r/automotive

Mixed opinions everywhere.

What’s your real experience?

Not always, but when they fail early… they usually affect other things too.

Then the total cost just goes up.

Seen this happen more than once.

Agree or not really?

For me it’s this: maintenance cost matters more than mileage long-term.

Didn’t think about it earlier.

What’s yours?

I’m trying to wrap my head around how this can possibly happen. Just went to Walmart for an oil change- 2017 Toyota Highlander. Lady says can’t do it, we don’t have a filter. So I have that look on my face on account it’s a pretty common vehicle. She goes on to tell me they don’t have filters for any Toyotas. She says Fram went out of business and that just blows my mind. They’ve been around forever and they are everywhere. Curious if there’s enough filter manufacturers out there to make up for the void. Kind of reminds me when Hostess went bankrupt.

I’m trying to understand where the biggest daily frustration is inside auto workshops.
For people working in garages or running one:
What causes the most problems?
Finding the right parts
Tracking job status
Keeping customer/job history organized
Communication between office and mechanics
Invoicing customers after the job is done
Getting customer approval before doing extra work
I’m curious because it feels like many workshops don’t lose time on the actual repair

Just stop where you’re supposed to and wait. You’re not going anywhere faster. The light is still red. Every single time. What’s the driving habit that makes you irrationally angry?

There’s a lot of “heard from someone” advice floating around.

What’s something you don’t agree with?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

I currently have a 2012 Mazda 3 with 163k miles on it. it needs new front struts, exhaust fixed, and my engine light just came on, i got the code pulled (P0171) from autozone and they said its most likely the O2 Sensor. I was quoted 2000+ to get it fixed. i have put in 2000 within the last 4 months into it for a new battery,alternator, front & rear sway bars, rear brakes and rotors. ive have the car for 10 years with no car payment. i feel something is starting to break or needs replacing every 3-6 months. is it worth it to keep the car and get those things replaced/ fixed, or should i look at getting something newer with less miles? if i get something new itd be under 20K. i also wont get much for my car because its a salvage title and has hail damage + starting to rust. let me know your thoughts.

Usually there are signs:

• weird sounds
• slight vibrations
• performance drop

But we keep driving until something actually breaks.

Guilty of this myself tbh.

Do you notice early signs or nah?

Brakes.

Seen enough to not take chances there.

What’s one part you’d never compromise on?

From an article I read on line quoting BYD Rep

BYD's robot-run factory in China builds an EV in under a minute

“Here, an electric vehicle is produced in less than a minute, and a battery cell is manufactured every three seconds," he said.

In Shenzhen, company officials demonstrated BYD's flash charging technology, which they said can charge a vehicle to 97 percent in about nine minutes, precisely eight minutes and 26 seconds.

I was test driving a new SUV last weekend, and honestly, I spent half the time distracted by the speed limit, navigation arrows, and battery life all floating on the glass. It felt cool for about five minutes, but then I started wondering if we are solving a problem that didn’t exist.

I started looking into how fast this tech is taking over. I came across a report by Market Research Future Reports (MRFR) that mentioned the market was worth around 1.8billionlastyear,andit’sprojectedtojumptonearly1.8billionlastyear,andit’sprojectedtojumptonearly9 billion by 2035. That is a massive leap in just ten years.

It makes sense why every luxury brand is pushing this, but what about us regular drivers? Do you actually use the HUD features in your car, or did you turn them off after the first week?

I've started having the strangest problem with my 2015 Ford Expedition (3.5 EcoBoost V6). Sometimes it down-shifts to gain acceleration, especially when going up even the slightest inclines. For example, I will be driving 60 on the freeway, and cruising in 6th gear. Even with cruise control on, if I hit an incline, in order just to maintain 60, it will drop down into 5th, lose a few MPH, then "work harder" to get back up to 60, and eventually shift back into 6th. Sometimes it even shifts down to 4th to reach 60 again. It's like it's requiring more power than usual, or trying to force more power than usual, to do the same accelerating. The RPMs increase a little but not dramatically, but it starts to feel sluggish. It's especially strange how it does it sometimes but not every time.

Today it did just on a side street at about 30-40 MPH. I noticed it drop from 4th to 3rd while I was accelerating up to 45-50.

Has anyone ever seen this?

It’s funny because everyone knows oil is important… but it still delays it.

The problem is it doesn’t damage things instantly. It’s slow. Quiet.

So nothing feels wrong… until it suddenly is.

How often do you actually change yours (honestly)?

Used to think expensive = better, cheap = bad.

Reality is kinda in between.

Some cheap parts fail fast, yeah… but some expensive ones are just overpriced branding.

Feels like the real win is finding that “reliable but not overpriced” middle.

What’s your experience been?

Be honest 😄

First time → “hmm?”
Second time → “probably fine”
After that → music louder

I’ve done it too, not judging.

What sound are you currently ignoring?

As in the header. My wheel just flat off fell off last night,leaving me in a ditch (towed homenow). In all my years of driving nothing so radical has ever happened to any car of mine, much less to a Toyota - my other Toyotas have given me hundreds of thousands of miles of trouble free driving. Does this look repairable or should i start looking to buy another vehicle?

https://preview.redd.it/0vtw27j0mb1h1.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d1c1934e2c8aadbac02c1c807e89328f201c909b