The Automotive Thread

[knight1fox3]

^ wow! Talk about a bad day!

Ah good old Geo. I also had a Geo Tracker after the Toyota. Rag top, 4 cyl, with front locking hubs for 4WD....LOL. It wouldn't go if we had more than 4 people in it. LOL x 2

 

[envirotex]

My first car (owned by my parents)

My first car (owned by me)

I had that three months, it caught fire and was totaled so I went back to driving my parents car and kept the insurance money and used it as a down payment on a used Mountaineer when I graduated college.

Is that a Saturn wagon? LOL
And how exactly does someone's car "catch fire"? D@mn diplomat.....CHRYSLER FTW!!!

It happens more often than you think...the Mustang caught on fire once, too.

For a while, the ignition was out on it and I had to start it by by-passing it...sometimes that's a little difficult to explain to University police.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Had a friend in HS with a Fiero that caught fire at his girlfriends house. He had snuck in that night for some :eyebrows: and had to fess up when the parents saw the fireball parked just down the street.

 

[snickerd3]

go i get snickette all bundled in her carseat and out to the car to run errands this morning and the dam car wouldn't start...dead battery.

 

[NJmike PE]

go i get snickette all bundled in her carseat and out to the car to run errands this morning and the dam car wouldn't start...dead battery.

I've been getting up in the middle of the night to run mine during these really cold nights to avoid this. **** I'm cheap.

 

[MA_PE]

go i get snickette all bundled in her carseat and out to the car to run errands this morning and the dam car wouldn't start...dead battery.

I've been getting up in the middle of the night to run mine during these really cold nights to avoid this. **** I'm cheap.

Yes you are. I'd use a credit card for the $100 for a new battery rather than go out in the middle of each night to "charge" it.

 

[kevo_55]

Or you can spend $30 to buy a battery tender.

Sine my commute has dropped to maybe 4 miles total one way including drop off for daycare, I fought the dead battery issue during winter as well.

The charger helps.

 

[Road Guy]

Moving to a semi cold environment I am just assuming a new battery every 2 years is part of the experience...

 

[MA_PE]

charger would preclude nightly manual attention but it's a patch. Pull the battery and have it tested. If it's bad replace it. If it's ok then there's a drain somewhere that needs to be addressed. My old 16 yo Buick is outside here in Boston and we've been just as cold (if not colder than) as NJ. It starts every morning no problem.

Mike you have enough crap on your plate. You don't need this nuisance adding to the pile. Hope you get it resolved and get some sleep.

 

[Flyer_PE]

Moving to a semi cold environment I am just assuming a new battery every 2 years is part of the experience...

The colder temperatures actually tend to extend the life of a lead-acid battery. Buy a decent one and you should still get 4 or 5 years out of it. Also, regardless of what the parts book claims, buy the battery with the largest CCA rating that will physically fit in the car. They all float at the same voltage so it won't make any difference to the charging system.

 

[Flyer_PE]

One other thing to check if you have a multimeter and a few minutes is the parasitic draw on the battery with the car shut off. The car should be drawing somewhere in the 5-15 mA range. Anything over 30 mA and your battery will be dead any time the car sits for more than a couple of days.

 

[Ship Wreck PE]

You could always put a few solar panels on your car to charge battery's

 

[Supe]

And Duralast Gold batteries from Autozone rule the roost when it comes to affordable batteries. You can't kill those things it seems.

 

[NJmike PE]

charger would preclude nightly manual attention but it's a patch. Pull the battery and have it tested. If it's bad replace it. If it's ok then there's a drain somewhere that needs to be addressed. My old 16 yo Buick is outside here in Boston and we've been just as cold (if not colder than) as NJ. It starts every morning no problem.

Mike you have enough crap on your plate. You don't need this nuisance adding to the pile. Hope you get it resolved and get some sleep.

The temperatures are trending upward, so this will probably keep me from buying a new one until it either completely dies, or next winter. As a result I haven't been getting up much in the middle of the night except for fire dept calls.

 

[Road Guy]

We usually get that 4 year battery from auto zone I think? However we have been the last people to leave the parking lot at the ski resorts a few times, and when it's 5° and dark I don't mind paying a few extra bucks when your a very long way from home..

 

[Krakosky]

So I'm debating if I should get rid of the pathfinder and look for something else. Here are my issues with pathfinder:

- gets like 14 mpg which means I'm literally filling up the tank every 2 days. I didn't do enough research but thought it got closer to 20 mpg like my escape.

- radio cuts in and out which best buy diagnosed as either the front speaker or amp needs to be replaced. Not a big deal but kind of when you're driving 110 miles per day.

- AC on at full blast and it feels cooler outside than in the car.

I'm torn bc I don't know what to get that will get better gas mileage, still be fun to drive and not cost over $10k. Only paid $5k for the pathfinder.

 

[Road Guy]

Is that a V6? I think I get better mileage than that on the Tahoe and its a V8

you could try new spark plugs, air filter, worn tires are usually the biggest gas mileage "thief's"

as much as I cant stand them the Subaru's seem to run forever and they should get lower 20's in terms of MPG's? There are usually a decent # of them available. but anything at $10K or less is probably going to have some maintenance needs..

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Not much you can do for gas mileage.

Radio fix is only a couple hundred bucks

AC just needs to be recharged.

Overall it is relatively inexpensive to address the issues, but the gas mileage can be a bear.

 

[csb]

So I'm debating if I should get rid of the pathfinder and look for something else. Here are my issues with pathfinder:

- gets like 14 mpg which means I'm literally filling up the tank every 2 days. I didn't do enough research but thought it got closer to 20 mpg like my escape.

- radio cuts in and out which best buy diagnosed as either the front speaker or amp needs to be replaced. Not a big deal but kind of when you're driving 110 miles per day.

- AC on at full blast and it feels cooler outside than in the car.

I'm torn bc I don't know what to get that will get better gas mileage, still be fun to drive and not cost over $10k. Only paid $5k for the pathfinder.

You guys also have the CX5, right? Is there a reason for a SUV/Crossover?

 

[MA_PE]

So I'm debating if I should get rid of the pathfinder and look for something else. Here are my issues with pathfinder:

- gets like 14 mpg which means I'm literally filling up the tank every 2 days. I didn't do enough research but thought it got closer to 20 mpg like my escape.

- radio cuts in and out which best buy diagnosed as either the front speaker or amp needs to be replaced. Not a big deal but kind of when you're driving 110 miles per day.

- AC on at full blast and it feels cooler outside than in the car.

I'm torn bc I don't know what to get that will get better gas mileage, still be fun to drive and not cost over $10k. Only paid $5k for the pathfinder.

You guys also have the CX5, right? Is there a reason for a SUV/Crossover?

agreed. you might opt for a smaller "commuter car" with a much improved mpg. I understand chevy cobalts are inexpensive on the used car markets. We've got a 2009 that's been pretty good as far as not needing mechanical repairs.