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I think I've run out of time to buy parts on Rock Auto to work on my car this weekend. How do local auto part stores generally compare for common components on common vehicles, in terms of price and availability?
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Oct 25, 2023 15:01
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The closest thing to a "consistent" rule I've found is that NAPA will be priced slightly above the rest, with worse hours and fewer locations, but that may be regional. Autozone, OReilly, and Advance/CarQuest all tend to be interchangeable for me, with who is actually cheapest varying on the individual part, sometimes by a little, sometimes by a lot. Also inevitably much more expensive than Rockauto, Amazon, or Summit.
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Oct 25, 2023 16:13
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IOwnCalculus posted:The closest thing to a "consistent" rule I've found is that NAPA will be priced slightly above the rest, with worse hours and fewer locations, but that may be regional. Edit: ok so the wheel hubs are half as much on Rock Auto, so those can probably wait another week. Jack B Nimble fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Oct 25, 2023 |
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Oct 25, 2023 16:18
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mobby_6kl posted:My Fit is using bolts like this to hold the muffler flange: The flange and shouldering helps keep the spring in place. You can definitely give it a try your way, but I’d look for some kind of hardware kit. I’m not sure what’s available in the UK, but Walker Exhaust 35129 looks decent.
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Oct 25, 2023 16:42
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nitsuga posted:The flange and shouldering helps keep the spring in place. You can definitely give it a try your way, but I’d look for some kind of hardware kit. I’m not sure what’s available in the UK, but Walker Exhaust 35129 looks decent. Thanks! I found some that are the exact Honda p/n and aren't  each so let's see if they show up before the exhaust does
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Oct 25, 2023 17:32
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IOwnCalculus posted:The closest thing to a "consistent" rule I've found is that NAPA will be priced slightly above the rest, with worse hours and fewer locations, but that may be regional. This might just be a location-level issue, but lately I've had a 50/50 shot at actually getting items listed as In-Stock at Autozone. Apparently their inventory is wrong and they just don't have the thing. I've all but written them off in favor of the other options listed here. At least for anything other than the on-shelf basics.
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Oct 25, 2023 18:21
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I call the store and ask them if it’s in stock. If not I call a different store. Rinse repeat until I either go there or buy it online
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Oct 25, 2023 20:25
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Is there any way to find out if my newly-purchased car (2016 Honda Fit LX) has a hidden cellular modem in it and if so how to disable it? I'm 99% sure that it doesn't, because it has an old-rear end head unit with no navigation and also none of the manufacturer's remote tracking and remote start stuff supports this model, but I wanted to be sure.
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Oct 26, 2023 21:23
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going off my car, a tape deck adapter will loudly conduct interference of any cell device in the same zip code e: real answer is probably something along those lines though. finding something that's transmitting means setting a receiver up to listen and log and driving around with your phone at home. finding something that isn't transmitting regularly means looking through the wiring for anything that looks non-oem. dealing with something that is neither transmitting nor patched into the car's electrical system means stripping the whole thing to the sheet metal, then seeking mental health resources Cactus Ghost fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Oct 26, 2023 |
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Oct 26, 2023 21:27
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AI Stupid Questions Thread - Seek mental health resources
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Oct 26, 2023 22:43
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Well, I shouldn't have said "hidden", I mean just some OEM cellular radio phoning home about god-knows-what which isn't any of the manufacturers business. The same crap that newer cars use to enable app integrations and such.
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Oct 26, 2023 23:24
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To find an unknown transmitting device radiopassively, you'll need to: - Know or guess the frequency the device transmits on and listen to that frequency OR - Scan through all frequencies and hope you can find the desired signal from all the others in the air OR - Use a frequency analyzer and hope you can distinguish the desired signal from the others in the spectrum. The cheapest frequency analyzer I'm aware of is an RTL-SDR for about $35 on Amazon. If you're certain you're looking for a device that uses an American cellular wireless network, that narrows down the frequency possibilities.
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Oct 26, 2023 23:35
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Sapozhnik posted:Well, I shouldn't have said "hidden", I mean just some OEM cellular radio phoning home about god-knows-what which isn't any of the manufacturers business. The same crap that newer cars use to enable app integrations and such. Wait til you hear about real-time monitoring and reporting of vehicle performance (OBM) (still unimplemented but already in Euro 7 regulations)
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Oct 26, 2023 23:55
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Then we see cars covered in tinfoil. Time to buy stocks in alcan and Alcoa.
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Oct 27, 2023 00:00
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Sapozhnik posted:Well, I shouldn't have said "hidden", I mean just some OEM cellular radio phoning home about god-knows-what which isn't any of the manufacturers business. The same crap that newer cars use to enable app integrations and such.
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Oct 27, 2023 00:20
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Len posted:We've got a 24 hr-v and I would like to get seat covers for it. We have a baby on the way and while I know everything I have is going to end up stained in some way I'd like to prevent who knows what from easily soaking into the seats. I bought universal neoprene ones from AutoZone and they fit terribly so I returned them. Some of the first few Google searches turn up coverking and suggest ordering from Costco where it's cheaper than direct but I figured I would ask in here for suggestions before slamming money on the first thing Edit: Installed. I just got an old F150 from work, and I got coverking seat covers for it. I'm installing them this weekend, I'll grab pics. For what it's worth, they were cheaper on the site for the ones I wanted than they were on the costco site by like I paid $244 for these shipped. I'm incredibly pleased with how they turned out. The only thing I don't like is the cover on the middle console/jump seat back. I'm probably going to go get either a grey or black piece of vinyl for that, but it's a bit too loose and bulky and the door doesn't shut well when the cover is on. It's not installed in the below picture. I also replaced the driver's side seat foam. I kind of ruined the factory covers even moreso then they already were, so I'm glad these worked out as well as they did. Old:   New 
AFewBricksShy fucked around with this message at 23:26 on Oct 27, 2023 |
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Oct 27, 2023 16:39
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sleepy gary posted:AI Stupid Questions Thread - Seek mental health resources
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Oct 27, 2023 19:17
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I found a place with my dream car, a 2010 Honda Fit, but it's 277k miles. Would it be worth it to buy it for $3,700? It's the only way I'd ever be able to afford it.
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Oct 27, 2023 23:30
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Beef Eater posted:I found a place with my dream car, a 2010 Honda Fit, but it's 277k miles. Would it be worth it to buy it for $3,700? It's the only way I'd ever be able to afford it. There's nowhere near enough information here to say yes or no and you probably yourself don't have the requisite info. Any car that cheap with that many miles on it, it almost doesn't matter what model it is, you're going to have a bunch of issues inherent to just that one vehicle from it's extensive history of repairs and stuff. A pre-purchase inspection by an unaffiliated mechanic (not the seller's friend) is mandatory for basically any purchase that isn't from someone you know, and will tell you a lot about the condition of the vehicle. I wouldn't say a 277k mile (446k km!!!) vehicle is really worth it ever. Is that your max budget? You're likely to have to spend about the same amount on anything with that mileage within a couple years minimum. Cheap cars are actually insanely expensive, stressful to own, and disruptive to your life as they fail bit by bit.
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Oct 27, 2023 23:41
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So there exists like six adapters left on the planet for my  Mopar 1946 inline 8, the guy who has them says it adapts to a particular bell housing.quote:Any post-62 A-LA bell will fit including the AX15 and the Getrag 238 6-spd Apparently he has a 238 he can ship with it... Is there a preferred transmission here? My I8 has a horrendously heavy (250-300+ lb) two speed semi automatic transmission but want a more modern transmission
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Oct 27, 2023 23:58
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VelociBacon posted:There's nowhere near enough information here to say yes or no and you probably yourself don't have the requisite info. Any car that cheap with that many miles on it, it almost doesn't matter what model it is, you're going to have a bunch of issues inherent to just that one vehicle from it's extensive history of repairs and stuff. A pre-purchase inspection by an unaffiliated mechanic (not the seller's friend) is mandatory for basically any purchase that isn't from someone you know, and will tell you a lot about the condition of the vehicle. Fits are known to be pretty economical and reliable, but it still does not seem like a good deal at that price. In my market (Denver) another $1-2k will buy you something with almost half the miles; I am not big on dealers or having a car payment but I'd probably be looking at financing something in your situation.
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Oct 27, 2023 23:59
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VelociBacon posted:There's nowhere near enough information here to say yes or no and you probably yourself don't have the requisite info. Any car that cheap with that many miles on it, it almost doesn't matter what model it is, you're going to have a bunch of issues inherent to just that one vehicle from it's extensive history of repairs and stuff. A pre-purchase inspection by an unaffiliated mechanic (not the seller's friend) is mandatory for basically any purchase that isn't from someone you know, and will tell you a lot about the condition of the vehicle. My max budget is $5k. Haven't been able to find better cars in the range yet. I did find a 2014 Mitsubishi mirage for only a couple hundred dollars more with about 110k, but afaik they're much less reliable. Ethics_Gradient posted:Fits are known to be pretty economical and reliable, but it still does not seem like a good deal at that price. In my market (Denver) another $1-2k will buy you something with almost half the miles; I am not big on dealers or having a car payment but I'd probably be looking at financing something in your situation. I don't like borrowing money. Would it even be worth it after paying the interest? Beef Eater fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Oct 28, 2023 |
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Oct 28, 2023 00:16
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Beef Eater posted:My max budget is $5k. Haven't been able to find better cars in the range yet. I did find a 2014 Mitsubishi mirage for only a couple hundred dollars more with about 110k, but afaik they're much less reliable. It depends. A big thing in buying a car is determining how much you can afford (and should spend). That includes not just the car but all the ancillary expenses like insurance, fuel, taxes, and upkeep. We don’t know enough to answer that question. Investopedia has an article that might help here: https://www.investopedia.com/how-much-should-i-spend-on-a-car-5187853 If you have a steady job and decent credit, financing is an option. You pay for it, yes, but a newer more reliable car has its merits. You should consider getting further advice in this thread: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3213538
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Oct 28, 2023 00:35
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I'm not saying you should buy that Fit, but if you do, you for real need to take every penny that remains of that $5k budget and put it somewhere to spend on that car's inevitable repairs. So that five thousand needs to be real money you actually have, and can for certain set aside for repairs and not spend on something else once the car is purchased, because like others have said you are absolutely not done buying that car once you've put down the $3700. All that said, I will say the Honda Fit is one of my favorite "modern" cars, so I applaud your taste. But really, pay attention to what others said about the stress of a car that breaks down little by little; it's soul crushing to have the car you need to go to work and live your life constantly fail - once you lose confidence in it you're going to be miserable.
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Oct 28, 2023 06:05
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VelociBacon posted:A pre-purchase inspection by an unaffiliated mechanic (not the seller's friend) is mandatory for basically any purchase that isn't from someone you know, and will tell you a lot about the condition of the vehicle. "mandatory" is probably excessive here but it's always a good idea if you can swing it. the less you know about cars in general and that model in particular, the better an idea it becomes. the less you can afford to blow the money involved on a bad deal, the better an idea it becomes. and regardless, even if you dont do it pre, you should always do it post e: he says having driven a 19 year old used car for a month already without having it inspected. it's still a good idea, i just dont always do good ideas
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Oct 28, 2023 07:13
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Lmao I went into an Advanced Auto Parts and an AutoZone and neither of them known what a dust cap is or could order one. And Advanced auto parts wanted to charge me shipping on the spindle nuts. I'm in your store!! I was polite to the sales people but nah, no, nope. I'll just order on Rock Auto and do the job next weekend.
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Oct 28, 2023 18:51
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Personally I find driving old cars to be relaxing compared to a new, expensive car because it's an old cheap car, I don't have that much invested in it and beind older and cheaper I can have a much cheaper insurance, just a basic traffic insurance with towing and windshield coverage for 300€ a year. Being old enough I don't need to take it to expensive dealer service but the local shop where I have a guy I know and trust to not screw me over. I also find an older car to be easier to work on at home and have been actually buying older cars, not newer ones as time goes on. I haven't found the cars I've driven to have been unreliable and most of the cars I buy are old cars, never stopped on the road, but. But I've kept to reliable japanese brands mostly and I have looked at them carefully before buying, including a documented service history. I try and get the lowest mileage specimens possible too. The answer depends a lot on the car. If it was for example a Volvo V70 diesel from the mid 2000s I would say that car probably would likely do twice the miles yet without needing any major engine service. In this case it's one particular car, a 2010 Honda Fit and I don't know anything about that and in my book a 2010 is even a quite new car... It does have a lot of miles on it for a gas powered car and I personally wouldn't buy a car like that for 5000. But I don't know what the market is like there but it is likely worse. For 5000 you could get the same car with half that mileage here. I can't even find a honda fit with that high a mileage for sale here. I would be skeptical to that particular car personally, but based on my own situation and what cars cost in my region.
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Oct 29, 2023 07:41
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FWIW the E36 (1994 MY) I paid $3500 for with 140k miles in 2012, and still own at 195k, felt a lot older at the time than a 2010 car would feel today. My mom drives a Mercedes from 2007 that she has babied to an incredible degree and it still feels quite new and up-to-date to me, although I know “intellectually” that it’s almost a 20 year old car. The same thing can be said about a lot of (tangentially related) products, like computers. A decade-old computer today holds up a lot better than a 2003 machine would’ve felt in 2013. People are excited about the idea of a Nintendo Switch 2 having performance on par with a PS4. Cars have gotten more expensive, the cost to develop them has gone up commensurately, economic and technical trends have ebbed and flowed, and the result is that an industry that used to churn through 2-3 major design shifts in a decade now routinely sees cars go 10-15 years between chassis redesigns, etc. Also two recessions in ~12 years. Maybe it’s also me getting older, but *things* today don’t look all that different from *things* a decade ago, whereas stuff in the 90s looks radically different from stuff in the 80s and 2000s. None of that is to say that a first generation Honda Fit with almost 300k miles on it is a good buy for similar money, but it doesn’t sound like a glaringly ~bad~ buy to me either. 277k is a lot of miles on a used car though, and getting something with even 100k less might be worth an extra grand or two to me. trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 10:43 on Oct 29, 2023 |
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Oct 29, 2023 10:35
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You can learn most how to do a pre purchase inspection from a few YouTube videos- I have a physical checklist I go through whenever I look at a vehicle. Not only is it good for letting you know when to walk away (nearly bought a Prius yesterday until I found some milkshake under the oil cap - bad head gasket, expensive repair) but it’s handy for negotiating a lower price on stuff that will need fixing. His Divine Shadow posted:Personally I find driving old cars to be relaxing compared to a new, expensive car because it's an old cheap car, I don't have that much invested in it and beind older and cheaper I can have a much cheaper insurance, just a basic traffic insurance with towing and windshield coverage for 300€ a year. Being old enough I don't need to take it to expensive dealer service but the local shop where I have a guy I know and trust to not screw me over. I also find an older car to be easier to work on at home and have been actually buying older cars, not newer ones as time goes on. This was definitely me (had an AUD500 Starlet that lasted me 4.5 years, then a $2500 Yaris for 2.5 before I moved) - owning a cheap, reliable car is a very relaxing, zen like experience. No way to get soaked for thousands in repairs when you can just hit the reset button! Cheap beaters just don’t seem to exist in the US anymore though; just scrolled past a 13 year old Corolla with 300k miles on it, asking price USD3800. What the hell?
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Oct 29, 2023 14:10
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Cash for clunkers destroyed the US used auto market for low end/older cars.
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Oct 29, 2023 15:08
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Mr. Nice! posted:Cash for clunkers destroyed the US used auto market for low end/older cars. I saw a 2002 Taurus on the road the other day and it was like seeing a unicorn A very, very tired unicorn
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Oct 29, 2023 17:01
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Mr. Nice! posted:Cash for clunkers destroyed the US used auto market for low end/older cars. Feels like a directed act of class warfare.
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Oct 29, 2023 17:08
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Beef Eater posted:I found a place with my dream car, a 2010 Honda Fit, but it's 277k miles. Would it be worth it to buy it for $3,700? It's the only way I'd ever be able to afford it. Here's my 2c as an owner/operator of a $600, 20 year old Fit: it's a great car but being old/worn out, stuff will break and will require replacement. Other than what was already broken when I got it, the alternator failed, a few weeks back the muffler fell off, and the brakes or something are making weird noises almost the entire time. The good news is that everything is super cheap and pretty simple to replace. Like the muffler is $40 and an aftermarket alternator was about $100. They may not last 20 years like the OEM ones but who cares. So you need to be ok with that mentally and financially, and ideally be able to DIY some of the work, then it'll be fine. There's some guy on the Fit forum that got his to like 600k so you can follow his posts to see what it's like to live with.  https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-generation-ge-08-13/95731-400k-09-fit-build-thread-18.html Ethics_Gradient posted:This was definitely me (had an AUD500 Starlet that lasted me 4.5 years, then a $2500 Yaris for 2.5 before I moved) - owning a cheap, reliable car is a very relaxing, zen like experience. No way to get soaked for thousands in repairs when you can just hit the reset button!
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Oct 29, 2023 22:34
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I survived as a young man starting out by owning 3-5 cars at a time. Between 1984-93 I churned through at least 20, and I paid between $0-$700 for each one. I bought cars that looked like crap on the outside but were usually clean & intact inside. I had to get pretty good at snap diagnoses because I had to be able to fix whatever was wrong with it for a reasonable amount of money. I made liberal use of salvage yard parts, including wear parts like starters and tires. I pocketed hundreds of fuses. I haven't bought glass fuses in 35-years. This system meant that I always had a running car and rarely got stuck. When one broke it could sit until I fixed it. Insurance as noted, was cheap, and who cares if it got dinged in a parking lot. Good example: '72 Buick Electra 225 4-door hardtop.  Ran like a dream, rode like a cloud, and the A/C worked. Everything worked...but it looked like poo poo, with a big buffalo dent in the driver's door and rust eating the hood & trunk. I drove it until the bumper fell off, then transplanted the 455 & transmission into a '69 Cutlass convertible.
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Oct 30, 2023 01:33
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PainterofCrap posted:I survived as a young man starting out by owning 3-5 cars at a time. Between 1984-93 I churned through at least 20, and I paid between $0-$700 for each one. I bought cars that looked like crap on the outside but were usually clean & intact inside. I had to get pretty good at snap diagnoses because I had to be able to fix whatever was wrong with it for a reasonable amount of money. I made liberal use of salvage yard parts, including wear parts like starters and tires. I pocketed hundreds of fuses. I haven't bought glass fuses in 35-years. Love a deuce and a quarter. One of the largest cars ever made.
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Oct 30, 2023 01:39
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look at this hot piece of goon (play this over the background): https://youtu.be/6yYchgX1fMw?si=xl1P_icfdX-MkFW5
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Oct 30, 2023 02:06
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One thing about old vehicles is unfucking PO fun. Not sure if this really qualifies, but I have a '65 Ford Econoline pickup. The engine it came with was one of three inline sixes of either 170, 200, or 240 cubic-inch displacement (the earliest ones, '61-'64, could have a 144. I can't imagine.). By the time I acquired mine in 2021, it had a 250ci powerplant that came out of a '78 Fairmont Futura. (which means that when I order engine parts, I have to order for a '78 Futura or Granada. Body/chassis wear parts can be Econoline, Mustang, F-100 pickup, or Falcon) This past week, it developed the issue of running like poo poo above 2000-RPM. It always seemed a little raggy/unbalanced a high RPMs, but I chalked it up to me not tuning it up. It ran fine, so that was at the end of a very long punch list. An old-fashioned major tune-up: Replace: fuel filter spark plugs wires cap rotor points & condensor Adjust: point gap / dwell plug gaps Valves (if so equipped) engine timing carb mixture (if necessary, and always last) I found out when trying to order a cap & rotor that the '78 Ford engines all had electronic ignition. My engine has points. Whomever swapped out the engine, took the valve cover and the distributor from the 1965 engine & plonked them into this one. So, in addition to the mish-mash above, I have to order distributor stuff for a '65 Ford I6 and set the plug gap for '65, because the plug gap is much larger for electronic ignition. The problem, by the way, was that the rubber diaphragm in the distributor vacuum advance unit dry-rotted after 50+ years, and would hold no vacuum / advance the points plate. It explains the raggy-rear end 'unbalanced' feel at high RPM. It was probably working partially, and just fully expired this month. Miraculously, they are still available for $30 PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 05:18 on Oct 30, 2023 |
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Oct 30, 2023 05:14
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Dr. Lunchables posted:Love a deuce and a quarter. One of the largest cars ever made. I had a '72 coupe for a few years right out of high school, sky blue with a white vinyl top. Power everything. It absolutely ruled.
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Oct 30, 2023 13:08
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The four door is only three inches longer than my Mark V. I feel like personal luxury cars of the malaise era are becoming rarer. I don’t see nearly as many at car shows anymore.
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Oct 30, 2023 13:37
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I'm thinking about taking a cordless grinder and/or sawzall to a pick-n-pull to carve a rust free rear quarter panel out of a donor 04-08 Grand Prix, as this is the last winter I think I can let mine rust to poo poo before it gets beyond hope. Are there any videos anyone could recommend about the dos and do nots about this kind of thing? Ideally I'd want to take the panel that I can-opener off of a donor to a body shop and let them do their thing with it, thinking that by having this panel already I'll be saving some amount of money. Or is that just an unnecessary step for what will be a stupid expensive job that they can take care of regardless, and should I even bother going through the hassle?
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Oct 30, 2023 23:19
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