auto parts: March 2010

SOLD - Honda DC 2 - Type - R - Half Cut

Sold To Customer From Miami, Florida , USA

This Half Cut Honda - DC 2 - Type - R - Engine B18c - Manual - With LSD Gear Box , Selling As Is Where Is Basis

To View Engine Idling , Click Video Below

Video Showing The Disc Plate Spinning

Front View Of The Half Cut

General View Of The Speedometer

Mileage Reading :- 106796

Chassis Number

Front View Of The Engine

Side View Of The Engine

Fuel Injector Area - No Sign Of Oil Stained

Inner Part Of The Engine

Engine Number

Gear Box - Bar Code

Driver Side Fender - Red Circle Indicate Dent Area

Driver Side - Head Lamp - In Good Condition

Drive Side - Aftermarket Absorbers ( Cusco ) - No Sign Of Oil Leak

Passenger Side Fender - Red Circle Indicate Dent Area

Passenger Side - Head Lamp - In Good Condition

Passenger Side - Aftermarket Absorber ( Cusco ) - No Sign Of Oil Leak

Front Absorbers With Five Stages Adjustment

Rear Knuckle

The Rear Aftermarket Absorbers ( Cusco ) - In Good Condition

Rear Absorbers With Five Stages Adjustment

Rear View Of The Half Cut

Nooooooooooooooooo! Volvo to kill V70 wagon.

I can't believe it.

One of Volvo's iconic products was the turbo wagon. It was a way to drive an honest wagon, and look and feel good doing it.

Now, according to a leaked document at Jalopnik, Volvo is going to drop the V70 wagon in the U.S., to concentrate on the butched up XC70.

The more sedate midsize wagons will still be produced for other markets, so there is always a chance that if fashion swings back to car-based wagons, Volvo will reconsider. Maybe someone will make a business out of lowering XC70's and tearing off their body cladding?

The Most Expensive Cars To Insure

I thought this was interesting. This is a list of the most expensive 2010 models to insure. I suppose if you have the riches to own a Porsche 911 GT2, which is a second or third car, you probably can afford almost $3,000 for insurance! Data courtesy of Insure.com.

The most expensive 2010 vehicles to insure
Rank	Make and Model	Style & Type	Cylinders	Avg. national premium
1	Porsche 911 Carrera GT2	2 Door Coupe	6	$2943.78
2	Mercedes S65 AMG	4 Door Sedan	12	$2863.03
3	Dodge Viper SRT-10	2 Door Coupe	10	$2851.89
4	Porsche Panamera Turbo AWD	4 Door Sedan	8	$2837.39
5	Dodge Viper SRT-10	2 Door Convertible	10	$2815.90
6	Mercedes CL600	2 Door Coupe	12	$2754.80
7	Audi R8	2 Door Coupe AWD	8	$2751.55
8	Porsche Panamera S	4 Door Sedan	8	$2744.78
9	Mercedes SL600	2 Door Convertible	12	$2715.86
10	Porsche 911 Carrera Turbo	2 Door Coupe AWD	6	$2706.04
11	Mercedes CL65 AMG	2 Door Coupe	12	$2699.74
12	BMW M6	2 Door Convertible	10	$2689.13
13	Mercedes S600	4 Door Sedan	12	$2667.48
14	Mercedes SL65 AMG Black Series	2 Door Convertible	12	$2655.15
15	Mercedes SL65 AMG	2 Door Convertible	12	$2653.53
16	Mercedes CL63 AMG	2 Door Coupe	8	$2646.92
17	BMW M6	2 Door Coupe	10	$2627.27
18	BMW 760Li	4 Door Sedan	12	$2565.59
19	Jaguar XKR Portfolio SC	2 Door Coupe	8	$2537.79
20	Jaguar XKR Supercharged	2 Door Coupe	8	$2533.48
Source: Insure.com, from a study commissioned by Insure.com from Quadrant Information Services

How Will Chrysler Survive?

According to many measures, Chrysler is building junky cars. Today's junky cars are still miles ahead of the junky cars of decades ago, but still, Chrysler's products are not competitive. The latest bad news comes from J.D. Power, which shows that Chrysler and its various brands are much worse than industry average for 3 years in service reliability.

Industry Average: 155 problems (per 100 vehicles)
Chrysler: 166
Dodge:190
Jeep: 222

GM and Ford fare much better, most of their brands being above average. Lincoln, Buick, Mercury, Ford and Cadillac score above average.

If Chrysler can't fix it's quality problems, how will it survive? It doesn't have VW's Euro cachet or Mazda's Zoom Zoom (both well below average). Chrysler needs to be a solid choice for the average mid-market family, or they are toast.

A Theory To Explain Sikes

This is purely my speculation.

According to Toyota, Mr. Sikes pressed his brake pedal hundreds of times during his "runaway Prius" event, but did not trigger the engine torque over-ride.

One possible explanation is that perhaps he had a foreign object, such as a soda bottle, wedged under his brake pedal. In a panic and unable to slow his car down, he wasn't able to remove it until the end.

I once had this actually happen to me, when a water bottle from under my seat worked its way forward, and lodged itself under my brake pedal. It was a little hairy, but I was able to kick it out of there before getting in trouble.

Giving Sikes this bit of leeway, we're still stuck with the other problem: how did the Prius run away to begin with? According to NHTSA and Toyota, his floor mat was not clipped to the floor, but was not bunched up under the throttle pedal, either. But they were unable to move the mat into a position that would have pinned the pedal. And his Prius was not subject to the throttle pedal recall.

Did Sikes get a stuck throttle and an obstructed brake pedal? Or did he make the whole thing up for publicity?

Electric Car Consumers Want 90mi for $2,000

According to a survey by Consumer's Union of 1750 car owning adults, the typical (well, median) consumer wants a plug-in car that gets 90 miles of range or more, and wants to pay $2,000 or less over the price of a similar gasoline car for the technology. More tellingly, consumers earning less than $50,000 (close to the median family income in the U.S. of about $52,000) were much less willing to pay a premium for a BEV.

"Among consumers that would consider an electric car, the median extra amount that they would pay was $2,068. But 20 percent would pay nothing additional, while an equal share would pay at least $5,000 extra. Across major demographic segments, only one difference was statistically significant: 46 percent of consumers earning $50,000 or more annually would pay at least $2,000 extra versus just 27 percent of those earning less."

However, the current premium is estimated to be something like $10,000 for enough battery to move you 100 miles. Which means that unless gasoline becomes very expensive, it is going to be a long time before electric cars have any significant volume.

Story here.

Video: Lincoln LS vs Rock Slide

That's one way to trash a Lincoln LS.

http://www.breitbart.tv/caugth-on-video-driver-doesnt-notice-massive-rock-slide-covering-tn-highway/

Huge BMW Poster in WSJ

If you get the Wall Street Journal, you may have gotten an insert in today's paper, which folds out into a huge BMW poster. This is an impressive piece of advertising, about 3' x 4' unfolded.

If you are a BMW fan, you should hunt down a copy of the 3/17 WSJ and check it out.

Beware The Craigslist Ebay Motors Escrow Scam

The famous Craigslist (or any other source) Ebay Motors escrow scam is still going strong. I am still getting many search engine hits from it, and even after two years, it remains my single most popular post.

In short, it works like this:

You answer an ad which has a car for sale that seems "too good of a deal to pass up" or perhaps too good to be true.
The seller says the car is in storage, and will be shipped to you. The stories vary, lately the most common one is that a military guy has to sell his car because he is shipping out, and he has to due it long distance.
The seller demands that you send Western Union or a similar non-traceable payment to an "Ebay Motors Agent", using the Ebay Motors Protection Program. They even send you an official looking email.
If you make the mistake of sending money, you are hosed. There is no Ebay Motors Vehicle Protection program. There are no agents, and Ebay does not use Western Union.

Remember:

Never pay anyone for goods using Western Union, it is probably a scam
There is no Ebay Motors Vehicle Protection escrow program
Ebay Motors does not use agents
Ebay does not accept Moneygram or Western Union payments directly
If the story seems fishy (vehicle in storage, guy overseas) it probably is fake

Useful Links:

Is Sikes Another "Balloon Boy"?

Recenly reborn TTAC and Jalopnik have been digging around to see what they can find out about Mr. Sikes, the "I can't stop my Prius" guy, and what they are finding isn't pretty. It looks more and more likely that Sikes is a gold-digger.

But even if he is... how did he manage to burn his Prius brakes? Shouldn't that be impossible?

TTAC story here, Jalopnik here.

Videos Show Prius Will Stop

Leith Toyota's (Raleigh, NC) service director, Rodney Britt, has posted a home made video starring Shawn Witek, general manager. Witek shows how you can stop a 2008 Prius which has its throttle pedal mashed to the floor, using the neutral gear selector, or using the brakes, at 80mph. You can watch it here.

In the video, the car has no problem going into neutral at 80mph, even if the pedal is pinned to the floor. The car also has no problem slowing down if the brakes are depressed, again while driving 80mph ("myl'n ahwer") with the throttle pinned.

And on Youtube, this video also shows what happens when you press the brake and gas a the same time on a Prius while moving. Again, no problem slowing down.

In both videos, you can clearly hear the engine noise cut out when the brakes are pressed. That's because the 2008 Prius already has a sort of brake override software, in the sense that the hybrid powertrain controls system doesn't see a need to waste gas if the driver is trying to brake. So if you hit the brakes and the throttle at the same time, the hybrid will reduce engine torque.

So what happened with Sikes in California? How did his Prius keep going, while he was supposedly standing on the brake pedal?

Top Gear on Prius

An old Top Gear episode from Top Gear. Clarkson hates the 1st gen Prius so much, he has "Billy Bob" get all WWII on one. See 2:43 for the HK G3, followed by a Browning .50 machine gun. Nice.

Yep, Runaway Prius Guy = Idiot

I wonder, maybe this guy set this up as a stunt?

"Neibert told Sikes after the CHP caught up with him to shift to neutral but the driver shook his head no. Sikes told reporters he didn't go into neutral because he worried the car would flip."

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100310/AUTO01/3100387/1148/rss25#ixzz0hmUtw0Hc

SOLD - ST 205 - GT- 4 - Half Cut

Sold To Customer From Baltimore MD, USA
This Celica ST 205 - Engine 3S GTE - 255 HP - Manual - Selling Together With The Long Shaft , Rear Axle, Petrol Tank And Some Aftermarket Parts Shown In The Photos

To View Engine Idling , Click Below Video

Video For ST 205 - Rear Axle

Front View Of The ST 205 Half Cut

Chassis Tag

TRD - Speedometer

Side View Of The Engine

Turbo - Clean - No Sign Of Oil Leak

HKS - Filter And SQV Blow Off Valve

3 Units Of G-Reddy Meters

G- Reddy - Boost Meter

G- Reddy - Oil Press Meter

G-Reddy - Oil Temp Meter

Passenger Side - Fender - Dented / Side Signal Lamp - Missing

Passenger Side - Brake Caliper With CELICA Wording - In Good Condition

Driver Side - Fender - Dented / Side Signal Lamp - Missing

Driver Side - Brake Caliper With CELICA Wording - In Good Condition

Long Shaft / Rear - Anti - Low Bar / Safety Belt / Rear Original Absorbers With KG/MM Spring / Hand Brake Handle

1 set - Tail-Lamp - No Cracked But Scratches

Front View Of The Rear Axle

The Right Side - Rear Brake Caliper With CELICA Wording - In Good Condition

The Left Side - Rear Brake Caliper With CELICA Wording - In Good Condition

Rear View Of The Axle

Rear View Of The ST 205 Half Cut

Runaway Prius = Driver FAIL

The runaway Prius story is just full of FAIL.

The driver didn't know he could put the car in neutral with a flick of his wrist, or push and hold the starter button to kill the engine.

The police officer which talked to him over the loudspeaker told him to use the emergency brakes--did the police officer know to suggest neutral or killing the engine?

There is no excuse for a sticky throttle pedal. But there is also no excuse for not knowing how to control your vehicle. It is lucky that in this case, somehow the ignorance didn't cause injury or death.

SOLD - AE 86 - Trueno Half Cut

SOLD
This Half Cut Trueno - AE 86 - Engine 4A-GE - Manual , Selling Together With All The Parts Shown In The Photos

To View Engine Idling, Click Video Below :-