The Car Care Thread

[Sunnyhorse]

Holy cow, was this on Mrs. Topher's Mercedes? My condolences.

[topher]

Yep. Frickin special high performance tires too.

They did give me a cool loaner, a 2006 Mercedes C280 fully loaded.

Enough of my whining now.

[lpatrice]

Why did all four tires have to be replaced? I don't get it. Not very car savvy over here.

[spider]

2) Getting a nail through a sidewall with a all time 4 wheel drive, requires replacement of all 4 tires.

Been there. Done that. Twice. Stupid AWD.

Does anyone have any experience with Tercels? We are looking for a super cheap relaible weekend driver to go on some trips, won't be a daily commuter. Tercels seem to be pretty cheap used, be available in stick (highly desired) and be pretty reliable. Any comments?

[topher]

Why did all four tires have to be replaced?

With all wheel drive, you have to have the same wear and ratio on all four tires or you risk ruining IIRC the gear box of your all wheel drive.

[lpatrice]

Thanks. That sucks. I hope you get everything taken care of okay. spider I don't know much about Tercels, but if you are looking for a good weekend car, might I suggest a Toyota Corrolla. Those are great cars; it is like a cheaper version of the Camry (and the Camry is like a cheaper version of the Lexus).

[hobocamp]

This is from a while back, but this:

We bought our first ever brand new car two years ago it's a PT Cruiser and we love it.

Not to freak you out or anything, but my mechanic told me that PT Cruisers are basically Dodge Neons under the hood. And Neons are notorious for being pieces of shit. I had to replace the engine on mine at 50,000 miles because of leaking head gaskets. Chrysler paid for half of it, though because it's typical to the brand. There's about a million other things wrong with it. I hate that stupid car.

[pathtaken]

My hubby's truck broke down recently and the tow guy told him stay away from Chryslers and Dodges, as that's all he ever tows around here.
We are looking into getting a new to us vehicle.
I didn't know about the all wheel drive/tire thing. Something to definately think about when looking for a car. Anybody else have any hints?
I almost have hubby talked into a minivan. He hates the idea, but we have 3 kiddos, 3 dogs and elderly relatives to cart around. Seems like a no brainer to me but he feels he'll lose his "cred".

[topher]

he feels he'll lose his "cred".

I mock any man driving a mini-van.

[deadduck]

Beauty Topher. My friends once said I would be the first to own a mini van out of our group of five. I am the last. Probably just because of that. I hate mini vans.

Of course this morning, I would have preferred anything to my car with the dumb ass flat tire, and the stripped bolt (of course the last one I tried to work on). Arrgghh. Never thought I would wish for an electric wrench, but today...oh yeah would have loved it. Especially at 530AM.

Tire shoppin' on the weekend for me!

Edited because I hate mini vans not my friends.