fearfulmaster

Successful dealerships can have weeks of backlog, regardless of brand. They may reserve a slot or 2 in case a valued customers is in need. Either join the queue or find someone that nobody want to go to. Then you will realise why there is no waiting.

Long shot but if the respary is part of an insurance job, perhaps the repair has lifetime guarantee? Then again, if they can't get it right the first time, not sure if subsequent attempts will be any better.

Wonder if there is a diagnostic mode to check how many satellites are visible and signal strength. Sounds like a reception problem. Anything modifications on the car that could attenuate the signal? Broken antenna?

If you go to smash repairs, they will probably replace the bumper and damaged clips. New bumper is usually primed but not painted so they need to paint it and blend the colour with quarter panels. So not exactly cheap. If there are damage under the bumper, there will be more work so probably an insurance job if done properly. Or you can replace bumper with one from wrecker and replace the damaged clips. Don't know whether the colour will be an exact match though. Or wait until you rear end someone and have it fixed in one go.

PS91 test https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=218

If pilots sport is too expensive, just get PS91. Most of the performance at a much cheaper price. Plus 20% off this weekend at tyresales.

For any high kms car, as long as you have money for repairs, then you are good. Don't spend all you have on the purchase price.

Engine oil is a complicated topic and there will be differences between the two, down to a combination of chemistry and marketing. But with your usage pattern, the differences between the brands do not justify the difference in price. If you want to save money, keep an eye out on the supercheap and repco catalogue. Several times a year, they have 5w30 or 5w40 on specials down to around $30 - $35 for 5L.

Once upon a time, I was looking for ways of undoing a filter without a wrench. One common online suggestion is to stick a screw driver into the filter which I didn't want to. Ended up buying 2 wrenches for 2 different cars. Since then, a mechanic told me to wear latex gloves. These days, I don't even have to use the wrenches I have even when the engine is cold.

In general, no lubricant last forever. So a regular change is a good idea, regardless of manufacturer recommendation. As mentioned, you can only change a fraction of the fluid by draining the pan. Some transmissions have external cooler and a full transfusion of fluid can be done using those lines, but this is usually not an official procedure. Some sensible manufacturer recommends transmission pan drain and refill say every 30K. That way, the transmission will get some new fluid regularly and the fluid quality won't degrade to an unacceptable level. For those DIY people who take a long term view, my gut feel is that a pan drain and refill every second service beginning from say 45K is a reasonable approach. Waiting for problems to come up before changing is not ideal as wear / damage most probably have taken place.

I would say the contis are >= KU39. So unless the KUs are a lot cheaper, go with conti. So KU 39 / CSC5 front and CSC3 rear. I don't think having different make and model on differnt axles will be a problem. For those into details, there are a lot of info on the net. Tread wear rating (US standard) are available from tirerack and other US retailers. Economy, wet grip and noise are avialble from the european site of the manufacturers. For kumho, it is: http://www.kumho-eu-tyre-label.eu/en/our-tyres/car/summer.html For conti, it is: http://www.continental-tires.com/www/tires_de_en/themes/tirelabel/viewer.html

Kumho KU 31 / 39 are decent and value for money, especially if they are parallel imports. As with most things, there is the 80 20 rule. You have to pay 80% more to get the last 20% of performance. So if you are not the kind of driver who challenge the boundary of physics at every turn, then keep the change and don't worry about the last 20%. Let us know how they feel after a few hundred Ks once they are worn in.

225 40 18 are fairly common. You can get dodgy unknown chinese brand from around $100. Half decent parallel import Kumho ku31 for around $160. Pilot sport 3 and continental sport contact 5 are well regarded but would be much more expensive type 225 40 18 into ebay and you see the usual sellers like taleb, tempe, st george and payless tyres. A lot of guys buy from tirerack in the US. Don't know about 255 40. Type it into ebay and see what pops out. The range on ebay is nowhere comprehensive but provide some point of reference.

As a sanity check, keep track of how many kms you done after last refill, until you are confident that the situation has been fully resolved. I reset the odometer at every refill regardless so I know if there is a sudden change in the health of the vehicle. In the past, this procedure has helped me in identifying problems with other cars: A thermostat stuck open causing the engine not fully warmed up, causing 20% increase in fuel consumption. Dropping several fuel caps onto the ground during refilling which broke the vapour seal inside the fuel cap, causing fumes and $$$ escaping from the thank. Having a fuel level sender float occasionally stuck on very hot days indicating low fuel level when the tank is 3/4 full.

Sometimes it is the bushing and sometimes it is as simple as a loose bolt. On another car, the right rear was clunking over speed humps, then over a few months, it progressively got worst until I get a knocking noise all the time. So I got another person to push the car while I identified the source. Turned out just a loose bolt on the strut mount. Tightened the bot and noise gone. You should go to a suspension shop like pedders and get a second opinion. Or if the knock is reproducible when someone push the car, you can try and identify any loose parts yourself.