I am sure this article has been shared before, however I wanted to have a look at this topic.
The articles short summary is this:
All 25 car brands we researched earned our *Privacy Not Included warning label – making cars the worst category of products that we have ever reviewed
I am currently driving a 2014 Ford Fiesta which just has a radio with a CD player and Bluetooth. I do not need more than that in a car.
The reason I am looking at all is that that the Fiesta does not belong to me and the friend owning it will be moving out in a bit, so I kinda need another one.
There seems to be one brand that is not as bad as the other ones (but still bad): Renault; mozilla’s review…
Maybe I will have a look at their cars.
What do you guys think? Stick to older used cars and not use an EV or look at which of the manufacturers have the least bad privacy policy?
You. I like you. Know any good parts sources besides Pelican?
I’m aware. It has nearly 500k miles on the odo already. Valve adjustments are easy. Though I’m curious - does the engine need to come out to change the chain if it’s too stretched? There’s plenty of room…
Mine is a base model with crank windows and manual climate controls. The door locks barely work as it is; I’ll be replacing them anyway though.
The oil pressure gauge is also leaking a bit. Any tips on an electric replacement? Or should I just fix what’s in there?
Oh! Believe it or not, the AC still works. Barely. But it works.
Too late.
That’s good to know. What should I look for before this happens?
This one seems to drive quite nice for its age and miles. Though we shall see how it does
AC in a 240 huh…you have to block off time in Outlook for onramps.
I still have my gasser W116 (also with crank windows lol) but havent ordered parts in forever. I think I used to use Peachparts sometimes? And EBay of course.
The locks and AC are probably related. Even the manual AC has vacuum pods I think. Buy a Mityvac and start chasing vacuum leaks. Probably cracked runner connectors, but if your trans shifts 1-2 hard too there’s a bigger leak.
Timing chain can be done in the car. Get the manual on CD, shows you everything.
Keep mechanical oil gauge, electric ones are junk. Bet you anything the flare fitting on the back is just loose. Screw it down, or replace the gauge with another one.
You’ll probably get a keybhang or two resolved by wiggling before your key gets stuck. Keep a light key chain and I think a little graphite lube in the lock helps, but you can preemptively just replace it with a new cylinder from Mercedes, keyed to your code. Or you used to be able to. At any rate a hung key is bad juju.
Right on, thanks!
Good to know. Already got a mityvac specifically for this car. The system definitely has a few leaks, I can only get maybe two lock cycles in before it’s done for (with the locks that still work, anyway)
Forgot to mention - it’s a manual transmission 😅
Oh lucky you, those are awesome.