29th May 2011, 13:39

Actually, I was wrong, sorry.

We DO use salt, but just when it gets to be a couple of degrees below zero (ie. -1 to -3 degrees Celsius). For temperatures below that, we use sand.

I looked under my truck and there is a bit of rust covering maybe 40% of the surfaces back there, especially the part where the bumper attaches to the back/underside of the truck.

31st Jul 2011, 11:30

At roughly 126,500kms, the exhaust started buzzing while accelerating from 0 to 60, and rattling while idling. I took it into an independent shop, and they said I need to replace my whole exhaust system from the manifolds back. They said it is very very rusty. Also, the O2 sensor came loose on top of the exhaust pipe, and that's what's rattling. I can put it back in myself, but it really needs to be welded or screwed in, because it occasionally falls out again. When it falls out, the exhaust becomes 3 times louder (probably because the exhaust bypasses the muffler, and goes out that hole first LOL). Very annoying. The weird thing is though, no warning lights went on when it came off.

The shop quoted about $350 for parts, and $200 for labour (1.5 hours instead of the original estimated 3.7 hours). So about $550 total. I'm going to get it done this week.

20th Mar 2012, 20:52

Update: I did get the exhaust done last summer (2011) to the tune of $550 (parts and labour).

I thought about replacing the two front fenders due to rust/dents, but parts and labour would cost $1100 total. Not worth it in my opinion.

In the winter, with four sandbags in the back, I found I've been getting worse gas mileage. Like 260kms per tank (city driving), instead of 300 or 350kms.

28th Oct 2012, 13:31

Original poster here:

A week or so ago, it started running hot... like the coolant temp gauge was about 9/10's, almost to the red (warning) line. I stopped driving it and parked it in my driveway. My dad and I figured it out, it was a faulty thermostat (either it was stuck all the way open, or shut closed, I forget which). Anyway, a $25 new thermostat and 15 minutes labour later, it works fine! Back to normal! :)

4th Aug 2013, 20:35

Original poster, update:

The slightly-leaking antifreeze problem has seemed to have solved itself, at least by looking at the driveway LOL. Since the thermostat last Autumn, I've only had to replace 2 rear light bulbs (one parking brake in the spring, one reverse light just yesterday). Curiously, they were both on the driver's side rear.

Currently just over 140 thousand km.

Comparing the odo mileage of when I got it and currently, I've only driven it 25,000 km in 3 years. That's not a lot of driving, considering the average is 25,000 PER year!