How do you guys shop for cars?

[Bokanovsky]

Toyota / Honda all crap boys.

Made in Japan what counts.

If it's Toyota and not made in Japan then it's as good as chevy. Look at door seal stickers for the country of origin.

I don't think this is necessarily true. Cars like Camry and Corolla are made in North America and they last petty much forever. Granted, these are very basic and boring cars but that's kind of the point.

 

[sevbucmash]

Japanese men have a certain culture. They go to work early in the morning, and leave late at night, and if they get fired they commit harakiri. There is so much precision on Japanese made cars that it's crazy. With right hand drive true Japanese cars, you drive them, and you expect it to die by now, or at least to break something, but no, it just drives.

 

[The Duke]

Blown head gasket also entails overheating, head and block warping. The reason it blew in the first place is because of warpring, either head or less often block.

Head gaskets fail for two reasons:

1. Gasket Material Failure
2. Overheating.

Its almost always #2.

 

[Scaramouche]

Head gaskets fail for two reasons:

1. Gasket Material Failure
2. Overheating.

Its almost always #2.

Hi Duke,
Yeah,everything you say is right....I have lived with old cars for most of my life and still do....An old head gasket will start weeping water before failure...If spotted early,tightening down the head using a tension wrench, will often give you a few more years...To detect leaks I put the car up against a kerb and while an assistant checks the opened radiator,rev the car in gear against the kerb,when defective you will see the bubbles of leaking air.

 

[Oatmeal31]

Hi Duke,
Yeah,everything you say is right....I have lived with old cars for most of my life and still do....An old head gasket will start weeping water before failure...If spotted early,tightening down the head using a tension wrench, will often give you a few more years...To detect leaks I put the car up against a kerb and while an assistant checks the opened radiator,rev the car in gear against the kerb,when defective you will see the bubbles of leaking air.

That sounds old school. Usually a combustion test is done and there's another test but I forgot what it's called

 

[The Duke]

That sounds old school. Usually a combustion test is done and there's another test but I forgot what it's called

The other way to test cooling systems is to pressurize system and see if it holds. Sometimes you will hear or see the leak.

Scara's test might be old school but it accomplishes the same thing as a combustion test does and it doesn't require special equipment that you might not have.

 

[Oatmeal31]

The other way to test cooling systems is to pressurize system and see if it holds. Sometimes you will hear or see the leak.

Scara's test might be old school but it accomplishes the same thing as a combustion test does and it doesn't require special equipment that you might not have.

Yeah, the way I found out was when attempting to bleed air out of my cooling system after a flush. The coolant would never stop burping, no matter how long I bled it. I did a combustion test and it passed so I was scratching my head for weeks. I finally brought it to a mechanic and he had confirmed the heads were warped and the gasket had to be replaced

 

[Bible_Belt]

Prius from 2010 to 2015 were made defectively and the head gaskets go at 150k miles. There is a sensor that gets clogged and the coolant doesn't circulate like it should.

I once thought a bad head gasket would always display itself by making the oil look like chocolate milk. That is common, but not always accurate if the head is leaking into the coolant. In that case, the engine gets hot and after shutting it off, a bubbling sound can be heard. Those are combustion gasses being bubbled through the coolant, because the head is leaking on that side. I'll always check the oil when looking at an old vehicle to buy, but I also have the seller run it at idle for a bit while we talk to see if the engine gets hot.

 

[BillyPilgrim]

Hey BPH if you know Spanish or know anyone who does, you can find good deals on Facebook Marketplace from ads written in Spanish. I was in the market for a car a couple of years ago and remember the cars on those ads being at around a 10% discount compared to comparable cars with ads in English, in some cases around 15%.

 

[Scaramouche]

Hi BibleBelt,
" I once thought a bad head gasket would always display itself by making the oil look like chocolate milk."....No,not always,only if there is a leak from a combustion chamber across to an Oil way...Happened to me once and I had froth like a milk shake coming out of the Tappet cover vent,even partially blew the dipstick out...

 

[BPH]

I've made a purchase. Anything beyond this point can be tips for others but I no longer need the advice.

 

[Clockwerk50]

I've made a purchase. Anything beyond this point can be tips for others but I no longer need the advice.

What did you get?

 

[BPH]

What did you get?

2008 Dodge Ram 1500 with 120k miles.

Definitely paid more than I want to, but it's a 15 minute drive to pick it up and this sh** has already taken me 3 weeks with dealing with crappy listings, sold listings, sellers not getting back to me with info, etc.

So yeah.