Ask a Car Nut - Part Deux

[Formaldehyde]

2016 Volt has risen in price here vs. 2015 model, and is over $40k after taxes/incentives.

According to this article, the reason the price is higher in Canada is due to the exchange rate.

The base price in Canada is $40K including freight. That works out to $30.8K US. So you are actually getting the car at a far better deal than the US.

And if you live in Ontaria, Quebec, or BC, you get a "strong incentive on top of that ($8.5K, $8K, $5K respectively).

Given that second generation of electric cars now is coming.. How well does the first generation hold up? battery issues? Does it need replacement? Anyone here own an electric car?

It remains to be seen. But if the Volt is any indication, they should be getting better and better which shouldn't be a surprise. The technology continues to improve.

This'll be the 3rd generation (possibly 4th). General Motors not only killed the previous generation, but hid the corpse.

It is difficult to believe how much better GM has become since their resurrection from the dead. I thought they would succeed again if given the chance all along. But I didn't think they would be this much better than they were before.

 

[Zelig]

According to this article, the reason the price is higher in Canada is due to the exchange rate.

Yeah, but doesn't make any real difference why to anyone in the country.

 

[Samson]

Has anyone ever worked out how to read engine management codes? It seems from a bit of a google you can buy a lead, and read them with a laptop and free software, or buy a dedicated device such as this. These plug into the OBD connector.

I have just bought a car (one of these, I quite like it) and every now and then the engine warning light starts flashing, about every 20 minutes for a few seconds. I think the only way to catch this is to have a device plugged in as I drive about.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

This'll be the 3rd generation (possibly 4th). General Motors not only killed the previous generation, but hid the corpse.

Yeah they did. My school actually has an EV-1 in one of our buildings. They were sued by GM when GM recalled them all to scrap them but they worked out a deal wherein the school removed parts necessary to make the car operational in order to keep it.

I'm not going to watch any videos, but does the standard 2016 Volt come with amenities like a GPS and the ability to connect to a phone via blue tooth?

I'm really interested in electric cars but they cost too much and I don't have the ability to charge a pure-electric vehicle at my apartment with anything except a normal outlet.

 

[Cutlass]

Has anyone ever worked out how to read engine management codes? It seems from a bit of a google you can buy a lead, and read them with a laptop and free software, or buy a dedicated device such as this. These plug into the OBD connector.

I have just bought a car (one of these, I quite like it) and every now and then the engine warning light starts flashing, about every 20 minutes for a few seconds. I think the only way to catch this is to have a device plugged in as I drive about.

Most mechanics and some auto parts stores have the machines and the list of codes to determine what the error you're being given is.

 

[Cutlass]

Yeah they did. My school actually has an EV-1 in one of our buildings. They were sued by GM when GM recalled them all to scrap them but they worked out a deal wherein the school removed parts necessary to make the car operational in order to keep it.

I'm not going to watch any videos, but does the standard 2016 Volt come with amenities like a GPS and the ability to connect to a phone via blue tooth?

I'm really interested in electric cars but they cost too much and I don't have the ability to charge a pure-electric vehicle at my apartment with anything except a normal outlet.

AVAILABLE 4G LTE WI-FI

Volt offers an available 4G LTE Wi-Fi1 connection that's more powerful than your smartphone. This hotspot allows you to connect up to seven smart devices to the internet, giving you the freedom to roam and remain connected.

It must, with that in it.

 

[Samson]

Most mechanics and some auto parts stores have the machines and the list of codes to determine what the error you're being given is.

There are 2 problems with this. One that a mechanic is likely to charge me more for one use of said machine than it cost to buy one myself, the other is that the problem is intermittent, the light only comes on for a few seconds sometimes when driving. I would have to drive about waiting for it to happen and because of Murphy's law you know it will refuse to do it when the mechanic is in the car.

I have gone for one of these. Only £7.55 delivered it is very cheap, and here someone said they have developed an app and it works on my particular car. I shall let you know how it works.

 

[Berzerker]

what happened to Form?

 

[Samson]

So I was checking the oil level on my (female) friends '91 peugeot 307, and the bottom 2/3rds on the plastic bit (about 1 inch) of the dip stick fell off on the oil. This is what the whole thing looks like and it is bust at about the second notch.

Spoiler :

Is this serious? Should she deal with it or just live with the thing in the sump? The car is not worth very many hundred pounds.

 

[Berzerker]

it aint going nowhere, if you can measure the oil thats all you need...or a trip to a junkyard for a used dipstick

 

[Cutlass]

It's not going to do any harm. The oil pump can't suck it up to pump it to some place dangerous.

 

[Zelig]

I seriously doubt you will keep the same car for 10 years if you are graduating with an engineering degree.

Speaking of which, wouldn't it be more sensible to buy a dependable low maintenance used car given that you are still in college?

I have an engineering-like degree and employment and plan on keeping my car for roughly 10 years. (Depending on when it rusts apart, and how soon I can get a V60 with flywheels.)

Which car is that? And let me know how that works out for you.

Fiesta, ten years of ownership will put it somewhere around 210k km.

Well consumer flywheel tech seems to have been abandoned.

But otherwise, happy to report that my Fiesta is still going strong, with maintenance and per-km costs in line with expectations.

Have put on both less rust and fewer km (~165k km) than expected, and it's been reliable, so still no plans on replacing it.

 

[Samson]

I was kind of close to buying a car today. This sold for £820, I did not expect it to go for so little and was not watching it.

Spoiler 2006 MERCEDES CLS 320 :

This sold for £330 but has ~270k on the clock.

Spoiler 2005 BMW 520D M SPORT :

I did not actually catch the price of this one, but it was only a bid or two over £1,410

Spoiler 2014 JAGUAR XF LUXURY D :

 

[EnglishEdward]

So I was checking the oil level on my (female) friends '91 peugeot 307, and the bottom 2/3rds on the plastic bit (about 1 inch) of the dip stick fell off on the oil. This is what the whole thing looks like and it is bust at about the second notch.

Spoiler :

Is this serious? Should she deal with it or just live with the thing in the sump? The car is not worth very many hundred pounds.

I am puzzled; according to wiki, production of the Peugot 207 started in 2001 not 1991

Peugeot 307 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I reckon it will either stay at the bottom of the stump OR get mashed up and properly clog the oil filter, but then I am no car mechanic.

As it will likely cost several hundred pounds in garage labour to take an engine-gearbox out, disassembly and re-assemble, I recommend "inaction".

 

[Kyriakos]

I had no hope of Formaldehyde returning.
I wonder how he is doing these days.

 

[Samson]

I am puzzled; according to wiki, production of the Peugot 207 started in 2001 not 1991

Peugeot 307 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I reckon it will either stay at the bottom of the stump OR get mashed up and properly clog the oil filter, but then I am no car mechanic.

As it will likely cost several hundred pounds in garage labour to take an engine-gearbox out, disassembly and re-assemble, I recommend "inaction".

You are right about the year, and I am not sure how I could have got that wrong. I remember it was an old car, but I do not think it was that old.

 

[EnglishEdward]

Well if it had been made in 1991, it would have likely been a Peugot 205.

Peugeot 205 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Samson]

Well if it had been made in 1991, it would have likely been a Peugot 205.

Peugeot 205 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I know, and I know that car very well. It was not one of those. I THINK it was a 307 and I got the decade wrong, but that would be unlike me.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I got the decade wrong, but that would be unlike me.

The past you, but not the future you.

 

[thetrooper]

Drop in coolant levels, oil levels and performance in general. What should I do?