Learned'd VIII: Less Bewbs, Same Nonsense

[frapjap]

Tire rack has a good deal now on steelies and snow tire packages.

[szh]

I have a second set of wheels. That's the whole point of this.

This is what I always did with the Q, too.

I have been living in Northern California since 1989, so didn't need to do this luckily on my two Q's.

Since then, on my current M, I have taken chains with me to Tahoe on a few trips, but have lucked out so far. No snow on the highways going there ...

Z

[Dattebayo]

I got a new truck. No 4x4 because who the f*** wants to buy a used 4x4 with 200K on it for $8,000 for cryin' out loud.

Photobucket is broke, sorry no pics yet.

[Dattebayo]

I'm sort of happy to own a nice vehicle again. It's only had one previous owner and one cosmetic accident three years ago. I'm gonna get a brush guard as soon as I can.

[MinisterofDOOM]

SWEET!

I LOVE that generation Frontier.

VG33 is win.

Body looks to be in great shape.

With small trucks (REAL small trucks, not this midsize s***) I kind of prefer 2wd. These trucks are the embodiment of simple utility and 2wd works just fine for that. I definitely agree about the ridiculous prices on 4x4s, though. Especially Frontiers and Tacomas.

Was the Desert Runner package appearance-only, or do you get offroad suspension and stuff as well?

[Dattebayo]

Afaik, that package includes all the 4wd equipment except for the driveline... But has a decent rear LSD as well.

I wasn't aware you could get that trim stripped of all useful reasons to call it something different. Lol!

[Dattebayo]

Also, I hate that they designed the bumper all gray to f*** up the nice color scheme. Thanks, Nissan. Can't find the roll eyes smiley...

[szh]

Can't find the roll eyes smiley...

Z

[IBCoupe]

Hey.

[WDRacing]

Nice truck, Dave! We had a 4dr in white of the same year. Good looking truck.

[Dattebayo]

Thanks, it's the nicest thing I've owned since the S12... And it's definitely not fast or anything, but all the hispanic wierdos around here keep trying to race me. I just want to f*** change lanes! Stop making me stand on my brakes so I can get over!

[IBCoupe]

For real? Do they just race everything? It doesn't strike me as the kind of thing that invites a challenge.

[nissangirl74]

Congrats on the new ride!

[MinisterofDOOM]

Afaik, that package includes all the 4wd equipment except for the driveline... But has a decent rear LSD as well.

I wasn't aware you could get that trim stripped of all useful reasons to call it something different. Lol!

Nice! On a little truck like the Frontier, I think I'd almost prefer a desert runner setup over 4wd. Almost all the offroad ability with less weight. Aside from snow, I never found myself wanting 4WD on my Ranger, but some more off-road friendly suspension would have been very nice.

As for the trim and reasons to exist...I wasn't aware, either, but I was reading a review of a current-gen Desert Runner and the owner said he was disappointed to find that it was purely cosmetic--so that made me wonder if older models were the same. Of course, he could have been full of crap.

[Dattebayo]

The rear likes to bust out when taking tight U turns at any speed more than a slow crawl.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Well, I ended up buying a set of Blizzak WS80s. They look like they'll be decent enough in wet conditions, and the tread compound is a lot better than the Hankooks. Snow is predicted mid to late next week, so I should be just in time. Won't have the LS8 back until Monday at the earliest, though, so they're just going to sit for now.

[float_6969]

You STILL don't have your car back yet? Hasn't it been close to a month? (too lazy to go back and find when the wreck happened)

[MinisterofDOOM]

The wreck was over a month ago, but I couldn't get my car in for bodywork until last week. My timing was terrible and the wreck happened the same week as some terrible storms (including tornados) which left hundreds of cars needing major bodywork, so I had to wait. It's been in the shop for just over a week now, and they called me today to say it'll be done Monday.

[float_6969]

Ohhh. OK.

[MinisterofDOOM]

So, I got some stock V6 Sport 5-spokes to run these winter tires on. I think I might actually like them better than the V8's split-sevens-spokes (which were honestly never my favorite design--though they're far nicer than the Ultimate package wheels, which share the Navigator's 8-spoke design). I'm excited to see what the car looks like with them.

[float_6969]

You're supposed to get the car back today, right?

[szh]

So, I got some stock V6 Sport 5-spokes to run these winter tires on. I think I might actually like them better than the V8's split-sevens-spokes (which were honestly never my favorite design--though they're far nicer than the Ultimate package wheels, which share the Navigator's 8-spoke design). I'm excited to see what the car looks like with them.

Z

[MinisterofDOOM]

Get to work this morning and there's a red ~05 Mustang with a stupid vinyl race crew sticker covering most of the back window. The thing is a V6 automatic with all season tires. Tell me, Paul Walker, exactly what is it you expect to race in that thing? City busses? Peterbilts? That 4.0 heap of trash makes less power than many 4-bangers and sounds like a garbage disposal.
Now don't get me wrong: if you want a v6 automatic mustang, you go for it. But when you put "crew" stickers on it, I'm going to make fun of you. Then again, I'd make fun of crew stickers on ANY car. But it's especially stupid on a slow, understeering, cheapass pile of budget cutting.

[MinisterofDOOM]

You're supposed to get the car back today, right?

Was, yes. Now they're saying there was an issue with paint on the fender (the part I warned them would be difficult) and they need to redo it. I don't think it's a paint issue; I think it's a metalwork issue and the fender needs replacement. But they're determined to try again. All I know is: I have an eye for perfection and I'm not accepting bad work, so it had better be flawless.

[float_6969]

LOL, automatic V6 mustangs. They're like the redneck fanboi starter kit.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I had a rental '07 several years ago. It understeered more than any other vehicle I've ever driven.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Sweet Satan's babysh@t, I'm annoyed.

Got a call from the bodyshop today around 3pm (after radio silence yesterday and a call Tuesday promising delivery that day pending a thorough inspection and detailing--remember the "thorough inspection" part). Car is done.

I leave work to drive 30 minutes through crap traffic.
I walk inside, tell them I'm there to pick up the white Lincoln (which I point to). Everyone looks confused for a minute, and asks how that works (as though none of them have had a customer before) before a guy walks out from the back and explains that we need to do a visual inspection and then paperwork. Everyone else looks relieved that there's a plan, and relaxes in their chairs visibly (not hyperbole).
Guy Who Know What He's Doing grabs the key to my car and leads me across the parking lot to it. We walk to the corner of the car that had work done and within no more than 500 milliseconds (I measure everything in network time) I spot a glaring flaw. The paint looks great, the brand new headlight housing looks fantastic, the bumper trim is well-fitted. And the fender metalwork looks like it was done by an epileptic marmoset with a dead squirrel in a blender for a brain.
I point at it and ask "What the heck is going on here?!"
GWKWHD bends down and looks. "What do you mean?"
Stunned that he's not seeing it, I guide him to the opposite side of the car where the fender is shaped the way it's supposed to be shaped. "See how that's a straight line on the fender along the headlight?"
"Yeah."
Guiding him back to the other side, I again indicate the issue.

The metalwork guys took what was a straight line down the outside/rear edge of the headlight lens/housing and added a really significant s-curve halfway down. Where on the driver side there's a clean line where the fender mates tightly with a rubber seal on the housing, the passenger side has an enormous half-inch gap where the fender does't even come CLOSE to touching the rubber seal. But only halfway down the headlight. Above that point, it's fine. Below it, it's the grand canyon. I could see it walking up to the car. From behind. And these bodyshop guys didn't see it during their "inspection" and detailing NOR during their painting nor time actually working the metal!
GWKWHD looks skeptical, and says "the headlight's sitting where it should."
I explain that this is true, but the fender is what's bad, and it looks like their metalwork drew in the edge noticeably.
He tells me "No, all they did was sand it."
We make a couple trips back and forth comparing the sides before I remember I have a brain. I take out a picture of the crash damage on the fender. Firstly: they did NOT just sand it. They re-shaped the fender which had been dented in several places. But despite the damage, the fit with the headlight was a perfect match for the driver side. No gap. Even with crash damage.
So the bodyshop took my car, ignored my warnings about ordering a new fender and not trying to work the aluminum, took WEEKS longer than planned, and gave me back a car that looked LESS CORRECT than when I dropped it off with accident damage.

I told them to re-do the work and not to call me back until it looks right.
I'm tempted to call the insurance company that's paying the bill (not my own) and instruct them to be careful with charges from this shop.

OH, also, I should mention this is already their second attempt. The reason it's already over-schedule is that they couldn't get the paint to look right on the fender the first time, so they had to redo it. Probably because of rippling in the aluminum, which I warned them about when I dropped off the car while suggesting that they not waste the time and instead just order a new panel.

So, we're onto attempt THREE.

THREE ATTEMPTS TO REPAIR MINOR DENTS AND DO SOME PAINTWORK ON A SMALL AREA OF A BODY PANEL.

Meanwhile, I'm paying $10 a day out of pocket to not be renting a f*** Altima, and I'm really starting to feel like the body shop should be covering that cost for me.

[float_6969]

The space Lincoln is more car than they can handle. Their brains are obviously on overload.

[MinisterofDOOM]

The saga continues.

They called me yesterday to let me know that they'd be ordering a new fender from Ford, and that it will not arrive until Wednesday. They expect the car to be done Friday.

The best part: I warned them during the appraisal (before even leaving the car with them for repairs) that they should not attempt to repair the fender and should order a replacement instead. Two weeks later, they finally reached the same conclusion. Sometimes I actually do know what I'm talking about...if only people would listen.

[float_6969]

Body shops man. It's REALLY hard to get good body work any more.