts.

 

[Eggward biscuitbottom]

I have a bmw e30 as my passion project any bmw up to the e46 makes me a happy boy anything after makes me a sad boy. Unfortunately i can't afford to continue my build as i'm saving for my wedding.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

I just need a vehicle to get from a to b. I dont need any electronic junk other than ignition and even that is'nt a must, i'll take points. I want to be able to fix it cheap on the side of the road w/o analyzers, special tools, not having to pull the engine to change a timing belt. I had a Chevy p/u I stuck a 350 Mercruiser marine engine in it..clean engines with no bullshit on them in the 80's. You should standardize on a drivetrain & use it thru the years, accumulating spare parts. You'll become very familar with it. This is what I shouldve done but didnt. cue "then you'll have to fix it by the side of the road".

The last gen Chevy Spark is that kind of car. I was surprised the engine in it is port injected with no complicated anything. Too bad it ended production in 2022.

 

[Falcos_Commisar]

If you're US, browse Crutchfield's online store. They sell the good stuff from Pioneer, Alpine, JVC, etc.

Agreed, Crutch field is excellent for car AV. Some newer aftermarket head units for slightly older cars have wireless AA/car play AND physical buttons and knobs.

Best of both worlds.

People are stupid taking house payment sized loans on depreciating junk with high cost parts.

So true, or they're leasing Benzes and Bimmers for $600+ a MONTH with a down payment....they're RENTING A CAR FOR $600+ A MONTH WHAT THE FUUUKKK

I have a bmw e30 as my passion project any bmw up to the e46 makes me a happy boy anything after makes me a sad boy. Unfortunately i can't afford to continue my build as i'm saving for my wedding.

Hmmm the E46 was the last great car platform BMW every made IMHO.

The last gen Chevy Spark is that kind of car. I was surprised the engine in it is port injected with no complicated anything. Too bad it ended production in 2022.

I think a few cars on sale still use port only injection.

Toyota has moved from Port injection to D4S Direct And Port injection form 2018. It's been rock solid.

The biggest issue now is that so many cars are running overstressed turbos with shitty head bolts and mediocre cooling.

If you're buying for reliability today look for a naturally aspirated engine that been in production for 3-5+ years. Look at reliability reports and common issues. Turbos are just fussier by design and require a bit more care.

Eg. If you want a GMC full size pickup truck.... Get the 5.3 V8 or the 3.0 diesel. The 6.2 V8 has ISSUES and the 2.7 turbo is probably not enough engine for that truck (although it's fine in the smaller GMC pickups)

24 Equinox update, I really liked it, wife hated it. So probably just going to get another Subaru now. Looking at the 2024 Outback Premium tonight, backups are CR-V and RAV4.

Fwiw the 2024 Equinox is being replaced as I type with the new 2025 model and it's 2025 GM Terrain sibling.

That said of the two get the Terrain as it has more power and a better transmission so it'd actually more efficient lol.

GM absolutely gimped the new equinox powertrain to game CAFE numbers

I bought the 24 Outback Premium. Pretty happy with my purchase, already filled the trunk space with crap I gotta move. Wife loves it which is honestly what matters most, she got car sick in the bronco sport and equinox and has none of that sitting passenger in this. May have to do that she drives a 22 Impreza hatch, so she’s used to how Subaru feels.

Sales guy was blunt with me at the dealership, apparently it’s been very slow and they are only moving the 24 models because of the low APR deals going on. They had a whole lot of 25 foresters and outbacks but only 2 24 outback’s left and 0 24 foresters.

Interesting. The 2025 Forester is a pretty mild redesign as was the newest gen Outback.

That said of all the unibody crossovers, Subaru has the best AWD setup outside of certain Jeeps and Broncos.

I just can't fully trust their engines and transmissions.

 

[Darkholme's Dungeon]

3.0 diesel

Oh gods please no. The dual timing chain setup where you have to service the rear timing chain near the firewall? Fuck the retard they put a mid-engine engine into a front-engine car.

 

[WhatInTheActualFuck]

Agreed, Crutch field is excellent for car AV. Some newer aftermarket head units for slightly older cars have wireless AA/car play AND physical buttons and knobs.

Best of both worlds.



So true, or they're leasing Benzes and Bimmers for $600+ a MONTH with a down payment....they're RENTING A CAR FOR $600+ A MONTH WHAT THE FUUUKKK



Hmmm the E46 was the last great car platform BMW every made IMHO.


I think a few cars on sale still use port only injection.

Toyota has moved from Port injection to D4S Direct And Port injection form 2018. It's been rock solid.

The biggest issue now is that so many cars are running overstressed turbos with shitty head bolts and mediocre cooling.

If you're buying for reliability today look for a naturally aspirated engine that been in production for 3-5+ years. Look at reliability reports and common issues. Turbos are just fussier by design and require a bit more care.

Eg. If you want a GMC full size pickup truck.... Get the 5.3 V8 or the 3.0 diesel. The 6.2 V8 has ISSUES and the 2.7 turbo is probably not enough engine for that truck (although it's fine in the smaller GMC pickups)

I can confirm that the L3B is pretty great in the Colorado/Canyon. Plus, it's been a pretty high-volume motor in the full-size trucks for a while without anything super fucky coming up.

 

[Troon_Patrol]

I have a bmw e30 as my passion project any bmw up to the e46 makes me a happy boy anything after makes me a sad boy. Unfortunately i can't afford to continue my build as i'm saving for my wedding.

I really despise German cars. The E46 was my only exception especially the M3(with the good transmission). E90 was a total piece of shit over- engineered and everything after just got worse. I need dealer software to change the regular old 12 Volt battery in a modern BMW? Whats German for go fuck yourself?

I knew I hated German cars when the VW jetta required special tools to change the Transmission fluid WAY BACK in 2000 or so. Yeah there's a tranny fluid drain plug but no fill port, um WTF? I need to pump tranny fluid UP into the port to refill my transmission fluid? Like I need a car lift and a fluid pump just to do basic maintenance? prior to 2005 VW and BMW were good not great cars. VW took over Landrover and made into an overpriced shit wagons that barely make it to 90,000 miles without a full on engine replacement, requiring so much special tooling an diagnostic equipment it's cheaper to buy another Rover than the tools. Rovers in the 80's used to be God Damn Tanks without bullet proof armor. The Old Benz Diesels would go for 200,000 miles which was quite the feat in 1980. I had a friend of friend buy a 2019 E class, Brand new from the dealer, didn't make it 100 miles before it needed drivetrain service only the Benz dealer could handle.

German fucking cars after 2005? Waste of time and money.

 

[Bassomatic]

Sup plebs so as of yesterday my house has a lift...

also I need to do a clutch on the honda

 

[Falcos_Commisar]

I really despise German cars. The E46 was my only exception especially the M3(with the good transmission). E90 was a total piece of shit over- engineered and everything after just got worse. I need dealer software to change the regular old 12 Volt battery in a modern BMW? Whats German for go fuck yourself?

I knew I hated German cars when the VW jetta required special tools to change the Transmission fluid WAY BACK in 2000 or so. Yeah there's a tranny fluid drain plug but no fill port, um WTF? I need to pump tranny fluid UP into the port to refill my transmission fluid? Like I need a car lift and a fluid pump just to do basic maintenance? prior to 2005 VW and BMW were good not great cars. VW took over Landrover and made into an overpriced shit wagons that barely make it to 90,000 miles without a full on engine replacement, requiring so much special tooling an diagnostic equipment it's cheaper to buy another Rover than the tools. Rovers in the 80's used to be God Damn Tanks without bullet proof armor. The Old Benz Diesels would go for 200,000 miles which was quite the feat in 1980. I had a friend of friend buy a 2019 E class, Brand new from the dealer, didn't make it 100 miles before it needed drivetrain service only the Benz dealer could handle.

German fucking cars after 2005? Waste of time and money.

If it makes you feel better my quite modern Camry has a rattle from hell on the passenger side B pillar that is probably due to a shitty weld.

The TSB fix?? RIP out the headliner and B pillar trim and hammer the weld with a fucking brass rod and let's see..... Fucking hell.

 

[Troon_Patrol]

If it makes you feel better my quite modern Camry has a rattle from hell on the passenger side B pillar that is probably due to a shitty weld.

The TSB fix?? RIP out the headliner and B pillar trim and hammer the weld with a fucking brass rod and let's see..... Fucking hell.

Ok thats bad. It's a factory defect But, tricking people draining their own fluids so they need a tow truck and dealership? You gotta admit that's evil. If they didn't want it that way they'd print in large text "TRANSMISSION FLUID IS DEALER SERVICEABLE ONLY" or make a special socket for the drain plug that you won't find in a SAE/Metric socket set.

You sound like you a bit about Toyota dealership service protocol. Answer whatever you like but, are you Toyota/Lexus ASE certified? I have a few follow up questions if that is the case.

 

[Bassomatic]

How did you break a toyota? lol. Fugg. I hope this thread doesn't go to new form I'd lose it .

Either way what year Camery? Have I mentioned my new perfect cleaning tool? Either way I have my lift mostly done. I have to do a new clutch... cars are dumb.. but we need them

 

[Eggward biscuitbottom]

I really despise German cars. The E46 was my only exception especially the M3(with the good transmission). E90 was a total piece of shit over- engineered and everything after just got worse. I need dealer software to change the regular old 12 Volt battery in a modern BMW? Whats German for go fuck yourself?

I knew I hated German cars when the VW jetta required special tools to change the Transmission fluid WAY BACK in 2000 or so. Yeah there's a tranny fluid drain plug but no fill port, um WTF? I need to pump tranny fluid UP into the port to refill my transmission fluid? Like I need a car lift and a fluid pump just to do basic maintenance? prior to 2005 VW and BMW were good not great cars. VW took over Landrover and made into an overpriced shit wagons that barely make it to 90,000 miles without a full on engine replacement, requiring so much special tooling an diagnostic equipment it's cheaper to buy another Rover than the tools. Rovers in the 80's used to be God Damn Tanks without bullet proof armor. The Old Benz Diesels would go for 200,000 miles which was quite the feat in 1980. I had a friend of friend buy a 2019 E class, Brand new from the dealer, didn't make it 100 miles before it needed drivetrain service only the Benz dealer could handle.

German fucking cars after 2005? Waste of time and money.

It's kinda funny because the Jetta you mentioned from 2000 is probably a Jetta mk4 (which is called the Bora in my country for some godforsaken reason) is my daily driver. I'm guessing you drove an automatic because the gearbox fluid thing is not something i have expierenced but i have a manual so that could ofcourse be why. Granted the special tools might be torx for instance which is quite standard over here. I will fight back on the not great part of bmws prior to 05 tho. The e30 and the e36 where both amazing and are cars that are loved through out Europe for a reason. I do think Americans get slightly different versions of cars tho a minor example is the e36 m3 engine for you guys it's the s52b32 which is obd 2 and an alloy block where as the s52 never was a thing we kept the s50 but just added .2 liters to it's previous incarnation. The s50b32 also has like 60hp more than the s52b32US hell the engines going to you guys where specifically marked US. All this is to say i wonder what else is different than here everytime i hear people complain about VW's (only from the mk4 back i refuse to buy newer cars) i get so confused as it's so different over here. Is it the difference in what's considered normal mileage? You mentioned 200k miles on the old benz that's like 320k km if i recall correctly between 200 en 300k km is usually the point where we switch cars also the netherlands is rather tiny so we don't drive that far. I wanna know why the experience is so different it's bugging me. Regarding the special tools i don't know what the standard is for you guys so i wouldn't know.

 

[Troon_Patrol]

@Eggward biscuitbottom , If you say were great I'll take your word for it.In the states it is RARE to see any E36 in half decent condition. I've worked on a couple of them, the security (my specialty) always was WAY over-engineered on any BMW product after 1995 or so. I was told key policies for North American and Euro BMWs are different. In the states any BMW that uses an EWS 2,3,4 system have 10 keys stored in the car immobilizer EWS unit. Buy a brand new E46 you get two remote keys and one valet key. 4 years later you lose all your keys you go back to BMW and ask for another key, BMW USA will take the VIN and get not only the key cuts but the data for immobilizer for key#4, and this repeats until you need key 10. After key 10 they throw away the EWS immobilizer box and sell you a new one and the pair procedure; that can get pricey $2,000+ USD pricey. The other problem is people like me. I analyze he data on the EWS and I ask the owner "Are there any keys back home?" "I don't want to overwrite key #1 if it's at home waitingg for you." Ofcouse BMW USA won't label them although If someone hands me a bmw key I can tell you the key number and the vin and event he last known milage IIRC. In the last 5-10 years BMW has been having a lot of troubler generating he corrrect keys at the dealership and they do not offer refnds if the key fails. I get a lot of calls for E46 "BMW dealer wants $2100 to make a key, can you beat that price?" "that does sound kind of high what did they tell you is wrong?" "well I lost my key and they charge me$200 for a new key that turns in the door and ignition but will not start the car, they say they need to replace the EWS unit or soemthing?" "Oh I see, yes I beelive I can help you, Where is the car located and when do you need this key made"....? ANd then I download the key data modifiy to accpet a new chip and install siad chip in BMW keyblank valet or remote style. The Data in the BMWs using EWS cannot be cloned so you either need the car data one way or another. I was told they success rate of a BMW USA dealer provideing a working key to an E46 based on VIN was a 70 % chance of success. You seem to know a lot about BMW's are the keys handled a differnt mannner in Europe? The goes there are 2 BMW key manufacturing sites in the US and the 70% chance is a not great. One is on the west coast in southern CA, the other is in NY so even if you went to the dealer monday morning and paid for overnight shipping of your key the fastest would be 3 buisness days, as opposed to me. I average about 45 mins from start to finnnish on the E46 E36 cars.

I have always wondered how secure their data is. If someone hacked BMW their giant VIN based database and knew someone like me we could just read a VIN plate off a car windhield and have key in 45 mins witout ever touching the car. Older BMS without EWS2 or higher even faster.

 

[Falcos_Commisar]

Ok thats bad. It's a factory defect But, tricking people draining their own fluids so they need a tow truck and dealership? You gotta admit that's evil. If they didn't want it that way they'd print in large text "TRANSMISSION FLUID IS DEALER SERVICEABLE ONLY" or make a special socket for the drain plug that you won't find in a SAE/Metric socket set.

You sound like you a bit about Toyota dealership service protocol. Answer whatever you like but, are you Toyota/Lexus ASE certified? I have a few follow up questions if that is the case.

Yep Calling tranny and/or diff fluid "lifetime " and "not end user serviceable" is evil. Hence all Euro carmakers do it

The ticking is either a bad weld (there is a TSB out for it) or a piece of plastic that they smother in foam tape. Fwiw my Honda Accord (201 was SIGNIFICANTLY more noisy with buzzing, ticks and rattles from day 1 than the Camry.

If you want a quiet car in 2024.... Get a Lexus or Cadillac (I'm not joking) lol. In fact, my next vehicle will probably be a CPO Lexus hybrid SUV. Old person driven and maintained like a dream.

Not Toyota ASE certified but know people who are. All mass market dealership service departments are the EXACT SAME. Deny, deny, deny , lie and try and do as little work as possible while charging as much as they can. Luxury ones are a bit better, fwiw I've had the BEST experience at Lexus and the WORST at Audi.

The moment a car is out of powertrain warranty, leave the dealership for good.

How did you break a toyota? lol. Fugg. I hope this thread doesn't go to new form I'd lose it .

Either way what year Camery? Have I mentioned my new perfect cleaning tool? Either way I have my lift mostly done. I have to do a new clutch... cars are dumb.. but we need them

2024 XSE with the 4 banger.

There is a Toyota TSB out for the rattle/ticking sound. It's either a fucked up weld or a plastic trim piece that they smother in foam tape..... One is SIGNIFICANTLY easier to fix

It's not horrific but it definitely gets worse as the temp gets hotter (101F last week)

Anyway, having a lift is a godsend for at home car repair.

 

[Troon_Patrol]

Not Toyota ASE certified but know people who are. All mass market dealership service departments are the EXACT SAME. Deny, deny, deny , lie and try and do as little work as possible while charging as much as they can. Luxury ones are a bit better, fwiw I've had the BEST experience at Lexus and the WORST at Audi.

It's a long story but, I have a few clients with toyota products who want to digitally change the VINs on a few newer camrys, everyone says this is impossible on any car made after 2005 but I've seen it with my own eyes on a 2014 Ford product and many others, do you have an opinion on Toyotas/Lexus and Modified VINs to salvage, salavaged title cars? Will simply changing the VIN in the ECU cause an error preventing the car from running? properly and fail emissions?