Cars & Bikes, Driving & Riding

[DigitalGypsy66]

I think I posted in here that I had a couple of cars serviced where I asked to have my tires rotated but was told that they didn't need to be rotated. With like 30+ years of maintaining cars, I'd never heard that before. I didn't make them rotate the tires, and went about my business.

So six months later, it's time for an oil change and rotation. This time they rotate the tires. As I'm driving home, the tires are noticeably noisier.

I get home and look at the receipt. The tech put "tire cupping detected," yet no one told me at the shop (Walmart. I know, I know, but they are open on weekends and some holidays) that the tires had issues. This is more than likely because of uneven wear on the tires - because they didn't rotate my tires the last time I was in.

Anyway, I have 44K miles on these tires. Will having them balanced make any difference with the cupping? Or is it not worth it with tires that old? Still plenty of tread on them, although I will probably need to replace them sooner rather than later.

[dodint]

Rotation wouldn't have made a difference, it just would have moved the irregular wear from one tire to another. There is an underlying issue causing the cupping that needs to be addressed. It's possible your tire(s) is on an unbalanced wheel. Or the alignment may need correction. If you rotate a cupped tire to another position on the car without fixing the underlying issue the cupped tire will continue to degrade (unbalanced wheel) or the tire placed in the bad position will cup over time (bad alignment).

If you're not feeling the vibration it might be early enough to intervene without replacing the tires. Is it one tire or several?

[dodint]

Also, you can just drive on them if you want. They're not going to rapidly deflate or anything. You'll get diminished wet weather traction, and the bottom of the cup is your effective tread depth so check those spots for cording first.

[DigitalGypsy66]

It sounds like it's just the front tires, which were previously on the rear (obviously). Also, it's a front wheel drive SUV.

It's not pulling much, so I doubt the alignment is that bad - although I'll definitely get that done with new tires down the road. Just wonder why they didn't mention anything? Probably need to go elsewhere, but with the growth down here it's tough to find a shop that isn't slammed and takes 4 hours to do an oil change/rotation.

[count2infinity]

So new cars have started with subscription services? I bought my car a year ago and a bunch of cool features were on the app. I could remote start it on my phone. Lock and unlock it. Start it with a heat feature. Start it with a cooling feature. It would send alerts if doors were left opened or it was left unlocked.

And now I’m a year in. Apparently that stuff was all complimentary for a year. Now if I want it, I have to pay $200 a year.

[faftorial]

That's utter bs, selling a product with features that you have to pay ongoing charges to use.

[Kane]

no one told me at the shop (Walmart. I know, I know, but they are open on weekends and some holidays) that the tires had issues.

I've been in that same boat with Walmart TLE. I hit a pothole years ago and blew out a tire, but was able to limp the half mile home. Took off the wheel at home and took it to the store to have it replaced - they put a new tire on but didn't tell me the aluminum rim was bent. They just tried to bend it back and then put some kind of sealant on it.

[NTP66]

BMW did that with their heated seats, and IIRC, they just changed the policy after lash-back from customers. It's all horseshit, and I would never pay for a subscription for any of it.

[count2infinity]

Really the only thing I'll miss is the remote start with climate control from my phone, but I still have the remote start from my key fob. I'll just need to remember to adjust the climate to how I want it for the morning when I leave the car parked in the evening.

[DigitalGypsy66]

That reminds me - we managed to lose one of the remote key fobs for our Pilot during our move last year. No idea where it went. I see plenty of replacement ones on Amazon etc. for a fraction of the price of what a dealership would charge, but also plenty of complaints of how they can't program them etc. What's the best (and cheapest) way to get a replacement fob? Just suck it up and go to a dealership?

[Morkle]

BMW did that with their heated seats, and IIRC, they just changed the policy after lash-back from customers. It's all horseshit, and I would never pay for a subscription for any of it.

I don't know how the BMW thing isn't a lawsuit. They're already charging a premium for the car. You shouldn't be allowed to explicitly build anything into a car that you can't use without paying the one time option fee up front.

I honestly hate how the world is transferring to everything SaaS.

[robbiestoupe]

BMW did that with their heated seats, and IIRC, they just changed the policy after lash-back from customers. It's all horseshit, and I would never pay for a subscription for any of it.

I don't know how the BMW thing isn't a lawsuit. They're already charging a premium for the car. You shouldn't be allowed to explicitly build anything into a car that you can't use without paying the one time option fee up front.

I honestly hate how the world is transferring to everything SaaS.

It's a non-essential luxury, so I can see why they did it. From an optics perspective, they'll end up losing out on it

[NTP66]

That reminds me - we managed to lose one of the remote key fobs for our Pilot during our move last year. No idea where it went. I see plenty of replacement ones on Amazon etc. for a fraction of the price of what a dealership would charge, but also plenty of complaints of how they can't program them etc. What's the best (and cheapest) way to get a replacement fob? Just suck it up and go to a dealership?

The dealer can absolutely program them. I looked into this a while back, and replacement FOBs were pretty cheap online, but the dealership was charging a nice fee to program them. Still cheaper than buying the FOB from the dealership and having them program.

Edit: Refreshing my memory, unless you have an immobilizer chip in your FOB, you should be able to reprogram the FOB yourself. I know on my Acura there's like a 10 step sequence in order to pair the FOB to the ECU. I'm also pretty sure that you have to reprogram both FOBs if you go this route.

[mac5155]

So new cars have started with subscription services? I bought my car a year ago and a bunch of cool features were on the app. I could remote start it on my phone. Lock and unlock it. Start it with a heat feature. Start it with a cooling feature. It would send alerts if doors were left opened or it was left unlocked.

And now I’m a year in. Apparently that stuff was all complimentary for a year. Now if I want it, I have to pay $200 a year.

Ford Pass is free (those features you mentioned like remote start from a phone).

My wife's Jeep Cherokee had it also and was a subscription service.

I think my sister's Toyota is free.

[Morkle]

BMW did that with their heated seats, and IIRC, they just changed the policy after lash-back from customers. It's all horseshit, and I would never pay for a subscription for any of it.

I don't know how the BMW thing isn't a lawsuit. They're already charging a premium for the car. You shouldn't be allowed to explicitly build anything into a car that you can't use without paying the one time option fee up front.

I honestly hate how the world is transferring to everything SaaS.

It's a non-essential luxury, so I can see why they did it. From an optics perspective, they'll end up losing out on it

Well it's a "non-essential" luxury that a ton of car brands now offer as a higher package item. It's probably at the point where it's more standard than luxury option, imo.

If it's a brand item, you either carry it as standard, or it's in a package. A service shouldn't be allowed unless it's on-star.

Car companies make more than enough money to carry app development too, if they want to make an app and promote it as something unique. Offer it in higher packages only.

[RonnieFranchise]

I thought Mazda's remote features from the app were subscription after a time but we've had it 2-1/2 years and it's still active, so maybe I'm wrong.

[Rylan]

I dont mind subscriptions for things that are going to be improved upon. For example, if they are going to make their navigation better or their L3-driving systems better OTA, then all for it being a script. But theres no way they are improving their heated seats. They are pretty binary overall, and charging a script for that is absurdism.

[RonnieFranchise]

Rented a Buick Envision over the weekend and now Mrs. F. wants one.

I thought you had to be old to want a Buick.

<checks driver's license>

Oh.

All kidding aside, it was a very nice vehicle. I sort of had the same beef with it I've had with rental Explorers, the engine just doesn't "sound" substantial, although unlike the explorer the power was decent. Believe it is a turbo 4. She liked the panoramic sunroof and the seat features that adust for ease of exit.

[NTP66]

@Willie Kool

[count2infinity]

I dont mind subscriptions for things that are going to be improved upon. For example, if they are going to make their navigation better or their L3-driving systems better OTA, then all for it being a script. But theres no way they are improving their heated seats. They are pretty binary overall, and charging a script for that is absurdism.

Hopefully car manufacturers don't go the way of the video game industry...

"Car isn't road ready yet? We'll just send an update for the software afterwards... release the cars. It'll be fine."

[faftorial]

I dont mind subscriptions for things that are going to be improved upon. For example, if they are going to make their navigation better or their L3-driving systems better OTA, then all for it being a script. But theres no way they are improving their heated seats. They are pretty binary overall, and charging a script for that is absurdism.

Hopefully car manufacturers don't go the way of the video game industry...

"Car isn't road ready yet? We'll just send an update for the software afterwards... release the cars. It'll be fine."

Isn't this what Tesla does.

[Rylan]

I dont mind subscriptions for things that are going to be improved upon. For example, if they are going to make their navigation better or their L3-driving systems better OTA, then all for it being a script. But theres no way they are improving their heated seats. They are pretty binary overall, and charging a script for that is absurdism.

Hopefully car manufacturers don't go the way of the video game industry...

"Car isn't road ready yet? We'll just send an update for the software afterwards... release the cars. It'll be fine."

Isn't this what Tesla does.

Yes. and with that stuff I actually dont mind, though Tesla is shady about it. lol

[NTP66]

I figure this is the best place for this. My parents went to help clean out my uncle's house, and brought me back the old slot car track that I used to play with as a kid. It's a 60's Model Motoring Stirling Moss track with a few cars, including a 63 Corvette. Only one car seems to work, but I bet it's something minor like lubricating the gear, as these are very old. And you know what? It still works:

Growing up, this was like my one 'big ticket' item for Christmas every year. I had probably half a dozen different slot car sets, including one of my favorites, the Tyco Cliff Hangers track:



These were so much damn fun.

[MR25]

That's some collector's item stuff... my dad has a bunch of slot cars from roughly that time period lying around. Neat!

[faftorial]

That's some collector's item stuff... my dad has a bunch of slot cars from roughly that time period lying around. Neat!

Here's a nicer set for $599:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/165822305851?h ... R_TOgLHRYg