HR1 Drive Radio April 5, 2025 by John Rush
SPEAKER 15 :
It’s 106 miles to Chicago. We’ve got a full tank of gas. It’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses.
SPEAKER 10 :
Hit it.
SPEAKER 08 :
Our lady of blessed acceleration, don’t fail me now.
SPEAKER 19 :
It’s time for Drive Radio, presented by Colorado’s select auto care centers.
SPEAKER 14 :
Bop-a-da-bop!
SPEAKER 19 :
Whether you need help diagnosing a problem. I want to ask you a bunch of questions, and I want to have them answered immediately. Or just want to learn about all things automotive.
SPEAKER 18 :
Hey, how exactly does a positractor in on a Plymouth work?
SPEAKER 19 :
It just does. Then you’ve come to the right place. So start your engines, buckle up, and get ready to ride. Drive Radio starts now on KLZ 560 The Source.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, Drive Radio, KLZ 560. Myself, Ken Rackley, Tune Tech Automotive with us today. Patch Knight from Alltech Automotive up in Fort Collins. Good morning, guys. Hey, good morning, John. Good morning, Ken. We picked a good day to join us. Yeah, beautiful day.
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thanks for taking your time today and being with us. Larry Unger answering phones today as well. And, of course, Charlie Grimes, our engineer. So any questions you’ve got? automotive-related, or if you want to continue on from what we were doing on Fix It Radio, be my guest, 303-477-5600. Don’t forget the text line, 307-200-8222. Again, 307-200-8222. One thing I want to add really quick to Fix It Radio, because a lot of you are probably still listening, and this is something I failed to mention. Smoke alarms, and I believe most of these alarms that we talked about in the last hour, are made with a plastic that when they start to turn yellow, the plastic itself, it’s time to toss it and put a new one up. So if you’re looking up at a detector and it’s all nasty and yellow and it looks like it’s an almond color, that wasn’t how it looked originally. It is meant to turn color when it needs replaced. They’ve built that into the plastic itself. So when it turns colors like that or when it starts to change into that fade-out whatever, that’s the time to actually replace that detector.
SPEAKER 06 :
That is so good to know.
SPEAKER 04 :
Which I did not know until about a year or so ago. Wow.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, that’s so good to know.
SPEAKER 04 :
Just a little help for our friends. Just a little tip. So if they’re not nice and shiny and white, and you’ll notice as time goes by, it’ll start to just slowly deteriorate and change color. And the reason it’s doing that is they’re made that way so that they lose their functionality, their calibration probably, I’m guessing, things along those lines, and it’s time to make a change. So by all means, do so. I’m going to check them this afternoon.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s a good day to do it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, because I know I’ve, you know, I mean, when we did the remodel, of course, we replaced everything. You know, but not the upstairs ones. But I know I’ve had to replace some of those because they’ve just failed, started beeping or whatever for no reason.
SPEAKER 04 :
And some of them will do that as well. So that’s another kind of telltale sign. But in a lot of cases, those of you listening, you can just look at the color of one.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
And if it’s getting that really, you guys know what I mean by that. It almost gets chalky. Yeah, sure. It starts to get that flaky, chalkiness even, too. It gets really yellow. Yeah, it’s time to toss that thing and get a new one and put a new one in.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and this one’s brown by now, so it’s the original, I’m sure, from the house.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’ve seen some like that. So, yeah, don’t feel bad. Yeah. All right, question of the day. This came from a listener, by the way. Actually sent this in after the show last week, and I’m like, yep, I will definitely use that one. That’s actually a pretty good question of the day. We haven’t talked about this one for a while, and we’ll get into even a few things that this particular listener was asking about car reliability, brand reliability, J.D. Powers, consumer reports, and so on. So we can get into some of that today as well. But question of the day is, what’s the most reliable vehicle you’ve ever owned. So what is the most reliable vehicle you’ve ever owned? That’s the question of the day. 303-477-5600. And I know that’s going to be a little different for everyone. Some of you might even be surprised at what some of these answers are because sometimes vehicles get a really bad rap. That aren’t that bad of a vehicle. Right. Correct. Does that make sense?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. We’ve seen vehicles that have total issues just ongoing, just continual issues, I guess. But other…
SPEAKER 04 :
of that same vehicle model whatever don’t right you know we’ve had vehicles that have like a curse on them basically right well and then what you have to wonder and this is where i always come from this this is where it really gets tough with even some of the jd power consumer reports and we’ll talk about some of this because this is a great question i have a couple of paragraphs that this particular listener wrote to me asking some of these questions because i think there’s a lot of of how should i say this information along these lines that can either get skewed. Sure. It can be skewed even by the people that are putting the reports together. In other cases, they can just take raw data, and you’ve got to be really careful of raw data because who is the owner, how well do they maintain said vehicle, on and on we go. And I’ll get into some of those examples a little bit later. But, yeah, in some cases, Kent, I always wondered, Is it really? Is it the you know, for example, did the Did the person buy the wrong vehicle for what they’re doing with it on a daily basis? So I’ll give you an example. I know this from back when we had our shops and we did a lot of truck, four-wheel drive work, things like that. That was our specialty. We worked on everything. But our specialty was the four-wheel drive, truck market end of things. And, for example, if a construction guy or even a RVer, bought a half-ton truck, you know, a 1500 series truck, to do the work of what should have been a three-quarter ton or one-ton truck, well, of course, the maintenance and the repairs and what we were doing on that half-ton series truck was going to be much higher than that of its three-quarter ton counterpart because the person bought the wrong truck to begin with.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
And that wasn’t the truck’s fault. The truck needs to work all the time. Right. Exactly. And you guys, you’re agreeing because you’ve seen it the same way. In other words, it wasn’t the truck’s fault and it wasn’t a bad truck.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
You could take that truck and go give that to anybody else that’s not abusing it. Right. And it would probably be just fine. But because this particular person didn’t buy the right vehicle in the first place, all of a sudden now they’re mad at the truck. It’s not the truck’s fault. Right. Right. Exactly.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, it’s being beyond its maximum ability.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I think you’re kind of hitting on a lot of vehicles are purpose-built, and as long as you use it for the right purpose in which it’s intended, you’ll be fine.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and, Pat, I think what you just said is very true, something that, frankly – Very, very few salespeople, by the way, will ever tell you what Pat just said. Every vehicle is actually purpose-built.
SPEAKER 06 :
That half-ton, that’ll tow that 30,000-pound camper just fine. You already have the truck. Yeah, you can just buy the camper.
SPEAKER 05 :
When you walk across that driveway and you say, I like the red one, they will sell you the red one.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, exactly. And to Pat’s point, every vehicle is purpose-built for either a segment of the market to do certain things with. And in a lot of cases, no, there’s not a lot of crossover. When you take a small-sized SUV that’s really a four-passenger with some cargo room, it’s designed most likely, in that case, frankly, it’s not even designed for four people. It’s designed for mainly one to two people to be in the majority of the time. You occasionally might put somebody in the back seat. You’ve got all the cargo capacity. But honestly, folks, that vehicle is designed for a family of two in most cases. Now, they’re not always used that way. Sure. In a lot of cases, there will be a family of three to five that are actually using it. And that is the wrong use of that particular vehicle. And depending upon how loaded it is all of the time is my point. Yeah. You may have more issues than that person that’s a one- or two-person family.
SPEAKER 06 :
One that’s got a Class 5 hitch on it, so you can put that camper behind it, too, you know, with all that.
SPEAKER 04 :
As we head down the stretch to Memorial Day, yes, then you are correct. You are correct.
SPEAKER 05 :
Just stay in the right lane.
SPEAKER 04 :
yes we can do a whole show on towing which i probably should in the near future because me living not far from i-70 i literally see in the summer months especially i see it all and there are times where i literally am i’m shaking my head saying you know that should not be allowed on the road the way it is yep that is a very uh underperformed vehicle hauling of a trailer that shouldn’t be on the back of it period whatsoever yeah Exactly. I don’t care if it’s a U-Haul or a camper trailer or whatever.
SPEAKER 05 :
It doesn’t matter. If the load weighs more than the vehicle, that could be trouble.
SPEAKER 04 :
Unless it’s all set up correctly on the front side with the truck and so on. Absolutely, Pat. No, you’re 100% correct. So, again, the question of the day is the most reliable vehicle that you’ve ever owned. And for some of you, we may be even going back in time, I should say, because for some of you, you may have had a great vehicle back in the day that all you did was – change spark plugs, put oil in it, change oil and drove it, and it could have been something from the 50s or 60s. Whatever. Just give us what your most reliable vehicle is. That is a question of the day. Lines are open, 303-477-5600. We’ll get into some of the most reliable brands and things like that. There’s actually, of course, Consumer Reports, J.D. Power. We’ll get into some of that as well. On top of all of that, yes, I will get into talking about some of the potential, and I put air quotes around potential, potential price increases that may come from some of the tariffs and things along those lines. The auto industry is big for buying things all over the world to build cars. I’ll explain some of that also so that if you’re in some place getting a vehicle looked at and they come back with you and say, you know, this price is good for today or for this week only, Which, by the way, if they’re not telling you that, they should be because, frankly, they won’t know what prices next week will be. So they should be telling you this price is good for this time frame only because next week it may be completely different. We’ll get into some of that today as well. Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
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SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, we are back, Drive Radio, KLZ 560. So, again, question of the day, the most reliable vehicle that you have owned, and I would have to go back in my memory banks. This one just always comes to mind, and I think just because the era of these particular trucks, because of the way they were set up, they were throttle body fuel injected, but I’ll be the straight-up first person to say that I owned a… 1990, Chevy extended cab short box truck back in the day. It was a six lug, but it was considered a three quarter ton truck, but it was still a heavy half basically. And I will tell you straight up, one of the Most reliable vehicles. Crazy. Nice. That I think I ever owned. Probably one of the longest owned vehicles because typically I roll through vehicles fairly quickly and always have. But that particular vehicle I kept for quite some time. Yeah. And that was one of those vehicles that you basically did maintenance services needed. Yep. And drove it.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
And I never had a lick of problem. You said 90, so that was on a heavy half. Is that a straight axle front end or it’s independent?
SPEAKER 03 :
No, it’s independent. Independent.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, all those were independent at that point.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. Huh. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Was it stock or was it modified? Never did much to it at all. I plowed snow with it for the longest time, which, by the way, is not easy on a vehicle. Plowing snow is hard on a vehicle.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, it beats on them a little bit.
SPEAKER 04 :
So even with it being a plow truck and all of that, it’s still one of the most reliable vehicles as far as that goes, I think, I’ve ever owned. You just got in it, fired it up, it ran, you hardly did anything to it, and off it went.
SPEAKER 10 :
Right.
SPEAKER 04 :
And that throttle body injection back then, they didn’t make a lot of power. By then, the automatic overdrive transmissions, the 700R4s had been all figured out and were pretty robust at that point in time.
SPEAKER 06 :
Except for the sunshell that would come apart, but other than that.
SPEAKER 04 :
And that particular unit had the heavier rear diff. It didn’t have the normal 10-bolt differential in the back, so it had a little bit heavier differential. Nice. But as far as all of that goes, it was one of the most reliable. I mean, I hauled horses with that thing. We went hunting. I did snow plowing. I mean, you name it, I did. I mean, that truck worked really hard for being basically a heavy half-ton truck. And it never once ever left me high and dry. I love that. Yep. Ever. Ever. So that’s kind of the thing that we’re asking is, give us what one of your most reliable vehicles was or is, might even be a vehicle today. Now, I will say this, and I get a few people that disagree with me on this. I’m not really sure why because the statistics will show you that I am correct. There are a few exceptions, yes, to every single rule, but vehicles today, Larry and I were talking about this before even coming on air today, even back then with that truck, still had a bag of tools in the truck that you carried with you all the time no matter what just because you had it with you. Yeah, exactly. Did I ever use them? No, but I always have. That’s just who you are too. Yeah, and that’s just who I am. I still do that. Don’t need to. But really, the need today to carry a tool bag to go coast to coast on pretty much any new modern vehicle, do you need that anymore, guys?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, what would you take? I mean, so this is what – Duct tape. This is what – Cell phone. Cell phone, yeah. I mean, so a lot of times when we go out of state – or, well, 99% of the time when we go out of state or on a longer trip – We’re hauling a trailer. We’re hauling something else, something heavy.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, sure.
SPEAKER 06 :
So I’ll take my impact. I’ll take sockets for the trailer, you know, whatever.
SPEAKER 05 :
Make sure you’ve got jacks and spare tires.
SPEAKER 06 :
Exactly. You know, and screwdriver, pair of pliers, you know, you never know what’s going to happen. You hit a coyote, you’re going to have to cut a fender off or something like that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, exactly.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, it’s, you know, just something.
SPEAKER 05 :
But you’re not worried about doing a roadside repair necessarily.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, you would not have anything to do that repair if it was, yeah, something like that. So, yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
You’re not taking your scan tool?
SPEAKER 04 :
I mean, I guess you could, but for the average person even, I mean, you might have a code reader or something with you, but even then, what are you going to come up with?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, right. Something you can’t do anyway on the road. And is it that necessary if it’s flashing? I mean, you could pull into an auto parts store and they can, you know, be able to scan it for you. So, yeah, exactly. But I did. So last year we were up. And this is camping, so it’s not just traveling. I mean, you know, we camp out where there’s no cell service and stuff. But one of the people in the campground could not get their awning in, so they could not leave. Yep. They lost power to half their vehicle, and I’m like… I had jumper wires, but that’s something that, what do you do? So if I had a test light that I could see what has power. So I found one that’s pretty cool. It was inexpensive. I throw it in the camper. I have it with me. It shows voltage. I can apply voltage. I can apply ground. So it’s something that is good for somebody with… a skill set like that yes if you’ve got an electrical problem you can diagnose yes and maybe potentially at least retract that awning or something like that that’s exactly what we ended up finding nice we were able to get it in for her and she was able to take off but yeah just you know little things that over time you run into that it’s like hey doesn’t cost much just throw it in the camper doesn’t take up space so i got a couple text messages in on some reliable vehicles
SPEAKER 04 :
One is, somebody said, my 80 Chevy 4×4 plow truck. Yeah, you know, actually, the 80s were actually pretty solid. They were carbureted. It was probably the only downside to those. But even then, as long as you kept those up and maintained them, you could pretty much hop in them any time and… Fire them up and go, and the 80s were actually a really good – that was a good year, actually, for those trucks. They changed the body style in 81, of course, but those 80s were an actual – and right now – Yeah, they’re getting a lot of those.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, they’re going to be worth some money. Well, that was the end of the era, so they had a lot of kinks worked out.
SPEAKER 06 :
From 71 to 80, they had the same –
SPEAKER 04 :
Everything was the same. 73 to 80. 73 to 80. 73 to 80. And for a lot of you listening, the 72 and older really went up in value years ago. Now the 73 to 80s and even the 81 to 87s are actually getting to be worth some money as well now. Right, which is basically the same truck with a different body style, like you pointed out. It’s amazing that they’re bringing the kind of money that they’re bringing.
SPEAKER 06 :
And me personally, what did they have, 112 horsepower or something out of those 305s?
SPEAKER 04 :
210 or 205s. And actually, no, I think the 305s, the 350s had, I think, 210. Don’t quote me on that. I think it was around there, 180 to 210. And the 305s were not much more than that, 160 or so. They were pretty gutless. Yeah, exactly. And you push on the gas, it’s like, okay, are we going? Yeah. literally when are we going to get there yeah literally they have that rugged look if they have a small lift well 33 inch tire and to your point uh pat what’s happened on those today is there’s no such thing as a you know i mean there are but no one cares if their original numbers match no no that’s no value you could have dropped a 383 stroke random sure As long as the body and interior and all of that is in great condition, they are bringing really solid money.
SPEAKER 05 :
What do they call those? Square body?
SPEAKER 04 :
Square body, yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
In the 80, was that before the 700 or 400? So that’s a three-speed automatic. They were the 350s or 400s, one of the two.
SPEAKER 06 :
They had the 350 lock-up or something at that point.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Just the lock-up converter. And a four-speed, one of the two. Right. Exactly.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. The next one that came in was most reliable vehicle in this case was a 2005 Honda Element with the K engine. It was a VTEC. Nice. However, it could have had a little bit more horsepower, back to what we’re talking about now, but still a daily driver at 253,000 miles. Yeah. So, yeah, that’s exactly what we’re asking is what do you consider to be a reliable vehicle? And, by the way, those elements may not have looked very good. They weren’t the most good-looking of vehicles. But I tell you what, functionality-wise, hard to beat. Oh, my gosh. You can fit straw hay bales in the back of that. There’s a lot of room in them. Yeah, exactly. There’s a lot of room in them.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, Mark in Denver, you’re up. Go ahead. How are you gentlemen doing today? Good.
SPEAKER 08 :
How are you, sir?
SPEAKER 04 :
Good morning, Mark.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, interesting thing that’s going to happen pretty soon. First, I’ll go to the favorite vehicle, 66 Suburban Powerglide 2.3 barn doors, 325,000 miles. Nice.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, and that’s that era that, Mark, I was talking about, that they’re tough to beat.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Wow. You know, a lot of truck chassis are, yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER 04 :
They work very well.
SPEAKER 08 :
The floor let loose underneath my seat in the springtime. I got some sheet metal, roofing tar, and Pop River. There you go. Back down the road.
SPEAKER 05 :
You bet. We don’t want to be dragging our toes in the gravel now. No, no, no. Flintstone it.
SPEAKER 08 :
This is through North Dakota. This is through North Dakota, so you get a slight breeze under your seat.
SPEAKER 06 :
There you go. Just slight.
SPEAKER 08 :
Slight breeze. So, John, I’m going to Tampa, and I’ve never done this before, and I can hear the John Rush devil in my ear already. um my wife wants a convertible and she’s a volvo person okay so i found a 2004 rag top because i don’t want nothing to do with that complex foldable hardtop volvo c70 was 64 000 miles so and not tremendous amount of service records. It’s been in storage for a long time. Now, here’s my game. First thing first, I’m going to fly it on there, but I’m going to have the thing flat-bedded over to the nearest Volvo dealership.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, that’s what I would do. There’s step one, yes.
SPEAKER 08 :
And then I’m going to have, he said, what kind of tires you got, Kelly? I said, well, those are going in the dump.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
And puts really quality Michelins on there.
SPEAKER 04 :
What year again was it, Mark? I missed that.
SPEAKER 1 :
2005? 2004.
SPEAKER 08 :
2004. I want a wreck. The top is new.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 06 :
I wonder if a dealer would be a better place or a Volvo specialist.
SPEAKER 04 :
I was just going to say, I’m not sure, Mark. I’m sorry on an 04. I’m not sure I’d go to the dealer. I think I would find a local Volvo specialist that understands. Where’s the car at?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, the car is in Tampa.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
And so Volvo dealership is crowned. And I already talked to the service manager there. He’s familiar with those.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, good. Okay, good. That was my biggest question was there’s a lot of dealers that don’t go that old is why I’m asking. But if he’s familiar with it and he’s willing to do it, absolutely, yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
20 years old, you have to have a season. Correct.
SPEAKER 05 :
Correct. I mean, you might be looking at some parts availability issues at 20 years. Yeah. You will be looking at that at 20 years. Yeah, you will be. So the first thing you’re doing is absolutely correct. Get it inspected. Get it checked out. And then the second thing is understand once you get it here, where are you going to have it serviced on a regular basis? Because not everybody wants to work on that.
SPEAKER 08 :
A place here in town, Baker Garage, they’re great. They’re Volvo specialists.
SPEAKER 05 :
Perfect, perfect.
SPEAKER 08 :
First thing first is going to happen is we’re going to replace the timing belt. I don’t care how many miles on the belt.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, mileage-wise, yes, absolutely. All rubber products that I want to look at. Yep.
SPEAKER 08 :
Every single aspect. I don’t care if it sits at that dealership for two weeks before I fly it out.
SPEAKER 04 :
Agree? Yeah. Absolutely. I think so. I agree with you, Mark. I mean, I’m assuming, knowing you, I’m assuming it’s a very clean car.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, it is. It’s got a brand new top. It’s navy top, blue body, white leather interior.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, my. Sounds pretty.
SPEAKER 08 :
64,000 miles, 2.3 liter turbo. Price was… $8,000. That’s cheap.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. It sounds like if you’re looking at timing belt, tires, and then you’re going to look at some regular fluid services, maintenance services, right, and just kind of go through it on a schedule.
SPEAKER 06 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, that’s awesome. I mean, no offense, Mark, if you end up with $10,000 in that car total, you’re still okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
I don’t care if it’s $15,000.
SPEAKER 05 :
As long as it’s good. Yeah, right. I agree. Well, you couldn’t buy a newer one for $15,000, right? You could not do that. Right, exactly.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, the new Volvo C70 Converbal is coming out next year, and it’s $95,000. Yeah, there you go.
SPEAKER 05 :
And you’re going to have something special, right? You’re going to pull up to church or coffee or whatever, and everyone’s going to go, ooh, nice car. Right, yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, like the 911. Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER 08 :
Nice. So the other thing is that this does not have a tool kit in it.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
So I’m trying to find on eBay a factory tool kit I can pack in a tool roll and take with me.
SPEAKER 04 :
Does the dealer have any insight on that down there? It sounds like the guy you’re talking to has got some familiarity with all of that. Does he have any insight to that?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, he does, but I’m also checking salvage yards right now to find a toolkit for that era.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay. You know, yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think eBay is one of your best spots if you can find one.
SPEAKER 05 :
Are you saying – You want the factory one?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, do you need the factory one is the question.
SPEAKER 05 :
Are there special tools?
SPEAKER 04 :
No, I know Mark. He wants the factory one. Oh, okay. Okay, so it’s not a car issue. It’s a Mark issue. It’s a Mark issue. That’s right. It’s a Mark issue. Perfect. Absolutely. Mark is like John, so this is a Mark and John issue. Not anything else, right, Mark?
SPEAKER 06 :
I will never need it. That’s right. But it came with the vehicle I wanted. That’s right. There you go. I get it.
SPEAKER 08 :
John Rush and Mark Hunter has issues. Yeah, I fully understand, Mark.
SPEAKER 05 :
What? Can fully relate. Don’t we all?
SPEAKER 08 :
So, you know, I looked at that versus an enclosed trailer shipping back, but I don’t know. I mean, there’s another option, too. Yeah. Well… Two grand to ship it back.
SPEAKER 04 :
You can do the U-ship and get a bid on an enclosed trailer, bringing it back, and not even do it yourself. That’s what I would do.
SPEAKER 08 :
But then I would miss the drama of going to Mississippi.
SPEAKER 05 :
You would. You would. No doubt. That’s a four-day trip, if not a five-day trip, isn’t it? Well, it depends. At least three.
SPEAKER 08 :
If I find some good barbecue, it might be two weeks. Good point.
SPEAKER 06 :
There’s a hotel close by.
SPEAKER 05 :
We’re staying here. That’s right. To your point, if you can make a vacation out of it, that’s worth the adventure.
SPEAKER 06 :
It’s always a car that has sat a lot and things along those lines. Just to get it out on the road for long distance. You know, I’m a little leery of that. But, I mean, for the most part, I mean, you don’t know what might pop up. Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Mark, I know you. You’re particular like me. As long as a dealer goes through everything that that car needs, yeah, then I wouldn’t hesitate at that point. But I’m like Ken. I wouldn’t just hop in and do it. Yeah. People don’t realize cars that sit can be as much of a problem as cars that are driven. More.
SPEAKER 06 :
I think more so, especially with seals and things like that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 06 :
Especially, you know, I mean, the seal’s dry right now, but you get 100 and, you know, 300, 400 miles down the road.
SPEAKER 04 :
But the only exception to that, Mark, was it in a controlled environment or did it sit outside?
SPEAKER 08 :
Controlled environment. You’re better off that way.
SPEAKER 04 :
That helps. That does help.
SPEAKER 08 :
It helps a lot. Replace the battery. Yeah, exactly. I mean, it’s got a new battery, but I’m very – The Volvo dealership there, I gave them a VIN number. They pulled the service records they could pull out of their system. And the last one was, geez, 2008. 16.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. Been a while.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Ten years almost. Nine years.
SPEAKER 08 :
It could have been an estate situation. It could have been an elderly person. Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Just not driven anymore.
SPEAKER 05 :
Will you see rust on Florida cars because of the salt water? Inside, probably not. You could outside, yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
A lot of oxidation on the aluminum and stuff like that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Inside, you’re probably fine. Yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
This car, which also makes me nervous, too, was an auction car. But who knows? I don’t know how they get there, but they get there.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I was going to say, that could just be a bad ending to a good story. That’s right.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right, exactly. Well, I think that initial inspection. The way my dad got his BMW was, it was a 94, and this was like 2004, had like 20,000 miles on it, and they just traded it in for a new one. Yeah. But it was too old for the dealer to sell. So they auctioned it off.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, exactly. That can happen too. Yeah, exactly. Good point.
SPEAKER 06 :
It doesn’t happen.
SPEAKER 08 :
So one last question, please. I won’t take up any more of your time. Tires, John, what do you like?
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, man. That is a broad question. High-end, you know me, I don’t like buying any, you know, low-end stuff. On that kind of a car, I would be looking more high-end, you know, Michelin, you know, high-end along those lines is what I would do. Michelin, Continental, something like that. Yep. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 08 :
But I got Continental’s on my 911, and so I’ll look for either Continental or Michelin, but LA tires don’t cut it for me.
SPEAKER 04 :
No, I would be doing a higher end on that, for sure.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah. Well, if I get in trouble, I’ll call you back.
SPEAKER 04 :
Let me know. All right, you got to get a hold of me, Mark. Good luck.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, that’s what I’m going to hear from you guys, too, is good luck.
SPEAKER 04 :
You’re on your own. You’ll be fine. You’ll be fine. Keep us updated. All right, see you. All right, man. Appreciate you, Mark. Jeff, Al, guys, hang tight. We’ll come right back. Take your calls. Drive Radio KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
All right, we are Back Drive Radio, KLZ 560, best, most reliable car you’ve ever owned. I got several that came in on the text line. I’ll read some of these off. First one really quick here, 2009 Pontiac Vibe GT, same as a Toyota Matrix side-by-side. The difference is the Vibe had a Camry engine and a five-speed manual transmission rather than the Corolla. Least reliable was an 83SS convertible. Sorry, 63SS convertible, the 409. People say that those old cars were really reliable, but I’ll be honest. No, you worked on them all the time. Every weekend. Yeah. Popping the hood every weekend. You worked on those old cars. Trust me, I have some. I still have some old cars.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s a performance version.
SPEAKER 04 :
You work on them all the time.
SPEAKER 05 :
And those cars, when they got 70,000 on the clock, they were done. That’s right. 100,000 mile car was wore out.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, for sure. Right. Yeah. The good old days weren’t so good. Just saying.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 04 :
So I got a few more I’ll rattle off, but that was a funny one.
SPEAKER 06 :
They had a lot of style to them. They looked really good.
SPEAKER 04 :
Now, I will say, even though that was your least reliable, you’re going to wish you owned that car because they’re bringing a boatload of money right now. Especially with the 409 SS.
SPEAKER 06 :
That 409 is bringing $100,000. Anything with an SS tab.
SPEAKER 04 :
You’re going to wish that you still had that car, actually, because of that.
SPEAKER 06 :
But probably glad you don’t because you’re going to have to store it up until this point.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. Jeff and Golden, you’re next. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 09 :
Hello. I got a car for the Irreliable. I actually never – I was thinking I never owned one, but we did them in the shop. If you remember over at Mastercraft was the older two-wheel drive. I don’t know if it’s like Gen 3 or 4. I’m not sure of the Toyota two-wheel drive pickup trucks.
SPEAKER 06 :
The old Tacomas, yeah. Yeah, would that be like early 90s?
SPEAKER 09 :
Like we made the, you know, the little dual wheel. We would cut the frames and then make them dual wheel and put the stake rack. Oh, sure. And a lot of the guys in this side of the country, you know, California too, those were real, real common. And it was kind of the first time that anybody took a little truck serious. Yep. You know, in the working world, you know.
SPEAKER 05 :
Mm-hmm. They are super reliable trucks. I think, if I’m not mistaken, their Achilles heel was rust in the bed panels, in the body sides. But if you put a flatbed and stakebed on it, 100%.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, yeah. We had one. We actually still have one that my mom, like, restored and everything. It’s kind of cool. And it’s the aluminum flatbed. Oh, yeah. Nice. Painted wood and everything. And that little truck does… That thing still runs pretty good. You know what I mean? It’s got the little two-four. They don’t have much power.
SPEAKER 05 :
I was going to say, is that the 22R, the 22RE engine?
SPEAKER 09 :
I think so. I think that’s what it is.
SPEAKER 05 :
It should be an R. Yeah, a little straight four-beggar.
SPEAKER 09 :
And then they did put six cylinders. I think they kept making those trucks because we could buy them. We made those doolies, and then Toyota actually started… selling them you know what i mean to the uh you know what i mean to the commercial side of the toyota we would buy them then we didn’t have to make them as much we classed them as a one-ton or something yeah yeah nice yeah those things were crazy because we would put overload springs on them and i remember we we were a dealer for eagle claw tow trucks and my dad and i we went down i was a little kid or whatever we went down to grab and he picked up two of those eagle uh wheel lift bodies and put it on the back of one of those uh those little Toyota trucks, and I can’t remember how far we had to drive with it, but we made it back to the shop. Wow. That’s cool.
SPEAKER 06 :
Good memories. Yeah, and you put a Chinook camper on them, all those little things. Yeah, there you go. Right, right? Yeah.
SPEAKER 09 :
Those little trucks went. They did. Those are neat little trucks. They are. It’s funny. Just before I called, I looked up to see how many they’re on, Gen 9 or whatever, the Toyota truck. It’s pretty crazy, really.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, wow. Yes, been around a long time.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, one of my neighbors has an older one.
SPEAKER 04 :
Go ahead, Jeff.
SPEAKER 09 :
I got a question on, I’m actually in front of the race car right now, the little four-star, and I’ve talked to you guys before, and you were telling me that that boost creep in, is he still kind of my tuning guy, probably in the area, is what you guys were thinking, to get this thing to a dyno, or…
SPEAKER 04 :
And that was one of the other guys we had on that day talking about that, because that is out of my league, Jeff. I don’t know. Yeah, it’s out of my league, too.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 04 :
That was somebody else mentioning that, because that’s not me. I don’t know.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. He had a very impressive website and everything else. I haven’t talked to the guy, but it seems like that is the…
SPEAKER 05 :
if you’re looking to you’re not going to find too many doing it so well i was going to say that they’ve made it illegal here that’s right that’s that’s what you will find out if if you do call him and have a conversation if he’s not the guy he will likely know the guy because they’re in the business right so there’s a it’s a small world is what i’m saying yeah yeah it’s uh there’s a guy that does like that they’re real popular this guy jason waters tuning is uh
SPEAKER 09 :
He does basically all of these front-wheel drive dirt oval cars, and he’s doing two, three, four a week. It’s amazing down there. The sport’s really growing. We’ve got a race. You guys have to look up. It’s at Kokomo Speedway. That’s just a little east of Indianapolis, I believe, but it’s for the front-wheel drive. I think it’s this. I’m not sure of the date. this week or next anyway, but it’s $100,000 to win for this front-wheel drive dirt oval.
SPEAKER 05 :
All righty then. Nice. Dirt oval front-wheel drive. Okay.
SPEAKER 09 :
Good to know. Yeah, it’s dirt oval front-wheel drive stuff, and it’s a fun class. I was going to say, who knew? Yeah, it’d be fun. Yeah, that’d be neat. You know, and what’s interesting right now is IMCA will start them at, I think it’s 14 years old. But what is a blooming little deal right now is they call the junior compacts, and they’re putting – there’s guys putting maybe seven, eight-year-olds in these little front-wheel drive Hondas and Cavaliers. Oh, my gosh. And they’ve got a whole class from seven to – 13 or whatever, you know what I mean? Driving these front-wheel drive cars out there, and it’s actually pretty interesting.
SPEAKER 05 :
And they’re fairly cheap. That’s awesome. They can acquire these skills before they realize they need to be afraid.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s awesome.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Exactly. Jeff, appreciate it. Got to run. Thank you very much for all that. Al and Denver, hang tight. We’ll come right back to you in a moment. Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
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SPEAKER 04 :
All right, before we go to Al, one other one came in. A 70 Corolla four-cylinder, four-speed. Wife bought it new. And then an 84 Corolla four-cylinder auto. His mom bought this. And then the favorite was a 73 2002 BMW four-cylinder, four-speed. That’s going along with our question of the day. Al, go ahead.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes. My son has a 2011… Tacoma.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
And he was driving, he said, and a little car come up with a ziggly line. I just wondered what that… That’s traction control. It’s a what? Traction control?
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s the traction control, yes. Yeah, I think they call it vehicle stability control or VSC.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, it’s the traction control.
SPEAKER 04 :
Is it staying on, Al? Pardon? Is it staying on?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, it was staying on, he said.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. Yeah. And that means there’s a problem in the system. Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Does it, and you might not know this, but does it come on instantly when you start it, or does it come on as he’s rolling down the road?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, he said that as he was rolling down the road, it’d come on.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
And then he stopped it and started it again, and it’s still on.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, okay. So it’s staying on then. So, yeah. Yeah. Seeing some kind of problem in that system. Yep.
SPEAKER 07 :
And the traction control? Yep.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 04 :
Stability control, traction control, all related. Something in the system is – you’ll have to have somebody diagnose that, Alan, find out. I mean, we could guess at it here, but we have no idea.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, basically that system is shut down. It’s still okay to drive. You just want to have traction control. Right. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER 07 :
It’s okay to drive, though.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, he said it was driving good, but it just – Just that little thing come on.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. And on an icier morning like this morning, if you want traction control, you’re not having it when the light’s on.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER 05 :
You’ll notice it on the slippery roads. That’s right. Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. And I have an 06X box. Would it be okay to use that EPR on it? Yes. Yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely. Yeah, I’ve never done that one. Absolutely. Do it. Yes. By all means.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, because I have a mic. A 98 Avalon, I still have that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, good.
SPEAKER 07 :
That runs great.
SPEAKER 04 :
Nice car. That’s a great car. Yeah, very good car. Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. They’ll bury me in that thing.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s a good car. Hopefully not soon.
SPEAKER 04 :
Really good car, Al.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be 90, so no sense me buying it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, you keep at it, Al. That’s right. All right. Keep it positive. Thank you, John. No, thank you very much. Keep it up. That’s awesome to hear, by the way. All right, somebody else texted in. Two Honda CRVs, 97 and a 2001. Each one have about a quarter million miles on them, 250,000 miles, routine maintenance only. Good job on that, by the way. Don and Littleton, go ahead.
SPEAKER 17 :
Hi, John. Hi, Ken. Hi, Pat. Nice to talk with you.
SPEAKER 04 :
You too.
SPEAKER 17 :
Good morning.
SPEAKER 06 :
You too, Don.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah. You know, my favorite car is a Toyota Tacoma pickup, a 2007. Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Love that truck. Pretty hard to beat.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, but you know, the funny thing is, John, the Consumer Reports car issue came out just a month or two ago. And Toyota Tacoma is no longer recommended. In fact, it’s way down on the rating.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, they’ve had engine issues of late. That’s why. In 25 or, you know, 25 models.
SPEAKER 1 :
24, 23, 24, 25.
SPEAKER 04 :
Actually, 24, 25. 24 mainly. Yeah, so that’ll take the average out.
SPEAKER 17 :
It was sad to me because Toyota was always, the Tacoma was always the truck that never quit, you know.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. I have so many listeners, texters, Don, that will tell you right now, do not buy one, period. The new ones. Okay.
SPEAKER 17 :
That’s amazing to me. My neighbor has a Tacoma. It’s a couple of years old, and it’s a V6, and he had a leak behind his engine. The coolant was dripping, and he took it in, and it’s a plastic fitting that takes a coolant line in behind the engine, and that plastic fitting cracked. But here’s the tough part. The dealer wanted $2,000 because the transmission has to be removed to replace that fitting.
SPEAKER 05 :
To get to it, yeah. It’s a big job.
SPEAKER 17 :
He called Toyota and complained, and they ponied up $1,500 of it. It wasn’t too bad, but still.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 17 :
That surprises me, you know. I thought Toyota did better than that as far as reliability.
SPEAKER 04 :
Something happened on those.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah. Hey, I had something interesting happen, John, I wanted to tell you. Sure. I have a battery in my Tacoma. It’s nine years old, and it’s been on a battery tender. And I did a hydrometer test on it when I tuned the car up, and one cell was 50 points lower than the others. So by rights, that’s a battery that needs to be replaced. Yes, yeah. Well, I’ve been reading about this thing called a battery minder. It’s like a battery tender. But it’s supposed to desulfate a battery, and I didn’t know if it was really legit or not, but I bought one and hooked it up, let it run for two weeks.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 17 :
And I did the hydrometer test again, and that cell that was 50 points low is now only 25 points low.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, so it’s helping.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, so it’s a healthy battery now. It’s serviceable.
SPEAKER 04 :
Interesting. And that’s a battery minder. I’ve never heard of it.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, I read about it in Auto Restore magazine years ago.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 17 :
And a guy had tested it, and he said, you know, I think there’s something to this. He had tested, he had put this on several batteries that were not serviceable, and he brought them back to life. Interesting. And I know my experience is just anecdotal, but I’ll tell you what, I think this thing works.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. Well, I think you did a good test to see. Yeah. Do you know what the brand name of that battery might be? It’s the name. That is the name. I just looked it up, yeah.
SPEAKER 17 :
All right. Bad reminder, M-I-D-E-R, bad reminder. And it’s about the same money as any other tender would be. Interesting. And I’ll tell you what. I’m sold on it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, that’s good.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’ve got one battery in AGM that I have struggled to keep working correctly, Don. You know what? For the money, I’m going to order one of these and give it a whirl. Try it. What I got to lose. When those stinking AGMs are $300, I’ll spend some money on a minder and see what happens. For sure.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It might be interesting, Don.
SPEAKER 04 :
I will give that a whirl. You just got me onto something that I will. I learn as much from you guys as you do me, so I appreciate that very much.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, hey, we learned a ton from you, John.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I learned a lot from you guys as well, and I just pass it along. So I’m going to give that a whirl, and I’ll report back as well. Well, thanks. It’s always a pleasure talking with you. You too, Don. Appreciate you, man, very much. Buck, hang tight question of the day he’s got for us as well. I’ve got a few more to rattle off here, by the way. Somebody mentioned a 2016 F-350, 88,000 miles, has had no issues. Another was a 2019 Ram 3500, 91,000. Those can be an issue, so good for you. Glad you haven’t had any issues because some have. An old 88 Ram 12 valve, yeah, other than the body on the truck itself, the engine and drivetrain and all that was pretty tough to beat. And then somebody actually said a 2007 Maxima. Yeah, you know, in those years, actually, I can’t argue that one either. All right, guys, we’ll be back. Got another couple hours coming your way. Question of the day is the most reliable car you’ve ever owned. Give us what that is. We’ll come back again. Hour number two is next. Two hours left, of course, though, of Drive Radio. KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 14 :
Still haven’t had enough? Go to drive-radio.com. Email your questions and comments. Download previous programs and find lots of useful information, including your nearest Colorado Select Auto Care Center. That’s drive-radio.com. Thanks for listening to Drive Radio, sponsored by the member shops of Colorado Select Auto Care Centers. On KLZ 560.
