by "BLCKSTRM" (BLCKSTRM)
Published 06/01/2017 at 14:19
by "BLCKSTRM" (BLCKSTRM)
Published 06/01/2017 at 14:19
No Tags
STARS: 1
OK, so that’s not quite fair.
Neutral this morning asked,
Has the environment ever factored into your car buying decisions in any way?
Lots of responses about buying a Prius to save a buck on a long commute. Not really any responses about making a decision to save the environment.
But that got me thinking.
What is the most effort a Jalop has gone to - automotively speaking - in order to save a buck?
Ill-advised home repairs? Hypermiling an unlikely - or unwilling - steed?
A year or two after I (finally) got my M3, the head gasket failed. I spent 3 months driving our beater car while I learned how to fix my blown head gasket myself.
It was a big deal for me at the time, and kind of a rite of passage for me - especially considering
what the car meant to me
and how much the dealer wanted to do the job (most of the purchase price).
More recently, when I relocated to Austin we were trying to buy a house but I was still commuting from Dallas. I replaced my driveshaft and other more minor parts on the top (deserted) floor of the company parking garage, and after seeing how deserted it was up there after hours, I eventually just slept there under the stars - snuggling up against the side of the car - instead of making the trek to the local city park I’d been camping at.
Not quite living in a box van, but both better and worse.
So, fellow Jalops - what crazy automotive things have you done to save a dollar - bonus points if it’s to enable a purchase, repair, or upgrade!
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/01/2017 at 14:26, STARS: 2
My career choice to become a tech, made before I turned 16, was partially based on getting parts discounts and having access to a shop to do my own work at, because that sounded like the best thing ever. It was a bad decision in hindsight.
"BaconSandwich is tasty." (baconsandwich)
06/01/2017 at 14:29, STARS: 1
Not sure if this counts, but what the heck:
On a road trip (roughly 9 days, 7,600 km), a friend and I spent more nights camping in the Hotel Honda than anywhere else. I ended up doing the same thing for a night a few years later when making another trip on a budget. I think altogether I’ve probably slept in my car maybe 10 times. Certainly cheaper than a hotel, but definitely less comfortable.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/01/2017 at 14:33, STARS: 1
I refrained from spending money on an aftermarket exhaust for my car because I wanted to keep the catted midpipes of the stock exhaust after I got a catless downpipe. I could’ve kept the midpipes and replaced the mufflers but that wouldn’t make any difference in performance, so instead I put nicer tips on the stock mufflers, and unplugged the electrical connector that controls the flapper valve in the driver side muffler so now it stays open all the time, for more noise. I didn’t want to spew completely raw exhaust into the environment AND I saved money.
"AM3R, lost another burner" (am3r17)
06/01/2017 at 14:34, STARS: 1
Just curious, but why a bad decision?
"VonBootWilly - Likes Toyota, but it's still complicated." (vonbootwilly)
06/01/2017 at 14:34, STARS: 1
I actually bought the K&N drop in filter for my cruddy Uplander for the soul purpose of getting 1 mpg better cruise. Which actually happened and technically paid for itself already in a few months.
Also sometime a more premium tires, brakes, paint, etc can end up paying off over cheap parts/repairs.
I do find with cheap cars I’m more worried about how often I’ll have to stop rather than how much I need to spend on a fill-up.
"BLCKSTRM" (BLCKSTRM)
06/01/2017 at 14:39, STARS: 0
You make so much more progress, though!
Because you only need an hour or two of sleep in the car before you decide you’re so uncomfortable, you might as well be driving!
Definitely counts!
"Logansteno: Bought a VW?" (logansteno)
06/01/2017 at 14:41, STARS: 0
The E36 got a homebrew passenger airbag dummy sensor to shut off the airbag light over the expensive weight sensor replacement. Also to keep the battery from moving around and getting too cold in its compartment, killing it, my dad stuffed household fiberglass insulation around it.
The S10 got a junkyard airbox to MAF sensor seal I got for free over the $90 parts store one. Also used aquarium tubing to make a seal for the air tube to throttle body connection where they meet.
"BLCKSTRM" (BLCKSTRM)
06/01/2017 at 14:42, STARS: 0
Nice! There’s a trick the E36 guys call the “golf tee mod” that does the same thing on the 328.
"Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever" (rustanddust)
06/01/2017 at 14:42, STARS: 1
So much this.
My dad had been in purchasing for a smaller aftermarket jobber (i.e. Advance/Autozone/PepBoys/CarQuest) since before I was born. I was spoiled on getting parts at jobber price, and doing the work myself. “I’ll work in automotive” young Rust and Dust says to himself...
Twenty years later, it doesn’t matter how cheap I can get parts, as I’m usually so sick of working on other peoples shit I don’t have the time/patience/desire to work on my own any more.
That, and I picked an automotive industry primarily controlled by insurance companies (whoops).
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/01/2017 at 14:47, STARS: 1
It’s still called the golf tee mod on the E9x even though all you have to do to accomplish it is unplug something.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
"BLCKSTRM" (BLCKSTRM)
06/01/2017 at 14:48, STARS: 0
I was afraid I’d mess it up and just ordered the airbag dummy sensor when I replaced my factory seats rather than buying a new mat and trying to get it into the Recaros I bought.
How is life after M3? Do you miss it? Who did you sell it to?
"BLCKSTRM" (BLCKSTRM)
06/01/2017 at 14:52, STARS: 0
That’s hilarious they still call it the golf tee mod!
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/01/2017 at 14:54, STARS: 0
I think at first E9x people started out messing with the vacuum line connected to the flapper valve like a real golf tee mod, until someone discovered the unplugging method. So the name stuck.
"BLCKSTRM" (BLCKSTRM)
06/01/2017 at 14:59, STARS: 0
I’d guess a lot of them had already done it previously on their E36s, so it makes perfect sense they’d call it the same thing even if the mechanism to accomplish it no longer involved a tee.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/01/2017 at 15:15, STARS: 1
See my username. There are many reasons, but mostly because it’s taken my formerly boundless, lifelong automotive enthusiasm and crushed it, and after 21 years in the industry and years of back problems, the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is work on my own damn cars. Anything but, really. If I could afford to take a pay cut and still support my family, I would leave this industry (at least the repair side of it, if not altogether) right the hell now. Once my wife goes back to work I’ll be looking to do just that.
"BaconSandwich is tasty." (baconsandwich)
06/01/2017 at 15:16, STARS: 1
That was pretty much the road trip - drive until we see something interesting. Stop and check it out. Drive until I got tired. Stop, sleep in car. Repeat. I think that’s the only time I’ve done two oil changes in two weeks!
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/01/2017 at 15:21, STARS: 1
See my reply to AM3R about exactly this. As I said to him, 21 years later, the last thing I want to do at the end of my day is work on my own damn cars. I’m out of gas for it.
Insurance companies are creeping into the repair side, and I absolutely hate fighting with them. No, I won’t put X used part on this car, don’t ask!
"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
06/01/2017 at 15:41, STARS: 1
Same. And also because I couldn’t afford to have people fixing my cars for me.
“$350 for diagnosis, alternator, and a fuel injector!? You’re insane!” This actually happened, but without me insulting the admittedly very good mechanic who got it right after the cheaper and not so good mechanic at another shop failed. Looking back, holy crap that was cheap, especially considering the circumstances.
"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
06/01/2017 at 15:48, STARS: 1
Insane levels of stress. Basically no gratitude or respect. Years spent just to get to a livable wage. Even the highest paid in the industry don’t make a ton of money, as in wages considered entry level for some careers. Hard on your body. Stupid hours. Stupid employers that don’t care or know anything. Everything is constantly changing and getting more difficult (and I don’t just mean the cars), but wages haven’t kept up with that or inflation in at least a decade (and that’s being generous). And the list goes on.
"Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever" (rustanddust)
06/01/2017 at 16:12, STARS: 2
Can I have your user name when you’re done with it?
I’ve seen so many people get shafted, no fault of their own, on physical damage to cars over the years. Your brand new car just got hit by someone with a piss poor insurance policy? Enjoy your aftermarket parts that don’t fit all that well while you’re making the next five years worth of payments. If I actually built something for myself, I’d end up with an ulcer every time I took it out for a drive.
An insurance company that spent over one billion on advertising last year has been suppressing a $2/hr labor rate increase in this market for two and a half years now. Literally every other insurance carrier pays it without question, yet these guys will look me dead in the eye and say “sue me, we’ll bury you in litigation.” And they’re 100% correct. Called my state insurance commissioner about them, the commissioners office knew which carrier I was discussing without even mentioning them by name, but the SIC office is powerless over them. They’re not breaking any laws, they’re just skirting the realm of fair business practices.
But, there’s that random Friday night every so often, when the temperature and the sky are just right, and I decide to go for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway before heading home to get drunk. All four windows down, sunroof open, and everything is perfect, reminding me of why I fell in love with cars in the first place. Unfortunately, this moment is often cut short when the instrument cluster reminds me that I’ve been putting off an O2 sensor replacement for a few months (fuck you Honda, why bury the wiring connection inside the cabin beneath the center console? Just leave it below the trans tunnel where I can get to it while installing the damned sensor...).
"Logansteno: Bought a VW?" (logansteno)
06/01/2017 at 16:32, STARS: 0
I miss it so much. Want another one more than anything. My next car purchase will be a clean manual sedan now that I’ve bought a daily I don’t loathe driving. I actually sold it to the same person who had bought my old wheels a few months prior. It’s actually a few days away from being a year since I sold it.
"BLCKSTRM" (BLCKSTRM)
06/01/2017 at 16:47, STARS: 0
I missed it when you sold it - what was it that pushed you over the edge to sell it?
I know it’s tough to justify dumping money into it - the $10k rule is a real thing, and is tough to swallow when your purchase price was low.
"Logansteno: Bought a VW?" (logansteno)
06/01/2017 at 16:56, STARS: 1
The car had cancer coming through in a lot of places; the left rear fender, both rocker panels, by the trunk latch, and on the trunk itself. In hindsight it probably wouldn’t have been an overly huge deal to fix but I was starting college and didn’t wanna have to worry about my daily falling apart.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/01/2017 at 18:50, STARS: 0
Feel free to adapt it to suit your needs ;)
Ugh, I feel the pain on insurance companies. Whenever I do mechanical stuff for body shops it’s a fight. And a couple always try to dick us on labor.
On the occasional Friday night for me, there’s a back road I can take that cheers me up. Doesn’t change the fact that I haven’t washed my car in 6 months, or that I’m putting off doing the clutch until it actually slips...
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/01/2017 at 19:11, STARS: 1
These are all the other reasons that I didn’t elaborate on. Well said.