Locate an Auto Repair Shop in North Powder, Oregon

North Powder, OR Car Consumer Discussions

Re: Replies to many [marsha7]

by rockylee on Mon Aug 18 23:00:24 PDT 2008

All of your rah-rah ain't stopping the closing of plants, and the plants are closing because Americans do not believe that Big 3 iron is good enough...if Honda and Toy were closing plants, my comments would make no sense, but Honda is growing, Toy is growing, Hyundai is growing...so, is the auto market shrinking or is the Big 3 market shrinking???...sadly, as I want Big 3 to do well, but the market is speaking even loudly enough for YOU to hear, and that is that American cars combined with union labor simply do not carry the "mark of Excellence" anymore and it has been too many years since they did... And all the UAW can do is strike...great strategy when people are finally seeing Malibu and others as regaining some semblance of quality, they try and shut down GM...now you know why I seriously question the average intelligence of the average UAW worker... Anyone I forgot, slam me again and I will remember you... Well marsha7 aka Bob, I'll put it to you like this.........I remember the 1980's pretty well especially the mid 80's and on.....I was exposed to a lot more "adult" point of views than your average 2nd or 3rd grader and could comprehend strikes, unions, politics, jobs, because when it became a regular part of your life and your parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, actually took the time and attempted to explain what this stuff meant and didn't ignore me like obviously some of ya'lls parents did at that age I can only assume my comprehension of world events was a lot more advanced than ya'lls. Remember I grew up in the information age in a large city with lots of industry, unions, and my grandmother just plain exposed me to a lot as a child. I understand some of ya'll didn't grow-up and see the real world until you were almost adults and lived a sheltered life and was oblivious to the world around you because of state geography. Hell some of ya'll in the south I'm sure called your restroom a wooden shack outside until 20 or 30 years ago !! I'm literally being serious !!! My point is the industrial midwest "rust belt" as many call us has always been more advanced than the south. They farmed in the south and built stuff in the north. That was the way it was.....I'm not saying farmers in the south are dumb people and are important to our society but in many cases they live and still live a sheltered life as I can speak first hand as one who lived and traveled in the south. Marsha7, if you haven't noticed I will fill you in !!!!! Automobile sales are expected to be at or near record low this year. Somewhere around 14-14.5 million units. Toyota, has temporary shut down a few plants, honda has dropped it's sales projection a few times this year and you know damn well about the big 3 struggles. If our economy and Mises, way of thinking is so wonderful then please explain why tens of millions of americans have lost their jobs with unfree trade and the Bush, economic doctrine ??? You can rah rah rah, about cars from 20 years ago and LEMKO, will remind you (since I'm to young to remember....I do lemko, but shhhh !!! ;) ) that those wonderful 70's and 80's camcords would turn to powder after a couple winters. I've driven and unfortunately had to ride in a few of those cars in my youth as some of my friends parents gave their rusted-out POS's to their kids. Those cars looked like Bo Jackson, was throwing baseballs through the sides of em' with all the brown colored holes. You consistently blame the union worker and give the Engineer and people like Mr. Beancounter aka Roger Smith, a free pass ???? :confuse: I'm not out to slam you Marsha7, but boy you do slam my UAW family members pretty bad on a regular basis. ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) I will finish by saying if union labor is just so awful then why do all these union shops win quality awards from various independent sources like JD Power ??? My father for instance took great pride in building car parts i.e. fuel injectors and valve lifters but because somebody on here got burned by parts that might not be even union made and did the person look at the root cause of that failed part ??? Perhaps it was a engineering failure ??? As I said before..... I don't know of anybody who has ever purchased a new car in my lifetime with missing parts but I suppose it is possible and shame on the people if guilty who let it go down the line. The problem is people hate unions because they often get paid more than the non-union worker thus their has always been jealousy and "story's". So instead of trying to organize their shop, which takes courage, risk, etc, they'd rather piss and moan and run with second hand story's and bring their fellow blue collar man down instead of trying to fight togeather for a common cause. I think it's as simple as that based on all the rhetoric my so-called young ears have heard over the years from non-union workers. -Rocky

Re: Michelin Primacy? [kurtamaxxxguy]

by flapper on Tue Jul 15 13:23:12 PDT 2008

My Nokian WR's (205/55R16) were $130 each. I live about an hour north of NYC, and we get everything from rain to freezing rain to wet snow to powder - I can't say enough about the Nokians. What really surprised me was how well they handle in dry weather - not bad at all. My wife has them on her 2002 Forester and loves them, too. I'm buying a Forester in 2010, and while I'm sure the Yoko's that come with it are better than what came with my Outback Sport (Bridgestone Potenza RE92's - terrible in bad weather!) First chance I get I'll replace them with the Nokian WR's.

Re: Discussion [lemko]

by larsb on Thu Jul 03 07:54:09 PDT 2008

Lemko, good point, I'm glad you brought that up, but I DO have the perfect rebuttal for that argument. First Honda: Honda holds the championship belt, the crown, the trophy, as without a doubt the CLEANEST, GREENEST major carmaker on the Planet. The are the undisputed top dog when it comes to Green. No one challenges that idea at all. Honda is Tops. Now to 'Yota: Toyota is FAR greener in Japan than in other countries. They have hybrids there and EVs and tiny "city cars" which are not available anywhere else. They get plenty of "Green credit" for that, although we here seldom get to hear or see anything about those vehicles here in the USA. Now on to the argument that "they make Sequoias and Tundras at one end."::: True, they do. But other than Honda, so does every OTHER truly major player in the US Market. So since they ALL (excepting Honda and the South Koreans) make large, hulking SUVS and trucks, let's say they ALL start on even ground. We are talking ONLY about the carmakers who build and sell large SUVs and Trucks in the USA. Major Point Number One: Since they all do that (build the large ones) they are all on even ground there. So, now that they are on even ground, let's dig deeper: How many smaller/smallish cars does each one have which are minimal polluters? They all have a good stable of those. So what is the differentiating factor? How about "cars which rate 30 MPG or more in the fleet" as a good starting point? Major Point Number Two: As of model year 2007, Toyota has a higher percentage of their cars which achieve 30+ mpg highway than anyone excepting Honda. See this page for details on that statistic: Playing with percentages Now, that right there puts Toyota number two behind Honda (to whom we are not really comparing, since they are not in the "large SUV/Truck category" anyway ). So now that Toyota is in the lead in that category, let's put the "icing on their Green Cake" so to speak...................Drum Roll Please............................. Major Point Number Three: No car company in the WORLD has put more clean-burning hybrids on the road than Toyota. So there you have it. Not only does Toyota have a higher percentage of their cars at 30+ MPG than any other in the "also sells Polluters" group, they are so far ahead in Hybrids it is not even funny. And Toyota, outside of making clean cars, does a LOT of stuff for the environment in other areas: May 18, 2008 Toyota Prototype Maps The Way For Green Dealerships By 2011, Toyota Motor Corp. expects to have 100 environmentally friendly dealerships — or just under 10 percent of its U.S. dealer network, The Wall Street Journal reports. Toyota outlines features of its green dealerships in its own prototype store design, which includes such things as lifts lubricated with vegetable oil, geothermal heating systems, and the recycling of car wash water for the washing of organic duds. And: Toyota's 5-year Green Plan announced in 2006 has these goals and more: - achievement of best-in-class fuel efficiency performance, - reduction of total energy usage of manufacturing facilities and operations in North America by 27% per vehicle produced, using FY 2002 as a base year, - promotion of basic environmental research aimed at CO2 emissions reductions, and - reduction of waste in sales and logistics facilities, including a 90% recycling rate at vehicle distribution centers by FY 2011, reduction of non-hazardous waste to landfill from parts operations by 33% by FY 2011 (FY2006 baseline), diversion of 95% waste from Toyota Canada facilities from landfill by FY 2010 and reduction of Canadian facility paper consumption per person by 25% by FY 2010. And: Toyota helps deal with the Japanese Cow Dung problem TOKYO - When it comes to saving the planet, Toyota Motor Corp. seems to be leaving no stone unturned. Nor, as it turns out, any pile of cow dung. The world's number-two car maker said on Friday it had co-developed a cutting-edge composting ingredient and process that drastically reduce nitrous oxide, methane and other greenhouse gases, as well as offensive odours produced by livestock waste -- part of its efforts to clean the environment. "We've always wanted to do more in the agricultural field," Yasumori Ihara, a managing officer at Toyota, told a news conference. "This is a dream come true." When mixed with cow manure, the ingredient -- developed jointly with Menicon Co., Japan's top maker of contact lenses -- speeds up the time it takes to convert the waste into compost, to 45 days from anywhere between 90 to 180 days. The resulting compost is also of a higher quality, containing less nitrate-nitrogen, a water pollutant, Toyota said. "After using this formula, the neighbours stopped complaining about the pungent smell," a cattle farmer who tested the magic powder, appropriately named "resQ45" for Recycle, Eco, Speed, Quality and playing on the word rescue, said in a promotional video. P.S. Last month, the Yaris was named "Green Car of the Year" which puts another feather in the 'Yota Green Hat: Yaris Rocks the Greenies The Toyota Yaris is one of the most efficient, inexpensive vehicles on the road, getting 34 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway, and it achieves this without a hybrid drivetrain. The Yaris has, understandably, become a popular compact car, not only thanks to its efficiency, but especially given it's affordability. Now, the Environmental Transport Association (ETA), which is currently running the 2008 Green Transport Week in the UK, has named the Yaris the 2008 Green Car of the Year. In order to name the winner, the ETA looked at the "power, emissions, fuel efficiency and even the amount of noise" from over 1,300 vehicles. The Yaris came out on top, and the Dodge SRT-10 sports car came in dead last. Additionally, three Toyota models were in the ETA’s top ten with the Prius (3rd), Aygo (6th) and Auris (9th) being identified as some of the greenest vehicles available in the UK. The Toyota RAV4 was named as the greenest vehicle in the Off Road category and the Toyota Aygo was top in the City category. DISLAIMER: I'm going to bring this up, because it likely will be brought up by other posters later. YES, it is true that Toyota has been taking some flack from the Enviro-Types for their protestation of the fleet mpg standards. But they, like GM and Ford, have perfectly good reasons for doing so. The standards would make it very difficult for carmakers to sustain profits because consumers have proven over and over again that they will NOT PAY extra

Best all-season tire for 2000 Subaru Outback North CA and winter ski trips?

by mountainwalker on Sat May 10 11:59:51 PDT 2008

Best all-season tire for 2000 Subaru Outback for W Coast and winter ski trips to mountains? Yokohama Avid TRZ’s? I’m about to purchase a 2000 Subaru Outback and it turns out on inspection that the rear and front tires were not matched for tread type or tread wear, and no more than a 2/32 difference is recommended in tire size/tread, and all tires should be matched for tread. So I will have to replace them. Planning to drive the car on the W Coast in N California after relocating now from the NE, mostly for drives of 5 to 45 min during the work week, and occasional weekend trips, including ski trips to the mountains in winter. I’m looking for a top quality all-season tire that will handle well in summer and winter conditions. I’d sincerely appreciate your advice as I’m very careful about tires every since I bought my first car in college, a 7 year old Volvo, which had tires that checked out well enough, but in a medium rain storm, driving 30 mph on a Cliffside with one lane in each direction, with no sudden acceleration or steering moves, the car fishtailed 180 degrees, and I was lucky to “land” the car in my lane close to the inside of the road against the mountain. Some oil leaking down from a town above the road may have caused the road to be slick, but as soon as I put brand new top end all season tires on the car, it handled 10x better and safer. Never experienced that kind of slippage again. In response to this question on Yahoo Answers, this poster below who owns 2 subarus recommended Yokohama Avid TRZ’s http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=AVID+TRZ . I checked the reviews on Tirerack and the TRZs have an average overall rating of 8.52 out of 737 reviews, which is very good. http://www.tirerack.com/survey/SurveyComments.jsp?additionalComments=y&tireMake=- - - Yokohama&tireModel=AVID+TRZ&tirePageLocQty=&commentStatus=P He was negative on Michelin for value and quick wear: “I'm not sure if they're available in Australia, but I ran Yokohama Avid TRZ's on my 98 Outback.. they have a 700 treadwear rating, and the rain/ snow traction is excellent (I know not a lot of powder down there, but in a sudden downpour, they are amazing).. I drive mostly on-road, over 60 km one-way to work, and have taken them off road on occasion.. really surprising for an all season car tire. From my experience here stateside, Michelin is way overpriced, and the treads are too soft to get any real life out of; they do handle well though. Had nothing but bad experiences with Pirellis, may be just me. I'm currently running Dunlop Dirrezas on my 07 WRX.. and they have been wonderful so far. Stick like glue, and good in the rain. They are a summer- only tire though” * 4 weeks ago Source(s): 17 years in the repair trade, employed with a national tire distributor; owner of two Subarus. Also, any suggestions on best place to pick tires up in the Silicon Valley area?

Best all-season tire for 2000 Subaru Outback North CA and winter ski trips?

by mountainwalker on Sat May 10 11:44:55 PDT 2008

Best all-season tire for 2000 Subaru Outback for W Coast and winter ski trips to mountains? Yokohama Avid TRZ’s? I’m about to purchase a 2000 Subaru Outback and it turns out on inspection that the rear and front tires were not matched for tread type or tread wear, and no more than a 2/32 difference is recommended in tire size/tread, and all tires should be matched for tread. So I will have to replace them. Planning to drive the car on the W Coast in N California after relocating now from the NE, mostly for drives of 5 to 45 min during the work week, and occasional weekend trips, including ski trips to the mountains in winter. I’m looking for a top quality all-season tire that will handle well in summer and winter conditions. I’d sincerely appreciate your advice as I’m very careful about tires every since I bought my first car in college, a 7 year old Volvo, which had tires that checked out well enough, but in a medium rain storm, driving 30 mph on a Cliffside with one lane in each direction, with no sudden acceleration or steering moves, the car fishtailed 180 degrees, and I was lucky to “land” the car in my lane close to the inside of the road against the mountain. Some oil leaking down from a town above the road may have caused the road to be slick, but as soon as I put brand new top end all season tires on the car, it handled 10x better and safer. Never experienced that kind of slippage again. In response to this question on Yahoo Answers, this poster below who owns 2 subarus recommended Yokohama Avid TRZ’s http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=AVID+TRZ . I checked the reviews on Tirerack and the TRZs have an average overall rating of 8.52 out of 737 reviews, which is very good. http://www.tirerack.com/survey/SurveyComments.jsp?additionalComments=y&tireMake=- - Yokohama&tireModel=AVID+TRZ&tirePageLocQty=&commentStatus=P He was negative on Michelin for value and quick wear: “I'm not sure if they're available in Australia, but I ran Yokohama Avid TRZ's on my 98 Outback.. they have a 700 treadwear rating, and the rain/ snow traction is excellent (I know not a lot of powder down there, but in a sudden downpour, they are amazing).. I drive mostly on-road, over 60 km one-way to work, and have taken them off road on occasion.. really surprising for an all season car tire. From my experience here stateside, Michelin is way overpriced, and the treads are too soft to get any real life out of; they do handle well though. Had nothing but bad experiences with Pirellis, may be just me. I'm currently running Dunlop Dirrezas on my 07 WRX.. and they have been wonderful so far. Stick like glue, and good in the rain. They are a summer- only tire though” * 4 weeks ago Source(s): 17 years in the repair trade, employed with a national tire distributor; owner of two Subarus. Also, any suggestions on best place to pick tires up in the Silicon Valley area?

2002 Altima in Trouble

by scttcrssmn on Thu Feb 28 11:18:00 PST 2008

E.D. in Sunny Florida, Thanks for all the detailed postings and pictures. It’s nice to have you here, knowing the inside of this Nissan engine and the problems with the oil consumption. I have an 02 Altima I purchased new and now has 100,000 miles. Have religiously changed oil and filter between 3-4,000 miles. Have had all the recalls done at the dealership when notified. Car was good to me for five years, requiring routine maintenance and normal wear parts. No significant oil consumption. Mileage got into mid 90’s in late 2007, car started to run rough occasionally, like when there’s condensation in the fuel. Problem was intermittent. Used isopropyl in fuel, but that didn’t fix it. Also, the heater started blowing cool when idle, which made me think low water or weak water pump. Took to my Goodyear mechanic, a good guy and capable mechanic. Looked at computer codes, suggested changing gas cap to clear the codes and radiator cap to see if that improved the heat . He also backflushed the heater core and it got better for a few thousand miles, but it still continued to run rough occasionally for short bursts of time. Then the excess oil consumption started. Maybe 1 quart / 1,000 at first. Took back to Goodyear January, 2008. Replaced PCV valve, but no change in consumption. Back to Goodyear again February, checked water for trace carbon, but zero. Checked oil for presence of water but none. Compression check yielded 149, 151, 150, 149 which he thought was OK (do you agree?). Did leak down test and pressure held good. Pulled the plugs but they were dry, with a little white powder residue. Replaced plugs. Mechanic found oil in line leading from PCV valve so he replaced the valve again in the unlikely event that the new one he installed the first time was bad. Car is now using about 1 quart / 200 miles. Mechanic thinks he should remove valve cover to see if oil return ports are clogged, allowing oil to accumulate in top side of engine, filling to the point where the PCV is located and allowing oil to escape there. I decided to call the local Nissan dealer to ask the Service Manager if this problem has presented with other cars. She indicated that she has seen a couple with excess oil consumption, that the cat was the problem causing the cylinder walls to score. When I asked her if a compression check should confirm her suspicion, she indicated that it may not (what do you think?). I don’t understand this, but she’s the mechanic. She said that if the cat was indeed my problem, a rebuilt engine was the only fix. So, my question to you – is there any merit in pulling the valve cover and checking the oil return ports, or is it a foregone conclusion that I have the dreaded catalytic converter problem? I called Nissan North America to see what they know, but they won’t talk to me until I have the problem diagnosed by their dealer. They said they would entertain Goodwill Assistance, but they needed dealer-provided diagnostics first. Your advice, sir?