Cars We Drive!

[NaTionS]

How much truth is there to the notion that snow and salt destroys cars? Looking at a CPO right now that matches what I'm looking for but its been a personal lease in Connecticut for the past two years. I'm guessing they get quite a bit of snow there.

 

[whiteslashasian]



How much truth is there to the notion that snow and salt destroys cars? Looking at a CPO right now that matches what I'm looking for but its been a personal lease in Connecticut for the past two years. I'm guessing they get quite a bit of snow there.

Get it on a lift and inspect the chassis, suspension, exhaust, etc for rust and other corrosion.

 

[dah328]



I bought new winter tires a few weeks ago. I was getting vibration at highway speeds so I brought the car to get the wheels aligned to see if that would fix the problem. Turns out the dealer who installed my tires, installed the tires on one side backwards!

And flipping the tires eliminated the vibration? Most directional summer tires will perform equally in dry conditions regardless of direction, but perhaps the more prominent tread of winter tires makes them more sensitive to directionality.

 

[venividivicibj]

Are directional tires commonplace? Or only in performance cars?

 

[GreenFrog]

I think the summers on my m5 were directional.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

And flipping the tires eliminated the vibration? Most directional summer tires will perform equally in dry conditions regardless of direction, but perhaps the more prominent tread of winter tires makes them more sensitive to directionality.

I had 1 directional tire (summer) put on the wrong way once and the car vibrated something serious at speeds over 50 mph. Once I realized what it was I went back to the shop the next day and they flipped it. Problem solved. You could be a dick and insist that they replace it with a brand new tire because according to tire manufacturers running a tire the wrong direction will cause structural damage.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Are directional tires commonplace? Or only in performance cars?

Just about every performance car has directional tires but more and more manufacturers are redefining their vehicles as performance vehicles and using them

 

[poorsod]



And flipping the tires eliminated the vibration? Most directional summer tires will perform equally in dry conditions regardless of direction, but perhaps the more prominent tread of winter tires makes them more sensitive to directionality.

I had an alignment done at the same time so I don't know which was the culprit, maybe both.

 

[Piobaire]



How much truth is there to the notion that snow and salt destroys cars? Looking at a CPO right now that matches what I'm looking for but its been a personal lease in Connecticut for the past two years. I'm guessing they get quite a bit of snow there.

Salt speeds the oxidation process (a.k.a. rust) but modern cars are built to resist. IMO just depends how long you plan to own the car.

 

[TimelesStyle]



Salt speeds the oxidation process (a.k.a. rust) but modern cars are built to resist. IMO just depends how long you plan to own the car.

I think it also depends how intact the paint stays. The only rust spots on the body of my last car was where there were some scrapes and the paint was completely scraped off. Don't know about the chassis, as I never looked at it myself.

Reminds me I need to go to the carwash...

 

[deepitm]

On the topic of new car buying, has anyone used TrueCar? I downloaded the app the other day since my wife is starting to look at SUVs and wants to buy by the summer. I am a trader and have seen the stock and options pretty heavily traded as of late (they just released earnings this past week) so it got me reading about it. So, I have only heard about things from the financial side. Was wondering if people ever had used it to buy a new car / lock in a good price? It seems like a good idea in principle, just uncertain about efficacy in practice. Thanks in advance.

 

[GreenFrog]

I would have used TrueCar, but I simply had to phone my good buddy, Stephan Winkelmann at Lamborghini, to place the order for my latest purchase.

Same for Ron Dennis and Amedeo Felisa for my P1 and LaFerrari, respectively.

 

[NaTionS]



I think it also depends how intact the paint stays. The only rust spots on the body of my last car was where there were some scrapes and the paint was completely scraped off. Don't know about the chassis, as I never looked at it myself.

Reminds me I need to go to the carwash...

Yeah that's what I've been reading as well. The paint on cars these days is very good at keeping rust out but if it's chipped to the metal then rust can easily set in and even spread.

I think I'll keep looking. Not worth the potential headache a few years down the road.

 

[zippyh]



On the topic of new car buying, has anyone used TrueCar? I downloaded the app the other day since my wife is starting to look at SUVs and wants to buy by the summer. I am a trader and have seen the stock and options pretty heavily traded as of late (they just released earnings this past week) so it got me reading about it. So, I have only heard about things from the financial side. Was wondering if people ever had used it to buy a new car / lock in a good price? It seems like a good idea in principle, just uncertain about efficacy in practice. Thanks in advance.

I used TrueCar a couple year ago when I helped my mother-in-law buy a new Accord. It was amazingly painless, at least the dealership part. MIL was the usual PITA. Found the TrueCar price, wife emailed the dealership to verify car in stock and set up an appt. We went in with MIL a week later. No hassles.

Dude at work tried to use TrueCar a little over year ago on a Camry Hybrid. He had all kinds of hassles but then he's kind of an idiot.
I bought an Avalon at that same Toyota dealer last fall and got a price slightly lower than the TrueCar price through the usual in-person haggling way.

 

[JohnGalt]

Truecar's business model has changed dramatically over the past few years.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmu...s-a-do-over-after-almost-killing-his-company/