Wasn't today, but last week I got an oil change plus state inspection and emissions inspection, and no repairs needed for $180 total at dealer prices.  Not too shabby for a 10 year old German car.  (granted I did replace the front brakes and an air strut this summer)

Mmmm- no inspection fee 'cause: no inspection. :D
Oil change is about $75 for 10 qrts and a big filter (I do 'em).

No state inspection here either and my oil change will be about $30 and that's actually probably what I'll do on Thanksgiving because we'll have a nice weather day, about 55 degrees. 

10 hours ago, balthazar said:

Mmmm- no inspection fee 'cause: no inspection. :D
Oil change is about $75 for 10 qrts and a big filter (I do 'em).

What do you mean when you say "big filter"? Do you use another filter with the same threads and gasket that's just larger? If so, why? 

No- I 'grew up' on smaller, car-sized filters. AC PF47s and such- about the size of a balled fist. This is about a 1 qrt filter, WIX 7202. Not sure offhand what my recommended change interval is, I only get a 'change oil soon' message if it runs that long, but that's only happened once (when I didn't reset it). I change it around every 6000 miles. With 10 qrts & a 1 qrt filter, it should be a nice long interval.
EDIT :: just looked it up: recommendation is 10,000 miles.

Edited November 21, 20187 yr by balthazar

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

 

What do you mean when you say "big filter"? Do you use another filter with the same threads and gasket that's just larger? If so, why? 

I use a bigger size filter.  The OEM size filter is kind of small for the engine size and amount of oil. I realize that manufacturer probably engineered engine and filter with that size in mind but I change oil about every 10k miles (a lot of highway driving) and I think a little more surface area in the filter for extra cleaning is not going to hurt.

Plus, the extra size filter I use in my car is the OEM size in my wife's car that has same engine displacement.

Edited November 21, 20187 yr by ykX

Got the guys in the mechanical shop to change the earl in the Compass.  Turned over 32k miles this week.  Ordered my oil, engine and air filters from NAPA but they sent the wrong air filter.  Mine wasn't too dirty, so I sent it back.  6 quarts of 0-20 synthetic.  This Fiat Jeep takes the thinnest earl of any vehicle I've ever ownt.

Sold it.... CR-V is finally gone.

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Sold it.... CR-V is finally gone.

What did you replace it with????

1 minute ago, dfelt said:

What did you replace it with????

More room in the driveway. 

Albert's dad isn't allowed to drive anymore, so we'll be taking his Cruze until we decide what we're doing.  Albert and I either drive together to work or he takes the bus, so a second daily driver isn't super important for now. If he gets a new job he is going for, that will change things.

20 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Albert's dad isn't allowed to drive anymore, so we'll be taking his Cruze until we decide what we're doing.  Albert and I either drive together to work or he takes the bus, so a second daily driver isn't super important for now. If he gets a new job he is going for, that will change things.

Which one would you keep as a second car, Cruze or Encore?

Cruze will be. I only expect it to be with us until April once bonus gets paid.

It got a L-O-F at the dealer.  It's the car's birthday.

They also washed it for me, free of charge.  This way, I can wax it.

I celebrated with food yesterday ... an annual ritual, if you will.  I went to the nearby location of a famed Brazilian steakhouse for their Sunday lunch buffet and where the meat/poultry/sausage/lamb keep coming.  I went at about 2 p.m.  I came home and laid in bed unable to do anything after that sort of a meal.  The salad bar is an incredible meal in and of itself ... and that preceded the arrival of the meat/poultry/sausage/lamb.

20 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

I celebrated with food yesterday ... an annual ritual, if you will.

[gonna jump in here before ocnblu nabs this] ~

You only eat once a year???

Less than 18 months ago, I put a new Bosche AGM battery in the Toronado.  Yesterday it wouldn't start... stone dead.  No biggie, I can back it out of the garage on gravity power and jump it.   Wouldn't take a jump.  Pull the battery and have it tested.  It fails the test and starts leaking something on their battery machine.

They didn't have any Bosche AGM batteries in my size to replace it with under warranty, so I ended up with a Champion AGM and a trickle charger for $0 out of pocket. He was saying that older trickle chargers don't work well on AGM batteries, so that's why he got me the new one. 

On Saturday I washed the Jeep and the Trax. Got to keep the winter crud off.  Topped off the washer fluid. Looking forward to Spring...

Cleaned the windows and RainX them before the rain started tonight. Into a Winter Storm Warning with 20" of snow expected in the mountains. Tomorrow is going to be a Pow Pow Day on the slopes and me having to work.  

Supposed to warm up next week as we go into an extended dry spell. Planning to wash and clean all the auto's.

10 hours ago, dfelt said:

Cleaned the windows and RainX them before the rain started tonight. Into a Winter Storm Warning with 20" of snow expected in the mountains. Tomorrow is going to be a Pow Pow Day on the slopes and me having to work.  

Supposed to warm up next week as we go into an extended dry spell. Planning to wash and clean all the auto's.

^^ I think we're finally done with winter here. going to be in the 60s the rest of this week. 

1 minute ago, Drew Dowdell said:

^^ I think we're finally done with winter here. going to be in the 60s the rest of this week. 

Soon I hope....forecast says back to 30s and snow showers for the weekend here. 

4 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Soon I hope....forecast says back to 30s and snow showers for the weekend here. 

40s here for my weekend, but clear, and back up to the 50s next week

Jeep is soldiering under a 6-inch deep layer of winter grime.  I'm embarrassed.

I finally did it.  I took the sled in and got the transmission fluid changed via recirculating flush.  It's been done old school style 2 times prior to this.

It's the first time doing this.  Prior to this, I had always serviced my transmissions by having them change the fluid and the filter by dropping the pan, which meant leaving some fluid in there.

So, within 50 or so miles, the shifts are less perceptible and shift points even seem to be 1 to 2 mph lower under the same light throttle.  I don't mind this.

However, is it possible that a menu priced transmission service would cause the shift points to change a little?  How could that be?

Your transmission is electronically controlled. So it's unlikely your shift points have actually changed.

Just had my newly bought Bushwacker fender flares installed on my 2012 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor.

3 hours ago, wavecatcher said:

Just had my newly bought Bushwacker fender flares installed on my 2012 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor.

You have a Raptor, eh? Let's see it! 

7 hours ago, wavecatcher said:

Just had my newly bought Bushwacker fender flares installed on my 2012 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor.

Very cool, pictures please, would love to see it.

So my Chevrolet Trailblazer SS came with the Bose head unit and Bose amp with Bose Speakers. Last summer the XM satellite stopped working and as much as I tried to work with XM to get them to hard reset the signal to my head unit it just stopped working. So I canceled my service.  

Low and behold, the next morning the preview XM station started working again and then later in the day stopped, so no radio anywhere via XM for me. This spring the rear speakers started to on and off have a electronic buzz and wine and it would come and go, so I figure my speakers were dying.

Over the weekend, I came out from running an errand and turned the auto on, got in to go and all I had even though the volume was at zero, a screech from the rear speakers.

So I stopped by Car Toys here and they took a look and told me my capacitors were dying in the Bose system, common issue and seems to play out on the web as I am at 157,000 miles on the SS and it seems to be when the audio system dies.

I looked online for a new head unit, $1,500, new amp $400 plus tax and shipping, I was looking at 2K for the same thing and not even new. Both were refurb as there seems to not be any new units left.

So back to Car Toys https://www.cartoys.com/ and I ended up with a Head unit and backup camera.

Head Unit is Pioneer AVH-2550NEX 6.8 Inch DVD Receiver with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Backup Camera is Quinn Acoustics QC670 Automotive License Plate Frame Rearview Backup Camera with Night Vision

Have to say that the large touch screen is really nice, Android Auto rocks and the backup camera is great for tight parking in garages in the city or places where your normal shoulder checks and mirrors cannot help.

System sounds great as I still have the bose speakers, but over all cannot be happy and was only $1,400 including the connection harness that allows all the normal GM steering wheel controls to work.

YEA!  

Just realized the picture is fuzzy of the Head unit, will take an updated clear picture when I get home tonight.

Here is what the screen looks like on at night and a picture of the HD with night vision backup camera. Have to say they have come a long way in quality as my sons 2017 Jeep GC camera is not this good. Love having all the natural GM steering wheel controls plus the touch screen.

Trailblazer is pretty short, with a vertical rear fascia. I would think familiarity with such a configuration would render a backup camera superfluous. I back 237" into parking spots with no camera all the time.

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

Trailblazer is pretty short, with a vertical rear fascia. I would think familiarity with such a configuration would render a backup camera superfluous. I back 237" into parking spots with no camera all the time.

99% of the time I do not use it, but have found a backup camera when parking in  garages in Seattle make it a life saver of getting in close to the walls without hitting it.

I don't parallel park or back into spaces, but I find the camera quite useful in backing out of my driveway (I've spotted random joggers in the dark on the sidewalk w/ the camera, etc),  backing out of parking spaces (esp. when I have bigger vehicles on each side of me).... with the small rear and side windows and thick pillars I have plenty of blind spots.

Edited August 30, 20196 yr by Robert Hall

45 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

 backing out of parking spaces (esp. when I have bigger vehicles on each side of me).... with the small rear and side windows and thick pillars I have plenty of blind spots.

This is when I've found them the most useful. 

Not a BU camera fan.

44 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Not a BU camera fan.

I would think you would as a Trailer is the biggest benefit, talk about a single back up, spot on to the hitch, lower it, secure it and away you go. Easiest connection ever with a BU Camera and with the HD ones now, probably even easier.

Yeah- the vids Ive seen of them look pretty cool. Course; if I tow twice a year its a lot. 

Loving my new head unit with google maps.

Be it standard or satellite maps, this is the standard all auto companies should offer.

Even audio texting is great. Should have upgraded earlier than this. Worth the money.

I changed the oil in the Toronado using an oil filter given to me by @balthazar.  Now she's good for another 10 months to a year. 

Wash and deep waxed the SS for the fall / winter season.

Costco sells a complete kit from this company for $39.99 that has interior detail liquid, exterior paint cleaner and the everything wax and then a all type of metal polish. Does an amazing job.on older normal paints as well as clearcoats.

@dfelt Your Trailblazer looks great for the year/mileage it is!

Had my 2005 Jeep Wrangler X  washed and waxed. 

Before the weekend, I put in a bottle of Techron fuel system cleaner with a fill-up.  Got 30 + mpg on a 120 mile stretch of highway on Saturday.  

Tonight, I had the tires rotated and balanced at Costco.  They're 90,000 mile Michelins.  I'm 48,000 miles into them, and still have almost half of the remaining usable tread life. 

@dfelt

Wow, that SS of yours looks like it just came off the showroom floor.  Burgundy is a yes / no depending on the vehicle.  On yours, it works.  

I've liked it for vehicle interiors since I was a teen and it sold well.

Well, the check engine light that came on sporadically during cold weather and yet did not affect drivability is GONE.

I was getting that code that the thermostat and the ECT (engine coolant temperature) sensor were talking smack to each other.

The thermostat was replaced, as was the upper radiator hose, for a fair price and my dash is free of warning lights (once driving).

This was yesterday:

I needed some rubber seals for some metal ridges in the engine bay where they had come undone and/or were missing.  I think I found them.

I went to the junkyard where you pull your own parts.  What may look like a mess is really organized ... by brands, row numbers, etc.  Very interesting.

Olds 88 being pulled into inventory - probably has a 3800 there for the picking ...

What the hell?

Are you intrigued?

It's sad that a 2005 LaCrosse would devolve into this kind of condition

"Come on baby light my Fiero" (the 100 in blue means row 100)

$ 6 for my parts.  I've already snapped them into place.

Took it to walgreens and went to a carwash shop  to remove some dirt outside and inside. 

I put the STP Ultra 5-in-1 into the tank.  (STP wants you to put their additives into a fairly full tank while Techron wants them to go into a fairly empty tank.)

I had seen this product around and wasn't sure about the 5 things it's supposed to improve.  Also, a bottle treats up to 35 gallons, so it must be potent.  So I put in a little over half and am putting in the remainder with the next fill-up.

You can't even feel my car idling ... but it was that way prior to putting in the STP Ultra.

I've mostly used Techron and the Valvoline product, so this is the first time using this one.

 

I ran it through the car wash yesterday.  I applied Mother's paste wax to it today.

Went to the grocery yesterday... I've been taking the Jeep out about a once a week during the current unpleasantness.  Running great, though my trips are only maybe 2 miles a week. 

Edited April 13, 20205 yr by Robert Hall

Hosed off the yellow pollen and then went to my son's to help him tape and mud his garage as he gets it clean and finished, then shelves will go up, work bench, etc.

Worked this morning, watered my garden and then spent the afternoon washing and detailing my 2008 Chevrolet SS.

so, shiney and mirror like!

#ibizeverythingwax