hooniverse news whats your naws

What was your news for the week?

Greg Kachadurian

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Well it certainly wasn’t a boring week in general but it was for the automotive industry. Not much happened besides some major F1 reveals (which I’m not very qualified to talk about and I don’t want the comments turning into a Max vs Lewis circle jerk) and Elon Musk pissing people off again. So instead of grinding through some boring stories neither of us want to know about, I’m opening up this time slot to you.

If you saw something, did anything, broke everything, or have anything even remotely car related (or not) to share with your fellow hoon, sound off in the comments.

Have a good weekend.

About

Greg Kachadurian

Greg Kachadurian

I’m the guy that spoiled the site with all the new car stuff. Hooniverse News Editor since 2011, amateur motorsport photographer, sim racer, and mountain road enthusiast.

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18 responses to “What was your news for the week?”

  1. Slow Joe Crow Avatar
    Slow Joe Crow

    This weekend I’m starting the project to get my wife’s 1983 Honda CM250C running for the first time since 1997. Plus I need to find a replacement taillight for a 2003 Buick LeSabre.

    Reply
  2. MattC Avatar
    MattC

    I’m playing the waiting game for my new Maverick to arrive (myself and about 50k other people who have plopped down deposits). I’m hoping to see one in early Spring (about 7 months after ordering). Until then, I’m plucking away at fixing my old Vibe to see me through until then.

    Reply
  3. Idaneck Avatar
    Idaneck

    Hey Greg, when will get to enjoy Part 2 of your cross-country road trip?

    Nothing new car wise for me, they just keep plugging along…

    Reply
    1. Greg Kachadurian Avatar
      Greg Kachadurian

      Not sure to be honest. It was hard enough to put all my thoughts from part 1 into words but this one is proving to be harder. Not necessarily from an emotional standpoint, but a “I suck at writing” standpoint haha. But I’m pushing myself to get it done in the coming weeks.

      Reply
      1. Idaneck Avatar
        Idaneck

        Fair enough, I really enjoyed the story!

        Reply
        1. Greg Kachadurian Avatar
          Greg Kachadurian

          Thanks a bunch 🙂

          Reply
      2. outback_ute Avatar
        outback_ute

        I would say don’t overthink it, do a first draft and see where it goes from there! I’d be interested to read more too.

        Reply
      3. OA5599 Avatar
        OA5599

        A story that gets told is more interesting than no story at all.

        Part 1 was pretty good. Just crank it out.

        Reply
    2. Lokki Avatar
      Lokki

      I got a call from my salesman yesterday from whom I have been leasing my cars… forever. He’s actually more or less retired but he’s a gregarious type and can’t stand sitting at home. He has a desk but no quotas, etc, etc – so he’s not a hardball guy out to make a dollar any way he can. Anyhow he called me and told me that I need to factory order a lease car…now to be sure of getting one in June. Usually I just select from what they have – they’re a huge dealership with a four-story warehouse (usually) full of new unsold cars and I just pick out one I like (hey, my tastes are pretty simple, so it’s easy). However, they don’t have a good supply this year at all, and no one is sure what things will be like in June; I figure a price increase at a minimum by then regardless of overall vehicle availability. I also expect that even (especially) with special ordering I won’t get a deal as good as I usually do, but such is life. He is eager to get my current car as experience tells him it’s low mileage and clean so he can retail it personally and make a buck there. I looked at Carvana and CarMax and I could get $2400 over my lease buy out figure. But… that (in Texas) means paying sales tax on the new car which eliminates any profit for me… the Dealer’s used car guy will inspect my car tomorrow and set a value on it which will impact the price I’ll pay for the new lease. I wish I understood all this better but Lokki just pawn checker piece in economic stuff. I’ll report more next week if anybody is interested…

      Reply
      1. smaglik Avatar
        smaglik

        I’m interested. 🙂

        Reply
  4. wunno sev Avatar
    wunno sev

    last week i got my 190D back from alignment and, with all the new suspension and steering bits……..started hearing a clunk. grabbed the LF tire and heaved back and forth. clunk-clunk. i thought it was the suspension and took it back to the shop, but they checked all the bolts and it was all good. i have yet to confirm their findings, but all that would leave is a wheel bearing. it never stops with this thing, and i’ve only had it six weeks.

    but it does handle much nicer now, and it’s becoming pretty usable. this weekend i’ll replace the motor mounts, engine vibe damper, and tighten up the steering box. last weekend i managed to pick up a mild case of covid, so i’ll have plenty of time alone to mess with the car. i’m just over $5k into it, which is too much, but seems decent for 2022. most of the remaining problems are cheap-but-tedious types of jobs.

    Reply
  5. outback_ute Avatar
    outback_ute

    I went with a friend today to pick up an old car. It’s a bit of a mystery, it appears the chassis might be from the 1920’s, the engine and gearbox from the ’50s and we are not sure exactly about the rest; the steering isn’t original, brakes are 4 wheel hydraulic, and it has a home made body built from riveted sheet and ply with a wooden box on the back – super basic. It’s supposed to be an old car turned into a farm runabout like they used to do (in the30/40s?), but was built in the 70s by a guy who has recently passed.

    Reply
  6. smaglik Avatar
    smaglik

    First world problem rant coming: I had my break-in service for the M3 last Friday at a dealer in the Las Vegas area, and it reminded me how much I hate going to dealer service departments. I made an appointment online (all they do is change the engine oil and filter, and rear diff fluid), they send me a 2 hour outlook invite, and I show up, having made plans after that two hour window. I’m captive at this point, since this needs to be done before 1200 miles, the vehicle has 1095 miles on it, and I’m 250 miles from home.

    “Do you need a ride somewhere?”
    “Nah, I plan to wait. There’s some food across the street I’ll walk to.”
    “Are you sure? We need this all afternoon; it won’t be done until 4p.” (It’s currently 1145a, for my 12p appointment)
    “To do what? I can do this service in my garage in under an hour”
    “Oh, not on this car, it’s really complicated.”
    “No, it’s not.”

    And so it went….they had it done about 330p, and they also gave it a software update to correct a battery management issue error I’d seen (which, seems to have worked, as it hasn’t come back). It turns out that the ‘appointment’ is just a reservation place holder; I’m then put in a queue with other reservation people when I get there. Oh, and the two hour appointment? They send that for every service. It has nothing to do with what they’re actually going to do. And, all their techs go to lunch from 12p-1p, so nothing can be done until after lunch, but they still take appointments for that slot. It’s good to know that the only time that matters is their time, not mine.

    So, to recap, I’ve had two BMW dealer service visits in the last 4 months, one to inspect the M5 before sale (where the dealer missed several suspension pieces, and then told me I was wrong, even though I sent them pics), and this one above, and it’s been exactly why I avoid any dealer service department like the plague, though with a warrantied car, I’m pretty much forced to eat that sh*t sandwich.

    In other news, an older gent in my neighborhood has been seriously eyeing my red wagon. He had a 3 series back in the 90s, and has really fond memories of it (he’s in his early 80s). He came by yesterday, and we chatted for awhile, and I let him take it for a spin. I don’t really want to sell it, but I gave him a number that would make me whole on the vehicle, so we’ll see what happens. I feel for the guy, as nostalgia can be a very strong pull towards anything, especially a vehicle (for me). If given the chance, I’d buy my first car I had 30 years ago….

    Reply
    1. outback_ute Avatar
      outback_ute

      Did you also get to deal with a service writer that has NFI how cars work? You can tell they’ve been burnt by too many people not bringing their cars in on time; it’s like a cinema I used to go to where I’d leave home at the scheduled start time and drive, park, walk in, buy ticket etc and get to my seat just before the actual movie started.

      Reply
      1. smaglik Avatar
        smaglik

        Pretty sure my service writer had no idea how a car worked…he went on and on about how BMW made a paint that changes colors….uh, great.

        Reply
  7. OA5599 Avatar
    OA5599

    I found out today that my 21.0 gallon fuel tank should probably be filled with a couple gallons left in the tank. I had to baby it to get it up from an underpass (when gravity pulled the last little bit of fuel to the back of the tank). Another red light and another mile to the nearest gas station, then it died again heading uphill to the station but I coasted to a pump. It took 20.931 gallons to fill it.

    A mile up the road from filling up, I got to my preferred “brand-name cheap gas” station. Their prices haven’t been adjusted for the Ukraine situation yet today. I’m wondering if I should go top off the other cars this afternoon to save the extra 25 cents per gallon.

    Reply
    1. outback_ute Avatar
      outback_ute

      Always a good idea to do that so you have fuel in the tank to cool the fuel pump (assuming electric in-tank pump)

      Reply
  8. Lokki Avatar
    Lokki

    Yeah the failed from overheating electric pump inside the gas tank is a real thing. We live in a Mad, Mad, world.

    To cool and lubricate the internal components, fuel must flow continuously through the fuel pump. Insufficient flow limits cooling and lubrication of the pump. A leading cause of fuel pump failure is running the fuel tank low. This is particularly critical on late model vehicles without a fuel pressure return system.

    This seems crazy to my simple mind, but there it is.

    Running such a vehicle out of fuel once can permanently damage the fuel pump. When the fuel level is low, the pump has to work much harder to produce the same pressure. This is because the reduced fuel weight no longer pushes fuel into the pump. Instead, the pump must draw the fuel in. A low fuel level also means less fuel to dissipate heat and lubricate the pump. The combination of an overworked pump reduced cooling and lubrication will likely damage the fuel pump.

    Reply