# General car talk **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 30, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611 "2022-08-30T15:18:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/241 "2023-03-28T17:56:45Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > When I go to my oil change place they show me the dip stick at the end of the process, oil to the full line. I suspect that they are simply trained to do this for every customer so that they don’t make a mistake and not add enough oil. Once upon a time, someone must have erred and sent the customer out without enough oil, or the customer claimed the the mechanic hadn’t added the oil. When they show you the dipstick as part of every job, this guarantees that A) they will catch a low oil error, and B) the customer witnesses the adequate oil and can’t complain about the mechanic not doing their job. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/242 "2023-03-28T22:36:18Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > Call the salesperson on the rug and say no Stargard or no sale. That’s worth reporting him to his manager, or someone higher up. If you’re a weenie like me, do it after you’ve got the car home… sans Stargard. Unless you think a manager might give you a better deal or free… _curb feelers?_ for treating a customer like that. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/243 "2023-03-28T22:43:40Z")
Do you think that the manager of a car dealership is going to have a problem with one of his salespeople trying to upsell a customer? I think the manager would be more upset if the salesperson _didn’t_ try to do so. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/244 "2023-03-28T23:05:19Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > I show the counter-guy, asking why they didn’t fill it with oil. He looked at it and said, “Oh, that’s where it is supposed to be.” > > Now, I realized that this guy was lying (a complete oil fill should go to the “Full” mark on the dipstick). I also realized that he knew he was lying. In fact, he knew that I knew he was lying. I told him it should be to the “Full” mark if it was full. He looked at it and said “No, there’s nothing wrong with that, you’re good to go.” Not wanting to argue with someone willing to tell blatant lies, I left. > > … > > Now my question. Is this common practice for commercial oil changes? My recollection is they are usually within 1/16" of the full mark. Sometimes under, sometimes over. I don’t mean to be contrarian, but I used to work the oil change bay at a Honda dealership and we were told (confirmed by the service manual) that halfway between the two dots was normal. I just looked up a bunch of sources and they all same the same thing – anywhere between the two dots, or L and F, or however it’s marked, is good to go. It’s also what you’ll get if you just drain a hot engine and add in the specified oil capacity, which is generally what the lube techs are going to do. (They’ll check it, but if it’s within the two dots/lines/whatever, they’re just gonna send it. And that’s fine). If you live close to the oil change place, to where your oil doesn’t have time to get up to temp, it may not drain as well as a hot engine but they’re gonna put the same amount in regardless; whatever the computer says. So that may explain some variance. You may prefer to run it a little closer to the top mark, especially oil consumption is higher than normal and you expect some of it to burn off, but it’s not bad for the car to run it at the midway point. I run all my personal cars that way. I run my racecars slightly above the full mark. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/245 "2023-03-28T23:10:11Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Unless you think a manager might give you a better deal or free… _curb feelers?_ for treating a customer like that. I didn’t say call him out in front of a manager. But you may want to record it on your cell phone so he can’t slip you a charge for something you don’t want. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/246 "2023-03-29T00:53:57Z")
OP here with an update. I did call the salesman and said, “No Stargard or no deal”. He said, “Let me check with my manager and get back to you”. 20 minutes later he called back and said, “OK”. There was no pressure or attempted negotiation on his part. Several hours later we were in the dealership closing the deal. He did seem surprised that were were paying cash. I had filled out a credit application and was considering a loan in hopes of getting a better price on the car. I don’t know if that any impact on the final price or not but if he was disappointed with a cash sale, he didn’t show it. He was also a bit surprised that the title was going to be in both our names (we are not married) but insisted it was no big deal to change things and I’m sure it wasn’t. He then turned us over to the finance manger for payment. He offered an extended warranty with zero pressure and we declined. A short while later we were out the door with our new ride. The is the first (and probably last) time I ever purchased from a dealer. I have zero complaints about the whole thing. (which makes me think I got robbed!). Not really. I did a fair amount of research and think we got a fair deal. That’s all one can hope for. BTW, this model has the large multi-function screen sitting “on edge”, sort of propped in front of the dashboard. The salesman said that, in his experience, customers are either neutral or hate the big screens. No one seems to really like them. I fall into the second group but I’ll get used to it, I guess. I blame Tesla. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/247 "2023-03-29T01:19:47Z")
Congrats! Here’s hoping you get a lot of troublefree enjoyment from it. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/248 "2023-03-29T01:40:08Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > I don’t mean to be contrarian, but I used to work the oil change bay at a Honda dealership and we were told (confirmed by the service manual) that halfway between the two dots was normal. I just looked up a bunch of sources and they all same the same thing – anywhere between the two dots, or L and F, or however it’s marked, is good to go. It’s also what you’ll get if you just drain a hot engine and add in the specified oil capacity, which is generally what the lube techs are going to do. > … While I don’t disagree with you in that anywhere between the two marks is just fine as far as the amount of oil in the engine is concerned. My problem is that I consider a proper oil change is to drain the existing oil, replace the oil filter, and fill it with fresh oil. If you don’t fill it to the “FULL” mark, you didn’t fill it, you just put in the minimum amount of oil in to prevent it from being low. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/249 "2023-03-29T12:53:25Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > I did call the salesman and said, “No Stargard or no deal”. What is it about Stargard that you didn’t want? This is the first I’ve heard of it, and their website describes something akin to LoJack (or other ways of recovering a stolen car). Are dealers using it for some other (or nefarious) purpose? I’m not challenging a preference for not being tracked, I’m just curious about the opposition to it. I just bought a new vehicle and now am wondering if I should be concerned about this. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/250 "2023-03-29T13:00:04Z")
I imagine that anything the dealer is pushing is something with a fat profit margin or commission on it. If it’s something you want, see if you can buy it yourself after buying the car. It will probably be available for less money elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/251 "2023-03-29T13:05:19Z")
Ahhh. That makes sense now. I thought maybe it was something that disabled the car if you missed a payment. I know something similar has been used by small used car lots, but was unsure about this product. Now you’re going to try and convince me my Nitrogen filled tires weren’t worth the extra money, aren’t you? (kidding, kidding) ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/252 "2023-03-30T01:19:09Z")
The Stargard was $995. Unasked for. It seems you can get the same thing or similar on Amazon for $30 and you have to wire it in. I don’t really care about geo-fencing and being notified on my phone when the car moves. Its a high tech undercoating sort of thing. Or so it seems. Their doc fee was $599 (a bit high for New Jersey), also a mostly BS think in my opinion. But there was no negotiating that. We tried. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/253 "2023-03-30T14:05:07Z")
I created a thread on [small cargo vans](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-cargo-vans-new-models-on-the-market/728076) 8 years ago and now the market segment is gone. > **[Ford Kills Transit Connect, Final Survivor of the Compact Van Segment](https://jalopnik.com/ford-kills-transit-connect-survivor-compact-van-segment-1850274873)** > > After 13 years on the market in the U.S., the Ford Transit Connect is dead along with the rest of the compact van segment. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/254 "2023-03-30T18:07:56Z")
Alive and well in North Africa! Tiny vans everywhere. And in Japan… you can import them through places like Duncan Imports. And they are NOT expensive. A friend bought a Nissan Tiny Van, and I almost bought a little Kei Car (Honda Beats are SO cute!)… … but then realized that they’re all right-hand drive, and for a quarter of the year I wouldn’t be able to get out the right side of a car (up here in Baja Canada, we have massive snowdrifts on every street). > **[Used 1991 Honda Beat For Sale at Duncan Imports and Classic Cars | VIN:...](https://www.duncanimports.com/used/Honda/1991-Honda-Beat-c8394f910a0e0adf0b3b89144a0fbcd1.htm)** > > Used 1991 Honda Beat from Duncan Imports and Classic Cars in Christiansburg, VA, 24073. Call 866-912-7827 for more information. Sigh…and only $14k… ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/255 "2023-06-02T13:17:51Z")
New Microbus finally announced for the US market. > **[2025 VW ID.Buzz in U.S. Spec Is Nostalgic but Full of Modern Conveniences](https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a44067694/2025-vw-id-buzz-us-spec-revealed/)** > > Volkswagen's retro bus comes to the States with a longer wheelbase, a bigger battery, a third row of seats, and more power. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/256 "2023-06-02T14:00:41Z")
Ref the blurb in the Discourse preview box … It could hardly come with “less power” and still be capable of motion. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/257 "2023-06-14T13:29:24Z")
Anyone want a killer drag strip car? > **[Shelby Dragonsnake Cobra returns in a run of five continuation cars - Autoblog](https://www.autoblog.com/2023/06/12/shelby-cobra-dragonsnake-reproductions/)** > > Shelby American is building five continuation versions of the Dragonsnake, a Cobra designed for the drag strip. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/258 "2023-06-14T17:18:03Z")
It’s cool they are bringing back the Dragonsnake, but it’s never going to be the killer track car the originals were, because the state of the art has moved so far. 500 hp in a light vehicle is pretty good, but we’re in the era of 1,000 HP Chargers and 800 HP Camaros, and a Tesla Plaid will beat all of them. But as a unique collector’s car and a fun driving experience, they’d be awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/259 "2023-06-16T14:41:31Z")
The #1 selling automobile in Q1Y2023 was the Tesla Model Y. > **[Tesla Model Y was world's best-selling car in Q1](https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/tesla-model-y-was-best-selling-car-world-q1)** > > The premium midsize SUV beat the Toyota Corolla for the title with 267,171 Model Ys sold in the first quarter. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611/260 "2023-07-14T22:56:29Z")
> **[Rivian R1T Fender Bender Lands Owner $42,000 Repair Bill](https://insideevs.com/news/665545/rivian-r1t-fender-bender-big-repair-bill/)** > > A Rivian R1T owner from Ohio was involved in a fender bender that ended up costing about half the price of the whole truck. Does anyone recall? I was thinking two or three posters here were thinking a Rivian would be one of the vehicles they were considering purchasing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-car-talk/970611.md?page=14)