Used to take my car to the shop when something was wrong. A while back it was getting slower to crank, and a quick battery test at the shop showed the battery was going bad. It got me thinking I could learn to check a few things myself before booking it in.

Bought a topdon bt100 battery tester after that. I use it to check the voltage and charge level, and compare the estimated CCA with the rating on the battery to get an idea of how it's holding up. I’ve also got an AstroAI digital tire pressure gauge, but that's pretty much my whole tool collection so far.

I'd like to get a few more tools and learn to handle some other small jobs. Is there anything else I can do myself?

I've always wanted a AWD BMW B58 like m340i. But I'm a cheap ass. I been waiting for used prices to crater like BMW usually do and it ain't happening cuz everyone likes B58/ZF8.

I want AWD, powerful, easy to mod (a bit nothing crazy), reliable. And "somewhat cheaper than B58". So far came up with RS3/Golf R, Audis, and these Hyundai's.

The EA888 has annoying water pump issues. And both RS3 + Golf are smaller than I prefer. Used Audi's seem to be a combo of unreliable, hard to mod, and expensive to maintain. I might as well just get a BMW instead.

So how reliable are G70 3.3T and Stringer GT? Are there any other similar cars I'm missing? I normally wouldn't touch a Hyundai but I figure these have been around long enough to know if they're junk.

Hey everyone,

My partner and I recently purchased a new vehicle and now we have 3. We are looking to get rid of one of them.

First vehicle: 2020 Hyundai Kona SE Trim 2.0 Liter (non-turbo) 4 cylinder AWD ~50,000k miles. The engine was already replaced under warranty at ~22,000k miles.

Second vehicle: 2013 Mazda 3 Hatchback i-Touring Trim 2.0 Liter (non-turbo) 4 cylinder Front-Wheel drive ~107,000k miles. No major services in it's history.

Both have had routine maintenance.

Which one will last the longest?

Thanks

I’m curious as to what is the longest amount of time people have waited for car parts to arrive after placing online orders? I placed an order for a bucket seat through a pretty reputable website/company in June, and as of right now, the website still says they’re “awaiting shipment”. I didn’t really bat an eye at first, considering I emailed them in August asking for an update, to which they disclosed the estimated arrival to their shop was in September. But yeah, their website still says Awaiting Shipment. Is 5 months a fairly long time for something to still be “awaiting shipment”? I completely understand that this is out of their control, so I don’t mean to be a Karen. I’m genuinely just curious is all

Basically the title. I know GMA still makes cars that fit this description. I'm curious about if there are many others? Bonus points if its a FR layout.

Edit to include cars already mentioned:

1. MX-5 Miata
2. BRZ Twins
3. Mustang GT
4. Caterham 7
5. Porsche GT3
6. Wells Vertige

When driving, I hear a loud bass like noise from inside the car, you can't hear it on the outside. It's really loud and obnoxious. Any idea what this could be ?

I’m thinking about adding a separate dashcam to my car Model Y cuz the built-in footage looks a bit blurry at night. Looking at the specs, a four camera setup seems like it would do better at night.

What do you guys think of vantrue? With Black Friday coming up, I saw the N5S for $300 way below its regular price. It has STARVIS 2 and infrared night vision. Would I need to buy anything else, like a memory card?

Hi all!

Im not sure if this is the right place to post this but I couldn't find any other sub so here it is.

I am a complete beginner at driving. I go out and practice with my dad sometimes. However, I am not improving at driving in any way.

I hope I can get great advice to improve my driving.

1. I cannot recognise how far the other things on the road are from the driver's seat. For example, if I see a pothole, I try to go left but that is exactly where the pothole is 🫠. And also I cannot determine how far the car is from the other cars and if im actually in the lane completely or half and half lane.

2. I dont understand reverse at all!!! It's very tricky i keep messing up where the steering should be turned.

3. And common sense on the road?? Like o cannot think fast, keep panicking and cannot relax at all.

I hope I can get great advice especially for my first issue and any other things i should know while driving. Thank you.

2025 elantra has a clean title but one accident history. The claim was made of 15k$. Apparently, the collision insurance payout covered the previous owner’s remaining loan balance of around $31,000, but the dealer doesn’t know the full accident details. Carfax says right front corner accident.No full details . Car is still eligible for extended warranty
The price seems good but I’m worried about hidden damage.
Any advice for this vehicle should i buy it or no?
Thanks for ur time.

Hi, I'm trying to buy parts for my suspension. I drive a 93' 90 cs Audi. I don't want to be bothering my very busy mechanic so I want to ask you all instead! I'm not well versed in cars so, some help would do wonders for me right now!

I'm buying separate parts rather a whole strut assembly for my suspension. What I'm confused on is the shock bearing plate insulator and shock mount. I use rockauto and it lowkey made me really confused the way they labeled it. They look like the same thing so, I was wondering if they actually were because some say they have bearings?? I was also wondering if all plate insulators come with bearings or if I need to look for one that does. I'm just very lost, so I apologize if this made sound dumb, lol.

Hi i own a 2018 elantra bought a year ago
With 130K kms on it

It showed me some problems with timing belt a year ago but was fixed by the dealership who sold me the car

But now it developed timing chain and sprocket issue got that fixed but still needs a vvt valve

Costed me around $2K for repairs

I was just wondering if the repairs are gonna cost me this much and is it a good bet to keep the car or to let it go
Machenic says everything else is fine

But i just got insecure about the future repairs
What do you all think of that?

Hello people!

I’m looking to maybe dig into an old truck to use as my daily driver. I have a 2023 f150 that I bought as a tax write off for a very lucrative year in 2023 but my wife uses for the kids more than I do and it’s too nice for farm work. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Assume im a COMPLETE amateur. I usually sell my vehicles at 100k miles to avoid maintenance costs but I just moved back to my family “farm” now that the kids are starting to walk to get a change of pace

there's a 1978 Plymouth Volare on sale in my area with a Magnum 318 V8 and a 727 3spd Automatic with 3700 miles, seller claims its a barn find and those are original miles. Clean title and registration, has original wheels in the trunk and "new true 1967 aluminum slotted mag wheels" on it with new tires right now. New battery, all fluids changed per seller's statement.

Asking price is $2000.

The car doesn't start right now and it needs a new starter. The owner doesn't mind if I bring and install a new starter before buying it. In his words car was driving and working well before the starter went out, has a video of it.

The body is in rough shape, the vinyl top layer was removed, there's a layer of surface rust under it. Some little rust holes on the body, but nothing from what I saw is going inside through the body. Nothing crazy on the frame either. No roof liner, the interior other than that is actually decent given the state of the car.

Now this is going to be my first project car if I pull the trigger. I am handy and do all routine stuff to my cars myself and posses a decent collection of tools, nothing for heavy work though, like getting the engine or trans out and such.

Is the price ok for this car? Should I even consider it? I am not having any fantasies about restoring it to a collector's item condition and then re-selling it. I only want to get it mechanically sound and occasionally drive it here and there. I don't care about the body at all and with time I could learn to tackle some body stuff after I am satisfied with the mechanical part.

From my home work I understand these cars are one of the "shittiest" cars ever made by mopar and they were a head ache even new. Are plagued with rust problems and all sorts of gremlins. But there are also mentions of the '78 and above years to be a bit better.

Will greatly appreciate any insight or wisdom!

https://imgur.com/a/h5T2VZo

Looking to replace my 2003 Thunderbird with another convertible. My mechanic says he’s no longer accepting any cars 10 years or older for repair work (he made an exception for me because I’ve been a customer for so long, but it blew head gasket). Def want another convertible, but not too pricey, and hopefully reliable. Any advice??

Posted here on Reddit a couple weeks ago asking about a used ID.4, and you guys pretty much convinced me to go electric.

Quick recap: I'm a new grad moving to Seattle, buying my first car in the US. I mainly plan to use it on weekends. Skiing in winter (Stevens, Snoqualmie), sailing, biking, groceries, and a couple of road trips. I'd keep it 1.5 years, maybe 2. Oh and I found out my building has an EverCharge Level 2 charger in my parking spot and the electricity is included in the rent. So charging at home is free. That kinda sealed the EV thing for me.

Problem is, now I found these options and I can't really pick one:

• 2023 ID.4 Pro RWD, 35K miles, $18,838
• 2024 Polestar 2 Long Range Single Motor, 19K miles, $18,800
• another 2024 Polestar 2, same config, ~$19K

Same money, and the Polestar is a year newer with almost half the miles??

Honestly, my heart has already kinda picked the Polestar. I love cars that are fun to drive, and from what I read the Polestar looks and drives sportier, it has more physical buttons than the ID.4 at least, and a lot of them have the panoramic roof. I have an XC60 back in Europe and I love it.

What scares me is the trunk. It's smaller, and between skis, boots, backpacks and stuff I don't know if it'll work. The bike isn't really a problem, worst case I put a tow hitch on it and get a bike rack. Does anyone know how much that would cost on a Polestar 2? Dealer only or can any shop do it?

Other stuff I'm not sure about:

• both are RWD. with good winter tires is that ok for the passes or am I gonna regret it
• ground clearance on the Polestar for the forest roads to trailheads, problem or not
• anything specific to check on a used 2024 Polestar? recalls, software, known issues

Also all three are out of state (CA, GA, NJ) so I'd have to ship it or fly there, idk yet. If anyone knows a good place around Seattle for used ones let me know.

Hello, I own a 2020 honda civic hatchback with 8.5k miles on it that I bought brand new and is paid off. Recently ive been wanting to drive more, go camping, travel etc which as you can tell by the miles i have not done much of. Ive had trouble driving the civic in my area because we have flooding, severe rain, snow, wind, bad weather ect and i feel like the civic doesn't handle it well (or maybe im a bad driver, cheap tires?). We also have a family place that I would like to visit more often that is down a dirt road that i think the civic would not be able to make across with how low it sits.

I was originally looking at 4 runners but for the price it looks like a used lexus gx460 (17-23') would be the better deal and handle better than a 4runner would without the "bouncy" feel. My friend also owns the same lexus model in that year range and loves hers.

I want something midsized but with 4 wheel drive that i can car camp in that handles weather better and wont drown in 3 inches of water. The civic also has really nice features (heated seats, blindspot monitoring) and i dont want to downgrade if possible (but dont want the surveillance of brand new either). While I would prefer something under 28k I calculated it and can handle 38k or less.

I think I could maybe get 18k for my car trade in because its a more rare color and I see them going for 25k used same trim with way more miles than mine, but maybe that is unrealistic with how dealerships are. I see a lot of advice on here about people running the wheels off their paid off cars/civics but I dont think i can afford two vehicles/dont want to do maintenence/insurance on two. I would be doing a loan for whatever remaining balance isnt covered by the trade in.

Would this trade in be a dumb financial decision? Should i keep the civic on its own and deal with/accept its shortcomings and camp with it anyway or keep as a second vehicle? I do still really like it outside of the weather issue and theres nothing wrong with it maintenance wise. My dad thinks I should get a second vehicle 4wd truck like a 1995/2000 which sounds like a money pit to me not being person who knows or wants to know how to work on cars (sorry).

Thanks

I recently launched TrueCarSize.org

It lets you compare vehicles side by side from different angles to see how their sizes differ.

I’m still expanding the car catalog, and you can request vehicles you’d like added.

It's my first website prohect! I’d appreciate any feedback or suggestions for improvement. You can also report bugs directly through the website!

Why in the world do we need touch screens? They're dangerous!

I wanted to buy a newer Corolla, But I hate that they have the equivalent of an iPad sticking out of the dashboard blocking a portion of the windshield.

Somehow, automakers decided they need up-to 50 computers talking to each other to make the vehicle run and drive!

And if something goes wrong with them, Sometimes the dealer can't even figure it out!

I'm a big fan of knob, cables, and switches, And being able to work on my own vehicle.

I miss the days of being able to buy a reliable vehicle that I don't need a scanner worth thousands of dollars to tell me the computer for my left $5000.00 tail light can't talk to the ECM and let the car start and run...

Hi everyone! I drive an 08 Volkswagen Jetta, it’s honestly in pristine condition aside from the fact that recently one of my rear passenger doors just won’t lock! Sometimes it does, most times it doesn’t. I noticed because my car stopped beeping when locking and I later realized it only beeps if all four doors lock. Any recommendations?

hi yall, I have a 1968 Chrysler that I just put a new battery in but it’s about to get really cold where I live and I won’t be driving it for the next few months. should I remove the battery and store it indoors due to the cold temperatures at night? or would it be okay to leave sitting for a few months, i will likely not be starting the car at all for a while.

if I should store it indoors does anyone have storage recommendations i dont have a garage. it’s an AGM battery.

I have a 2007 Audi A4 2.0L turbo 4cyl (136,000 miles). It blew grey/clear white smoke. Had a lot of mechanics say it’s a lot of issues but it came down to the head gasket change and suspension needs fixing. Is it worth fixing? Or do I consider buying another car?

hey looking for some advice. i am pretty set on an older subaru cross trek or outback for now until i upgrade in a couple years (will have a better job etc).

after much negotiation, the dealership offered me $12,500 CAD for a used subaru outback 2011 at 167,000 km including taxes, fees and 2 years of warranty for non-cosmetic issues. basically the car would be $8,800 CAD and the warranty / fees etc would be the rest.

carfax is clean - one minor fender bender.

head gasket and timing belt have not been replaced yet but i assume will need to be soon. i am planning on selling after the 2 year warranty expires and upgrading to something else. i really love the car interior and exterior and the tires / AWD. any opinions on the price of this “deal”?

needing some options because had to borrow a coworkers old jeep that doesn’t have heat (or ac) in an emergent situation and i won’t be able to get that fixed for a week. it’s cold in pa and i work mornings. please help😥.