Answers to your car questions
QGood day Mr. O’Sullivan. I am a subscriber to the Spectator and a regular reader of your column. I appreciate your directness and honesty. I am looking for an opinion from you on an issue confronting us. We recently purchased a 2013 Toyota Avalon. We are happy with the car and the dealer. However, I neglected to ask about one aspect of the vehicle. Previously, we drove a 2005 Camry with a 6-cylinder engine and we towed a small utility trailer (capacity 100 lbs) perhaps 6 times per year and 2 of those times from Dundas to North Bay which is roughly 800 kilometres round trip. It was never an issue. Other trips were a couple of kilometres to the transfer station with junk. The Avalon in the handbook states that Toyota does not recommend towing with this vehicle. Does this mean it will damage the car or is this Toyota covering itself for liability? Is the transmission capable of towing small loads on occasion or is the possibility of damage too high to warrant the risk? I would appreciate your opinion on this. THANK YOU MICHAEL FROM DUNDAS
AYour vehicle certainly has the horsepower to pull a trailer and the recommended weight should not exceed 1000 lbs. Many car companies worry about recommending trailer pulling during the warranty simply because people tend to overload the trailer with more weight than the car has the capacity to hold back when the brakes are applied and the overload also plays havoc with the transmission. It worries me while driving up north when I see a small car pulling a three to four thousand pound boat behind it and I wonder if the driver knows that the stopping distance for them in an emergency is three to four times what it would be with just the car alone.
QI had a trailer hitch put on my car by a supposed trailer expert and while driving up north, I lost the trailer. The trailer ball installed by the trailer installation people was the wrong one. They are claiming that it was up to me to make sure that the ball was the correct one but they were the ones that installed it for my trailer. Can you look into this for me and if you can, what is the charge?
AThe charge is to purchase the Spectator but in this case, I cannot advise you because you already have a lawyer involved. I found this out when I called the trailer installation garage. I suggest that you now be guided by your lawyer’s advice and let him know that you did reach out to me about this.
QHello Dennis I have a question about frequency of fluid replacements on our 2013 Prius. The manual recommends that the brake fluid be replaced every 3 years. This is the first time that I have heard of brake fluid needing to be replaced. Is this always necessary? Is there any way of testing brake fluid to see if it is in need of replacement? The manual also recommends a fully synthetic 5W20 oil change every 16,000 kilometres but our local Toyota dealership recommends every 8,000 kilometres. What would you recommend? We certainly want to keep this car going for a long time. WAYNE IN KITCHENER
AThe brake fluid is in a concealed area but it can become contaminated with moisture, with usage and time. Brake fluid works very well under normal conditions but it has one drawback and that is, it is “hygroscopic.” Hygroscopic means that it will over time absorb moisture via microscopic pores in brake hoses. When this happens, the boiling point of the brake fluid will be greatly reduced. If the brake fluid absorbs enough moisture to lower the boiling point and enough heat gets generated during the braking application, the brake fluid can actually boil within the hydraulic system. This situation is known as VAPOUR LOCK, which can cause the brakes to momentarily malfunction. Normally brake fluid gets changed with the overhaul of the brakes, which is around sixty to ninety thousand kilometers. Most garages will have a brake fluid tester, which will take about five minutes to check the brake fluid. As far as the oil changes, that will depend mostly on the type of kilometers that you put on your vehicle. Synthetic oil is much better at lubricating your engine but it does, as with conventional oils, get contaminated. If you are driving back and forth to Toronto every day then you could basically change the synthetic oil at sixteen thousand kilometers. If you are driving short distances every day then the engine oil tends to get contaminated much faster. To be safe, eight to ten thousand kilometers is a good range to use if you are using synthetic oil with sporadic driving distances.
To my readers: Please indicate the town, city or village that you live in. Be advised that not all emails can be answered. Send your questions (including address) by email to: dennis.osullivan@cogeco.ca