Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Camp HM Smith, Hawaii

We used to just ride in the cargo area of my mom's old 57 Plymouth wagon. LOL, those days are long gone. A buddy of mine used to ride in the back of his dad's f series "camper special" in the late 70's while his dad pulled a camper on weekend camping trips. It did have a cap over the bed. Now days, the little guy has to be strapped in a booster/car seat. I'm surprised they don't need a helmet;) How did any of us survive? While child safety seats are definitely a good idea, man are they a PITA to install or God forbid you have to switch them between cars. Having endured installing a child safety seat into a coupe, I wouldn't be surprised if the decline in coupe sales correlate with the rise of child seat use/regulation. That maybe a stretch, but my God, trying to install a child seat into the back seat of a coupe is torture. Even with the seat in place, securing a child in one is still a major PITA when you have to bend and twist to get the little guy strapped in.

My 2000 Jimmy 4x4 is used as a camp truck on my Maine wood lot and works better in all areas much better than my 2005 Buick Rainer. I have a great mechanic in Medway Maine, but he can't help me with the Buick. The Oil and Fuel sender units are going to cost over $400 to repair and I can only go to a dealer to fix this issue? Now the air suspension is failing. Can it be true this model is a lemon?? A lemon. Toyota and Subaru's are the answer. They fix their proplems, not run away from them.

Hi Brio boy, Have read your posts on Toyota HH and tyres and you seem to have a great grasp on the car and how to manage it for winter conditions. I am relocating to Vancouver from Australia, and thinking of picking up a 2008 HH but have been worrid about the negative coverage online in terms of snow performance, and general AWD performance on anything other than bitumen. Are you overall happy with the cars performance in rain, snow,mud? Have you ever been in deep snow conditions, or gone uphill on a dirt track in muddy conditions? My needs for the car is not genuine off-roading. I just want really good, safe traction in snow and slush up in alpine areas, and to be able to cope with simple off road acces tracks in spring and summer for camping. The kind of tracks that are graded and maintained, but sometimes get a bit sketchy after lots of rain and mud. Nothing that is dedicated for serus 4WD only access with low gear range etc. I realise tyres play a big part so would look to add proper winter tyres. But apart from that, do you have any other advice about using this vehicle in BC. Would you choose it all over again? My other options are Honda Pilot or Kia Sorento. They are probably both better for light off road, but i have to realistic that most of the time this car will cart the kids to daycare and do grocery runs. The HH lower emissions and lower gas cost are my key reasons to buy. Im coming from Honda Crv so havent owned one of these larger SUV's before. any advice is very much appreciated. Cheers, Jon

Most of you know I coach kids in basketball, well I had a major set back in 2010. We had 12 players and a good, successful team, but a "click" of parents wanted to take their kids to the next level and decided to take 8 of the best players, and exclude even kids who were close friends from that team. I was left with only 4 players, including my son. As you can imagine, I was pretty devastated, and took it very personally, since I was coach, and my son was on the team. I suddenly became recruiter. I thought long and hard about how to build loyalty, and decided to recruit NICE kids, and looked outside the box. We added kids from India, Lebanon, Jordan, and even 2 kids from the MPDU housing. (Moderately Priced Dwelling Units). These kids were outsiders here in wealthy Potomac, and definitely not the "click" type. But - I saw potential where noone else did. Then we set to work. The first season we played in different divisions, so we did not play against the other team. We had a rough start, but bounced back and ended the season on a strong note last year, 2011. We sent the kids together to skills camp in the off season, and we've gone as a team to watch the local high school play, to build team work and camaraderie. Well, we got the 2012 schedule, and guess what? The other team was on it this time. They had not been successful in the tougher division and decided to move back down. The stage was set - D-Day Februaru 4, 2012. The kids have been talking about it since the schedule came out in early December. They go to the same school, so there was trash talk from the other side about how they were the "cool kids" and how they would crush us. Those same kids invited all their 4th grade teachers to see the game, and 3 of them showed up! Show time. My son had the game of his lifetime and scored the first and last points of the game. The original 4 kids (who they did not want on their team!) combined for 10 points, enough to make the difference. We won 24-21! It was a wonderful story of redemption via hard work and diversity. It's what's on the inside that counts. Not the size of your head, but rather the size of your heart! I am one very, very proud coach and dad.

My 06 TC Touring was a reliable vehicle for many years, good for road trips, hauling cargo, camping trips, and as a people mover. Wanted to keep for longer when the tranny failed with a loud clunk noise while cruising the highway at 70 mph. Was quite scared by the way it failed, with no warning at all. Wondered if this is a one-off case or there are similar cases.