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Vehicles / bikes 🏍 Car Talk

In 1996 when I went to Disney World with my parents and 1 year old sister, Alamo rented us a new '96 Mazda Millennia, it was alright at the time but few have survived.
 
MD Planner said:
So I got my rental today from the dealership. A Jeep Compass. Wow. What an utter piece of shit. I'll tolerate it for a while but if it is indeed 3 weeks until my car is repaired I will be asking for something else.
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I got a Jeep Liberty as a loaner about 14 or 15 years ago, when my Subaru Forester was in the shop for a few days. The steering felt about the same as a Dodge pickup from the 1980s. The suspension felt like a Dodge truck from the 1980s. I didn't see the appeal at all.

When my wife rents cars or gets loaners, she always ends up with some fantastic upgrade. Reserve a mid-size, mid-end sedan, and "Whoops! We're all out. How about a Audi S7 at no extra charge?" When I get a rental, it's usually "meh" or worse. "Meh" is a Nissan Altima. "Worse" includes a Chrysler PT Cruiser ("It's the last car on the lot", they said, despite reservations for a mid-sized sedan, before giving Toyota Avalons and Ford Tauruses to the folks in line behind me), a purple Mitsubishi Eclipse (for a drive that would take me through rural North Carolina; again the "last car on the lot" when I reserved a mid-sized sedan), a Dodge Caliber (how any company manufactured a car like this after 2005, much less 1990, is a mystery to me), a couple of Chevrolet Malibus in the early 2000s, a big-ass white panel van when I asked for a compact car ...
 
Worst ever was a family vacation 30 years ago when we got an Eagle Summit:
1626783323039.png


This was for a drive from Denver-Vail and we hit a rock that fell off a roadcut right in front of us, leading us to have to disgorge the entire contents of the vehicle on the roadside to get at the spare, which we then drove on over Loveland Pass.
 
MD Planner said:
I don't normally consider new vehicles but with interest rates so low I may pull the trigger on something new.
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I generally do by new. I bought my Fiat 7 years ago, paid it off in 4, haven't had a car payment on my car since, and it still feels relatively "new" to me.
 
Dan said:
I got a Jeep Liberty as a loaner about 14 or 15 years ago, when my Subaru Forester was in the shop for a few days. The steering felt about the same as a Dodge pickup from the 1980s. The suspension felt like a Dodge truck from the 1980s. I didn't see the appeal at all.

When my wife rents cars or gets loaners, she always ends up with some fantastic upgrade. Reserve a mid-size, mid-end sedan, and "Whoops! We're all out. How about a Audi S7 at no extra charge?" When I get a rental, it's usually "meh" or worse. "Meh" is a Nissan Altima. "Worse" includes a Chrysler PT Cruiser ("It's the last car on the lot", they said, despite reservations for a mid-sized sedan, before giving Toyota Avalons and Ford Tauruses to the folks in line behind me), a purple Mitsubishi Eclipse (for a drive that would take me through rural North Carolina; again the "last car on the lot" when I reserved a mid-sized sedan), a Dodge Caliber (how any company manufactured a car like this after 2005, much less 1990, is a mystery to me), a couple of Chevrolet Malibus in the early 2000s, a big-ass white panel van when I asked for a compact car ...
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Your comments on the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Caliber remind me how crappy so many Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep products over the past 10-15 years have been.

Yes, the Wrangler is tried and true, the Grand Cherokee is pretty nice, and people seem to love the Ram (though (I'd place it behind the Chevy/GMC and Ford trucks in terms of styling), the Chrysler 300 isn't totally awful, and the T&C (now the Pacifica I believe?) is a nice alternative to a crossover or SUV but the rest of their lineup is really sort of blah., especially stuff at the lower end.

None of the Detroit 3 have really tried to produce a desirable small economy car or even a family sedan over the past couple decades, but Dodge's efforts seem especially bad. It's no wonder that Toyota and Honda absolutely own that segment of the market these days (with Kia and Hyundai making big strides).
 
WSU MUP Student said:
None of the Detroit 3 have really tried to produce a desirable small economy car or even a family sedan over the past couple decades
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I read an article recently that said Ford could lose all of its non-F150 business tomorrow and still be a profitable venture. They were making so little on sedans that it really didn't make sense to continue building them. This is whey they are willing to offer the Maverick compact electric pickup at less than $20k: They're establishing that market which should be quite lucrative in the not-too-distant future and want the Maverick and F150 Lightning to dominate the electric PU market in the same way the current F150 does.
 
Doohickie said:
I read an article recently that said Ford could lose all of its non-F150 business tomorrow and still be a profitable venture. They were making so little on sedans that it really didn't make sense to continue building them. This is whey they are willing to offer the Maverick compact electric pickup at less than $20k: They're establishing that market which should be quite lucrative in the not-too-distant future and want the Maverick and F150 Lightning to dominate the electric PU market in the same way the current F150 does.
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My husband was commenting on all the trucks in the parking lot at a local restaurant we like. He noticed many of them were F150s and said he'd never buy a Ford. I told him the F150 would be the only Ford I'd consider buying, but not to worry because I generally dislike trucks.

I will likely stick with Subaru. I bought a new 2014 Outback and now it's 7 years old and still drives like a champ. I've only ever had to do oil changes, brakes, and new tires on it until recently when the exhaust heat shield started rattling but the shop fixed it for free when I had my oil changed. I'm going to drive it until it becomes unreliable or too much to maintain.
 
The saga of my engine repair continues . . . . I called the rental car company on Monday to ask (politely) for a different vehicle as the one they gave me (Jeep Compass) is a complete POS as I posted earlier. The guy said he could do something and told me he'd call me back that afternoon. He never did. Today I got a call from the dealer with an update. Which is a non-update as they have no ETA from the manufacturer as to when the new engine might arrive. So I called the rental place to ask about the replacement since it's going to be a while. I was informed that they don't have any vehicles which are comparable to mine and that my best bet was to call on Monday at 8am to see what came in over the weekend. I'm like "can't you look in the computer and see what's coming in?" but apparently that's not a thing. I've been nice the whole time because it's not the service advisors fault for the delays and the rental car guy only has what he has but I'm still annoyed.

My car has now been at the dealer for 5 weeks. I had a loaner and now a rental that are nowhere comparable to my vehicle and I have two trips coming up. There is a reason I have the size vehicle I do. I'd drive anything for a week or so but I have no idea when I might get my car back. The service advisor told me she's dealing with one lady whose car has been there since April and is still waiting for an engine! If I don't have any sort of real update by Friday I'm contacting the manufacturer and requesting that they make my car payment. It's been 5 weeks since I've had mine and it's not like I'm driving a similar vehicle. None of this is my fault as there was a settled class action lawsuit about these engines and the defect was observed in my vehicle.
 
MD Planner said:
The saga of my engine repair continues . . . . I called the rental car company on Monday to ask (politely) for a different vehicle as the one they gave me (Jeep Compass) is a complete POS as I posted earlier. The guy said he could do something and told me he'd call me back that afternoon. He never did. Today I got a call from the dealer with an update. Which is a non-update as they have no ETA from the manufacturer as to when the new engine might arrive. So I called the rental place to ask about the replacement since it's going to be a while. I was informed that they don't have any vehicles which are comparable to mine and that my best bet was to call on Monday at 8am to see what came in over the weekend. I'm like "can't you look in the computer and see what's coming in?" but apparently that's not a thing. I've been nice the whole time because it's not the service advisors fault for the delays and the rental car guy only has what he has but I'm still annoyed.

My car has now been at the dealer for 5 weeks. I had a loaner and now a rental that are nowhere comparable to my vehicle and I have two trips coming up. There is a reason I have the size vehicle I do. I'd drive anything for a week or so but I have no idea when I might get my car back. The service advisor told me she's dealing with one lady whose car has been there since April and is still waiting for an engine! If I don't have any sort of real update by Friday I'm contacting the manufacturer and requesting that they make my car payment. It's been 5 weeks since I've had mine and it's not like I'm driving a similar vehicle. None of this is my fault as there was a settled class action lawsuit about these engines and the defect was observed in my vehicle.
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How new is the car? I can totally understand your frustration - you don't have the car you paid for, and the rental doesn't meet your needs either.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
... people seem to love the Ram (though (I'd place it behind the Chevy/GMC and Ford trucks in terms of styling) ...
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You might need your eyes checked on the Chevy - the exterior isn't great, and the interior is a solid 3rd behind Ram and Ford. As someone that had liked Chevy and GMC trucks in the past, I wouldn't consider them if I needed a fullsize.

The big 3 have always missed the mark for smaller cars. That said, I do have a Charger and I like it a lot.
 
I had an Isuzu Rodeo that had the engine go. I believe it very possible a local oil change facility neglected to refill the engine oil, but had no way to prove it, so swallowed hard and looked for a new engine. I found a place that could install an Isuzu re-built engine for a reasonable price. Except that they were out of stock and the re-built would have to come from Japan, a delay of several weeks. There wasn't much I could do about it and so I waited.

The engine arrived on a slow boat about 7 weeks later. Then I got a call from the repair shop, just as I was letting myself get excited about getting my vehicle back. Turns out, the re-built motor blew while they were test driving it. Took another two weeks to get a replacement re-built and install it. I was pretty happy with the work, but about four weeks after I brought it back home, a drunken driver totaled it while it was parked on the street outside my house. I'm pretty sure the re-built had less than 500 miles, and the drunken driver was uninsured.

I've got a judgment against the guy for $11k and pre-and post-judgment interest. But I'll never see a penny, I'm sure.
 
dw914er said:
How new is the car? I can totally understand your frustration - you don't have the car you paid for, and the rental doesn't meet your needs either.
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It's a 2016. I bought it in 2018. The payments are low but still, this is just so aggravating. And like you said, the rental doesn't meet my needs. First world problems I know, but this really could impact my trips.
 
dw914er said:
You might need your eyes checked on the Chevy - the exterior isn't great, and the interior is a solid 3rd behind Ram and Ford. As someone that had liked Chevy and GMC trucks in the past, I wouldn't consider them if I needed a fullsize.
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lol I've never been a fan of the exterior styling of the Ram and think Chevy has the best styling!

FWIW, between Chevy, Ford, and Ram, the Ram always seems to have the best ride comfort by a longshot while Chevy always had the worst (aka the most "trucklike" ride), and Ford has always been solidly in the middle. Chevy used to always have the worst interiors of the bunch but a coworker got a brand new Sierra right before everything shutdown last year and the couple of times he drove to lunch, I was really impressed. That was probably the first time I've ridden in a Chevy/GMC truck that wasn't a Cadillac or top-of-the-line Yukon in years and they seemed to have improved quite a bit.

IMO, the F150 seems to be right in the middle in terms of exterior styling, interior finish, options, etc.

I don't have a full size truck and don't have a desire to get a full size truck so don't really have a dog in this fight but it's always fun to go on auto forums and see people argue over and over about which manufacturer makes the best truck. It always feels like it boils down to I like this brand because that's what dad drove so that's what I'll always drive and I'll be damned if I ever buy one from XXXX. :r:

FWIW, if I were to buy a truck, I do like the new Rangers and that seems like a good size for my needs (or lack thereof) and I love the current Tacomas. But I'd still rather have a Gladiator but if I get one, I won't call it a truck. :rofl:
 
WSU MUP Student said:
FWIW, between Chevy, Ford, and Ram, the Ram always seems to have the best ride comfort by a longshot while Chevy always had the worst (aka the most "trucklike" ride), and Ford has always been solidly in the middle. Chevy used to always have the worst interiors of the bunch but a coworker got a brand new Sierra right before everything shutdown last year and the couple of times he drove to lunch, I was really impressed. That was probably the first time I've ridden in a Chevy/GMC truck that wasn't a Cadillac or top-of-the-line Yukon in years and they seemed to have improved quite a bit.


I don't have a full size truck and don't have a desire to get a full size truck so don't really have a dog in this fight but it's always fun to go on auto forums and see people argue over and over about which manufacturer makes the best truck. It always feels like it boils down to I like this brand because that's what dad drove so that's what I'll always drive and I'll be damned if I ever buy one from XXXX. :r:
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Ram has a coil spring rear which gives it the ride advantage over the leaf springs of the other two. The current Chevy and the face-lifted prior generation designs just seemed awkward to me, though the new GMC Yukon interior looks a lot than the trucks (the trucks interiors remind me of Russian dolls with the different elements and materials coming out).

Trucks do have crazy brand loyalty, where logical reasoning plays a very limited role on what truck someone will buy. Luckily, the majority of the full size trucks are all very capable and comfortable, so none are really that crappy.
 
MD Planner said:
It's a 2016. I bought it in 2018. The payments are low but still, this is just so aggravating. And like you said, the rental doesn't meet my needs. First world problems I know, but this really could impact my trips.
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Did you ever say what make and model it is?
 
WSU MUP Student said:
lol I've never been a fan of the exterior styling of the Ram and think Chevy has the best styling!

FWIW, between Chevy, Ford, and Ram, the Ram always seems to have the best ride comfort by a longshot while Chevy always had the worst (aka the most "trucklike" ride), and Ford has always been solidly in the middle. Chevy used to always have the worst interiors of the bunch but a coworker got a brand new Sierra right before everything shutdown last year and the couple of times he drove to lunch, I was really impressed. That was probably the first time I've ridden in a Chevy/GMC truck that wasn't a Cadillac or top-of-the-line Yukon in years and they seemed to have improved quite a bit.

IMO, the F150 seems to be right in the middle in terms of exterior styling, interior finish, options, etc.

I don't have a full size truck and don't have a desire to get a full size truck so don't really have a dog in this fight but it's always fun to go on auto forums and see people argue over and over about which manufacturer makes the best truck. It always feels like it boils down to I like this brand because that's what dad drove so that's what I'll always drive and I'll be damned if I ever buy one from XXXX. :r:

FWIW, if I were to buy a truck, I do like the new Rangers and that seems like a good size for my needs (or lack thereof) and I love the current Tacomas. But I'd still rather have a Gladiator but if I get one, I won't call it a truck. :rofl:
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I was in the market for a newer truck to replace my 2003 Tundra Limited Access Cab. Needed a bigger cab for kids and dogs and a little more tow capacity for a camper in the future (1st gen tundras had a really low tow capacity for a full size). I toyed with the idea of getting a 3/4 or 1 ton truck, but I just couldn't justify it and didn't really want anything from the big 3. The used market for trucks is simply bonkers. I was looking at 4 years old trucks with 60k mile selling for as much as a new one.

In the end, I happened upon a 2021 Tundra SR5 and bought it. I know that the Tundra is a 14 year platform and there's a redesigned truck coming out for 2022, but I value rock solid reliability over all the tech gadgets and whatnot. Not to mention, the new Tundra is FUGLY and they abandoned the most dependable v8 in the class by far for a twin turbo v6.

My Tundra will get about 15 mpg on a good day and I'm ok with that. It isn't a daily driver, I will only pull a trailer with it and drive it in the winter when snow is too bad for my TDI Jetta Sportwagen, which is my daily and gets 40mpg.
 
estromberg said:
I was in the market for a newer truck to replace my 2003 Tundra Limited Access Cab. Needed a bigger cab for kids and dogs and a little more tow capacity for a camper in the future (1st gen tundras had a really low tow capacity for a full size). I toyed with the idea of getting a 3/4 or 1 ton truck, but I just couldn't justify it and didn't really want anything from the big 3. The used market for trucks is simply bonkers. I was looking at 4 years old trucks with 60k mile selling for as much as a new one.

In the end, I happened upon a 2021 Tundra SR5 and bought it. I know that the Tundra is a 14 year platform and there's a redesigned truck coming out for 2022, but I value rock solid reliability over all the tech gadgets and whatnot. Not to mention, the new Tundra is FUGLY and they abandoned the most dependable v8 in the class by far for a twin turbo v6.

My Tundra will get about 15 mpg on a good day and I'm ok with that. It isn't a daily driver, I will only pull a trailer with it and drive it in the winter when snow is too bad for my TDI Jetta Sportwagen, which is my daily and gets 40mpg.
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The used truck market is bonkers indeed. My dad has a 2007 F350 crew cab with 150k miles. He was out baling hay last week and it was about to storm so he told my nephew to run to the truck and bring it over to wear they left some tools and load them up under the tarp in the bed. My nephew did that and went to move the truck back as the rain began and as he turned on the wipers thick white smoke started pouring out from under the hood - some sort of electrical fire. Being the good policeman that he is, my nephew grabbed the extinguisher, popped the hood, jumped out and put out the fire... just as my dad ran (as fast as an overweight farmer in his 80s can run) over and screamed at him to let it burn! Oh well, it was too late and the fire was out with "minimal" damage. The truck starts up and rides fine but now there are no wipers, no speedometer, and the power door locks only work on two doors. My dad took it to the dealer to get an estimate and they quoted him $2,500 or something around there but also offered to buy this 14-year-old truck from him for $25k.

He'd like to get a newer truck but his problem is that he doesn't want to spend $50k on a brand new one since he's already lived about a decade longer than any male in his family ever has and the supply of newly used heavy duty or super duty trucks up here is virtually non-existent.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
... just as my dad ran (as fast as an overweight farmer in his 80s can run) over and screamed at him to let it burn!
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Nice.

I presume an insurance claim would have been more beneficial than the lightly damaged, but still useable truck.

:cool:

Reminds me of a story from my last employer. The local muni court judge got a call early one morning that one of his rental houses was burning and fully engulfed, the house was empty and the Fire Dept had the scene secured. Said Fire Chief asked if the Judge wanted to get there now. The Judge effectively "meh'd" over the phone and went back to sleep.
 
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I know the 2013-2016 Dodge Dart wasn't the best selling car, but I swear I've seen more Suzuki Kizashis than Darts on the road in the past couple of years.

Really, more of these ...

suzuki_kizashi.jpg


... than these.

dodge_dart.jpg


Same thing, kind of, with the 2015-2017 Chrysler 200. My neighbor had one, but in the past couple of years, I've seen none on the roads. The occasional old Sebring-based 200, quite a few, but not the newer model.

Speaking of rare sedans, a few months ago a Kia Cadenza started to appear in the parking lot at work.

kia_credenza.jpg


Uhhhh ... I meant ...

kia_cadenza.jpg


One thing I miss about living in the Southwest -- the sight of new Peugeots, Renaults, SEATs, and other forbidden fruit cars and trucks, usually with Chihuahua and Nuevo León plates, on American roads. It reminds me of the 1980s and 1990s, when I'd occasionally see a Lada, Innocenti, Azuna, or oddball Canada market Pontiac model in 716.

canadan_innocenti.jpg


:canada:

In other news, I think my wife is getting annoyed because I wipe down my car using detail spray every few days. (She does the car wash subscription thing.) The last black car I had -- also a Subaru Legacy -- would look filthy if I drove it for more than a few blocks. With frequent detail spraying and wiping (Chemical Guys Speed Wipe, if you want to know), the car still looks decent even after a long drive in the rain.

the_subie.jpg
 
Dan said:
I know the 2013-2016 Dodge Dart wasn't the best selling car, but I swear I've seen more Suzuki Kizashis than Darts on the road in the past couple of years.

Really, more of these ...

View attachment 54829

... than these.

View attachment 54830

Same thing, kind of, with the 2015-2017 Chrysler 200. My neighbor had one, but in the past couple of years, I've seen none on the roads. The occasional old Sebring-based 200, quite a few, but not the newer model.

Speaking of rare sedans, a few months ago a Kia Cadenza started to appear in the parking lot at work.

View attachment 54826

Uhhhh ... I meant ...

View attachment 54828

One thing I miss about living in the Southwest -- the sight of new Peugeots, Renaults, SEATs, and other forbidden fruit cars and trucks, usually with Chihuahua and Nuevo León plates, on American roads. It reminds me of the 1980s and 1990s, when I'd occasionally see a Lada, Innocenti, Azuna, or oddball Canada market Pontiac model in 716.

View attachment 54831

:canada:

In other news, I think my wife is getting annoyed because I wipe down my car using detail spray every few days. (She does the car wash subscription thing.) The last black car I had -- also a Subaru Legacy -- would look filthy if I drove it for more than a few blocks. With frequent detail spraying and wiping (Chemical Guys Speed Wipe, if you want to know), the car still looks decent even after a long drive in the rain.

View attachment 54833
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You could get the Kisashi in AWD- maybe that made a difference? There were tons of those little AWD SX4's around when they were still selling those, and I think the market for those (cheapest AWD compact you can buy new) went to the Kisashi for a short while after that.
 
Where I used to live, we had the highest selling volume KIA dealership in, I believe, the state.

Therefore, KIAs, KIAs everywhere, but not a drop to drink. If you want a, likely, cheap and basic car for a teenager in the next decade, you'll likely end up with a KIA Soul, as they are seemingly everywhere at least where I used to live.

Where I am now, there really is no individual make prevalence generally because its a major Metro with the complete spread of incomes and traffic distribution patterns (aka poor to wealthy and everyone driving everywhere all the time).

But I have noticed a rather high prevalence of Civics (spanning probably the last 3-4 gens) banging around where I am now as I am one of them with my 2015 four door base model. In my ~20 mile (one way) mix interstate/surface road commute, I'm still averaging 36 mpg, which is nice.

As for the Chrysler 200's seeming disappearance, it's likely because Chrysler sedans have been barely market and quality acceptable for the last ~20 years, so they likely cycle out of or down the fleet quickly. FCA basically lives/lived off Jeep, Ram and minivan sales, so they probably put less effort into the sedans.
 
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I see quite a few Chrysler 200 and Dodge Darts on the road here, but some of that could be because I live and work just a few miles from the FCA tech center and North American HQ.

I vividly recall seeing a Suzuki on the road a few weeks ago and thinking to myself, "A Suzuki? They still exist?" Looking it up right now, it appears there is one auto dealership in Metro Detroit that sells Suzuki (a joint Honda/Suzuki dealership) but there are a bunch of powersports dealerships where you can buy Suzuki motorcycles or whatever.

Suzuki is up there with Isuzu for auto makers that I am occasionally reminded that they still exist here in the US.
 
Bubba said:
The last Izuzu passenger vehicle sold in America was back in 2009 - I'm guessing you're seeing commercial trucks or buses?
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I didn't know that. It's always Isuzu Troopers that I see. They must just be well maintained but I imagined they hadn't updated the bodystyle. (Looking the Trooper up now, I see they actually stopped production in 2006. I do recall from my time on 4x4 forums they they did always have a bit of a cult following)
 
Bubba said:
The last Izuzu passenger vehicle sold in America was back in 2009 - I'm guessing you're seeing commercial trucks or buses?
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Or did you mean Mistubishi? They are low-profile but still around. I think the Outlander is actually a pretty good competitor to the Rav4 but the spouse is convinced that Toyota = Reliable (not wrong, I suppose) so wouldn't consider it.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I didn't know that. It's always Isuzu Troopers that I see. They must just be well maintained but I imagined they hadn't updated the bodystyle. (Looking the Trooper up now, I see they actually stopped production in 2006. I do recall from my time on 4x4 forums they they did always have a bit of a cult following)
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Oh yeah, definitely still some Troopers out there. I had an '89. Basically none of those left as they were total rustbuckets.
 
Dan said:
...When my wife rents cars or gets loaners, she always ends up with some fantastic upgrade. Reserve a mid-size, mid-end sedan, and "Whoops! We're all out. How about a Audi S7 at no extra charge?" When I get a rental, it's usually "meh" or worse. "Meh" is a Nissan Altima. "Worse" includes a Chrysler PT Cruiser ("It's the last car on the lot", they said, despite reservations for a mid-sized sedan, before giving Toyota Avalons and Ford Tauruses to the folks in line behind me), a purple Mitsubishi Eclipse (for a drive that would take me through rural North Carolina; again the "last car on the lot" when I reserved a mid-sized sedan), a Dodge Caliber (how any company manufactured a car like this after 2005, much less 1990, is a mystery to me), a couple of Chevrolet Malibus in the early 2000s, a big-ass white panel van when I asked for a compact car ...
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When we were dating, my then-bf drove a Porsche 911. For oil changes and regular maintenance, the dealership would call him to schedule the service. They'd ask what vehicle we'd like as a loaner and they'd bring it over -- about a 45 minute drive from the house -- and take our car back for service. The first time I experienced that, the Panamera had JUST come out so he asked for one of those and the dealership suggested that he do the service on a Friday so we could enjoy the car for the weekend.

I was still in grad school and I had a blast that weekend, driving all over town and literally having people turn around to stare at the car because no one had ever seen a 4-door Porsche before. I was having a party and stopped at the liquor store to pick up some cheap champagne for mimosas. When I walked back out to the car, I hit the button and the trunk opened (uncommon at the time) and put my $4 bottles of champagne in this amazing vehicle. A man walking stopped and asked how much the car cost and I answered with a ballpark figure but was so unaccustomed to the ridiculous price that I had to explain "it's not my car; it's a loaner from the dealership".

Somehow, I'm not sure that made me sound any less snooty.
 
Regarding the crazy prices for good used cars right now, I dug into the owner's manual for my 2015 Civic and found that I had the original window sticker.

My car is a base automatic 4-door LX and it was $20,000 in 2015. I purchased it for ~$15,250 (gross; or $13,500 with $1,750 trade) two months ago with 52,400 miles.

Did I get stuck with an inflated price due to the current market or do Civics tend to hold their value so well, generally?

If this had been a 2015 Ford Focus, it would have been only about $9,500.

I'm consoling myself (not really) with the fact that we could get another 100,000 miles out of this car and we bought it without a loan.

Better than our 13 yr old Chrysler T&C minivan with dead A/C that we traded for the aforementioned $1,750.
 
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Anyone been following the craziness on catalytic converters?

www.nbcnews.com

Thieves are stealing catalytic converters from parked cars, as prices of precious metals spike

Thefts of catalytic converters have skyrocketed from an average of 108 per month in 2018 to 2,347 in December 2020.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com

A mechanic friend was telling me recently that there's a ring of professional thieves that operate out of Detroit that have been hitting apartment complexes in the area at night, removing multiple converters at each location in minutes.
 
Maister said:
Anyone been following the craziness on catalytic converters?

www.nbcnews.com

Thieves are stealing catalytic converters from parked cars, as prices of precious metals spike

Thefts of catalytic converters have skyrocketed from an average of 108 per month in 2018 to 2,347 in December 2020.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com

A mechanic friend was telling me recently that there's a ring of professional thieves that operate out of Detroit that have been hitting apartment complexes in the area at night, removing multiple converters at each location in minutes.
Click to expand...
Due to their precious metal (platinum, palladium and rhodium) price/ozs right now. Especially Rhodium.
 
Maister said:
Anyone been following the craziness on catalytic converters?

www.nbcnews.com

Thieves are stealing catalytic converters from parked cars, as prices of precious metals spike

Thefts of catalytic converters have skyrocketed from an average of 108 per month in 2018 to 2,347 in December 2020.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com

A mechanic friend was telling me recently that there's a ring of professional thieves that operate out of Detroit that have been hitting apartment complexes in the area at night, removing multiple converters at each location in minutes.
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A car dealership in the Savannah area had 20 or so stolen out of their vehicles in one night!
 
Maister said:
Anyone been following the craziness on catalytic converters?

www.nbcnews.com

Thieves are stealing catalytic converters from parked cars, as prices of precious metals spike

Thefts of catalytic converters have skyrocketed from an average of 108 per month in 2018 to 2,347 in December 2020.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com

A mechanic friend was telling me recently that there's a ring of professional thieves that operate out of Detroit that have been hitting apartment complexes in the area at night, removing multiple converters at each location in minutes.
Click to expand...

I didn't know this was a thing here again but I know back when the prices for those metals spiked back about 14 or 15 years ago, there were a lot of thefts at large apartment buildings and office complexes. I wish I could find it now but one of the news channels ran a story back then with security video of the thieves at work in broad daylight: one would drive slowly up and down the parking aisles with a truck and the other was walking next to the truck with a Sawzall and would then duck between and under the vehicles when they found a desirable one and cut off the exhaust from the cat back and toss it into the truck and move on to the next. They could hit 10 or 15 vehicles in about as many minutes and it looked like they had specific vehicles that they were looking for, probably ones that were much more easy to access.

It's long been a practice of car dealerships in certain areas to not install the stereos or nicer wheels on cars sitting outside on the lot until they have been sold but back then some dealerships were going so far as to remove the exhaust systems and store those inside. I guess now that nobody has any inventory any more, I guess that probably wouldn't be as much of a problem these days!
 
mendelman said:
Regarding the crazy prices for good used cars right now, I was dug into the owner's manual for my 2015 Civic and found that I had the original window sticker.

My car is a base automatic 4-door LX and it was $20,000 in 2015. I purchased it for ~$15,250 (gross; or $13,500 with $1,750 trade) two months ago with 52,400 miles.

Did I get stuck with an inflated price due to the current market or do Civics tend to hold there value so well, generally?

If this had been a 2015 Ford Focus, it would have been only about $9,500.

I'm consoling myself (not really) with the fact that we could get another 100,000 miles out of this car and we bought it without a loan.

Better than our 13 yr old Chrysler T&C minivan with dead A/C that we traded for the aforementioned $1,750.
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Hondas hold their value VERY well, for good reason. You can get another 200,000 miles out of that car EASILY. I've had a civic and and 2 accords, all went to 250k+ without any major issues.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I didn't know this was a thing here again but I know back when the prices for those metals spiked back about 14 or 15 years ago, there were a lot of thefts at large apartment buildings and office complexes. I wish I could find it now but one of the news channels ran a story back then with security video of the thieves at work in broad daylight: one would drive slowly up and down the parking aisles with a truck and the other was walking next to the truck with a Sawzall and would then duck between and under the vehicles when they found a desirable one and cut off the exhaust from the cat back and toss it into the truck and move on to the next. They could hit 10 or 15 vehicles in about as many minutes and it looked like they had specific vehicles that they were looking for, probably ones that were much more easy to access.

It's long been a practice of car dealerships in certain areas to not install the stereos or nicer wheels on cars sitting outside on the lot until they have been sold but back then some dealerships were going so far as to remove the exhaust systems and store those inside. I guess now that nobody has any inventory any more, I guess that probably wouldn't be as much of a problem these days!
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A few years ago, the place that my god-daughter's husband works at got hit. They got 9 of the 10 vehicles that were parked in the maintenance department's parking lot. His truck was the only one that wasn't hit. A co-worker of his told the police investigator that my god-daughter's husband was the thief. The investigator looks at my god-daughter's husband's lowered and bagged truck with 2 or so inches of clearance and his co-worker's trucks and suv's with 12 inches of so of clearance and laughs. Long story short, the accuser cut off 9 catalytic convertors including his own.
 
Big Owl said:
A few years ago, the place that my god-daughter's husband works at got hit. They got 9 of the 10 vehicles that were parked in the maintenance department's parking lot. His truck was the only one that wasn't hit. A co-worker of his told the police investigator that my god-daughter's husband was the thief. The investigator looks at my god-daughter's husband's lowered and bagged truck with 2 or so inches of clearance and his co-worker's trucks and suv's with 12 inches of so of clearance and laughs. Long story short, the accuser cut off 9 catalytic convertors including his own.
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Revenge is a dish best served cold
 
The Terminator said:
In 1996 when I went to Disney World with my parents and 1 year old sister, Alamo rented us a new '96 Mazda Millennia, it was alright at the time but few have survived.
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Gone where the Dodge/Plymouth Neon has gone. Used to see the Neon on the road all the time (rented one in Phoenix in 1999) and was not a bad car for a rental. Can't remember when the last time was I saw a Neon.
 
I've started seeing more and more of the new full size Broncos on the road all of a sudden and damn do I want one more with each sighting!

There are even a couple available on some local lots now but they are fully loaded and pushing $60k. Must resist!
 
The students are back. Spotted yesterday: Shelby Cobra Mustang, Porsche Panamera, a few new Land Rovers, and a lot more Audi Q3/5/7/8s and Teslas. (Where are the students charging them? We have a Tesla supercharger station in town, but there's only about 10 chargers at the site.) I'll probably see a couple of G550s, a couple of Maserati Levantes, and maybe an Italian supercar or two before the weekend is over.
 
An update, I finally did get my car back with a new engine (or most of one). It was at the dealership for 46 days. It crapped out 9 days before that and I took it to a local shop at first for them to tell me the engine was shot and to get it to the dealership. So almost 2 months without my car. It was a pain for sure but it's finally over. I have to say so far it runs absolutely great.
 
Maister said:
Oh yeah? Let's put some Perry Como on the highway hi fi...
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Too bad there wasn't car reel-to-reel.

However, in the 1980s, you could step up your infotainment game by ordering this from the JC Whitney catalog.

jc whitney car tv.jpg
 
AQpnTVft1YrgCFYDp8JFZ-0NsYdHQsbd8gNNGfyVt18.jpg


Say what you want about him being an Iraq War Monger (albeit, I think he really did regret it later in life), Gen. Colin Powell was also a die hard Volvo Enthusiast until the end. RIP.
 
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