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  1. M

    Did we reach peak frugality 15 years ago?

    15 years ago furnances were still somewhat affordable and easy to change. CVTs and direct injection were minimal to non-existent, and you could still buy your power tools and lawn mowers without the government telling you it was an environmental no-no. My water heater was/is still simple. Just...
  2. M

    Ever get comped for an oil change?

    Just got a 2007 Fusion with the four-cylinder for my son. Only 36k miles. 27 service records at the Ford/Mazda dealership. Heck, the car even has two transmission fluid changes. Definitely a keeper. The oil though was a bit old. From the fall of 2021. Two and a half years old but only a little...
  3. M

    The death of the auto enthusiast.

    Ten years ago the Autos section at Yahoo was one of their top four subjects. Today autos doesn't even rank in the top 50 for most media conglomerates. Nobody cares. It's as if the entire field of automotive journalism has turned into a hopeless morass of search engine optimization and industry...
  4. M

    Best Induction Service Product For Buick Encore

    I just got in a 2014 Buick Encore with only 48k miles at our dealership. We believe everything is sorted out with it, but since it spent a lot of time sitting I'm wondering if we should do an induction service. If we go that route, I wanted to know what product would likely work the best. I'm...
  5. M

    Do You Ever Keep Up With Your Old Car?

    The only new car I ever bought was way back in 1994. A red Toyota Camry Coupe LE. I had it for 12 years and 235,000 miles. When I sold it, the next owner took great care of it as well. All was well in the world until... The owner who had it after him rolled back the odometer... a solid...
  6. M

    Figuring out whether a filter fits on a 2002 Toyota Corolla

    I have a basket of filters for Toyotas, and I noticed that the Supertech 4386 is listed as a perfect fit on some sites for this model (Rockauto) and not on others (Walmart, and even briefly on a BITOG thread from several years ago). I checked the specs from all the sites I could find. The...
  7. M

    Advance Auto Parts Is Beginning Car Care Clearances

    This afternoon I went to an Advance Auto Parts down the road from my dealership. They had moved all the red tag car care items to a front table along with a few 5 quart jugs of Catrol 20k Oil which were $18 each. I passed on the oil since I remembered that another location had some Total...
  8. M

    The First EV Price War

    We're about to hit our first serious price war in the EV market. Volvo, which is the first Chinese government subsidized brand in North America, is launching the Volvo EX30. Imagine a hamster driven Kia Soul with triple the horsepower, an upscale entry level luxury interior, and a sports car...
  9. M

    Taking care of fabric landau roofs

    Just got a steal of a deal on a 2004 Kia Amanti with 22,000 miles that was owned by a retiree in Florida. The fabric landau roof is in excellent condition and I want to keep it that way, Any products or specfic tools that are worth using? I own a dealership here in Atlanta where we don't get...
  10. M

    Keeping Your Ride Until 2035

    I'm starting to develop some new ideas for a site I developed on Facebook called Mileage Impossible. One of them is a guide for novices when it comes to a specific model tentatively titled, "Keeping Your Ride Until 2035". Most enthusiast forums have solid bits and pieces when it comes to...
  11. M

    Sometimes you can hit a home run and no one will even know it.

    Yesterday I hit two of them. There was a gold 2000 Ford Ranger that had been donated to a charity. The charity marked in big bold letters that it had a bad transmission. Yet it had no key and the owner who had it for over 20 years had obvious borderline OCD tendencies. Not only did it look...
  12. M

    It's hard for me to recommend new vehicles these days.

    I own a car dealership and write for a few different automotive sites. It used to be incredibly easy for me to recommend a couple dozen different new vehicles for my customers and readers. These days? I feel like the old guy with the old truck. Nearly everything I see out there isn't worth...
  13. M

    No haggle pricing vs. Negotiating

    I have owned a dealership for over 20 years and always kept my pricing structure painfully simple. No haggling. No bogus fees. Tell the customer everything they will ever need to know so that they can make an informed decision. We do everything we can to provide customers with the prior...
  14. M

    Do Lifetime Warranties On Auto Parts Really Make Sense?

    What would an average 7 to 10 year old car need to stay mobile for a lifetime? At least over the average 'driving' lifetime for people like us? About 10 batteries, 4 or 5 catalytic converters, 3 transmissions, 3 or 4 engines, maybe 50 or so miscellaneous parts ranging from sensors and...
  15. M

    Castrol Transmax ATF Import Multi-Vehicle vs ATF/CVT Universal

    Are there any data sheets of these two Castrol products? I have a spare gallon of the ATF/CVT fluid that I'm thinking of using on a 2007 Honda CR-V. It will be the fourth transmission fluid service for this vehicle. I know this level of servicing is a bit overkill, but this is for my daughter...
  16. M

    2007 Honda CR-V Transmission : Will Castrol Transmax ATF/CVT Work Well?

    I bought four quarts of this transmission fluid on special nearly a year ago. I just got a 2007 CR-V for my daughter and wanted to see if this would work on it. Has anyone used this fluid in a Honda with a convenional automatic? The back does list ATF DW 1/ Z1 but I do wonder if there is...
  17. M

    Things that cost $1 a day... for some of us

    I own a dealership and spend an awful lot of time trying to find cars that are worth buying. It really does get tougher every year. But there are certain things in my life I where I'm not the expert, but still figure out a way to obliterate the average cost of ownership. Here's one example I...
  18. M

    BEST BANG FOR THE BACK SUBSTITUTE ON A 34 BATTERY

    Even Walmart is pricing the basic versions of these at $150 which is completely ridiculous. I have a 1984 Nissan 720 that I'm trying to replace the battery on. What would be the best replacement that would still fit and have as much or more CCA. I'm frankly looking at getting the Value...
  19. M

    Just got a battery that had been sitting around since the Summer of 2020

    I just got a small battery (370 CCA) that had been sitting at a store since August 2020. It had about a 55% charge when I got it. It's for a hybrid vehicle, so I'm wondering whether I should just trickle charge it or if there are other things I can do to prolong its longevity. If there's any...
  20. M

    A Case For Minimalism

    One of the issues that will soon get me thrown out of the mainstream automotive media forever is my love for minimalism. I'm not talking about a basic no-frills car. Or a general rejection of cars in favor of more environmentally sound alternatives. For me it's all about buying cars. I believe...
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