Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[Fuzz]

Sounds like the rear main seal is probably leaking or they can't tell if it is that or the transmission seal, but you can tell by fluid type. Unless on that vehicle it's recommended to do both at once. Mine has been leaking for 10 years. Do you have oil on the ground where you park?

Most vehicle replacing it is a PITA (you need to separate the engine from the transmission) and that's why mine has been treated with oil additives and a mat in my garage vs the big job. But that's why the price is high.

What vehicle/age?

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by Ryan Coke

So, talk to me about rust repair…..

My vehicle is a 10 year old S5, great car, but has a tiny bit of rust behind the rear wheel well, so not a very obvious place. Anyone have any experience or suggestions with small spot rust repair? Or should I just spend a bunch of money to have a body shop redo the whole quarter panel, or whatever they would do for thousands of dollars.

Quoted for more advice.

2012 Sequoia, starting to show rust in a few locations, but worst and most visible is on the rear hatch where the wiper blade rest is mounted. Notice that this might be an issue with the model, as others on the road have the same problem.

[Izzle]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Sounds like the rear main seal is probably leaking or they can't tell if it is that or the transmission seal, but you can tell by fluid type. Unless on that vehicle it's recommended to do both at once. Mine has been leaking for 10 years. Do you have oil on the ground where you park?

Most vehicle replacing it is a PITA (you need to separate the engine from the transmission) and that's why mine has been treated with oil additives and a mat in my garage vs the big job. But that's why the price is high.

What vehicle/age?

I don't have oil on the ground when I park. I Street park in front of my house. There have been instances where I parked in the back. I don't have a garage and the back pad is covered in shrubbery. Would that maybe puncture a hole causing the leak?

It's a 2020 Honda Odyssey. 60k total kms FWIW.

[WideReceiver]

Haven’t bought or sold a car for 16 years but just acquired a 2025 RAV4 so have a 2009 RAV and/or a 2001 Honda Civic. LOL, can you tell we keep cars for a long time. Both were bought brand new. This is posted merely because I want advice on pricing and selling. Do I check ads (where?) for similar vehicles and price accordingly? Where is it best to advertise?

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Yeah, they're definitely not a good investment.

For me I don't mind spending money on cars because they're my favourite thing and give me great joy and memories. I way rather spend money on vehicles than travel, as an example.

My cars are an investment in my mental wellbeing. Sometimes they’re the long, relieved exhale after a stressful day, other times they’re helping 8-year-old me relive the first time I played “The Need for Speed” on my PC; apologies if you live in the Priddis / Millarville / Bragg Creek area, but you live near a real-life imagining of a Need For Speed track.

[Fuzz]

It's not caused by a puncture, it's usually a seal wearing out but that sounds kinda new for that to happen(powertrain warranty maybe?). If you don't notice anything on the ground, it's going to be a pretty slow leak/not something I'd worry about.


It might be worth investigating further because that's not very old for it to go. It could be caused by a bad PCV( it's a pressure release valve that prevents excess gas buildup in the crank case which can force oil pass the seal). That's a cheap fix, and replacing the seal without checking that would just make it happen again.

[woob]

Originally Posted by Titan2

I am curious if you went into the station and told them what you were doing and gave them the licence plate info. Would they take it? Maybe have the guy come in with you? Is that overkill? Would CPS tell you to piss off?

I just pulled into the lot near the front entrance and did the interaction there. No test drive on this one.

[woob]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Give me induction noise all day over excessively loud exhaust.

One of my favourites sounds is the supercharger whine that accompanies a low idling, rumbly V8. At the Barrett Jackson, when cars would drive over to the auction entry, and they'd just be slowly making their way over and you could hear the supercharger on top of the low idle of the engine. Such a great sound.

[Izzle]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

It's not caused by a puncture, it's usually a seal wearing out but that sounds kinda new for that to happen(powertrain warranty maybe?). If you don't notice anything on the ground, it's going to be a pretty slow leak/not something I'd worry about.


It might be worth investigating further because that's not very old for it to go. It could be caused by a bad PCV( it's a pressure release valve that prevents excess gas buildup in the crank case which can force oil pass the seal). That's a cheap fix, and replacing the seal without checking that would just make it happen again.

Thanks that was helpful... I'll at least have something to talk about with the independent auto mechanic. If I have to drop $2K on the car, I would much rather delay it as much as I can. But, 2020 Honda Odyssey isn't that old.

[Izzle]

Just picked up the vehicle. Didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Accelerated fine, no weird noises, AC worked, etc.

Last resort is the independent mechanic... Hopefully he gives us the A-okay.

[woob]

Originally Posted by Izzle

I don't have oil on the ground when I park. I Street park in front of my house. There have been instances where I parked in the back. I don't have a garage and the back pad is covered in shrubbery. Would that maybe puncture a hole causing the leak?

It's a 2020 Honda Odyssey. 60k total kms FWIW.

“Nothing too extravagant..”

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by woob

“Nothing too extravagant..”

"One that looks nice. And not too expensive."

"It is a good shrubbery! I like the laurels particularly."

[WideReceiver]

Looking for advice on these for a brand-new vehicle.

Should I get: ceramic full-body coating, wheel ceramic coating, windshield ceramic coating? Which are important — or all?
Or booster paint protection — half the cost of full body ceramic coating.
Also interior protection.

The dealer price isn’t much different than a third-party supplier, and it’d be much more convenient.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Wheels and windshield don't matter. PPF is far better than ceramic at actually protecting your paint.

[Wormius]

Saw a cool VW Beetle this morning with the rear modded to be like a little pickup truck. Not sure how useful it is, but probably a fair bit of space with the trunk and rear seat space merged together.

[WideReceiver]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Wheels and windshield don't matter. PPF is far better than ceramic at actually protecting your paint.

Why PPF?

[photon]

Get PPF to actually protect the paint work, how much coverage I guess depends on how expensive the car is or how important it is to you to keep it pristine. Mine just has the partial front coverage.

EDIT: PPF is actually a layer of plastic (or whatever it's made from) that's wrapped onto your car so will actually protect it. A ceramic coating is like 1 micron thick.

No idea what booster paint protection is, but ceramic coatings don't really do a lot to protect the paint from scratches or rock chips, though they do offer some protection against more chemical type stuff like bird droppings or tree sap. They're make the car easier to wash and look better when clean. I suppose a ceramic coating may offer some minor protection from scratching but it's not going to make it so you can use a car wash brush or something.

Ceramic coatings are more like a stronger wax vs actual paint protection film.

Interior protection I don't really do anything other than keep it clean with a good quality cleaner (I can't stand the slippery silicone residue left behind by the cheap stuff).

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

What Photon said.

I'm probably being a bit unfair but I've always felt ceramic was a bit of a marketing gimmick. It's slightly cheaper than PPF overall and it makes the car look really nice, whereas the PPF if you don't get the full coating creates a line where your coverage ends, and 15 years ago the 3M material was much worse than what they use today so there's a lot of examples of it looking bad on older cars, yellowing, etc.

Combine "costs less" with "looks good" and you can trick people into thinking "well they both protect the car so I dunno, I'll get the less expensive one". In fact, considering what you're actually paying for, ceramic is much more expensive - it's a high cost for not much value in return, IMO. Modern PPF, meanwhile, actually does what it's supposed to do.

[karl262]

I've been noticing more of the new design language Range Rovers on the road lately and they just don't look right to me. They made the lights far too small looking, especially the taillights. The last major refresh was for the 2013 year and it looked fantastic, it feels like the changes for the 2022 year that we have now were thought out poorly. Almost like they felt they needed to change the look drastically to differentiate but didn't really know what to do.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by WideReceiver

Haven’t bought or sold a car for 16 years but just acquired a 2025 RAV4 so have a 2009 RAV and/or a 2001 Honda Civic. LOL, can you tell we keep cars for a long time. Both were bought brand new. This is posted merely because I want advice on pricing and selling. Do I check ads (where?) for similar vehicles and price accordingly? Where is it best to advertise?

I think the autotrader website has the ability for you to type in some basic information about a vehicle and then it would give an estimate or idea of what such a vehicle could potentially be advertising for on their website?