r/AutomotiveLearning

I have a 2023 SR5 with 40k miles with the engine recall. My engine failed and was towed to my Toyota dealership about 5 weeks ago. I was told the first week they had it that the engine would need to be replaced. Ever since then I’ve called the service department asking for updates and all they can say is that they are waiting on Toyota to get back with them on what they recommend the next steps should be. I called yesterday and the service person told me they’ve ran into this 3-4 times and the customers just ended up trading in their trucks. I actually bought this truck 3 day’s before the engine failure from a different dealership, so I don’t feel like trading in a depreciating asset after 3 days of ownership would be smart.
Has anyone who successfully had the engine swap have any recommendations or insight on this process?

I’m under 18 in Ohio and have completed an approved driver’s education course. I’ll also have all 50 required supervised driving hours completed, but I haven’t held my permit for a full six months. I’ve read the Ohio Revised Code and have gotten conflicting answers about whether completing driver’s ed can waive the six-month permit requirement. Has anyone actually been able to take their road test before six months after completing driver’s ed, or did the BMV still make you wait? I’m mainly looking for recent firsthand experiences.

I know this can be opinion based. But can someone explain at what detriment it is to someone if they can’t open the hood of an electric car: such as a dealership can/should only open it.

I am not a vehicle person, or a tech savvy person.
From my knowledge there isn’t really anything “under the hood” to tinker with or easily fix. As it is just a battery and connectors maybe.
Also that the batteries are extremely dangerous and if they catch on fire they burn for an extremely long time, and you simply have to let it burn out.

I may be wrong so please correct me.

I can understand an answer of access should be shared to all mechanics capable, but would love a factual answer.

Tysm for your time.

I could really use some outside perspective because I honestly don’t know what the smartest financial move is.

I have a 2021 Kia Sportage with around 115,000 miles. Despite keeping up with regular maintenance, the engine has completely failed and needs to be replaced. Unfortunately, I still owe about $21,000 on the loan, so I’m significantly upside down.
My extended service contract has expired, so I’m on the hook for the repair. My credit isn’t the best.. Even though I work full time in a busy 911 EMS system on an ambulance, I’m also a single mom and simply haven’t been able to build up savings for something like this…. I have roughly $3,500 which isn’t nothing but in the situation it’s also not much..

I’m trying to figure out what the least damaging option is financially. Some of the possibilities I’ve thought about are

Paying to install a used engine.(it’s so hard to find one and still leave room for labor cost)

Trading it in despite the negative equity.

Paying to install a new engine($9k)

There is ONE more positive… i have GAP and full coverage insurance i kinda figured if i do fix it… i could ‘take advantage’ of that GAP in not so many words😅

Has anyone been in a similar situation? What did you end up doing, and if you could go back, would you make the same decision?
I know there probably isn’t a perfect answer, but right now it feels like every option is a bad one. I’m just trying to make the best decision I can before I dig myself into an even deeper hole. Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Aight, so a couple of months ago, I changed out my car battery at home and just haven't had the time or place to dispose of it yet. A couple of hard turns later, I noticed the old battery was flipped and leaked this clear liquid all over my back seats. I hadn't noticed this at least 3 nights it was leaking. (mazda 5 minivan. The seats were folded down flat)

Honestly, how much concern is there of corrosion, toxic gas, etc?

I’ve been into cars since I was a kid, especially jdms, I even opened a repost page on instagram with a friend. Even tho I’ve always been into cars I never learned a lot about mechanics and I barely can name the engine when I open a hood, maybe I’m kinda stupid but I want to learn. I’ll get my first cheap car with my own money soon (I’m 23 but I always driven my sister’s car since I got my license cuz I’m broke) and I’d like to work on it a little bit, even if it’s just maintenance jobs like changing the oil and stuff like that at first.
You probably understand the issue now, if I can’t name the parts of the car how could I possibly know how to assemble/disassemble, fix, change and replace the parts?
I’m not asking for you guys to actually teach me ofc, I just want to be redirected to a video, a blog or whatever that teaches me everything I need to know to actually learn how the engine works without spending years of my life learning from useless sources.
Appreciate the time you guys put into this overly complicated message, I could have just said what I wanted but I’m silly like that