I just looked at the weather for the rest of the week and they think that it will rain all next weekend.

I guess I will have to drive the Z to work a few days this week, either that or I can test out the new tires in some of the wet stuff.

 

Yeah, it is more regular maintenance. More like a perfect storm of maintenance. At least having the ext warranty helped out with this one. Oh, and forgot to add that I need an alignment too. Also, just wanted to throw out that during my 100 point inspection when my oil was changed, they note things that are worn or need to be replaced and they quote prices to replace. They tagged my wipers as needing to be replaced and their quote was $50! Really? That much to replace the wipers? I don't think so. I wonder if they actually get people to pay that much for silly stuff like wipers. Larger things or PITA things like flushing fluids and stuff, I could see having someone else do it. But the things that are easy? Not me.

 

I'm pretty sure having a K&N reuseable filter pays for itself after one trip to the dealer when it would have needed replacing.

 

blah I wish today would end already

 

Is everybody still going to the VQ meet on the 26th. I know that the dates have changed but is everybody still going to make it that said they were?

 

Im still going

 

Only two more hours then it is time to go home.

Only two more days to do your taxes.

 

I don't owe any taxes this year. Last year it was like $20, but I guess since my mutual fund isn't doing to well I owe a whopping $0 to Obama.

 

Maintenance is not too bad if you keep up with it. Sounds like you're waiting until everything is about to nearly break down before you even change it. The Z does not seem all that expensive to maintenance compared to many other vehicles I've seen (ie: european/germans of course).

 

not intentionally waiting on everything. I just don't always have the $$ laying around (or time) to fix things as they wear out and they seem to be wearing out faster than I can save the $$ to fix them, or at least at the same time. That's why I'm trying to learn how to do some of the things myself, like the belts this past Friday, and Jake doing the brakes last month. Getting new tires and alignment is a large chunk of change that I've been saving for. I guess I shouldn't complain, it's not like it's a Ford that breaks all of the time.

 

i dunno... tires, breaks and belts are all regular wear items that all vehicles need changed pretty frequently. i think you would be in the same spot with whatever vehicle you drove. sometimes, people buy cars that are beyond their means and have a hard to maintaining them because they spend so much to buy and insure the car in the first place.

 

If it's just stock wheels tires are really not that bad. As long as you drive normally they shouldn't need to be changed that often. Pads are not that expensive unless you go with some ultra high performance ones. Rotors can be resurfaced 1-2 times so that's not bad either. Belts aren't done until around 50-60k miles and last quite a while.

Tires its not until you upgrade to some wider 18s, 19s and want really wide tires 245/255..275/285/295..etc. Same with brakes when you want to upgrade is when things starts getting expensive.

 

Well, I've kept everything stock for that reason. Slotted and drilled rotors look good, but I can't justify that cost. Same with the Brembo brakes. Nice to have, but don't really need them. With the exception of tires, everything else is small stuff. It's just that it feels like something else wears out eveytime I get my oil changed. Alignment issues have ruined my front tires once again. I had them replaced 01/08 because of uneven wear due to bad alignment. Rears were replaced 02/08. So original set lasted about 27K miles and now this set has lasted about 24K miles. I don't know what the tread life of the OEM Bridgestones are, so I can't comment on premature wear for the rear tires (they seem to be wearing evenly). I barely even test what the car can really do. I guess you could say I really baby it. Since I've passed 50K miles, I'd expect the belts and brakes to be worn and needing to be replaced. It just seems like it is always something 3K miles.
As for buying a car beyond my means and not being able to maintain it, that isn't the case. The tires, maybe. I usually don't have an extra $900 lying around for tires. Especially not when I wasn't expecting to have to replace them when I just bought new ones 14 months ago. Or maybe it's because this is the longest I've ever kept a used car, so I've never had to deal with having to replace worn parts to this exent. I made it through the first 13 months without having to do anything but oil changes. So this last year has been quite different. That's really what I was trying to say I guess.
BTW, where do you guys (or gals) get your tires and where do you get them mounted?

 

Discount Tire. Get them to match discout tire directs price and you can save some good money. My new tires were like $650 OTD. 275/45/20 Hankook Ventus ST RH06. I think they were roughly $120 a tire.

 

^ how are the hankooks? I also have 20's and the tires i have right now are too loud for my daily driving.

Anyone have any recommendations for which tires to get? I dont need any performance tires, just something that is great tire but it has to be quiet. Im on the highway alot, so that is a must.

FYI-
front tires-nitto 555
rear tires-toyo proxes 4

forgot to mention the specs:
fronts-245/35/20
rears-295/30/20

 

When I had my 20s I was getting the Toyo proxes 4 245/35/20 for around $115 for my front tires from kauffman tire co. but they were loud the rears were kinda high I forget how much it's been a while.

 

I like my Hankook's, but they are a sport truck tire, hence the ST. Not sure they would work on the Z, if you could even find the right size.

 

I'm on Falken FK452. Cheap and solid tire.

 

stu-didnt even see the ST, guess i was reading too quick
nihsnek-are you on 20's? if so, are they pretty quiet?
I paid $250 each for the toyo proxes 4 last year, my wallet is still hurting to this very day lol

 

Good Morning to all, And to all a Good Morning.

Quote for the day:

" Luck, is when preparation meets opportunity. "