Recent content by IndyIan

Should need a bit less than a 1/4" hole and not too many for anchoring some pipe, just buzz away with a hammer drill. Not super fun but probably much faster than going and renting something. In my silly younger years I put a couple 6" holes through our poured concrete foundation using a 1/2"...

Yes I talk to people who have a car I'm interested in or curious about at the gas pump or where-ever. It is some information at least. I do wonder about the reliability variance in years or the same car. Could be just supplier problems or updated parts? Also the most reliable "brand" isn't a...

We use the online option of my FIL's subscription and I just filled out the car survey, and it has no questions regarding who does the maintenance... So my Outback's maintenance cost in 2023 was $350 for two DIY oil changes and a pair of front brake rotors and pads. The Focus was maintenance...

If your not doing stuff like motor mounts yourself, and don't want to pay for lots of repairs, IMO, either get a much newer car, or something simple and reliable like a Corolla or Yaris. Something simple, NA, with old tech 4 cyl's with timing chains.

Maybe the trick to winning this, is to have the vehicle break within the warranty period.... ;) I know my subaru dealer sure is interested in maintaining my car to a very high level, and is willing to charge a few $$ for it, and many of their new car buyers will just get almost whatever the...

Roll up windows? Lots of the kids friends have never used them before, and one had no clue at all what the handles were for! Manual transmission too, a few hadn't been in a car with one. My car still isn't "cool" though, they know that! lol

Could be, maybe? For sure if you are running it near maximum output for extended periods of time, then something like a 15W40 is better. If you are mowing a few taller weeds on a dried out lawn, then anything is fine. Bogging through 8"+ of wet grass, or running 100% duty cycle on your...

The hitch manufacturer runs the numbers to see if it will hold up or not, and I would think they are very conservative. I was getting a couple haybales loaded on long landscape trailer behind my 03 Tracker and the elderly farmer lifted up the front of his 8000lb tractor by accident while...

I like the name, KISS! maybe their next model will the "Round and Black" $800 all in is not bad these days, I think I am going to have a hard time finding much cheaper than that for the Outback and I am going to try.

Yeah, I suppose if the filter was bypassing the for 5 minutes on every cold start, its not ideal... Hmmm.... Now you have me thinking...

I have used up my old stash of CRV filters on the Outback, the only thing I really worry about is that they have a lower bypass pressure, which maybe could have the filter bypass more than normal... Anyways I've done 4-5 oci's now with the fram's and nearing 100k miles with no apparent issues...

I've thought about flying somewhere down to the rust free areas of the US, to get a nice rust free older car could be a good adventure. But the prices on used cars in the US seems to be about the same as a newer nearly rust free version here.... at least with the exchange rate as it is now...

Sometimes I wonder how much engineering expertise the manufacturers have? Or have testing budgeted for? Some of the mistakes/oversights are pretty significant? Or some manufacturers just don't care? It seems toyota usually designs and builds for well beyond the warranty period, so they add...

I like my little 01 Suzuki Kingquad 300, for a utility machine. 3 ranges, lockable front diff and 5 gears, low CoG, and slow, and just works year after year with just oil and filter changes. The newer Honda machines are nice on the trails though!

Piece by piece, over decades, they've got Chechnya and Belarus already, next Ukraine, then Moldova, then maybe Georgia, then Azerbaijan has some oil, why not? After that demonstrate they have a good nuclear deterrent again, and start probing around the small baltic states, see what's what with...