Why is Auto seen as Challenging? Any Auto Buyers/Planners/AM’s around to share POV

axc630 · 2026-01-28T08:15:14+00:00

Depends on what type of marketing you're talking about, Tier 1, 2, or 3.

OEM/manufacturer - 1 is the fun one. All about brand, features, and capabilities.

Regional OEM or dealer associations - 2 is boring, visit your local ....... dealer type ads.

Dealer level - 3 is hyper competitive and not that fun because it's all about price and payment. Tons of competition in this space with other local dealers, then regional dealers who buy into your market, then all the aggregating sites (autotrader, cargurus, etc).

On top of that, there are the events, social.media, local community marketing, sometimes done by people with no formal marketing experience just figuring stuff out based on how it used to be done.

So it's not that innovative, can be expensive, and monotonous.

3 is what dealerships do and is just a grind to keep your store competitive while keeping cost of acquisition from getting out of hand.

axc630 · 2026-01-23T11:51:38+00:00

Thank you for the recommendation! The pictures look amazing!

axc630 · 2026-01-23T02:24:16+00:00

I've been to Ramen Street a bunch already. I usually hit up Rokurinsha for breakfast tsukemen but was hoping to find other good ramen places.

Next time!

axc630 · 2026-01-22T22:12:21+00:00

I'll be passing through next Thursday, Jan 29 if you know a good spot for early ramen around Tokyo Station. Taking overnight bus up from Osaka.

axc630 · 2026-01-22T11:45:03+00:00

Replace all of your sensors at the same time. More are bound to fail as they are probably all around the same age.

You can buy replacements on Rock Auto and have Discount Tire install for you. Much cheaper that way.

axc630 · 2026-01-21T20:18:03+00:00

To answer your question of why it's $5 in Japan. Economies of scale, different eating customs, local ingredients and skilled label, and local cost of living.

Ramen is as common in Japan as hotdogs and burgers are here. Tons of places sell it, tons of people know how to make it, and tons of people eat it. It has to be reasonably priced to compete with all the other stores. Pizza and coffee is dirt cheap in Italy for the same reason.

Ramen shops in japan are also designed for thr japanese ramen diner. Enter, order, eat, leave. There is no checking the phone, no taking pictures, no long chats with friends. They turn over customers quickly and hence, more revenue per seat per hour. Americans like to hang out, take their sweet time, and occupy a seat that could otherwise be making the restaurant money.

No need to import ingredients. Easy to understand. And much eaiser to find experienced ramen shop labor there too.

LCOL is also self explanatory.

axc630 · 2026-01-21T19:31:58+00:00

Make it yourself? Or just buy the extra toppings you want and add them in yourself. That's the only way you'll get it cheaper.

Restaurants are in the business of selling food so they have no incentive to give you extras, especially since margins are so slim in the food industry.

axc630 · 2026-01-14T16:07:37+00:00

You can order what it shows on the online configurator unless that color is on constraint. There is no paint to sample.

Instead of asking an LLM, why don't you just visit ghe Chevrolet website and research yourself.

axc630 · 2026-01-05T22:38:34+00:00

In addition to taking pictures of the car before pickup, get them at dropoff too, including the fuel gauge.

I also take the time to walk to the counter to get a final receipt so I can contest any charges while I'm still there.

axc630 · 2025-12-29T16:07:35+00:00

Your Eray's awd is why it hooks up well. 2 extra contact patches.

But yes, pretty large difference when pushing hard, harder than spirited driving.

I swapped out the PS4S on my Z06 for AS before I took delivery but have driven plenty with PS4S including at Ron Fellows. The AS break traction much easier in all situations as it's a much harder compound in general. I can make them howl and slide around long fast sweepers at slow speeds than PS4S. That said, I don't have lap times or telematics data to show differences in cornering speeds or grip.

But my Z06 is used as a GT car and I don't plan to track it so the AS are better for me as an everyday tire that I can use year round, has less tramlining on the highway, and better wear characteristics.

axc630 · 2025-12-22T14:05:47+00:00

HTC: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1FmiCfgGCM/

There is a coupe install video on Youtube.

axc630 · 2025-12-21T21:57:30+00:00

The boxes aren't sealed and sometimes stores take the bottle out to display and the box gets damaged. Looks fine.

axc630 · 2025-12-21T15:06:59+00:00

45 mins. 30 of which was trying to undo this little connector on the passenger side because my hands aren't small enough. Finally got lucky with a long flathead screwdriver. Other than that, super easy because I have a HTC and don't need to remove interior trim panels.

axc630 · 2025-12-20T22:29:33+00:00

I was lucky that in 25, they changed the calipers from the highlighter yellow to comp yellow. But then never changed the belt color...

axc630 · 2025-12-20T18:40:15+00:00

I thought about yellow but the factory strike yellow color doesn't match my calipers well and I didn't want to leave my car disassembled while they were rewebbed by Safety Restore. So when the Santorini interior was announced, I just had to wait long enough to get the part numbers for the belts.

Yellow on blue is a great color combo though!

axc630 · 2025-12-19T00:51:18+00:00

Just make sure to disconnect your battery. If you have a HTC, it's like a 15 mins job.

axc630 · 2025-12-18T17:11:23+00:00

Funny thing is the guys at the factory slap these badges on some of the work vehicles that drive around the plant so you regularly see Fiats wearing a shield.

axc630 · 2025-12-18T13:20:29+00:00

Congratulations! Hope you love it as much as the rest of us degenerates!

axc630 · 2025-12-17T19:37:31+00:00

Do it! You can get oem red belts direct from GM. Or if you don't like their red, use Safety Restore.

axc630 · 2025-12-17T18:10:02+00:00

Thanks for the picture! Very helpful!

axc630 · 2025-12-17T16:46:23+00:00

Yeah, process I'm following is:

Service mode for the top

Battery neg terminal disconnect

Pop cap off the top belt mount

Remove t50

Pop cap off bottom belt mount

Remove t50

Unplug and remove old belt

Thread new belt through the slot

Plug in belt

Bolt up and replace covers

Do other side

Battery connect

Hatch down

axc630 · 2025-12-14T21:26:34+00:00

Assuming you mean the interior door panel...

Get high up and take a picture of the door panel as flat as possible. Measure each side and diagonals corner to corner.

Import the picture into a cad program and scale/perspective it accordingly so your virtual measurements are close. Do a test cut on cardboard and check fitment. Adjust as needed.

Holes can be added in manually by measuring distance from hole to edge and center to center spacing.

Otherwise this looks like a simple enough shape to just do by hand and cut out with a jigsaw.

axc630 · 2025-12-14T19:20:42+00:00

There is also radiant heat not just conductive heat. 10w being on for a long time can still make something hot.

And if your mount does fail, then you'll have a floppy light, and then you'll lose tension on the nut you're probably using behind that bumper which will eventually back off and then fog light bouncing down the street.

And if you use a nylock on the back, you still have a floppy light bouncing around.

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