TTAC Commentator Cameron Evans writes:

Dear Sajeev,

I am the proud owner of a 1992 F-150, 4×2, regular cab, long box, with power nothing and the Big Six. I love everything about the truck, except for the one concession to my wife, the E4OD gearbox.

Now that the tranny is shot (slip city, followed by violent shifts), I need your advice. The Ford has a lot of new, high quality parts (Michelin’s, o2 sensor, egr valve, coil, water pump, alternator, exhaust, etc), but it’s also rusty as hell from 19 Minnesota winters and the body is beat up from being a municipal truck.

Simple question, drop the cash on a rebuilt tranny or cut my losses?

Thanks in advance!

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Matt writes:

Hey Sajeev. Looking for your wisdom, or perhaps that of the B&B. I’ve got a 2005 Hyundai Elantra with about 50k miles. Back around 40k, we had new tires put on it at Sears. Now I want to rotate the tires (yes, I know, I should have done this a while ago), but when I got to the very last wheel, I ran into a roadblock. The rear right wheel is fused to the hub! It seems to be rusted on. Poking around a few forums online, I got a couple of ideas:

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Ryan writes:

This is Ryan in Chicago again . I am still driving an Acura 2004 TL with about 80k miles, but with winter on the way, I get the itch to switch to a more winter/city car. I used to park in a heated garage at home and work. Now I am relegated to the street parking all the time. Here are my thoughts: – the tl is going to really suffer with all the time in the cold and snow – I am planning on adding a nice sporty car ($40k) to the mix next spring – I always thought a solid cheap AWD vehicle for driving around (and parking) in the city like bronco, wrangler, outback would be great I look forward to your ideas. (Read More…)

Karl writes:

Sajeev, I am not sure if this has been covered before, but I am writing about washing cars in winter. I finally have a car that is new enough and nice to worry about keeping the body in good shape for a long time. It will not be driven that regularly, so I expect to keep it for a decade–I tend to keep my cars a long time. I remember reading long ago (okay, long, long ago) about not washing vehicles in freezing weather. Well, I live in Wisconsin, so that is a third of the year. I want my new purchase to last, so what should I do to preserve the paint and the body?

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Ben writes:

Hello Sajeev, my father owns a 2005 Ford Focus wagon. The car has 100,000 km’s on it (Canadian) and it has been well maintained. The car has never given him any issues and runs very well but the paint is in horrible condition. He purchased the vehicle after the lease was up and soon after the paint started peeling. He didn’t think too much of it, but recently it has gotten much worse… Ford did not apply primer on the car.

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