Car lovers?

I usually change my own fluids, unless I haven't taken my oil barrel to the recycle center recently. If I can get a half off coupon at a dealer I will take it to them for a service. I also go to the dealer for my 75,000+ mile check ups.

I take mine to the dealer while they are free or discounted during the warranty. Otherwise there is a good Tire Discounters near me where I go and they have a good price on an synthetic oil change + rotation or alignment. They really depend on the location though, I went to another one once and had a bad experience, just luckily the one near me has a good manager.

Thanks for all the tips, y'all!

Question for those who know more than me about cars (basically everyone): The sticker inside my car door says my front tires should be 33psi, back tires 36. That's what I do and what the dealership usually did as well. Jiffy Lube filled all four of them up to 40. I assume I need to go let some air out tonight, but what do y'all think? Thanks in advance!

Yuuuup!

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Question for those who know more than me about cars (basically everyone): The sticker inside my car door says my front tires should be 33psi, back tires 36. That's what I do and what the dealership usually did as well. Jiffy Lube filled all four of them up to 40. I assume I need to go let some air out tonight, but what do y'all think? Thanks in advance!

Yep. Overinflation, especially in the summer isn't good. That can cause excess wear in the center of the tire, and the heat of the summer can cause the pressure to rise even more while driving as the air in the tire expands with heat.

Hypermilers will overinflate at least that much in their quest to minimize rolling resistance.

Counterpoint: hypermilers are crazy.

One of the reasons you get reduced rolling resistance through overinflation is a smaller contact patch (because a more inflated tire doesn't "sit" on the road to the same degree, it "stands" up from the road).

Smaller contact patch = worse traction, less available grip and worse braking performance. You're trading safety margin for an extra mpg or two, which to my mind, is a deathwish style of driving.

That's even before we get into the increased blowout risk, more susceptibility to hydroplaning and worse ride feel.

Jonman wrote:

One of the reasons you get reduced rolling resistance through overinflation is a smaller contact patch (because a more inflated tire doesn't "sit" on the road to the same degree, it "stands" up from the road).

Smaller contact patch = worse traction, less available grip and worse braking performance. You're trading safety margin for an extra mpg or two, which to my mind, is a deathwish style of driving.

That's even before we get into the increased blowout risk, more susceptibility to hydroplaning and worse ride feel.

Another thing overinflation does is slightly increase the tire diameter, and thus give a (very slightly) higher effective gear ratio.

* Note: This does not invalidate anything said above.

Here's one thing I've never know the answer to. Do you inflate your tires to the PSI on the door or the PSI on the tires, especially after getting nonmanufacturer tires?

I've always went by what the tires say, but the tire place always goes by the door.

EverythingsTentative wrote:

Here's one thing I've never know the answer to. Do you inflate your tires to the PSI on the door or the PSI on the tires, especially after getting nonmanufacturer tires?

I've always went by what the tires say, but the tire place always goes by the door.

Generally you want to go by the recommendation on the car, not the tire.

The exception is that you should never exceed the maximum pressure on the tire. Also keep in mind that the maximum pressure is a hot pressure, so if you are setting your pressures cold you need to stay well clear of it. The last time I looked at max pressure on my tires they also listed an approximate max cold pressure that would correspond with the max pressure, but that is not always listed.

Naturally the pressure recommended by the manufacturer is a compromise taking into account safety (Firestone tires on explorers not withstanding this is the highest priority), but also comfort, fuel economy, performance, etc. If you are doing motorsports, serious off roading, etc. you may have different priorities than the manufacturer, and may even have modified the vehicle in ways that change what ideal pressures are, so you *can* (and in some cases even should) run dramatically different pressures from the factory recommendations, but obviously those activities are, as the waiver usually says, "inherently dangerous". You will improve your chances of not popping a bead in a rallycross by running extremely high pressure (possibly even exceeding the max pressure listed for the tire), but you do increase your chances of having a blow out, especially if you don't lower the pressure before driving home on the highway.

If you don't 1) know what you are doing 2) understand and accept the risks you are taking on 3) limit yourself to appropriate times, places, and uses, then you are best not deviating from the car manufacturers recommendations.

Agree with ElectricPi. Start with what the car has but don't exceed the sidewall number.

Car manufactures know the weight distribution, which wheels are powered, etc. Tire manufacturers just know the rubber, not where it is doing work.

All the advice re tire pressure is spot on.

Source: I work in a tire shop.

We want to get an electric car and are leaning towards the Ioniq 5. I haven't bought a car in 17 years. What do I need to know in order to score the actual car/options I want given limited availability and minimize how much I have to deal with a sales person? Last time was 2005 when I bought a new Altima using a friend's credit union for financing. I called a dealership almost 100 miles away and they delivered the car like it was a pizza, walked me through it, verified the quality, and signed the paperwork.

Im hoping for similar ease this time. This time we'll pay cash for around half of it and pay off the rest over about a year, just trying to keep our monthly cost of living at as close to current levels as possible.

Buy it through Costco.

We've bought 3 cars that way and it's a great way to avoid dealership interaction as much as possible.

Whatever you do, get a car that has Apple Carplay / Android Auto. It is next-level, and you'll never go back.

Yknow I took your gospel to heart and made sure when my wife got her next car it had those, and I don’t see the big deal.

Not all who hear the message will be saved.

and the Ioniq specifically doesnt do those

They made a new electric car without CarPlay? WTF?

Since we're on the topic what am I missing with Android auto popularity? The Google maps integration is kind of nice but I actually prefer the navigation built into my X5 because the heads up display shows me a map preview for turns and exits instead of a more generic turn arrows. The voice commands through Google assistant for texts are nice but the "Hello BMW" voice commands seem to do the job too.

So maybe the BMW offering is just fairly competitive? What other features should I be using?

The one where your family member wants to listen to the radio and the other family member wants to charge their phone and the music gets interrupted every time the one charging their phone opens and closes Facebook.

Daughter and wife argue about this -.-

Blind_Evil wrote:

The one where your family member wants to listen to the radio and the other family member wants to charge their phone and the music gets interrupted every time the one charging their phone opens and closes Facebook.

Daughter and wife argue about this -.-

A possible workaround here would be for whoever is charging to use a cigarette lighter adapter. I also think my 2nd row has USB charging slots that don't connect to the computer, but obviously that differs by model. I do think many models only have one USB slot for the computer, although mine has two.

Use one of these for the charge only device:

https://www.amazon.com/Blocker-JSAUX...

PoderOmega wrote:

Since we're on the topic what am I missing with Android auto popularity? The Google maps integration is kind of nice but I actually prefer the navigation built into my X5 because the heads up display shows me a map preview for turns and exits instead of a more generic turn arrows. The voice commands through Google assistant for texts are nice but the "Hello BMW" voice commands seem to do the job too.

So maybe the BMW offering is just fairly competitive? What other features should I be using?

Maybe BMW is that good, don't know. I never had a nav in my previous cars that was good enough to not use my phone, so making my phone the nav etc. seemed genius in 2017 and still feels that way today. I also frequently use the voice commands to send texts, make calls, and get Spotify to play various music. You can also ask about the weather and all kinds of questions that Google can answer.

I don't know what various car makers are doing in terms of updates and live traffic, but those are all free on your phone. I have to navigate 100% of the time because traffic here can be very unpredictable - including stopped traffic on a freeway at 11pm one time that I stubbornly drove into despite Waze's best efforts.

Yes free traffic is a good point. The built in nav traffic info is only free for the first year I think. The Google maps traffic is also typically more up to date than the BMW nav, but it isn't a huge gap.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:

The one where your family member wants to listen to the radio and the other family member wants to charge their phone and the music gets interrupted every time the one charging their phone opens and closes Facebook.

Daughter and wife argue about this -.-

A possible workaround here would be for whoever is charging to use a cigarette lighter adapter. I also think my 2nd row has USB charging slots that don't connect to the computer, but obviously that differs by model. I do think many models only have one USB slot for the computer, although mine has two.

Generally a dedicated charger can accommodate fast charging that most cars I've seen don't, too.

PoderOmega wrote:

Since we're on the topic what am I missing with Android auto popularity? The Google maps integration is kind of nice but I actually prefer the navigation built into my X5 because the heads up display shows me a map preview for turns and exits instead of a more generic turn arrows. The voice commands through Google assistant for texts are nice but the "Hello BMW" voice commands seem to do the job too.

So maybe the BMW offering is just fairly competitive? What other features should I be using?

I've been in a few cars with CarPlay and I like it well enough for everything except for the Navigation. I'm sure the same could be said about Android Auto. The proprietary Nav in BMW's does seem to be best in class, so that could be why. The Spotify App in my 2017 X3 is atrocious, though, so I would love to have CarPlay for that alone. I have noticed that there is a learning curve to the way BMW shows exits and interchanges (especially ones with multiple lanes) that isn't intuitive to some people. For instance, my girlfriend always turns on her Google Maps and puts her phone in the cup holder when she drives.

Just wanted to echo the praise for BMW's navigation system. I particularly like the fact that you can zoom the map in and out, which is particularly helpful in-town.

I came to BMW Navigation from (the bloody excellent) Porsche Navigation, and it took me a little while to get used to motorway exits and interchanges (and - if I'm honest - I still get a little stressed trying to read it on unfamiliar routes). I don't see a need to use another device's system.

got the loan approved, got an insurance quote that didnt make me angry, and.... can't find the car. No dealer in Washington, as far as I can tell, has an Ioniq 5 on the lot (though several have bait listings). The only human I've been able to contact who was capable of normal human communication says they have a 6-12 month wait list.

The other troglodytes are like "You come put deposit on this other car". What?