Automotive Addicts Lounge V2- Why we are all broke:
5,003 replies, posted
Went for a nice 80 mile drive which goes up and over some mountains along primarily 1 lane forestry roads that snake alongside a couple rivers. Gave the Civic a decent shakedown since I've done the swaybars and suspension. The right rear trailing arm bushing is most definitely failed and if it wasn't completely before it is now. On cornering left it loads up and transfers all sorts of terrible road noise into the car now. I think I need to do some rack bushings or toss in my radius rod bushings I already have too. Otherwise, holy damn is it a different car from what I bought and fixed for a cheap beater for my GF and took down that road. It's insanely fun on the uphill sections, the car stays extremely composed and gives plenty of warning before you reach the limits which are insanely higher than they used to be.
Good thing I snatched up two BNIB Honda OEM trailing arm bushings for $30 yesterday!
Ergh, car parts are stacking up again :v:
[QUOTE=dwt110;47874020]so I got a quote to fix the fender and bumper on my 2008 crv i fucked up a few months ago. It is basically the entire right front fender, the top front bumper and some little trim pieces around the wheel
$1200-$1400
what the fuck?
how hard am I getting fucked on that price? im checking online now and the top front bumper is $150 and the fender is $215. I'll add $100 for small pieces and trim/fasteners that broke. that sounds ridiculous to me. I can get pictures tomorrow if anyone needs them.[/QUOTE]
Minimum labor charges on there so 120$ an hour at the least.
Why the fuck are Civic parts so fucking expensive here.
I wanted to change my cluster to one with a tacho and they literally cost $200 while a CRV cluster only costs $70.
Now I'm planning for a sway bar upgrade and I called up every wreckers I know of and they all said its $250 for a set excluding end links. Even ebay branded shit costs up to $500. Sway bar for other manufacturers like holden/subaru doesn't even reach $100.
[editline]yu is get[/editline]
[QUOTE=Ferosso;47872634]We're going to this huge annual car festival tomorrow. Since my last post, I learned that we are also bringing a 1JZ-GTE FC3S RX-7. I thought we were only going with the S15. I didn't even know about these cars :tinfoil:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/dQIpChM.jpg[/img]
[t]https://scontent-ams3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11391784_966397343411441_1215445446184209748_n.jpg?oh=4f765889610af7be06f8c1e14d30eed9&oe=55FFF284[/t][/QUOTE]
Hnggggg FC dream car.
[QUOTE=adam1172;47874278]Why the fuck are Civic parts so fucking expensive here.
I wanted to change my cluster to one with a tacho and they literally cost $200 while a CRV cluster only costs $70.
Now I'm planning for a sway bar upgrade and I called up every wreckers I know of and they all said its $250 for a set excluding end links. Even ebay branded shit costs up to $500. Sway bar for other manufacturers like holden/subaru doesn't even reach $100.[/QUOTE]
Get a CRV one, they plug right in. I'd do a rear swaybar first, you'll probably want a subframe brace because otherwise you'll have to hunt down the OEM EM1 Si stuff. Then you can pick from any 92-00 Civic/Integra rear swaybar although with the EG/DC bars you'll want the Function7 metal eye bushings because EK swaybars use a ball joint endlink. You can also just drill holes in your stock LCA AFAIK.
Call up some JDM engine depots, anywhere that gets/sells/parts out half cuts can and will happily sell you swaybars. The EK front swaybars are rather large so provided your car has one you might actually be fine.
Whiteline is also local to your country, you can probably get their kit for a decent deal. We don't really get much Whiteline stuff over here and it's super over priced when better products are cheaper.
[editline]3rd June 2015[/editline]
Getting a nice rear swaybar will be some of the best money you'll spend, I guarantee that.
[QUOTE=dwt110;47874020]so I got a quote to fix the fender and bumper on my 2008 crv i fucked up a few months ago. It is basically the entire right front fender, the top front bumper and some little trim pieces around the wheel
$1200-$1400
what the fuck?
how hard am I getting fucked on that price? im checking online now and the top front bumper is $150 and the fender is $215. I'll add $100 for small pieces and trim/fasteners that broke. that sounds ridiculous to me. I can get pictures tomorrow if anyone needs them.[/QUOTE]
You're not, when you fuck up body work, shit's gotta be repainted.
had my first manual driving lesson today
could have gotten my license like 3 years ago but I was an idiot and wasted all my money on other things, regret it, but fuck it, pushing on with it now, still about 6 months before I get my provisional license because of logbook laws but i'll be on the logbook by the end of the month probably
my first car will probably be an old corolla, i've got money for something more expensive in savings but; my mate's selling the one he drives atm (it's quite old, 87 model) soon when he gets an upgrade, offered to sell it to me for 300 if I want it, it drives fine and has been serviced recently but will probably need new brakes soon,
it's an automatic but, from the savings perspective, that's probably the best deal i'd be able to get for my wallet as it would still leave me with a good deal of savings as well as just having a car to drive around while I continue saving up for something really nice. He probably won't get his upgrade to around about the time I get my P's so that works out nicely on timing as well
I'm expecting to have around 5 grand, possibly more in savings by the time I do have my P's though, so we'll see what happens, but i mean... 300 bucks for a car that's gonna be relatively easy and cheap to keep maintained (parts are really easy to get for it here) which will also give me the opportunity to learn some mechanical skills in the chance something fucks up (my family is mostly mechanically minded, we almost always do repairs on our cars our selves unless it's something really fucked) I believe that to be not too bad,
dunno whether you guys would agree or not on that part though, but i mean it's a first car, if it does break down on me at that price it won't be unexpected, but still gives me the chance to learn some mechanics because it's not such a hefty investment where I won't want to fuck with it myself, which is good in my eyes, could be the best value I'd get out of a 300 dollar investment whether it breaks down or not
Fixed the engine mounts on the 240, did some engine maintenance, and converted the auto seatbelts to manual. still have lots to get done.
[url]https://instagram.com/p/3fdcOyq77P/[/url]
[QUOTE=slayer3032;47874512]Get a CRV one, they plug right in. I'd do a rear swaybar first, you'll probably want a subframe brace because otherwise you'll have to hunt down the OEM EM1 Si stuff. Then you can pick from any 92-00 Civic/Integra rear swaybar although with the EG/DC bars you'll want the Function7 metal eye bushings because EK swaybars use a ball joint endlink. You can also just drill holes in your stock LCA AFAIK.
Call up some JDM engine depots, anywhere that gets/sells/parts out half cuts can and will happily sell you swaybars. The EK front swaybars are rather large so provided your car has one you might actually be fine.
Whiteline is also local to your country, you can probably get their kit for a decent deal. We don't really get much Whiteline stuff over here and it's super over priced when better products are cheaper.
[editline]3rd June 2015[/editline]
Getting a nice rear swaybar will be some of the best money you'll spend, I guarantee that.[/QUOTE]
The problem right now is a majority of australian EKs are either CXi or imported JDM type R.
The CXi which I have has no sway bars at all, and when an EK9 gets wrecked the bars go for $2xx++
There is a teeny weeny amount of GLis which do come with a front sway bar but its literally ripped out and sold the moment that thing even rolls into a wrecker. I checked every JDM/non-JDM wrecker I could find none of them wants to part them for less than $250 because its Jeeeyyy deee emmmmmmm.
Whiteline do sell an OEM-style set for $500. I'll put that as my last resort.
[QUOTE=Consciousness;47874763]
I'm expecting to have around 5 grand, possibly more in savings by the time I do have my P's though, so we'll see what happens, but i mean... 300 bucks for a car that's gonna be relatively easy and cheap to keep maintained (parts are really easy to get for it here) which will also give me the opportunity to learn some mechanical skills in the chance something fucks up (my family is mostly mechanically minded, we almost always do repairs on our cars our selves unless it's something really fucked) I believe that to be not too bad,
dunno whether you guys would agree or not on that part though, but i mean it's a first car, if it does break down on me at that price it won't be unexpected, but still gives me the chance to learn some mechanics because it's not such a hefty investment where I won't want to fuck with it myself, which is good in my eyes, could be the best value I'd get out of a 300 dollar investment whether it breaks down or not[/QUOTE]
Get a beater for your P's and get something good when you go onto your full license.
Its exactly what I'm doing right now except for the fact that I'm slowly getting attached to the car. The day I drop a supercharger into that thing is the day I'll drive it until the either I or car dies.
[QUOTE=Stiveno;47874855]Fixed the engine mounts on the 240, did some engine maintenance, and converted the auto seatbelts to manual. still have lots to get done.
[url]https://instagram.com/p/3fdcOyq77P/[/url][/QUOTE]
[img]http://www.propbay.com/attachments/original/2268d1327514412-hero-silicone-facehugger-avp_facehugger_hero_silicone_2.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=adam1172;47874919]The problem right now is a majority of australian EKs are either CXi or imported JDM type R.
The CXi which I have has no sway bars at all, and when an EK9 gets wrecked the bars go for $2xx++
There is a teeny weeny amount of GLis which do come with a front sway bar but its literally ripped out and sold the moment that thing even rolls into a wrecker. I checked every JDM/non-JDM wrecker I could find none of them wants to part them for less than $250 because its Jeeeyyy deee emmmmmmm.
Whiteline do sell an OEM-style set for $500. I'll put that as my last resort.
[/QUOTE]
Actually, the whiteline rear swaybar set looks like total garbage. Even egay ASR knockoffs look better than that garbage. I'm sure they know how to make some good bars and setup a good car but that brace looks to really do fuck all. You gonna need the compliance bushing section of the FLCAs though to mount a front bar,
I would recommend just buying brand new front lower control arms if you can't get them for a good price. If you're able to do try to find the cast metal kind, not the stamped EK9 style ones. If you get the cast metal kind you can just grab a EG/DC front swaybar from the junkyard and use that. If you end up with the stamped kind you're basically screwed and have to get the 26mm Si/SiR/CTR kind which IMO is far too stiff for a sub 2600lbs street car. The 22mm Integra bar is always decently paired with the 14mm GSR bars but don't really inspire the rotation and super sporty feel most people want. The 24mm is also nice but the endlinks are 3x more expensive, you absolutely need a 24mm bar in the front if you want a rear 22mm.
[url]http://www.ek9.org/index.php?threads/information-about-ek-sway-bars-useful-information.31/[/url]
I wouldn't recommend a 22mm bar for a beginning driver as unless you know how the car will react at the limits or you make a wrong input at the wrong time you'll definitely be met with oversteer instead of safer understeer. I really like the 23mm front and 15mm rear on my EF, it's a very comfortable and predictable setup while still providing a bit of rotation that FWD cars desperately need.
Honda also sells the swaybars for cheaper than most places, the ITR 22mm is $88 entirely by itself for instance. That's if you want new parts.
You can always rip the parts off and sell them if you get rid of or wreck the car unless you fold the wheels in or something.
[QUOTE=slayer3032;47866875]I really don't want to check how much oil I've burnt in 500 miles, I really don't because my 159k motor is depressing and has been this depressing since I bought it at 103k. I really don't think the oil burning has got noticeably worse though in the past 5 years(2010, shit..) and 55k miles.
[/QUOTE]
I checked the oil in my Integra, it was touching the full mark still...? I don't recall overfilling it at all maybe a mm over the fill mark or so. I maybe burnt 1/10th of a quart in around 600 miles, at times I could burn at most 3/4th of a quart. I don't understand this fucking car. It's taken a full 50k miles to clean out the block though, my oil stays nice and clean for upto 1k miles now where in 100 miles it used to go pitch black. I know I dosed it with a little Lucas because I love my over priced generic gear oil sold as an additive but not that much.
Oh well, now it burns less oil and sounds like the chassis is broken or something because it pops quite loudly in the rear end whenever it moves from level. I really wonder what this car went through, I know whole right side of it was repainted and the drivers door was repaired poorly but I don't see any signs of quarter panel modification.
My issues always disappear in my mind when I'm behind the wheel of it through but it pisses me off every second I'm not driving it. :v:
Okay, for the last time I approach you guys with which car to purchase. The cars I've been looking at are:
1998 Nissan Maxima 169k miles
2000 Mercury Sable, 143k miles
2002 Oldemobile Alero 109k miles
2003 Ford Focus (2-door) 112k miles
2004 Ford Focus (4-door wagon) 115k miles
2005 Hyundai 166k miles (I have no idea what the fuck the model was)
I was leaning towards either the 2 or 4-door Focus and the Sable. The only problem with the 4-door focus I had is that it looks like a mom car :v:
[editline]4th June 2015[/editline]
I think the Hyundai is an Accent.
[QUOTE=Exigent;47876274]Okay, for the last time I approach you guys with which car to purchase. The cars I've been looking at are:
1998 Nissan Maxima 169k miles
2000 Mercury Sable, 143k miles
2002 Oldemobile Alero 109k miles
2003 Ford Focus (2-door) 112k miles
2004 Ford Focus (4-door wagon) 115k miles
2005 Hyundai 166k miles (I have no idea what the fuck the model was)
I was leaning towards either the 2 or 4-door Focus and the Sable. The only problem with the 4-door focus I had is that it looks like a mom car :v:
[editline]4th June 2015[/editline]
I think the Hyundai is an Accent.[/QUOTE]
Ditch them all and get a Mercedes 300SDL Turbo or go old school and get a Dart.
I kid of course (maybe not), but I'll go through the list aand tell you what's what here.
- [B]Nissan Maxima[/B]: Not a bad car, but plain jane, likely been not well cared for at this point
- [B]Mercury Sable[/B]: A truely dreadful car with transmissions being a point of contention.
- [B]Oldsmobile Alero[/B]: Fucking why?
- [B]Ford Focus 2-4 Door[/B]: Decent cars, not a ton of problems, but not all that fun. The word sanitary comes to mind with these.
- [B]Hyundai Accent[/B]: Great car, can't rave enough about powertrains from the twin Seoul sisters. But build quality in the 05s are enough to drive even someone who doesn't give a shit mad. This is an appliance more than it is a car.
Why buy an early 2000s mom car? They're all bland, boring, or built for EPA compliance. There's much more interesting cars out there for the same, if not less money than these.
[QUOTE=Slithers;47876453]Ditch them all and get a Mercedes 300SDL Turbo or go old school and get a Dart.
I kid of course (maybe not), but I'll go through the list aand tell you what's what here.
- [B]Nissan Maxima[/B]: Not a bad car, but plain jane, likely been not well cared for at this point
- [B]Mercury Sable[/B]: A truely dreadful car with transmissions being a point of contention.
- [B]Oldsmobile Alero[/B]: Fucking why?
- [B]Ford Focus 2-4 Door[/B]: Decent cars, not a ton of problems, but not all that fun. The word sanitary comes to mind with these.
- [B]Hyundai Accent[/B]: Great car, can't rave enough about powertrains from the twin Seoul sisters. But build quality in the 05s are enough to drive even someone who doesn't give a shit mad. This is an appliance more than it is a car.
Why buy an early 2000s mom car? They're all bland, boring, or built for EPA compliance. There's much more interesting cars out there for the same, if not less money than these.[/QUOTE]
The reason I picked these is how well they are on gas and because they're all within my price range. It would be my first car so I'm not looking for anything crazy. I just need something that gets me from point A to point B and doesn't burn a hole in my pocket for gas. Out of all of them I was leaning towards the Focus because of how well they are on gas, and because it's the most modern on the list.
[QUOTE=Exigent;47876486]The reason I picked these is how well they are on gas and because they're all within my price range. It would be my first car so I'm not looking for anything crazy. I just need something that gets me from point A to point B and doesn't burn a hole in my pocket for gas. Out of all of them I was leaning towards the Focus because of how well they are on gas, and because it's the most modern on the list.[/QUOTE]
If that's all you care about, why aren't you looking at a civic?
Hyundai Accent is a decent car, that's pretty much all it is. It started out as a bland car when it was new, and continues to be that, so it's almost like having a brand new car.
-Focus's depreciate so hard it's not even funny. What are you paying for it? Pizza hut coupons and some dryer lint?
-Mercury Sable? Isn't that the same as the taurus? My roommate had one, transmission broke, and it sat in the backyard collecting beer bottle caps, in fact every one I've ever heard of the transmission broke.
-Olds Alero - like any other pontiac GM Saturn thingy, I would shy away from this grandma machine. Also I reiterate the above. Why?
-Nissan Maxima -There's a decent car, but it doesn't really fit in your "point a to b good on gas" thing, you want a Sentra for that.
Basically everything in your list besides the focus doesn't make any sense for what you want, and the focus - if you're getting it cheap, would be ok. I used to see them on used car dealership lots with 100k for $5k or less only being a few years old.
But seriously, what you really want in that bracket is a civic, or even a Corolla.
The Focus is a pretty nice car. Good tech, sporty drive, and some very comfortable seats. I've got a Mazda3, same platform. Enjoy driving it more, but the seats are much firmer. If I could put Focus seats in my car, I would.
Had to de-registrate my car today. It's so depressing.
When I got pulled over for speeding I got a control ticket, like a fixit or whatever you guys call it. I had no way to do it before my exams, so I let it be. Then on the date of the exam it got a order to de-registrate so to speak, which meant I could get pulled over and have the plates removed at any point.
I did the alignment a while ago though, so I called the equal of the DMV and got to appoint a date for the control. First aviable date? 7th of july. And a regular authorized mechanic can't approve it even though they can approve the entire condition of the car for the EU test.
OH. And the alignment can't be more than 4 weeks old, so I might have to spend another 200$ on that bullshit.
Woah
[QUOTE=Oscar Lima Echo;47877265]Had to de-registrate my car today. It's so depressing.
When I got pulled over for speeding I got a control ticket, like a fixit or whatever you guys call it. I had no way to do it before my exams, so I let it be. Then on the date of the exam it got a order to de-registrate so to speak, which meant I could get pulled over and have the plates removed at any point.
I did the alignment a while ago though, so I called the equal of the DMV and got to appoint a date for the control. First aviable date? 7th of july. And a regular authorized mechanic can't approve it even though they can approve the entire condition of the car for the EU test.
OH. And the alignment can't be more than 4 weeks old, so I might have to spend another 200$ on that bullshit.[/QUOTE]
Did you try another traffic station? One might be swamped while the other has nothing going on.
[QUOTE=Gulen;47877607]Did you try another traffic station? One might be swamped while the other has nothing going on.[/QUOTE]
The staff at the other one has a boner for regulations. Even the shop that aligned my wheels said it would be pointless to go there.
[QUOTE=Serj22;47876833]If that's all you care about, why aren't you looking at a civic?
Hyundai Accent is a decent car, that's pretty much all it is. It started out as a bland car when it was new, and continues to be that, so it's almost like having a brand new car.
-Focus's depreciate so hard it's not even funny. What are you paying for it? Pizza hut coupons and some dryer lint?
-Mercury Sable? Isn't that the same as the taurus? My roommate had one, transmission broke, and it sat in the backyard collecting beer bottle caps, in fact every one I've ever heard of the transmission broke.
-Olds Alero - like any other pontiac GM Saturn thingy, I would shy away from this grandma machine. Also I reiterate the above. Why?
-Nissan Maxima -There's a decent car, but it doesn't really fit in your "point a to b good on gas" thing, you want a Sentra for that.
Basically everything in your list besides the focus doesn't make any sense for what you want, and the focus - if you're getting it cheap, would be ok. I used to see them on used car dealership lots with 100k for $5k or less only being a few years old.
But seriously, what you really want in that bracket is a civic, or even a Corolla.[/QUOTE]
The Focus was $3.6k, 2004, 115k miles.
[QUOTE=Exigent;47876486]The reason I picked these is how well they are on gas and because they're all within my price range. It would be my first car so I'm not looking for anything crazy. I just need something that gets me from point A to point B and doesn't burn a hole in my pocket for gas. Out of all of them I was leaning towards the Focus because of how well they are on gas, and because it's the most modern on the list.[/QUOTE]
Get a diesel then. It'll beat the crap out of the Focus in terms of fuel economy.
Welp get to go yell at Canadian Tire their crap flare wrench spread faster than a pair of legs in a porno.I am not happy at all because now I'm forced to take it to a shop .
[QUOTE=Gulen;47878558]Get a diesel then. It'll beat the crap out of the Focus in terms of fuel economy.[/QUOTE]
Diesel commuter cars are really uncommon in the US. The only diesel cars I can think of are old Mercs and newer BMWs. The mercs move at the speed of smell and the BMWs are probably out of his price range.
[QUOTE=Gulen;47878558]Get a diesel then. It'll beat the crap out of the Focus in terms of fuel economy.[/QUOTE]
Diesel Focus? Lol?
The only diesels we have here are new German things, or 300k mile Benz 300SDLs with snapped bowden cables.
[editline]4th June 2015[/editline]
[QUOTE=Del91;47878983]Diesel commuter cars are really uncommon in the US. The only diesel cars I can think of are old Mercs and newer BMWs. The mercs move at the speed of smell and the BMWs are probably out of his price range.[/QUOTE]
Yeah the Mercs are snails, unless if you superturbo it, but that costs more than what the car is worth.
BUT THEY NEVER DIE
[QUOTE=Del91;47878983]Diesel commuter cars are really uncommon in the US. The only diesel cars I can think of are old Mercs and newer BMWs. The mercs move at the speed of smell and the BMWs are probably out of his price range.[/QUOTE]
Volkswagen diesels are common as dirt too.
If you hate performance and fun, get one of those.
[QUOTE=Tmaxx;47879101]Volkswagen diesels are common as dirt too.
If you hate performance and fun, get one of those.[/QUOTE]
The VWs have more pep than the old Benzes, but you better know how to work on either yourself or your ass is grass.
Wooo passed my racing exam!, well not only did I pass for the Club Racing Licence but they thought I had proven myself worthy of a EU racing licence. :v:
Normally you need to have a club licence and participated in a minimum of 5 official events before you can do an exam for the EU licence.
[editline]4th June 2015[/editline]
Start of the exam
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdkCLo3KOyc[/media]
[editline]4th June 2015[/editline]
During practice I had to evade someone who spun out so my wheels blocked, after that I had to drive the entire day on a set of (very old and worn down) semi-slicks that both had a big fucking flat spot on them. Hence why even the gopro footage is shaky as fuck, driving with those tires was horrid
[QUOTE=Tmaxx;47879101]Volkswagen diesels are common as dirt too.
If you hate performance and fun, get one of those.[/QUOTE]
Diesel have more torque than similar sized engines. Torque = fun to drive around.
Get a TDI Golf / Jetta, get rid of the emission stuff, get it tuned / open up the pump a bit. There you go, easy 280HP/400FTLB in a small hatch.
While getting 3-4L/100km on the highway. Not forgetting sounding a bazillion times better than any gas four pots.
[QUOTE=WolvesSoulZ;47879204]Diesel have more torque than similar sized engines. Torque = fun to drive around.
Get a TDI Golf / Jetta, get rid of the emission stuff, get it tuned / open up the pump a bit. There you go, easy 280HP/400FTLB in a small hatch.
While getting 3-4L/100km on the highway. Not forgetting sounding a bazillion times better than any gas four pots.[/QUOTE]
Everything's correct here except holy crap, tiny diesels do not sound better than tiny gas powerplants
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