Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[MacDaddy77]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Anybody put a levelling kit on an F150? Somewhere good in Calgary to have that done? Do they have to adjust my headlights at the same time?

I did this myself a few years ago. It's super easy to do.

Tip for headlights, if you don't move truck before and after repairs, take painters tape and tape a square where the headlights shine on your garage door. After leveling kit is installed adjust beams to be back in the square.

[Bill Bumface]

Do cars still come with headlights that aren't auto-levelling?

[Hemi-Cuda]

I had to manually adjust the headlights on our 2021 Highlander because they were set too high from the factory, kept getting flashed by opposing traffic at night outside the city because they thought I had my highbeams on

[cral12]

Anyone encounter a similar experience?
a GFL (Green For Life) dump truck was travelling between Calgary and Canmore when the back flap of the truck opened at a speed over 100 km/hr and a large number of rocks fell out of the truck and all struck the front of my vehicle damaging the car and smashing the windshield in several places.
If you've encountered something similar, how did you handle this? Any point/luck dealing directly with the trucking company? Or suck it up and just go through insurance or pay self? Thanks

[chedder]

Originally Posted by cral12

Anyone encounter a similar experience?

a GFL (Green For Life) dump truck was travelling between Calgary and Canmore when the back flap of the truck opened at a speed over 100 km/hr and a large number of rocks fell out of the truck and all struck the front of my vehicle damaging the car and smashing the windshield in several places.

If you've encountered something similar, how did you handle this? Any point/luck dealing directly with the trucking company? Or suck it up and just go through insurance or pay self? Thanks

Not sure if same company but this happened to a friend coming home from banff on hwy 16. The trucking company did pay for the fix on their vehicle.

[timun]

Admittedly I haven't had to deal with something like that, but just give your insurance all the info you have about the incident. I presume you flagged the truck driver down and got some info from him? Even if you didn't, the company will have commercial insurance, and your insurance company can/will handle dealing with the trucking company's insurance.

[Winsor_Pilates]

How's the used car market now? Specially mid/large SUVs.
Is it still crazy or can you negotiate a bit?

[Table 5]

Anyone have any good recommendations for a place to take a car for an Out of Province inspection? I'm trying to find a place that will treat my car well but not be German TUV inspection levels of thorough, if you know what I mean.

10 years ago I took it to Canadian Tire, as their reputation was actually a benefit for this...but not really sure I want some kid driving my car.

Has anyone used Inspectacar? I saw them recommended on some place (the main draw being that they don't do any repairs themselves).

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Anyone have any good recommendations for a place to take a car for an Out of Province inspection? I'm trying to find a place that will treat my car well but not be German TUV inspection levels of thorough, if you know what I mean.

10 years ago I took it to Canadian Tire, as their reputation was actually a benefit for this...but not really sure I want some kid driving my car.

Has anyone used Inspectacar? I saw them recommended on some place (the main draw being that they don't do any repairs themselves).

I have never had Hatt Automotive do an inspections, but they service my vehicles.

I have found them to be very fair and honest.

https://www.hattautomotive.com/

[Sylvanfan]

If you have an exterior mounted spare on your vehicle I would recommend checking that you can remove it and that any hardware is well lubricated. I had a flat on my 18 year old truck the other day. Spare is mounted under the box and likely has never been removed. There's a safety latch in the mounting cylinder that's seized up and won't release the way it was designed to. Without any tools...I could not get it off. Was lucky to borrow an air compressor inflate it and drive it to the place I bought the tires from as it was only like 1.5 km away.

So today I'm taking it off to lubricate this thing and make sure it works. Plus the spare itself is in pretty rough shape. I drove a lot of km out of cell service this year and on some rougher roads. So I'm lucky this did not happen there.

[MoneyGuy]

What’s the best way to buy a new car? We’re considering a brand-new hybrid Toyota RAV4. I hate negotiating and am not good at it. I’ve heard that there is little room to negotiate on Toyotas anyway. My son-in-law likes and is good at negotiating. Should I send him into the dealership on my behalf? How should I approach this? I’m aware I’ll likely have to wait a year for delivery.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

What’s the best way to buy a new car? We’re considering a brand-new hybrid Toyota RAV4. I hate negotiating and am not good at it. I’ve heard that there is little room to negotiate on Toyotas anyway. My son-in-law likes and is good at negotiating. Should I send him into the dealership on my behalf? How should I approach this? I’m aware I’ll likely have to wait a year for delivery.

That is why it's useless to haggle for new cars now. If you don't buy it, someone else will for the price they're asking

[GGG]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

What’s the best way to buy a new car? We’re considering a brand-new hybrid Toyota RAV4. I hate negotiating and am not good at it. I’ve heard that there is little room to negotiate on Toyotas anyway. My son-in-law likes and is good at negotiating. Should I send him into the dealership on my behalf? How should I approach this? I’m aware I’ll likely have to wait a year for delivery.

Do it all by email. Contact all the Toyota dealerships and then you can negotiate with them all at a pace you control.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Do cars still come with headlights that aren't auto-levelling?

Mine tend to level when I put the headlight fluid in.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Locke

Mine tend to level when I put the headlight fluid in.

When doing that, perfect time to make sure your blinker fluid is also topped up.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Locke

Mine tend to level when I put the headlight fluid in.

Only if you use synthetic

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

What’s the best way to buy a new car? We’re considering a brand-new hybrid Toyota RAV4. I hate negotiating and am not good at it. I’ve heard that there is little room to negotiate on Toyotas anyway. My son-in-law likes and is good at negotiating. Should I send him into the dealership on my behalf? How should I approach this? I’m aware I’ll likely have to wait a year for delivery.

What exactly do you plan on negotiating at this point? There’s no car, no car cost/ price (if the factory order wait time is a year) no decision maker (if you send in someone else) and you are looking at something in high demand. Just focus on making sure this is the right vehicle for you FIRST before even worrying about price, warranties, protection packages etc….

Just sending a 3rd base coach in to start haggling price before you even have a vehilce is only going to make the buying process terrible, and a sure way to get a crappy deal.

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by GGG

Do it all by email. Contact all the Toyota dealerships and then you can negotiate with them all at a pace you control.

Pace has nothing to do with negotiating. Drawing out the process as long as possible just leads to a poor buying experience. You want the best deal? Show up to the dealership at noon on the last day of the month. By 5:00 you will have the best price available.

[BloodFetish]

Originally Posted by Locke

Mine tend to level when I put the headlight fluid in.

Damn, your headlights are hydraulic? Mine are still vaccuum.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Pace has nothing to do with negotiating. Drawing out the process as long as possible just leads to a poor buying experience. You want the best deal? Show up to the dealership at noon on the last day of the month. By 5:00 you will have the best price available.

If you aren’t a good negotiator or if you are an emotional person separating yourself from the pressure of being in the room and having all the time to run numbers and not have to deal with rejecting a person in person are all benefits.

Perhaps pace wasn’t the right word, take the pressure of having to make an immediate decision may have been better