Yep. Mid 2010s and up it’s getting worse across the board. With CAFE everyone has to chase better fuel economy, so components are getting lighter and stronger, but the tradeoff is they’re more brittle and susceptible to damage. 

I-Car Platinum Pro Level 3, 8 years in the industry and have been licensed appraiser for 5 states. I feel fairly confident in reviewing auto damage from photos. When you zoom in on the photo he posted in Twitter the point of failure was the lower ball joint where it bolts on to the left steering knuckle. The control…

I went to twitter and zoomed in on the photo. There is collision damage/gouging on the outer edge of the tire. Look at the far left side of the tread, it’s not all the same color, that’s what you’d see if the tire made impact with something besides a flat road surface. Also, you can see the wave in the lower left…

In my experience, older cars and vehicles built for a smoother ride hold up better to that kind of abuse. Older cars also usually had serviceable ball joints, so when they were worn out you just replaced it, whereas on newer cars you’re replacing the actual suspension component. 

I can see pretty clearly a dent in the lower bumper right in front of the wheel. My professional opinion (I’m an insurance adjuster/arbitrator) is that the guy hit a curb or some other fixed object hard enough to damage the suspension. It looks like the lower control arm broke off from the steering knuckle during a…

The manufacturers are definitely pricing mid-size trucks in an interesting way. Less features for the same price as a full-size, basically paying extra for the smaller size. Which makes sense for some. Every new housing development in my area, if they have a garage it is not big enough for a full-size crew cab. My…

That’s the thing. While I’ll always see MB as the makers of sleek coupes like the SL500 and SLR Mclaren, the people who can afford a $65k+ MB either need more than two seats to justify the price or need an SUV/CUV just to drive around American roads. The only new-ish MB convertibles I see in my area are all driven by…

When we moved to Chicago our realtor dropped us at the Portillos off N Clark while he did whatever for an hour. My first Chicago dog, which I absolutely loved. I had a few others while we lived there, but I worked right by the Skokie location so if I had a hunger for a dog I usually just went there. They do have the…

Have you seen the side by sides of 19 MB Vs 20 RP brake ducts? They look exactly the same, except the RP look like cheap Chinese knockoffs. Where the MB are smooth and precise carbon layups, the RP just look sloppy and thrown together, and have some cast metal components rather than carbon fiber. I won’t be surprised…

Yep, that’s how WBEZ in Chicago was and how WHRV in coastal VA is. Until Covid hit my car was my office, and the first and last 1-2 hours of my day were when I tuned out and made phone calls because it was a lot of the same. Now that in working from home I still listen to NPR in the kitchen while I cook, but I switch…

This! And the people buying the Blazer don’t have any connection to the classic full-size, they grew up when the Blazer was a SUV version of the S-10... 

The Trailblazer was it’s own platform. The last Blazer was a super bland compact SUV version of the S-10.

Saw a Mirage with 30 day tags (brand new) driving in front of me the other day and I wondered it was already on a donut tire. Then I realized all 4 where that small and I couldn’t believe someone would buy that car. Especially where I live and potholes 2ftx2ft aren’t uncommon on regularly traveled roads.

Don’t get me started... Wrote a total loss estimate for a 2017 Chevy Malibu LS on Tuesday and customer is pissed he’s upside down. Dude has a base model with 140k miles in less than 4 years on a car that no one wants. Was worth less than $10k and he knows it didn’t depreciate that fast... I found out he still owes…

This could explain why BMW and MB use two hood latches, a left and right side one. Not sure about Audi since I haven’t encountered one is a while, but it always sucked writing estimates for a BMW when you couldn’t open the hood because the damage messed up one side of the hood and prevented the latch from opening.…

Meant “covered”, but basically insurance has 2 types of losses. Collision and “All other” or Comprehensive. Collision is if you make impact with another vehicle or object. Comprehensive is “act of god”, hitting an animal that ran in the road, etc... What insurance doesn’t typically cover is mechanical and electrical…

Born in 1989, Chevy guy at heart, and favorite color is green. Literally this is my perfect car, and the tan interior is just icing on the cake. If we could find something like that on the East coast, I’d definitely be willing to pick it up and figure out what’s wrong later...

I don’t disagree with you, but the amount of people I see at Chick-Fil-A getting the deluxe sandwich for $2 more is staggering. I want to like the Popeyes sandwich, I just wish they’d use spicy chicken instead of the mayo. Season the chicken breast how they do the spicy chicken at CFA and I’d eat Popeyes one a week.

I’ve got a “play” Robinhood account. Ford was down this morning, so I bought a few dozen shares just to see if I can make some quick money off the hype. All will be revealed at market open Tuesday!

Well depending on where you live, the roads may be considered terrain... I can’t tell you how many insurance claims I handle a week for replacing wheels and tires because the roads are so bad in our area... I see a guy driving around with a DB11, but he’s not driving fast and he’s definitely avoiding the interstate.