Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

driver100

ab348 said:

driver100 said:

Anyone watch Sherlock on Netflix.
I hardly ever watched the TV, then I discovered Netflix!!!!!!!!!

I tried to watch it on PBS when friends told me how great it was.

I absolutely hated it.

I am a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes and loved the Jeremy Brett series. To me that is how it should be done.

Putting it into today's time and having Cumberbunch as the lead just killed it for me. Plus I hated all the production gimmicks and SFX they used. Could. Not. Watch.

I usually don't like the jazzed up over the top stuff that is shown most of the time today.
But, Sherlock is actually "intelligent TV" (kind of an oxymoron), in that he looks at a body and he knows where she came from, what kind of work she does, how many boyfriends she had, what time she arrived in town, how much education she had. It is clever......more thought than a lot of movies these days.

explorerx4

Maybe that Sherlock, should be Stalker Holmes instead.

oldfarmer50

i wonder how a Tesla would compare with an ICE in a flood. You wouldn't have to worry about water getting into the engine but I wonder how well sealed the batteries are. Also, aren't the motors located near the wheels? Are they protected?

jmonroe

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

carnaught said:

driver100 said:

This would be a good time to have at least one......electric car.

NOT good if there's no electricity though.

So true, which is why if I ever get an electric car, my first purchase after installing the home charger, would be to get a gasoline powered generator.

FWIW, I've been thinking about getting one anyway.

jmonroe

Don't you need gas for the generator?

C'mon man, give me a little credit for having a few gallons of gas in the garage. I still cut my own grass you know. :@

And furthermore, I'd still have a car that has a gas tank as a back up to the gas can.

You're right, I've thought of everything. It's a fallout from my old profession.

jmonroe

explorerx4

I have a 2k watt generator that will run the refrigerator for about 10 hours on a gallon of gas.
My truck still has 34 gallons left in the tank.
Our house was without power for 11 days about 5 years ago.
We missed the first 2 due to being out of town, and my mothers house got power 2 or 3 days before we did, so we moved there.
Ran the fridge during the day and a space heater in the basement at night.

oldfarmer50

Does the Mini have that stop-start feature where it turns off when you stop at a light?

I was next to one at the light and when it turned green the Mini had a definite start up sound. That would annoy the heck out of me.

What happens if you nail it when the light turns? Does the car slam into gear or does it ignore throttle inputs until safe to move?

fintail

Around here, Tesla owners can be more obnoxious than Prius owners anyway. Some of the personalized plates are cringe-worthy , from people with no self-awareness. And I won't even ramble on about the moronic tax policy (oops).

imidazol97 said:

I wonder how the Tesla owners in that area are doing? Are their noses still in the air?
Leaf owners?

explorerx4

My Fusion has stop/start. By the time your foot goes from brake to throttle, it has already started.
A 2 foot driver could confuse it, I suppose.

abacomike

oldfarmer50 said:

Does the Mini have that stop-start feature where it turns off when you stop at a light? I was next to one at the light and when it turned green the Mini had a definite start up sound. That would annoy the heck out of me. What happens if you nail it when the light turns? Does the car slam into gear or does it ignore throttle inputs until safe to move?

The last several cars I've owned all had the start/stop feature - but they all could be turned off in case you are in heavy traffic with lots of stop and go driving.  As soon as your foot releases the brake, the engine immediately starts.  I've never had a situation where there was noise or the inability to accelerate quickly from a full stop.  

I do prefer the BMW start/stop system over the Mercedes.  There was more hesitation in the E400 and CLS550/400's than in my 740i.  It definitely increases fuel economy.  Remember, ventilation and power steering are powered by the battery when the start/stop feature is engaged.

For drivers who are bothered by the feature, it can always be turned off.  I also noticed that the Mercedes restart was noisier than the one in my Bimmer.

28firefighter

We keep start/stop off in the X1. I find it incredibly intrusive, but that's just my personal opinion. 

explorerx4

The stop/start in my Fusion is much smoother than my friend's BMW.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

Maybe that Sherlock, should be Stalker Holmes instead.

Funny, but he doesn;t do it by stalking. He figures it out. The dead ladies wedding ring was dingy on the outside showing she didn't think much of her marriage, but was very clean on the inside. She takes it off a lot when she has affairs.
Dead lady (in the rain) has splashes going up her leg and she is wearing a colorful pinkish skirt. Obviously - to Holmes, she had a suitcase since that would cause the splash marks, and the case would match the color of her skirt. The case isn't there so that is what the bad guys were after. He is very clever

ab348

You can't turn off start/stop in most new GM cars. If you feather the brake pedal just before coming to a full stop and maintain minimal pressure on it it will fool the system. But they give no explicit way to turn it off. I've despised start/stop on the cars I've driven with it.

driver100

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

carnaught said:

driver100 said:

This would be a good time to have at least one......electric car.

NOT good if there's no electricity though.

So true, which is why if I ever get an electric car, my first purchase after installing the home charger, would be to get a gasoline powered generator.

FWIW, I've been thinking about getting one anyway.

jmonroe

Don't you need gas for the generator?

C'mon man, give me a little credit for having a few gallons of gas in the garage. I still cut my own grass you know. :@

Are you sure the gas isn't stale.....does it have STABIL?

And furthermore, I'd still have a car that has a gas tank as a back up to the gas can.
The electric car is for when that gas runs out!

You're right, I've thought of everything. It's a fallout from my old profession.

Or were you a Boy Sprout?

jmonroe

driver100

ab348 said:

You can't turn off start/stop in most new GM cars. If you feather the brake pedal just before coming to a full stop and maintain minimal pressure on it it will fool the system. But they give no explicit way to turn it off. I've despised start/stop on the cars I've driven with it.

I start my car....and press the button to demobilize start/stop immediately. I might put it on again if coming up to a long light or a train.
The salesman said they have to have it to get the best possible mileage for ratings....what you do with it is up to you.
btw...powerful starter, car starts immediately, no hesitation, but you are aware of it.....annoying!

fintail

I don't mind the stop/start too much in the E - it can be disabled with a button, but is "on" by default. Most irksome is that it interferes with the dashcam - when it turns off, the dashcam think the car is off, and goes into parking mode, just to restart when the car fires up. The off-to-on transition is a lot smoother than in some cars, barely perceptible.

cdnpinhead

As much as I b*tch about stuff, I find the stop/start thing a non-issue. I first ran into it a number of years ago in Europe (where most of the transmissions are manual) and find it now in my plebian Chevy rentals from National. I guess the starter duty cycles for these cars are adjusted for 10X or 50X of what they used to be.

In any event, the car starts back up every time and is ready to accelerate when I need it to. Plus, since I'm a bit of a pinhead (go figure), I always set up my rental cars to monitor average fuel mileage, and the stop/start feature definitely makes a difference. It's interesting to note that when it's hot outside, the car starts up as necessary to keep the A/C working properly, even when stopped.

I'm not planning to get a new vehicle anytime soon, but if it has stop/start included, I'm not going to lose much sleep over it.

stickguy

I have found it to be annoying. The LR I rented in Ireland had it, and it was really rough restarting. in stop and go creeping, I had to turn it off. That was a diesel FWIW.

roadburner

I leave it engaged on the 2er; it doesn't bother me. When you deactivate auto stop/start on a newer BMW it stays off until you reactivate it. Putting the car in Sport or Sport+ also disables it.

stickguy

when we took the 3 series test drive yesterday, the first thing the saleslady did was show us how to turn it off. I think they learned from experience it can annoy people, so they don't want to take any chances.

driver100

Stick, you are testing 3ers. Did we know that?

nyccarguy

driver100 said:

Stick, you are testing 3ers. Did we know that?

We did

Michaell

nyccarguy said:

driver100 said:

Stick, you are testing 3ers. Did we know that?

We did

Only if you are subscribed to the CCBA thread, where the topic was raised yesterday.

stickguy

things move fast. It can be tough to keep up.

driver100

So, telling your CCBA buddies and witholding information from the C&C guys! :@

oldfarmer50

nyccarguy said:

driver100 said:

Stick, you are testing 3ers. Did we know that?

We did

Only if you're lurking over on CCBA as I started doing again.

dino001

BMW improved the system from its first versions. When I experienced it first time about fiver years ago on a loaner, I couldn't believe how bad it was. The car was shaking violently on each restart and the on/off was necessary to be pressed each new drive. Now it's barely noticeable and the system remembers your last Start/Stop setting, so you need to do it once and forget it. It will come as default position when you set the car into "Eco". I guess, that's fair enough. On "Comfort" or "Sport", it will remember to keep it turned off, if that's what you set up. The sales guy also told me the shaking is more pronounced on the four cylinder engines than on the sixes.

bwia

ab348 said:

You can't turn off start/stop in most new GM cars. If you feather the brake pedal just before coming to a full stop and maintain minimal pressure on it it will fool the system. But they give no explicit way to turn it off. I've despised start/stop on the cars I've driven with it.

@ab348, I did a quick google search and saw that the start/stop in Cadillac's with the CUE system can be deactivated, don't remember how, but it was simple, nonetheless. As to other GM products the start/stop can be defeated by pressing the break, lift your foot quickly, and press the break again. The engine will run in idle and won't stop. However, when the vehicle is turned off it reverts to the default start/stop setting.

graphicguy

roadburner said:

I leave it engaged on the 2er; it doesn't bother me. When you deactivate auto stop/start on a newer BMW it stays off until you reactivate it. Putting the car in Sport or Sport+ also disables it.

Same thing on my Acura...as long as you stay in Sport + mode (which I do most of the time), stop/start is deactivated. The TLX also has a button to turn the "feature" off.

ab348

bwia said:

ab348 said:

You can't turn off start/stop in most new GM cars. If you feather the brake pedal just before coming to a full stop and maintain minimal pressure on it it will fool the system. But they give no explicit way to turn it off. I've despised start/stop on the cars I've driven with it.

@ab348, I did a quick google search and saw that the start/stop in Cadillac's with the CUE system can be deactivated, don't remember how, but it was simple, nonetheless. As to other GM products the start/stop can be defeated by pressing the break, lift your foot quickly, and press the break again. The engine will run in idle and won't stop. However, when the vehicle is turned off it reverts to the default start/stop setting.

Better tell the Cadillac forums then, because those owners there haven't been able to turn it off. Apparently some models early on had a on/off function for it, but it has been eliminated now.

You can apparently cheat it by putting the shifter in manual mode.

Also some rollicking tales there of people trying to inch into their garages and having the car shut off every time they come to a momentary stop.

driver100

GG's Cadillac had stop/start....but it worked different..........stopped when you didn't want it to :@

imidazol97

driver100 said:

GG's Cadillac had stop/start....but it worked different..........stopped when you didn't want it to :@

I think that is a fairly unique problem. I don't see other Cadillacs sitting by the roadside...
I ask myself, would people still be mentioning GG's unqiue CTS experience were it a BMW? Audi? MB? that had incurred the rare damage causing the stop/start to stop/not start?
My thinking is people have longer memories about GM cars than with other brands.

Has anyone else noticed how the Malibu Gen 9 looks like an A7 from the rear? Or is it the A7 looks like the Malibu?

As for the stop/start, I tried the brake, lift, brake again to turn off the SS on my 2014 Malibu. No luck.

The work-a-round for the particular SS on my Malibu involves adding a switch in a line, IIRC, that is the hood sensor. Having it open when starting engine turns off SS. Then reconnecting the line with the switch telling the computer the hood is closed avoids the computer setting a permanent code.

dino001

imidazol97 said:

My thinking is people have longer memories about GM cars than with other brands.

Yes, we all have it for GM. Must be something in the water that turns us all against it.

fordfool

ab348 said:

driver100 said:

Putting it into today's time and having Cumberbunch as the lead just killed it for me.
Plus I hated all the production gimmicks and SFX they used. Could. Not. Watch.

The most recent iteration with Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson
is even worse. I don't know why each new series has to make Sherlock more obnoxious than the last.

As a kid I really enjoyed the Basil Rathbone portrayal of Sherlock.

driver100

driver100 said:
GG's Cadillac had stop/start....but it worked different..........stopped when you didn't want it to

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

GG's Cadillac had stop/start....but it worked different..........stopped when you didn't want it to :@

driver100 said:
GG's Cadillac had stop/start....but it worked different..........stopped when you didn't want it to

I think that is a fairly unique problem. I don't see other Cadillacs sitting by the roadside...
I ask myself, would people still be mentioning GG's unqiue CTS experience were it a BMW? Audi? MB? that had incurred the rare damage causing the stop/start to stop/not start?
My thinking is people have longer memories about GM cars than with other brands.

Has anyone else noticed how the Malibu Gen 9 looks like an A7 from the rear? Or is it the A7 looks like the Malibu?

I mentioned GGs Cadillac because it wouldn't have made sense if I had said another make...it is the only car that stalled around here, other than my Fusion rental that is.

imidazol97

dino001 said:

Yes, we all have it for GM. Must be something in the water that turns us all against it.

No, that's not quite what it is. GM deserved scrutiny for things that happened a while back. But some of the models have changed. People, like the MSM car mags, tend to still critique GM with a strong tongue while they wouldn't do the same were the car in question another more favored brand. It's more like habit.


Notice the diminuitive words and phrases about the 2018 Regal from C&D. I just happened onto this looking for info about the "changed" Regal. On many good comments there's a negative thrown in. Or is this their way of describing new Hondas, etc.?

That black picture in the article looks similar to an A7 IIRC. wink.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-2018-buick-regal-is-a-car-worth-waiting-for-feature
.

.

driver100

And they stole that line through the doors from the E Class:




And the grill from a new Mazda:

dino001

imidazol97 said:

dino001 said:

Yes, we all have it for GM. Must be something in the water that turns us all against it.

No, that's not quite what it is. GM deserved scrutiny for things that happened a while back. But some of the models have changed. People, like the MSM car mags, tend to still critique GM with a strong tongue while they wouldn't do the same were the car in question another more favored brand. It's more like habit.


Notice the diminuitive words and phrases about the 2018 Regal from C&D. I just happened onto this looking for info about the "changed" Regal. On many good comments there's a negative thrown in. Or is this their way of describing new Hondas, etc.?

That black picture in the article looks similar to an A7 IIRC. wink.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-2018-buick-regal-is-a-car-worth-waiting-for-feature
.
.

How about the title? "A Buick We're Genuinely Excited For" Not good enough for you? You are way too sensitive, IMHO in looking for "undeserved" negativity. Just look what they're saying about 3-series, their biggest favorite for years: "If BMW continues to dumb down the driving experience, the 3 will likely become the Toyota Camry of its segment—a strong seller that traded its soul for volume." That's damning for a C&D reader.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-2019-bmw-3-series-is-a-car-worth-waiting-for-feature

Michaell

There is very little originality in car design, these days. The Regal was designed in Europe, so it makes sense that some elements were, ahem, 'borrowed' from other makes.

This isn't really new - we can look at Japanese mid-sized sedans from the 90's and see a lot of similarities between them.

I do believe the gap is closing between "mainstream" brands and "premium" brands. Honda, in particular, has made it hard for folks to trade up to the TLX from the Accord. The only big differences is that the TLX still has a V6 (the 2018 Accord does not), and the TLX can be had with AWD. Are those two features worth $7-10K? I suspect that for a lot of car shopping folks - those that are still looking at sedans, that is - the answer is a resounding "no".

ab348

I still keep dithering about what to do when the end of my ATS lease happens in a couple of months. Yesterday I was looking at various local dealer websites for anything that might interest me. It is a fool's errand usually looking for cars with anything other than a black interior in inventory at either of our 2 local GM dealers because that seems like all they usually order for stock. But yesterday I stumbled on a Cruze Premier hatch that seemed interesting. Cajun Red Metallic with a "Kalahari" leather interior. I thought I would go and see if I could find it because I had not ever seen that interior on a Cruze locally, and I figured it was probably the color I would get if I was ordering one.

I cruised up and down the rows of inventory at the dealer's back lot with no success. I was about to give up but as I pulled around front to leave, there it was parked in front of the showroom, hiding in plain sight. I got out and looked it over. It didn't have much in the way of options unfortunately, so it was a "basic" Premier. Sticker was $26K Cdn but you could probably buy it for a lot less right now. The paint color was nice but these things really need the optional 18" wheels which this did not have.

Suddenly I realize it is unlocked. I tug on the handle and the door opens. It has been used as a demo or otherwise as it has 620km on the odometer, just under 400 miles, and the floor mats were dirty. I get in, adjust the seat and steering wheel to my preferences. While the first impression of the Kalahari interior was OK, after you are in there for a while it is really an odd color, almost a faded orange. I kept thinking orange sherbet. Certainly not tan nor saddle, which is what I was expecting. It also sports a black headliner (the cheap flocked pressed cardboard one the Cruze is afflicted with unfortunately, which really degrades the interior) which makes it seem dark inside without a sunroof, which this didn't have. I honestly don't know if I could live with that interior, which is unfortunate.

The only other color choice than black and this is gray leather, which I have also never seen on a Cruze locally. Anyway, I suspect the Cruze is off my list regardless. I just don't think I'd be happy in one. But it's strange that GM offers such an odd shade for the interior. I would think something a bit more mainstream would be a lot more popular.

imidazol97

dino001 said:

Just look what they're saying about 3-series, their biggest favorite for years: "If BMW continues to dumb down the driving experience, the 3 will likely become the Toyota Camry of its segment—a strong seller that traded its soul for volume." That's damning for a C&D reader.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-2019-bmw-3-series-is-a-car-worth-waiting-for-feature

Interesting.

Explored a couple more articles from C&D. The Accord article has none of the editorial comments I see in the Regal article. In fact, it contains mostly facts, which what I expected to see in the Regal article.

http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2018-honda-accord-officially-revealed-news

Mr_Shiftright

Seems to me that "driving enthusiasts" are becoming a very niche market, at least in No. America. Not so sure as a CEO that that's where I would spend my marketing dollars or my engineering talent. BMW has often given us "dumbed-down" versions of their Euro specs cars anyway.

At this point, improvements in things like "handling" and "0-60" are incremental anyway, so up or down in an increment shouldn't affect sales very much I would think, if at all.

dino001

imidazol97 said:

dino001 said:

Just look what they're saying about 3-series, their biggest favorite for years: "If BMW continues to dumb down the driving experience, the 3 will likely become the Toyota Camry of its segment—a strong seller that traded its soul for volume." That's damning for a C&D reader.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-2019-bmw-3-series-is-a-car-worth-waiting-for-feature

Interesting.

Explored a couple more articles from C&D. The Accord article has none of the editorial comments I see in the Regal article. In fact, it contains mostly facts, which what I expected to see in the Regal article.

http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2018-honda-accord-officially-revealed-news

OK, mostly fact listing, except this: "It all should help drastically reduce cabin noise, a sometime Honda bugaboo, as it has in the Odyssey."

I say one thing - C&D has a specific type of preference - a driver-oriented car, as they understand it. For years GM and Ford simply refused to design their vehicles in that way, Buick would be on the opposite side of that preference. It's not that it's worse, it's just not C&D's "type". Now Buick is trying to get into that kind of audience so it is met with a bit of skepticism and perhaps some snickering here and there. That's because of the track record. However, the suggestion is, if Buick delivers on what they like, they'll say good things about it. If not, they'll poo poo it as a fake.

fintail

Wasn't that one of those doofy commercials with the bearded hipster and the "real people"?

A7 debuted in 2010, FWIW.

imidazol97 said:

Has anyone else noticed how the Malibu Gen 9 looks like an A7 from the rear? Or is it the A7 looks like the Malibu?

dino001

Mr_Shiftright said:

Seems to me that "driving enthusiasts" are becoming a very niche market, at least in No. America. Not so sure as a CEO that that's where I would spend my marketing dollars or my engineering talent. BMW has often given us "dumbed-down" versions of their Euro specs cars anyway.

At this point, improvements in things like "handling" and "0-60" are incremental anyway, so up or down in an increment shouldn't affect sales very much I would think, if at all.

I think BMWs and Audis were usually kept very similar to their Euro siblings. Benz was notorious for changing suspension on its US-spec models to mooshy foam.

fintail

What gets me most about the Regal design is the enormous black plastic triangle/DLO fail in the C-pillar. The Mazda has one, too. I can't stand that lazy styling element.

dino001

Buick Regal wagon - no snickering, all-positive "we can't wait".

http://blog.caranddriver.com/tail-happy-this-opel-is-the-buick-regal-wagon-we-cant-wait-to-see-here/

berri

I had more than a few horror stories with GM cars, particularly electrical and computer, some years back. I think their cars are much improved based both on what I read and hear, as well as some rentals. However, then I read about continual Stabilitrak issues that have gone on for around a decade and still seems to appear on late models. So bottom line, next time I buy I'll look at some GM models I like, but will have to include a GM extended warranty when I price them against the major Asians. The company I've kind of lost interest in more recently is Ford. Seems like their quality and reliability went backwards under Fields, plus a lot of what they have is kind of stale looking.

dino001

berri said:

I had more than a few horror stories with GM cars, particularly electrical and computer, some years back. I think their cars are much improved based both on what I read and hear, as well as some rentals. However, then I read about continual Stabilitrak issues that have gone on for around a decade and still seems to appear on late models. So bottom line, next time I buy I'll look at some GM models I like, but will have to include a GM extended warranty when I price them against the major Asians. The company I've kind of lost interest in more recently is Ford. Seems like their quality and reliability went backwards under Fields, plus a lot of what they have is kind of stale looking.

I agree. Ford exploded up under Mullaly, some of the wave of "Non-government motors", some on the merits of quality and design (Fusion was at some point one of the best midsize sedans in terms of both design and reliability) and it seems like they got complacent again.

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

I still keep dithering about what to do when the end of my ATS lease happens in a couple of months. Yesterday I was looking at various local dealer websites for anything that might interest me. It is a fool's errand usually looking for cars with anything other than a black interior in inventory at either of our 2 local GM dealers because that seems like all they usually order for stock. But yesterday I stumbled on a Cruze Premier hatch that seemed interesting. Cajun Red Metallic with a "Kalahari" leather interior. I thought I would go and see if I could find it because I had not ever seen that interior on a Cruze locally, and I figured it was probably the color I would get if I was ordering one.

I cruised up and down the rows of inventory at the dealer's back lot with no success. I was about to give up but as I pulled around front to leave, there it was parked in front of the showroom, hiding in plain sight. I got out and looked it over. It didn't have much in the way of options unfortunately, so it was a "basic" Premier. Sticker was $26K Cdn but you could probably buy it for a lot less right now. The paint color was nice but these things really need the optional 18" wheels which this did not have.

Suddenly I realize it is unlocked. I tug on the handle and the door opens. It has been used as a demo or otherwise as it has 620km on the odometer, just under 400 miles, and the floor mats were dirty. I get in, adjust the seat and steering wheel to my preferences. While the first impression of the Kalahari interior was OK, after you are in there for a while it is really an odd color, almost a faded orange. I kept thinking orange sherbet. Certainly not tan nor saddle, which is what I was expecting. It also sports a black headliner (the cheap flocked pressed cardboard one the Cruze is afflicted with unfortunately, which really degrades the interior) which makes it seem dark inside without a sunroof, which this didn't have. I honestly don't know if I could live with that interior, which is unfortunate.

The only other color choice than black and this is gray leather, which I have also never seen on a Cruze locally. Anyway, I suspect the Cruze is off my list regardless. I just don't think I'd be happy in one. But it's strange that GM offers such an odd shade for the interior. I would think something a bit more mainstream would be a lot more popular.

Someone once said that year end car production is a hodge poge from the parts bin to clear out unused inventory so some wierd combinations can occur.

I'm suprised that you would consider a Chevy after a Caddy. Isn't that a step down for you?

I always wondered why the engine bay was so roomy on the Cruze, almost like they planned for a 6 but put a 4 in there at the last minute. Have they ever offered a 6 cyl. In the Cruze or other GM cars that use that platform?