I am confused as to how the sensor is the issue if the tire was actually flat. The sensor corroding into the wheel is a common problem, but from what you said, the tire was actually flat so…?
Since I had just topped off all of the tires 48 hours prior, I’m assuming that the valve may not have completely closed when I disengaged and screwed the cap back on, since I’m further assuming that that little screw cap is not completely air tight.
I’ve been driving for the past week and the tire looks fine, so the likelihood of an inner tube leak seems slim-to-none.
Honda Pilot’s transmission is shot and that plus a couple of other things are probably add up to 6 to 8k to fix.
What are our next steps? A Pilot is about what we’re aiming for. We’re most likely going to go used and we could probably pay cash. We both work from home so we don’t put too many miles on it.
I’m thinking of looking at carmax, etc., finding a Pilot with medium miles. Then go in and get the financing deal and then pay it off immediately. Or should I push to pay in cash? Anything else I should consider?
You will likely get a better deal and better cooperation from a dealer if you are financing. People think paying cash is a flex at the dealership but they often don’t understand that selling loans is big business for car dealers. Then yeah, pay it off early. Do the math though to make sure you’re saving money that way.
Well I have gotten a second job at a second library and will be working six days a week. The commute by bus is two hours each way to either library. So I’m thinking of getting a used car.
I don’t think I’d be a candidate for financing. I have a couple of credit card debts that went into default. So I’d likely be paying cash to buy it outright. Budget is $3k.
Been looking around at different used cars in Vegas. But am kinda out of my depth. It’s been a long time since I had a car.
I thought about getting a scooter and ugh. I feel irrationally afraid of riding one everywhere after a bad bicycle accident that left me with a TBI. Still worth considering.
My concern too is that scooters are TERRIBLE to ride in anything but perfect weather. I had a motorcycle in my 20s and in winter it’s like riding in a freezer, in summer it’s blazing hot if you’re wearing proper gear. And there’s no way I’d ride again even a scooter unless I was wearing full body armor.
If you aren’t somewhat mechanical and able to check things out, try to find a friend that is, because you’re definitely going to be sorting through/dodging some ticking time bombs in that price range.
I used to have a Camry. It was a great car. I have also heard great things about older civics but can’t find one in my price range. They’re all like $10k or higher.
Interesting idea that popped up on my feed this weekend:
tl;dr ~$20,000 EV that is built to be wrapped and comes with no options but lots of customization add-ons. The entertainment system is your phone or a tablet you supply, doesn’t sound like it even has speakers in it. 2 body kits you can buy that will convert it from a 2 passenger truck to a 5 passenger SUV. Unfortunately, the base range is only 150 miles and the extended range is only 240 miles, but at that price point I imagine they could sell a few if they aren’t completely garbage.
This is some inside baseball but Slate has been really intriguing. They have been hiring people, good ones, for a while now, while being entirely shrouded in secrecy. The opinion in the industry for a while was that they were complete vaporware, but that didn’t smell right since some of the people they hired weren’t going to just leave to go to some barely existing company, and the types of engineering roles they were hiring were stuff like interior noise that you wouldn’t hire unless you were far along with your concept and well into development. Apparently you needed to sign an NDA before your interview, which is pretty uncommon even for start ups.
The range is not surprising. The biggest challenge EV makers face right now is battery cost. Those things are insanely expensive. The auto companies are really struggling to balance the demand for larger vehicles with longer ranges with increased range. It’s why a lot of EVs start at $40k+. And the profit margins are much smaller than similarly priced and equipped gas powered cars.
I’m curious if there is a market for these smaller trucks. Apparently this is a Jeff Bezos backed project as well.
If you can get into one with a sweet wrap and wheels that don’t make it look like a 70’s mail jeep for 25k it seems like they could sell a lot of them. The worry would be that most people in the market for a 25k car don’t have garages to charge them in so you’re stuck with people who will have to charge them at charging stations. It didn’t sound like these cars had the voltage set-ups for quick charging either.
