Piston Slap: Oil Burning and Carbon Cleaning?

Arley writes:

Sajeev,

I have a 2003 Jetta TDI with 178k miles. Runs 100%. My mechanic recommends a carbon cleaning. What are the positives and negatives? To be more succinct, what can go wrong?

You can tune a piano but you can’t tuna fish. (Good to know! – SM)

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Piston Slap: Minivan or SUV to Take the "A" Liner?

Clark writes:

Sajeev,

We plan on buying a hard-side folding camper (a.k.a. an Aliner) with a dry weight of about 2,100 lbs. Which minivan or SUV would you recommend?

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Piston Slap: LeMons Racer Seeks Minivan Normalcy

Brian writes:

Sajeev,

Heeding the call for silly, not-really-that-good letters…plus I wrote you a while back about my Freestyle. Since then, my wife actually sat in a minivan, and that’s the direction we are heading. We are looking at replacing it quickly so that she can take the three kiddos to Grandma’s house while I enter Lemons South this March.

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  • ToolGuy Please allow me to listen to the podcast before commenting. (This is the way my mind works, please forgive me.)
  • ToolGuy My ancient sedan (19 years lol) matches the turbo Mazda 0-60 (on paper) while delivering better highway fuel economy, so let's just say I don't see a compelling reason to 'upgrade' and by the way HOW HAVE ICE POWERTRAIN ENGINEERS BEEN SPENDING THEIR TIME never mind I think I know. 😉
  • FreedMike This was the Official Affluent-Mom Character Mobile in just about every TV show and movie in the Aughts.
  • Offbeat Oddity The RAV4, and I say this as someone who currently owns a 2014 CR-V. My aunt has a 2018 CR-V that has had a lot of electrical issues, and I don't trust the turbo and CVT to last as long as Toyota's NA engine and 8-speed automatic. Plus, the RAV4 looks sportier and doesn't have the huge front overhang.
  • Offbeat Oddity I'd go with Mazda, especially now that there's no more cylinder deactivation on the 2024 NA motor. It's around $4-5k less than the Toyota with similar equipment, and I think reliability is probably very close between them.Regarding reliability, hasn't this generation of RAV4 taken a hit? I know it's not rated as highly in Consumer Reports, and there were teething issues during the first few years. I'm surprised it's not mentioned in more reviews- even Jack Baruth's. I'm sure the bugs have been worked out by now, though.