@warpedrotors@yakkoTDII was in the system. I had taken the worst dealership parts department in the city from an upside-down inventory to a dead-on model one in four years, and then VoA’s hand-picked man fired me as his first official act when they bought out the dealership and made it their first company store. Oh, and did I mention that I hadn’t received a raise in that entire period, and there were ordinary counter people at other dealerships making more than I was?
@lisagd@narfcake@werehatrack maybe means you were not as subtle on the clutch as its exquisite German engineering expected you to be?
EDIT oh wait, I did have a Rabbit Diesel where the clutch went out, and also my mother had an older air-cooled and that clutch went out, but it was after I had been using it to learn to drive, of course a stick-shift, and that might have contributed to its demise. I still feel a bit responsible for that…
@pmarin Swapping out the clutch on a Beetle could be as fast as a twenty-minute job depending on the year. My personal fastest clutch swap was eleven minutes on a '67 Ghia.
@narfcake@pmarin@werehatrack The only two cars that came close to needing the clutch replaced were my Jetta and my Ford Fiesta, which was made in Germany. They didn’t release, um, evenly? like other cars I had. Nothing happened until the pedal was almost halfway up, then it would release all at once. I had a Chrysler, a Honda, and 3 Toyotas, and those clutches released at an even rate.
@lisagd Be glad you dodged the bullet on the Fiesta if it was a 2011 or newer. The clutch on those is a real bugger. Dry dual-disc assembly that will set you back $2K at a lot of shops. And for extra fun, that clutch is also used in the automatic-trans Fiestas of that year range. (Without a torque converter.)
@werehatrack Mine was a 1979 model, complete with “Synchro-mesh” clutch, whatever that was. I think that was around the time clutches got less finicky?
@lisagd Synchromesh is a term usually applied to manual transmissions, and the early Fiesta varied from the majority of Ford’s other US vehicles by having a gearbox that had synchromesh for all forward gears including first. So they undoubtedly made that a Feature, even if 95% of their salesmen had no actual clue what it meant.
@werehatrack All I knew was that I didn’t have to be at a complete stop to put my car in first without grinding gears, unlike my boyfriend’s MG Midget (one of which I still want).
@Lynnerizer My first car was red. I was hit twice in the first 12 months and had ove 8k in damages. I was almost hit several times including a having a semi nearly tbone me on a highway. I also incurred several dents from doors and/or shopping carts as it was target. When it died I got a gray Chevy Malibu and haven’t had an issue since.
@kjady@lisagd@kittykat9180
Oh wow that’s awful! I don’t blame you for never wanting to drive a red car again! Thank goodness you weren’t hurt really bad, injured for a lifetime or even worse, killed.
Guess you really did add to the statistics but so did I and I never actually owned a red car!
Ten years ago I took a car for a test drive. I don’t remember the make or model but it was a sporty little red convertible that probably made it seem like I was about to enter a midlife crisis! Lol Less than a quarter mile away from my home, where the dealership salesman picked me up, a 16 year old kid driving a HUGE Dodge Ram truck came speeding around a blind curve from the opposite direction and came over into my lane hitting me nearly head-on! After spinning around 8 times I ended up crushed against the guardrail. For the second time in my life I broke both legs and broke a few ribs, 3 months later found out that my spleen was bleeding too. The crazy part was that I probably wouldn’t have bought the car to begin with because I HATED red cars!
Lol
#partofthestatistic!
@kittykat9180@kjady@Kyeh@lisagd@Lynnerizer So in addition to attracting a disproportionately higher amount of law enforcement attention than any other color, red is also more likely to incite kamikaze like behavior from other nearby vehicles?
Triumph convertible (dark red) - never in an accident; never pulled over.
Porsche 944 (bright Guard’s Red, AKA “Arrest Me Red”) - never in an accident; pulled over only once, for speeding (I was). The cop took my info, went to his car, came back and said “I’m not going to cite you - don’t ask me why.” I didn’t ask and we went our separate ways. I did have a radar detector and put it to good use.
Chevy Suburban (bright red and white, AKA “Big Red” or just “The 'Burb”) - never in an accident (it would probably win ); never pulled over.
@kittykat9180@kjady@kuoh@Kyeh@lisagd@Lynnerizer Nope. Maybe he got an urgent all units call before he could process/finish my citation? Maybe he liked my girlfriend’s (now wife) smile?
I just accepted the gift - I wasn’t going to argue!
@macromeh Dasher hatchback, eh? Good on ya for not choosing the wagon; those had a nasty habit of shedding their entire real axle assembly without warning. I saw it happen to two different ones myself.
@werehatrack The Dasher came with the first wife. She bought it used at a local dealer and they talked her into an add-on warranty. They came to regret that when it started burning oil at a prodigious rate (bad valve guides, apparently a common problem at the time). The dealer tried to tell her to just use thicker oil but, being the daughter of a mechanic, she wasn’t that gullible. She told them she would continue to use the factory recommended oil, and if that caused a blown engine, then they could replace the whole thing under warranty instead of just the valve guides. So they caved and replaced the guides and the car never had a problem after that.
It was a good car, I miss it. The ex-wife, not so much.
@macromeh Wow, a '74 Dasher? And pretty much just the first month of production, if memory serves. I remember the very short warranty campaign on that. They corrected the guide alloy issue pretty early, but the valve stem seals were crap on all of those 1.5L and 1.6L engines until they changed the material in '77, and burning a quart of oil in 250 miles was not uncommon. VW stonewalled on a fix until the EPA bashed on them hard enough.
@werehatrack I thought it was a '77, but I may be misremembering. (I’ve blocked out quite a bit of that period. ) Either way, it entered my sphere of awareness in late 1980, after the problem and the repair.
@macromeh Looking back, the stem seal material wasn’t corrected until 1980, and the warranty program to replace them didn’t start until sometime in '81 (I think). So it could have been a '77.
Indeed I’ve bought several great vehicles at 100k or near it, and all have given many years or service. Obviously sometimes it does mean more service is needed. Two were diesels which if you are lucky means really not much concern about the engine itself, though a lot of ancillary stuff starts to go bad. So you have to expect that and either be able to fix it yourself or have good contacts. My high-mileage 1986 Ford truck went all over the West, mostly with a camper on it, went 10k miles to Alaska on a honeymoon. But a lot of the belt-driven components needed replacement (luckily never in crucial moments, though I have a vague recollection of replacing my own water pump in Gunnison CO. I think I was much more capable back then…)
If I do buying something new I guess I still have it. 91 Jeep YJ, 2008 Ram Diesel (my “new” camper carrier), and Tesla which is definitely new and wasn’t available in those days. Already dented my bumper when I backed my camper into it, slowly, in my driveway.
Reliability and suitable headroom/legroom/hiproom for a pretty tall guy. Visibility too. Its amazing how many current cars and trucks fall short on space or clear visibility. Older cars, even some furrin ones were far less likely to have shortcomings in these areas.
@duodec@warpedrotors The unpretty ones prefer to operate in the area of mystique between the top of the steering wheel and the bottom of the sun visor, more clearance increases the zone of exposure.
@unksol I used to enjoy flinging around a VW baja bug my parent’s parts store used for deliveries. I despise beetles (hideous nasty cars) but it did have room for my teenage self and the dual glass pack exhaust sounded a lot cooler than the wet fart stock muffler. Later we got a Type III Squareback but it was an automatic; not as much fun (but so much nicer in every way than a beetle). Still had room for me too.
@heartny Same here! When I got my Honda Fit, there was a deep purple one I’d seen a few times, but not available anymore. So I got “Cosmic Blue,” which I’m quite happy with.
@Kyeh Oooh, very nice! I like it! My last 3 cars were Subaru Crosstreks and prior to that were Foresters. They’ve been pretty much the same boring blue for years. Wish they came in the same color as the WRX. Or like your Cosmic Blue. I like the Subaru in this pic, but I’m not sure it’s real
@heartny@Kyeh I had always bought black or dark grey cars, but I got wild and crazy and bought my current Corolla in that shade of blue. I joke that it’s my midlife crisis car.
@heartny@lisagd Good for you!
I’ve only had 3 cars (I don’t have to drive a lot) and they’ve all been blue! First 2 by chance - I inherited my father’s dark blue VW Bug, then bought a light blue Honda Civic station wagon from a friend (LOVED that little car.) This Fit is my first new car and it’s 11 years old now.
@heartny@Kyeh I have a habit of getting into accidents that are bad enough to total my car but not bad enough to injure anyone, so I’m on my 7th car in 44 years. That’s not a bad average though, 6 years per car. I bought my current car in 2018 (someone hit me for a change lol), but since I work from home, I’ve only got 23K miles on it. I plan on keeping it for a long time, unless another accident changes my plans.
@heartny@Kyeh it was blue for me in my most recent purchase which was a Tesla model 3. I didn’t want the white because last year, all I saw (mostly) were white Teslas. I guess as they ramped-up production these were easier to crank out and I once saw an entire car carrier driving North into Portland area (presumably from CA factory) – mostly white Model 3s and a few other models, also white. Not many colors to be seen.
This year when the price dropped and availability picked up, I ordered, and didn’t want the white because “everybody had one.” I picked the blue because it was available, and also reminded me of a color I had in a Porsche and Mercedes before. Turns out this year mostly what I am seeing is Blue Teslas. So I guess I got the color-of-the-year, which means now “everybody has one” it seems. In a parking lot of a small local shopping center with less than 50 cars in it total, as I drove in I counted 2 more identical blue Teslas, so me driving in made 3.
However to @djslack I really liked the Hyundai Santa Cruz and in particular that grey-blue and also their weird green color. Those are excellent colors and it’s a cool vehicle design. I had early contact with a dealer to get one once they came out At first you could not get the models with the options I wanted. Then price was too high plus the ambiguous (“have to negotiate on the added dealer markup crap”) and I don’t play that game anymore. And only available in pure-gas, no hybrid or plug-in model, even though Hyundai offers it on the Tucson platform on which it is based.
Ultimately it was Tesla’s buy-online, car ready to pick up in parking lot with almost no evil humans involved (in fairness the humans were very nice), no haggle, no surprise, no negotiation, along with an extensive charging network, and lower cost than most other cars people pay for these days in a gas-only SUV- or performance- type vehicle.
@Tadlem43 Agree. We generally don’t have the temps here in Oregon that you do in Texas (although it was 108F in PDX on Monday!). But I still don’t like black upholstery. For my last new car, I specified the optional “Greige” upholstery (their name for a light Grey/Beige color). I had to wait/look around a bit for what I wanted, but I have not regretted my choice.
@macromeh@Tadlem43 I don’t know where you are in Oregon, but unless you are on the coast – ouch toasty last few days. I escaped to the coast where I will hang out a bit longer. Troutdale which is my nearest NWS site reported 110 yesterday but I got out in the morning.
Unfortunately Tesla I mentioned in previous post only comes with the black interior in most cases, except some premium models you can get a white/black combo. Greige would have been very nice.
@pmarin@Tadlem43 Yeah, record highs for the date for the last couple days. Highest I’ve seen recently at my location was 102F.
Speaking of Teslas - a couple days ago I saw a Pink model S driving down the highway! I’m talking Mary Kay pink. Clearly, must have been a custom job, but why?. (Not sure about the interior color… )
@macromeh@pmarin@Tadlem43 wasn’t mine. the acclaim was grey till I backed it out before it was mine and hung the passenger side fender on the chevy wood grain rear bumper. Then it was grey and black till I totaled it. I maintain they ran the light but… The spirit/parts car was black.
Both had that same red interior though. I kinda like it. Maybe it was popular. Cloth doesnt get hot
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@lomerson2 In addition to raw price, it’s also the “jerked-aroundness” of negotiation and added fees that still seems to be common in the car sales industry, though not as immediately visible as it used to be. (do they still make brown plaid polyester suits?)
@lomerson2@pmarin no they just literally straight up mark them up past MSRP on the sticker as a price adjustment because people can’t get a car. Then they add the delivery fee. So at least that’s the same.
I don’t even want to know what they are doing with financing now that interest rates/risk are way up
Reliable and will last a long time (related but separate). I had a grand caravan last 25 years and 3 months which my kid called the ghetto van. I was optimistic at the time and bought a lifer antique car plate rather than just a 2 year one. Opps. Can I sleep in it? Will the large metal dog cage the cats travel in fit and still leave me room to sleep in the back of the minivan too? Mileage for that class of car. I don’t care about resale value as the junkyard pays the same regardless of what it was when it is as old as I sell them to it. No rust. Too much rust and it won’t last as long (not to mention not pass inspection in some states, MS has no inspection but I sure hope I am not stuck here the rest of my life) and with too much rust if you get in a wreck all you will have left is a pile of rust dust on the highway. My current Toyota Sienna is approaching 14 years old (which I bought used at 10).
When I had my Silverado, it was in the shop every other month for a $500+ repair bill. After about a year of that I got rid of that thing and thankfully my car now has been absolutely maintenance free. 30,000 and not even an oil change. I am considering changing out the wipers though and need to make an appointment to at least get the brake fluid checked.
@detailer@show_the_maw lol. You freaked me out too for a minute cause “the mechanic found this in the engine. It hasn’t had an oil change since it was bought with x0,000 miles” is a very real thing on just rolled in.
@unksol@werehatrack I’ve done naughty things to my 2007 Altima. Turns out the CVT blew before the engine had a chance to go so I guess it worked out in the end. Well. Not for whoever picked up that trade in. But it worked out for me at least.
@narfcake@show_the_maw@unksol@werehatrack That’s one thing that I really like about our EV - no transmission and the electric motor produces instant torque when you press the accelerator. After driving the EV for a while, it feels weird to drive my IC car with a 6-speed auto - I mean, it’s fairly responsive, but nothing like the EV.
@macromeh@narfcake@show_the_maw@werehatrack if I were married I’m sure we’d have an EV and it would be the “nice car”. That’s basically the only scenario I can see buying a new/newer vehicle. And I’m sure they are fun to drive with all that torque.
There’s still something about a manual… I also absolutely hate when I have cruise control on and the damn auto down shifts cause a hill is a little too steap.
Space - We vacation by car. Before the kids moved out we had a full sized Chevy van (lasted 20 years) that could pull anything. Now we downsized to a Dodge Grand Caravan which is great (though it seems to get dissed a lot in car discussions) Can’t beat the fact that every seat behind the front 2 fold flat into the floor. (can lay 4x8 pieces of plywood flat in the back)
Any response noting a possible lack of “greeness” will be summarily ignored.
Exclusivity – If a car is limited/low production and has an enthusiast following, it’s often the cheapest you can possibly own a car. I’ve owned a few cars with limited production number plaques and have always walked away with a profit.
@lisagd Yeah – might be costly in itself to own, but essentially the car can act as a mobile savings account that goes down very little in value (or even appreciates) in comparison to a mass-produced vehicle. Examples like the Honda S2000, Civic Type R, Lotus Exige – of course you need to buy these kinds of cars at the right time. Bought my Civic Type R for sticker price ($36k) in 2019 and sold it a couple years & 27,000 miles later for $47k with some modifications. This kind of thing prolific in the Porsche world
@lisagd@troy It is not without risk. Most “special edition” VWs have taken 20+ years to recover their original value, if they ever did. But the old air-cooled models often sell well into five figures now, for the right sample.
@lisagd@troy@werehatrack I have a neighbor whose family left Ukraine in the 80’s (when it was under communist rule). The government restricted what they could take with them (cash, valuables, etc.), so his dad melted down some gold and hid it inside the frame of his bicycle to smuggle it out. Fast forward to present… Now as an adult, he does not trust common investments, so he keeps a collection of classic/rare cars. When I first met him, he was driving a beautiful Guard’s Red Porsche 968. Interesting guy.
Ease of getting in and out of it. I’m older and have a hard time picking my feet up to get in. Usually slide in backwards. Ease in both driver’s side and passenger’s side.
The ease of getting an appointment at the dealership. Never considered that until I got a nail in my tire and wanted to have the tire fixed and called up the Hyundai dealership and was told I could make an appointment for 4 1/2 weeks later or I could get there at 7 in the morning when they opened and wait. Fuck that shit. Made an appointment and took the car over Costco and had it fixed while I shopped.
Never considered how easy or soon I could get appointments-didn’t know how lucky I was with Cadillac which were the two cars I had for the past 10 years before I traded them both in (sold to carmax actually) and got the Tuscon Hybrid (which I love BTW-not Gettel who owns both Hyundai dealership near me.) Mileage is 50% better than the Caddys and can use regular gas even though all three cars were turbos.
@brainmist Well the car was only 5 months old and I figured I would start a relationship with the service dept and an advisor and give them a little business to boot. But the service advisor I talked to was snarky and acted like he was doing me a favor. Guess that is the difference between the two types of cars and dealerships and the people who work for them. I dread the first time I have to take the car in for service.
@brainmist@Felton10 love Hyundais, but the dealerships seem to universally stink on ice.
Also, if you have them in your area, Discount Tire will fix any flat for free, whether they sell that tire or not. I used to go to the Tire Rack warehouse to get my tires because it’s local to me, but now that we have discount tire and discount tire bought tire rack, I just go there.
@brainmist@djslack My first experience with Hyundai was in 1989 when I bought a Sonata the first year it was out and the second year Hyundais were sold in America.
With my propensity to buy a car from the first dealer I walked into, I thought walking into a dealer that I thought I knew little about and had no chance of buying a car from them was the right move-wrong again-bought the Sonata because it was 2k less than the Pontiac Gran Prix I was really interested in and cost less than 10k.
The A/C broke as I was leaving the dealership with the car after buying it. Everything broke during the warranty period and nothing after that and traded it in at 60k miles (getting 2k in trade for it) and was never so glad to get rid of a car (other than my 1998 Cadillac Catera) because I thought when Hyundai finally goes out of business the car would be worth next to nothing. Little did I know.
@brainmist@djslack@Felton10 Wasn’t the “1998 Cadillac Catera” “the Caddy that zigs” and related to the Saab in some way when GM owned it for a short time? I had a Saab 9000 at the time and I was active online (early days of internetz) on Saab enthusiast forums. Though most discussions were about fixing things, hmm…
Also for tire places, in Western States I do recommend Les Schwab with a fairly big network even in smaller communities, and my service experience has been good. (including tire leak repairs on tires I bought there and tires I didn’t – all free and quick.)
@Felton10 amazing that they survived as long as they did on being cheap. A lot of those late 80s-early 90s Hyundais were real shitboxes. My sister had I think a 1990 Excel hatchback as her first car. I drove an 88.5 Suzuki Samurai and thought the Hyundai was gutless. My cousin got pulled over driving it on the interstate and got a ticket for going 82. I tried to tell the trooper that I knew the car didn’t have 82 in it unless it was downhill with a tailwind. It was the Mustang that passed us that was going 82.
Late 2000s when the Hyundai Genesis came out I knew a lady that worked in the service department and she went on about how they had really turned it around and were making quality cars. In 2011 I bought a 2012 Veloster and never looked back, drove it for 10 years and my dad is driving it now. It’s still on the original clutch and has gone through two batteries and one alternator. The windshield washer pump cracked and I never replaced it because it seems like a pain to get to. Other than that, zero problems. She was right, they really turned it around.
@brainmist@djslack@pmarin Yes that was the “Caddy that zigged”. You have a good memory. I even bought a stuffed duck (mallard) that was its mascot and was on the Caddy logo until they removed it. Although GM bought Saab and ruined it (I had two Saabs 2003 and 2004 at one time), the Catera was a rebadged Opel. I actually rode in one of the Opels when I was on a business trip to Italy.
@djslack Yep-that was my car-a real shitbox. It had a sulphur smell from the exhaust and the only car I ever had or heard of that the front seat broke and had to be replaced. Took forever for them to get the replacement. Guess the 5 year bumper to bumper to bumper warranty and 10 years on the power train was their first step in trying to convince people they were reliable and then when they bought them due to the warranty they found out they really were being made better.
@brainmist I once did 110 in a 99 Saturn SL. I do think there was a slight down hill. I believe it was I90 in Minnesota… Or Wisconsin. and it was like 2AM and I hadn’t seen a car in… What felt like ever. And I was going like 10 over anyway cause you will be run over if you don’t in illinois… And just… Leaned in for a minute or two.
Naturally a little latter two bored state troopers in the median caught me going ~10 over…
Got to explain why there was a full sized KA-BAR just there in the front seat and it hadn’t occured to me since every state I was going through recognized my CCW and my state had no knife restrictions and I… Just forgot it was there. Got a warning/put it in the trunk probably… Glad they weren’t there for the speed run lol
@djslack See previous post: “That it has a manual transmission”
Though I have mixed feelings about this, depending on what type of “performance” and “fun” applies to your needs.
I grew up on 4- and 5-speeds (which sometimes moved the shift-pattern around just to mess with you).
But then automatics used to suck. Really suck. Like 3-speeds and torque converters. Huge coolers to dissipate all the heat they were wasting from your inefficient 8-cyl 7MPG engine.
My brother-in-law still likes a stickshift in his big truck, but I tried it and thought it was a pain, especially his steep dirt driveway which is often muddy or icy. But I am comparing it to a (not new anymore) 6-speed automatic in my pickup, which does give you manual shifting controls if you want, which I rarely use but still glad because sometimes I do feel like it. Mostly I felt like the new automatic actually had a better idea of what was going on with the engine and the load and would generally do what seemed like the right thing at the time. (the exception would be seeing a curve and hill coming up and using the manual button to bump it down a gear so it could already start torque-ing up around the curve, yes, that is fun.) Another condition is on marginally-icy conditions especially if you are in traffic ('cause of all the overturned Semis in Wyoming – been in that a few times; in the traffic, not in the overturned vehicles, thankfully.). And you want to keep in a single gear so you don’t get any unexpected shifts. Gotta keep your grip, man.
My friend on the other hand got a crappy low-end car with CVT and man, I hate that thing! It’s friggin unpredictable and dangerous. two of our other friends, hate it also; they both happen to have stick-shift Miatas.
I would say value/reliability but maybe in a different way than most people.
I bought my first car off my dad for $500 because that’s what he paid for it with a blown head gasket and I replaced it.
That one sort of died in an accident when I was in high school but swapped engines to the parts car.
I’m sure it was over 100K miles.
Saturn was at like 99K miles and $1600 from a tradein and made it 20 years to 250K.
Expedition was $400 in fall of 2019 and easy to fix. I mean only half the cylinders were firing, the rocker panels were duct tape, the battery/starter didnt work, radiator leaked, and you couldn’t put it in park or use the emergency brake. But all minor. I know people don’t love the 5.4 triton but it’s a 2V from 97. 4 more years out of that so far. With what used car prices are now… Not a bad deal. Obviously I spent some money fixing things. But there is something about getting away with it with some literal blood, sweat, and a little bit of tears. That is very very satisfying. Fixing things is. A good feeling
Technically the metro is free so far. Not that it’s moved. I do need to get to that…
A Miata might be fun or something else when used prices are reasonable again. Go dip below the great rust belt for a fun manual that’s not rusted out and can be towed back. I’m not much for new cars. Especially what they jacked the prices to these days.
I know it’s not for a lot of people just how I like to roll so far.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@chienfou Agree, with a caveat: twice I’ve bought cars of mine that were written off as “totalled” back from the insurance company for peanuts, made some repairs and enjoyed many more years of happy continued driving. With never a thought to the deprecated title.
Is from VAG.
@yakkoTDI I was a VW enthusiast at one time. The reason that I stopped being one is probably not anything you want to know about.
@werehatrack @yakkoTDI
@narfcake @yakkoTDI I understood too well.
VW left me, it wasn’t the other way around. (Not so much left as booted into the ditch across the road.)
@werehatrack @yakkoTDI my guesses are: electrical issues, transmission issues, and more electrical issues.
@warpedrotors @yakkoTDI I was in the system. I had taken the worst dealership parts department in the city from an upside-down inventory to a dead-on model one in four years, and then VoA’s hand-picked man fired me as his first official act when they bought out the dealership and made it their first company store. Oh, and did I mention that I hadn’t received a raise in that entire period, and there were ordinary counter people at other dealerships making more than I was?
Like I said, you probably didn’t want to know.
Yes, I am still bitter about it.
Oof – I’m sorry, @werehatrack.
(I was going on the general unreliability as the reason for leaving the brand, as that’s usually been the case.)
@narfcake @werehatrack Yeah, I had a VW once. Fool me once…
I’m also not wild about the clutches on German-made cars.
@lisagd @narfcake @werehatrack maybe means you were not as subtle on the clutch as its exquisite German engineering expected you to be?
EDIT oh wait, I did have a Rabbit Diesel where the clutch went out, and also my mother had an older air-cooled and that clutch went out, but it was after I had been using it to learn to drive, of course a stick-shift, and that might have contributed to its demise. I still feel a bit responsible for that…
@pmarin Swapping out the clutch on a Beetle could be as fast as a twenty-minute job depending on the year. My personal fastest clutch swap was eleven minutes on a '67 Ghia.
I really was an enthusiast. VW destroyed that.
@pmarin @werehatrack
I still drive VW diesels
From the pre-EPA-corruption-scandal-era
I like, but then I have the ultimate mechanic and he has a yard full of dead ones he can get parts off if the parts don’t need to be new
And he’s been doing this for decades, so he knows these inside out
@narfcake @pmarin @werehatrack The only two cars that came close to needing the clutch replaced were my Jetta and my Ford Fiesta, which was made in Germany. They didn’t release, um, evenly? like other cars I had. Nothing happened until the pedal was almost halfway up, then it would release all at once. I had a Chrysler, a Honda, and 3 Toyotas, and those clutches released at an even rate.
Tl;dr: I blame the Germans.
@lisagd Be glad you dodged the bullet on the Fiesta if it was a 2011 or newer. The clutch on those is a real bugger. Dry dual-disc assembly that will set you back $2K at a lot of shops. And for extra fun, that clutch is also used in the automatic-trans Fiestas of that year range. (Without a torque converter.)
@werehatrack Mine was a 1979 model, complete with “Synchro-mesh” clutch, whatever that was. I think that was around the time clutches got less finicky?
@lisagd Synchromesh is a term usually applied to manual transmissions, and the early Fiesta varied from the majority of Ford’s other US vehicles by having a gearbox that had synchromesh for all forward gears including first. So they undoubtedly made that a Feature, even if 95% of their salesmen had no actual clue what it meant.
@werehatrack All I knew was that I didn’t have to be at a complete stop to put my car in first without grinding gears, unlike my boyfriend’s MG Midget (one of which I still want).
@lisagd That first-gear downshift capability is exactly what the full-synchro feature allowed.
@werehatrack It certainly makes life easier.
Reliability and gas mileage are the only things I consider. Also that the car isn’t red. Never again.
@kjady
Are you a statistic of one of the red car drivers? Please tell us your story, inquiring minds and all, you know.
@Lynnerizer My first car was red. I was hit twice in the first 12 months and had ove 8k in damages. I was almost hit several times including a having a semi nearly tbone me on a highway. I also incurred several dents from doors and/or shopping carts as it was target. When it died I got a gray Chevy Malibu and haven’t had an issue since.
@kjady @Lynnerizer I thought they got pulled over more for speeding; I didn’t realize people ran into them more.
@lisagd @Lynnerizer They do get pulled over more but for me, that car was target. I’ll never own a red car again.
@kjady l, I hate the color red
@kittykat9180 I do too. I live in Nebraska and hate giving free publicity to the huskers.
@kjady and seat comfort
@kjady @lisagd @kittykat9180
Less than a quarter mile away from my home, where the dealership salesman picked me up, a 16 year old kid driving a HUGE Dodge Ram truck came speeding around a blind curve from the opposite direction and came over into my lane hitting me nearly head-on! After spinning around 8 times I ended up crushed against the guardrail. For the second time in my life I broke both legs and broke a few ribs, 3 months later found out that my spleen was bleeding too. The crazy part was that I probably wouldn’t have bought the car to begin with because I HATED red cars! 
Oh wow that’s awful! I don’t blame you for never wanting to drive a red car again! Thank goodness you weren’t hurt really bad, injured for a lifetime or even worse, killed.
Guess you really did add to the statistics but so did I and I never actually owned a red car!
Ten years ago I took a car for a test drive. I don’t remember the make or model but it was a sporty little red convertible that probably made it seem like I was about to enter a midlife crisis! Lol
Lol
#partofthestatistic!
@kittykat9180 @kjady @lisagd @Lynnerizer
Oh my GAWD! That’s horrible!
@kittykat9180 @kjady @Kyeh @lisagd @Lynnerizer So in addition to attracting a disproportionately higher amount of law enforcement attention than any other color, red is also more likely to incite kamikaze like behavior from other nearby vehicles?
KuoH
@kittykat9180 @kuoh @Kyeh @lisagd @Lynnerizer In my experience? Yes. I have never been more terrified of driving than I was in that car.
@kittykat9180 @kjady @kuoh @Kyeh @lisagd @Lynnerizer My experience has been different.
I have owned and driven 3 red vehicles:
Maybe I’ve just been extraordinarily lucky…
@kittykat9180 @kjady @kuoh @Kyeh @lisagd @Lynnerizer BTW, I have been involved in 4 accidents, in all but one my vehicle was rear ended while at or nearly at a stop. They were:
So there’s that…
(BTW, #2 and #4 were both at the same stop light, 30 years apart.)
@kittykat9180 @kjady @kuoh @lisagd @Lynnerizer @macromeh
??? Wow, that really IS lucky! Do you have any idea why?!
@kittykat9180 @kjady @kuoh @Kyeh @lisagd @Lynnerizer Nope. Maybe he got an urgent all units call before he could process/finish my citation? Maybe he liked my girlfriend’s (now wife) smile?
I just accepted the gift - I wasn’t going to argue!
@macromeh Dasher hatchback, eh? Good on ya for not choosing the wagon; those had a nasty habit of shedding their entire real axle assembly without warning. I saw it happen to two different ones myself.
@werehatrack The Dasher came with the first wife. She bought it used at a local dealer and they talked her into an add-on warranty. They came to regret that when it started burning oil at a prodigious rate (bad valve guides, apparently a common problem at the time). The dealer tried to tell her to just use thicker oil but, being the daughter of a mechanic, she wasn’t that gullible. She told them she would continue to use the factory recommended oil, and if that caused a blown engine, then they could replace the whole thing under warranty instead of just the valve guides. So they caved and replaced the guides and the car never had a problem after that.
It was a good car, I miss it. The ex-wife, not so much.
@macromeh Wow, a '74 Dasher? And pretty much just the first month of production, if memory serves. I remember the very short warranty campaign on that. They corrected the guide alloy issue pretty early, but the valve stem seals were crap on all of those 1.5L and 1.6L engines until they changed the material in '77, and burning a quart of oil in 250 miles was not uncommon. VW stonewalled on a fix until the EPA bashed on them hard enough.
@werehatrack I thought it was a '77, but I may be misremembering. (I’ve blocked out quite a bit of that period.
) Either way, it entered my sphere of awareness in late 1980, after the problem and the repair.
@macromeh Looking back, the stem seal material wasn’t corrected until 1980, and the warranty program to replace them didn’t start until sometime in '81 (I think). So it could have been a '77.
Mileage. I’ve yet to purchase a vehicle with less than 100k on the odometer.
Indeed I’ve bought several great vehicles at 100k or near it, and all have given many years or service. Obviously sometimes it does mean more service is needed. Two were diesels which if you are lucky means really not much concern about the engine itself, though a lot of ancillary stuff starts to go bad. So you have to expect that and either be able to fix it yourself or have good contacts. My high-mileage 1986 Ford truck went all over the West, mostly with a camper on it, went 10k miles to Alaska on a honeymoon. But a lot of the belt-driven components needed replacement (luckily never in crucial moments, though I have a vague recollection of replacing my own water pump in Gunnison CO. I think I was much more capable back then…)
If I do buying something new I guess I still have it. 91 Jeep YJ, 2008 Ram Diesel (my “new” camper carrier), and Tesla which is definitely new and wasn’t available in those days. Already dented my bumper when I backed my camper into it, slowly, in my driveway.
Mileage shmileage, does it actually have ALL the microchips? Don’t want to have to go back to the dealer to get a working radio, AC or wipers!
KuoH
Reliability and suitable headroom/legroom/hiproom for a pretty tall guy. Visibility too. Its amazing how many current cars and trucks fall short on space or clear visibility. Older cars, even some furrin ones were far less likely to have shortcomings in these areas.
@duodec why does the guy have to be pretty?
@duodec @warpedrotors The unpretty ones prefer to operate in the area of mystique between the top of the steering wheel and the bottom of the sun visor, more clearance increases the zone of exposure.
KuoH
@duodec ive never has problems getting in my Saturn or dads metro at 6’4’'. Maybe a little higher. I find the small manuals fun.
@unksol I used to enjoy flinging around a VW baja bug my parent’s parts store used for deliveries. I despise beetles (hideous nasty cars) but it did have room for my teenage self and the dual glass pack exhaust sounded a lot cooler than the wet fart stock muffler. Later we got a Type III Squareback but it was an automatic; not as much fun (but so much nicer in every way than a beetle). Still had room for me too.
@duodec @unksol
HERBIE!
/giphy VW baja
Depreciation! I would like to recover some of the cost when I sell it 5 - 10 years later.
@gsrivast sell? A car? What blasphemy is this?
How comfortable the seats are. Am old.
How is it in snow, followed by reliability, efficiency, etc
Can get into it without bumping my head? Can I drive without being in the fetal position? Oh, and can I afford the gas?
Price, and can I sleep in it/cook on it. I’ve got some of those good chicken fingers in my dad’s freezer. Smokes, let’s go.
/giphy trailer park boys
Color.
@heartny What color is your car?
@Kyeh Blue, always. However, it would be purple if that was a option.
@heartny
Same here! When I got my Honda Fit, there was a deep purple one I’d seen a few times, but not available anymore. So I got “Cosmic Blue,” which I’m quite happy with. 
@Kyeh Oooh, very nice! I like it! My last 3 cars were Subaru Crosstreks and prior to that were Foresters. They’ve been pretty much the same boring blue for years. Wish they came in the same color as the WRX. Or like your Cosmic Blue. I like the Subaru in this pic, but I’m not sure it’s real
@heartny That’s snazzy!
@heartny @Kyeh And I would bet more than a nickel that half the people standing around taking pictures missed the joke.
@heartny
The F***s edition. Nice.
@heartny @Kyeh Your Fit looks very similar to my wife’s EV.
@heartny @werehatrack
I totally missed it.
@heartny @macromeh
I wish mine were electric!
@heartny @Kyeh I had always bought black or dark grey cars, but I got wild and crazy and bought my current Corolla in that shade of blue. I joke that it’s my midlife crisis car.
@heartny @lisagd Good for you!
I’ve only had 3 cars (I don’t have to drive a lot) and they’ve all been blue! First 2 by chance - I inherited my father’s dark blue VW Bug, then bought a light blue Honda Civic station wagon from a friend (LOVED that little car.) This Fit is my first new car and it’s 11 years old now.
@heartny @Kyeh @lisagd A car color study done about a decade ago:
@heartny @Kyeh I have a habit of getting into accidents that are bad enough to total my car but not bad enough to injure anyone, so I’m on my 7th car in 44 years. That’s not a bad average though, 6 years per car. I bought my current car in 2018 (someone hit me for a change lol), but since I work from home, I’ve only got 23K miles on it. I plan on keeping it for a long time, unless another accident changes my plans.
@heartny @Kyeh @narfcake My SIL always buys white cars. She says they don’t show dirt as much. I don’t see the attraction, personally.
@lisagd White paint definitely shows dirt. I know because my car needs a wash!
@heartny I have a silver car that I am still tempted to make blue. Love most everything about it but the silver.
Then I have a gray blue truck because it was the closest thing to blue. It gets compliments a lot.
/image blue stone Santa Cruz
@heartny @lisagd @narfcake My mother has a dark bluish-green Toyota, which I think is nice-looking, but she’s so jealous of my blue car!
@heartny I’m waiting for the factory Musou black option.
KuoH
@heartny @Kyeh it was blue for me in my most recent purchase which was a Tesla model 3. I didn’t want the white because last year, all I saw (mostly) were white Teslas. I guess as they ramped-up production these were easier to crank out and I once saw an entire car carrier driving North into Portland area (presumably from CA factory) – mostly white Model 3s and a few other models, also white. Not many colors to be seen.
This year when the price dropped and availability picked up, I ordered, and didn’t want the white because “everybody had one.” I picked the blue because it was available, and also reminded me of a color I had in a Porsche and Mercedes before. Turns out this year mostly what I am seeing is Blue Teslas. So I guess I got the color-of-the-year, which means now “everybody has one” it seems. In a parking lot of a small local shopping center with less than 50 cars in it total, as I drove in I counted 2 more identical blue Teslas, so me driving in made 3.
However to @djslack I really liked the Hyundai Santa Cruz and in particular that grey-blue and also their weird green color. Those are excellent colors and it’s a cool vehicle design. I had early contact with a dealer to get one once they came out At first you could not get the models with the options I wanted. Then price was too high plus the ambiguous (“have to negotiate on the added dealer markup crap”) and I don’t play that game anymore. And only available in pure-gas, no hybrid or plug-in model, even though Hyundai offers it on the Tucson platform on which it is based.
Ultimately it was Tesla’s buy-online, car ready to pick up in parking lot with almost no evil humans involved (in fairness the humans were very nice), no haggle, no surprise, no negotiation, along with an extensive charging network, and lower cost than most other cars people pay for these days in a gas-only SUV- or performance- type vehicle.
/image Tesla Model 3 2023 Blue
@djslack @heartny @pmarin That Tesla blue is really gorgeous - I’ve seen them around here and really like the color.
No black interior! Who can handle a black interior in this Texas heat!!
@Tadlem43 Agree. We generally don’t have the temps here in Oregon that you do in Texas (although it was 108F in PDX on Monday!). But I still don’t like black upholstery. For my last new car, I specified the optional “Greige” upholstery (their name for a light Grey/Beige color). I had to wait/look around a bit for what I wanted, but I have not regretted my choice.
@macromeh @Tadlem43 I don’t know where you are in Oregon, but unless you are on the coast – ouch toasty last few days. I escaped to the coast where I will hang out a bit longer. Troutdale which is my nearest NWS site reported 110 yesterday but I got out in the morning.
Unfortunately Tesla I mentioned in previous post only comes with the black interior in most cases, except some premium models you can get a white/black combo. Greige would have been very nice.
@macromeh @pmarin @Tadlem43 it was 58 this morning. I just felt someone needed to know this.
I think grey cloth is usually fine/bland enough. Although the Acclaim/Spirit was a kind of glorious red.
/image Plymouth acclaim red interior
@pmarin @Tadlem43 Yeah, record highs for the date for the last couple days. Highest I’ve seen recently at my location was 102F.
)
Speaking of Teslas - a couple days ago I saw a Pink model S driving down the highway! I’m talking Mary Kay pink. Clearly, must have been a custom job, but why?. (Not sure about the interior color…
@pmarin @Tadlem43 @unksol LOL! I have a 90’s Suburban with the same interior. (Red/white exterior.)
@macromeh @pmarin @Tadlem43
Why - Barbie fan?
@macromeh @pmarin @Tadlem43 wasn’t mine. the acclaim was grey till I backed it out before it was mine and hung the passenger side fender on the chevy wood grain rear bumper. Then it was grey and black till I totaled it. I maintain they ran the light but… The spirit/parts car was black.
Both had that same red interior though. I kinda like it. Maybe it was popular. Cloth doesnt get hot
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Price & value.
@lomerson2 In addition to raw price, it’s also the “jerked-aroundness” of negotiation and added fees that still seems to be common in the car sales industry, though not as immediately visible as it used to be. (do they still make brown plaid polyester suits?)
@lomerson2 @pmarin no they just literally straight up mark them up past MSRP on the sticker as a price adjustment because people can’t get a car. Then they add the delivery fee. So at least that’s the same.
I don’t even want to know what they are doing with financing now that interest rates/risk are way up
Flexibility, will it adapt to my changing needs. Style is important, but I’m not spending a lot of time standing outside of it admiring how it looks.
@texmarc I think that’s a sign of getting older. (and wiser.)
Reliable and will last a long time (related but separate). I had a grand caravan last 25 years and 3 months which my kid called the ghetto van. I was optimistic at the time and bought a lifer antique car plate rather than just a 2 year one. Opps. Can I sleep in it? Will the large metal dog cage the cats travel in fit and still leave me room to sleep in the back of the minivan too? Mileage for that class of car. I don’t care about resale value as the junkyard pays the same regardless of what it was when it is as old as I sell them to it. No rust. Too much rust and it won’t last as long (not to mention not pass inspection in some states, MS has no inspection but I sure hope I am not stuck here the rest of my life) and with too much rust if you get in a wreck all you will have left is a pile of rust dust on the highway. My current Toyota Sienna is approaching 14 years old (which I bought used at 10).
When I had my Silverado, it was in the shop every other month for a $500+ repair bill. After about a year of that I got rid of that thing and thankfully my car now has been absolutely maintenance free. 30,000 and not even an oil change. I am considering changing out the wipers though and need to make an appointment to at least get the brake fluid checked.
@show_the_maw 30,000 and no oil change? You WILL have maintenance issues.
@detailer it’s an EV. I know there’s oil around it somewhere the the maintenance schedule doesn’t mention doing anything with it.
@show_the_maw Thanks for clarification.
@detailer @show_the_maw lol. You freaked me out too for a minute cause “the mechanic found this in the engine. It hasn’t had an oil change since it was bought with x0,000 miles” is a very real thing on just rolled in.
@unksol And it’s generally followed by “Customer declined all repairs.”
@werehatrack plus who knows what other fluids people will dump in the 710 cap. Something to get that jello block
@unksol @werehatrack I’ve done naughty things to my 2007 Altima. Turns out the CVT blew before the engine had a chance to go so I guess it worked out in the end. Well. Not for whoever picked up that trade in. But it worked out for me at least.
@show_the_maw @werehatrack i mean. There’s a very. Very. Very. Distinct line between naughty and abusive/indifference.
Idk that CVTs are built for naughty
@show_the_maw @unksol @werehatrack CVTs can be made reasonably well; it’s just a matter by whom. Aisin (Toyota), fine. Jatco (Nissan), run away!
@narfcake @show_the_maw @unksol @werehatrack That’s one thing that I really like about our EV - no transmission and the electric motor produces instant torque when you press the accelerator. After driving the EV for a while, it feels weird to drive my IC car with a 6-speed auto - I mean, it’s fairly responsive, but nothing like the EV.
@macromeh @narfcake @show_the_maw @werehatrack if I were married I’m sure we’d have an EV and it would be the “nice car”. That’s basically the only scenario I can see buying a new/newer vehicle. And I’m sure they are fun to drive with all that torque.
There’s still something about a manual… I also absolutely hate when I have cruise control on and the damn auto down shifts cause a hill is a little too steap.
@werehatrack
/youtube customers states flat towing
I checked reliability, but safety was my other major concern. Would have checked that if it were there.
Space - We vacation by car. Before the kids moved out we had a full sized Chevy van (lasted 20 years) that could pull anything. Now we downsized to a Dodge Grand Caravan which is great (though it seems to get dissed a lot in car discussions) Can’t beat the fact that every seat behind the front 2 fold flat into the floor. (can lay 4x8 pieces of plywood flat in the back)
Any response noting a possible lack of “greeness” will be summarily ignored.
@Boiler3k my grand caravan lasted 25 years and 3 mo. Kid called it the ghetto van as it was from the era of the peeling paint.
Exclusivity – If a car is limited/low production and has an enthusiast following, it’s often the cheapest you can possibly own a car. I’ve owned a few cars with limited production number plaques and have always walked away with a profit.
@troy Do you mean cheapest in terms of return on investment?
@troy This is the key aspect in all of this. There are many cars that are very rare these days, but aren’t (and never were) valuable.
@lisagd Yeah – might be costly in itself to own, but essentially the car can act as a mobile savings account that goes down very little in value (or even appreciates) in comparison to a mass-produced vehicle. Examples like the Honda S2000, Civic Type R, Lotus Exige – of course you need to buy these kinds of cars at the right time. Bought my Civic Type R for sticker price ($36k) in 2019 and sold it a couple years & 27,000 miles later for $47k with some modifications. This kind of thing prolific in the Porsche world
@troy Interesting! I never would have thought of a car as an investment in that sense.
@lisagd @troy It is not without risk. Most “special edition” VWs have taken 20+ years to recover their original value, if they ever did. But the old air-cooled models often sell well into five figures now, for the right sample.
@lisagd @troy @werehatrack I have a neighbor whose family left Ukraine in the 80’s (when it was under communist rule). The government restricted what they could take with them (cash, valuables, etc.), so his dad melted down some gold and hid it inside the frame of his bicycle to smuggle it out.
Fast forward to present… Now as an adult, he does not trust common investments, so he keeps a collection of classic/rare cars. When I first met him, he was driving a beautiful Guard’s Red Porsche 968. Interesting guy.
I would rank reliability the highest, but I can’t believe ride and handling have not been mentioned.
@DrWorm Agreed, my second and third have been “handling” and “visibility”, and those don’t even show up.
Whether I can see over the steering wheel. I’m 5 feet tall. It’s an issue.
@lisagd This so much. And whether I can see out of the passenger side. I don’t want some monster SUV!
Nice inside
Built well/good quality
No black interior
Luxurious
Fast-ish
Every safety feature
Good stock sound system
Ease of getting in and out of it. I’m older and have a hard time picking my feet up to get in. Usually slide in backwards. Ease in both driver’s side and passenger’s side.
The ease of getting an appointment at the dealership. Never considered that until I got a nail in my tire and wanted to have the tire fixed and called up the Hyundai dealership and was told I could make an appointment for 4 1/2 weeks later or I could get there at 7 in the morning when they opened and wait. Fuck that shit. Made an appointment and took the car over Costco and had it fixed while I shopped.
Never considered how easy or soon I could get appointments-didn’t know how lucky I was with Cadillac which were the two cars I had for the past 10 years before I traded them both in (sold to carmax actually) and got the Tuscon Hybrid (which I love BTW-not Gettel who owns both Hyundai dealership near me.) Mileage is 50% better than the Caddys and can use regular gas even though all three cars were turbos.
@Felton10 This is why I get my tires at Sam’s… they’re everywhere, and they will get you fixed. But I never buy a car based on dealerships.
@brainmist Well the car was only 5 months old and I figured I would start a relationship with the service dept and an advisor and give them a little business to boot. But the service advisor I talked to was snarky and acted like he was doing me a favor. Guess that is the difference between the two types of cars and dealerships and the people who work for them. I dread the first time I have to take the car in for service.
@brainmist @Felton10 love Hyundais, but the dealerships seem to universally stink on ice.
Also, if you have them in your area, Discount Tire will fix any flat for free, whether they sell that tire or not. I used to go to the Tire Rack warehouse to get my tires because it’s local to me, but now that we have discount tire and discount tire bought tire rack, I just go there.
@djslack I definitely have not been paying attention!
@brainmist @djslack My first experience with Hyundai was in 1989 when I bought a Sonata the first year it was out and the second year Hyundais were sold in America.
With my propensity to buy a car from the first dealer I walked into, I thought walking into a dealer that I thought I knew little about and had no chance of buying a car from them was the right move-wrong again-bought the Sonata because it was 2k less than the Pontiac Gran Prix I was really interested in and cost less than 10k.
The A/C broke as I was leaving the dealership with the car after buying it. Everything broke during the warranty period and nothing after that and traded it in at 60k miles (getting 2k in trade for it) and was never so glad to get rid of a car (other than my 1998 Cadillac Catera) because I thought when Hyundai finally goes out of business the car would be worth next to nothing. Little did I know.
@brainmist @djslack @Felton10 Wasn’t the “1998 Cadillac Catera” “the Caddy that zigs” and related to the Saab in some way when GM owned it for a short time? I had a Saab 9000 at the time and I was active online (early days of internetz) on Saab enthusiast forums. Though most discussions were about fixing things, hmm…
Also for tire places, in Western States I do recommend Les Schwab with a fairly big network even in smaller communities, and my service experience has been good. (including tire leak repairs on tires I bought there and tires I didn’t – all free and quick.)
@Felton10 amazing that they survived as long as they did on being cheap. A lot of those late 80s-early 90s Hyundais were real shitboxes. My sister had I think a 1990 Excel hatchback as her first car. I drove an 88.5 Suzuki Samurai and thought the Hyundai was gutless. My cousin got pulled over driving it on the interstate and got a ticket for going 82. I tried to tell the trooper that I knew the car didn’t have 82 in it unless it was downhill with a tailwind. It was the Mustang that passed us that was going 82.
Late 2000s when the Hyundai Genesis came out I knew a lady that worked in the service department and she went on about how they had really turned it around and were making quality cars. In 2011 I bought a 2012 Veloster and never looked back, drove it for 10 years and my dad is driving it now. It’s still on the original clutch and has gone through two batteries and one alternator. The windshield washer pump cracked and I never replaced it because it seems like a pain to get to. Other than that, zero problems. She was right, they really turned it around.
@brainmist @djslack @pmarin Yes that was the “Caddy that zigged”. You have a good memory. I even bought a stuffed duck (mallard) that was its mascot and was on the Caddy logo until they removed it. Although GM bought Saab and ruined it (I had two Saabs 2003 and 2004 at one time), the Catera was a rebadged Opel. I actually rode in one of the Opels when I was on a business trip to Italy.
@djslack Yep-that was my car-a real shitbox. It had a sulphur smell from the exhaust and the only car I ever had or heard of that the front seat broke and had to be replaced. Took forever for them to get the replacement. Guess the 5 year bumper to bumper to bumper warranty and 10 years on the power train was their first step in trying to convince people they were reliable and then when they bought them due to the warranty they found out they really were being made better.
Why is “speed” even a category? Are Mehtizens all race car drivers? Are there modern cars that can’t hit 70 mph?
@brainmist I once did 110 in a 99 Saturn SL. I do think there was a slight down hill. I believe it was I90 in Minnesota… Or Wisconsin. and it was like 2AM and I hadn’t seen a car in… What felt like ever. And I was going like 10 over anyway cause you will be run over if you don’t in illinois… And just… Leaned in for a minute or two.
Naturally a little latter two bored state troopers in the median caught me going ~10 over…
Got to explain why there was a full sized KA-BAR just there in the front seat and it hadn’t occured to me since every state I was going through recognized my CCW and my state had no knife restrictions and I… Just forgot it was there. Got a warning/put it in the trunk probably… Glad they weren’t there for the speed run lol
That it has a manual transmission
@kittykat9180 definitely preferred but my cheapness… Just… I can be compromised
One word:
Fun.
@djslack See previous post: “That it has a manual transmission”
Though I have mixed feelings about this, depending on what type of “performance” and “fun” applies to your needs.
I grew up on 4- and 5-speeds (which sometimes moved the shift-pattern around just to mess with you).
But then automatics used to suck. Really suck. Like 3-speeds and torque converters. Huge coolers to dissipate all the heat they were wasting from your inefficient 8-cyl 7MPG engine.
My brother-in-law still likes a stickshift in his big truck, but I tried it and thought it was a pain, especially his steep dirt driveway which is often muddy or icy. But I am comparing it to a (not new anymore) 6-speed automatic in my pickup, which does give you manual shifting controls if you want, which I rarely use but still glad because sometimes I do feel like it. Mostly I felt like the new automatic actually had a better idea of what was going on with the engine and the load and would generally do what seemed like the right thing at the time. (the exception would be seeing a curve and hill coming up and using the manual button to bump it down a gear so it could already start torque-ing up around the curve, yes, that is fun.) Another condition is on marginally-icy conditions especially if you are in traffic ('cause of all the overturned Semis in Wyoming – been in that a few times; in the traffic, not in the overturned vehicles, thankfully.). And you want to keep in a single gear so you don’t get any unexpected shifts. Gotta keep your grip, man.
My friend on the other hand got a crappy low-end car with CVT and man, I hate that thing! It’s friggin unpredictable and dangerous. two of our other friends, hate it also; they both happen to have stick-shift Miatas.
I would say value/reliability but maybe in a different way than most people.
I bought my first car off my dad for $500 because that’s what he paid for it with a blown head gasket and I replaced it.
That one sort of died in an accident when I was in high school but swapped engines to the parts car.
I’m sure it was over 100K miles.
Saturn was at like 99K miles and $1600 from a tradein and made it 20 years to 250K.
Expedition was $400 in fall of 2019 and easy to fix. I mean only half the cylinders were firing, the rocker panels were duct tape, the battery/starter didnt work, radiator leaked, and you couldn’t put it in park or use the emergency brake. But all minor. I know people don’t love the 5.4 triton but it’s a 2V from 97. 4 more years out of that so far. With what used car prices are now… Not a bad deal. Obviously I spent some money fixing things. But there is something about getting away with it with some literal blood, sweat, and a little bit of tears. That is very very satisfying. Fixing things is. A good feeling
Technically the metro is free so far. Not that it’s moved. I do need to get to that…
A Miata might be fun or something else when used prices are reasonable again. Go dip below the great rust belt for a fun manual that’s not rusted out and can be towed back. I’m not much for new cars. Especially what they jacked the prices to these days.
I know it’s not for a lot of people just how I like to roll so far.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Nothing with an automatic transmission.
I really want to say, something simple enough I can fix without having to wait for imported parts or need a car lift. But those don’t exist any more.
Clean title. No salvage, repo etc.
The rest are variables that count for more or less points based on an aggregate of factors.
@chienfou Agree, with a caveat: twice I’ve bought cars of mine that were written off as “totalled” back from the insurance company for peanuts, made some repairs and enjoyed many more years of happy continued driving. With never a thought to the deprecated title.