Car problems

[EastWest Gal]

Our Prius is giving us problems. We had to have the circuit board of the control panel replaced. It was doing bizarre things electrically. Weird lighting on the dash, the battery drained a couple of times, the doors would spontaneously lock, odd stuff. It took awhile for the part to come in. It also took two trips to the dealer for them to figure out the problem.

We needed two cars so we rented for a month. It’s a good thing we did, as the first part was defective, but the dealer failed to notice that only half of the control panel functioned. We waited a week after the new part was installed before returning the rental.

The car’s been functioning ok for three weeks. Then yesterday, while driving on the freeway, suddenly all the warning lights came on at the same time. Also, the air conditioner stopped blowing cold are. Also the top inch of the touch screen went dark and there was another warning icon on that screen.

The car has 203K miles on it. We ordered a new Prius when it first malfunctioned. It probably won’t arrive for at least another month. We may need to rent again. At least we have a place that offers long term rentals nearby.

 

[Montecfo]

When I have committed to a large repair on an older vehicle, I usually felt I was making a commitment to keep the car a couple more years minimum. And it has usually worked out but it doesn't mean there were no more repairs. Just not expensive ones.

Of course breakdowns take it to another level, when you in some ways stop "trusting" the car.

On the other hand, if the Lexus repair was tied to the alternator he/she just fixed or some other obvious problem you might need a new mechanic more than a new car.

Will be interesting to see what the problems were.

 

[11522914]

I agree with the value comment. That’s why in January, we spent around $5K on each of our cars to completely rebuild their front ends. It was expensive but we thought we’d be keeping both for a few more years and wanted to avoid buying a car in today’s market.

Now that the Lexus has broken down twice on busy roadways and had to be towed in, we are rethinking whether we should continue to fix a car with 177K miles on it, even though it still looks very nice and until this year, it had no major problems. We’ll see what the new diagnosis is after having to have it towed in again today.

The Solara has only 129K miles, but the Lexus is a nicer car so we had decided we preferred to keep the Lexus if we have to cut down to one car. Good to know the “check engine” light isn’t necessarily an expensive fix. We will get a diagnosis of that next week.

In the meantime we may have to rent a car so we have some kind of transportation until both cars are diagnosed and we can make an informed decision. Looking online, the inventory situation is indeed dire so we may not have much choice if we have to buy something soon.

You already recently spent $5,000 on each car in January. That seems like an awful lot to rebuild the front end but I am not an expert. I hope you're not getting repairs at the dealership as they are always way more expensive than a good locally owned mechanic shop.

Since you already put in $10,000, you would be throwing that money away by not repairing any issues now.

As others have said an engine check warning light is not indicative of an expensive repair.

I have a 2004 Toyota Avalon. I love this car. Has 190,000 miles. I probably drive the same amount of miles you indicated.

I like driving this car to the mountains when we rent a cabin. In May we rented a cabin and when we get there the engine check light came on. I thought great. But the car was running fine.

Took it to Advance Auto and the guy ran the codes. No charge to do that. Turns out it was a faulty oxygen sensor. He said I should be fine using the car and get it fixed when returning to home.

He was right. Car ran fine, came home and reran codes using my reader (great tool to own and not difficult to use and understand).

Went on YouTube to see if easy fix. Turns out it was simply removing oxygen sensor and replacing it. Got lucky as it required 10 minutes literally to fix it. Probably saved a couple hundred bucks.

My suggestion is get them both fixed at a highly rated local shop since you've spent a lot on them already this year.

Going forward buy a code reader so at least you have an idea what is going on so you don't get ripped off.

 

[pb4uski]

... Thoughts anyone?

I would order one new car and keep the better of the two that you have now as the second car.

I say order only because from what I have seen the discount on slightly used cars is so slight that I think oredering a new car at MSRP is a better value than overpaying for a used car where the premium paid today because of shortages will likely evaporate as the supply problems get ironed out.

When we replace our car, a leading candidate is the Toyota Venza, which only comes in a hybrid version.

 

[NW-Bound]

With the economy slowing down, consumers pulling in their horns, electronic supply bottleneck for car easing, my guess is that it will pay to wait to buy a new car.

Perhaps next year, car dealer lots will be awash with unsold cars. Life is full of crazy excesses.

 

[Car-Guy]

2007 Lexus ES350 with 177K miles. Put in a new alternator last week, thought it was fixed and today it died and had to be towed in again. Waiting on diagnosis.

2007 Toyota Solara convertible with 129K miles. Check Engine light came on a few days ago so it’s been sitting in the garage and we’ve been using the Lexus until it died today. Taking it in on Monday for diagnosis.

Neither of us is able to fix cars. We are the original owners of both of these cars. They’ve been well maintained, garaged indoors, and had hoped to have them a few more years. However neither of us is willing to risk breaking down regularly on busy streets. It’s dangerous and inconvenient. We aren’t in college anymore.

Sounds to me like it's time to trade both. But assuming the CEL on the Solara isn't a big $$$$$$ deal to fix, I might trade the Lexus first and "consider" keeping the Solara as a backup car for a while longer. If it keeps giving you problems, then maybe it's time for it to go too. The problem with buying a used car, you may just be buying someone else's problems so have it checked out before buying. Or best, buy new, if you can... My 2 cents.

 

[Surewhitey]

- If we buy a new or newer car, go with hybrid or gas powered? Most of the models we like are not offered as hybrids and the payout doesn’t seem to be there even with $6 gas. From an environmental perspective, I’m not convinced fossil fuels are worse than mining lithium for batteries.

Thoughts anyone?

Just watched a Ted talk video on the mining of battery components. Jist was the CO2's of the mining and electric production (coal&nat gas burning) was considerably more than just an average car unless you drove it like 500k miles... They did say that hybrids were still the best for the environment as they had much smaller batteries.

 

[Bamaman]

I worked for a major auto manufacturer 24 years. And my family owns a big city luxury car dealership that's #1 in service sales and customer satisfaction in that retail market year after year.

Unless the manufacturer is paying to fix a car under a recall or warranty, go elsewhere for service. Find yourself a good independent car repair shop. And don't think that because you're running a fine German automobile or a Jaguar that regular shops cannot fix'em. Lots of Jags are just high line Fords--from years past.

I have had over 100 new vehicles, and I'm a pretty fair mechanic. But in my ER, I made two decisions that have served me well. I only buy vehicles that are (1) the more durable in their class and (2) vehicles that are relatively low depreciating--high demand on the used car market. And I do all maintenance on my vehicles.

We presently have a 2 year old F150 STX SuperCrew model with a 2.7 Ecoboost engine--25.5 mpg on the open highway. And we're on our second Toyota Hybrid--a Venza AWD getting 42.5 mpg. Both cost about $32-33K--or $10K+ less than the average new vehicle sold today. And we're not giving anything up by going down in cost--rather than going up in cost. We're good to go for many years on cars--not having to deal with the strange supply crisis being experienced.

 

[gauss]

My thought too. A check engine light could be as simple as a bad or loose gas cap and may well just be an oxygen sensor or cracked vacuum hose. I'd get the code read and the car diagnosed before making any major decision.

Right now is a terrible time to buy a car, especially given that you hardly drive and have two cars to cover any immediate need. Even longer term, given your low miles, I wouldn't spend a lot extra for a hybrid or electric vehicle as you'll never see the savings.

+1 Agree on all points.

 

[Badger]

We will not consider an all electric car yet. Not willing to run out of power. Some friends who have a Tesla recently drove from So CA to Las Vegas. What is normally a 4-5 hour drive became an 8-9 hour drive when they couldn’t find an open charging station and then when they did finally get one, had to wait for their car to charge. No thanks. The infrastructure is just not there yet.
/QUOTE]

It seems that you have figured out this part of the equation. Charging an electric car with the same convenience as fueling a gas car is quite a number of years in the future. I would consider evaluating the cars you have, pick the best one that you think will last 5-10 more years, and look at a new gas replacement for the other. When the time comes that you want an electric then trade in the old car.

Cheers!

 

[pb4uski]

An EV might work well as a second car if your driving incudes some long-distance trips that you have a hybrid or gas car that can be used for those trips. Alternatively, if long distance trips are rare, you might have an EV as your car and then rent a car as needed for long-haul trips.

 

[REWahoo]

An EV might work well as a second car if your driving incudes some long-distance trips that you have a hybrid or gas car that can be used for those trips.

^ This.

I'm considering an EV as a possible second car. I posted on another thread that I recently sold my 11-year old diesel truck that had been our second vehicle for the past several years. Thought going to a single car wouldn't be a problem but still not comfortable with it.

GM just announced a $6,000 price cut for the 2023 Bolt EV and EUV. Since this would only be an "errand and around town" car, the price, the 250 mile range and the size of the EUV would fit our needs nicely. Although we live several miles outside the city, our trips to the grocery store, shopping, restaurants and Dr. appointments are rarely more than 75 miles round trip. No need to charge anywhere but home.

 

[pb4uski]

That sounds like it would work well... just be sure to include the cost of installing a home charging station in your calculations.

 

[ncbill]

My strategy is fix unless car needs new engine or transmission. If the latter, car was fun while it lasted but time to look for a successor .

I used to say that until COVID came along, though I've been fortunate never to have either fail completely.

I did spend $400 to get a transmission solenoid replaced on my Subaru so the AWD would work properly, but that wasn't strictly necessary.

I could have just popped in an extra fuse to disable AWD & it would have driven fine in FWD-only mode.

With my vehicles spanning model years 1996 to 2007 I'd currently be willing to pay for a transmission rebuild & probably also the cost of installing a used or rebuilt engine.

 

[Out of Steam]

If your cars have less than 150k miles on them, I'd fix what you have. Assuming they aren't rusted out and they haven't been badly neglected/abused.

I have trouble getting my head around it myself, but that mark is probably 200K miles right now, especially for a car with an engine of 2 liters or larger.

My current 2015 Subaru had fewer issues between 100 and 150K miles than it did between 50 and 100K.

 

[REWahoo]

That sounds like it would work well... just be sure to include the cost of installing a home charging station in your calculations.

+1

Already had an electrician come out and take a look. He said it would be simple to install a 220v outlet as I do have the service capacity and the electrical box is on the outside wall of the garage. Waiting for him to email me the estimate.

GM currently provides a level 2 charger with the Bolt, and provides an allowance to have a 220v plug installed. I suspect the the allowance may go away on the reduced price 2023 models but won't know until they officially go on sale late next month.

 

[OldShooter]

Already had an electrician come out and take a look. He said it would be simple to install a 220v outlet as I do have the service capacity and the electrical box is on the outside wall of the garage. Waiting for him to email me the estimate. ...

EE here but not an EV expert. I suggest that you have the electrician install wire at least big enough to provide the current for the fastest charger you ever expect to install. If he installs wire only sufficient for a basic charger you will get to do it over again if/when you upgrade. Charging speed requires amps and big amps require big wire. If you initially install the big wire, doing a charger upgrade may only require changing the receptacle to one rated for a higher current. Easily DIY.

 

[NW-Bound]

^ This.

I'm considering an EV as a possible second car. I posted on another thread that I recently sold my 11-year old diesel truck that had been our second vehicle for the past several years. Thought going to a single car wouldn't be a problem but still not comfortable with it.

GM just announced a $6,000 price cut for the 2023 Bolt EV and EUV. Since this would only be an "errand and around town" car, the price, the 250 mile range and the size of the EUV would fit our needs nicely. Although we live several miles outside the city, our trips to the grocery store, shopping, restaurants and Dr. appointments are rarely more than 75 miles round trip. No need to charge anywhere but home.

And as you don't do the 75-mile round trip every day, your charging need is modest.

From Chevy:

120V outlet: 4 miles of range / hour
240V appliance outlet: 26 miles / hour
240V dedicated 80A: 39 miles / hour

Without an allowance from Chevy, I think you could just do with an extension cord.

 

[REWahoo]

EE here but not an EV expert. I suggest that you have the electrician install wire at least big enough to provide the current for the fastest charger you ever expect to install.

+1.

 

[ncbill]

I don't plan to upgrade my 100A service.

Instead, I'll adapt my 30A (really 24A) dryer outlet to power both my electric dryer & a future EV with a device like this:

https://store.getneocharge.com/products/neocharge-smart-splitter

 

[REWahoo]

I don't plan to upgrade my 100A service.

Instead, I'll adapt my 30A (really 24A) dryer outlet to power both my electric dryer & a future EV with a device like this:

https://store.getneocharge.com/products/neocharge-smart-splitter

Ouch! That $500 price tag is tough to swallow. But then it's probably far less than upgrading your 100A service to something larger.

 

[OldShooter]

Ouch! That $500 price tag is tough to swallow. But then it's probably far less than upgrading your 100A service to something larger.

1) No free lunch there and certainly not worth $500. All it is doing is restricting current draw to either a dryer or to the EV. You can do the same thing by installing a second receptacle for the EV and then making sure you don't try to charge and dry at the same time. Much cheaper plus simpler = better reliability.

2) Re 100 amp service I am no code expert* but that panel capacity is plenty for most EV chargers. If the panel breaker slots are full, you can probably buy a couple of "double" breakers (2 in one slot) to open up a hole for a 220 breaker. You can call your local electrical inspector to check whether there is a code issue or whether your electrician is just trying to massively pad his ticket by telling you that you need to upgrade to 200a service.

*Google just told me that the maximum for a 100 amp panel is 42 circuits. That is a lot of circuits. You can count the breakers in your panel to see if this is an issue.

 

[ERD50]

I don't plan to upgrade my 100A service.

Instead, I'll adapt my 30A (really 24A) dryer outlet to power both my electric dryer & a future EV with a device like this:

https://store.getneocharge.com/products/neocharge-smart-splitter

Ouch! That $500 price tag is tough to swallow. But then it's probably far less than upgrading your 100A service to something larger.

1) No free lunch there and certainly not worth $500. All it is doing is restricting current draw to either a dryer or to the EV. You can do the same thing by installing a second receptacle for the EV and then making sure you don't try to charge and dry at the same time. Much cheaper plus simpler = better reliability.

...

Agree that $500 is a crazy price. But it is against code to add a second receptacle to the circuit, those are dedicated to the circuit, as they are expected to use close to full current.

But, you could have a manual switch installed (Double-Pole, Double throw switch or relay), flip it to power the dryer, flip it back to charge the EV - only one on at a time.

Seems one would still need an electrician, unless their dryer is in the garage.

-ERD50

 

[NW-Bound]

I don't know why you retirees are in such a hurry to charge your EVs.

Even a 120V wall outlet will get you 4 miles of range per hour. That's almost 100 miles per day.

And we don't drive our cars but once or twice a week, and the trip is only 10-20 miles round trip.

Maybe typical retired people spend more time out on the road than we do.

 

[Car-Guy]

I don't know why you retirees are in such a hurry to charge your EVs.

Even a 120V wall outlet will get you 4 miles of range per hour. That's almost 100 miles per day.

And we don't drive our cars but once or twice a week, and the trip is only 10-20 miles round trip.

Maybe typical retired people spend more time out on the road than we do.

There are days when I don't drive but not many. I'm still averaging at least 1800 to 2000 miles a month so far this year, unless I'm taking one of my trips out west, then it's much more. Probably not typical for someone in my age group.