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Vehicles / bikes 🏍 Car Talk

Out of college my girlfriend had a green notchback Ghia-trim Mustang II. We sold it & saw it dead on the side of the road about an hour later.

Looked just like this:
1708631163964.png
 
DVD said:
I can't say there's anything wrong with the Gelding (Mach-E). It's just not a Mustang. Maybe Ford should have called it the Mustang III so we can just put it in line with other failed Mustang ideas.
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I know a few people with the Mach-E and they all love it. I rode in my previous boss's Mach-E a few times and thought it was pretty nice. All that said, I still scratch my head why Ford decided to brand it the "Mustang Mach-E" and not just drop the Mustang portion from the name.
 
One of my college roommates had a early 90s mustang that looked like the one below. I always forgot that it was a Mustang. He loved that car. I think the worst argument we had was when I called it a Probe on accident.

1990_Ford_Mustang_GT_5.0_Hatchback_in_Ultra_Blue,_front_right.jpg
 
Big Owl said:
If it wasn't for the Mustang II, we wouldn't have the Mustang II front suspension. It's a nice bolt in upgrade to the classic mustang and a number of other cars, ford and a myriad of other makes.
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Maister said:
So there is a silver lining somewhere, after all.
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Yeah, as the article linked above states, a lot of street rods/custom builds use the Mustang II suspension. Would see them quite often at car shows.
 
Apparently the local Toyota dealership has no new Corollas in stock. Though I'm sure they can be found elsewhere. Sort of want to replace the car within the next few weeks before I head to Southern Indiana. Also thinking of Honda Civics. My brother likes his...
 
I finished installing a new aftermarket radio in my daughter's Camry this weekend. With Amazon, YouTube, and Google, it was a easy experience. The most difficult task that I encountered was figuring out how to get the video wire from the front of the car to the back for the back up camera. The new radio has apple carplay, which I feel is safer The last time that I installed a radio was in the late 90's, which involved a Crutchfield catalog, Haynes service manual, and a few trips to various stores. It's amazing how easy things have become.
 
I feel like I've done enough car stereos in my life I can do it with my eyes closed. I can't...I kind of need them to look at wire colors. I'm not sure about back up cameras and the other new modern junk. I haven't done anything beyond amplifiers.
 
jsk1983 said:
Apparently the local Toyota dealership has no new Corollas in stock. Though I'm sure they can be found elsewhere. Sort of want to replace the car within the next few weeks before I head to Southern Indiana. Also thinking of Honda Civics. My brother likes his...
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When I started looking in December, they were none locally. I was allowed to sit in one that was being delivered to a customer that afternoon.
 
jsk1983 said:
Apparently the local Toyota dealership has no new Corollas in stock. Though I'm sure they can be found elsewhere. Sort of want to replace the car within the next few weeks before I head to Southern Indiana. Also thinking of Honda Civics. My brother likes his...
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I bought a new Civic to replace a BMW that I had to lemon. I like the Civic a lot, but after three weeks of ownership, the car is in the shop because rodents ate a number of wires. Apparently, the more-environmentally friendly soy-based insulator/coating is attractive to animals, and the Japanese brands are more likely to have this issue. It's been in the shop waiting for backordered parts, and has been there for as long as I have had it home. State Farm insurance has also been a nightmare with this, too.

Big Owl said:
I finished installing a new aftermarket radio in my daughter's Camry this weekend. With Amazon, YouTube, and Google, it was a easy experience. The most difficult task that I encountered was figuring out how to get the video wire from the front of the car to the back for the back up camera. The new radio has apple carplay, which I feel is safer The last time that I installed a radio was in the late 90's, which involved a Crutchfield catalog, Haynes service manual, and a few trips to various stores. It's amazing how easy things have become.
Click to expand...

I got to play around with the new Apple Vision Pro. I separately saw a video where someone was working on their car, and, with the vision pro, had both the repair manual and a YouTube video showing a how-to for the repair. Sometimes I think technology is too advanced and annoying, and sometimes I'm simply blown away and excited for the future.
 
dw914er said:
I bought a new Civic to replace a BMW that I had to lemon. I like the Civic a lot, but after three weeks of ownership, the car is in the shop because rodents ate a number of wires. Apparently, the more-environmentally friendly soy-based insulator/coating is attractive to animals, and the Japanese brands are more likely to have this issue. It's been in the shop waiting for backordered parts, and has been there for as long as I have had it home. State Farm insurance has also been a nightmare with this, too.
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We had the same issue with vehicles in our public works fleet. I know on one of the sanitation vehicles that they replaced the harness with a petroleum based wiring harness because it was a recurring issue. Insurance wasn't an issue as the cost was less than our deductible. I had a issue with animal caused damage to my hvac ducts at my rental property, and I found out if it was caused by a squirrel or rodent that it wouldn't had been covered. Fortunately, my hvac guy was able to convince the insurance adjuster that it was caused by a possum and that was covered so they paid the claim.
 
Big Owl said:
We had the same issue with vehicles in our public works fleet. I know on one of the sanitation vehicles that they replaced the harness with a petroleum based wiring harness because it was a recurring issue. Insurance wasn't an issue as the cost was less than our deductible. I had a issue with animal caused damage to my hvac ducts at my rental property, and I found out if it was caused by a squirrel or rodent that it wouldn't had been covered. Fortunately, my hvac guy was able to convince the insurance adjuster that it was caused by a possum and that was covered so they paid the claim.
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Honda calls for replacing the entire harness for maintaining the warranty, which is a few grand. State Farm says they'll just repair the wire, which is just slightly above the deductible amount. Because I had a lemon before this, I do not want to take any unnecessary chances for a new car.

I've read that pepper spray or peppermint oil is a good deterrent. I've bought big bottles that I'll spray into the engine bay every time I was the car. But I had no idea this was even a common issue - I've never had this happen to any of my other cars.
 
Getting used to the automatic stuff on this car - rain sensing wipers, auto bright lights, mirror tilt when backing up, apple car play (which seems to know where I might be going), et cetera.
 
I had something hit my passenger side mirror and damage it; so I took the opportunity to upgrade my basic stock mirror to ones with turn signals in the mirrors and defrost. All the wiring was there for the additional features. The one thing that I didn't account for is that the passenger mirror is where the ambient air temperature sensor is located and I discovered that the sensor does more than show the temperature on the console, as it is key in balancing the fuel/air mixture and it critical in the operation of the ac/heat. So I had to buy an aftermarket wiring harness that accommodate the temperature sensor. The install of the mirrors and the new wiring harness was quick and easy. Getting the truck to recognize the new sensor took a bit of work; fortunately, I have a bluetooth code reader that kept me from having to go to the dealership or a mechanic.

It is cool that my base model truck has most of the wiring for some of the features that were included in some of the more equipped trim packages.
 
Big Owl said:
I had something hit my passenger side mirror and damage it; so I took the opportunity to upgrade my basic stock mirror to ones with turn signals in the mirrors and defrost. All the wiring was there for the additional features. The one thing that I didn't account for is that the passenger mirror is where the ambient air temperature sensor is located and I discovered that the sensor does more than show the temperature on the console, as it is key in balancing the fuel/air mixture and it critical in the operation of the ac/heat. So I had to buy an aftermarket wiring harness that accommodate the temperature sensor. The install of the mirrors and the new wiring harness was quick and easy. Getting the truck to recognize the new sensor took a bit of work; fortunately, I have a bluetooth code reader that kept me from having to go to the dealership or a mechanic.

It is cool that my base model truck has most of the wiring for some of the features that were included in some of the more equipped trim packages.
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What truck do you have?
 
Speaking of rain, the rain the other night left some sort of residue on my freshly washed car. Its like the rain was mixed with dirt or something.
 
The recommended oil change interval for my truck is 10k miles. I changed it this weekend at 6K which was hard as 3K was the standard when I got my first car. It was a easy oil change to do because I didn't have to pull out the ramps or go to a buddy's garage; I could slide up under with no issue.
WSU MUP Student said:
Somebody near me is risking voiding their warranty leaving this thing out in the rain this morning!

View attachment 62275
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Maybe they have it in car wash mode.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
Somebody near me is risking voiding their warranty leaving this thing out in the rain this morning!

View attachment 62275
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One of my coworkers has been drooling over this vehicle forever. Is it me or does it look like a futuristic drawing from 1986? Like it should be in Back to the Future II, shouldn't it?

loathe, loathe, loathe...
 
I remember when I crossed my 250,000th mile driving (in 2021) and said "Wow, I've driven to the moon."

As of this morning, I'm at 267,814. (This is all driving, total, including my vehicles, others' vehicles, rentals, etc.)

Mile 0 to 2.6 was on August 24, 1994. (This is the day I got my license--permit driving doesn't count.)
 
jumbach said:
I remember when I crossed my 250,000th mile driving (in 2021) and said "Wow, I've driven to the moon."

As of this morning, I'm at 267,814. (This is all driving, total, including my vehicles, others' vehicles, rentals, etc.)

Mile 0 to 2.6 was on August 24, 1994. (This is the day I got my license--permit driving doesn't count.)
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I'm interested that you've calculated all of these miles!
 
RandomPlanner said:
One of my coworkers has been drooling over this vehicle forever. Is it me or does it look like a futuristic drawing from 1986? Like it should be in Back to the Future II, shouldn't it?

loathe, loathe, loathe...
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I will say that from the side, it wasn't as ugly in person as I initially thought based on photos but it's still definitely not for me, I don't get all the fanboying over it, and I do enjoy seeing the articles about the shoddy workmanship and all the problems and false promises.
 
We let our MINI go last week and are now looking for what will replace it in the stable. I really enjoyed our first MINI, a 2006, which was a stick and so fun to zip around everywhere. This latest MINI was an automatic and maybe that's why it wasn't as fun. Plus it was a northern vehicle so rust was starting in. So after fixing all that was needing love, we sold it to a college student who will love it, I'm sure.
 
RandomPlanner said:
One of my coworkers has been drooling over this vehicle forever. Is it me or does it look like a futuristic drawing from 1986? Like it should be in Back to the Future II, shouldn't it?

loathe, loathe, loathe...
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To me it always looks like a glitch in the matrix and some 8-bit video game graphic is appearing out of thin air.
 
RandomPlanner said:
We let our MINI go last week and are now looking for what will replace it in the stable. I really enjoyed our first MINI, a 2006, which was a stick and so fun to zip around everywhere. This latest MINI was an automatic and maybe that's why it wasn't as fun. Plus it was a northern vehicle so rust was starting in. So after fixing all that was needing love, we sold it to a college student who will love it, I'm sure.
Click to expand...

That one was traded with 155,000+ miles on it. The new one I snagged is a 2023 with 8000 miles on it. Somebody had it for 10 months & didn't like it. It's about 90% of what I would have ordered too!
 
RandomPlanner said:
One of my coworkers has been drooling over this vehicle forever. Is it me or does it look like a futuristic drawing from 1986? Like it should be in Back to the Future II, shouldn't it?

loathe, loathe, loathe...
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I was positive the early renderings were just studies. I had no idea they really intended to build something SO UGLY. I mean, it makes the Pontiac Aztec look good.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I will say that from the side, it wasn't as ugly in person as I initially thought based on photos but it's still definitely not for me, I don't get all the fanboying over it, and I do enjoy seeing the articles about the shoddy workmanship and all the problems and false promises.
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I saw one a few weeks ago in person, I am still not a fan of the aesthetics but performance-wise it is impressive. I do like it better wrapped in black.



IMG_3891.jpeg


cybertruck front.jpg
 
After a random incident on the interstate the other day, having the sunroof replaced on our Acadia. Not how I wanted to spend $3K :r:
 
Maister said:
Funny thing about the Aztek, remember when they came out how freakishly ugly they looked? Now they're just kinda meh.
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That's because you don't see them on the road anymore. Think back and remember that freakishly awkward stance? How blocky they looked despite the slanted lines on the profile? When I do see one on the road, even now, it's
i just threw up in my mouth a little bit GIF by chuber channel
 
It's just a damn ugly truck. Oh, and Toyota - don't laugh. Y'all f***ed up the best looking mid-size pickup in the market, you dummies.
 
Doohickie said:
Eh. It's a little busy on the front end but the basic form isn't all that different, is it?
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The front end is Edsel-level ugly (and on the Tundra, too), and they have widened the entire body, lengthened the cab and front end, and rounded/softened everything for mileage standards (I'm guessing). Taken all together, it is just horrid.

And, please, don't get me going on black wheels. I was hoping it was a brief fad, but no. This sin against decent aesthetics must stop now!

Tom Hanks Eye Roll GIF by Sony Pictures
 
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