I want to make my car into a truck. Do I just buy a blow torch, superglue and bubble wrap? [more inside]
posted by Pennyblack on Dec 10, 2009 - 19 answers

I'm generally freaking out about buying a car (used, my first) and have a short laundry list of very general questions. [more inside]
posted by Shepherd on Jul 28, 2009 - 19 answers

Currently in my 2005 Chevy Malibu the driver seat frame is cracked. Underneath the seat I can see a metal bar going across (not IN the seat but under) and it has a huge crack/hole and the other piece is hanging off. This causes my seat to tilt back some and rock. I know eventually when that breaks completely my seat will forever tilt back. Is there a way I can fix this by DIY? [more inside]
posted by dolemite01 on May 6, 2009 - 7 answers

If one car engine makes 3 revolutions on the starter engine before it runs, and (the same spec) other car engine takes 10, does the starting time cause one engine to sustain more wear than the other? [more inside]
posted by wildatheart on Feb 26, 2009 - 7 answers

Is there any difference in performance between pre-gapped sparkplugs (such as these) and ones that you have to gap yourself? [more inside]
posted by Aanidaani on Jan 14, 2008 - 7 answers

What is the best low maintenance, high gas mileage, low cost car I can buy (new or used) on a limited budget. [more inside]
posted by DetonatedManiac on Dec 12, 2007 - 23 answers

How do I prove that an odometer has not been tampered with? [more inside]
posted by TauLepton on Oct 17, 2007 - 14 answers

My hatchback car (Honda Fit) doesn't have a separately-locking trunk or glovebox. Can I add a lock-box or secret compartment somewhere inside the car for stashing a few items, for those times I must turn over my keys (parking garage, valet)? Ideally I'd only be securing/concealing 3 deck-of-cards-sized items: iPod, GPS, EZPass. There are no official Honda accessories that do this, nor can I find any Fit-fanatic mods that have addressed it.
posted by xo on Aug 1, 2007 - 4 answers

Sorta-Kinda Fast and the Furious Filter: Ideas for tuning my 2001 Toyota Camry XLE? [more inside]
posted by Cool Papa Bell on May 31, 2007 - 17 answers

Does drafting a truck theoretically lower the truck's mileage? [more inside]
posted by condour75 on Mar 10, 2007 - 19 answers

I spilled a bunch of gas in my car. The smell--apparently--does not dissipate even with the windows rolled down. Any ideas?
posted by mwachs on Jan 29, 2007 - 7 answers

Can I drive my car to the shop if the oil warning light has come on? [more inside]
posted by Methylviolet on Jan 22, 2007 - 33 answers

Car makes an Odd Sound [more inside]
posted by slowtree on Jan 18, 2007 - 12 answers

Why does my '98 Saturn SC1 have odd idling problems after more than an hour of highway driving (i.e. it sometimes revs high, sometimes it drops to nothing and stalls)? [more inside]
posted by Java_Man on Dec 13, 2006 - 8 answers

Biodiesel or hybrid? I need a new car, and of course there's [more inside]
posted by kaseijin on Nov 1, 2006 - 19 answers

What kind of car is the safest to drive? There are lots of studies on which cars are best in a crash, but I suspect that some cars crash less often than others, so I am interested in statistics that take the rate of accidents as well as crashworthiness into account. [more inside]
posted by procrastination on Dec 27, 2005 - 24 answers

Do I want to sell my car to a salvage yard? If so, how do I do it? [more inside]
posted by rkent on Aug 10, 2005 - 13 answers

After my friend put 5030 oil into his 1990 Toyota Camry Wagon, it began belching white smoke and the engine's overheating. What's going on, what can be done and how serious is this? He fears he destroyed his car through bad oil choices.
posted by johngoren on Jul 23, 2005 - 14 answers

The new Ford Mustang, just like the last one, "features" a solid rear axle. Ford (and her enthusiasts) claim that such a design is for "performance reasons." Is this plausible? [more inside]
posted by Kwantsar on May 16, 2005 - 12 answers

What are the necessities for a person to have in their car? [more inside]
posted by matildaben on Apr 1, 2005 - 46 answers

Automotive question:
The battery doesn't charge and we subsequently have to manually recharge it at the garage, hopefully before it conks out on us on the road. Driving at night poses problems, since the lights obviously draw off of the battery - it's a heavy drain, trust me. Here's the question: we know it's not the battery (two brand new batteries, same problem), the alternator is showing good numbers (apparently meaning that it's charging, I'm told), all belts are running properly and are tight, the mechanics found no loose connections; what could be the problem?
posted by ashbury on Feb 25, 2004 - 14 answers