Recent content by PandaBear

The thing about EV is they are more expensive to purchase initially, save money charging vs pumping gas, but also depreciate faster than a gas car. You CAN expect a reasonable 15-20 years in a gas car but EV depreciate significantly more than just mechanical wear and tear because 1) it is a...

The design debate between serial vs parallel hybrid has been around since the 1990s and the solution in the end is always parallel hybrid unless you don't have the mechanical expertise to do it right (BMW i3 with range booster). A true serial hybrid has typically at least a 20% efficiency...

I am a believer that "bumming" comes with a psychological cost, either in terms of others dislike you because they felt taken advantage of, or you feel like you owe others something and have to burden yourself for not making the others unhappy or do others favor even if you don't want to. Plus...

I am always concerned that what they send to pass those UL test is not actually what they spend on quality control for. Often times I see things popping and smoking because they have quality control issues instead of not designed safe. To me the only way I know for sure is to search online to...

I would not pay for $91 OEM if Brembo is $40. But for people who insist OEM then $91 isn't too bad for 11 years 112k miles either. It is not like you have to do it every 2 years.

Agree with all except the "battery problem". I am pretty sure they will find a way to make replacement battery at a ridiculous price to skim future profit from the collector by rebadging LG or Panasonic.

I remember a few years ago the strategy of Ferrari is to produce slighly below demand so they can keep the price up and the rarity. This is what a lot of luxury bag makers do as well: destroy the unsold inventory to keep the second hand price up. As a result, don't believe in BS that says "they...

I think they may only sell this to the fashionable crowd and limit the production to so low that people buy it for speculative future appreciation reason only. Sort of like the Trader Joe tote bags.

This hood bent look like my crashed Integra. Now you are making me feel sad junking that car already. Maybe I should just cut a slit on it and seal the side gap and follow the new trend.

I thought there's some Doberman and Beagle in Penny. Wasn't expecting Chow Chow at all.

I am sure they have done their research and see what is a simple way to make people happy. I have family members who are used to sleeping on straw mat on plywood boards. I grew up till 4th grade sleeping on them in the summer as well, but I know I don't expect a hotel to offer that when I...

About 20 years ago, I have put on a set of KYB GR2 on Corolla and it rode ok, as in it is not Toyota like new quality but good enough to not bottom out or bounce too far. I have also put on a set of KYB Excel-G on Camry V6 about 16 years ago and it rode pretty well till the car was sold. I have...

If it is your only car I would be concern, but if it will be just another extra car you can afford to take risk on, probably ok. 15 year old car with 200k miles in NY area? I would imagine rust also?

It is likely inventory control that they have too many single box left they want to clear out. In theory a low inventory just in time system can eliminate that and make them all equal, but reality is always reality. I have also seen buying a set of 4 tires from Walmart end up having 3 sent...

I don't think Honda is the same Honda ever since they started putting in turbo. Their strength was always the higher rpm engine with way over build internals, like a 140 hp engine that would be fine running up to 8psi boost with stock internal, and up to 300hp if tuned well. I think a lot of...