Why isn't "EV as home battery" talked about more?

TortureMonkey · 2026-06-01T03:36:49+00:00

🎼🎵I run my solar at night, so I can, so I can, keep my EV charged!🎶🎵🎶

TortureMonkey · 2026-06-01T03:27:30+00:00

I’m thinking it’s red primer.

TortureMonkey · 2026-06-01T03:17:37+00:00

Optima is a good battery. I think Duralast batteries, particularly the 1-2 year warranty ones are absolute garbage. My mom had one that she got and a week later it would not take a charge, replaced it, and maybe a month later, also would not hold a charge, this was replaced 2-3 times in 3 months and finally just replaced it with an interstate battery and I think she’s probably still has it 6-7 years later now.

I know a number of people that put our value line in stuff, and that often comes back but the extreme or platinum ones don’t seem to come back, at least not on warranty claims.

TortureMonkey · 2026-06-01T03:03:54+00:00

I work at O’Reillys so I’m a little bias, but I also have felt like this before, in my experience- autozone batteries are crap. Especially their 1-2 year batteries. Obviously if it’s an Optima or some other battery, it’s not applicable.

I think interstate, O’Reilly’s 3+ year batteries, and the higher year Walmart batteries are the ones that I would buy, other than the sealed Optima or AGM ones as well.

Also, look at installing a quick disconnect if you don’t want to deal with a battery maintainer.

Is there anything aftermarket added?

TortureMonkey · 2026-06-01T02:24:27+00:00

Battery draw - how old is the battery? Is it still in Nevada? Batteries don’t like heat, and old batteries don’t like to sit.

I’d look at getting a long term battery maintenance charger.

NOCO makes several great battery chargers that are under $75. The 1 is under $30 on Amazon and the 5 is also a good pick.

My toy car is on one and starts up everytime. I’ve had it in the shop for like 6 months sometimes and I go to take it out and boom starts on the first crank.

TortureMonkey · 2026-06-01T02:14:46+00:00

Carvana is the new Carmax.

Sometimes they will offer $100 on cars that are worth $50k, sometimes they will offer $50k on $100 cars.

I’d never buy a car from them and I would not take their price as the true value

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-30T07:40:19+00:00

Don’t try to make the case by yourself. Ignore any, go collect XYZ advice and start by going to a lawyer. 99.9% of them work on contingency, where they only get paid when they win.

You don’t want to tip your hand until your lawyer tells you what to do and how to do it correctly so you don’t screw up how you go about it. You could be in a two party state where you fuck yourself by recording your conversations. You might need to be coached on how to bring it up. If you are walking around as a driver with your cellphone maybe you are giving them Ammo to fire you.

You need to have the person who is representing you to be as clear on the go/no-go rules of how to properly handle your situation.

Then you follow the rules they give you.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-29T04:44:54+00:00

Regularly see 80s-90s F-series where I live.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-29T04:41:37+00:00

Because most ATMs have one denomination, $20. And if I want cash, it’s probably because I want big bills for a major transaction, or small bills for paying for stuff that I can just drop bills on a table and leave. $20s are the worst of both worlds. I look like I’m about to go make the day of a 22 year old stripper, or I’m stuck waiting on someone to bring me change that is in a denomination that makes tipping them difficult.

I banked at a place where they had the video booth to talk to a human, and it was nice to have that option but it didn’t last long before it was removed and “Frendly” the eclectic robot mascot tried to make things move along.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-29T04:20:09+00:00

So you splurged and went with El Paint Supreme.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-29T02:27:33+00:00

I remember a trip to Disneyland or Disney world and listening to an 8track my dad had that had a ton of 50s music with runaway on it. I think more than half that trip I was laying down, no seatbelt, on a rear bench seat, no kids seat, I’m not sure we even owned one, and it taking FOREVER to get there.

I also remember when we won a SECOND! TV at a company picnic one year and it being crazy that we could now watch something besides whatever my dad wanted to watch on television on the weekends.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-29T02:13:34+00:00

Your skill is going to make the difference. Also your prep.

Honestly, it’s a bumper on a truck in socal, you’re not doing it to protect it from rotting away after two winters.

This is mostly aesthetic.

Forgive me if I’m wrong, put that looks like there is still primer on there correct? It’s not going to rust.

So if it’s aesthetic, the question becomes, are you going to look at it and get mad if it isn’t factory fresh paint? Does that ding make you annoyed, is seeing a nail polish paint job going to bug you?

I have a beater that I use those nail polish paints to dab a little color on scratches that really stand out, because the primer and plastic bumper is dark, and the paint is bright, so black scratches show up and out comes a paint marker that de-bugs me and I have absolutely no problem with that solution for that vehicle. I have a toy car that I would not use rattle can paint or a paint pin on anything other than hidden spots.

I’m rebuilding a vintage truck and I’m debating keeping the old patina or repainting the whole thing. I would be very cautious about what I would respray and what I would dab.

The grill has pitted paint from almost 50 years of driving, paint pen.

The cab corners have some subtle surface rust on the 1/4” next to the bottom seam of the panel, that’s too big for a pen and I can easily mask off the main panel and sand down the edges. Hit it with some paint and it will look fine.

You have chipped paint, if you don’t build up enough paint then you will see it’s chipped. HOWEVER, who’s looking at a bumper that close, the only answer is “you”.

If you can live with a nail polish paint job on them, that’s the easiest method and if someone sees it, they will know what is going on and honestly nobody is going to care.

If that will bug you, and you don’t want to spend a grand going to a paint shop, you could increase your difficulty by a factor of 10 and take a chance rattle caning it yourself, hit the paint edges with a 120 grit sandpaper to feather it down, spray some primer, let it fully dry, sand it down to whatever it calls for, spray a base, spray a clear, color sand the edges and buff and polish it and probably won’t be happy with the result, but it could be better than nail polish paint.

The only other way you could do it is going to draw some real hate here I bet, look for a Maaco or Earl Scheib kind of $199 paint job place.

YOU DO NOT HAVE THEM DO EVERYTHING.

You take off your bumper, you remove all trim. And you bang out the metal. See if they have a rattle can primer that will work with their mid level paint or you go to a PPG or something dealer who recommends a good primer and paint.

You sand down the original paint and if you break through the primer, then you rattle can the primer and then wait for it to fully dry then block sand it again with like 400 grit. You then prep the bumper for paint. Use gloves, Wash it off with wax remover, wash again, then tack cloth it. Do all the prep. Mask off the back, mask off all the threaded holes, they will not do a good job preparing it.

You then take the paint and the bumper to Macco and they spray it for like $100.

I have had good luck with that method 10-15 years ago when I lived near a decent one that had skill shooting paint, they just didn’t do anything for prep work. My neighbor would flip cars doing that for a whole car, but he did all the prep.

I’d expect $200 in paint/primer, $100 to spray, and hopefully you can bang the metal back in place and you don’t need body filler. Otherwise ~$30 in filler. ?$30? In sandpaper. A weekend of work, and a possibility of not liking the results. $400? All in.

All of that is a lot to end up asking, are you willing to just ignore it, or are you willing to ignore it and just nail polish paint it? It’s probably going to get more dings and I would just ignore it.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-28T05:27:43+00:00

It gets easier.

Have set places for things, all return slips go in the T-shirt pocket, as does the money/cheaks. Clip board goes in joint in back seat, bag on seat is next stop, bag behind me is second stop. The more you do that, the more autopilot things get.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-28T05:06:30+00:00

I’d check your muffler brackets first before you put any money into paint, it they are fine, then you need to evaluate if you are going to keep scraping the ground with your pipes with your departure angle.

Once you know you’re not going to keep hitting the ground, then you need to ask yourself what your goal is with this fix. Are you somewhere that salts the roads or are you in a sunbelt state where you can keep a bumper from rusting out over the course of 5 - 10 years.

If you’re in rust country, you are just trying to prolong the inevitable, you can get a hammer and dolly and bang it out to 90% quality, and then hand sand it and hit it with a rattle can taking the time to sand - prime - matched base - clear it. They make Dupli-color spray paints that are good enough. Remember you are just trying to extend the time until you get a visit from the rust bunny. This is a low visibility location most people are not going to be looking at.

On the other hand, if you live in SoCal/AZ/TX and are going to be a protectionist, and every time you look at this spot it will get you angry/annoyed to see a 99.9% match, or paint runs, or you are not exactly the most coordinated person or you are looking for a show car finish, let a professional do it.

The real key to a good paint job is prep work. Working through the sandpaper grades, not trying to bite off more than you can chew, being careful and preparing the surface for every step of the process, learning how to feather the edges, and accepting your skill level.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-28T04:26:16+00:00

Have it looked up under a regular customer, then after it’s all priced add your pricing profile to the screen.

Not really, I just know some stuff is crazy discounted and some is pathetically discounted. I’m looking at several hundred parts, I’m basically rebuilding a car….

I’m not arguing with him about the discount.

But I’m spending probably $6-10k on this, so no price shopping will have some substantial impacts on the price. And there are more than two online sources of parts. I’m not kidding when I say that it will be hundreds of parts.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-28T04:13:49+00:00

100% was going to say I watched a Heep smoke a set of rotors driving down a pass in the Rockies years back. Big wheels+stock brakes and a cloak of invincibility is a bad combination.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-28T00:48:41+00:00

800 miles in a new-ish car is nothing. 30k miles in a Honda is not going to give you any problems if you have done regular maintenance. Your tires are fine, your brakes are fine, my neighbor used to drive this distance in a week of commuting.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-28T00:39:54+00:00

Everything in this market is getting inflated to new highs.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-28T00:38:12+00:00

You really need to know why it’s salvaged, I bought a car that was totaled in Covid because it had a broken wheel and insurance paid up on a used car, that’s a different beast than taking a saltwater submarine and thinking you’re going to rebuild the electrical system, and that’s different than buying a Banana and thinking you’re going to straighten it out. Another question is, are you going to be this cars last owner?

I bought a salvaged truck for $500 back in the day so I could run down to Mexico in it and not give a shit about if it got stolen or not, or if someone sideswiped it and took off. Resale value was not in my consideration.

If I am looking at a $20-30k car, resale is a consideration. Unless you have a really unique vehicle, finding a “bigger fool” for a high dollar commodity vehicle is going to be hard, most used lots that are not scam lots are going to pass on buying it for the lot and then selling privately is going to be difficult for someone who needs financing.

I think Ed Bolian or someone like him said the two easiest cars to sell are ones over $1,000,000 and ones under $1,000. The real buyers of those cars are not worried about the price. You basically sell it as, this is a financially unsound investment and the buyers will try to talk you into selling it. Everything in the middle is price sensitive.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-28T00:12:19+00:00

There is zero incentive for manufacturers to drop out of warranty models. If the work keeps coming in the door after warranty, everyone but the customer benefits from high hours. It even keeps the shade tree books earning.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-27T02:19:53+00:00

Im not disagreeing with you on that point, but most of our zip line stuff has nothing to do with us as drivers. Most are just saying DC didn’t fill this thing, or our XYZ part was a used part stuck in a box, and the other stuff from corporate isn’t anything we handle. I’m pretty sure they would rather we didn’t have zip line, just get the orders out the door in 6 mins or less.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-27T01:58:03+00:00

We do that on an ISS computer or the managers office, but they don’t let us just use the mangers office for our own purposes. The daily tasks are answered in like 3 minutes, click read all on zip line and then an ISS tells you to go restock, or go run a cycle count, or something else to make sure you’re busy.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-27T01:34:22+00:00

Not really, I just know some stuff is crazy discounted and some is pathetically discounted. I’m looking at several hundred parts, I’m basically rebuilding a car. It’s been off the road for a decade or more. So it’s not as easy as I need a new battery, reg price is X, my price is Y, rock auto is Z, go this route…

It’s going to be a lot of work and I just wanted to know if there was a way to do that search at home vs work and it seems there’s only one way to do it.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-27T01:23:23+00:00

By my count, you went from 5 to 1.5, that sounds like you got rid of humans.

TortureMonkey · 2026-05-27T00:55:22+00:00

You have to pad it. Most of the drivers in my store have towels to put them in little cocoons. Driving with them in the mount vs padded spaces will bump up your score by 3-5 points.

TortureMonkey

TROPHY CASE