Cars

[Craig P.]

Re: Cars

And yes, Scions are pretty much Toyotas.

There's no "pretty much" about it. Scion is a marque made and sold by Toyota, same as Lexus. The cars that are badged as Scions in the U.S. are badged as Toyotas elsewhere in the world.

[SteveP]

Re: Cars

We have 3 Audis and the favorite is the A4 manual. Nothing compares to it on snow, ice or rainy roads. It is an older model so it has the 6 cylinder engine. Incredibly fun to drive. The new ones do not offer the 6 but the 4 has plenty of zip. If you can spare the bucks though, and really want to buy a rocket-go for the S4. The power is incredible and with their standard AWD it sticks to the road like glue. Not as good as the A4 in rotten weather because of the summer performance tires but it just has a world of pick up.

I took a serious look at an Audi Allroad before buying my 2004 Volvo V70R. There was a lot to like about the Allroad, but the R is a little more understated. In other words, it's a smokin' sleeper. Comfortable, quick and rock steady on the road in all conditions.

[DrDemento]

Re: Cars

I took a serious look at an Audi Allroad before buying my 2004 Volvo V70R. There was a lot to like about the Allroad, but the R is a little more understated. In other words, it's a smokin' sleeper. Comfortable, quick and rock steady on the road in all conditions.

We also looked at that Volvo-I liked it a lot but we have a consideration that most do not-my wfie Jen is only 4'10" and she can only comfortably drive certain cars. If she can't see over the dash and comfortably reach the pedals-we can't really buy the car. Sure she can sit on a pillow but when we are forking over 50,000 or more on a car-she just refuses to have to do that. You cannot believe how many really neat cars we forego because she cannot get the seat into a convenient position. I do like the understated look-every so often it is nice to have some flash but most of what we have driven over the years have been cars that I would like to call understated elegance. For some odd reason the german cars allow for greater differences in seating position-VW, BMW, Audi, Mercedes seem to make allowances for the very short and the very tall. Porsche, not so much. BTW Audi is reintroducing the Allroad this year as a new 2013 A6 model-it looks very enticing with all the technologic bells and whistles that Audi is known for.

[mattyt02]

Re: Cars

Quick question for anyone who may know. I have a 2005 Focus ZK4, 87k miles. Recently within the past month I've noticed the left rear tire has been flat spotting and warping. Tried replacing it and it happened again after having it looked at. Any ideas as to what may be causing this?

[Craig P.]

Re: Cars

When you say that a tire is flat-spotting, my immediate instinct is that something is up with the brakes.

[MattS]

Re: Cars

When you say that a tire is flat-spotting, my immediate instinct is that something is up with the brakes.

I agree. Flat-spotting has to be brakes or for some odd reason the wheel is not turning as it should (but then I would suspect you would notice that). Or I am think of something completely different by flat-spotting.

[DrDemento]

Re: Cars

Quick question for anyone who may know. I have a 2005 Focus ZK4, 87k miles. Recently within the past month I've noticed the left rear tire has been flat spotting and warping. Tried replacing it and it happened again after having it looked at. Any ideas as to what may be causing this?

I always get some mild flatspotting when we leave one of the cars sitting too many days without movement. Usually works itself out quickly with a decent ride and warming up the tires. But some tires-notably the high performance and low profile types-are much more susceptible. Even some brands seem to be more likely to develop the problem especially if they are running with slightly low pressure. What I am not sure about-and it has never been explained to me well enough-is whether tires have a memory. That is to say, that even when the flatspotting disappears after riding for a bit-is that set of tires now more likely for the problem to develop again?

[mattyt02]

Re: Cars

Thanks for the suggestions. It just makes it strange that it is only that one tire that is doing it. Others are completely fine.

[St. Clown]

Re: Cars

My car has been whining the past month or so, and so I took it into the shop today. One of the bearings on the alternator has started failing. I just put that alternator not even three full years ago. I bought a decent Bosch rather than some no-name brand for very purpose of looking for quality. This time I'm just having a real mechanic work on it. Perhaps I screwed up the process when installing which led to the quick failure, maybe I just got a bad part. Either way, I'm eliminating me as an error point this time. Still irksome. I'm at 168K and I'm hoping for 250K before getting rid of it. The $400 I put in today is still pennies on the dollar compared to a monthly car payment. Still, it's frustrating to think that I installed that alternator a short while ago.

[walrus]

Re: Cars

Quick question for anyone who may know. I have a 2005 Focus ZK4, 87k miles. Recently within the past month I've noticed the left rear tire has been flat spotting and warping. Tried replacing it and it happened again after having it looked at. Any ideas as to what may be causing this?

Get an alignment, You probably have a bad bushing, strut or just its out of alignment

[alfablue]

Re: Cars

Quick question for anyone who may know. I have a 2005 Focus ZK4, 87k miles. Recently within the past month I've noticed the left rear tire has been flat spotting and warping. Tried replacing it and it happened again after having it looked at. Any ideas as to what may be causing this?

As odd as it sounds, the answer is shocks. Get some new ones, and get some decent ones- my parents had the exact same problem, and the dealer did their best including talking with Ford about it- and the best solution (which was not actually a fix) was good shocks. The cupping you are getting in the tire is partially the reult of the shock not controlling the motion all that well IN ADDITION to some odd geometry/loading problems that is inherent in the design (which isn't in the current Focus). So the best band-aid- shocks.

[Hammer]

Re: Cars

I should probably replace my shocks, too. I've only got 107k on the truck.

[MattS]

Re: Cars

As odd as it sounds, the answer is shocks. Get some new ones, and get some decent ones- my parents had the exact same problem, and the dealer did their best including talking with Ford about it- and the best solution (which was not actually a fix) was good shocks. The cupping you are getting in the tire is partially the reult of the shock not controlling the motion all that well IN ADDITION to some odd geometry/loading problems that is inherent in the design (which isn't in the current Focus). So the best band-aid- shocks.

I have never heard of shocks giving flat spotting problems. But maybe it is a terminology issue. I would call what you are describing as scalloping and not flat spotting. Or at least that is what we call it in my circle of car friends. It's kind of an uneven wavy pattern to (usually) the inside of the tire and it can be caused by bad shocks.

For me when I hear flat spotting I think of the more classical race induced flat spot by applying the brakes to hard and causing the tires to stop turning while still caring forward momentum.

[alfablue]

Re: Cars

I have never heard of shocks giving flat spotting problems. But maybe it is a terminology issue. I would call what you are describing as scalloping and not flat spotting. Or at least that is what we call it in my circle of car friends. It's kind of an uneven wavy pattern to (usually) the inside of the tire and it can be caused by bad shocks.

For me when I hear flat spotting I think of the more classical race induced flat spot by applying the brakes to hard and causing the tires to stop turning while still caring forward momentum.

The post quoted "flat spotting and warping"- which to me = cupping and scalloping. Most people who don't race will not actually flat spot their tires, especially treaded tires. And if they do, uneven wear is 1) alignment, and 2) something else. Then, having my parents experience this exact same thing their 4 door Focus, and their work was done quite a few times, including Ford buying them two new sets of tires (this happened before 50k miles, twice- heavy trunk loading was a partial cause). The end best fix was a good set of shocks, and then them loading the luggage in the back seat instead of trunk- to not change the alinment too much. It was a design flaw that was fixed in later models.

Having raced, too- I've actually flat spotted tires. This is a case of using the term in a different way, as I see it.

[brookyone]

Re: Cars

Flat spots also will occur in tires on vehicles that sit unused, parked and not moved at all for long periods of time...or at least that's the terminology most frequently used by auto geeks who have hobby / collector cars kept in storage for long periods. Radial tires generally just need a 10-20 mile drive to lose the flat spot...which will initially be felt as a vibration, which will go away after that short drive. It helps minimize flat spotting if you pump tires up to max pressure before letting a car sit for extended periods of time. Ideally for long term storage wheels and tires are removed from the vehicle. Flat spotting of tires on cars used for racing probably encompasses actual permanent tread damage from the abuse tires take on the race track.

Cupping and scalloping is as described and will occur with misalignment as noted...and failure to rotate at reasonable intervals. I've never heard of shocks causing that but misaligned struts or struts with worn mounts could I'm sure.