I think they should go with something a bit more recent, don't you?

Yes, and evidently from these comments, it breeds a bunch of people who know nothing of how it works. So then they get in car that labels the HVAC control correctly and they go: "What's this recirculate button do?"

PSH. I'd rather have this car.

PT Cruisers should have been made with maintenance free engines, because they are invariably owned by people who have zero mechanical empathy.

When I was a line mechanic and shop owner, I stuck with manufacturer recommended practices when replacing pads, and (because I mostly worked on GM and Honda) I almost never cut rotors unless there was a pulsation complaint - mostly because those manufacturers require a specific, very fine and smooth finish to avoid…

I recently had the timing belt tensioner break because the previous owner was a cheap lazy bastard who rebuilt the engine but didn't replace the $12 tensioner.

It bent every valve and cracked the head, it took six weeks and $1,500 before I got my car back.

I must of missed your post, as I just posted the same thing. Agree wholeheartedly.

TIMING BELT

Funny that you mention Akebono...they manufacture brakes about 2 miles from my house. And you can tell when they are in full swing, as it smells like brakes. Not necessarily like overheating them, but like you just pulled them out of the package.

I think it's more because people don't change them, so the shop changes them at every available opportunity.

Great well thought out reply! :)

I change mine at every pad change too.

That's what I'm thinking. Having drained two quarts of the La Brea Tar Pits from a few crankcases and changed the occasional fur covered completely black air filter, I'm seldom surprised by oblivious owners, but this one takes the cake. Even if the scaling-off of macroscopic chunks of rotor was a short-lived endgame…

I also replace rotors at every pad change, but I track on the same rotors and swap DTC 70 pads on. Even without doing this, I find it necessary to keep an unwarped rotor. I've never had luck with turning rotors. After turning, if the rotor started off warped, then the material becomes too thin in spots, which heats up…

Depending on the application, that's not always true. For instance, a semi-metallic friction formula will generally cause greater wear to the rotor than a "softer" ceramic or other organic friction material. Regardless of formula, the rotor will receive at least some wear and will need re-machining to ensure a smooth…

That is how many times it gets passed on the highway per hour.

I really recommend reading the full story that Wired did. The man was amazingly clever.

Maybe the British simply have another meaning for the phrase "cock sucking"

Somebody needs to GIF this, and put the DEAL WITH IT sunglasses on the car.

Using units like "per cookie" doesn't really get you much if the cookies don't weigh exactly the same. Doesn't the Simple Dollar people know about unit pricing on the shelf?