Long story short here, my FIL was a Corvette guy. Was in old Corvette clubs and owned several. When he passed away last year his Vettes went to the dudes in the family despite my wife growing up in them too.

So I'd like to put one in the garage. Something nasty that I don't have to work on without breaking the bank. And yeah there's so much space out here that I'd have a blast driving it.

There's some many differing opinions on them though that its a bit overwhelming.

speed and cheap are rarely seen together LOL

What’s a “buyback” title mean on a car?

https://www.billluke.com/inventory/u...UFlgeihwQcG4rZ

I think I have seen that in a news article.

The dealer bought it back because of some manufacturing issue and the buyer turned it in. Almost like it was bought back because of a lemon law. May also have been sold somewhere else at auction.

Shame-it is a beautiful car.


The slideshow tells about it too.

Yeah, usually a lemon law issue.

So who would want to buy a car like that now?

Maybe-if they gave me unlimited bumper to bumper

and a car fax

Some states have laws that if you take it back for the same item 3 times and it's not fixed then it fall under a lemon law. Sometimes it's just a bad dealer... The car fax should state what the service issue/issues were so you could research the severity.

It depends on what the issue is. Cars get lemoned for all sorts of reasons, and the dealer/manufacturer has to fix the issue in the end. There are definitely deals to be had.

Sold my Chevy II last saturday. Now ive been used truck shopping. Kind of crazy how trucks get more expensive in texas, a little less near me in Ok and are significantly cheaper in MO/KS then much cheaper in iowa and nebraska (but also probably have some rust to match that)

You sell it someone local?

No a couple out of weatherford texas. They are a good home and as dumb as it sounds im glad they bought it. They race and altered alcohol fiat, a vw bug with a 355 then some kind of rail dragster. They wanted something that was street legal they could do some drag and drive stuff with. I took it for its last spin and got a little emotional. I hadn't really got to dog on the new 496 but man it ran nice for me.

My second cousin owns mid mo chassis shop so im on the look out for a future builder. My car was just in a weird spot where it was too outdated to be competitive without serious upgrades but too much race car to really enjoy as a quality driver.

Bought a cheap gas f-350 the other day to pull a camper/winter truck. Picked up some fuel wheels and 35s really cheap. But the black wheels have brake dust in the black powder coat (assume it’s pc). Anyone know a way to polish/clean black wheels? If they don’t clean up it’s not a big deal I’m 9700$ into the truck, leveling kit and wheels and tires. But not a fan of dirty looking wheels lol. I may just powder coat them all black if they don’t clean up.

Alright... i have a question.

I have a 2016 ford fusion with the ecoboost engine. It's not really my car, but the car my wife drives. I personally put 10 miles a month on it. It's under 80k miles total.

Today while trying to avoid getting ran off the road by a semi truck I had to peg the accelerator and when i looked back to flip the trucker off i noticed a pretty big cloud of smoke.

Now i parked and let it idle, no smoke. No smoke while revving when parked. No burnt oil or coolant smell has been detected coming from the exhaust. The fluid levels seem fine from the last time they were topped up and/or changed.

Is this a sign of something getting ready to fail or just a one off thing from blowing the cobwebs out of my wife's grocery getter? I'm getting everything from cracked head, to bad turbo, to the air fuel ratio being off.

Anyone have any idea?

No engine codes?

Nah nothing. Car seems fine otherwise.

Air/Fuel type things would certainly throw a code. It's a turbo, you say?

Maybe oil remnants in the turbo caused by a possible leaking oil line, over filling etc.

Totally guessing of course.

I'll research that. I believe i can reasonably rule out a blown head gasket/cracked block type problem. But i don't want the turbo to fail either and some people online say that can be a problem with these things.

That sounds expensive and Bob Dole doesn't need this.

It's a FORD so you should already be in fix or repair daily mode.

You'd think you could get more than 70k miles out of the pos before the turbo starts to shit out.

I don't know why, but I'm fully expecting the worst with this. I should just go trade it in before it starts clunking.

The YouTube channel Just Rolled In has left me irretrievably traumatized over the stupidity of car owners and my wariness of buying used skyrocketed.

https://youtu.be/1VOlWxdyTxY

A lot of times, when a turbo car isn't driven hard on an occasional basis, a small amount of oil can pool up in the intercooler.

It causes no problems. When you pushed the engine in that situation, it is possible some of that oil got blown up and through the engine, causing the smoke you saw.

It may sound strange, but it can be beneficial to occasionally push the car a little harder. Used to be called an Italian tuneup.

That is called "WOT", wide open throttle. From what I understand, most cars should do a WOT every once in awhile. Get the RPMS up for 30 seconds. Blows a bunch of crap out of the engine and helps.

I try and do that when ever I remember:)

Its fine

My wife drives like a grandma so yeah, the pedal never touches the floor with that thing. I would say it probably hasn't had any highway driving in a month or so.

Also, I'm obviously no mechanic and internet searches on car problems tend to lead you down the worst path.

One time occurrence is likely nothing. If it keeps up, maybe.

I'm gonna keep an eye on the oil level and see if it's just cobwebs or if something is leaking and go from there.

I've just had terrible luck with medical bills/car problems/house problems in the past 18 months. God only knows how much I've spent.

They did at least have the courtesy to circle the problem. :D

In the old days it was possible to push some oil past the head gasket at maximum output. It didn’t do it at parked because it wasn’t using any power.

Since it’s a turbo I’m guessing it’s a tiny bit of lag in the spooling of the turbo. Asshats with diesels tune them to do that on purpose because they think it’s cool to “roll coal”. I can’t think of a dumber thing to do, but it happens.

Keep an eye on the things you said. Listen to the turbo when you pull onto the interstate (It will take power to do it, not just idle RPM). If it’s a good consistent whir, it’s good. If it sounds rough or inconsistent, drive it straight to the dealer.

My guess is it’s good.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck with bills.

Someone here needs to buy this 1998 Viper.

https://www.autolist.com/dodge-viper...ER65E2WV400416

Toyota 10000 dollar truck that will never be available in the USA.

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2...mobility-show/

Id be all over one of these. Like an old land cruiser kewl truck an more practical than a Gator.

https://www.motortrend.com/uploads/2...ound%7C875:492
https://www.motortrend.com/uploads/2...ound%7C875:492
https://www.motortrend.com/uploads/2...ound%7C875:492
https://www.motortrend.com/uploads/2...ound%7C875:492

I know we have a few BMW owners here so how much truth is it regarding how much more expensive BMWs are to maintain than most car brands? Car prices have come way down especially on luxury brands. I have noticed that many 4-5 year old BMWs have a good sticker price likely due to leases turning over, so this luxury market gets flooded with cars these ages. Most cars in this age range are 50-60% depreciated from their cost new.

Is the low up front cost not worth repairs coming its way? BMW doesn’t seem horrible with reliability but specialty parts make any repair or maintenance expensive?

Looking at 430i sedan FYI

I don't own one.. but you know what my business is.

BMWs are a 100% no touch from me. Would not let my family touch one, wouldn't recommend one to my friends. Literally, when looked at in the realm of quality/maintenance/cost of ownership, the absolute worst brand you could buy.

Not only are they more expensive to maintain, they are not quality cars. They WILL fail sooner rather later, somehow. Then you get to pay extra extra to get them fixed because the parts are expensive, they come from Germany, and nobody wants to work on them. The shops and people that do, charge a premium because of the tools and knowledge needed, and because they are the pain in the ass.

Also, they smell like crayons.

Why do you think everyone leases them?

Just picked up a ‘66 Ford Bronco. Needs some love

My daughter had a 335i for a few years. Maybe we got lucky but it was pretty worry free.

Loved my 3 series BMW until the warranty was up. Every time something broke it was at least a grand. Once it reached 100,000 miles it broke down every month.

I did quite a bit of research before buying my first one, without really having a preference towards BMW, Audi, etc. In other words, I wasn't desperately trying to convince myself to buy a BMW over any other fast car.

I drove American made cars in my teenager years and 20s, with 3 cars having pretty shitty outcomes and being undrivable under 100k miles... including a shredded transmission at 80k miles on a Chevrolet. So, the only thing I was trying to talk myself into was a foreign made vehicle of some kind.

Reliability.... everything I read that wasn't anecdotal basically leaned towards how freakin' reliable a brand like Toyota was versus lumping in a bunch of car makers after them...... meaning, the number of major mechanical issues across many vehicles (including BMW and Chevrolet) wasn't crazy significant. You get down to like Jeep and a few others that are significantly worse.

I think for purchasing a BMW, look at how long the engine has been around... of course there's more variability with issues when you buy the newest engines out there and not one they've been making for years.

Cost.. yeah, the few things I've had to purchase (or someone's insurance had to purchase) are expensive. Once had a rear view mirror ripped off and it was like $600 to replace. Someone rolled into me at a stoplight once and I believe their insurance had to pay several thousand because of all the sensors and stuff in the bumper.

Longevity... I personally haven't taken one to 100k+, but it wasn't due to the worry of future issues or anything. I sold one at ~55k miles that had zero issues and have ~20k milles on another with no issues.

Lease vs buy vs new vs used... I know you're looking used anyway, but all the research I did pretty much washed out. I think some believe leasing is always the way to go because of outdated mantras of buying depreciating assets, but capitalism says if one was clearly always better than the other, the economy would adjust.... and it has. Thinking about the warranty of a new car, driving it in its best years, trade in value, etc.... I did quite a bit of math and one was never the clear winner. Buying a less expensive used car obviously helps get you into one, but if you want it for the long haul then driving the first 50-70k miles is worth it.

Overall... there's a reason people spend the extra money on them. They're ****ing awesome. I'd personally splurge on an inline 6 if I were you (I test drove a 3 series and the turbo lag was too much for me), but the transmissions are silky smooth, the power vs efficiency is superior, the ride is superior, the interior is nice, etc. I miss the V8 rumble of the last Chevy I owned, but that's pretty much the only thing I miss about it.

We have a 2009 3 series that we had built to order. It has been one of the best vehicles we have owned. It has been maintained religiously by the dealer which I say is key to having a trouble free experience. I can't complain for a 15 year old car that has been paid off since 2011. I did recently have to have the rear struts replaced that pushed $1500 dollars to replace but I looked at it like, meh, 3 car payments.

Sorry, thought I put the link on this post. CarFax link is on there too.

https://www.bmwnorthscottsdale.com/i...j1c56kbm11998/

Bump

:thumb:

Guys,


There was a thread going on a few months back where I think HCF was looking at buying a new truck and a lot of topics were discussed, including how much you should try for an initial bid and how the salesmen use some kind of 4 square thing to sucker you.


I've searched and searched and I can't find the thread. Can any of you help me?

???

https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/show...php?p=17409077

Yes! Damnit, why wouldn't my searches turn that up? Grrr

This post is old as shit, but somehow I'm just now noticing it. Anyhow, if this truck was available in the USA I'd definitely buy one. It would be perfect for hauling from the lawn supply store, home depot, etc and would be great for me to take on fishing trips.

I just took delivery of my M8 Competition tonight! I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

One of the guys that worked for me had one.

Took his ass to gapplebees too~

Damn bro. Those cars are ****ing awesome. Hopefully you got something better than the white.

It's white. I LOVE white.

White always looks clean to me. Congrats.

Just now getting to getting the front worked over.

Looking at some Viking Dual Adjustable coil-overs or QA1s in the front.

Here's my worry - I took it to a guy that specializes in wheels and says he's a full service shop (I want the wheels replaced still; never have done it) but I want the suspension re-done before I re-do the wheels as they'll change how all that fits.

I mean god almighty, the questions and answers this guy has had for me are TERRIFYING. I mean "remind me again what a coilover is?"

So I walk him through it. "I'll get with my supplier".

Calls me a week later and says "Yeah, i got 'em..."

So naturally my question is "Well WHAT did you get?"

Guy doesn't know the brand, the spring weight. I ask him if they're dual adjustable or single -- "Okay, so you want them adjustable?"

Dafuq? Dude, i've spent an hour with you going over concerns with wheel well clearance and wheel width and why I want these adjustables for the purposes of stagger and all this shit. And you ask me THAT?!?!

I ask him how heavy the springs are and I could've been asking him to explain particle physics. I'm just like "uh...450 lbs? Does that sound familiar? 350? 550?"

"Yeah, I'll ask my guy..."

I think I need to get my car back from this dude. I don't think he knows his ass from a hole in the ground. I think all he really knows is how to put 20 inch rims on slammed caddies and turn them into hooptie low-riders. Because from what I can tell, he doesn't know at all how to deal with a muscle car, despite the fact that he has a 67 camaro actually sitting in the front of his showroom.

I'm just dumbfounded by this. God dammit, why can't I just find someone who can order me some 15 inch old-school GM rallye wheels through his own wholesaler so that IF they don't fit, he can return them for wheels that do? That's it! That's all I want! I know what wheel I want, I just don't know how to figure a necessary offset with the disc brake conversions and the drop spindles that may/may not create issues with the tie-rod ends.

I'm not some ****ing numb-nut that went in there not knowing where the gas cap is. I didn't just lead you to water, my guy. I led you to lake ****ing Michigan. How can you not know ANY of this?

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck this is aggravating. Why can't my good ol' boy shadetree mechanic just start doing wheel work so I can give it to him?!?!

I'm giving this guy a week tops before I take it to Mitch. He can do the suspension work and can probably measure the clearances, etc... I'll order the damn wheels online and if they don't fit, i'll figure it out. At least he won't end up putting shocks in upside down or something. I'm absolutely terrified this guys gonna go in there and try to cut something to fit and I'll end up with frame damage or something insane.

Leave your car and credit card with me for 2 weeks. I will get you hooked up

Run.

Yikes, dude. Yeah, get the car out of their ASAP. This is simple shit you're asking that any competent fab shop should be able to handle. If you don't, you're gonna end up paying double. Paying him to **** up your car, and then paying someone else to fix his **** ups and get it right.

We deal with this shit at our shop all the time. Matter of fact, we DENY cars at times based on WHO did the previous work, because we know what we're in for. We're gonna end up being the assholes who have to tell dude that everything he paid for, we have to junk, on top of the added time and aggravation of undoing the **** ups.

WTF do you mean, "Do you want the coil over adjustable?" LMAO bro....if it's not adjustable, it likely aint a coil over. Does he not know what that term means?

And for wheels, i have diagrams for my customers to help them measure their own backspace. If there's nothing uniuqe about the suspension, i can get on the phone right now and have an answer in MINUTES as to the suggested back spacing for your Camaro. That's just....no....

As far as suspension goes, i am a wholesaler for:

Rod & Custom
Ride Tech
Control Freaks
Global West
Total Control
....and i have access to several more through my 3rd party warehouses....


Im an American Racing/Wheel Pros dealer as well, among others.

If you got questions, HMU and im happy to help. As you know, i deal in classic Fords/Mustang, not Chevy's. But a lot of these wholesalers are the same.

'bout to drive this mother****er to your shop...

Yeah - "You want adjustables?" was about the damndest thing I've ever heard. He coulda just asked if I want my water wet and it wouldn't have puzzled me any more than that.

Playing phonetag with my guy Mitch and if he's willing to take it, I'm getting it out of there. I just can't wrap my head around that answer.

Do you know of anyone that sells the standard old school 5-slot rallye GM wheels but made of aluminum? Looks like BG Rod Works does, but the widest I can get in 15s is a 7 inch and that won't hold 265s on the back. I think I'd have to go up to 17s in back and that's too much offset, IMO. Will look a little strange.

It looks like American Racing Vintage might do something like that but i think they only go down to 17s. And I just am not dealing with fender rub up front anymore. And I'd like to get to 15s so I can put more sidewall in there (ride and cosmetic purposes).

https://www.americanracing.com/media...height=&width=

Essentially this. 15" or 16" and in aluminum if possible. If I have to go steel, I will - they're just not as good.

I'd almost rather nut up and spend the money on the damn 2-pieces than go steel, but we're talking another $2K to do so for wheels that don't really require a 2-piece setup to look how I want them to.

Ugh...So irritating.

I can take a look. Quick note though:

Stay far, far away from 16's. That's a big nope. Tire manufacturers just aren't making them. They make tires for mainstream, modern cars. Most of which are 17" plus. Most of your options for a decent tire is going to start in the 17" range. Most of the 16" options out there are truck tires.

I know Classic's like the 15's, but even with 15's your tire options are pretty limited. You'll have several decent tire options in 15". You're gonna create yourself a NIGHTMARE if you put 16's on it. Once you move up to a 17", everyone and their mama makes a tire for that.

And yeah, if you wanna send me that diagram, I'm in.

It's a fairly basic 10inch disc conversion in the front that measures a hair under 12 inches across the disc to the caliper. I'm almost positive a 15 will fit over that easily so then my only worry is the tie rod end and the drop spindles - i.e. do I need to be worried about backspacing or can I just throw a 7 inch wide wheel on there and call it good? That should be an interior diameter on most wheels of around 13 inches - should be clear there IF the tie rod end doesn't have issues with travel that mess it up. I'm a ****ing lawyer, mechanic guy, I don't have the answers to you there. That's YOUR job.

So dammit man, just get out a measuring tape and tell me what to buy. This should not be at all difficult. I put in some Global West uppers so so that should be able to buy me a little more space here and there. None of this should be remotely complicated to figure out. I'm just dumbfounded.

This guys been in CoMo for 20 years. Like...WTF has he been doing all this time?

Thankya.

Looking at plain ol' BF Goodrich Radial TA white-letter tires.

This ain't a track car. I mean I guess it could be if I put a quadralink or some other floating rear in it, but I'm not doing that. I don't take it out in the rain. It's a 'drive 2k miles a year when the weather is really nice' car.

So the small wheels with the beefy sidewall was what I was looking for. If I'm stuck at 17s it opens my options up a lot, but that's not the classic look I was hoping for.

I'll stay away from the 16s though.

Backspacing absolutely matters, not just for clearances but also for an appropriate look. You dont want wheels that are too sucked in or stick too far out. And yes, most 15" wheels should clear a 10" disc brake.

Yeah that's pretty much the "go-to" when it comes to 15". Probably your top option.

I went down this road back in the day with my car. There aren't a ton of options. You aren't likely going to find many 15" aluminum rally wheels.

I think 17's will look fine as long as you get the backspace right and don't go too low profile on your sidewall it will look more like a 16". If you run a super short sidewall it will ride worse and look a little off.

https://thewheelsmith.net/wheel-catalog/rallye-wheels

https://www.visionwheel.com/wheel/47.../?finishID=101

That's kinda why I want to get the suspension work done first.

I don't THINK I need 550 lb springs up there; small block (383) so it should ride nicer at 450 lbs and I shouldn't have to worry about too much dip.

That's when I get the fender rub - nose drops and the sidewalls rub inside the fender wells. If THAT all gets resolved and I can take the bounce out of the car, I can fill those wheel wells up a little more and not be worried about the fender rub anymore.

But right now I need to keep spring buffers in the damn things just to keep it from rubbing. Which is probably because the thing has NINE inch wheels up front. Which just floored me when I finally got to measuring them.

But ultimately that shouldn't be the biggest problem IF the springs are in fine shape. I can make the wheels 'proud' up front and shouldn't have to worry about that rub. ESPECIALLY with the dual adjustable coilovers. But I just don't trust this guy to get the right length/weight springs at this point. And the idea of getting the right wrenches and actually adjusting those things is going to be completely foreign to him.

Yeah - I gotta get my car back, don't I?

Ugh.

Wait what? On a basically stock front end? I assume the front of your car sits pretty high then?

Edit: Also you probably only need single adjustable coil overs, double adjustable up front seems a waste for what you are trying to do. You just want to be able to adjust how fast they compress., not the rebound I doubt. I have a Pro Touring font clip and a 4-link and only have single adjustable on all 4 corners.

Thankya sir - slowly getting to this conclusion as well.

Looking at the US Wheels Rallye 57 series (the pictures have that domed cap but you don't need those on it).

Plenty of size options and gives the look I want. Just aren't aluminum. If they'll stay true with ordinary driving, that's probably fine. I just hear horror stories about those thing being poorly manufactured, etc... and steel wheels never being truly 'round'.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/U...MaAjC1EALw_wcB

Well it ****ing does NOW.

Like I said, had to put spring boosters in it. Which is what I'm trying to get away from to get the stance of the car corrected.

It's also possible I didn't measure right - I set it on the ground and stuck a tape through it after I took the wheel off. I measured to an eyeballed outer lip and I think I did that wrong - looks like I am supposed to measure right inside the lip. So maybe 8s?

Still too dang wide.

But Detox is right - where it's sitting in the wells isn't actually that big a problem - it's a standard look. If I went narrower but with an offset that still put the wheels out there near 'flush' it's going to rub still (just have less wheel inside the well). But then it's just a matter of working on sidewall height until I get it right - or again, adjusting the coilovers as needed.

And this is still way better than it was before I put the new Uppers in and was able to rake it al forward a bit to create a little more clearance. The front end of that car has always been a bit of a mess.

Those will work but you will be limited on backspacing options so you might have to stay pretty generic on tire size, which likely wont be an issue for what you want to do.

I ran cheap steel rallye wheels on my car for years and years with no issues.

Agreed that I don't need doubles. Vikings are cheap enough (and I wasn't finding singles for them) that I figured 'why the hell not?'

But yeah, that kinda gets back to the conversation I wanted to have with the mechanic. Tell me what you can get, my guy. And what you're familiar with or have had good experiences with. Then we'll walk through it...

Vikings are a great coil over btw. Kind of the industries little secret. They're popular and cheap. I know two suspension manufacturers who use them. One of them switched off QA1's for them as standard equipment for their kits.

Yeah - a couple executives from QA1 left and formed their own company.

They look REALLY good. As soon as I saw them I started doing a little digging on them and was like "Yeah, I think this is the route to go..."

I'm >< close to just buying them online from UMI and just calling it good. If this guy doesn't know shit from shinola, what do I care about what his distributor says? He's probably not going to understand what he's being told anyway...

If i were DJLN i'd run 17's. They fill up the wheel well almost perfectly while finding that happy median between sidewall and rim.

Again, not a camaro guy so not totally sure, but they're the preferred rim size here at our shop for the Mustangs. A little more on the "pro-touring" side than classic muscle car, but goddamn it's so much easier to find tires for them and they do a good job of eliminating excess wheel well space, giving the car that lowered look without actually being lowered.

Can you recommend a hybrid SUV?

I'm down to the following three:

Toyota Rav-4

Honda CR-V

Hyundai Tucson

The 24' CR-V is my least favorite but Honda's reliability make it a contender, but it sure is ugly! I understand the 25' CR-V is getting a better body and so that could change my perspective.

The Hyumdai Tucson is intriguing to me but will it be as mechanically reliable as the Toyota Rav-4?

If I HAD to pick TODAY I'd probably play it safe and pick the Rav-4.

Any advice?

https://media.tenor.com/7YvxCDaYBs0A...ot-my-boss.gif

Problem is, it had 17s on it. And the low profile look that was STILL getting rub.

And so if I put 17s on it and this suspension stuff DOESN'T fix the problem, I'm back to boned. I suspect with the suspension work, I can get the stance I want with 17s, but if I get a rub, all I can do is go back to low-profile and I really don't want that.

They weren't rubberbands on there by any means, but it was, as you noted, definitely a more pro touring look. I honestly can't remember the sidewall height now, but I know I wanted more rubber on there. And going to 17s isn't going to allow that in all probability (unless, I guess, i made the wheel more narrow and brought it inside the well more, which I wouldn't mind. Y'know...if the guy that runs the Classic Wheels store would actually have this conversation with me at some point....)

Well hell, Detox - here's how it looks now:

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/pictu...pictureid=1595

Less wheel, more tire. But it does seem to be a bit proud in the front. I love where/how the back sits. Just want to get that nose down and not rub (it's presently higher than it is in that photo).

here's what I want it to look like:

[IMG]https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/pict...pictureid=2455[/IMG]

Damn. As I look at the photos side by side, I think the drop spindles are a problem.

My nose may be legitimately a bit too low for that look.

Cant see your images.

Odd. They're both from the CP album.

Wonder if posting a direct link would work

https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/pict...pictureid=1259

https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/pict...pictureid=2455

Ok.

Fine.

Yeah idk, even clicking the links i just see a blank screen.

DaFace, fix yo shit!

I can see those. Red and Silver Camaros.