Piston Slap: Peeling Ponies and Contaminated Aluminum Hoods

TTAC Commentator Kurt_B writes:

Hi TTAC. I’m a long time reader and member. My four-year-old Mustang hood is peeling. Ford does not cover this issue outside of the three-year comprehensive warranty, and even when repaints are authorized they don’t last. This is a very common issue that has to do with poor paint adhesion to aluminum. I’m pretty sure we’re going to see peeling 2015+ F150s in a few years with their aluminum panels.

For Sajeev: A lot of owners buy aftermarket fiberglass hoods (Cervini, etc). Others have their factory hoods repainted, which may or may not last. One shop I went to suggested vinyl-wrapping the hood — something I really don’t want to do to a four-year-old car.

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Piston Slap: Vapor Lock and the Hot R32?
Nick writes:I bought a used 2008 Volkswagen Golf R32 with 48,000 miles in January 2010 (5,000 only in the U.S., 3.2-liter NA V6). Every summer since then I’ve had issues as the weather warms up. Basically, it starts to act up when driving at around 85+ miles-per-hour or so, and it gets even worse if I’m stuck in any kind of stop-and-go traffic. The only sure fix is letting it sit and cool off for 30 minutes or longer.
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  • Tassos This "Eldorado" is a sad caricature of the far more substantial Eldorado and esp "Biarritz"s of the late 50s and 60s.It belongs to the junkyard. I can see no reason why anybody would want to restore this loser.Instead, you can get a FLAGSHIP German Luxury Sedan from the Web auctions, such as this one that was just sold for a tiny fraction of its price new, and which is still eminently driveable with little or no improvements:https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3oeMDvJw/2011-audi-a8-42-quattro
  • Cprescott Yet Honduh can't even build a car with safe seatbelts.
  • Analoggrotto " If we look into who was leading in overall recalls for 2022, Ford had the most – followed by Volkswagen, Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, and General Motors. Though Kia and Hyundai followed immediately after."Such great company to be within.
  • FreedMike Here's my question: Why, Dodge, did you wait 10+ years to introduce a vehicle like the Hornet - a compact CUV with some performance chops and "Dodge attitude"? I'm not crazy about the Hornet itself, but the concept itself is great, and if they'd done something like it - and at a lower price point - in 2012, they wouldn't be staring at the business abyss they are now. They might have even generated enough profit to keep the Challenger and Charger refreshed and up-to-date, as Ford did with the Mustang - which is sticking around, unlike the Dodge muscle cars.
  • 28-Cars-Later Staying in the Strip? Downtown? Elsewhere?