I remember seeing it a while back as well, but is definitely becoming more common now. Have seen ERs/urgent cares use it for the doors to patient rooms, instead of curtains.
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I think Tao nightclub in Vegas had that technology on the bathroom stall doors in the early 2000s.
My first car was a late 70s or early 80s red Volvo sedan. Gas gauge didn’t work and no reverse.
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Carvana stock is up nearly 700% YTD.
It’s still down about 90% from ath
Hollllllly craaaaaap insuring a new 18 year old driver is expensive. It’s going to cost more than the car - every six months!
Hasn’t that always been the case? I remember being very happy when I turned 18 or whatever and my insurance dropped in half.
I could vomit. I stayed away because I thought it was headed for bankruptcy 
Yeah, still crazier than I expected. Quote I received is $500/mo! We have some complicating factors that make it a tad higher than average, but I’m hearing from friends that $400+ is very common.
No wonder people bitch about minimum wage, that’s more than a quarter of your monthly paycheck at $7.50 an hour.
Anyone own or know someone that owns a Ford Lightning EV? Just read they are coming down in cost
I’m intrigued by them as well.
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Finally got my car back today after nearly a month. They put in a brand new engine and it was covered under warranty, so I paid zero and supposedly my rental will be reimbursed. Saw the warranty invoice - it would’ve been about $3,800. And the rental was $1,200.
When they did a complete check of the car, it failed the BCT, which I believe is Bearing Clearance (or connection?) Test, so it was the connecting rod, like the service rep thought.
Aside from the whole situation, couple things were frustrating. I had brought the car the week before the second break-down for 60,000 maintenance and to have them check it out since it broke down the week before. The rep even pulled up the warranty and showed it was extended because of known issues, so they knew what the problem could be, but clearly didn’t find it, since it broke down a week later.
So, any of the maintenance package that was engine-specific was a waste of money because they put in a new engine. I talked to her and I was able to get them to not refund me, but give me a service credit for the portion of the maintenance package that had to do with the engine. Not perfect, but a compromise I can live with.
Also, when she called to say they were getting started putting in the new engine, she suggested something THAT THEY HAD ALREADY DONE when I took it in the first time. I approved it, not realizing that, but figure it out quickly and called back. She clearly didn’t review the previous work and gave me some bullshit reason. I mean, come on, man.
At any rate, upon inspection both a month ago and this week, they did find that I needed to replace the front passenger drive axle because the boot is leaking grease. They quoted me $1,000+. One mechanic I called said it would be $450-$550 and one I talked to in person (neither looked at the car yet because I didn’t have it), said it would be $590. So yeah, I won’t take it to the dealership for that.
But as long as they installed the engine properly, all’s well that ends well, I guess. New engine for free.
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I took a 2006 Toyota Avalon to a Toyota dealer several years ago for an unrelated issue. They told me the boots were bad and needed to be replaced for the low low cost of $2,200. I drove the car for another year and a half before having my mechanic replace the axels, boots and all for under $500. Dealerships are scam central for non warranty work.
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My local dealer has been good to me and has at times recommended going elsewhere for non-OEM parts.
In defense of the dealership I went to, they didn’t say the axle repair was an emergency, which they easily could have done to get me to pay them to do the work immediately.
I just filed a claim to have my $1,200 in rental car fees reimbursed only to find out I might not get paid 100% because there’s a daily limit. In the meantime, I shopped around to get the best rate I could on a small car (when the car being repaired is an SUV) and drove way out of my way to get said rate on a fucking Kia Forte (which actually seemed decent, albeit bare bones because it was a rental).
On the bright side, even if they don’t refund me completely, I might end up double-dipping on tow truck reimbursement because I submitted that claim to both Kia and AAA because hey, I’m not risking getting rejected by one of them and not getting paid at all.
That’s horrifying. It seems like there was a recall for this exact issue?
March 31, 2017 NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V224000
Bearing Wear may result in Engine Seizure
Bearing wear may result in the engine seizing, increasing the risk of a crash.
NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V224000
Manufacturer Kia Motors America
Components ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Potential Number of Units Affected 618,160
Summary
Kia Motor Company (Kia) is recalling certain 2011-2014 Optima, 2012-2014 Sorento and 2011-2013 Sportage vehicles. Machining errors during the engine manufacturing process may cause premature bearing wear within the engine.
Remedy
Kia will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the engine assembly, and replace the engine if necessary, free of charge. The recall began June 20, 2017. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia’s number for this recall is SC147.
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Yeah - I never got the notice. I found out that Kia had some defunct e-mail address of mine and I never received anything in the mail (or maybe I just tossed it with junk mail, who knows).
My daughter was driving the car both times it shut down and she only just got her license at the beginning of the year. After the second time, she said she was never driving it again. But now that it has a new engine, she just drove it yesterday, liar.
I come from a family of auto mechanics and irrational car enthusiasts who were obsessed with GM so I feel her pain. Of the seven different cars we owned before I graduated high shcool, six of them broke down at least once while I was the driver or passenger. Probably some low key PTSD from it and why I only look at Toyota / Lexus, Honda / Acura, and Mazda now.
Anyone here have opinions on Honda / Acura engines with VCM? 
No opinions myself, but this looks pretty informative.