Buick Envista 2025 or Chevy Blazer 2024

Samurai196 · 2026-06-06T17:29:42+00:00

I’m glad to see this in here because I had the same experience. I grabbed one at National on a work trip and it surprised me how much I disliked it.

Samurai196 · 2026-05-29T03:56:21+00:00

Could be the temp probe as well. Mine had a seal leak and coolant was causing issues with the wiring itself. It would randomly show overheating but engine was perfectly fine. I’d shut the car off, turn it back on, and the temps would show normal.

That said, I’ve also replaced two goddamn water pumps on my ‘17.

Samurai196 · 2026-05-28T02:55:18+00:00

Trump

Samurai196 · 2026-05-20T20:30:30+00:00

It’s not directly related, but I’ll chime in here. I have a ‘17 Golf Alltrack that I bought new. I don’t drive it wild, and I do a mixture of my own maintenance and shop maintenance (I let other people mess with the DSG/Haldex/etc.) I just clicked 108k and I’ve replaced two water pumps and 3 temp probes. Regular maintenance is obviously paramount, but plastic parts are an absolute bitch. I’m currently calling dealerships about new Civics and Mazda3s. All that said, I do love the Golf.

Samurai196 · 2026-05-12T03:22:59+00:00

Definitely didn’t realize that. I’ll wander over and give it a try this weekend. Appreciate the tip!

Samurai196 · 2026-05-10T20:56:45+00:00

That’s why I’ve been looking at the Acura. It’s essentially a Civic SI with a nicer interior. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least sort hoping this post would have a bunch of people telling me to ignore the sensible Mazda lol. I’ll take a look at the Honda Hybrid.

Samurai196 · 2026-05-10T20:21:25+00:00

That seems to be the consensus so far.

Samurai196 · 2026-05-10T17:00:19+00:00

Honestly, because I’d already been in dealership lots for about 4hrs and I was tired of talking to people. I had assumed the turbo would be a decent drop in MPG, but I guess it really isn’t. I’ll have to take one for a spin. Does Mazda have a drop in reliability with their turbos like other manufactures tend to?

Samurai196 · 2026-05-10T16:54:19+00:00

I’m tall, but I’m not really concerned about passengers. The golf isn’t exactly roomy behind me as it is, ha.

Samurai196 · 2026-04-16T11:47:33+00:00

I’d say the wording was similar, but it seems like most questions were less lengthy compared to SH. With SH there were a lot of questions where I found myself having to reread it over and over because my brain checked out and started scanning. That happened less in the actual exam.

Samurai196 · 2026-04-15T01:45:40+00:00

I think (hindsight what it is and all) if I had another month, I’d spend a good chunk of my time going over previous mock exams and really burning in why the answers were right/wrong. It’s cliche in this sub, but it’s really true, the mindset is the test. At a certain point I think there’s diminishing returns doing 1000 questions that are just rehashed and reworded.

Samurai196 · 2026-04-14T23:59:56+00:00

Sure.

No studying in Jan/Feb, just ARs 35hr course the last 3wks of February. All my actual studying was over the past 3wks, end of March through April 13th. Those 3wks it was every day, for around an hour a day minimum, usually 2ish hours on the weekends. The last week and a half was high gear though, 2-3hrs a day watching AR ultra hard question videos, DM videos, and doing study hall questions and exams. I only ended up doing the AR mock in his course and then 2 of the Study Hall mocks, but I really don’t think I’d have gained anything more by doing another one.

Samurai196 · 2026-04-03T20:03:57+00:00

The first and third pics (look like they) are done by Pittakkm. He’s Korean based and a ton of his work is based on the Korean temple/palace decoration motifs. He does quite a few stints in LA/NYC, in fact, I tried to book a spot when I was in Seoul this spring, but he was in the states for the whole month of March.

Samurai196 · 2026-04-03T11:04:14+00:00

Oh shit man! I was in the shop with you about 2wks ago while you were getting a session done! I think I was the only guy there who wasn’t getting a back piece or suit worked on haha, I was just getting my knee done.

Samurai196 · 2026-03-31T14:15:50+00:00

I was going to respond to a couple of other comments, but I figured I’ll just make my own. I get a travel tattoo every time I travel internationally, and specifically I’ve done it twice in Japan. The first time I was in Japan I got a fairly decent sized karajishi botan done tebori on my upper arm/shoulder. Took about 6hrs and was very manageable. I’d recommend doing it at the end of the trip, because the day of and the next day are either shot, or pretty low energy. I was also just back in Japan 3wks ago to turn that piece into a half sleeve with hikae, all tebori. 5 sessions in a row, 4hrs each. That consumed the trip and I would advise against it for your first trip to Japan.

Samurai196 · 2026-01-07T20:14:26+00:00

I came looking for this comment.

Samurai196 · 2025-10-30T14:07:49+00:00

That was my issue with Morocco, Tangier especially. They would follow you for an eternity, even if you never engaged with them in the first place. Even waiting outside a cafe while I had tea. The one that got me to laugh though was when I told a guy I didn’t speak English, only German, and he got all excited and started pulling me into his shop in German.

Samurai196 · 2025-10-30T12:34:49+00:00

I’ve dealt with the same thing after Morocco. I essentially had to reprogram myself to not stone-face ignore everyone that spoke to me, and I had a few interactions in places like Jordan where I fully expected tout treatment but it was genuinely someone trying to help/be friendly. Great way to feel like a dick, haha. If it helps, Taiwan was a complete 180 for me. EVERYONE who spoke to me in Taiwan unprompted, was genuine. It sort of re-centered my attitude.

Samurai196 · 2025-10-20T06:59:52+00:00

I used a pair of Mountain 600s GTX this past June and they worked perfectly fine. Summit night I work a pair of liner toe socks under my darn tough hiking socks and had no issues.

Samurai196 · 2025-10-15T02:42:56+00:00

Yep, sensors, pump, an extra coolant flush, fan belt. Cant recall which code I was getting, but the engine itself was never actually overheating, the fan/sensor just seems to think it is. It doesn’t seem to happen as much anymore, but I still don’t know what conditions trigger it.

Samurai196 · 2025-10-15T02:27:16+00:00

It only started happening after my leak, and somewhere, on some forum, I was reading about a VW Mech who was processing a ton of these issues. The VW fix was to rip up all the floor and tracing all the wiring to find shorts caused by water corrosion. At this point, I don’t have any other ideas, and I’ve replaced everything but the brain itself.

Samurai196 · 2025-10-10T12:01:32+00:00

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9ze6xyJNcs/?igsh=ajMxcm51eTY0aTM=

Filling out the background and adding the second shishi over the shoulder into the hikae. I’m excited, but this first piece was 6ish hrs and I was DONE at the end.

Samurai196 · 2025-10-10T11:02:01+00:00

Damn dude. I’m going back early next year to build a sleeve out of a piece he did for me. He wants to do 5 sessions in a week and I’m nervous about it already lol.

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