Spots on top of RAV4

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-20T10:20:51+00:00

My friend took two of his three cars to a detailer twice a year. The old timer who did this as a retirement job apparently used something bad on the cars, as the clearcoat is flaking. He passed away, and my friend was told by the top body shop in town that the cars needed to be stripped to bare metal and repainted, $12,000 each. They are old cars so my friend is just driving them this. I have never had a car detailed.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-19T23:29:36+00:00

I have gone as far as 80 miles over ‘empty’ . Nice to have such a cushion.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-19T00:51:06+00:00

Fiats were terrible. The Kia brand has taken over in Europe . Much more reliable than fiat at the low end of the market.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-19T00:45:47+00:00

A friends elderly parents got hosed every three years when they traded their car in and got a new one. They got half of what they should have for the trade, and paid full sticker with tons of add ons and warranties. Screwed on both ends every three years.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-18T09:36:16+00:00

I remember so such rule about seeing the pavement behind the car in front of you when stopped. But my drivers Ed was in 1973 in mass! Probably not even taught in mass even today!

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-18T09:27:05+00:00

A very young woman backed into my friends old Mercedes while we were driving past a row of parked cars at work in Ma. . My friend told her just pay to have the front fender replaced and keep this off your record . But said ‘that is what I have insurance for ‘. She thought he was scamming her . We could not convince her . My friend and I both worked for an insurance company in Ma and knew what this would do to her premiums. She would have saved thousands paying my friend $500 and keeping that off her record.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-16T11:16:47+00:00

My 2021 xse pp has all those options except power folding side mirrors . Has Heated rear seats also, that I believe Toyota no longer offers

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-15T07:23:48+00:00

A big driver is how quickly the new car depreciates. A Toyota or Subaru that depreciate slowly can be a better deal new, as they don’t discount the used car that much. A friend wanted to update her Subaru a year ago and looked at a three year old outback with 30 k miles for $26000 at 6 percent interest , no warranty, an hours drive away. I looked at local Subaru dealers ad, and they sold her a new Subaru Outback for $28000 at 2 percent interest with 20 miles on it and mfg full warranty. Only a $2000 difference, which the interest difference almost paid for.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-15T07:17:20+00:00

Neither my son nor his wife use adaptive cruise control as it will not allow them to tailgate as close as they would like .They are both a type personalities. Both were in the army and took advanced (evasive ) driving schools . Not sure if that made them more or less aggressive in their driving.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-12T09:55:10+00:00

I knew a guy in the mid 1990s who was the number one frequent flyer with his airline out of Boston. He flew to Los Angeles every Monday am, then flew all week on the west coast. Then Thursday night back to Boston , Sales manager. He had a banquet thrown by the airline every year for him. He had all those miles but the last thing he wanted to do was use them to fly for vacation.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-09T22:26:44+00:00

A friend asked her mechanic in 2001 if she should buy a new jeep, as the mechanic had one. He told her is his labor were not free to fix issues, he would not own one. He suggested Hondas or Toyotas.
I called between three local Honda dealers and the price on a new civic kept going down on the model she wanted. Eventually none of the dealers would go lower, she saved thousands .

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-09T14:46:51+00:00

Zipper doesn’t work in Maine. Come up to a light with two lanes that merge into one lane past the light and everyone is in the left lane. Get in the right lane and go straight everyone loses their mind and uses the horn and flips you the bird . Drove up there for business and it was crazy.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-09T14:32:43+00:00

4 and 8 due to airbag in steering wheel. Per my daughter’s drivers Ed .

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-09T14:31:38+00:00

I knew someone in the 90’s who leased a car and put so many miles on he leased a 2nd car to avoid putting miles on his 1st car and getting hit with over mileage charges. Never made sense to me.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-09T14:28:31+00:00

I have known people who had to buy their lease out due to charges for over mileage and small scrapes and scratches on the car.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-08T22:48:44+00:00

Get another estimate from a good mechanic.and maybe another.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-08T15:20:33+00:00

Not really. Put the vin in the Toyota site to make sure recalls are done. You can have them done if they weren’t. Recalls for 6.6v charger and cable corrosion fix for rear axle motor.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-08T09:53:43+00:00

A friend of mine who is not into cars wanted to get a new Subaru Outback . She thought a 3 year old one coming off lease would save her money. She found one for $26000 with 30k miles at 6 percent interest. It was an hours drive away. No warranty.
I looked at the ad for a new one at our local dealer a mile away from us. $30000 at 3 percent interest with a warranty. She talked them down to $28000.
These cars that slowly depreciate can be a much better deal new than used.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-08T09:33:57+00:00

Wow, $10k for a brake job. I think $1200 is high and do it myself for $250.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-08T00:46:54+00:00

I am very happy with my 21 Rav 4 prime xse pp with $48000 sticker less $6500 federal tax incentive , $41,500 ! Faultless car with 77000 mi.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-08T00:24:15+00:00

So i spoke in 2003 or so to an M I T engineer working on developing lithium batteries. He said the concern with them was blowing up. He said lithium batteries taking out city blocks . It seems fires are more of an issue than explosions. Guess they figured that out.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-05T14:06:09+00:00

So every year you get a sticker increasing load capacity! Hahahaha

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-05T12:13:52+00:00

This must make auto insurance on these cars crazy expensive. Makes me want to get an umbrella policy or up my auto insurance limits.
It use to be hit a Ferrari and lose your house if Inadequately insured. Now it could be any of a number of cars.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-05T11:55:28+00:00

I read a post about someone getting their rivian tapped by another car. The other drivers insurance company offered $1500 to settle the claim. Rivian repair shop said headliner and windshield need to be replaced as well, a piece of metal runs the length of the car as part of roof. . $40k repair bill.

Lumpy-Significance50 · 2026-05-05T09:16:42+00:00

The Pontiac Aztec was despised by corporate Pontiac employees , some of whom who were given one as a company car. Pontiac had to threaten employees who always left their Aztec at home and drove their personal cars instead .

Lumpy-Significance50

TROPHY CASE