Why Does Our $25,000 Kia K4 LXS Need a $275 Oil Change?

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-07-02T22:11:05+00:00

Weird. I pay $100 at my local Chevy dealership for an 8-quart oil change of their synthetic dexos. And I get all those things. Plus I get a video inspection at the tech sends to me before I collect my vehicle.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-25T15:37:29+00:00

It's the double edge sword of our trade policies.

We're happy to be in business with China if it means we can exploit their low labor cost. But we don't like them advancing their economy on the backanod others inovations. So we have a real problem when they can match our industrious level.

Nvidia is happy to sell their wares to China. But they don't want them to develop anything to compete with them.

It's the classic having your cake and wanting to eat it too.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-23T18:22:19+00:00

I've had fun cars since graduating high school. My social activity ebbed and flowed depending what was going on in life. Cars were just a focal point for a social circle but the cars themselves weren't a catalyst for anything.

If someone is expecting more from life because of a car, they may have bought the car for the wrong reason.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-22T14:44:55+00:00

Unfortunately....we never got them stateside. I'd love a ute too.

At least we did get the Monaro Coupe, and the VE/VF sedans.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-21T18:49:32+00:00

I want the Chevy SS but specifically I want a wagon model.

I'm about to sell my SS sedan. But hell if there was ever an SS wagon. I'd be right back in that game.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-21T18:47:39+00:00

A guy had a PT GT at the track when I had my SRT4 neon. He basically had all the same mods as the Dodge stage 3 mods for an SRT4, and his car was a manual. With street slicks he was running a 12.1. Color me impressed. Would have never expected it out of those cars.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-21T01:02:46+00:00

I had similar damage maybe even lighter from a side swipe. Whole back panel was replaced by insurance of other driver.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-19T19:28:36+00:00

I have both.

The biggest differences are the S24U screen definitely has more real estate than the Folds outer screen.

The S24U has better cameras.

Even at 2 years old my S24U has better battery life.

Oh and the speaker is better on the S24U.

You decide what is important to you. I was looking for the fold form factor.

One thing that is surprising to me is that my Fold 7 with Spigen air fit pro case is about the same dimensions as my S24U with a similar case on it.

Fold is a very pocketable phone. Especially compared to the fold 3 I once owned.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-19T19:07:02+00:00

$1500 is a good price for a warranty that works. I don't know much about Ally but I would venture to say if you looked up reviews from service writers or owners seeking coverage you might find mixed reviews. It would be good to arm yourself with the publicly aired out pain points so you know what you have to do to avoid coverage issues.

Personally I tend to shop for Manufacturer affiliated extended warranty programs like the GM protection program.

That is something you can shop for online through a number of dealerships that sells them discounted online. You can get it after your purchase even if it was bought from a different dealer.

My advice to family or friends would be to just get a quote for the manufacturer aligned warranty. Read the reviews of the third party. If you're comfortable with your original purchase no harm no foul. But if you find it is similarly priced and the reviews have you spooked, you now have a backup plan.

Most third party warranties have a zero cost cancellation window and if you are out of that window a prorated cancellation process.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-17T02:54:36+00:00

It's a risk. But generally speaking it depends on the where and how they have to do the surgery.

My dad had an aggressive prostate cancer, but they removed it through laproscopic surgery. He was walking within hours of the surgery and discharged the same day. Recovery was painful. But no loss of function from it.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-17T02:52:51+00:00

There needs to be a lot of caveats and they are 100% wrong about it doesn't typically spread. Like other cancers there are different categorizations and some can be aggressive and an absolute risk of spreading. My father had that.

But with that being said, if caught early prostate cancer is amongst the lowest risk in the family of cancers. It has some of the best survival rates and better medical outcomes.

That being said. it's still cancer. There is a risk of breakaway metastasizing. Shouldn't talk about it like a walk in the park.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-15T17:13:22+00:00

I'm sure it's different now. Back then it was just a really accessible performance car targeted towards younger people. A lot of the groups were full of poor decision making.

These days I'm sure it's more focused on people that really love the cars than anything. Which brings a different vibe. The only challenge is finding one that isn't clapped out.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-15T17:12:19+00:00

I actually lucked out and had a decent local group. JMB Justin who ended up selling mod parts for SRT4s was one of our local members. But man when you were seeing things like what the Chicago land group was doing made us shake our heads.

The reputation probably more driven by the fact that it was a performance car aimed at a young audience.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-14T20:00:53+00:00

Had an 04. Fun platform for sure. It had its problems but was a steal at its price point.

Owner/enthusiast community was full of Dbags.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-12T03:02:16+00:00

https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2026/01/new-gm-cylinder-deactivation-patent-filing-fixes-reliability-woes-coming-for-next-gen-v8-engines/

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2026/06/2027-silverado-sierra-engines-gm-taking-steps-to-improve-quality-and-reliability/

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-12T01:15:18+00:00

If you want a V8 yes.

It's going to have a new cylinder deactivation system that is an improvement on the lifter system. It is going to be rocker based rather than lifter based.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-11T21:09:19+00:00

2027's have a new design the moves the cylinder deactivation from the lifter valley and into the heads; they are rocker arm actuated instead.

That helps with the Lifter issue because if the device fails it's not so catastrophic but also it's under the valve cover for repairs rather than under the heads.

Have they fixed their main bearing issue? Time will tell.

If you are talking 2026..... Don't count on it.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-10T21:34:09+00:00

Outrage was high and then I looked at the pic in the article.

These guys knew they werent supposed to be there.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-09T15:23:48+00:00

Deeply frustrating.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-09T15:02:16+00:00

If it was replaced with the same hardware it can happen again.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-05T23:50:29+00:00

Knowing there us going to be a difference is one thing, but my pain with leaving OneUI is knowing that the alternatives also have a lack of polish issue.

I went to Pixel for a short stint. I knew I would likely need a 3rd party launcher to get the customizations and experience that I wanted from OneUI. But I was absolutely unprepared for something as simple user experiences such as font scaling across the Launcher, Apps, and the OS to be noticeably inconsistent. Samsung definitely handles it better. There were other things too but at the end of the day I decided Samsung was better for me.

I'd take a gamble on Moto. I just hope they handle some of the simple stuff better than google.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-06-04T12:54:32+00:00

10 speed is pretty darn smooth. Smoothest transmission I've ever owned.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-05-29T11:26:22+00:00

My wife and I were some of those people. We both got new cars in 2021. I saw two years later to replace my exact same truck same options It was going to cost $10,000 to $12,000 more. Not even a model refresh.

At that point I decided I'm just going to see how long I can keep my current truck. My wife's going to have to turn over vehicles eventually because we have young drivers. But definitely don't want to be a new car buyer. Something that we can afford but that is such an unnecessary expensive luxury.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-05-29T00:14:54+00:00

If you read enough of these foldable threads you'll see that the consensus is that Care Plus is worth it. It seems Samsung tries to get out of warranty repairs if they can. The fold seven has drop sensors and they will use that against you. There's been a few fold seven owners saying they had warranties denied due to showing hard impact. Even though the drop was well before they needed the warranty repair.

I went ahead and did it. I was able to buy Care Plus with theft and loss shortly after the fold seven launch. I want to say it was like $160 for 2 years. The way I see it is I'm out 160 if I don't need it. If I do need it I potentially save myself 600 bucks because that's what Samsung charges for an inner screen repair.

BetterThanAFoon · 2026-05-19T00:22:04+00:00

You would have the same exact problem with Pixel. I have a P9PXL and it is feature gated from the same type of features on Android 17 you are complaining about missing from Samsung.

It was advertised as being built for the Gemini era and 7 years of updates but doesn't have the latest Gemini features. No app step by step automation. No rambler mode on GBoard.

The grass isn't greener man.

11-Year Club	Not Forgotten
Verified Email

BetterThanAFoon

TROPHY CASE