DENNIS O’SULLIVAN
ANSWERS TO YOUR CAR QUESTIONS
Don’t be submitting angry letters full of expletives if you expect help from Dennis with your complaint. In fact, he suggests having a friend “proof” your note to ensure it is free of gutter talk and to the point, he advises.
QUESTION
Hello, Dennis: Thank you for sharing your auto knowledge and common sense. You are my "first read" in the Friday Record.
You may have answered my question before but I do not recall. I have bought older low mileage Grand Caravans for years. They are cheap to buy and they usually give me very inexpensive trouble-free driving until after the 300,000 kms mark.
In more recent years, they have rusted out before they start to have mechanical issues. I recently bought a 2006 with just over 100,000 kms and there is only a small amount of rust on it. My question is whether rust proofing/undercoating is worth the expense? I know that it will not stop the rust but will it slow it up enough to be worthwhile? If so, do you have any suggestions about choosing the best value (if not a specific company or process, some criteria)? Any help that you can give would be most appreciated.
Keep up the good work! George from Tavistock
ANSWER
There are three major rust protection outlets that all do a reasonably good job at protecting your vehicle from the rust that is created mainly by the salt that is put on our roads in the winter months. These three companies are Rust Check, Krown and Corrosion Free.
The first thing that I would do is to fix the areas where rust is showing and then visit all three of the companies that I mentioned and ask the same question. “What do you recommend that I do in regards to the protection of the car’s body?”
Keep in mind that any type of rust protection at this late time is going to slow down any rust that has started, so to answer part of your question, it is worthwhile to have one of the rust protection companies apply their product to your car.
QUESTION
Hi Dennis, My apologies if you've answered this in the past (I might have missed that week) but I'm a little perplexed on the fuel requirements, particularly on some luxury SUVs. The particular vehicle that I am interested in (Acura RDX), the owner’s manual says that premium fuel is recommended. Other luxury vehicles say that premium is required. I don't want to sound cheap, looking for a "luxury" vehicle and trying to save fuel costs but at a difference of 20 cents a litre, this can add up.
I have asked a couple of Acura dealerships about this and both have said that regular gas can be used in this particular vehicle. I asked them why then is premium recommended? They went on to talk about the ins and outs as to why and I admit that I left a little confused. I gathered that I would not necessarily get "optimum" results.
I have read studies where two luxury vehicles were driven with a full tank of premium gas, then the tanks flushed out and then refilled with a full tank of regular gas and driven the same distance. The results indicated that both vehicles got the identical fuel mileage (regardless of fuel grade) and that there wasn’t any noticeable change in power.
I've also read that Consumer Reports have even done testing on this issue and suggest premium could be overrated.
Given your experience, I'd appreciate it if you can shed some light on this – if regular can be used in place of recommended premium (or direct me to an archived link if previously printed).
If this doesn't make your article in the paper, could you at least respond by email, as I value your opinion? I'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your time. Rob from Hamilton
ANSWER
Premium gas can cost up to forty cents a litre more than regular gas and in most cases, the higher-octane gas does not under normal driving conditions make your car perform any better or extend your gas mileage.
If your car does not specifically require premium gas, there aren't any added benefits to your car’s performance or longevity.
I know that in some cases, people have told me that when they put premium gas in their car, it boosted power and performance but I think that is all in their minds.
There was a study recently done that when people tested wine and were told that it was from an expensive bottle of wine; they believed that it was better tasting than the cheaper wine only to find out that the wine that they were tasting all came from the cheaper bottle.
If your car has a turbo charger and you do want that thrill of squealing the wheels and going from zero to sixty in three seconds then the higher octane gas will help you achieve that. Cars that have high compression engines recommend high-octane gas, which is designed to prevent engine knocking but the cars of today have the technology that will prevent engine knocking by adjusting to the type of fuel grade used.
A word of caution, however. If your vehicle calls for the higher octane gas then I would continue to use it until your warranty expires because any damage that could be associated with using the lower octane gas, can and might be used by the manufacturer to deny warranty.
QUESTION
Hello Dennis, I love your write up. Like everyone says I read it all the time. Hope you can help me. I have a 2014 Dodge Dart. I do not drive very much and I like to walk whenever possible. My question is about my GPS, which is not working. It says it is up dating the system on the screen. Do you think that there is something wrong with it? I was wondering since I do not drive much if this is affecting the GPS. Can a technician fix it and do you have any idea of the cost? Should I take my car out for a drive more often? Thanks for your help. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you. Faye from Drayton Ontario.
ANSWER
I need to know if it is an after market GPS or a factory installed GPS. If it is an after market GPS, I need to know the year and make of it. If it is a factory GPS, I suspect that you may need to reboot the system and/or you may want to update the system. Your dealer can do that for you while you wait and most likely will not charge you for rebooting the system but you may have to pay to have it updated and that cost can range from thirty to ninety dollars. I would think of your needs before you spend the money to update it. The amount of driving that you do with the factory GPS system will not affect the operation of the GPS.