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Pre-Purchase Inspection in 2026 — What a Good Mechanic Actually Catches, and What's Worth the $200
A good pre-purchase inspection is the single most underused tool in used-car shopping, and the buyers who skip it are the ones I see calling tow trucks three weeks after they took delivery. Here's what a thorough PPI actually covers in 2026, what it costs, and how to tell whether the inspector is earning their fee.
Pre-Summer Tune Check — Why Spring-Calibrated Tunes Often Run Lean by July, and What to Watch
A tune dialed in on a 55° spring day will see different intake air temps, different fuel densities, and a different knock environment by the middle of July. Here's why that matters on a forced-induction street car, and the pre-summer logging procedure I run before every hot season.
Run-Flats vs. Standard Tires in 2026 — When the Run-Flat Tax Is Worth It, and When It Isn't
BMW, MINI, and a handful of other manufacturers still spec run-flats from the factory, and a lot of owners default to swapping to standard tires the first time they replace them. The decision is more nuanced than the forum advice suggests. Here's how I think about run-flats in 2026, what the real tradeoffs are, and when each side wins.
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