Useless Conversation

[Cyrrex]

Do Acuras qualify for the word "cheap?"  I wouldn't have guessed so, but I haven't priced one recently.

[MrHat]

Electric doesn't appeal to me at all because as far as I can tell the mark-up isn't worth the gas savings.

Also, I'm not going to worry at all about the environment gas/car wise because as long as Americans keep buying Dasani, my contribution to the destruction of the environment doesn't measure up at all.

I tend to drive fast as I'd rather get where I'm going, generally speed and take corners kind of hard.  But this is generally when I drive alone.  I've been told I drive "lebanese".

I'd love to learn to drive stick, but can't figure out how to do this with no friends nearby with cars or ambition beyond playing Eve all day.

Should we split this to a car thread?

I was eyeing the A4 because that's the car-crush I had back in the day.  I can probably afford 500-700 a month and likely will have about 10k to drop on a downpayment in Jan.  I've been told that leasing might appeal to my ADD.

[Cyrrex]

I can probably afford 500-700 a month and likely will have about 10k to drop on a downpayment in Jan.  I've been told that leasing might appeal to my ADD.

Off the top of my head, I'd guess you could get a Porshe Cayman for that kind of bread, which, in my opinion, shits all over an A4.

[voodoolily]

Didn't the Take a Picture a Day thread also get derailed into a car thread?

btw, we have ample gas, for <$3.50 a gallon atm.

[Oban]

I have an RL and beat the shit out of it during the winter in Canada.  Good car, hell of a lot more reliable than my last E320 4-matic.

I had an A4 quattro in Atlanta and it was a piece of shit.

[MrHat]

I can probably afford 500-700 a month and likely will have about 10k to drop on a downpayment in Jan.  I've been told that leasing might appeal to my ADD.

Off the top of my head, I'd guess you could get a Porshe Cayman for that kind of bread, which, in my opinion, shits all over an A4.

Seriously?

Holy shit, I haven't even looked at how this loan stuff works.  And I just paid off all my debt....

[Cyrrex]

Well, the internet has been known to mislead before, but I'd have to say YES.  And if you can lease a 50k Cayman, it means that there are plenty of other things out there you could get better than an A4. 

Quick and dirty from a Lease Calculator (http://www.leaseguide.com/calc.htm).  Assuming a 50k car with a 25k residual value at the end of a 5 year lease - numbers out of my ass, basically - with 10k down, 5% APR and 8% sales tax, your monthly lease total is, wait for it.....$456.  Per.  Month. 

[Sky]

Dumping 10k into a lease? 

Though I guess it's better than dumping it into a 401k, but still. That's a lot of money to rent something.

[Selby]

Dumping 10k into a lease? 

Seriously.  I just spent $250 on my latest acquisition with a bit more to get it roadworthy to my standards.  Less than $800 into a car that I've owned for almost 6 months with no incidents?  Very nice.  If you fix what is wrong with your current car, it will last a long time and likely not need more.  I'd skip buying a new car and if I *had* to have something different, I'd go used one or two years back in a Honda or something.

[Oban]

Good for you.

[Sky]

 

Anyway, Selby, the more I look at the price of a new car, even though warranty would be nice to have, I think about finding a local grease monkey who loves old cars and buying one of these puppies.

[Selby]

Exactly what I did.  My Lincoln was wrecked back when I was broke and rather than deal with a newer car and payments, I collected my pennies and bought something that was 25 years old outright and learned to work on it myself.  Sure, when they break they are a pain because you have to fix them.  But it's still a pain, even with a warranty especially when it is something that they can't figure out on the first go-around.  All of my cars have the same engine family in them which makes the interchangeable parts and experience multiply by how many cars I have.  Not everyone has the desire or know-how (or willingness to learn) that it takes, so it isn't a solution for everyone.

[Salamok]

If you want a fairly new used car with low mileage car max has a pretty nice selection with decent prices.  I can also understand buying new though, I hear the new infiniti G35 is pretty sweet (my wife had 1 for a day while her car was being worked on).  If you are looking to buy instead of lease that would still fall within your budget.


edit - I drove a stick for years, trust me the novelty wears off. 

[schild]

edit - I drove a stick for years, trust me the novelty wears off.

This.

[Cyrrex]

edit - I drove a stick for years, trust me the novelty wears off.

This.

Particularly if you have traffic to deal with on a daily basis.  The annoyance quickly begins to outweigh the fun.

[Signe]

I don't know.  I guess it's how you look at driving.  If it's a major hobby, an automatic gear box is mostly pretty shitty feeling even when using your cars for transportation.  I know plenty of people who wouldn't compromise.  We bought a Mustang GT when we moved to the US because Righ wanted to play with an American muscle sort of car.  Now we can't wait to ditch it. 

[Engels]

it also depends on the type of car. I had a old porsche for years and that clutch could have you on the verge of tears in stop-and-go rush hour gridlock. My aunt's Honda Accord's clutch, however, is an ankle-flick of nothing that hardly bears mentioning.

[Rishathra]

it also depends on the type of car. I had a old porsche for years and that clutch could have you on the verge of tears in stop-and-go rush hour gridlock. My aunt's Honda Accord's clutch, however, is an ankle-flick of nothing that hardly bears mentioning.

This.  I'm not a driving enthusiast by any means, but I avoid manual transmissions like the plague, because I learned how to drive in my dad's '77 Volvo.  That thing was an absolute nightmare to drive.  Anything less than machine precision on the shift and that fucker stalled out on you.  Once I got my license, however, I drove around for a bit in my mom's Honda Civic, and it was like a dream.  "Ankle-flick of nothing" indeed.

[Nebu]

Question for those in the know: What were gas prices the last time crude was this price per barrel.  Call me crazy, but when oil was this price, wasn't gas still below $3 a gallon? 

[FatuousTwat]

I bought an automatic for my first car just to learn how to drive, but plan on getting a manual as soon as I need a new car (hopefully still not for a while). My parents both drive Subarus (2002 rs and WRX), and they don't seem too terrible to shift. My mother says she won't buy an automatic because the manual gives much better control over the car and my step-father is a car nut.

[Nebu]

My VW GTI is a 5 speed. I will NEVER own an automatic.  If I'm going to drive my car, I want to feel like I'm actually driving it. 

[Oban]

Manual transmission in Europe, automatic everywhere else.

[Sky]

Question for those in the know: What were gas prices the last time crude was this price per barrel.  Call me crazy, but when oil was this price, wasn't gas still below $3 a gallon? 

http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_retail_price_chart.aspx?time=24

Overall gas prices, US average for six years. Fun site.

[Selby]

Question for those in the know: What were gas prices the last time crude was this price per barrel.  Call me crazy, but when oil was this price, wasn't gas still below $3 a gallon? 

Low $3 to very high $2 gas was the norm here in SoCal at the time.  Sky's chart kind of indicates this (prices are always higher here than the rest of the US).  Oil's gone down 45% from July, but prices haven't.  By the same token, prices didn't exactly jet up once it hit the $110-120/barrel on the run to $145 either, so it's kind of a wash.  I believe there is more of a psychological price acceptance by consumers than a direct "oil is X, gas is Y" relation...

[Salamok]

edit - I drove a stick for years, trust me the novelty wears off.

This.

also a stick shift will allow a shitty car to lay down tread, doesn't sound like MrHat is in the market for a PoS so the car he ends up with should be able to do that even w/o a manual trans.

edit - also sub $3 a gallon gas has been spotted in south Austin.

[Sky]

Low $3 to very high $2 gas was the norm here in SoCal at the time. 

You can set up charts by region at the linked site. Like I said, pretty cool. We're usually about +10-20¢ over the national average here in bumfuck, NY.

Also, 

[Cyrrex]

Also, many automatics come with some kind of sport-shifting device that lets you control the gear.  No, it isn't the same, but it does help the argument a little.

[Sky]

When gas was under a dollar, the 9/10 thing might have been defensible. Now it needs to go away, unless they actually make it a working number, like "Gas is $3.16 and 4/10ths today."

[Evildrider]

There's a price war between the 2 gas stations near my house.  When I filled my tank today it was for 2.90 a a gallon.  All the other stations in town were at around 3.25 still.

[schild]

Premium here is around $3.35, the best in months.

Well, at the shitty station by my apartments it is. Every else in NW Austin around the 183 is sneaking closer to $3.50+

[Nebu]

Thanks for the information Sky.  I'm just wondering how much the market is gouging vs the lag in the price adjustments.  I guess it will take a little more time to flesh that out.

[FatuousTwat]

I thought gas was usually pretty cheap in Oregon, but going from what you guys are saying, it's $.20 or so higher than most. $3.40 for regular... That is still $.30 down from 30 days ago I guess.

http://www.oregongasprices.com/retail_price_chart.aspx

[WayAbvPar]

I paid $3.59.9 for regular yesterday. Screw all of you and your cheap gas.

[FatuousTwat]

Alaska has something like $4.07.9 average... Wtf Sarah?

[Ironwood]

This week has been the worst flu ever.

Having to share it with the whole household was just gravy.

Things better start looking up soon or I'm going to start my random orphanage killing sprees.