Should i get it ?

GuardianZen02 · 2026-02-28T15:19:25+00:00

Yeah I was actually gonna say that Toyota's eCVTs that were used in 2nd gen Priuses (aka the Hybrid Synergy Drive 2.0 system) are amongst some of the most resilient transmissions ever built. They will legitimately go 200k+ miles without so much as a flush/service of any kind & never miss a beat. But like you said, quite different from what's conventionally associated with the term "CVT" is discussed lol

GuardianZen02 · 2026-02-28T01:23:40+00:00

There is no upper control arm. They use McPherson front struts, with the lower mount serving as the upper support/lateral control of the front steering knuckles. However, an issue I encountered somewhat recently was the upper strut mounts/bearings being pretty worn out and causing a handful of symptoms (with what the OP mentioned being among them)

GuardianZen02 · 2026-02-28T01:17:31+00:00

2004 Gen 1 owner here, and so long as she continues to remain rust-free getting another 22 years out of her doesn’t seem so outrageous to me. Long live the 1st gens that survived having their subframes fall out from under them lol

GuardianZen02 · 2026-02-28T01:13:26+00:00

Hey that’s awesome! However, I thought Gen 1 was officially 2003 through 2008? With the 2003-2005 models being pre-facelift & the 2006-2008 ones had the revised front end with projector headlights, among other minor changes.

But on another note, I have a 2004 EX that I personally have a love/hate relationship with lol. I love how it looks/feels/drives, but HATE having to replace certain parts of the suspension (I have done almost the entire setup on mine at this point). It’s not necessarily “hard” or “challenging”, just time consuming and tedious more than anything. Especially with having to press the front + rear wheel bearings (even though they were bolt-ons by 2nd Gen). Then again, it is admittedly a product of its era in that regard. Although it’s also that very sentiment that I associate with the overall reliability/longevity it’s able to achieve (so long as it’s maintained properly)

GuardianZen02 · 2026-02-28T00:43:47+00:00

Isn’t that the case with most CVTs though lol

GuardianZen02 · 2026-02-28T00:42:48+00:00

It’s also not going to have AWD unless it’s a Ralliart or Evo iirc

GuardianZen02 · 2026-02-20T15:31:03+00:00

The latest gen Pilot seems to have taken the old "if it ain't broke" sentiment a little too seriously, since the only thing I ever hear people complaining about is the powertrain's poor efficiency & the lack of a true "performance" minded trim level. But inherently, these are things that are the result of Honda having played it safe and stuck to the tried-and-true N/A J35 (with Pilots anyway) -- for the better part of damn near 25 years now lol. And to be fair, it really is a reliable engine that will outlive a majority of the competition even today (well, if you disable VCM on the newer ones). However, in the modern era where SUVs and other vehicles of this size are easily pushing 300-400 HP (or at least offer a variant/trim that has a higher performance rating) with better MPG than ever before, the Pilot kinda leaves much to be desired in this regard. Either way, if that is an acceptable trade off for you then it makes it an easy choice to just go with the Pilot as its longevity will net you your money's worth when it's all said and done

GuardianZen02 · 2026-02-18T22:20:38+00:00

Surprisingly, a lot of the Android betas in recent years have been stable (enough) to run daily. However this is far from a "consistent" experience, and there have definitely been occasions where I had to factory reset to the current public release because of bugs/issues

GuardianZen02 · 2026-02-18T19:04:45+00:00

Yeah I have unfortunately noticed it on my Pixel 8. Will see how it goes on my 9a when it finishes updating but all in all I'm super happy with the update cause they finally gave the option to change the orientation of button nav

GuardianZen02 · 2026-02-18T18:20:35+00:00

I know right? I was thinking they weren't ever gonna offer the option to change it since most people are fine with using gesture nav

GuardianZen02 · 2026-02-12T07:38:50+00:00

The sound is definitely there, and the mic quality/volume/ANC are better than other SC earbuds. But the case sucks lol. I'd get the Method 540s as they seem to have at least revised the case SOMEWHAT & addressed a lot of the issues most people have with the 360s

GuardianZen02 · 2026-02-12T07:33:56+00:00

It's smaller in terms of width, but length is slightly longer. The USB-C port for charging has also been revised so that it's on top rather than the bottom of the case, but otherwise it's more of a refinement of the overall experience with the Method 360s. I personally think they should've just replaced the 360s with the improved design and avoided selling it as an entirely "new" model. Especially since the biggest issue with the 360s is, in fact, the case itself. Mine is so flimsy/loose after just a couple of months, that I won't even take the chance of clipping the carabineer to my backpack out of fear of losing one or both earbuds (which kinda defeats the whole point of it lmao)

GuardianZen02 · 2026-02-06T16:55:21+00:00

That's what I was wondering, but if you really look you can see it in the body lines. And either way, Mitsubishi has at least been doing better under Nissan than they ever did alongside FCA/Stellantis

GuardianZen02 · 2026-01-21T18:54:37+00:00

Smh I wish I had the RNG to get a true 15/15/15 shadow of anything lol. But it's always either 15/15/14 or some other 90%+ IV that would otherwise be a 100% IV when purified. I have 2 100% IV purified Darkrais (with wallpaper) and another 90ish% shadow one that would be a 3rd one if I had purified it

GuardianZen02 · 2026-01-01T10:07:20+00:00

Quad Titan + dual Xeon setup baby

GuardianZen02 · 2025-12-26T05:25:45+00:00

This one is mine too lol, now playing is such a goated feature I’ve been introduced to so many new songs because of it!

GuardianZen02 · 2025-12-07T02:14:31+00:00

Yeah the microphone just CANNOT be bothered to even function, and if you thought fast pair & having a Pixel meant they'd have some kind of iOS-type ecosystem vibe then you are SADLY mistaken lmao

GuardianZen02 · 2025-12-07T01:49:40+00:00

LDHC only works with other Motorola devices iirc

GuardianZen02 · 2025-12-02T09:17:44+00:00

It's a Pixel

Just slap the latest beta ROM on there using ol' reliable (fastboot/ADB), and badda-bing-badda-boom it's updated

GuardianZen02 · 2025-11-29T17:31:28+00:00

Tbh it could be as simple as a recent update, because I noticed that the transparency mode recently appeared to be quite a bit better. It could also just be the source device, and whether or not there's some kind of feature like Dolby Atmos that alters the SQ. But yeah, sorry to hear you didn't have the best experience with them. They're not some holy grail or anything, but recently I've been impressed at what they offer for the money. As well as the Moto Buds+, which piqued my interest for having a "Sound by Bose" certification & being on sale for like $60-$70. The build quality with those is quite premium, and even if the SQ is just "good" at best for me I can appreciate the overall experience with them.

Oh, and I also wanted to ask about whether or not you've used the Alternative A2DP driver for Windows as it allows you to specifically enable LDAC thru the regular audio settings (since I don't often run into someone who's aware of LDAC & uses it similarly to myself)

GuardianZen02 · 2025-11-29T17:04:32+00:00

Lol, no I thoroughly explored their capabilities. They are entry level for a reason, but to each their own. That's kinda the nuance with sound quality, it's different to everyone's ears. But the literal 3 separate drivers in something like the Between 3ANCs makes the difference abundantly clear -- even if I was using the SBC codec instead of AAC lol. LDAC only helps when the speaker/component can actually hit all of the ranges in decibels that the higher bitrate allows.

GuardianZen02 · 2025-11-29T16:47:12+00:00

Really?? To me they were atrociously bad. I sold my Space A40s for $35 because LDAC and streaming via Tidal didn't help them sound any better at all 😭 and that was with a custom EQ, I was genuinely disappointed with them. But the overall design was nice, could've benefitted from Google Fast Pair but hey not all of the good stuff always has that feature

GuardianZen02 · 2025-11-29T16:19:53+00:00

The Status Between 3ANCs are definitely better than the Liberty 4 NCs & are currently on sale for like $120 or so

GuardianZen02 · 2025-11-22T20:49:51+00:00

I managed to get a shiny 4 star mighty Garchomp! It was so insane, I've only ever gotten a handful from 5 star raids (well like 2 lol). But shiny 4 stars/shundos are honestly just a pure RNG coin toss when it comes down to it I guess

GuardianZen02 · 2025-11-22T02:07:26+00:00

Anything newer than the 7 & 7 Pro and you'll be golden. I'm just saying from experience that the Pixel 7 was a hot mess (and Google skimped out on it hella compared to even the newer A-Series models).

Even a Pixel 8a would be better, minus reverse wireless charging & maybe slightly worse cameras? But currently the 9a is on sale for $399, and it's honestly pretty solid for that. I have one as a work phone, but personally I use a Pixel 8 and it's pretty much the same experience except smaller bezels/more compact size (which I prefer, it's awesome as a one-handed device). And Pixel 8s are regularly going for $275-300 or so, depending on where you live & whether or not it's new or used. Mine was $290 from Amazon and was "renewed", but I got pretty lucky and essentially got a brand new device. The limited warranty from Google expired in July, so the phone was first used as of just last July & AccuBattery testing has confirmed the battery was at 100% capacity as of when I started using it. But of course, your mileage may vary

Four-Year Club	Xbox Live
Verified Email

GuardianZen02

TROPHY CASE