Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

fintail

Stay safe out there! You need to lure her out of the house more

Of course, with the way some models track the storm, going north might not help much unless you go to Seattle or something. Looks like much of the state might get hit.

sandman_6472 said:

Wish I could but, she will not budge. How can I go alone??? I can't. It'll all work out somehow or another!

The Sandman

andres3

tifighter said:

By popular request-

So I don't know much about this new Toyota 86. Is it at all related to the Scion FRS/BRZ from Subaru? Which cars did you cross-shop?

andres3

ab348 said:

fintail said:

Those are good sturdy cars, and are still inexpensive. Go for it!

I am of the belief that the '65/'66 big Chryslers were that company's high-water mark in terms of engineering and quality (not that Chrysler was ever really known for the latter). They are built like tanks and good-looking inside and out. If I had the space to keep one I'd likely own one.

Pretty sad that a companies prime was over 50 years ago. 50 years past their prime; someone please get a gun and end it already! Put them out of their misery!

I actually like the fact they are making Demon's and Hellcat's though. The Jeep with 707 HP is silly though.

andres3

breld said:

Happened to have woken up really early this morning in Amarillo, so figured may as well get on the road.  Left around 4:15 am and got home in Denver a bit after 9:00.  Made the first stretch through Texas really easy with no traffic.  And tested out the LED lighting in the GLC, which were amazing - thanks @fintail for pointing out that option.  They lit up those Texas highways nicely!  

And...was able to wash all those nasty bugs off the Mercedes. 

I was talking to a salesman at a Lexus dealer a while back when my Parents were shopping for a new car. He took a liking to my TTS in the parking lot, and he was from Hungary (where the TTS is assembled in fact).

I mentioned how I miss the LED lights when I'm in the Kia, and he said even if I had Xenons, I'd still miss the LED lights on the Audi. Apparently once you go LED, you don't go back.

Michaell

stickguy said:

well, look at the oddball my local dealer has. This is the place that I got my 2005 stick EXL from. first saw it around this time of year (in 2005) and ended up back buying it the week before Christmas. If this one is still buried on the back lot in a few months, and they get desperate, who knows!

https://www.burnshonda.com/vehicle-details/new-2017-honda-accord-sedan-ex-1HGCR2E78HA265566

A return to glory for @stickguy!

IIRC, you were driving your stick EXL when you first joined these boards.

Michaell

@andres3 - your early morning calisthenics with the TT reminded me of a similar drive I made in my youth with my sisters car.

If you went up 33 from Ventura, you went through Oak View - if you turned left onto CA 150, you'll find another nice road around Lake Casitas and over the mountains and eventually dumps you onto the 101 just south of Carpenteria.

I did that drive in my sisters '85 RX-7 - all 100HP and a 5 speed stick. Had my best friend with me, and we did the drive late at night. I may have overdriven the headlights on occasion, and learned a little bit about oversteer, as well. Bounced that little rotary off the rev limiter quite a few times.

Shhh - my sister knew I had the car that night, but not what I was doing with it.

She cried when she sold it. Now she drives an RX Hybrid.

Michaell

More miles, still a nice color combo, similar price but CPO

kyfdx

Good seats.

tbirdmarco

@Michaell nice car! posted above!

tjc78

kyfdx said:

Good seats.

I'm glad I had a chance to see that park. Very nice venue to see a game. My seats weren't as good.  

qbrozen

andres3 said:

By popular request-

So I don't know much about this new Toyota 86. Is it at all related to the Scion FRS/BRZ from Subaru? Which cars did you cross-shop?

One and the same

ab348

Let's hear the cries of outrage over badge engineering!!

graphicguy

SDA, Sandy, Mike and anyone else who could potentially be affected by these storms, please get to a safe area and protect yourself and your loved ones.

roadburner

nyccarguy said:

Stay safe @sandman_6472

Ditto!

fintail

I think the 86 cars are just rebadges rather than badge engineering. There appears to be very few differences between the two - a little trim and a couple of nameplates. This isn't a Cavalier pretending to be a Cadillac or something (although Toyota has played that game too, and laughed all the way to the bank).

ab348

Well it's a Subaru pretending to be a Toyota, or vice-versa. Really not different from when GM rebadged the late '90s Malibu as a Cutlass, which caused considerable disdain (and rightfully so for those who recall when a Cutlass was a superior car to the lowly Chevy).

fintail

I see the difference as it not pretending to be anything higher on the food chain. They have nearly identical prices, and occupy the same market position, really just existing it seems for those who prefer one badge over the other.

Funnier ones would be like the Lexus ES Supercamry (now a Superavalon).

Michaell

I believe Subaru did most of the heavy lifting, engineering-wise, on those.

Mr_Shiftright

andres3 said:

fintail said:

If I was in a 350 (or much more) hp car and a skilled looking rider on a R1 or S1000RR wanted to compete, I don't think I would take the bet.

Mr_Shiftright said:

Yeah, I'd also bet on the powerful bike with a good rider always beating the street car, and probably a very good beating at that. And a champ rider can beat a race car, too (as seen on Top Gear) but not such a runaway victory.

Are we talking track or street? Closed street course, or open to all Toyota traffic that might be on the roadway?

Weight matters so much. 300 HP and 3,000 lbs seems to be the right formula for a great car. Up the horsepower for more weight. Less is required if you lose weight.

Track course, in that case. On the street, the advantage would even be more for the bike as he can avoid obstacles more easily than the car. Possibly the only advantage the car would have on the street would be at launch, so in a one-block drag race, the car might have the advantage.

But even so, there are many motorcycles that easily bust 4 seconds doing 0-60, (even a 20 year old Ducati) and quite a few under 3 seconds.

Not many cars off the showroom floor are going to do that.

ab348

When I think back to the marvelous little 16-valve 1.6L Toyota engine in my '85 MR2 that sang sweetly all the way up to 7500RPM, I wonder if Toyota forgot how to build something like that. Replacing it with a rough Subie engine just seems criminal.

stickguy

Michael, love the blue on that C class. My wife's favorite too. I like that one.

The 86 is only a Toyota because scion is defunct. But that is all subaru, with Toyota badging and some suspension tuning. Reverse of the old prism!

And I joined well before the accord. 1998 I think. Or 97. Was before I bought my quest, and that was a 98 I think. So wife had the voyager, and I probably had the mystique.

fintail

When I hear an overly loud warbly Subaru (usually a clapped out WRX) droning up my street, I think "my brother has a Honda that sounds like that - a Honda lawnmower" (which might have better NVH).

tifighter

For anyone that enjoys a really deep dive, this brochure from the launch of the Toyobaru twins gives the whole development story.

The internet says all kinds of things about what these cars are and aren't, but after reading the interviews with the engineers and planners, it seems clear that they had their own vision and feel like they accomplished it. These were definitely not cars centered around the US market.

andres3

Mr_Shiftright said:

andres3 said:

fintail said:

If I was in a 350 (or much more) hp car and a skilled looking rider on a R1 or S1000RR wanted to compete, I don't think I would take the bet.

Mr_Shiftright said:

Yeah, I'd also bet on the powerful bike with a good rider always beating the street car, and probably a very good beating at that. And a champ rider can beat a race car, too (as seen on Top Gear) but not such a runaway victory.

Are we talking track or street? Closed street course, or open to all Toyota traffic that might be on the roadway?

Weight matters so much. 300 HP and 3,000 lbs seems to be the right formula for a great car. Up the horsepower for more weight. Less is required if you lose weight.

Track course, in that case. On the street, the advantage would even be more for the bike as he can avoid obstacles more easily than the car. Possibly the only advantage the car would have on the street would be at launch, so in a one-block drag race, the car might have the advantage.

But even so, there are many motorcycles that easily bust 4 seconds doing 0-60, (even a 20 year old Ducati) and quite a few under 3 seconds.

Not many cars off the showroom floor are going to do that.

Yes, the 3.6 second time for the new TTRS is tough to beat when it comes to cars. I think new R8's clock in at 3.2 seconds. If you start getting used to that, 6 seconds will start to seem like a lifetime.

xwesx

@andres3 - Those are some fantastic shots! Thanks for sharing! There's nothing quite like a beautiful drive on a curvy road without another car in sight.

We will *sometimes* get that scenario driving through the coastal range to the Oregon coast (or back). If we can manage it during daylight hours, it sure can be fun.

xwesx

tifighter said:

Since I have become accustomed to Carplay in the Kia, I added an aftermarket head unit to the 86 today. It is a Pioneer unit that fortunately does not look any more disco than the factory head unit. In addition to Carplay, it also connects to the OBD2 info from the car and can display things like intake, exhaust and oil temps, TPMS info for each tire, engine load, DTE and fuel stats, throttle info and tons of other stuff. Factory back up camera, bluetooth mics and inputs remain, with no modification. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it.

That sounds like a great unit, tifighter! What model is it?

Michaell

stickguy said:

Michael, love the blue on that C class. My wife's favorite too. I like that one.

The 86 is only a Toyota because scion is defunct. But that is all subaru, with Toyota badging and some suspension tuning. Reverse of the old prism!

And I joined well before the accord. 1998 I think. Or 97. Was before I bought my quest, and that was a 98 I think. So wife had the voyager, and I probably had the mystique.

If only I were in the market ....

I figured you'd been around since the beginning ... I have been, too.

cdnpinhead

If I come up on one or a group of people riding motorcycles on a curvy road, I'm likely to conclude that I'm traveling faster than they are. This has happened more than once.

Clearly, I'm delusional.

xwesx

cdnpinhead said:

Clearly, I'm delusional.

That will happen when you hang around this bunch too much!

tifighter

xwesx said:

That sounds like a great unit, tifighter! What model is it?

It is this guy right here. I used the datalink adapter they list for the steering wheel controls etc that had the side benefit of all the vehicle gauge monitoring. Seems to work well so far.

tifighter

andres3 said:

So I don't know much about this new Toyota 86. Which cars did you cross-shop?

Sheesh, lots of stuff. From an Abarth to multiple 996s. Really, the list is long. At the end of the day, the 86 matched up well in the fun department. That a crazy deal on a barely used one came up was icing on the cake. Little miles, lots of warranty. It will be a fun weekend toy with the occasional track day or autox thrown in. If I want to get out of it and go a different direction, it will be pretty painless. Unless I go crazy modding it with a widebody kit and coilovers.

Just kidding.

stickguy

I would have bought that baby at that price without thinking twice. Unless my head did not fit. then I would have thought twice, but done it anyway.

tifighter

You'd fit, Stick. I hear the blue ones have even more headroom.

Mr_Shiftright

cdnpinhead said:

If I come up on one or a group of people riding motorcycles on a curvy road, I'm likely to conclude that I'm traveling faster than they are. This has happened more than once.

Clearly, I'm delusional.

But we don't know how hard each side is trying

tbirdmarco

@Michaell have bin on hear since 2005 had an different name that I don't use anymore! and also rairly posted back than was an lerker for an long time!

tbirdmarco

so the Thunderbird whent to the restoration shop getting undercoaded since I don't have an garage and few other things fixed so will be good to go! covering it up in the winter like did the past two winters and will be good to go for now. they wher shocked how nice the car was and rust free!

tbirdmarco

mom is not an fan of the BMW rental she has think she is going to go tomero and get sumthing elce! I am not an fan eather it seams nice and all but drives weard! has auto stop start to get used to witch is no big deal! prefer an non luxo car my selfe! but to be fair have to sit in sum outies and benzes to compare just for the hell of it!

tjc78

So I did a thing.... not as exciting as a Type R but a punch is a punch.  

28firefighter

Congrats!  They hit your numbers?

nyccarguy

Congrats on the punch! I want the details!!

stickguy

great. I love that color combo. Got some style!

Michaell

Congrats @tjc78 - so, an Enclave for an Enclave. Must have been very aggressive with the pricing and payment waivers to convince you to go like for like.

And, I too like those colors.

corvette

tjc, congrats! Nice color combo! For the spreadsheet: What year and trim level? Buy or lease?

tifighter

Congrats on the punch tjc!

suydam

Congrats! Love the colors.

pensfan83

Congratulations! Great color combo 

tbirdmarco

@tjc78 congrads on the punch! did not see this cumming! love the color combo a lot! what color was your old one cant remember! injoy the new ride! happy Friday!

tbirdmarco

happy Friday all! injoy the upcumming weekand! all!

tjc78

Thanks all! It's a lease. Had been going back and forth with the dealer for a few days. They kept coming in significantly higher than my current payment. The residual was lower and the deal I got on the 15 was "exceptional" (their words).

Finally, they called around 3 yesterday and came up with first payment down and about $25 more a month. At that point I got blunt. I said, the only way I will buy the car is exact same payment as I have now and not one dollar out of my pocket. If you can't do that, please don't even call back and I'll understand.

Well, they called back and said the deal could be done. This model was about $1200 more than the 15 (extra cost paint, more safety nannies). GM waived my last five payments, $1000 wear and tear on the 15 in case I need it (I won't) and scheduled maintenance for two years. Dealer discount was around $4300, and then over $7200 in rebates from the pull ahead.

Walked in at 7:15 and was out by 8:45. It would have been quicker but getting Liberty Mutual on the phone took about 30 minutes on hold (I'm guessing high call volumes from Texas).

All in all we are happy. It's an outgoing model, but we really do like it and this time we got the exact color combo and options we wanted.

tjc78

Marcothecarguy1986 said:

@tjc78 congrads on the punch! did not see this cumming! love the color combo a lot! what color was your old one cant remember! injoy the new ride! happy Friday!

Thanks!! Old one was Navy over Grey with the ebony wood.