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MahrinSkel
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Reply #840 on: May 19, 2018, 01:14:38 PM

I've pretty much settled on VW and Honda as the brands that run forever for me. Way back in the day, I nursed a 70's model VW Rabbit to 250K miles, and I have driven many different models with well over 100K that needed nothing but normal maintenance. Honda, I've only driven their SUV's and minivans, but those have just *worked*, and kept working without anything but oil changes forever. Fun Fact: The Odyssey can actually hold a lot more cargo than the Pilot, because of the lower deck and being able to completely remove the middle seats without tools.

For hybrids, Toyota is certainly the brand with the most technological capital, anybody else is going to be a downgrade right now. And hey, now I know that it is safe in a rollover accident! Glad to hear you walked away that that.

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Mandella
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Reply #841 on: May 19, 2018, 01:22:31 PM

I think that is one hell of an advertisement for a Prius -- back in my day and our old Buick we'd be dead.

So aside from being mad at Toyota, why not another Prius?

Also, my wife has a Fit, and thirded for all the stuff she can haul (she's a professional potter and has to haul stuff to shows). Plus it's a reasonably comfortable car to drive, unlike her old Civic...
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Reply #842 on: May 19, 2018, 01:59:15 PM

Well done flipping over a car on a residential street in the daytime with good visibility awesome, for real
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Reply #843 on: May 19, 2018, 02:02:29 PM

Seriously, what did you get hit with, a dump truck?

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Chimpy
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Reply #844 on: May 19, 2018, 02:34:37 PM

Buddy of mine has a hybrid accord. It is pretty comfy to ride in and he gets an average of over 40mpg.

The crack-addled Picasso styling is definitely a big detractor for me but it ain’t my car heh.

'Reality' is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.
ghost
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Reply #845 on: May 19, 2018, 05:14:25 PM

VW Golf, baby. 
Count Nerfedalot
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Reply #846 on: May 19, 2018, 09:08:50 PM

Why buy an Accord instead of another Prius? Well, the Accord that hit me drove off with apparently minimal damage after the police were done!   ACK!  (True, but I think the front end probably had more damage underneath than was visible.)

Yes, I'm quite thankful for the safety features in modern cars, even though the air bags didn't deploy this time, not even the side ones oddly enough.  On the other hand, I didn't need them. Seat belt held me snugly in my seat, as I sat there watching the world spin around and over in slow motion. I didn't even get bruised. The street was dry on the surface though we had had a pretty good rain overnight.  But it's been raining a lot all month so there wasn't any unusual oil buildup. I still don't quite understand the physics, she was stopped 15 feet back from the stop sign as I entered the intersection (at roughly 25 mph and no stop sign for me) yet she still managed to hit me hard enough to spin me. Then my forward inertia rolled the car once the tires were perpendicular to my direction of travel.

Real reasons for why Honda this time:
1) Hondas run forever with just oil changes.
2) The Accord is vastly more comfortable than the Prius in every way. More headroom and leg room (front and back) and a telescoping steering wheel all make it easier on my creaky old 6'2" arthritic frame.
3) The Accord handles exceptionally well, more like a German sedan than any other car not made in Germany. The Prius is like driving a brick.
4) The hybrid Accord is more powerful than the Prius (which surprisingly is not all that shabby in the first place) with only a couple mpg difference these days.
5) The Countess' 18 year old Accord, even though running rough on 5 cylinders, is still smoother and quieter than the plastic-interior rattletrap the Prius gradually devolved into.
6) Maintenance costs started going up on the Prius about the day the warranty expired. It was burning over a quart of oil every 1000 miles, the hybrid system battery was rapidly loosing effectiveness, etc.
7) Toyota refuses to integrate with Android Auto (or Apple Car if that's your thing).
8) Of all the little trade-offs, compromises and cut corners manufacturers go through to maintain a profit on their cars, Toyota over and over has annoyed the crap out of me with yet another chintzy cheap part that probably saved them a dollar but caused me a headache. Between myself, my wife and her son we've put over 600,000 miles on Hondas and I've never noticed any little gotchas. (There was one big gotcha, the 4-cylinder Accord of the 90's was too wimpy, but I corrected that with my second one).
9) Design-wise Toyota insists on doing things different even when there's no benefit to it, and often significant issues with not following the standards. Like their stupid shift pattern in the Prius. I'm pretty sure that's why they had to have a damn beeper going INSIDE the car at all times while it's in reverse, etc.
10) The redesigned 2018 Accord is just plain beautiful.  Can't say that about any Prius. (I hated the Accord styling from about 2006 to 2017. The 2018 Civics on the other hand are ridiculous)
11) I will miss the hatchback maybe 10 days a year. I'll be happy I'm in the sedan probably 300 days or more per year. The rest of the time I'll probably wish I had an SUV or truck.
12) The Accord is assembled in the US (although the engine and drive train were made in Japan).
13) The Prius has visibility issues roughly comparable to an armored car.
14) The Prius rolled over and died when hit by an Accord at absurdly low speeds.  why so serious?



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Chimpy
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Reply #847 on: May 20, 2018, 06:17:46 AM


10) The redesigned 2018 Accord is just plain beautiful.  Can't say that about any Prius. (I hated the Accord styling from about 2006 to 2017. The 2018 Civics on the other hand are ridiculous)


I hadn't seen the 2018 apparently, my friend's must be a 2017. It is definitely not crack-addled Picasso anymore but I won't go so far as to say "beautiful". It looks more like a respectable car than before, I will give you that.

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Nebu
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Reply #848 on: May 20, 2018, 12:40:13 PM

Honda's, while dependable, are about the most soul-less car I've ever driven.  There is absolutely nothing redeeming about them.  Perhaps that's their strength; above average in all respects without excelling at anything.

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Trippy
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Reply #849 on: May 20, 2018, 04:45:25 PM

The front end of the latest Accord looks like they left out a trim piece in the design.

Yes I know they are trying to copy Audi like they copied BMW with their creases.
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Reply #850 on: May 20, 2018, 04:48:48 PM

Interesting that there are so many VW fans.  VW has one of the worst reliability records out there.

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TheWalrus
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Reply #851 on: May 20, 2018, 10:40:35 PM

As a mechanic, I would say VW suffer from a German design myth. Customers already don't take care of the their cars. Throw in a manufacturer banking off the mystique of a stereotype and extended oil changes, and people let that shit go. Folk that take care of their vehicles, of any make really, do really well. In the end, parts is parts. Regular oil changes and proper inspections will keep a rig on the road for longer than they deserve when driven intelligently.

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01101010
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Reply #852 on: May 21, 2018, 03:25:44 AM

As a mechanic, I would say VW suffer from a German design myth. Customers already don't take care of the their cars. Throw in a manufacturer banking off the mystique of a stereotype and extended oil changes, and people let that shit go. Folk that take care of their vehicles, of any make really, do really well. In the end, parts is parts. Regular oil changes and proper inspections will keep a rig on the road for longer than they deserve when driven intelligently.

Parts for German cars are a tad bit higher than parts for a Honda or Toyota. So if you are out of warranty, you'll be paying more for maintenance. Personally, I'd lease German and buy American-ized.

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Viin
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Reply #853 on: May 21, 2018, 08:30:15 AM

After that accident, you'll need to get one of these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LwRHLMWlwI

- Viin
Count Nerfedalot
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Reply #854 on: May 21, 2018, 07:19:02 PM

After that accident, you'll need to get one of these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LwRHLMWlwI

well, you should see the rental my insurance company has set me up with. F150 4x4!  awesome, for real 
our only local rental agency was out of cars that day, so they put me in line for the call as they come in, and that was what came in when it was my turn LOL


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Reply #855 on: May 22, 2018, 10:20:07 AM

Renting a manual VW GTI off Getaround for a weekend trip down to the Santa Cruz mountains, as an extended test drive.  After my Mini test drive where they didn't even let me drive up and down Russian Hill in a re-enactment of the Bullitt chase scene I realized if I really want to get a feel for a car I need to rent one so I can drive it unsupervised.   why so serious?

Mountain driving is my least favorite thing about my Civic hybrid.  The battery depletes after a couple of miles of uphill driving and leaves me stuck in first gear to crawl the rest of the way up -- last time I visited these friends at their cabin I had trouble making it up their driveway.  Very excited to see how the GTI compares on this trip.   DRILLING AND MANLINESS

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Reply #856 on: May 22, 2018, 10:27:48 AM

German cars are maintenance problems all around.

My G37 has 114k miles and aside from the XM radio reception it works great.  I replaced a wheel bearing once and am on my 3rd set of tires.  Hoping to use it as a sarcophagus.

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Reply #857 on: May 22, 2018, 11:02:54 AM

I realized if I really want to get a feel for a car I need to rent one so I can drive it unsupervised.   why so serious?
That's genius!

Our best test drive experience was on a bad day for the Mazda dealership. They were understaffed and slammed. As a middle-aged couple, they apparently trusted us enough to just give us keys to anything we asked for on the lot. We had...fun :)
01101010
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Reply #858 on: May 22, 2018, 12:48:17 PM

I realized if I really want to get a feel for a car I need to rent one so I can drive it unsupervised.   why so serious?
That's genius!

Our best test drive experience was on a bad day for the Mazda dealership. They were understaffed and slammed. As a middle-aged couple, they apparently trusted us enough to just give us keys to anything we asked for on the lot. We had...fun :)

Same happened to the wife and me at the buick dealer. All we had to do was walk back into the showroom and request another car to drive. They gave us the keys and off we went.

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Brolan
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Reply #859 on: May 22, 2018, 06:46:27 PM

I like to try a used version of the car I'm buying, before driving it new.  That way the dealer doesn't care how many miles I put on it and I get some idea what the car will be like a few years down the road.
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Reply #860 on: May 30, 2018, 06:03:15 PM

Renting a manual VW GTI off Getaround for a weekend trip down to the Santa Cruz mountains, as an extended test drive.  After my Mini test drive where they didn't even let me drive up and down Russian Hill in a re-enactment of the Bullitt chase scene I realized if I really want to get a feel for a car I need to rent one so I can drive it unsupervised.   why so serious?

Mountain driving is my least favorite thing about my Civic hybrid.  The battery depletes after a couple of miles of uphill driving and leaves me stuck in first gear to crawl the rest of the way up -- last time I visited these friends at their cabin I had trouble making it up their driveway.  Very excited to see how the GTI compares on this trip.   DRILLING AND MANLINESS

FI cars are the bomb at altitude.  Everyone else is sucking wind and you're still running tip top.

The GTI is a fantastic car - nice interior and goes like stink if you wanna do that.

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Ginaz
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Reply #861 on: October 08, 2018, 06:30:26 PM

It's time again to buy a new vehicle again.  I'm looking at getting a mid size truck this time, with 4x4 and a min 6 cylinders.  After buying a house this year, I think I need something where I can haul some stuff around but I don't need something that can tow a battleship.  So far I've been leaning towards the Chevy Colorado, which looks nice and seems to be a lower price than the others in it's class.  Any thoughts?
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Reply #862 on: October 08, 2018, 07:50:39 PM

My FJ is basically an SUV version of the Tacoma (same frame and guts), so I'd throw in a vote for that. I've done some light towing (trailer with a cord of wood in it) and it's reliable af.
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Reply #863 on: October 08, 2018, 08:39:47 PM

Fj's aren't in production anymore. It's great, and I've towed some pretty heavy loads just fine. Having to pull my old roommates 27' boat was a bit much. If you're looking for a pickup, the Colorado doesn't seem bad. And I'd worry less about raw number of cylinders than performance.
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Reply #864 on: October 08, 2018, 08:57:10 PM

It's time again to buy a new vehicle again.  I'm looking at getting a mid size truck this time, with 4x4 and a min 6 cylinders.  After buying a house this year, I think I need something where I can haul some stuff around but I don't need something that can tow a battleship.  So far I've been leaning towards the Chevy Colorado, which looks nice and seems to be a lower price than the others in it's class.  Any thoughts?

I drove a Ram 1500 quite a bit and was pretty impressed by it.  For durability, the F150 has always been pretty reliable.  The only thing the US is good at is making pickup trucks. 

Note: I say this as someone that generally hates domestic vehicles. 

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TheWalrus
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Reply #865 on: October 08, 2018, 11:23:42 PM

It's time again to buy a new vehicle again.  I'm looking at getting a mid size truck this time, with 4x4 and a min 6 cylinders.  After buying a house this year, I think I need something where I can haul some stuff around but I don't need something that can tow a battleship.  So far I've been leaning towards the Chevy Colorado, which looks nice and seems to be a lower price than the others in it's class.  Any thoughts?

Get Ford for toughness, Gm for comfort. Dodge: Noun, To avoid or stay away from.

If you're leaning Colorado and don't intend on doing rigorous offroad work, I would suggest you go with the GMC version. The interiors are generally quite a bit nicer. If that's your thing.

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Reply #866 on: October 09, 2018, 01:54:32 AM

Not sure what a "midsize" pickup really is anymore. Used to be that the Dodge Dakota was the only one between a full size and a Nissan or Toyota. Now every manufacturer makes a giant full size truck and a smaller one (which is about the size of the older Dakota sized trucks).

I have always been a big fan of Nissan pickups. I had a Nissan for a number of years as my primary vehicle and could haul quite a bit of stuff in it (4cyl) and it got great gas mileage for a truck.

Do you really plan on using it more than once a month to actually haul stuff that needs a pickup? If you don't plan on using it for "truck things" much, you can get a less expensive and more comfortable AWD car that gets 30-40% better fuel economy that costs less to maintain. If you need a truck, that is what rentals are for. When I absolutely need a truck I just rent one for a day or two from Enterprise for about $75 a day.

Doing that a few times a year is still less expensive than the difference in sticker price and fuel that I would pay for if I had a truck.

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Reply #867 on: October 09, 2018, 06:50:40 AM

American trucks come in two sizes.

Stupidly big and really, really stupidly big.


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Reply #868 on: October 09, 2018, 07:16:29 AM

The Colorado is the new "small" pickup size. Same size as a Tacoma.
I saw Ford had a Ranger coming out too, but I haven't seen it here in the US.

The F150 with Ecoboost can't be beat for a "full sized" pickup with good hauling and gas mileage. Still a PITA to park.

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Reply #869 on: October 09, 2018, 09:49:16 AM

Honda's Ridgeline is pretty solid, but pricey.

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Salamok
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Reply #870 on: October 09, 2018, 01:15:36 PM

I was pretty happy with my Tundra, didn't really pick up any creaks and rattles until the 8 or 9 year mark, after 15 years I finally traded it in this summer but despite treating it mostly like shit (regular oil changes though) it was still running strong.  The Tundra I had is the size of the Tacoma now but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Toyota truck if I was in the market.
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Reply #871 on: October 09, 2018, 05:11:47 PM

The Colorado is the new "small" pickup size. Same size as a Tacoma.
I saw Ford had a Ranger coming out too, but I haven't seen it here in the US.

The F150 with Ecoboost can't be beat for a "full sized" pickup with good hauling and gas mileage. Still a PITA to park.

I was thinking of waiting to see what the new Ranger is like.  Parking is also a big consideration for me.
Salamok
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Reply #872 on: October 09, 2018, 09:11:32 PM

Parking is also a big consideration for me.

In what way?  If you don't have a long bed + crew cab it isn't much longer than a car, if it is a midsize truck it won't be overly wide, trucks come with backup cameras now too.
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Reply #873 on: October 12, 2018, 07:50:06 PM

Fj's aren't in production anymore.
Sorry, I was unclear. I meant I like the FJ, and since it's basically a closed-bed Taco, I was recommending the Taco.
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Reply #874 on: October 15, 2018, 05:26:29 PM

It's time again to buy a new vehicle again.  I'm looking at getting a mid size truck this time, with 4x4 and a min 6 cylinders.  After buying a house this year, I think I need something where I can haul some stuff around but I don't need something that can tow a battleship.  So far I've been leaning towards the Chevy Colorado, which looks nice and seems to be a lower price than the others in it's class.  Any thoughts?

Every time I drive a pickup, I ask myself why people daily those things because they make one or two trips a year to Home Depot that require a truck when Home Depot will rent you a truck for cheap.

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