New England B.S. Thread

I've been retired for a while, so I'm sure the systems are much better. When the first systems came out in the mid 2000s it was a major problem. We were supposed to let the process work by idling the truck, but that usually wasn't practical. Urban stop and go driving was really hard on the engines as was, even without regen.

Then there was the low coolant alarm on the 4500 Kodiaks.

 

This is why I love people talking about buying used police and or fire and or rental cars.

It is an unknown 150k miles and I can next to guarantee they were rough as hell. And you hit a nail on the head - a ton of idling.

 

I've had good luck with rental cars in the past, including a Camry. That was in the days when they were sold or traded in before they hit 20K miles. The 2000 Camry we bought had 18K miles and the remaining Toyota warranty when we bought it from Enterprise in Canton.

I've been researching off lease Rav4s for my wife and have looked at Enterprise rentals sold directly by Enterprise. Most have 40K+ miles on them, some closer to 60.

It used to be that the rental companies cherry picked only the best cars for direct sale and sent any with history of body damage or major mechanical issues to auction. I can only imagine what the ones that they send to auction now are like.

 

It's kind of crazy what they sent to auction even 9 years ago. I use to do mobile auto body and did the Enterprise by Bradley which was all new and cars slated for auction/resale. I also did East Hartford resale

 

Been looking for these wheels for a couple years. 16" factory FJ alloys. Got a set of 4 for $350 shipped. Some dealership pulled 'em off a trade in.



Dropping them off to get blasted. Not gonna powder them cause they're gonna get wheeled, but bet your ass I'm doing them up in the shiniest gold rattlecan I can get my hands on.

 

You had me right up until you said ‘gold rattlecan’…

 

Grimmspeed gold!

I'm at just over 60k, so I'm looking at plugs and then all the fluids again ASAP. I didn't do 30k, but 40k. I'm generally easy on my truck, but I have a drip somewhere (maybe it's my uber-heavy FF) so I want to top everything off. Despite my dislike of fluids I'll be DIYing it this time. Toyota did the wrong T-case fluid, thought you had to flush a manual trans and then the local indie shop didn't use MT-90 the first time I asked. I'd rather just DIY it and know I've got all the right fluids where they need to go. I should also do the front diff while I'm in there. The plugs are keeping me up at night, but the YT videos don't look horrific. I'll just have to dedicate a day to do the plugs and I'll be fine.

 

Not quite gold, but certainly rattle can.

 

Yall seen this one
I'm sure it'll be "cheap"
https://www.redtailoverland.com/

 

I really want to try the duplicolor metallic gold. I've seen some really good results with 5-6 coats, plenty of wet sanding, and a 2k clear on top. My winters are a coppery metallic, and I like them, but there's just something about gold wheels, I can't help myself. I'm doing some custom badging too (kitbashing some trashed vintage badges) probably in "gold" as well to go with the brass screw heads on my flares.

 

Good find. I've been hunting for a clean set of the FJ 8-hole wheels (also on 2010-2013 4Runner Trail) for years. What dealer did you find them at?

 

Some smaller independent lot in the midwest on eBay. I knew I was gonna blast em anyway so I wasn't concerned about the winter damage on the finish, and the photos were thorough and honest enough I wasn't worried about finding bad gouges or edge damage.

Those 8 holes are $$$ in good shape - were they the TRD or Trail Team option for some year range or something?

 

Good question. I know they were the wheel for the '10-'13 4R Trail, and Google is telling me they were the OEM FJ wheels '11-'14, but not sure about trims.

 

Since we're on the topic of wheels, here's an obscure question... I know a lot of Toyota centercaps are interchangeable, does anyone know what caps fit the 07-10 FJ alloys? The 17" six spoke caps fit these 16" five spokes, but I want to do something different if I can. Probably gonna debadge them, so even some repro replacements for another wheel are fine.

 

Well went to get parts and most of it wasn't in stock, one part number neither dealer could get so online it is

 

Minor accident today. My road gets narrow and a ~07-13 Silverado and I hit mirrors going past each other. I was as far over as I could be. My mirror is fine - it had a small scuff that 10 seconds of buffing completely took care of once I was home.

His was obliterated. Shattered glass and plastic all over the road. He was all fired up saying he wasn't paying for it. I told him I didn't understand why his mirror hadn't folded in - that's kind of the point to avoid damage. That didn't seem to help his agitation, so I told him I thought it was best to get police to do a report. He was a little resistant, but his passenger (wife?) told him we should do it. They showed up and were taking to him for a while. Another officer then came up to me and took a picture of my mirror then looked at my license and registration and said "it's two big vehicles on a narrow road, it happens" and said I can go and to swing by the station in a couple days to get a copy of the report. The other cop was still talking to him when I left.

I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to file a claim against my insurance, but hopefully he has no grounds to win when he didn't stop either and his vehicle is the only one with any real damage. Time will tell.

 

My rule is you can double the miles on the odometer re fleet vehicles.

Other hand, they probably get taken care of better in some ways. Things get done when needed versus common folk who tend to procrastinate or just not care.

Never bought a former rental but I owned many fleet vehicles back in the day. Had very good luck.

 

got an issue on my uncles 2015.
Anyone know how to get rid of the rattle between the air intake and the fender, or at least how to replace that gasket?

 

All my Super Duty’s were former fleet vehicles, I think my 150 was also, no issues with any of them.

 

Hilarious vintage Toyota TV ad. Found this today and just had to post it. Laughed out loud at a few of the lines and deliveries. This is as good a place as any. I had to watch it twice to catch all the lines.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isC32ev4Lw4