The Car Thread

[Heimdallr]

On 12/22/2023 at 9:22 AM, MikeT14 said:

Early in the process, but with a kid on the way, our family would like to get a bigger vehicle.

Current considerations:

Volvo XC60 (probably Plug In Hybrid)
Kia Telluride
Acura MDX
Toyota Highlander

Probably in that order so far. Anyone own any? Pros and cons from your personal experiences?

Have you looked at the Mazda CX9? It also comes in hybrid. New Mazda stuff is super nice. When I was looking 3-4 years ago, I liked the Mazda interior quality and infotainment so much better than Toyota/Hyundai/Kia/Honda. 

[Tugboat]

1 hour ago, AkronsWitness said:

 

Yeah I'm not trusting Kia for my money. However, I would gladly pay for their parent company Hyundai. I've owned 2 Hyundai and loved them both. Had a 2016 Sonata LTD and a 2011 Tiburon in college and the only thing I had to do for 8+ years of ownership was change the oil. Not a single mechanical or electronic issue with either. That's why if your in the market for the Telluride-I would look at the Palisade instead. Another car we could not keep in stock if our lives depended on it. They would sell before even hitting the lot

When I was looking for new cars I heard the same about Acura that the whole Honda reliability thing didn't rollover into Acura. I was looking at the RDX for my wife and it got pretty average reliability ratings which was shocking. I also remember over the last few years Honda itself has dropped in reliability because apparently around 2020 they got a new CEO or leadership team, something and they that's when their reliability began to go downhill.

 

Ya'll know Tiburons were FWD pretend sportscars to compete with the Toyota Celica, and Sport Man Civic right?

 

But also...that many years of loving a Hyundai, it's clearly the right fit for you.  Not for me.  Nothing wrong with finding your fit.

 

I tried the Genesis Coupe.  I tried the Kia Stinger.  Hard No.

 

Most of their vehicles share a platform somewhere.  They just don't tickle any of my fancies.  They feel bad, they feel big, they feel heavy, they have garbage steering feel, the build feels lazy, sloppy and communicates nothing.  They literally never have a manual in stock.

 

And the actual build quality is still two decades behind the leaders of the pack.  When you can push on a panel and it makes a weird noise, that's bad.  FYI.

[AkronsWitness]

3 hours ago, Tugboat said:

 

Ya'll know Tiburons were FWD pretend sportscars to compete with the Toyota Celica, and Sport Man Civic right?

 

But also...that many years of loving a Hyundai, it's clearly the right fit for you.  Not for me.  Nothing wrong with finding your fit.

 

I tried the Genesis Coupe.  I tried the Kia Stinger.  Hard No.

 

Most of their vehicles share a platform somewhere.  They just don't tickle any of my fancies.  They feel bad, they feel big, they feel heavy, they have garbage steering feel, the build feels lazy, sloppy and communicates nothing.  They literally never have a manual in stock.

 

And the actual build quality is still two decades behind the leaders of the pack.  When you can push on a panel and it makes a weird noise, that's bad.  FYI.

Absolutely! But the one I had was the Tiburon Tuscani v6 and it was a 6-speed manual so the more acceptable/most powerful version of the group. Drove all the way to Pittsburgh to buy it off a police officer who only used it as a Sunday driver. I can look back and laugh now, but this was when I was 18-22 years old and people from my generation were still in their import Fast and Furious phase so it got a lot of looks/compliments when I was in school.

It was clean as hell too. It obviously wasnt too much of a speed demon compared to other cars made but that thing was FUN in gears 1-3 around town. It lacked heavily in the mid-high gears 4-6. Quick, but not top end fast. Was probably very comparable to a Mustang GT from that same era

Sadly, during a heavy storm here in Ohio one summer, I looked out my friends front window and my car that was parked in the driveway was smashed from a huge tree branch that fell and crushed the whole front end 🤬

But yeah, they killed the Tiburon shortly after and turned it into the Genesis Coup, which then evolved into the entire Genesis luxury brand. Sort of a funny evolution but I have yet to drive one to have any sort of opinion of them

Edited January 2 by AkronsWitness

[Tugboat]

12 hours ago, AkronsWitness said:

Absolutely! But the one I had was the Tiburon Tuscani v6 and it was a 6-speed manual so the more acceptable/most powerful version of the group. Drove all the way to Pittsburgh to buy it off a police officer who only used it as a Sunday driver. I can look back and laugh now, but this was when I was 18-22 years old and people from my generation were still in their import Fast and Furious phase so it got a lot of looks/compliments when I was in school.

It was clean as hell too. It obviously wasnt too much of a speed demon compared to other cars made but that thing was FUN in gears 1-3 around town. It lacked heavily in the mid-high gears 4-6. Quick, but not top end fast. Was probably very comparable to a Mustang GT from that same era

Sadly, during a heavy storm here in Ohio one summer, I looked out my friends front window and my car that was parked in the driveway was smashed from a huge tree branch that fell and crushed the whole front end 🤬

But yeah, they killed the Tiburon shortly after and turned it into the Genesis Coup, which then evolved into the entire Genesis luxury brand. Sort of a funny evolution but I have yet to drive one to have any sort of opinion of them

 

Heck, at 18 years old i was probably still driving that thing in NFS Underground.  lol.  Not sure how that lines up.

 

Though i also owned probably the most "fun" car i've ever driven at that point.  Which also still only had like 170hp.  But it weighed absolutely nothing.  Like 2500lbs.  Rear wheel drive.  Ancient.   Literally only a few months younger than me.  lol.

 

Your comment had me curious what the final drive ratio was on those V6 Tiburons, and apparently it was maybe like 4.3?  That's aggressive.  That'll give you a little initial pop off the line or lower speeds at least, because FWD launches are lol.  But that's like 90% of where fun comes from anyway.  It was so dope only having like 170hp and getting to fully wring it out and rip through a couple gears to redline before you're just travelling at an illegal rate of speed.

Heck though, i've got a 4.1ish in my car with a ****load more torque and horsepower and it'll sit your *** down deep in the seat.  Difference is, it's got the headroom to do just the same if you drop a few gears on the highway too.  But i still get to at least grab a shift before i'm speeding.

[holt_bruce81]

In the market for a new car. I think I’ve narrowed it down to either a Toyota RAV4 or a Honda CRV. Leaning Honda just because that’s what my wife has and it’s been a great car for us and our family. 

[Tugboat]

On 1/5/2024 at 1:47 AM, holt_bruce81 said:

In the market for a new car. I think I’ve narrowed it down to either a Toyota RAV4 or a Honda CRV. Leaning Honda just because that’s what my wife has and it’s been a great car for us and our family. 

My Grandma has one of those.  She's 90 years old.

[RaidersAreOne]

Any good recommendations for SUV's?

[Tugboat]

47 minutes ago, RaidersAreOne said:

Any good recommendations for SUV's?

I hear Station Wagons are nice.

[BobbyPhil1781]

On 1/17/2024 at 2:36 PM, RaidersAreOne said:

Any good recommendations for SUV's?

What do you require? What is your budget?

Just bought a CX50 so I've done a ton of research very recently. 

Edited January 21 by BobbyPhil1781

[diehardlionfan]

On 1/17/2024 at 3:23 PM, Tugboat said:

I hear Station Wagons are nice.

I still miss my 1976 Montego woodside wagon. 🤠

You could let the kids mess the thing up, go to the car wash, open the doors and just hose it out.

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

On 1/17/2024 at 11:36 AM, RaidersAreOne said:

Any good recommendations for SUV's?

What's your budget?

BMW x3/x5 are really good (I had an X5 M), but the X5 is rather expensive depending on the trim, but it also has a PHEV option for those wanting a hybrid. Toyota SUV's are the most reliable in the world. Audi has good luxury SUV's with the Q5/Q7/Q8. If you're going up in budget you can look at Porsche Cayenne or if you want a compact SUV the Macan is really cool.

If you want EV, Tesla Model Y/X or the Hyundai IONIQ 5/6 are both solid. 

I'm in the middle of looking to consolidate cars into one SUV so we're looking for something that has style and power. I'm trying to convince my gf that Tesla is an option since it checks all of our boxes, but she's really resisting the change to EV since she doesn't think it's viable for road trips having to worry about charging and waiting for the charge times. If anyone has an EV I'd love to hear your experience!

Edited February 14 by AFlaccoSeagulls

[titansNvolsR#1]

On 2/15/2024 at 8:08 AM, AFlaccoSeagulls said:

 

I'm in the middle of looking to consolidate cars into one SUV so we're looking for something that has style and power. I'm trying to convince my gf that Tesla is an option since it checks all of our boxes, but she's really resisting the change to EV since she doesn't think it's viable for road trips having to worry about charging and waiting for the charge times. If anyone has an EV I'd love to hear your experience!

She is correct on this front. My friend went all electric for a while. They eventually sold one of them for a hybrid because long road trips required some pretty precise planning. They loved them for their day-to-day life, but they weren't a feasible option for a road trip. Especially once you start leaving the West coast or Northeast. 

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

14 hours ago, titansNvolsR#1 said:

She is correct on this front. My friend went all electric for a while. They eventually sold one of them for a hybrid because long road trips required some pretty precise planning. They loved them for their day-to-day life, but they weren't a feasible option for a road trip. Especially once you start leaving the West coast or Northeast. 

Ugh. I mean we took literally 2 road trips last year and it was just from where we live to Seattle which is like 4 hours. The Tesla would make that on a single charge and, at worst, we would just stop before the mountains and charge up in like 15-20 mins. the Other 99.99% of our life is just day-to-day driving where we would just be charging at home.

Idk, Tesla's are weird like the reviews on them are so bipolar but the people who drive them love them and swear by them, and looking at the car from an outside POV it seems to check all the boxes we are looking for...

[titansNvolsR#1]

8 hours ago, AFlaccoSeagulls said:

Ugh. I mean we took literally 2 road trips last year and it was just from where we live to Seattle which is like 4 hours. The Tesla would make that on a single charge and, at worst, we would just stop before the mountains and charge up in like 15-20 mins. the Other 99.99% of our life is just day-to-day driving where we would just be charging at home.

Idk, Tesla's are weird like the reviews on them are so bipolar but the people who drive them love them and swear by them, and looking at the car from an outside POV it seems to check all the boxes we are looking for...

He had a Model S for himself and a Model Y for the family car. They loved both of them. But when you went on big road trips like NY down to FL, it just wasn't feasible as you'd have to plan for a charging station being near the exit and that it wouldn't be packed with people also charging. If your biggest road trip is just 4-5 hours, I think you'd be okay. 

[Tugboat]

On 2/14/2024 at 4:08 PM, AFlaccoSeagulls said:

What's your budget?

BMW x3/x5 are really good (I had an X5 M), but the X5 is rather expensive depending on the trim, but it also has a PHEV option for those wanting a hybrid. Toyota SUV's are the most reliable in the world. Audi has good luxury SUV's with the Q5/Q7/Q8. If you're going up in budget you can look at Porsche Cayenne or if you want a compact SUV the Macan is really cool.

If you want EV, Tesla Model Y/X or the Hyundai IONIQ 5/6 are both solid. 

I'm in the middle of looking to consolidate cars into one SUV so we're looking for something that has style and power. I'm trying to convince my gf that Tesla is an option since it checks all of our boxes, but she's really resisting the change to EV since she doesn't think it's viable for road trips having to worry about charging and waiting for the charge times. If anyone has an EV I'd love to hear your experience!

The X3 seems like a real solid vehicle that just catches a lot of strays because it's not an X5.  Because it's less prestigious and...slightly less spacious.  The X1 used to be the ******* gem of the whole range.  But then they turned it into a Mini Cooper instead of a secret squirrel (previous gen) 3 Series AWD Wagon with extra ground clearance.  So now it's a FWD platform that is taller but less useful.

The X3 hasn't fallen to that fate yet.

 

As for your conversion to a single Electronic Car...a lot of that really does depend on where you live and what you do with the vehicle.

I'll be the last person on earth to adopt one and honestly i hate them because they're ******* stupid.  They're all the space consuming road necessitating drawbacks of a normal car, but heavier and more expensive.  But without the one actual "range" attribute that makes cars worthwhile in my world.  Not to mention the lacking infrastructure.

 

But if you just live in certain enclaves of dense urban development with extensive EV charging stations...it'll probably be fine.  But also why not just like ride the train or something?  And if there isn't a train, there should be a train.  And i will never back down on this.

 

On 2/18/2024 at 6:12 PM, titansNvolsR#1 said:

She is correct on this front. My friend went all electric for a while. They eventually sold one of them for a hybrid because long road trips required some pretty precise planning. They loved them for their day-to-day life, but they weren't a feasible option for a road trip. Especially once you start leaving the West coast or Northeast. 

 

This is the reality of Electric Cars.  They're great at doing the exact thing that electric trains are exponentially better at doing.

They're not great at doing the things that combustion engine cars are good at doing, based on the infrastructure that exists.  Fueling stations vs Charging stations.  If you have to venture at all off the "beaten path" it's going to become a challenge.

 

On 2/19/2024 at 9:26 AM, AFlaccoSeagulls said:

Ugh. I mean we took literally 2 road trips last year and it was just from where we live to Seattle which is like 4 hours. The Tesla would make that on a single charge and, at worst, we would just stop before the mountains and charge up in like 15-20 mins. the Other 99.99% of our life is just day-to-day driving where we would just be charging at home.

Idk, Tesla's are weird like the reviews on them are so bipolar but the people who drive them love them and swear by them, and looking at the car from an outside POV it seems to check all the boxes we are looking for...

 

Seattle area?  You're probably fine if you never stretch outside of that.  You could even run up into parts of Canada and be fine for the most part.  But for a lot of people it's simply not feasible.  But 400 miles is ambitious for most Teslers is the real world.  Especially if you've got a lot of people or luggage or whatever with you or hit traffic that isn't optimum.  Likely charging stations along the way becomes key.

 

If you think you can make those few road trips work, awesome.  

Personally, like 90% of my mileage is just driving trips that would require multiple full charges on a Tesla.  With only two real charging spots along the way.  Which are always busy now.  And it'd make it completely impossible to drive up any further. Lack of premium 91+ fuel probably makes it irrelevant to my specific case, but at least i know i could run my car on lower grade gas up there if i needed to for some reason.

 

 

But your situation really does sound like something that an EV would actually make a ton of sense for.  I just wouldn't go anywhere near Tesla because that company is ****ty snake oil run by a guy who has a history of over promising, under-delivering, and most of the things that Tesla cars were advertised to do...are worse than just other normal cheaper EVs from more established car companies.

 

On 2/19/2024 at 6:01 PM, titansNvolsR#1 said:

He had a Model S for himself and a Model Y for the family car. They loved both of them. But when you went on big road trips like NY down to FL, it just wasn't feasible as you'd have to plan for a charging station being near the exit and that it wouldn't be packed with people also charging. If your biggest road trip is just 4-5 hours, I think you'd be okay. 

Yeah.  This is the thing.  It's one thing to sus out whether an EV can technically make a road trip.  It's another thing entirely when it suddenly requires an immense amount of extra planning to make sure you don't accidentally strand yourself somewhere with no plug in.  If you want to travel distance in an EV...you need to plan ahead in a very different way.  And hope things are accurate and it's not too busy.  

ICE cars?  Well you could get a diesel one and drive a like a billion miles on a tank and never even think about range.

Or you could get a gas one and as long as it's reasonably efficient/has a decent sized tank, you can probably just run 500 miles on a tank and then whoa...there's a gas station.  Sweet!