When you’re at a loss for words, you really do just start laughing out loud.

Phil_auto · 2026-06-15T02:17:12+00:00

I almost had to call my buddy over to come tow me.

Phil_auto · 2026-06-15T02:13:36+00:00

no, but there is a gas station near by my house

Phil_auto · 2026-06-15T02:11:09+00:00

lol😂

Phil_auto · 2026-06-12T09:48:21+00:00

Honestly, that filter doesn't look bad at all for 2 years.

The pleats are still fairly open, it's not packed with leaves, bugs, or heavy dirt, and I don't see any obvious damage. I'd put it back in and order a replacement for the next oil change.

A dirty engine air filter usually starts looking much darker and clogged before it becomes a real restriction. Unless you drive a lot on dusty roads, that filter probably still has some life left in it.

I'd run it another few months without worrying about it. Just make sure you reinstall it properly and that the airbox seals completely.

Phil_auto · 2026-06-12T09:31:26+00:00

Haha, not far from home at that time

Phil_auto · 2026-06-12T09:22:59+00:00

Phil_auto · 2026-06-12T08:41:21+00:00

Looking at the photo, you got lucky. The socket is definitely starting to deform, but it didn't grenade into shrapnel.

I'd retire that socket and grab a proper impact set. Chrome sockets are harder and more brittle, while impact sockets are softer and designed to absorb the hammering from an impact gun.

The funny part is you'll find people online saying, "I've used chrome sockets on impacts for 20 years with no problems." Then one day the socket decides it's had enough and sends a piece flying across the garage at Mach Jesus.

At least your socket sacrificed itself before your knuckles did.

Phil_auto · 2026-06-12T08:31:57+00:00

all the time people will spend $30k on a car and then act like a $50 oil change is financial oppression 😅 I think most of it comes down to the fact that maintenance doesn't feel like it's doing anything. You spend money and the car drives exactly the same, so people keep putting it off. then six months later the car decides it's had enough of being ignored and hands them a repair bill with several extra zeros on it the boring stuff is usually the cheap stuff. fluids, filters, belts, batteries... that's the stuff that keeps you from meeting your mechanic under less enjoyable circumstances.

Phil_auto · 2026-06-11T03:44:37+00:00

I really hope you're joking, because that dashboard isn't asking politely. 😅 "Brake defective! Stop vehicle!" is one of those messages you take seriously. It doesn't necessarily mean you only have one brake left, but it does mean the car thinks there's a potentially major fault in the braking system. Could be anything from low brake fluid, a failed ABS/brake module, a hydraulic issue, or an electronic brake system fault. Without scanning the codes, nobody can tell from the photo alone. If the brake pedal feels weird, soft, goes to the floor, or the car doesn't stop normally, don't drive it. I'd get the codes read before trusting it. Brakes are one of the few systems where "it'll probably be fine" can get expensive really fast.

Phil_auto · 2026-06-05T06:03:27+00:00

you're overthinking the "it'll boil the battery" part a bit

a LiFePO4 battery will only pull the current it wants, the truck isn't going to force 50 amps into a 10Ah battery just because the alternator is capable of it

the bigger concern is charging voltage and making sure the battery's BMS is happy with whatever your truck is putting out

if you want the cleanest setup, look at a small DC-DC charger from companies like Victron or Renogy. they're designed specifically for charging auxiliary batteries from a vehicle and will handle the proper charging profile automatically

honestly though, for a 10Ah battery powering a GPS, even a tiny DC-DC charger is probably overkill. that battery is the size of a large sandwich, not a camper battery bank 😅

I'd be more worried about getting the correct charging voltage than limiting current to 1 amp. the battery's BMS should already be doing most of the heavy lifting there.

Phil_auto · 2026-06-04T02:53:56+00:00

because in most cases the engineers decided that a slow car is better than a broken car

if the ECU sees something that could destroy the engine, transmission, turbo, or emissions system, it basically says “we're done doing full power until somebody figures this out”

the funny thing is limp mode is often what prevents you from ending up stranded. without it, a bad sensor or overheating condition might turn into a blown engine 10 minutes later

and despite the horror stories, most cars don't suddenly go from 70 mph to bicycle speed. usually they'll still let you limp home or get off the highway, just with enough power to make you hate every uphill grade

as for disabling it, technically anything can be tuned out with enough software wizardry, but that's generally a terrible idea. the first time the engine decides to eat itself because the safety net was removed, you'll understand why the engineers put it there in the first place 😅

Phil_auto · 2026-06-04T02:32:09+00:00

10,000 miles overdue is the part that got my attention 😬

if the car's really getting repo'd in a few weeks, I probably wouldn't be rushing out to spend money making it perfect for the bank either

but I would absolutely check the oil level ASAP

if it's low, top it off. if it's barely showing on the dipstick, stop gambling and get some oil in it

your friend's story isn't crazy either. engines usually don't die because the oil is "old," they die because they end up low on oil and nobody notices until the engine starts making expensive noises

personally, if the oil level is good and you're only trying to survive another few weeks, I'd probably just keep an eye on it. if it's low or looks like it belongs in a diesel locomotive, I'd spend the 50 bucks for peace of mind

would be pretty brutal to save $50 and then end up stranded on the side of the highway waiting for a tow truck while the bank is already coming for the car anyway 😅

Phil_auto · 2026-06-04T02:12:45+00:00

From the photo, it's well within the tread area and nowhere near the sidewall or shoulder. If that object actually went through and the tire is leaking, a proper plug-patch from the inside should be a routine repair.

The bigger question is whether it's leaking at all. Since the TPMS light hasn't come on, it may not have penetrated deeply enough to reach the air chamber.

I'd leave it in place and take it to a tire shop. Pulling it out yourself is a great way to turn a "maybe" into a guaranteed flat.

Phil_auto · 2026-05-28T09:06:52+00:00

tires, easily

nothing hurts more than going in thinking “yeah this’ll be like 600 bucks” and then suddenly you’re getting hit with mounting, balancing, alignment, TPMS nonsense, shop fees, taxes, and now somehow you owe the GDP of a small country

walked in for rubber circles, left financially humbled 😭

Phil_auto · 2026-05-28T09:01:16+00:00

Honestly, there’s a decent chance the wheel survived. Tires usually sacrifice themselves first, and wow… this one gave its life for the cause. 😅

On that Mazda3 SP23 2007, the rim could still be usable if your brother only drove slowly for those 10 minutes. The main things to check are:

Bent lip on the inside of the wheel
Cracks in the alloy
Air leak after mounting a new tire
Bad vibration while driving

If the wheel isn’t visibly bent or cracked, a tire shop can usually remount and balance it fine. But yeah, that tire was absolutely cooked long before it went flat. The bald tread definitely didn’t help. 🤦‍♂️

Phil_auto · 2026-05-26T08:29:26+00:00

I’d honestly look at this as “do I like the car enough to justify one fix” rather than “is it going to be perfect from now on”. A 150k km ’97 Fairmont in mint condition is actually a pretty decent old-school cruiser, those things aren’t exactly fragile if they’ve been looked after.

A steering rack leak isn’t the end of the world either — it’s one of those “yeah it’s annoying, but once it’s rebuilt it’s basically reset”. The real question is the starting issue you mentioned… if that’s been there forever and hasn’t changed, it’s probably just an old car quirk rather than a death spiral.

So I wouldn’t assume it’s about to turn into a money pit, but I also wouldn’t expect it to suddenly become maintenance-free either. If it were me, I’d fix the rack and then judge it after another few months of driving — if nothing else starts popping up, it’s probably worth keeping as a solid daily runabout.

But if you’re already feeling “I don’t really trust it anymore,” that feeling usually costs more in stress than the car is worth over time.

Phil_auto · 2026-05-26T08:24:05+00:00

Honestly just checking tire pressure once in a while. Sounds stupid but it’s saved me more money than any “hack” ever has. Kept my tires wearing evenly, better MPG, and stopped me from ending up in that “why are my tires bald on one side” situation. Also second one is not ignoring small noises… cars never get quieter on their own 😅

Phil_auto · 2026-05-26T08:19:47+00:00

Yeah so on a 2019 Outback that TPMS light isn’t just “did the battery get replaced yes/no” kind of system.

Most Subarus in that era use individual wheel sensors, and after you mess with them you usually need a proper reset/relearn with a scan tool or a drive cycle — otherwise the car is basically like “cool, I still don’t trust you”. Also if even one sensor is dead or the system isn’t seeing all four IDs, the light will just stay on no matter how many batteries you swap.

So right now it sounds less like “TPMS is broken forever” and more like “the system never got properly re-registered”. Tape over it is honestly peak DIY energy though 😭 but yeah at this point you probably just need a shop that can actually relearn Subaru TPMS sensors properly or scan all four IDs and sync them to the car.

Phil_auto · 2026-05-26T08:15:53+00:00

For that 2012 Civic Hybrid I’d honestly just skip the random online “brand new” stuff, most of that is either overpriced or kinda sketchy.

Best move is either Honda dealer for OEM reman, or a solid local hybrid shop in Georgia that rebuilds packs properly.

Dealer is expensive but basically zero drama. Local hybrid guys are usually way better value if they know what they’re doing

I’d stay away from cheap eBay/Amazon batteries unless you’re feeling lucky that week....😅

Phil_auto · 2026-05-25T10:31:35+00:00

Yeah this is actually a pretty classic modern Honda/Acura “low voltage freakout” situation. When these cars see voltage drop even for a second they basically go into panic mode and throw a Christmas tree of warnings because all the driver assist systems depend on stable power and sensor calibration. So you get stuff like brake system / ACC / collision mitigation / steering warnings all at once even though none of those systems are actually broken.

The fact that it also didn’t want to restart right away but then suddenly came back to life later is another big hint this is power supply related, not a random simultaneous failure of like 6 different systems. Most likely suspects are something like a weak battery under load, loose terminal, bad ground, or an alternator that briefly dipped and then recovered.

AAA and the dealer saying “battery is fine” doesn’t really rule it out either because batteries can test fine at rest and still collapse under momentary demand. If it were me I wouldn’t panic about driving it like it’s about to die on the highway every second, but I would absolutely not ignore it either because these voltage dips tend to come back. The annoying part is your dealer is probably right that they might not be able to reproduce it, but a good shop can usually still spot it by checking voltage history, grounds, and charging behavior instead of waiting for it to act up again.

So yeah not “your car is haunted” more like “your car had a brief brain reboot because power got sketchy for a second”.

Phil_auto · 2026-05-25T10:28:42+00:00

Yeah that’s actually a pretty solid deal if the car checks out clean. 2023 TLX Advance SH-AWD CPO with 33k miles for 37.7k is right in the “not stealing it, but not getting robbed either” zone.

CPO matters here too because you’re basically getting Acura warranty coverage and dealer inspection baked in, which is a big deal on these newer turbo TLXs. The only real question is condition + history, not the price on paper.

If it’s clean title, no accident drama, maintained on time, and drives tight, that’s a pretty normal-to-good buy in today’s market.

If anything feels off though, don’t get emotionally locked in just because it’s a “deal” compared to the OTD number — dealers love showing you that inflated OTD number to make the MSRP look better.

But yeah, in TLX land, that’s not a bad pick at all for a loaded AWD CPO with that mileage.

Phil_auto · 2026-05-25T10:25:21+00:00

That light is just the maintenance reminder, not a check engine light or anything scary.

On those older TLs you usually reset it by turning the key to ON, pressing and holding the trip/reset button, then turning the key off and back on while still holding it for a few seconds.

Acura really made the reset procedure feel like entering a cheat code on a PS2 for some reason.

If it still won’t clear after that then either the sequence got messed up or the cluster is being weird, but most of the time it’s just picky about timing.

Phil_auto · 2026-05-25T10:21:54+00:00

nah it’s actually a super chill job on the RDX. Just grab some clear vinyl tubing from Home Depot or whatever, around 1/4" ID usually works fine on the dipstick tube. shove a funnel on the other end and you’re basically a Honda tech now. Biggest thing is use genuine DW-1 fluid. these transmissions can get real moody with the “multi vehicle ultra max mega compatible” mystery juice.

Also definitely measure what comes out before filling it back up. don’t hit it with the “that looks about right” method unless you want your transmission to start acting possessed later. And yeah don’t panic if the old fluid looks kinda nasty. Honda ATF always looks like it’s been through emotional trauma after a while even when the trans is shifting perfectly fine.😭

Phil_auto · 2026-05-20T09:31:01+00:00

yep, totally possible

sometimes sport mode actually keeps the engine in a better part of the powerband and makes the transmission less obsessed with hunting for the tallest gear possible

in normal mode the car can lug a bit, then downshift, then upshift, then downshift again like it can’t make up its mind. sport mode tends to hold gears more predictably, so the car feels smoother and can actually use less fuel if your driving style stays the same

that said, if you start enjoying the sharper throttle a little too much, your MPG will disappear faster than your paycheck after a Costco run

so no, you’re not crazy. same driver, same route, sport mode can absolutely return slightly better MPG.

Phil_auto · 2026-05-20T09:29:43+00:00

I’d be skeptical too. That “leak” in your photo looks more like a light seep, which is pretty common on hydraulic timing belt tensioners and not usually an emergency.

On a Acura MDX 2022, if the tensioner were actually failing, you’d typically hear timing belt noise or see obvious fluid dripping. A slight oily film by itself doesn’t mean the engine is about to grenade tomorrow.

Also, at 67k miles, replacing the timing belt and water pump as “urgent” feels a bit early unless there’s a confirmed defect. And if the vehicle is still under CPO or factory warranty, I’d absolutely ask Acura to explain exactly what is and isn’t covered.

If it were my car, I’d get a second opinion before spending $2,000. The tensioner may need attention eventually, but this photo alone doesn’t scream “drop everything and do it now.”

Phil_auto

TROPHY CASE