SOLVED! Post 2853 Leaking Injectors, Dealer Techs Rock! Extended Cranking after Engine Swap 3.4L 5vz

No new cars. Ultimately we realized a brand new car is just out of our budget when it comes to a commuter. We are willing to spend a whole lot more for something we really would love, like another Tacoma in great condition, but a commuter is just not worth spending $15-20K to us, when you can get a huge savings on something that's just slightly broken in, if you find the right vehicle by doing your homework.

Planning to do more in person shopping/test drives tomorrow, then do some hefty Consumer Reports reading on what we saw that we like and hopefully make a decision from there.

That's the plan anyway. At the moment. At 10pm, after 2 very strong adult beverages.

 

Salesmen who sell low cost used cars are a different breed, sorry to say...The big profit drivers now a new SUVs and pickups, and late model used cars. Driving a old beatup vehicle to go car shopping makes the salesperson think you are trying to dump one headache for a cheaper headache.

I have known more than one person to RENT a car to go car shopping, just so the salesmen won't automatically classify you as someone they can't make a buck on.

I wish you luck on your quest. And we LOVE the Accord EX coupe we got for my daughter. As the car waits for her return we are slowly fixing all the little problems, four wheel brake job, tire balanced, now it is going into body shop Tuesday for the right door latch to be repaired. I hate taking doors apart! Today I might attack the OTHER headlight with fine rubbing compound and get the haze off.

Howard

 

That's great that you love your Accord!! I thought you were regretting buying it, because you were just complaining about how it's been a huge money pit for you, with all the issues you had with the transmission! You said it was a 99 right? Or did you trade it in for something else?

 

No, still the same 99 EX coupe. My main complaint was getting hit up for a $2,600 transmission rebuild...In the past, I normally pay between $300 and $600 for a transmission job, this was just totally out of line and typical with the Hondas. Good vehicles but terribly expensive automatic transmissions to rebuild. This one simply cooked from the Texas heat.

Howard

 

Morning TW!

Two words:


CONSUMER


REPORTS!!!



Knowledge is power. Spent the better part of yesterday lurning ourselves on Consumer Reports and that fuel economy website. Feeling much more empowered (translation: will be able to do this with car salesmen now) with all of our knowledge. Having that info helps the risk of buying used feel a little better. The Consumer Reports info only goes back to 2005, which is kind of a good thing, because in a practical sense, we shouldn't be buying a COMMUTER that is more than 10 years old anyway - may as well fix the current Civ instead if we were going to buy something that old. Now a TACO on the other hand...........yep, I can justify buying those at 15+ yrs old all day long!

Most of the stuff on the C.R. site was not surprising - Hondas and Toyotas and Acuras generally did the best. But what was surprising is that our beloved Civics only received perfect scores in 2011 and on - 2005 through 2010 were just "very good," not perfect. It shocks me to see Civics receive anything but perfect! That was probably the most helpful thing we learned, because my best guess is that we'll wind up with another Civ. Accords also had some awesome years and some not so awesome. Corollas were pretty awesome most years. And Honda CRV's, something we hadn't considered at all, did AWESOME every year but 2012. They would be comparable to an Outback in size/function for how we'd use the car, but at a lower price than Outback, and seemingly better reviews/reliability than Outback in certain years. Something to consider, definitely. The Prius was the only vehicle that received a perfect score every year. Just can't bring ourselves to try a hybrid yet though. Eventually I suppose we'll all drive some sort of hybrid or electric or whatever, but just not ready to go there yet.

I couldn't believe the ratings given on 05-14 Tacos!! I expected them to score perfect across the board, but only the 05 did! And 2013 and 2014 didn't even get a "very good," - just "good." Wow. To me, buying one of those insanely priced newer Tacos, in spite of those ratings - that's blind brand loyalty. But we all do the loyalty thing to some extent - I know I do! Hell, this is the 1st time I'm actually reading reviews like this BEFORE buying, normally I just base the decision straight off of my brand loyalty and some guessing! Would have loved to see the consumer reports on 1st gen Tacos back in their day, anyone remember what kinds of ratings they received back then?

So still on the hunt, getting a little more practical about the whole thing each day it seems. Might even have a different car by the weekend.

Oh yeah, and in the meantime, I finally caved on the master cylinder. At like 7pm last night - Eric really, really appreciated it A LOT that I waited until then to decide it was worth doing. What can I say, I wanted to focus on finding a replacement car. Anyway - then Eric was extra super duper happy because Oreilly gave him the wrong part in the right box, and he didn't find that out until he was attempting to install it. So, the conclusion for now is that I am housebound for today, Oreilly will be getting a pleasant call from Eric later, there were a few beers drank while cleaning up greasy hands, and a few "I told you so, this kind of shit always happens when we fix the Civ!" jokes made last night.

 

I'd watch out on consumer reports. Just an FYI, while they are still independent, they are still prone to being biased towards some models. Check out the 2015 Tacoma. I believe it gets low scores across the board including on reliability. It's good to have more information, but CS is just an opinion now like everything else.

 

I rank CR about the same as C.F.

I don't think I have ever read a report that I didn't wonder what world the writer lived in.

I really would like to be working on vehicles, this carpentry shit blows. I really respect contractors after spending too much time building this deck. Slow and steady, about all I'm good for.

 

railing number 16 by post number two is 1/8" off level, you need to fix that

looking damn good brother, I suggest you change your work shifts to 4pm to dark so so your only putting in a few hours and its not too hot and it cools off as you run out of gas. I find after 2-3 hours you stop being productive at things anyway and you only do an hours work for every 2 hours you spend on it.

 

Looks great!! Nice work buddy! I really do wish we were neighbors. Eric & I love doing stuff like what you are doing right now (deck, basically any projects involving wood, especially outdoors), and you prefer vehicle projects. This could be a seriously winning combo of talents - we could trade projects every weekend!!

@koditten , I'm curious, if you had some sudden change of circumstance that forced you to buy a commuter car that was good on gas, what would you get? If you wouldn't put any stock into Consumer Reports ratings, how would you choose what was the most reliable/best overall vehicle for it's price?

 

If this is an in general question, I'd figure out what I could afford per month in a car payment and go from there. I'd prefer new over used if possible especially if I plan on hanging on to the car. For a commuter I'd be really tempted to get into a Ford Focus RS, but that's way out of your budget. If I had to buy something on the cheap it'd probably be a 2015 Ford Focus base with the manual in the hatchback configuration. I had a Focus for a few years and well over 100K with no issues and my local Ford dealer is really easy to deal with. Not to mention financing and ownership cost would be lower than with a Toyota for at least 5-6 years.

Other cars I'd be tempted by would include the Honda Fit, Hyundai Elantra, and Toyota Yaris.

 

Gotcha. Appreciate the input, but none of that works for us. I see your points about buying new, but we are pretty well hellbent on buying a used version of something we really like instead of a new version of something we really don't like.

 

For sure, that's the key. I guess I'd remind you to look into your financing first. I don't know how you are paying, but some used cars get really crummy finance rates from some banks so shop around.

Part of the problem with used Honda's and Toyota's is that, by the time you figure in a higher interest rate than buying new, your per month cost is close enough to justify going to the new model. For example, right now up here I can buy a base model Civic for about $17K OTD and a 0.9% interest rate. If I want to take out a loan on a 2012 Civic though, worth about 12K, I'll be at around a 5.9% interest rate with my bank. I could shop around and maybe get that down into the fours, but either way it'll only end up being $30-$40 per month difference. Not to mention that at 0.9% I'd be comfortable over 5 or 6 years, but at 5.9% I'd try to be at 3-4 years which will also increase the per month hit.

There's also the principle that if I can't pay off my loan early, I'd rather pay more for the car and less for the loan than the other way around.

Really if you are looking for a dirt cheap commuter I'd try to find a 05 or 06 Civic, one of the older ones, with under 150K on it and in good driving shape. That's the only way I could justify not going new. At that age the car should be around 6K-8K around here and I could pay cash. If it's a shit box, at that price, I could always flip it for almost no loss and have my cash back.

 

If I was forced to buy a commuter rig, it would most likely be some sort of used mini van. I would be checking the forums for that particular vehicle.

In the past when family have asked me similar questions, I tell them to just do a Google search. Example: 2004 toyota Sienna problems. You will get all sorts of hits. You will just have to start reading.

Remember, people with problems with their vehicles are 10 times likely to list their issue vs the people with no problems. You will quickly be able to get a feeling of one vehicle vs another.

 

I would buy this one and never look back, its everything you wish foe except your idea that somehow a corolla is better then a camry but that is only when your buying it new. when buying new you pay extra for the camry but don't really get anything for that extra you spend so that's where avoiding the camry matters but when buying used there is nothing different between a camry and a corolla at all.

buy it and never look back: http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/641738375/overview/

 

I know we could get 3.9% at a local credit union over 5 yrs, and I think it's possible we could get something even lower through certain dealers. I read about financing incentives that dealers run sometimes, even on used cars, and especially certified used cars (like Toyotas) where they'll do 2.9% or even better, if you have seriously excellent credit, which we do! I'm sure there are some stipulations with those offers, but I know for sure we could get the 3.9% rate worst case, which I'm fine with, so I'm not concerned with reading the fine print on those potential dealer offers just yet.

We basically narrowed our list down to Civics and Corollas of certain years, based on the Consumer Reports info. Like it or not, they are just the best on gas, value, reliability, all of the things that are important in a commuter, without a doubt. Of the Civics that scored best and that we could likely afford, we'd be looking at 2012s (32mpg) or 2011s (29mpg). They seem to be priced at ~$13-15K, pending the miles on them, the trim package, and their history. Of the Corollas, we'd be looking at basically anything from 2005 through 2008, and 2010-2012. They all get 29mpg. They're priced very similar to Civics, also pending trim package, miles on them, history, etc.

For good measure and just to keep ourselves nice and confused, we are still toying with a few other vehicle types that are not in the same category as the two practical ones listed above - Honda CRVs of certain years (great CR reviews, decent MPG and affordable price for it's size, 4WD) and..........Tacomas of certain years. I'll assume I don't have to list the years of Tacomas we'd consider.

Guess which vehicle type gets the worst MPG by far?

Guess which vehicle type is most expensive?

Guess which vehicle type I most want?

Thinking it's gonna be damn near impossible to justify it on a practical level. Would have to be just purely for the fun/happiness of having another Taco, not for saving $. But fun and happiness are important too!! I can't help it, I just couldn't resist searching to see what was out there. I did find one that actually sounded pretty good, and not insanely priced considering how jacked up their prices typically are.........

 

It's pretty but I can't do a Camry. I'm not telling you guys why because you will think it's really stupid, because it kind of is. But I'm the one that has to face the car daily for many, many years, so it's my prerogative to say NO to Camrys, even for a dumb reason!!

 

the camry I just linked is an 08 and gets 35 mpg, just sayin

what is this false idea that a camry is the boogy man? seriously, I would like to know who made you believe its to be avoided when buying a used car? my dad has owned 3 camry and every one has been one of the best cars he has ever owned

 

You'd buy a minivan for commuting????????????????????? Confused. Aren't minivans the worst on fuel?

I like your advice, about quick searches on specific cars we like, to see what owners of them are saying. You're right - if all is well, they aren't saying anything. Good advice. But I still think you're wrong for not putting any stock at all into Consumer Reports ratings. Surely they are getting at least SOME stuff right, or they would have been shut down from giving their opinions, right?

 

I think they are awesome cars, it's not that at all!!

FINE. I will tell you the Camry thing. Wow, I really have a lot of willpower, huh? Really pried that one outta me!

Someone who was a very dear friend for a very, very long time drove one for a very, very long time. Then that person and I had a serious falling out, and it was pretty painful and shitty. So now that is what I think about when I see Camrys.

See, I told you you'd think it was dumb!! It is what it is though.

 

fine then, 05 carolla 4 door auto, power everything, 128k miles, fancy wood grain interior, blue, sells for $7k and it gets 38 mpg http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/643672687/overview/