The Car Thread

[Heimdallr]

I'm just waiting for mini vans to come back into style

[ET80]

19 hours ago, Heimdallr said:

I'm just waiting for mini vans to come back into style

I'm simply a sedan guy - tried everything else, always come back to a four door sports sedan.

[MrDrew]

1 hour ago, ET80 said:

I'm simply a sedan guy - tried everything else, always come back to a four door sports sedan.

Wagons are the superior vehicle. You get all of the benefits of a car, with more space than the crossovers built on the same platform. It's sad that they keep dying out because I still want things like an Audi RS6 Avant, Cadillac CTS-V Wagon, Volvo V70 Polestar, MAZDASPEED6 Wagon, or the new VW Golf R Estate. The Europeans had been getting it right

[ET80]

1 minute ago, MrDrew said:

Wagons are the superior vehicle. You get all of the benefits of a car, with more space than the crossovers built on the same platform. It's sad that they keep dying out because I still want things like an Audi RS6 Avant, Cadillac CTS-V Wagon, Volvo V70 Polestar, MAZDASPEED6 Wagon, or the new VW Golf R Estate. The Europeans had been getting it right

I'm not a fan of the look. It's pretty trivial and illogical, but it is what it is.

My parents drove a 1984 Chevy Caprice Classic Station Wagon when I was growing up - a horrible shade of blue, blue interior, cigarette ashtrays on the doors - I hated that car, I think that has a lot to do with it.

[MrDrew]

4 hours ago, ET80 said:

I'm not a fan of the look. It's pretty trivial and illogical, but it is what it is.

My parents drove a 1984 Chevy Caprice Classic Station Wagon when I was growing up - a horrible shade of blue, blue interior, cigarette ashtrays on the doors - I hated that car, I think that has a lot to do with it.

That's most people's problem. Same with mini vans. It's one of the big reasons for the SUV/Crossover sales explosion.

 

They've come a long way since the Caprice, or K Car

[ET80]

12 minutes ago, MrDrew said:

That's most people's problem. Same with mini vans. It's one of the big reasons for the SUV/Crossover sales explosion.

 

They've come a long way since the Caprice, or K Car

Yeah, not a fan of any of those tbh. I like my women to have big bootys, not my cars.

[Heimdallr]

3 hours ago, ET80 said:

Yeah, not a fan of any of those tbh. I like my women to have big bootys, not my cars.

Something like the Kia Stinger or Audi A5 Sportback are hatches, but look like sedans. Best of both worlds.

[ET80]

47 minutes ago, Heimdallr said:

Something like the Kia Stinger or Audi A5 Sportback are hatches, but look like sedans. Best of both worlds.

Yeah, the Stinger is incredible - just the right amount of booty.

[MrDrew]

1 hour ago, Heimdallr said:

Something like the Kia Stinger or Audi A5 Sportback are hatches, but look like sedans. Best of both worlds.

I can confirm that the Stinger is not. Very little space in that hatch. Everything about the car is awesome, but you can’t put anything with height in the hatch, and it’s hard to see behind you because of it.

Now if they actually make the Genesis G70, there’s a chance for a Stinger wagon…

[Forge]

On 7/19/2021 at 2:53 PM, Forge said:

Going to go look at a used 2020 Nissan leaf (sl plus trim). Thinking maybe instead of going full on luxury in EV, maybe just dip my toes in.  I'm not a "driver" guy who really cares about how the car drives so the fact that it's a bit of a boring car in appearance and driving just doesn't particularly annoy me (I was once pulled over for driving too slow on the highway...true story). Give me some comfort on the interior, but otherwise easy to please. The range isn't as good as current market, but it's only 29k with only 2000 miles and I don't drive much at all (still have my other car which is a hybrid) and a lot of the new ones are 40K +, even if you want some pretty basic things (also, availability is an annoying thing in NV...I often have to drive to CA for this stuff...hyundai and Kia, for example, don't sell their electrics here) 

The price tag is so much lower than new EVs which I've been doing a ton of research on. I know I don't get the tax credit, but again, the trade off on price may make it worth it (and then I don't have to need with my taxes since I have to change my withholding and stuff since the credit is not refundable). I feel like there is no harm in looking in on it. 

Figure solid state batteries may be here in 5-6 years, so I'd probably be upgrading at that point anyway. 

Update, I bought it.  

Figured sure, what the hell

[Tugboat]

On 7/26/2021 at 9:47 AM, MrDrew said:

The only things being sold right now are crossovers and trucks. Outside of the different sizes, there's not really much of a difference between any of the crossovers. You can get The same features, and colors, on all pretty much all of them. Trucks sell on brand loyalty, or specs. People don't like dealing with salespeople either. The online model makes perfect sense.

Until people get over the illusion of sitting higher in a crossover, or that trucks are awful commuter vehicles, the online model makes the most sense. Cars built for drivers are becoming fewer, and dealerships don't like to let people drive them to keep the miles off. Everybody wants the best possible deal, and all of the info is on the internet, so dealerships aren't making the money they used to either. Most people thought it would be the hybrids or electric cars that killed things for drivers, but it's the cars pretending to be an SUV that did it. No need to go drive it, if it's exactly the same as the others, except for the badging.

Absolutely.  The roads today be like:

 

 

 

 

mmmmmmkay.

 

It just infuriates me, in every possible way.  This is what the car industry has evolved (devolved?) into.  You can't get anything interesting or fun for any kind of reasonable price today.  You can buy any one of 50 flavors of "Tall Hatchback" with a ~2.0L turbocharged engine, 10-spd Automatic transmission or CVT, with no dynamic considerations, and the biggest differentiator is the size of the iPad glued to the dashboard.  That's it.  They wage these wars over "specs" and "branding", but they're literally all the same, and feel cheap as heck even just as a place to sit for a second.

 

People just want to feel like they're somehow in this bigger, taller, clumsier vehicle...and that makes them feel safe i guess.  Even if it's patently untrue.

 

 

Really just need to shuffle the entire model of transportation in society, to something more sustainably aligned with the idea of transportation as a "chore" and "white good".  Leave cars alone, to be interesting and fun.

[Tugboat]

On 7/27/2021 at 9:43 AM, MrDrew said:

It’s a great idea. A lot of other countries have utes, which is all most people need, but we just have big trucks here. If the build holds up to the specs, it will be really good for the future. Good gas mileage, a decent payload, and tows enough for a small camping trailer. Very few people need more than that, but parking lots are filled with the monstrosities that are current 1/2 ton trucks. I hope the Maverick succeeds, and then we might start getting small trucks that have actual truck capabilities in hybrid form

I'm torn on the Maverick thing.  On the one hand, i totally agree...i hope it really catches on.  It's way more than enough "Truck" for the vast majority of typical F-150 buyers.  I can't get over just how little of the actual capability most people seem to use their half-ton trucks for.  It's incredibly stupid.

 

Where i pause though...is in wondering, what exactly is it that the Maverick does, that a station wagon couldn't do?  It's not like it's really carrying legit offroad credentials.  It can't really tow much that a wagon couldn't.  It's got a little empty waste of space bed area that it lugs around that isn't contained cargo area or seating, and serves no real purpose other than the few times a year someone wants to haul something that they actually have a good reason not to just stick in the trunk?  Basically...it's still "more truck" than the majority of buyers actually really need.

 

 

But it is neat that at least the truly "compact trucks" are making a comeback.  They did have their uses, back when they existed the first time around.  Before they blew up into sizes rivaling older full size pickups.

[Tugboat]

On 7/28/2021 at 8:19 AM, ET80 said:

I'm not a fan of the look. It's pretty trivial and illogical, but it is what it is.

My parents drove a 1984 Chevy Caprice Classic Station Wagon when I was growing up - a horrible shade of blue, blue interior, cigarette ashtrays on the doors - I hated that car, I think that has a lot to do with it.

This is definitely the problem.  Or at least, the part of it that separates would-be Sedan buyers from would-be Wagoneers.  And i do understand it.  The sedan version really is just almost universally, more handsome than the wagon/hatchback version of any given car.  There's a lot of historical conditioning at play too, for older buyers.

I can't quite wrap my head around the idea that all of these multitude of crossover SUV/CUV/whateverthings are better looking than their Wagon/Hatchback comparables though.  I can't follow that.  They suffer all the same aesthetic shortcomings, but amplified and extended into awkward looking "fake tall" contraptions.

 

Whereas some of the Wagons posted here...are downright stunners.  Sleek, and functionally better too.

 

On 7/28/2021 at 4:09 PM, Heimdallr said:

Something like the Kia Stinger or Audi A5 Sportback are hatches, but look like sedans. Best of both worlds.

These are like the worst of both worlds though.  All of the vaguely unsightly blight of a hatchback and bloated rear quarter...but with like...none of the headroom, space, and practicality.  I have no idea why these things even exist.

When they first started introducing those Coupe-style SUVs, i was even more confused.  Like the BMW X6.  Where you pay more money, for the same car...but with less practicality, and significantly uglier and more armadillo looking?  Why?

[Heimdallr]

3 hours ago, Tugboat said:

These are like the worst of both worlds though.  All of the vaguely unsightly blight of a hatchback and bloated rear quarter...but with like...none of the headroom, space, and practicality.  I have no idea why these things even exist.

When they first started introducing those Coupe-style SUVs, i was even more confused.  Like the BMW X6.  Where you pay more money, for the same car...but with less practicality, and significantly uglier and more armadillo looking?  Why?

I hate the coupe-style SUV's, but personally I love the Stinger/A5 style. Those are my two favorite looking cars.

[MrDrew]

On 8/9/2021 at 3:23 AM, Tugboat said:

Where i pause though...is in wondering, what exactly is it that the Maverick does, that a station wagon couldn't do?  It's not like it's really carrying legit offroad credentials.  It can't really tow much that a wagon couldn't.  It's got a little empty waste of space bed area that it lugs around that isn't contained cargo area or seating, and serves no real purpose other than the few times a year someone wants to haul something that they actually have a good reason not to just stick in the trunk?  Basically...it's still "more truck" than the majority of buyers actually really need.

Storage-wise you're not getting much more inside a small bed, like the Maverick, than you would in a wagon. It's more what you put in the bed that makes it different. You could take a wagon down to the landscaping yard to pickup rocks for the yard, but it's better suited outside. It will be a lot of things like that that people are using it for. There are plenty of people that can use the utility of a truck bed, but don't need the capabilities of even the Tacoma/Ranger/Colorado/Frontier class.

The other place I can really see it taking off is for delivery. Parts delivery is where I first thought of. Car parts are greasy, so you don't want them inside all of the time. They use Colorados and Rangers right now, but something like the Maverick is cheaper to buy, and gets way better gas mileage. It carries enough that you could put an engine block in the back. Makes way more sense for something like that