Car lovers?

Mannish - yeah I meant rear seat room, sorry I wasn't clearer.

Yeah I recommend the CX-5 too, or the Honda Passport. We were recently in the market and considered practically any SUV that was between $25-45k. The CX-5 is a great value. I like Hondas and the Passport is good with lots of space but pricier. I was pretty disappointed with the CRV, I expected better.

I actually ended up getting a CPO BMW 3GT at a price I couldn't pass up, the CX-5 Grand Touring was my runner up at the great end of year prices on 2019s they were running.

We just bought a 2020 Kia Sedona, to replace the '12 Nissan Armada we had that decided to develop a cold engine rod knock, so I traded that thing before it became an all the time rod knock. I miss having a hitch, but other than that it's a night and day difference. Fits my large family better with more trunk room so the misses is happy too.
Another plus side is that the Nissan is gone I no longer have to fix anything on it, so I can allocate more money towards my motorcycles and my Mini.
We had really good luck with our 2008 Sedona so I hope this one will be just as good.

PoderOmega wrote:

Had a loaner Infiniti QX60 for a few days and man I was disappointed but I'm not sure how much was the vehicle's fault. First problem is I felt blind and totally disconnected from the road. This may have been due to driving a sporty car for almost 9 years. Even with the blind spot indicators I felt like I had insufficent rear visibility even after repeatedly adjusting the mirrors. Maybe all these crossovers or anything bigger than a sedan are like that.

...

I guess the last note is that the interior was reasonably nice but the two screens felt totally disconnected... like they didn't even use the same fonts or the same resolution and one looked glossier and had a different bezel than the other. Exterior was fine, but I'm not huge fan of the current look of Infinitis.

Nissan/Infiniti hasn't done much of anything noteworthy in a decade plus and it shows in their sales performance. I will agree that the newer vehicles I drove a year or two ago while shopping with my wife felt very far from the road, so to speak, like sitting in giant cocoon with tiny portholes for visibility. Some of this relates to the safety systems and electronics needing ever more housing space, such that compared to our 2010 Mini and my not even that old GTI even a small sporty car like the Veloster felt like sitting inside an inflatable bouncy house or something.

imbiginjapan wrote:
PoderOmega wrote:

Had a loaner Infiniti QX60 for a few days and man I was disappointed but I'm not sure how much was the vehicle's fault. First problem is I felt blind and totally disconnected from the road. This may have been due to driving a sporty car for almost 9 years. Even with the blind spot indicators I felt like I had insufficent rear visibility even after repeatedly adjusting the mirrors. Maybe all these crossovers or anything bigger than a sedan are like that.

...

I guess the last note is that the interior was reasonably nice but the two screens felt totally disconnected... like they didn't even use the same fonts or the same resolution and one looked glossier and had a different bezel than the other. Exterior was fine, but I'm not huge fan of the current look of Infinitis.

Nissan/Infiniti hasn't done much of anything noteworthy in a decade plus and it shows in their sales performance. I will agree that the newer vehicles I drove a year or two ago while shopping with my wife felt very far from the road, so to speak, like sitting in giant cocoon with tiny portholes for visibility. Some of this relates to the safety systems and electronics needing ever more housing space, such that compared to our 2010 Mini and my not even that old GTI even a small sporty car like the Veloster felt like sitting inside an inflatable bouncy house or something.

They dropped the V6 from that Altima line in the 2020 models, that seems noteworthy just not in a good way They have replaced it with a 2.0 Turbocharged 4 cylinder with variable compression ratio. Seems like a neat new technology but much like the Continuous Variable Transmission I would not want to buy a first gen car with that.

imbiginjapan wrote:

Nissan/Infiniti hasn't done much of anything noteworthy in a decade plus and it shows in their sales performance.

What, you mean like the R35 GT-R, introduced in 2007 which, despite getting some tuning improvements, hasn't had a visual update since? And didn't look particularly good back then, either?

That Nissan?

Fastmav347 wrote:

We just bought a 2020 Kia Sedona, to replace the '12 Nissan Armada we had that decided to develop a cold engine rod knock, so I traded that thing before it became an all the time rod knock. I miss having a hitch, but other than that it's a night and day difference. Fits my large family better with more trunk room so the misses is happy too.
Another plus side is that the Nissan is gone I no longer have to fix anything on it, so I can allocate more money towards my motorcycles and my Mini.
We had really good luck with our 2008 Sedona so I hope this one will be just as good.

We went from a 2008 Pathfinder to a 2019 Sedona. My wife loves it and wishes she had gotten a minivan years ago. It does, indeed, have a lot of room for a family and their stuff. It's very open feeling and bright due to the massive amount of windows and the largest windshield I've ever seen. I rarely wear sunglasses but it's a requirement in this van.

Technically, we still have the pathfinder. Just going to the oldest now that he's 16 (once he passes drivers ed).

Yeah, speaking of large windshields. I hope yours is stronger than the Odyssey's. I broke mine on week 3, but it was my fault for putting lumber on the dash and then lowering the back end down, even though I've done the same when I had smaller cars and never cracked a windshield. Some friends with a 2012 Odyssey are on their 3rd windshield and feel theirs is also very weak.

mrtomaytohead wrote:

putting lumber on the dash

Wait what?

We've had an odyssey for 4 years and still on windshield #1

My Miata was a magnet for rock chips, being so low to the ground. Went through several on that.

Fastmav347 wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:

putting lumber on the dash

Wait what? :D

I am trying to figure out if that's a euphemism.

So I'm not the only one with a 2x4 as a dash mascot?

Jonman wrote:

My Miata was a magnet for rock chips, being so low to the ground. Went through several on that.

Ugh, tell me about it.

r013nt0 wrote:
Jonman wrote:

My Miata was a magnet for rock chips, being so low to the ground. Went through several on that.

Ugh, tell me about it.

When the third one got cracked, i decided to live with it and didn't bother replacing it until right before i sold it.

Jonman wrote:

When the third one got cracked, i decided to live with it and didn't bother replacing it until right before i sold it.

Mine got cracked within six months. Just a small one, right in the black dot area surrounding the rear view mirror. So I patched it with repair gunk and have just left it. Then, last winter, another rock hit and put a nice scratch in it. But, again, whatever. Gonna wait until the crack spreads or something before I bother.

...also I'd put a slightly-tinted windshield in to replace it...

First windshield - got a rock chip on the way to work, by the time I'd come out of work, the car had sat in the sun and the chip had developed into a 6 inch crack, which grew within a week.

Replaced windshield, two weeks later exact same thing happened.

Yikes. Terrible. I'm amazed that the cheapo sealant stuff I used has managed to keep enough water out of that crack that it hasn't cracked due to freezing winter temps here. I assumed I'd get a few months at best, but I'm now on the 2nd winter (including last year's polar vortex temps) and it's still going strong.

Should coat the entire windshield.

r013nt0 wrote:

Should coat the entire windshield. :lol:

I'm sure nothing could go wrong!

My wife got a chip that looked like a little star (cracks out from the chip) in her 2000 Grand Am the first week she bought it. We had it sealed. It was still the exact same size in 2014 when we traded it in. Maintenance wise, that was the best car we (or I) have ever had. We changed the oil on it and replaced wiper blades in the almost 15 years we had it.
I am not too worried about chips with the giant windshield on the Sedona. The way it's sloped it's almost vertical. Of course if it is chipped it's probably a bit more to replace than your standard car windshield. Probably at least a 2 person job. I don't think one person could lift it.

EvilHomer3k wrote:

Probably at least a 2 person job. I don't think one person could lift it.

Thank you for this contribution to Out of Context Theatre.

EvilHomer3k wrote:

I am not too worried about chips with the giant windshield on the Sedona. The way it's sloped it's almost vertical. Of course if it is chipped it's probably a bit more to replace than your standard car windshield. Probably at least a 2 person job. I don't think one person could lift it.

Almost vertical is WORSE for chips. According to the rock-chip sealing guy in the Costco parking lot who I've been going to for years. Took my old Element in and he said he sees a whole lot of them because of the vertical of the windshield - a more sloped one is more likely to deflect the rock up instead of stop it dead.

EvilHomer3k wrote:

My wife got a chip that looked like a little star (cracks out from the chip) in her 2000 Grand Am the first week she bought it. We had it sealed. It was still the exact same size in 2014 when we traded it in. Maintenance wise, that was the best car we (or I) have ever had. We changed the oil on it and replaced wiper blades in the almost 15 years we had it.
I am not too worried about chips with the giant windshield on the Sedona. The way it's sloped it's almost vertical. Of course if it is chipped it's probably a bit more to replace than your standard car windshield. Probably at least a 2 person job. I don't think one person could lift it.

I had a similar deal with my 350Z I bought at the end of 2002. If not within the first week, the first month or two. Never had it sealed, and it's never spread, even with the temperature extremes of the mid-south.

I think part of it's just luck as to whether it will last for decades, or crack the first time the temperature changes.

imbiginjapan wrote:
Fastmav347 wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:

putting lumber on the dash

Wait what? :D

I am trying to figure out if that's a euphemism.

Sorry, I stepped away from the thread for a bit. Way to go, selecting text out of context.

I got some deck boards that were as long as the interior of the cab on the minivan, 12', except that I had to put one end up on the dash of the car. I was not able to close the rear gate unless I pushed the boards up into the the area closer to where the dash and windshield meet, which required me to lift the boards as I pushed them forward, and when I lowered the boards... cracks. The crack kept growing daily, and could be felt on both sides of the glass.

Jonman wrote:
EvilHomer3k wrote:

I am not too worried about chips with the giant windshield on the Sedona. The way it's sloped it's almost vertical. Of course if it is chipped it's probably a bit more to replace than your standard car windshield. Probably at least a 2 person job. I don't think one person could lift it.

Almost vertical is WORSE for chips. According to the rock-chip sealing guy in the Costco parking lot who I've been going to for years. Took my old Element in and he said he sees a whole lot of them because of the vertical of the windshield - a more sloped one is more likely to deflect the rock up instead of stop it dead.

That explains why my MINI is a chip magnet

Same as with windshield bugs. I had a 98 Grand Prix that had a long sloping hood that had relatively few bugs on the windshield. I replaced it with a 350Z that had a much shorter hood, and a more vertical front bumper. That car got way more bugs on the windshield due to the slipstream being shorter and straighter into the more vertical glass (IMO).

mrtomaytohead wrote:

Way to go, selecting text out of context.

The Internet would be a much less entertaining place if we didn't

When you're a 13 year old girl and your dad is Ken Block, this is how you come out of quarantine in Utah:

Maybe someone here can help me out. I'm replacing the radiator on my ancient car. I got the old radiator out (oh god, what a mess, I had to pull the lower hose to drain it because the drain petcock was rusted shut, but anyway) and I pulled these rubber things out from where it was sitting.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/IL1XlpZ.jpg)

Those two look pretty nasty, and one was just missing, so I'd like to replace them. I'm having trouble finding them online, probably because I don't know what they're called. I've been searching for combinations of the words radiator, support, rubber, mount, etc. I found some on Amazon but not in the correct shape. O'Reilly's had nothing.

Anyone have any advice?

Edit: I might have found some: https://www.carid.com/goodmark/radia...
They call them radiator mount cushions.

I'd search for radiator isolator or radiator isolation mount. Something like that.

What kind of car?

The way I normally find part names and numbers is to find the factory shop manual and find a procedure that would involve that part. It will often include the parts book name and if you're lucky, the original part number (which in many cases has been superseded, but at least you're on the path at that point.)

Newer cars you can also find the factory will often have either on a parts site or through their dealer parts supply businesses, a digital parts book with exploded diagrams.

It's a '77 Chevy Nova. Appreciate the advice. I have the original manual and a Chilton guide, I'll check those too. Kind of embarrassed I didn't do that first, actually. I'm pretty new to car work as a hobby, and my instinct is to dive in with my hands and try to figure it out, then read up about it later.

BuzzW wrote:

It's a '77 Chevy Nova. Appreciate the advice. I have the original manual and a Chilton guide, I'll check those too. Kind of embarrassed I didn't do that first, actually. I'm pretty new to car work as a hobby, and my instinct is to dive in with my hands and try to figure it out, then read up about it later.

Another good way to drill down that I've found is Rock Auto. As much as I hate their interface (reminds me of Yahoo from the 90's), it does allow you to browse parts.

You can go put your vehicle in, then open up the system your working on and just browse around. I got down to your part (guessing engine) here. And once you see the list of parts in that system (cooling system in this case), you can click info on the individual parts and generally there will be a pic.

I literally just did this for some brake hoses on my 1991 GMC Syclone, which is a fairly rare beast that has lots of parts bin parts on it from GM S10's of the time (and elsewhere). Then I ended up ordering actual AC Delco parts from Amazon because it was cheaper after shipping