LS > 2JZ Read more

I have had a few of these in my wrenching history and have also purchased cars where people have given up because of misdiagnosis and sold the car to me for cheap. My worst one was probably on one of my Subaru’s. The car had a hesitation and showed a misfire code for one of the cylinders.
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Most of the OEM locks are easily defeated. I would recommend something like these: http://www.nengun.com/kyo-ei/bull-lo… Read more

I actually looked up a 4Runner press car I reviewed earlier this year out of curiosity. The window sticker had at it $40,880 with destination when I tested. I saw it sell at dealer auction marked as a Factory vehicle for $38,900. Later on, it popped up as a CPO vehicle, the old ad can be seen at the link below, priced… Read more

I have built stock-ish $1000 and even free LS motors and have procured $800 T56 transmissions but the motor in the ad is rebuilt and would likely cost around $4000-$5000 once all the parts and labor is included. Just the cam and rotating assembly on that car is about $1200-1300 Read more

Is that the original Elio concept?

I too will hate on some cars in my mind but I can appreciate that they are doing something for the culture and agree that they have the right to do so. Also, I think Comrade Tavarish might be stating the same word twice since they are both synonyms for friend haha Read more

Spot on.
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While this is an interesting look at the power numbers it does not match the EPA test cycle. My understanding was that there was a specific set of circumstances required to activate the dyno mode that included only the front wheels moving as well as barometric pressure and so on. They never got into this mode. I also… Read more

They adjusted the timing on the injection via software for trucks that had an ECM that allowed the adjustment. Others required a physical rebuild but I believe that they cancelled that program later on.
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Exactly, the trucks are able to get better at emissions while keeping power and economy by combining EGR advancements along with new SCR technology which runs cleaner and traps more soot. The only downside is with the operators as catalyst filters need to be changed as often as every 50k miles which gets costly when… Read more

The trucks were able to pass the emissions tests because they were set to retard the timing during a city cycle like the one that the EPA ran when they tested them which produced lower combustion temperatures and resulted in lower NOx levels. Once the trucks started moving down the highway, the ECMs recognized that… Read more

Dave Ramsey is pretty clueless when it comes to car buying advice. I’ve written about the cash vs finance comparison before and the cherry on top is that many times you can get additional incentives if you finance instead of paying cash Read more

That is parts only. Read more

That is a good point and one of the big factors we considered. The 4L60E and 4L80E are easy and cheap to rebuild and maintain and I have one in my Sierra and am happy with it. The transmission is actually surprisingly cheap for the Altima. My cost on a whole new one is $2130. It’s part no 310203VX0C Read more

It was about $6k more at the time Read more

Yep, CVT is just fine for mom and I like to be practical when it comes to car selection for everybody other than myself. I don’t worry about the CVT as it will be maintained.
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Nissan has some good ideas and great pricing. When hunting for a car for my mom last year we were looking at Accord, Altima, Camry, Fusion and Malibu. Due to the incentives offered and some haggling we were able to get the Altima for thousands less than any of the others. I also saw some Sentra’s on the lot that did… Read more

Yes Read more

Great writeup. When you get the determination to drive further south you should come down here to Uwharrie. Read more