₦airaland Forum

Primegold:
Kaybee14,

Thank your stars. If they did, they would charge you triple the sms rate that telcos charge for the service.

hahaha haha!
hahaha haha!!
hahaha haha!!!

adanny01:
1. Keep pumping the brakes till you stop.
In an emergency that you need to stop to avoid hitting an object, use the hand brake but with very serious caution as that will lead to skidding. My advise is to pull lightly while holding the release button. Most hand brakes are cable operated connected directly to the rear brakes. A functional hand brake doesnt fail when hydraulic brake lines leak.
2. Just control steering to a stop without applying brake or hand brake.
My friend and his neighbour were buried yesterday due to tire burst. My only guess was he applied brakes and probably didnt wear seat belts.
3. Always put brand new unexpired tires in the front. If your must replace 2 new tires put them at the front not at the back. This is why i like FWD, they will allow you manage worn out tires in the rear but RWD needs good tires front and back else you will have rear wheel skidding all the time.

FWD, worn rear tires and rain is an extremely bad combination. In the rains, tires with deeper threads must go to the back.
FWD, worn rear tires in the dry season, you can get away with but not recommended.

ArikeAriyo:
An accident just occurred at ido bridge....



[img]http://4.bp..com/-pjzcubdBeLM/VoVb1tl6qZI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/o6026Yz2SGQ/s320/CXkPq8JWcAEo9g1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://4.bp..com/-pjzcubdBeLM/VoVb1tl6qZI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/o6026Yz2SGQ/s320/CXkPq8JWcAEo9g1.jpg[/img]

Source :https://mobile.twitter.com/D_Philz/status/682594169022496768

CC:Lalasticlala

Bus and taxi go drive like mad man, when patience is called for they will not remember, after they hit you, they will lie on the floor, abeg sell the bus and repair the car! I de vex

Rumin8:
When going to inspect a used vehicle, go with an auto technician that specializes in that brand of vehicle, not just any mechanic

I went to inspect the vehicle with a mechanic friend who sadly, is a Honda specialist. He had worked with me in my Honda and Acura days and I wrongly assumed he was qualified enough to perform routine checks on this VW Passat in other to certify the car worthy. Of course he drove it, over rough and smooth roads, tested horns, wipers, lights and checked tires briefly. He told me the only thing he noticed was that the shocks needed replacement, said engine was okay and transmission was smooth. Shocks weren't major issues I felt, and concluded it was safe enough to buy.

Always, always, get a used car raised and get that specialist mechanic to go underneath for a thorough inspection. Where possible, remove the front tyres and check the suspension and engine bay extensively. Know what components are bad, what would need instant replacements so you know just how much more money you'd be putting in after buying it (if you'd still be buying it). A TEST DRIVE IS NOT ENOUGH[/b]

My friend said shocks were bad. If only he knew.


If only I had gone with a VW specialist for inspection, raised the car and done a thorough assessment. If I hadn't perceived that warning light as insignificantly as the seller made it seem, I wouldn't be in this position. Of course, I regret buying the car but it's too late.

So if you are in the market for a used car, take these precautions and save yourself the expense and arguments with stubborn mechanics and spare parts dealers.

[Note: This post is for the purpose of informing others, not eliciting sympathy for my misfortune. It already contains admission of my naivete in the purchase of a used car. It would be unwise to abuse or insult me further. ]

How unfortunate.

Summary: if you want to buy a luxury vehicle, get a luxury vehicle specialist. If you want to buy an everyday beater, any mechanic "can" in theory do the inspection, but never vice versa.

God will turn your pain into joy very soon when you can afford to get a replacement.

How sad that so many here on nairaland often advise those with lemon vehicles to sell it to the unsuspecting, instead of declaring a loss and selling to the wreckyard at a loss and moving on. I want to believe that you would not wish your enemy the sort of pain you have passed through which is why you wrote all the above.



The parts I have highlighted is because while I respect professionals a lot. I believe that if you are indeed a professional, you should be able to answer the question why, to defend why you hold a position, and never say, take it from me, take or leave it, but don't why, or I cannot explain.If indeed you know it that well, you should be able to tell. As it turns out, many believe that you should trust them just because they are professionals and when things go wrong like now, they are in no position to mitigate your losses or share your losses, they might even be unable to say sorry, and will stupidly and foolishly defend the untenable. Professional opinions have been later discovered to be wrong or to have arisen from unreasonably held biases, which only dispassionate analysis has unearthed.

Many mechanics are specialists in a particular brand and rather than being humble enough to admit that they do not know about the other brand, will mis-advise based on their insecurities and biases and in order to milk some more cash from the unsuspecting.

Here was a clear case of lack of humility, because he should as an expert have given you sensible advice, go and meet someone who specializes in that type of vehicle. He should have told you to give him time to make contacts and introduce you to someone. But by being proud and arrogant, he has to an extend destroyed your trust, and caused you immeasurable loss. While it is possible to remain friends with him, the friendship will change because relying on his expert advice has caused you pain, the loss of money which can be regained, time which cannot and extreme discomfort. By the way, did you pay him for this advice that has caused you much grieve?

Here is another consideration, even after meeting an expert, it never hurts to seek a second opinion from another expert. When a window regulator failed, one expert told me I needed to buy another. So I went somewhere else and I was told, something fell out, I will fabricate it and it will return to normal. It never hurts to seek a second opinion.

May God bless your heart, sweep your pains away and make you smile again.

Finally

How To Own A Ridiculously Cheap And Reliable Mercedes S-Class

source:thegarage.jalopnik.com

It's no secret - I'm a huge fan of the Mercedes W220 S-Class. With its insane depreciation curve and world-beating ride comfort, driver experience, and unmatched opulence, it becomes a nearly unbeatable value in today's used car marketplace. Today I'm going to show you how to make it the most reliable car you've ever had.
The Fault

The 2000-2006 W220 S-Class is a technological masterpiece, with more than 200 individual patents filed for its proprietary systems. It has a myriad of computers handling its various and numerous features, but it has one major Achilles' heel: the inside can flood from a light drizzle, rendering the car inoperable with the very real potential for thousands of dollars in damage. The cause is a 2-inch wide vent at the bottom of the front cowl, known as the reed valve, that over time, gets clogged with debris and floods the chamber, causing water to flow over the cowl, into the cabin, underneath the carpet, and shorts out the rear Signal Acquisition Module (SAM) and fuse box underneath the rear passenger's side seat. In a car with a near 6-figure MSRP when new, this was, and still is, a huge oversight. Here's an example of how extensive the damage could be:

While this may be a major fly in someone's burlwood-and-Nappa-leather-covered ointment, it is one of the major reasons that a good condition S-Class can be had for less than the price of a Used Honda Civic. Just check what they're going for on eBay and wonder why you ever thought a base model Civic was ever an option.

Also, for those also worrying about the sometimes expensive Airmatic suspension components failing, check out how I remedied them reasonably with virtually no downtime in this article.

This fix, although a bit dirty, is the single most important thing you can do to your S-Class next to oil changes and making sure your climate control adequately filters the smell of poverty from the cabin. If you're worried about this issue rearing its wet ugly head, you have a few options:

1. Clean Out The Reed Valve

What one possible solution entails is basically cleaning out the cowl and clearing the debris from the valve, using a stick, as seen on MBworld.org, by dkimnyc:

2. Drill An Emergency Hole In The Cowl

This solution is brought to you by Mercedes itself. Here's the schematic of where to drill the hole. Although it doesn't deal with the actual reed valve issue, it does provide a stopgap between the reed valve failing and the the cabin flooding.

3. Remove Reed Valve Completely

While the above methods can be effective remedies, I have devised a procedure to be a bit more permanent and efficient:

1. Open the hood

2. Locate the passenger's side cowl vent

3. Take off the vent grille by pulling up with your fingers

4. Remove debris/dirt from entire cowl area, wipe down thoroughly

5. Find the reed valve at the bottom.

6. Place finger in reed valve.

7. Pull up, removing reed valve.

8. Re-install vent grille.

9. Enjoy an S-Class that doesn't flood.

By removing the reed valve, any water should flow directly down and through the drain, leading below the car. Although this is a permanent fix, you should periodically check the drain for leaves, twigs, and anything else that could hinder the flow of water away from the sensitive electrical components and clean it out accordingly. With this simple, cheap, and crucial step, you'll have an S-Class that you won't need to worry about in car washes, rainstorms, or surprise water polo tournaments.

While this isn't the only common problem in the W220, it is on the top of the list of the most widely spread and easiest to fix. If you shop right and budget for some repairs over time, there shouldn't be any wallet-draining issues on this model. Without a doubt, it's the best car value in the market today, and it will change your life. Find one of your very own right now.

More

How To Own A Ridiculously Cheap And Reliable BMW 7-Series

source: thegarage.jalopnik.com

Automotive depreciation is kind of like Robin Hood: it makes models that would regularly be available to only the rich, accessible to those with even the most laughable of bank account balances. But what good is it if the car has notoriously expensive mechanical issues? Don't worry, I got your back.
The Fault

The 2002-2008 BMW 7-series was controversial to roughly the same degree that Beyonce is underrated. It had styling made by the love-him-or-hate-him Chris Bangle, and was the first car to come equipped with BMW's proprietary iDrive system, which had the user-friendliness of the Large Hadron Collider. Its long-wheelbase, fully loaded models still had technology that the current S-Class didn't have, like electric rear side window shades, six-speed automatic transmission, electronic parking brake, and an infinitely variable intake manifold. This meant that the car had some serious kit to go along with its awesome, near six-figure original price tag. But there was huge problem, and its name was BMW.

During the early 2000s, BMW was regularly having its lunch eaten by the Mercedes S-Class, and in order to one-up the rival German automaker, they employed longer engine oil change intervals, called Condition Based Servicing, or CBS. What this meant is that new BMWs needed their oil changed once every 15,000 miles as a minimum, in an attempt to get people interested in their new line of Bangle-butts. Just as time heals all wounds, it also exposes bullshit. 15,000 miles, as it turns out, was way too long of an interval for the 4.4 and 4.8 liter N62 V8s in the 745/750i.

What this mistake did over time was harden the engine's oil seals so that they became brittle and would leak, allowing oil where it shouldn't be – in the intake manifold and in some cases, the combustion chamber – which decreased performance and gave a noticeable plume of whitish blue smoke when running and idling. While oil seals can be potentially expensive on a regular car, they can be downright financially suicidal on a BMW as complex as this. If the problem is valve guide seals, a competent BMW dealership would likely charge between $4500 to $8,000 in labor alone.

For that reason, you can find decent used examples for well under five figures today. Seriously, check out the insane markdowns on early, fully loaded, relatively low mileage models.
The Fix

If your new-to-you 7-series starts becoming a chain smoker, you have a few options and likely possible causes:

Replace The Crankcase Vent Valve (CCV)

The CCV, also known as the PCV valve, allows a vacuum from the intake manifold into the crankcase, relieving pressure and saving oil seals from that excess pressure. When these parts fail, they can allow oil to seep into the intake manifold and into the combustion chamber, causing the telltate bluish-white smoke. The parts required are around $50, and the whole thing can be completed with hand tools in short order. Here's the entire procedure from start to finish:

Replace Valve Guide Seals

This is another fix that involves a cheap part, but the labor is the killer. The valve guide is an integral oil seal between the combustion chamber and the cylinder head. If the above CCV fix still doesn't change your car's smoking habit, the valve guide seals may be the likely culprit. To change this part traditionally, you would have to remove both cylinder heads, which means a complete disassembly of the front of the engine, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds, and timing equipment, as well as all accessories and cooling components. This is where that near-five-figure budget for labor comes in.

By the powers of the free market, a forward-thinking company called All German Auto has developed a tool that allows you to keep your engine largely intact, cutting install time and costs by orders of magnitude. Their innovative tool costs around $850, and while it is expensive, it's absolutely everything you'll need to complete this job, other than the actual valve guide seals, which are about $50. You can always sell the tool when you're done with it, but with the price of a traditional repair method, one use of this tool would've already paid for itself. Although a good independent shop should routinely charge around $600 for a job of this size, it's something you can definitely do yourself over the course of a long weekend. Here's the entire procedure:

While the oil burning issue isn't the only common issue this car has, it is the one that most people consider the most daunting, and one of the biggest reasons why this car has depreciated to the point where nearly anyone can afford to buy it. It's a crazy value, and if taken care of with regular 5,000 - 7,000 mile oil change intervals, it can last a long, long while. Find one to make your own right now and make the neighbors jealous.

Yet another view

When You Own a Used Luxury Car, Everyone Thinks You’re Rich
source: http://dougdemuro.kinja.com

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's Monday. That probably means you rolled out of bed early this morning, tired and possibly hung over; you staggered around, haphazardly assembling your clothes; you drove to work, stuck in stop-and-go traffic behind an endless series of assholes; and you guzzled coffee in order to keep your eyes open.

As for me, I feel your pain: the shower went cold around 10 a.m. today, about halfway through a rousing rendition of Jimmy Eat World's fifth album, Chase This Light, as sung by me, using the shampoo bottle as a microphone. So I think we can agree that our mornings were equally grueling.

So grueling, in fact, that I've decided to forsake my usual morning brainstorming session and steal the idea for today's column from a reader. I happen to love it when readers give me column ideas, because it provides me with more time to devote to other pursuits, such as scouring eBay for Land Rover Gear. (Official motto: Because nothing says "I've Made It" like a guy wearing Land Rover socks.)

So anyway, you might be wondering what reader-generated topic I'm going to cover today. Well, if that's the case, then I would say: Time for a little more coffee, jackass, because it's right there in the title! Yes, that's right: I'm going to talk about how everyone thinks you're rich when you own a used luxury car.

In order to comprehensively cover this issue, I should tell you that, in college, I drove an Audi. But don't get your hopes up: this wasn't a special Audi, like my friend Paul's RS4, which has fender flares the size of a water buffalo. It wasn't even a kind of special Audi, like that A4 S-Line driven by your co-worker who swears it's "just one step below an S4." This was an old A4, painted purple, which was a factory color presumably devised by some Audi employee who had already lined up a job over at BMW.

Beyond its rather unfortunate color, my Audi had a few flaws. For example: because of its advanced age, it didn't have modern gadgets like an iPod interface or a USB port. It had a cassette player. So I got one of those iPod-to-cassette devices, which let me hook up my iPod to a cassette tape that would, on occasion, get stuck inside the stereo.

Also: you'd set off the alarm in my A4 if you parked it with the windows rolled down, because the car would think it was being burglarized… by the wind. And the LCD screen in the gauge cluster attempted to display every single vehicular function, and also the time, using roughly eleven pixels.

But my old college Audi had four rings on the hood, and that was enough for most people to think I was, in fact, tremendously wealthy.

It was so strange: if I was picking up a friend who had never seen the car, he would invariably open the door, sit down, and make some comment like "Ooooh, you have an Audi," speaking with the same tone an African tribesman might use the first time he experienced air conditioning. For a lot of these people, it almost seemed like they thought I was some sort of exotic chauffeur, leading them around in a beautiful, dreamy luxury vehicle. When in reality, I was just some guy driving a used car with an iPod dangling from the cassette player.

The craziest part about all this, of course, is that my family really didn't spend that much money for the car. I think it was approximately nine grand, plus a subsequent timing belt service, which meant that the total price was roughly the same as a Nissan Versa without air conditioning. And my friends never would've said anything about a Nissan Versa without air conditioning, except, of course: "Why the f*** is it always so hot in here?"

Actually, the price isn't the craziest part about all of this. The craziest part is that people would oooh and aaaah over the Audi even when their own vehicles were far more expensive. This remains true today. Show up in a $12,000 used BMW to meet someone with a brand-new Honda Accord, and they'll fawn all over the BMW, even though the Accord is worth three times as much and has more cameras than Supermax.

This entire topic came into focus for me a few weeks ago, when I posted that long rant about how a valet damaged my Range Rover. This post garnered hundreds of replies, all of which can be summarized in the following three categories:

1. Stories about personal experiences with rampant valet abuse, damage, or carelessness: 94 percent.
2. Unbridled anger that I would leave a Range Rover with a valet: 5 percent.
3. Death threats from Idaho residents: 1 percent.

The implication of the second group was that the damage to my Range Rover was my own fault for placing "such an expensive vehicle" in the hands of other, less-capable people. This sort of hostility surprised me, since my Range Rover cost approximately $25,000, or roughly the same amount as a new Kia. And that was more than a year ago, which means that – thanks to the miracle of Land Rover depreciation – it is now worth approximately the same amount as an electric blanket.

Now, I'm well aware that used luxury cars can cost a lot of money to maintain – and I realize that may be part of the reason why people think their drivers are so wealthy. But in my experience, people tend to make a big deal out of used luxury cars regardless of the condition they're in. This is why you can spend six grand on a used Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit with four functioning cylinders and sheepskin seat covers, and people will still think you're descended from royalty.

The moral to this story is that if you want people to think you're wealthy, all you have to do is spend a few thousand dollars on a used luxury car. And if you happen to end up with my old A4, good news: I have a cassette-to-iPod adapter you can use. But I'm going to charge you $25 for it. After all, you can afford it. You drive an Audi.

Another view

Is it advisable to buy a used BMW or a Mercedes (mileage ~ 150,000), costing about $5000?
source: quora.com

Not just "no," but "hell no!" No one should ever buy a used BMW, Audi, or Mercedes-Benz unless they have:

Ample resources to pay for repairs or
They're some sort of collector


These cars aren't built to provide trouble-free operation for decades. They're built to impress the hell out of wealthy new car buyers who will rarely keep them more than 3 years.

As for those who say "this one model is OK" or "that particular model isn't bad," I'd argue that these assessments don't consider the bigger picture. Specifically:

When you buy a used car, you can buy almost anything in your budget.
If you've only got $5k to spend, your options aren't extensive, but it's possible to find a decent used Toyota, Honda, Lexus, or Acura for this amount.
By any durability or reliability metric (JD Power, Consumer Reports, etc.), there's simply no comparison between a used Honda, Toyota, Lexus, or Acura and a used Mercedes-Benz, Audi, or BMW.


Let me say that again for effect: There's simply no comparison in reliability between a used Honda, Toyota, Lexus, or Acura and a used Mercedes-Benz, Audi, or BMW.

Now, is a BMW 3-series more reliable than a Mercedes-Benz E-class? Sure. Why not. But that question ignores the fact that there are literally hundreds of thousands of $5,000 cars that are more reliable than both.

As to why most (not all) used luxury cars aren't reliable:

Most people who buy these cars brand new rarely keep them past the initial warranty period. The majority of these cars are leased or traded in less than 4 years...which means that BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi aren't nearly as concerned with long-term durability as someone like Toyota, GM, Ford, etc.
These cars always include cutting-edge technology that's inherently less reliable than established (though less powerful) technologies.
Parts are expensive, equipment needed to diagnose these vehicles is expensive, and technicians who are trained to work on these brands are in demand. This all adds up to high repair costs.


Lexus and Acura are the exception here, but only because Toyota and Honda put quality above all else (which, incidentally, is also why most Lexus and Acura vehicles are sort of vanilla compared to most comparable cars from the German brands).

No offense to folks who love their old Mercedes-Benz, BMW, or Audi - a love affair I can absolutely respect, as a lot of these cars are timeless - but the worst thing a person with $5k for a car can do is buy an old luxury car.

I've personally seen dozens of people who could barely afford a car go this route, and it almost never ends well...an expensive repair inevitably comes along, the owner can't afford to fix the car, can't get to work, and has to dump the car in a moment of desperation. They go from driving a $5k Mercedes-Benz to a $500 beater, and they learn an awfully expensive lesson.

One viewpoint

5 Things No One Tells You About Owning A Used Luxury Car
source: thegarage.jalopnik.com

There's a difference between being cheap and treasuring value per dollar spent. One is knowing where the best burger joint is, and the other is going up to other tables and asking for unwanted leftovers and spare ketchup packets. Understanding this distinction is the reason why almost exactly one year ago I purchased a used Mercedes-Benz S500 and drove it daily. Here are a few things I learned along the way.

5. It's way cheaper than you think.

We all understand depreciation. It's the free market's way of telling you that the shiny thing that everyone wanted yesterday is now worthless because a new shiny thing that blows it out of the water just dropped this morning, and you're a big fat nothing if you don't drop everything and get it NOW. This makes things very interesting in the used car market. The values most affected (read: destroyed) are those of luxury cars due to low demand, high production numbers, and a clientele more fragile than the skin-like membrane wrapped around the indestructible exoskeleton of Kim Kardashian's offspring.

Let's put some numbers behind the rhetoric:

A 4-door 2014 Honda Accord EX-L, with no extra options checked, will set you back $30,287 (MSRP).

My 2000 Mercedes S500, with many options ticked, had an MSRP of $85,419 when new.

I bought the S500 in 2013, with 89,000 miles on it, for $3000. I bought it non-running, with electrical issues.

Full disclosure: To clarify, electrical issues can be a nightmare in a car this complex, but they are very easily solved if you understand how these cars work and aren't afraid to get your hands dirty. I did a bit of research on a few forums and found that the ignition module (where the key goes, known as the EIS) is a port for the car's Controller Area Network (CAN) Bus. I decided that this would be a good place to start. After taking the dash apart, I found the problem and managed to find an ECU, EIS, and shifter from the same model year locally for $350. This got rid of any trips to the dealer because the parts were all "married" to each other and required no further version coding. I installed these parts in less than an hour and I got the car running as if it was new, with no warning lights on the dash. I did have to install a replacement accelerator pedal, as the old one had an intermittent fault that would put the car into limp mode. Since the car was drive-by-wire, it was a matter of removing a 10mm bolt and disconnecting a clip and the problem was fixed with a good used part.

Here's what I spent fixing maintaining, and updating it over the year I've had it:

Key, ECU, shifter combo, USED - $350
Replacement accelerator pedal, USED - $50
Both rear Airmatic struts, NEW, with installation - $650
Mobil-1 Synthetic Oil change - $100
One HID headlight ballast, USED - $40
Serpentine Belt and Idler Pulley, NEW - $80
Bluetooth Module and Noise Filter, NEW - $65

If I factor the initial price of the car, I've spent $4335, which is $25,952 less than the Accord. At that point, you have to realistically ask yourself, would you rather have one Honda Accord, or a fleet of German luxury cars?

4. Cheap stuff is oddly expensive.

Although the car was cheap in the long run, things that were supposed to be cheap in any other car suddenly became made of some rare isotope of unobtainium. I wanted to get a set of keys made for the car, since I only had one. I went to the local locksmith with a used key from a previous ignition that I wanted re-coded for my car, and they acted as if I just ordered them to predict winning lottery numbers at gunpoint. My keys were laser cut and one-time dealer encoded, meaning that no one else could ever re-encode them, so it meant my spare key was now as good as the rocks the store so eloquently told me to kick. After reaching out to the Mercedes dealership, a factory-cut key would be $400. That's only 10 times what a regular transponder key would've cost. That's a steep price to pay for something that will literally sit in a drawer and collect dust until the batteries die.

The battery on a regular car would cost anywhere from $60-$120. A Mercedes battery? $350 on the low end, because it's a dry-cell AGM design that is specifically made for the car's sensitive electrics, like a therapist tailored to a 13-year old suffering from a case of Affluenza.

How about a fresh fillup of fluids? You can't take it to the Jiffy Lube because they don't carry the $20 a quart Pentosin synthetic hydraulic fluid that your power steering system needs. Don't think you can get a transmission flush either without shelling out $20 a quart x 9 to replace all the Automatic Transmission fluid in the pan, versus $1.99 x 5 a quart for the regular stuff. Motor oil? $10-$18 a quart times 9, with a $10-$20 filter. You won't have to change it for another 9500 miles, but it's a pretty insane cost either way. It's as if you did the grocery shopping, didn't change your diet, and left the store realizing you just paid $300 for a sack of apples.

3. It's surprisingly easy to repair.

Although this car had over 200 patents filed for its various features before its initial release, mechanically it's no more complex than a medium-sized birdhouse. All of the interior is held on with either clips or small torx screws, and exterior panels all have cleary visible bolts with lots of clearance for tools. The engine is a big, lazy single overhead cam V8 with two spark plugs per cylinder and an air filter and ducting assembly that requires no tools to remove. There aren't any expensive timing belt services to do and no expensive turbos or superchargers to blow expensive and hard-to-reach seals. The air suspension consists of 3 bolts at the top with an air line connection and one bolt on the bottom. I priced out the labor a local shop would charge to replace a rear air shock assembly, and instead of giving me a price that resembled my phone number, they told me $70, and it was done in a few hours.

If you want to really be on top of things, you can get a STAR Diagnostic scanner, or just pay a shop to run a scan for you, and check all of the car's electrical systems to make sure nothing else needs to be replaced. Fortunately my car was in good shape and the only electrical work it needed was the initial EIS repair. This kind of stuff isn't limited to MB, BMW has similar specs on their cars and have pretty reasonable repair rates for their mechanicals as well - even less if you can do the stuff yourself.

2. You're going to be a jerk to some people, no matter what.

To outline this point, I'll illustrate a few actual scenarios that have happened to me:

I parked my car near the post office on a busy street, got out and proceeded to retrieve my packages from the backseat. An SUV with more primer than paint, chrome rims from the wrong end of 2001, and altezza taillights rolled up. A guy resembling a halfway point between a loan shark and an actual shark rolled down the window and said the following:

"Hey man! Hey....listen, my wife is in the hospital and I need some cash to get her out. I got my kids here, you think you could give me a little something to keep me going?" He then proceeded to roll down the window and showed me what looked to be either scared biological children or relatively well-behaved hostages. I told him I didn't have any cash on me, which I didn't, and he promptly rolled his eyes, told me to "have a nice fucking day" and drove away, nearly running a red light in the process.

Let me reiterate: This was a populated street, in which he could've asked anyone and didn't need to stop at my rejection. But here I was, with a shiny German luxury car in a sea of dented Accords and used Mazdas, and as the luck of the draw would have it, I got randomly selected by this guy to fund his wife's medical bills. How serendipitous.

In another turn of events, I was making a stop at Subway, and a guy with a dead battery asked me if I could jump his car from mine. I told him that I couldn't, because the electrical system in the car would promptly take a shit in its own pants if I tried to connect it to something as low-rent as his base model Hyundai or whatever the hell poor people drive nowadays. That wasn't exactly the reason, it actually had something to do with electrical surges, but the guy didn't want to believe that I couldn't help him and was perfectly happy calling me an asshole after scoffing as if I'd just urinated on his new shoes. That was OK, it's a little known fact that $5 footlongs taste better when a single tear streams down your cheek.

Finally, at a toll booth out of state, I found myself with no EZPass and no change. I went to the cash receipts lane and asked for an envelope because I didn't have any change to pay for the tolls. The smarmy toll booth operator said, in a singsongy, pseudo-authoritative voice, "You drive that thing and you don't have any money? What's wrong with you?" I said "I spent it all on the car", and took my envelope with a nice steaming slice of embarrassment pie. Joke's on them, I shorted them 10 cents when I sent in the change. WIN.

1. What you're driving is still better than most of the cars on the road today.

There are lots of things technology can account for and improve on as time goes on, but there are still things that are clearly better when you buy a car with a high standard of luxury and an emphasis on build quality - things that a luxury car maker can afford to do that another cost-cutting company wouldn't. For instance, my 14-year old Mercedes has double-paned glass for sound insulation with a layer of air in between so the windows don't fog up. There are rear vanity mirrors, and as many air vents for the backseats as there are for the front seats, with a independently-controlled zone for each corner. The rear headrests are air-powered and automatically extend when a person in that seat buckles their seatbelt. The audio system detects the noise inside the cabin and adjusts the volume automatically. It even has a strip of fabric that prevents things from falling in between the console and the seat.

The car will do 0-60 in about 6 seconds, and the cabin is quiet enough to whisper to the passengers in the backseat during a full-beans launch, but your efforts will have been in vain, for the air-powered lumbar support and reclining seats have all but guaranteed that they'd be fast asleep before you hit the go pedal. This is the kind of car that's available to anyone for half the price of a used economy car, and not only will everyone think you're rich, you'll be so refreshed and ambitious at the end of your journey that you'll act the part.

Eyop:
Lol @ your holiday has been destroyed . Is it a must you withdraw cash? GTB is the only bank i know doing that nonsense but you can withdraw cash with other banks atleast the ones i know.

My dollar accounts are in the green that's why I need cash.

Can I use my dollar card on Nigerian ATMs and get naira? It does not seem so! Hope you understand why I needed the dollars in cash now!

I went to three branches of GTB in Abuja (AP Plaza, the branch opposite former KissFM office and the branch closest Federal of Transport) to withdraw dollars and all of them said they do not have dollars. That I cannot withdraw my dollars. Is this peculiar to GTB? Did anyone suffer from the same experience at a GTB bank or other bank in Nigeria? And why is that?

Because if there is no cogent reason for this, it might be time to go to switch banks.

Thanks.

My holiday has been destroyed.

foaming?
ineffective lubrication?
Not a recommended procedure?!

4L (0.3L above recommended) would have been manageable? but 1L above recommended, is a bit on the high side!

The biggest enemy an engine has is "foaming" of the oil, which occurs when there is too much oil for the pump to handle effectively. Instead of pumping a fluid stream of oil, the pump delivers a foam, made mostly of air, mixed with oil. When that occurs, the viscosity (thickness) of the oil is reduced, basically to the thickness of water, and is squeezed out from the bearing surfaces. Even 1/2 quart overfilled CAN produce this effect, especially in today's faster RPM engines. - Glenard Munson, ASE Certified Tech since 1971

If a Form I-20 is soiled, will it affect applicant chances at visa interview? Can another be obtained?

If a Form I-20 is soiled, will it affect applicant chances at visa interview? Can another be obtained?

GAZZUZZ:
P0730 slipping gear box. Just replace gearbox.

alright then thanks

Please I need the price of the two external sensors on a CRV 2000 model gearbox? As well as the cost of the gearbox itself? If I replace the sensors and still have the P0730, i plan to replace the gearbox?

Who has it on nairaland?

I have severally tried to load my etisalat line with the 1gb data package and the phone keeps returning an error.

Is anything wrong with the etisalat network?

Anyone else experiencing difficulty loading airtime?

Please advice

How much remains after the tax man takes his share?

Eyop:
The banks are making money from them. If you have an inflow credited to any of your Dom account and you want to sell,the Mallams will clear it immediately even if it's in millions. They may buy @ #230 to $1 and resell @ #240 to $1.

i know. my dollars will no longer enter nigeria, i am ok with BofA

Eyop:
Ok...one question you should ask yourself is since the banks are refusing to initiate transfers for customers as they say,how are the Mallams getting inflows to do this business? That's why am insisting that this things are going on but not open to the public. When dealing with them,Just ensure you confirm wired funds first before releasing the equivalent to them. That's how business men are surviving

i asked the guys behind the counter but they refused to tell me why i can't but they can!

Eyop:
Yes Mallams are into this big time. The Mallams you see doing this,are they initiating the transfer directly from their own accounts or buying foreign exchange from customers and crediting the Naira equivalent?

the exact same thing i wanted to do, initiating the transfer directly from their gtbank account with instant crediting of customer account in exchange for naira and vice versa!

in fact they have become virtual fixtures in the bank, my branch is virtually an annex office for them

Eyop:
That's what they will always say even though i don't know of Stanbic but be rest assured that some customers in that same Stanbic are getting it done only if the funds to be wired out came in as an inflow and not cash deposit. Union Bank said the same thing but an intra bank transfer was done but it was sent out to the United States and not within Nigeria.

I see mallams doing it daily in the branch i use! and they said the transfer is instant at 238 to 240! but that is way too much!!

Eyop:
Yes the reason why I asked the OP was to ascertain whether it was rejected on the grounds that he doesn't have a Dom account with their institution or not. This is also not the 1st time of hearing this happening with GTB because I also have an account with them but it doesn't mean it cannot be done as it depends on your relationhsip with your Bank/Banker and also what the wire transferred funds are meant for. Zenith and Diamond Bank does wire transfers for their corporate customers without an issue but before doing so,they will verify the docs presented before going ahead to initiate the transfer.

Thank you!

Eyop:
Well I really do not get what you meant but to my understanding,inflows via online transfer shouldn't have an issue. The bank is only against cash deposit which is not even possible now because no bank will receive cash foreign currency from anyone. But if you have received an inflow which was wired to any of your Dom account,you can easily do a wire transfer bank to bank without any problem. It even becomes very easy if it's in the same bank because the corresponding banks wouldn't be playing any role in the transfer.

On another thread I see you asking the OP if he has a dom account with GTB

The bank that rejected a dollar transfer from one account to another is none other than the same bank and gave the reason above.

I would have thought as you hence my question was, when you do such a transfer as above what reason do you give that makes it to be accepted by their FX OPERATIONS?

Please note that the funds were not OTC but inflow from overseas!

Eyop:
An inflow or outflow?

inflow between two accounts in the same commercial bank!

An inflow i made was rejected,with the following reason: WE ARE UNABLE TO PROCESS YOUR REQUEST AS THE PURPOSE OF PAYMENT CONTRAVENES THE CBN ACT 2007.

Please what reasons can I give that will let the transfer go through?

ifyan:
Thanks bro for your information. I Am not the only one

No one sells electronic dollars for that rate, check this link to confirm https://www.nairaland.com/68738/how-much-did-exchange-dollar/118

Yes, physical dollars, but electronic dollars, ABSOLUTE NO!

PayPal via Zenith card $228.17 yesterday the 31st of August 2015

sako28:
This ur rate was for 3 weeks ago.
Now dollar is btw 205 to 214. if Lucky u can buy dollar for 212 and sell dollar for 210.

two prices exist:

buying physical dollars, your prices apply

but asking a BDC to do what they call an inflow into your account, I have looked high and low, NO ONE has agreed to do an inflow for the above rates in ABUJA, can you give me a contact that will do so?

USAutoBuy:
What is the rate you are getting in Abuja/Lagos?

238 to 240 to do a bank lodgement

I do I install proceewire cms