Adventures in car shopping. by Fremdfirma

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Adventures in car shopping.

POSTED BY: FREMDFIRMA
UPDATED: Sunday, March 25, 2012 08:24
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012 9:41 PM

Hey, it's a real-world event at least for ME, and sure beats the endless entrenched partisanship, neh?
I'll try to be entertaining, at least.

Well, about a week ago, the Frem-mobile, a 1999 Alero GLS with crummy brakes which was so worn out pieces were ready to fall off, chose to unfortunately expire via sparks, smoke and ominous sounds coming from the Body Control Module - although some desperate attempts were made to revive the patient in spite of chicanery and difficulty getting parts, the poor thing flatlined and went code.
(cue: bugled version of taps)

Ergo, I needed another car - note that I didn't say NEW car cause honestly there's ABSOLUTELY NOTHING on offer I would buy, to hell if I am payin $14-$30K for what is in *MY* opinion make $8-$10K worth of car, max, and nobody sells an actual econobox any more anyways.
And, of course, there's the money, right ?

*sigh*

Which means scalping trade-ins and dealing with shysters and putting up with some beat up hulk trying to baby it along and hold it together with duct tape long enough to get my moneys worth out of it before it goes kablooie... I was NOT looking forward to this.
One of the potentials I found - cause to hell if I was going to drive all over creation and look at these obvious deathtraps one by one, was the death-row of an auction/sale lot for donated cars.
Yes, that means stuff people REALLY didn't want, but I was hoping to maybe bag up something overlooked and underappreciated, maybe get lucky on the high turnover, and they had near forty cars on the lot within my price range, all at once, so I borrowed the ex's beat up Dodge Dakota with no AC and windows that won't roll down (we're holding them in place with suction cups...) and go out into the far off combination of boonies+da-hood up north of Detroit, way up in the badlands where cars go to die.

Come on, you all know them places, a ratty trailer with flashy hand lettered signs drawn often enough in magic marker, some strangely dressed shill of a salesman with a pushy attitude and hard, cold eyes over that big fakeass grin, offering rusted hulks dripping vital fluids over their rusted out, held up by coathanger exhausts, a tired and sad little world I wanted no part of, but, the money, right ?

So we get there, despite my ex's TomTom GPS having some fun with us repeatedly, and I swear that thing has GOT to be demon possessed or something cause it seems to like it too much and go out of it's way to screw with us - my ex's husband has to keep it in hand to keep me from pitching it out the window in a fury when it gives us wrong directions repeatedly, or waits till AFTER a turn to tell us to turn, etc.

Yep, little trailer sitting in the middle of a pretty sad little lot, only the guy out there, who happens to be all ALONE, is struggling to juggle a radio, cellphone and laptop which are all interfering with each other while trying to show people cars and deal with the finance office via the radio in the blazing heat... isn't your typical sales dude but more of a wage slave, and observing him before approach I did kind of appreciate his style, take-it-or-leave-it, or make-me-an-offer, but without the shysterism cause he was obviously not workin on commission.
I took pity on him, being a workin stiff and all, and instead of dragging him along just asked for the first three keys for my B-list set of cars (I had B thru E, cause there was nothin A grade on that lot, or so I thought) and scurried off to the back of the lot to check out the three Saturns they had.

First up, 1996 SL2 4door, dark blue - leaking sunroof (which is what LANDED many of them cars there, a very high percentage of em had exactly this problem), water damage to upholstery, sagging roof fabric, possibly corrosion of dash electronics, it looked a lot sadder in person.
Pop the hood and check fluids, coolant okay, trans okayish, oil black as coal and smelling strongly of gasoline, errr, no - started her just to check and she had a lopey, slippy idle and that was a miss.

Second one, Saturn wagon, looked pretty good, interior was okay - but here's a note, seems Saturn has a real problem with the bottom of the frame at the rear doors, there was SERIOUS corrosion there in every Saturn we checked, usually rusted all the way through with a gouge out of it...
Fluids looked good...
Put the key in and began to turn it slow to check dash response, and small puffs of electrical smoke start coming from the climate control vents immediately, I kinda winced and pretended to ignore that (the Aleros heater and AC ain't worked in YEARS) and started her up, and she ran allright enough.
Noted for later.

Third one, Saturn Wagon, same rust holes, interior is a wreck, oil smells mildly of gasoline, but the real wince was a bone shaking idle I can only imagine was maybe a bent crankshaft or something, serious mechanical problems there, bleh.

So, we turn in those keys, and turn to the C-list, I didn't really want a pickup truck but they were on the list and ya takes what you can get, the money, right ?
Both Ford Rangers are a miss, being stick shift, but two of them and two of the C-list cars look worthy of a closer inspection, one being a Ford Taurus someone had bought, ran like crazy and then dumped, other than the horrendously crummy design, wonky-broken door handles and mirror held on with duct tape, what she really needed was a tune up and a little TLC, despite the mileage.

Now, all this time we've been walking back and forth past this venerable BMW sitting next to the trailer in a kind of forlorn hope out of the way spot, a car too upscale for the usual clientele, wrong style, iffy on the price range and hell on the insurance of someone with a couple issues already, the kinda car they ain't hoping to sell like ever...
BUT, it's price range throws it into the bottom of my C-list, and it's right there so we get the keys to that first to get it out of the way before moving on to the more likely, just on-a-whim, why-not check and go...

Took us a bit to figure out how to unlock the doors, and the sales guy had no idea neither but we eventually did, and then it took us a little longer to figure out how the hell to get the hood up, cause it comes up and forward when you pull the latch and opens AWAY from the car, but anyhows we get her open.
And there is no rust in that engine compartment... hmm.
Check the fluids and they come up all good, check the interior and it's near mint, hell, it's CLEAN - and only the tiniest bit of wear on the upholstery, NONE on the controls, 106,000 miles total.
Someone took care of this thing, good care of it - check the trunk, she's got a good strong battery (that's where it is in this car) a full size spare, plus the original jack and toolkit all in clever places cause of that whole german engineering thing.
Bodywork is clean, four GOOD tires on it, surprisingly - lower exhaust is gonna need replaced, but that's no biggie, not in michigan anyways.
And so we start her up, she comes on a bit rough at first, but settles down nice enough, and it occurs to me that this thing was likely garage kept for some time, maybe started and run a bit but not driven, which allowed condensate to build and rust the lower exhaust like that, and for her age this lady is in some really sweet shape.

So, I call for the test drive, just around the lot cause I can see I ain't pulling him off for a full road test, and he says go right ahead - and I take her out, all smooth, slow and stately.
(cue: Star Trek slow launch and pan with soundtrack from ST:TMP)

Gears, check.
Dash electronics, check.
Heater, check.
Air Conditioning, check.
Controls, check.
Wipers, check.
Power windows, check.

I do a three point turn to check steering, brakes and gear change, all full in the green.
And as I tool around the back lot I think about the chances of ANY OTHER CAR on this lot meeting the standard this old lady just set... um, nahhhhh.

So, I pull it in and tell the sales guy "Lets talk money." and yeah THAT got his attention, so he finishes up with yet-another-bounced-client who's credit is a mess, and we start talking deal, and I toss a nudge here, a nudge there, cause if I drop the bomb on him right away he's gonna kick my ass right off that lot, and so I hedge him down an inch at a time - bear in mind we showed up in a ratty old truck and I am dressed in the low end of blue collar, cause I expected to get dirty being all up in the engines of these beasties, so he's thinkin finance, and finally we come to a fairly respectable offer.

And THEN I drop the bomb.
"Okay, so how about cash in hand, paid in full, right here, right now - that car disappears from your lot forever, sale made, done deal - not your problem any more ?"
And while he's still trying to wrap his mind around that, I throw him MY offer, and he kinda squirms, then passes the buck upstairs to the management in the back office - they hem and haw about it a while, prolly thinkin over their likelyhood of ever selling that car to anyone else, and go "Okay.", and one-two-three I nail down the payment, transfer of insurance (I was concerned, and checked first, but it's only twelve bucks more a month and well worth it), and transfer of ownership.
Bing-Bang-Boom and she's all mine.

And what, you ask, is she ?
1985 BMW 325e - and other than the exhaust and needing a once over, in very fine shape.
Looks about IDENTICAL to this.

And so, along with some further adventures at the hands of my ex's psychotic TomTom, we finally get back to my ex's workplace and pick her up, and then dredge slowly through the rush hour blockade of traffic, with me driving her ABSOLUTELY batshit by refusing to tell her what I got, while going on about how nice it is, cause I am like that, yanno.

We finally get there, weary and worn, and there she is, and my ex is like "Erk? HuhWHA?.. is that even gonna MAKE it back?" and then gets a closer look at what condition it's in and starts plotting to have me bumped off, cause she gets everything when I cap it...

Of course, the nature of the time and place of it's purchase this is obviously an as-is, no guarantee sale, so it's gonna be awful problematic if it don't make it all the way back, and we've not really tested it beyond the minimum - mind you we're going to be following my lead-footed ex, for seventy some miles down the meatgrinder highways of michigan - we're talkin trial by fire here, baby.

The handling and suspension were a bit stiff at first, not having been actually driven in a while, but that sorted itself well enough - cruise control doesn't SEEM to work but the instructions were confusing and maybe I was trying to operate it wrong, and the front turn signal bulbs are blown, but other than that she rocked it - headlights need re-aiming and we had a bit of a nervous moment when we weren't sure they worked or not, since the dash illuminator dimmer switch seems to have a minor short in it (quickly solved by wobbling it a bit) but the difference between 1985 headlamps and todays is quite noteable.
They DO work though, so that's good enough.

And so, next step, mechanical workover and shakedown, but the Frem-mobile II is fully operational.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 1:55 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Quote:
... so I borrowed the ex's beat up Dodge Dakota with no AC and windows that won't roll down (we're holding them in place with suction cups...)

Yuppers. The Dakota shares many parts with the Durango, and the inner workings of the doors and windows are among them. My driver's window is the same way. Harbor Freight sells cheap limpet cups that actually work pretty well, and can be quickly repositioned for drive-thru windows and such...

Haven't read the rest of the adventure yet, but just had to commiserate on this bit!

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 3:31 AM

CAVETROLL

Good find, Frem. the 2.5 liter engine has a good reputation for longevity, power and quiet operation. The only thing you'll have to watch for is the electrics. The good news is, being an '85 they should appear in salvage yards occasionally. When one pops up, take it for all she's worth. Switches and power window motors especially!

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 4:55 AM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello Frem,

Glad you got a good car. Please pay special attention to the electrical. I've had a couple mechanically sound cars kill themselves due to electrical problems.

-Anthony

_______________________________________________

Note to self: Mr. Raptor believes that women who want to control their reproductive processes are sluts.

Reference thread: http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.asp?b=18&t=51196

Never forget what this man is. You keep forgiving him his trespasses and speak to him as though he is a reasonable human being. You keep forgetting the things he's advocated. If you respond to this man again, you are being foolish.

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 7:30 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Mikey - that's EXACTLY what we're using, *and* EXACTLY where we purchased them!
They ought to throw em on sale - "DODGE OWNERS SPECIAL, BUY THREE GET ONE FREE!".

Cave - it's actually a 2.7Litre inline six-banger with Bo-Mo fuel injection, and apparently as reliable as death and taxes.

Also, the cruise control DOES work, I am just incompetent in it's operation, I'll figure it out though.

As for the electrics, you bet, given that's what killed the Alero, yanno ?
(Oh the hilarity that a salvage yard offered me six bucks under it's actual blue book value, and will haul it off for free on top of that)
I went through the electricals, and the only current hitch is a minor short in the dimmer switch, which adjusts the illumination level of your interior gauges when the lights are on, and I suspect that's something a little contact cleaner might take care of - and some of the bulbs are out, but not any critical ones, fog lights, front turn signals (as if people in MI pay attention to em anyways) and I shall have those handled in a pinch, sure.

The big ooky thing besides needing a tuneup is that the exhaust from the manifold to the muffler is borked, and after being quoted some RIDICULOUS prices for it cause that's all one unit, I went and dug through parts catalog databases with the help of my halfsie-AI and came up with a direct match which is less than half that and a performance part besides, and that's shipping out today but will take a bit to get here.

Of course, getting someone to do a tune-up in the motor city area on a "foreign" car is proving a bit tricky, but at least the novelty/classic value of the thing prevents them from snarling at it.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 7:41 AM

CAVETROLL

Cybil Shepherd drove the 2 door version of that in "Moonlighting". about the only car that might get higher ratings for reliability are the Mercedes 300 diesels. Guess what kills them? Electrics.

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 7:41 AM

HERO

Quote:
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
And what, you ask, is she ?
1985 BMW 325e - and other than the exhaust and needing a once over, in very fine shape.
Looks about IDENTICAL to this.

Good car...I prefer my 2011 335i convertable...

I mean its no 740...but I'm on a govt salary and its so hard since I still need my 2010 Wrangler for driving in bad weather.

H

"Hero. I have come to respect you." "I am forced to agree with Hero here."- Chrisisall, 2009.
"I agree with Hero." Niki2, 2011.

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 11:42 AM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

Okay Frem, so that post was amazing. I've never enjoyed reading about car shopping but that was so cool, complete with musical selections and relateable moments. You are second to none my friend.

On Maui in May we named our GPS Jezabelle because she kept trying to screw us over, she tried to send us up to cannibal country once, and there aren't cannibals in Hawaii, but she was that determined. :) Those things are brutal and they're all in league with each other, like Skynet.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 3:18 PM

KWICKO

Frem, also pay close attention to the automatic transmission in that Bimmer. Historically, it's a BMW weakness, but most of real problem areas seem to be with the autoboxes in the 6-, 7-, and 8-series cars. The 3-series should be pretty good, but make sure the fluid is fresh.

Electrics. On the bright side, it's an '85, so there really AREN'T that many electrics, comparatively speaking. On the downside, it's an '85, so the electrics tend to be pretty primitive. Old electrical systems generally fail due to things like dry solder or cracks in the solder. If you're handy with a soldering iron (and I know you are), you can whip even the worst of this stuff into shape in no time. Mechanically, the 3-series from this era are still one of the sweetest-handling cars ever built.

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 4:35 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Ayep Mikey - gonna do the full spectrum lube and tune if I gotta do it my own self, watching the local shops twitch and shudder at the idea made me start thinking plan B anyhow and I got my hands on full shop and service manuals already.

Damned if imma put that Magnaflow exhaust on though, I'll bring em the unit and gaskets, but that poor bastard is STILL gonna put it on for me - we have a kind of smiling antagonism cause he's also the poor bastard I stuck with replacing the Aleros brakes over and over, ain't the money, cause I pay well, it's that I always bring him a pain in the ass job which is GOING to take the full clock time so he doesn't get the freebie, meh heh heh.

And you be surprised at the amount and sophistication of the electrics on the 325e - it doesn't just have an idiot light, nope - it's got a full console which'll do everything but tuck you in at night, will tell you when and why your brakes need replacement, and an overhead panel which not only tells you when something has gone wrong, but what SYSTEM the flaw is occuring in, theoretically.

As far as the handling, yes it's quite nice - by the standards of 1985, in comparison modern cars damn near have autopilot, there's a lot more of an OODA feedback loop involved in driving this thing since it's far less forgiving... you take your hands off the wheel of a modern car it'll mosey along a bit before it wanders off on you, but not this one (note: check alignment) and no fancy ABS, traction control, or even power brakes or steering, which with smaller tires and a narrower stance it may be more of a challenge to drive come winter up here in Michigan... one good thing about the Alero was it's tremendously forgiving handling, super-wide stance and front loaded weight over a set of performance tires, which gave a skilled driver as much or more an edge than the clueless with their AWD, which is NOT 4WD, but no matter, I'll cope - oh, and the embarassingly SMALL windshield wipers, seriously, they look like toys in comparison to the modern massive rain slingers we see today.

It's also got some neat widgetry in regards to the console, the RPM gauge has a second gauge around the bottom that I think tells you your anticipated fuel economy at your current speed - which might be more helpful if it weren't in kilometers per litre - fuel guage is in litres too, but hey, at least it WORKS, which the one in the Alero didn't.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 5:07 PM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

The E30 series BMWs are pretty reliable and there are a ton of them still running around. There's any number of owner forums out there covering most of the issues and outlining fixes. There's even a spec racing series for them. http://www.spece30.com/

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 6:13 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

What IS the difference between AWD and 4WD?

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

Note to self: Mr. Raptor believes that women who want to control their reproductive processes are sluts.

Reference thread: http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.asp?b=18&t=51196

Never forget what this man is. You keep forgiving him his trespasses and speak to him as though he is a reasonable human being. You keep forgetting the things he's advocated. If you respond to this man again, you are being foolish.

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 8:02 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Here's a precis, Anthony.
http://rubicon-trail.com/4WD101/difference_4WD_awd.html

Also, I stand corrected (am reading service manuals, bulletins, yadda) the 325e does have a primitive form of ABS and also a limited slip system I am guessing is a lot like the ole posi-trac, surprising in a car that old, hmmm.

-F

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Friday, March 23, 2012 2:04 AM

KWICKO

The car should have power brakes - vacuum assisted hydraulic, to be more precise. Look for a brake booster and master cylinder to confirm, but damn near every car in the U.S. has had those since '79 or so - even my tiny Hondas!

The kilometers thing sets off a bit of an alarm bell, although it's a low-level one at most. Instruments in KPH likely denotes a "gray-market" car, one brought into the U.S. via other-than-official channels and paperwork. This was not an uncommon thing in the '80s (ever wonder what Tom Cruise's character in "Rain Man" did for a living? He nursed gray-market cars through the federalization process. It was still going on to some degree a few years ago when I looked into bringing in an R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R from Japan and an über-rare Japanese-market Honda CRX "Exclusive", one of 350 built). Gray-market cars used to be kinda iffy, because you were screwed if you needed warranty work or replacement parts ( they usually came with options and engines not offered here, for instance ), but on a 25-year-old car those problems are going to be either nonexistent (lots of aftermarket/used parts now) or very minor issues.

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Friday, March 23, 2012 4:48 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Well there's "power" brakes and POWER brakes, Mikey - I was trying to be less confusing in terminology, since technically it's vaccum assisted hydraulic with electronic antiblocking system...

GEEK!

I *knew* you'd geek out over it, and would appreciate the topic, heheheh.

And nah, the Speedo is in miles, but the fuel and fuel economy widget are in metric, but since it's an analog gauge with a needle it's caveman obvious anyway and even if it weren't it lights up and goes bing bing bing when it starts leaning on empty anyhow - seriously, this thing will do everything but make you breakfast in the morning.

Annd I know allllll about trying to greymarket something, especially these days, we were trying to have a VW Polo Bluemotion brought in, but woulda had to have it shipped to south america and driven all the way through mexico up here, and that woulda been... interesting.
At least it wasn't likely to run out of fuel on us!

Speakin of, that 19-28MPG on this Beamer isn't really worse than modern cars but I'd like to do better, lookin into maybe an alternate chip some people mentioned - I am thinkin about going whole hog on the refitting, since the "performance" parts are cheaper than finding OEM or knockoffs, and so imma likely start by going in deep and replacing the water pump, timing belt, and then outwards from there, distributor cap and rotor, plug wires, plugs, filters and fluids...
And of course the Magnaflow exhaust system, but hell if I wanna beat on, torch and drill rusted out bolts to get the old one off, install new studs and all that rot, so I got someone to do that already, and for the rest imma hire an old UAW grunt who's intrigued by the classic-ness of the car - what convinced me to hire him was that horrified expression he got when I mentioned the mistakes I was concerned I might make if I did it myself, a true car guy he is, so he'll likely cut a deal with me.

With an older car, tis best to do it right the first time, and then keep the maintanence up rather than ignore small problems which'll turn into big ones.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Friday, March 23, 2012 7:50 AM

KWICKO

There was a BMW "e" model back then that was geared toward higher fuel economy ("e" being for "economy" in their speak), but I can't for the life of me remember if it was the 325e or not. Seems to me it was a 4-banger model like a 320e or some such. 2.5-2.7 should be the small end of their inline-6, if memory serves, and that's really one of the best engines ever built. Mechanically, you just about can't kill 'em, and as for the electrical stuff, there's probably either a more modern replacement for just about anything that goes wrong, or a simpler mechanical workaround.

Battery in the trunk, huh? That's novel. My Audi had it under the back seat, which made for fun jump-starts!

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Friday, March 23, 2012 8:00 AM

KWICKO

Oh, and if you can maybe find a cam from that high-economy model, slap it in your engine and you should see much-improved economy, but at the cost of power. Just something to look into. I dumped a Stage 2 cam into one of the CRXs for a while, and had a lot of fun, but had to yank it outta there when I saw what it was doing to the mileage: I dropped to around 14mpg! Sure, the performance was there, and was a ton of fun, but it was drinking gas, and the added performance had me flooring it more just to feel the rush, so that had to go before it got too expensive in fuel and tickets...

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Friday, March 23, 2012 9:36 AM

HERO

Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:
Hello,

What IS the difference between AWD and 4WD?

4WD is limited to four wheels...

H

"Hero. I have come to respect you." "I am forced to agree with Hero here."- Chrisisall, 2009.
"I agree with Hero." Niki2, 2011.

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Friday, March 23, 2012 12:31 PM

WHOZIT

A BMW? Isn't that a REPUBLICAN car!? That's the kind of car a REBUPLICAN drives into town so he/she can piss on homeless people.....it's a fact!

You should have bought a VOLT, they're PC and can brust into flames.....it's a fact!

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Friday, March 23, 2012 12:44 PM

KWICKO

How is a BMW a "Republican car"?

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Friday, March 23, 2012 12:59 PM

WHOZIT

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
How is a BMW a "Republican car"?

Are they not "high end" cars built for the rich and upper class? Have you ever seen a OBAMA 2012 bumper sticker on one?

I bet Rush Limbaugh has a fleet of them.

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Friday, March 23, 2012 2:32 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Yeahhhh, like imma drop a cam in there - okay, while I am zen-master of the two stroke, I don't possess the same level of skill regarding big four strokers, and know well the merits of leaving something alone, lol...

And I wouldn't have minded a Volt, save that I prolly woulda held out for a Nissan Leaf - cause I am kinda the ideal market for an electric car being that the only place I GO any more is the grocery store or downtown - hell, one of the potentials I was lookin at was a used Prius.

But there's the money, yanno ?
Keep in mind I started with a budget of 3K on this for the car, and another 1.5K for repairs and workover, and even with the Magnaflow exhaust on order and the labor to have it installed, haven't even scratched the end of that initial 3K yet.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Saturday, March 24, 2012 3:09 AM

KWICKO

Quote:
Originally posted by whozit:
Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
How is a BMW a "Republican car"?

Are they not "high end" cars built for the rich and upper class? Have you ever seen a OBAMA 2012 bumper sticker on one?

I bet Rush Limbaugh has a fleet of them.

I thought all the rich and upper class were Obama supporters? Are you reneging on the right-wing's claim that Wall Street gives more to Obama than to any other candidate?

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Sunday, March 25, 2012 3:38 AM

KWICKO

Quote:
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:

Yeahhhh, like imma drop a cam in there - okay, while I am zen-master of the two stroke, I don't possess the same level of skill regarding big four strokers, and know well the merits of leaving something alone, lol...

Bah - it's an overhead cam, yeah? Heck, it should be a dual-cam design, which gives you even more room to play with things. Intake and exhaust cams, fiddle with settings, you can decide when and where in the curve your power and torque come into play. I was running that came on a 16-valve SINGLE-CAM Honda engine (they had this thing about trying to do the work of two cams with a single one in order to save weight...), and the power was hitting like a hammer to the back at around 4500rpm. The theory behind that was that, if I wanted to just take it easy and tool around, I could keep the revs down and get good mileage, and if I wanted it to really get going, I could make it scream. Great idea in theory, but I spent all my time above 4500rpm, bashing into the 7300rpm rev-limiter more often than I'd have liked, etc.

It's a pretty easy way to get either more performance or more economy, or if you really tune it well, BOTH.

Quote:

And I wouldn't have minded a Volt, save that I prolly woulda held out for a Nissan Leaf - cause I am kinda the ideal market for an electric car being that the only place I GO any more is the grocery store or downtown - hell, one of the potentials I was lookin at was a used Prius.

Volt and Prius make more sense to me, logistically, than the Leaf. Why? Range. The Leaf pretty much isn't going to go more than about 150 miles before needing an overnight charge, which makes even a short road trip kind of a no-go, whereas the Volt and Prius aren't range-limited in any real way. You can keep on going, you just won't be going on battery power alone; the gas engine will be doing the bulk of the work.

My biggest gripe with the Volt is that it's made by GM; have you even known them to get things right in the first year or two of production? I'm reminded of the Corvair and the Fiero, which by the time they were finally killed off, had really become pretty good cars, but were hopelessly hamstrung by the failings and fiascoes of the early production models, and never recovered. I worry about the reliability of the Volt, and I worry more that by the time GM works out the bugs, the car's reputation will already have been made, and it will be a bad reputation that can never be overcome.

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Sunday, March 25, 2012 8:24 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Well there it is again, I don't drive much anymore - remember I have to stay close to my "lair" in order to avoid triggering a potentially fatal relapse of that neuro-whateveritis, yes ?

Ergo the largest round trip I am likely to make is about 63 miles total, and average about 14-18 miles, and that maybe once a week or less - I do a lot of assist-by-remote, via telecom rig, so as long as someone on the spot has one it's almost as good as being there.

As for GM, feh, since when have they ever did ANYTHING right ?
From early production fails to trying to sell SUVs to people who wanted econoboxes, to deliberately SABOTAGING their alt-energy programs, I suspect the Volt was an accidental success despite repeated efforts to screw it up...

See, I know someone who worked directly in the supply tiers of GM during that time, they would roll out a program to get government grants, while siphoning off as much as they could without drawing too much notice, and deliberately screw the project vehicles up in order to MAKE them fail, cause if they pulled it off then there goes the free money tap, not to mention infringing on their incestuous relationship with Big Oil, right ?

One they had was getting a little too close to successful, so they resorted to, under the guise of "reducing weight" put in a fragile driveshaft, I think it was freakin aluminum or something, and put it under massive torque on purpose, which caused it to all but explode and damage vehicles on the parking lot - bear in mind that if they HAD NOT done that and killed the project, that woulda been a light truck with a performance hybrid capable of near 70mpg and outpowering even the currently existing ones.
But no, GM never *wanted* such programs to succeed, like the EV-1, any time they had a hope of doing so GM shot them in the back - you could say that the worst enemy and best competition GM ever had, was themselves.

Again, the demise of Oldsmobile was effectively suicide, IMHO
Too bad GM didn't go with em, and boycotting them didn't work cause then they went wailing to the Gov, which gave em all our money anyways and we didn't even get the crummy car!
Thus: I am pretty sure that the Volt was designed EXPRESSLY to fail, on purpose.
Hell if I would want one, that's for damn sure.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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