Most Liked Automotive Blogs (377)

Yeah, they're called frits. The perimeter of a car windshield (windscreen if you are in England) has a series of graduated dots that transition into solid black. The graphic pattern is enamel that is baked to the glass and used as a primer to hold the windshield to the adhesive that secures it to the frame of the car.
Primer is part of the function as the graduated pattern hides the glue line of the adhesive making a nice aesthetic finishing touch.

Last year I had a cracked windshield (probably from a stone on the highway) and the insurance company offered me an aftermarket windshield that was readily available, or an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) from Toyota that would take a few days to get. Since the crack wasn't through the glass safety laminate and I had time, I opted for the OEM glass and the frits were the same.

I caught a local news story about the driver of a Lamborghini who was speeding and ran a stop sign. He was T-boned by a Nissan SUV that caused the Lamborghini to flip an land on a house.

A mistake in the reporting:
(1:45 seconds) "the person in the 2nd car who was hit by the Lamborghini..."
No lady HE hit the Lamborghini, not the other way around.

The driver of the Lamborghini fled the scene, which is a felony in the state of Florida.





Link to Yahoo story:

I know BMW advertises their cars as the ultimate driving machine, but in the hands of an idiot, they become the ultimate crashing machine. When the Highway Patrol pull you over, they come to the passenger side of the vehicle for safety.
A Police officer in Fairfax, Virginia was speaking to a driver he had pulled over. The dash-cam shows just that and in the distance an 'out of control BMW' slides across the median backwards then side swipes the stopped car with such force that is bends the guard rail, hits the police car forcing it to slide back a car length.
The office saw the BMW and tried to run for cover but was struck to the ground, literally inches from disaster.

It's reported the BMW was driving more than 120 miles per hour when it lost control and spun around.

Video clip:


News link:







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My AT friend bought a new tesla years ago and waited over a year for the Tesla dealership to get it in. By the time her new car arrived that same car was selling for a heck of a lot more than she paid for it. It was a fancy car with all the bells and whistles with much of it is controlled by the phone. Only the back doors go up in the air over the car roof when you open them. I live on the east coast and she moved to the west coast without any problems. Starbuck has charging stations everywhere plus the car tells you where the charging stations are.

My ex came into town a few weeks ago, took me out to lunch to tell me he is looking to buy a Tesla but he wanted to check out another brand of electric car first. It was great seeing him which I got to do because the Tesla dealership is just a few blocks from my home.

The ex came to town the other day, called and said he wanted to take me to lunch again. I was okay with that so he came with a friend who drove him down from Ocala and they picked my up in his new Tesla. He got the very basic model which only has a huge computer monitor screen in the middle with no other buttons or switches anywhere. No "Oh shit" handle, no radio (You play it through the phone) virtually nothing but a huge flat dashboard. In the restaurant he was looking at how to start the AC in the hot FLORIDA car from inside while we ate. When we left we stood outside the car while he tried to figure out how to open the door. A comedy moment.

Last night we were talking and after all the research that man did before buying that $40,000 car was what happened to his insurance rates. He was told they would go up a little but the lowest quote so far is $2,000 every six months. $4,000 a year is an extremely harsh toke. What a blindside.

A toe truck was in the lane of a highway and someone didn't see it. When their car rolled on the ramp, it flipped about 20 feet into the air... not 120 feet as reported.

Video in the link:

Thursday, I replaced my windshield wiper blades. Friday I drove 40 miles to trim carpet on one of my projects. I took State Road 7, recently paved 6 lanes with a grassy median. I don't recall following any trucks or going through an area of road construction. Saturday I went to the model airfield and temperature in direct sunlight was high 90 with extreme UV index. On the way back home, I noticed something on the windshield partly blocked by my mirror. I thought it was some dry grass from the park. Then, I looked closer, it glistened in the sunlight. A stress crack about 3" long appeared in the outer layer of glass. Sunday, again at the park and the crack appeared to double in size making a small curve downward. Inspection showed a stone must have hit the glass right near the top next to the black area of the forward sensor.

I phoned my insurance provider on Monday to report it. Probably most states have the same law where they will replace cracked windshields with no insurance deductible. Minutes after reporting the claim I was contacted by the company who services my area to do windshield replacement.

I was given 2 choices: After-market glass or OEM glass.
I asked if there is any difference and the answer was "Sometimes the lane assist camera/sensor doesn't work as well with after-market glass."
It's not on all models, they said and probably no difference on my car.
One catch. They have the after-market glass in stock and can do the job within 48 hours. The OEM glass comes directly from Toyota and takes 3 weeks.

Windshields are made with laminated glass and I believe this crack isn't in the danger zone. I've seen lots of cars with stress cracks like this... Unless you're driving around with expired insurance, who wouldn't want to have a cracked windshield fixed for free. Depending on the severity, I'm pretty sure you could be ticketed for faulty equipment if a policeman deems it so. Sometimes a simple thing like speeding can get them to write tickets for other things like an expired tag, bald tires or no seatbelts,

I've had this car less than a year and (unless something unexpected comes up) plan to keep it for at least 10 years. I owned/abused a Toyota Celica for 13 years and got around 220,000 miles on it. The Corolla with normal use should do better.

So I wait. Hey... it's only on the outer layer!
Every day I watch the progression of how the crack continues to grow. It's made a turn and running in the opposite direction from where it started. Adding up all the crack is more than 12 inches. Yesterday, I decided to put a mark at the end of the crack to measure it's daily travel. Not too hot today as it rained several times and the crack only grey 1/4 of an inch or about 6 millimeters.

The weather tomorrow should be more of the same, but I have to drive more than 100 miles to visit 2 projects. We shall see what happens to the crack.
The glass company told me if I cannot wait for the OEM glass, to call and they will install the after-market glass.


OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer

The electric car revolution is in full swing, and these vehicles are now more mainstream than ever. However, there are still drawbacks to owning an electric car which is why the market is still developing. For gas-powered vehicles to be fully replaced, an electric car will need to function in almost all the same ways.

In addition, an electric car needs to have an affordable entry-level option. The marketplace for electric cars is quite expensive, and repairs can be quite costly as well.

20: Expensive Battery Replacements
19: Charging Stations
18: Their Heavy Weight
17: Inability To Repair
16: The Range Isn’t There
15: Slow Charging Times
14: High Price Tag
13: Batteries Will Wear Out
12: Fire Hazard
11: Subpar Performance
10: Lack of Availability
9: Lack of Service Centers
8: Lack of Charging Infrastructure
7: High Electric Bill
6: Limited Cargo Capacity
5: Electric Car Cost
4: Zero Emissions As A Lie
3: Quick Charging Can Damage Batteries
2: Resale Value Is Questionable
1: Parts Are Hard To Find

Further details on each reason:

When you buy a vehicle at a dealer, they often issue a temporary tag until they can get the permanent tag issued. For years, I've heard people reference this as a 'paper tag'
The paper tag is usually good for 2-3 weeks giving enough time for the dealership to process the official tag or sticker to validate the new or existing tag.
Today, I found there is an official name for the paper tag... it's called a DRIVE-OUT TAG.

In the news, a man and woman in Memphis, Tennessee were arrested for creating fake drive-out tags. Police found 236 of them!

Memphis Police Department found printers, tags, plastic laminator machine, a rifle, handgun, bag of marijuana, digital scales.

Each were charged with 236 counts of forging evidence of title assignments.
Among that, a list of other charges ranging to drug paraphernalia and possession of a weapon.

The Shelby County Fugitive Task Force passed the tip to the Memphis Police Department who made the search and arrests.

Fraudulent drive-out tags...

Truck tires are treated differently than car tires. Car tires usually get discarded or chopped and recycled into other rubber products. Big truck tires for 18-wheelers are more expensive and get recapped when worn. The process takes a worn tire and puts a new layer of tread shaped and glued to the original core. The process is safety approved, but not perfect. Sometimes, the entire retread tire belt begins to delaminate, bits shred off and breaks loose from the tire core. Considering the numbers of trucks on the roads and you've done highway driving, you've probably seen parts of truck tires on the roadway.

While driving on the highway a few weeks ago, the car adjacent to me hit some shredded pieces of truck tire that flew up and hit the front of my car just under the bumper and grill. One piece was so large that it flipped around the tire and pulled away some of the cowling in the wheel well.

I reported this to the Highway Patrol and also my insurance company who assigned it to an authorized body shop near me. Dropping my car off, they arranged the rental company to pick me up to get a rental car covered under my insurance plan.

I'm into a Toyota Camry this week that's got 46,000 miles and very acceptable as a rental. I did a short highway trip and was totally surprised to be getting 41 miles per gallon! It didn't have all the features that my car has (like map & GPS, mirror warning lights when cars are approaching on my blind spot, keyless entry) but my last car didn't have those features either.

This week I've got several outside appointments and should be okay with gas mileage.

I pulled up a YouTube video of the process used to retread truck tires. The part I didn't like is the seam where the join at the wrap. Until I saw the video, I would have expected the entire recap to be one seamless piece pulled over the old core. It's deemed as a safe process.

CDC recommendations, highly influenced by crime boss Dr Fauci (WHO is in bed with Bill Fakes), have new guidelines in place.
i found this leaflet under my windshield wipers while i was shopping at my local strip mall.
according to this new literature, a fabric mask IS NOT enough to protect yourself or others against the Covid 19 DELTA/DEADLY virus.

folklore spread throughout the land that double masking was enough. IT'S NOT. there have been documented cases that merely being fearful of the VIRUS can transmit the germs. some believe the wive's tail that the VIRUS can be transmitted through Whatsap or other online mediums. scientists have proven this IS the case. to ensure the safety of yourself and others, the CDC and Godfather Dr Fauci highly urge the greater population to be photographed, ONLY IF A MASK IS WORN. data shows, backed up by the WHO, that viewing the bare face of a human makes the eyeballs vulnerable to the DELTA SCOURGE.

Wannabe Dr. Bill Fakes of the Bill Fakes Foundation has a special offer for the first 100 callers. Free shipping for BOGO's