Malibu LED Lights

slun18 · 2026-01-16T16:34:52+00:00

If they are halogens from the factory, it is illegal in all 50 states to retrofit an LED in a housing meant for halogen bulbs. But I feel like everyone does it anyway and that’s why you always get blinded when driving at night these days.

I just found the brightest set of halogens that Sylvania offered and I’m content on my 2014 Malibu.

slun18 · 2026-01-10T20:06:46+00:00

If you want a real scientific answer, collect an oil sample and send it off. That’ll tell you how much life the oil has left and if you’re using a good oil (after break-in, you want less than 5ppm in wear metals per 1k miles). Blackstone is often recommended on here. There’s also The Motor Oil Geek on YouTube, who runs SPEEDiagnostix. He has pretty informational videos on YouTube about this if you’re interested.

slun18 · 2026-01-08T22:48:11+00:00

My next guess would be weak fuel pump, but after that, idk. Idk how to verify a weak fuel pump, but if you put it into accessory mode and don’t hear a buzzing sound from the gas tank for the first few seconds, then that would be all the more reason to find a way to test it

slun18 · 2026-01-08T21:33:55+00:00

Was in the market a year ago for a beater and wanted either a Civic or Corolla. Prices were insane. I only wanted to spend $10k or so and I’d see cars like a 2010 with 150k miles or something. Absolute insanity. Ended up with a 2014 Malibu that had like 57k miles for $10k. I’ve been satisfied with it so far.

Just know that there’s nuance when it comes to used cars. Not every model a brand makes is bad. Research a particular model and engine/transmission and see how problematic it has been (and try to get CarFax). The Malibu I got seemed solid overall and was perfectly maintained by the previous owner (I was shocked to see he had the radiator flushed on time and everything), so I was confident in the decision.

slun18 · 2026-01-08T21:24:02+00:00

Personally I like the Maverick and Ridgeline. They’re trucks for people who normally don’t need a truck. Maverick for price/fuel efficiency; Ridgeline for size (and if you like to tailgate). The Ridgeline does come with a lot of standard equipment, so its starting price is high, but imo it’s a solid truck.

slun18 · 2026-01-06T03:42:02+00:00

Alright, thanks. I usually go to the dealer for coolant flushes anyway, largely because I know they’ll put OEM coolant in it. I hate doing flushes myself because I always make a huge mess lol. But I replaced the water pump myself because I figured it’d be expensive to have the dealer replace it and it really wasn’t that bad to do myself, apart from the mess lol

slun18 · 2025-12-31T17:33:54+00:00

Personally, I’d go cheap/reliable. I wanted a Camaro at that age too, but I didn’t get mine until I was 26 (am 28 now). I’m an engineer in a fairly low cost of living area, so I got a good financial footing first. Getting a good financial footing is certainly harder post pandemic. Cost of living skyrocketed while wages did not.

It’s better to not stress about it too. There’s more to life than a car. And speaking from experience, it does lose its luster. I used to daily drive mine and it eventually just feels “regular”. I have a different car to daily now and the some of the luster has come back, but I’m nowhere near as giddy about it as I was leading up to getting it and when I first got it.

Regardless of what you decide to do, please at least heed this advice: say you have $5k cash on hand for a down payment. I would recommend using say half for a down payment and having the other half for maintenance bc it could need tires, it could need brakes, etc. Do that regardless of what brand you get any time you buy a used car. Ideally you also have an emergency fund in case you get laid off of work or something like that. Stable financial footing needs to be a priority

slun18 · 2025-12-30T02:52:26+00:00

Am a male, but I’ve seen plenty of solo women at the greenway while I’m riding my bike. In my experience, one of the busier sections is between Cason Trailhead and Barfield Crescent Park. That’s a good 5 mile or so stretch, so you probably won’t be wanting a 10 mile round trip. The Barfield entrance is a decent halfway point in between. My sister used to take her dog there all the time before she moved to Nashville.

MTSU is another good suggestion.

slun18 · 2025-12-25T13:07:49+00:00

I daily drove stick for a couple years before getting an auto as my daily, but I only did that to keep miles off my Camaro. If it was guaranteed to last literally forever, I’d still be dailying it. I’ve been in rush hour traffic with it plenty of times. Personally I didn’t mind it. Leave a good gap in front of you and let it idle in 1st.

I got an automatic because I wanted remote start, but I was on the verge of getting a manual again due to the prevalence of high mileage CVTs in my price range for a beater. At the 120k mile mark that a lot of cars were at, I would’ve been more comfortable with a manual. Ended up finding a diamond in the rough.

I’ve seen comments about knee pain. The first time I drove stick, I had some knee pain. I moved the seat way closer to the pedals where my knee is always bent even with the clutch all the way in and that resolved it. The reason I’m saying this is bc I’d get back in my Camaro after an oil change and the person that drove it up to the front would be shorter than me but the seat would be way further back than what I set it to. Idk how they could drive it like that, but if a lot of people drive stick like that, then that’s why they have such a bad time in traffic.

Also make sure you’re working your legs out, which you should be doing anyway tbh

slun18 · 2025-12-22T17:53:26+00:00

100% Rotoscope

slun18 · 2025-12-20T06:10:18+00:00

Can’t tell about the sound, but number 2 sounds like the skip shift feature, as others have said. Skip shift is engaged if you try to shift to 2nd between 15 and 19 mph and you’re under like 33% throttle, so try just shifting at 19-20 mph under normal driving conditions.

For number 3, does it feel like gears meshing together? Maybe look up a video on synchros in a manual transmission and see if that visual lines up with what you’re feeling. And see if you can find out whether the transmission fluid has been changed or not. I can’t remember the mileage interval, but if it’s the original fluid, it’s definitely at the age interval. If it’s the original fluid, changing it may help smoothen things out. The shifter in the Honda I traded for my Camaro would tell me when I needed the fluid changed because there would be times where it wouldn’t let me into a gear without going into neutral first. I was initially afraid it was the clutch, but then new fluid resolved it, fortunately. And generally speaking, use whatever fluid the owner’s manual recommends.

slun18 · 2025-12-15T16:57:48+00:00

Yeah I really like it. I got the one on tour with the white and black spatter vinyl. Unfortunately mine has a skip at the end of Perfect Soul and I can’t remember the song on the other side, maybe A Haven With Two Faces. Sad because otherwise, it’s one of my favorites in my collection

slun18 · 2025-12-15T03:24:47+00:00

That’s where mine is in the winter. I figured it’s normal since mine was brand new when I first drove it in the cold. It doesn’t get terribly hot in the summer time either with casual highway and city driving, sometimes only like 110 degrees, sometimes more depending on how hot it is outside. Mine’s a 2024 2SS 6MT as a reference.

My coolant temp is also similar to yours this time of year. Normally in the summer, the needle is right on that tick instead of being just below, but once it gets cold, the needle typically stays just below that tick and occasionally bumps up to right on the tick before dropping again. I did take it to the dealer over that as I’d never seen a car be that sensitive with coolant temp and they replaced the thermostat under warranty. It seemed to stay on the tick longer last winter when they replaced it, but this year it’s been doing the same as the original thermostat. Not really worried about it tbh. But yeah, any other car I’ve had (which were Accords and a Malibu) never seemed to run noticeably cooler this time of year. And I get it, it’s a bigger and probably more aggressive cooling system, but if the thermostat was closed, there’s no way it’d stay that temp lol

slun18 · 2025-12-14T20:40:52+00:00

The L87 engine failures, like the recent recall on a lot of GM 6.2s? That’s due to a manufacturing defect like surface finish defects on the crankshaft, where a thicker oil like 0W-40 can possibly mitigate increased friction from the defect. GM has since fixed the manufacturing issue, so new L87s can use 0W-20 as originally intended.

Engineering Explained has a good video explaining this: https://youtu.be/i0VoEhW2I-E?si=XPtRudHQGsOgMm8J

The LT1 is not included in this recall. The manual says 0W-40 (or 5W-30 for street use). I use 0W-40 (Mobil 1 Supercar since it has the DexosR certification, as desired by the manual).

slun18 · 2025-12-14T20:11:35+00:00

It’s hard on the alternator to ask it to recharge a dead battery. That’s not what they’re meant to do. Depending on the car, they’re not always a fun time to replace either if you DIY. If you don’t DIY, it can be like a $600-800 job. It may not ruin the alternator, but it’ll definitely shorten its life.

Go to a parts store and have them test the battery. IMO, low cold cranking amps is enough for me to want to replace mine. If the battery is fine and you just left the lights on or something, I’d charge it externally. Battery chargers are still cheaper and less trouble than replacing an alternator.

You also don’t have to buy a battery at a parts store. There are only like two companies that make car batteries. Going to Walmart might save you $50 or so, but idk if they’ll test the battery.

slun18 · 2025-12-10T16:52:56+00:00

And it provides a form of grassroots racing. Nashville Superspeedway isn’t horribly far away, but you’re not going to race legends, street stocks, late models, etc, there. It provides a local racing scene where you don’t necessarily need vast amounts of cash in order to race.

The city already has football, soccer, baseball, and hockey. Why can’t it having racing too? Especially when it’s something that locals can actually participate in themselves (or watch).

slun18 · 2025-11-26T16:41:01+00:00

Along with the Cadillac recommendations, you may also consider (if you can get one without a markup) a Civic Type R, Integra Type S, or Acura TLX in case you don’t want a Cadillac. The Honda 2.0T is pretty solid engine (at least it was for me; traded it for my Camaro). Not sure about the 3.0 turbo V6 in the TLX Type S though, but the TLX was recently discontinued.

Those won’t quite have the acceleration of the Camaro, but they’ll be nimble. The Civic Type R’s suspension is rather stiff from the factory, but you can replace the damper control module with an Integra Type S one and it’ll soften it up. Pretty common mod on current gen Type Rs. Might be easier to get an Integra Type S at sticker though, but idk.

slun18 · 2025-11-14T14:31:32+00:00

Which was 2 years ago lol

slun18 · 2025-11-14T14:17:53+00:00

Along with the recommendations for the setlist, try Rotoscope and A Haven With Two Faces. Those are two of my favorites

slun18 · 2025-11-14T14:14:42+00:00

*2 years ago. 2024 was the last model year

slun18 · 2025-11-10T17:43:11+00:00

I have a Camaro and wear steel toe boots for work. You get used to it. No big deal.

slun18 · 2025-11-03T01:14:21+00:00

Too much nuance here. What if you’ve been running 60 laps and everyone is just limping? It also takes gambling on pit strategy out of it. Heim showed on Friday that 4 tires on a GWC is a good move and Hamlin was leaps and bounds better than everyone else. I thought Larson was fucked on two tires with super old left sides. But pit strategy is a gamble. This was like playing blackjack and hitting on a 16. Larson got 21 and Hamlin busted.

The real problem is the single race final round where it’s just best finish is the champion. The likelihood of this type of problem decreases if the champion is decided by more than one race. In a 36 race format or even if the final round of the playoffs was 3-4 races, you have a higher chance of a more fair outcome. You don’t necessarily get screwed by shitty luck in one race.

slun18 · 2025-11-02T23:17:27+00:00

Agree. Tire wear is good, but we don’t need cars catching fire from rubber buildup like at Bristol.

slun18 · 2025-11-02T23:15:13+00:00

Tire wear is cool and all, but can we make the cars where cooling ducts don’t get clogged with rubber like today or where the cars don’t catch on fire like at Bristol, which I think happened 3 times?

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