Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

ab348

stickguy said:

the front end of that E class reminds me of a Buick.

The grille assembly reminds me of current Cadillacs, with the rectangular sensor box (I presume) in the center reminiscent of where the badge would be on a Caddy. Of course the headlight treatments are totally different so overall it doesn't have a huge resemblance.

Lots of room in the wagon for all your hockey gear, Fin!

roadburner

kyfdx said:

Funny... I bought my son a vehicle that had the ABS and stability control disabled, along with airbag removal. I guess I'm a bad Dad.

My son drove a 1975 2002 with NO nannies- deactivated or otherwise. He did attend three days of training- two at the BMW Performance Center and one day at Street Survival.

qbrozen

Heck, I didn’t even have shoulder belts in my first 2 vehicles. And didn’t have ABS until I was 25.

au1994

qbrozen said:

Heck, I didn’t even have shoulder belts in my first 2 vehicles. And didn’t have ABS until I was 25.

Pretty much the same boat...

1st car 66 Mustang. Lap belts only. 4 drum brakes will teach you a few things too, especially in the rain

2nd 89 Chevy Beretta. Shoulder belts of course but no airbag or ABS

3rd 95 Tacoma 4x4. Drivers airbag and I think ABS but only on the rear

It was my 99 Explorer before I had 2 airbags and 4 wheel ABS. I think I was 27 or 28 when I got that.

au1994

ab348 said:

stickguy said:

the front end of that E class reminds me of a Buick.

The grille assembly reminds me of current Cadillacs, with the rectangular sensor box (I presume) in the center reminiscent of where the badge would be on a Caddy. Of course the headlight treatments are totally different so overall it doesn't have a huge resemblance.

Lots of room in the wagon for all your hockey gear, Fin!

There’s something very stately about an E wagon. Not sure I could ever bring myself to DD one. An E63 wagon on the other hand...

mjfloyd1

My 1963 Corvette split window coupe is officially a beater. No nannies, no disc brakes, no power steering or power brakes.  Manual transmission. 

I am now wondering why I smile when I drive it. 

tjc78

First car, 89 Grand Marquis had no airbags and no ABS. My next car a 93 Taurus LX 3.8 (yeah, it sucked) had dual bags and ABS and aside from my 89 Town Car and 79 Continental everything since has had ABS.

I think at this point I'd really need to be careful in a non-ABS vehicle. Like mentioned above I've become conditioned to "Stomp and Steer".

stickguy

Ah. Drum brakes. I remember one day with my duster, coming out of a parking lot there was a dip, and after a rain storm was full of water. Hit that, big splash, then right after was a stop sign at the exit onto a busy road. Blew right through that without a hint of slowing. Oops. Became a big fan of disk brakes that day.

Now, I like info helpers, like BLIS. Not a fan of active lane keep stuff, that’s annoying. Auto emergency brakes, good in theory, but I still don’t trust it.

mjfloyd1

Drum brakes are interesting. You never know which tire will lock up. But it is what it is. I just have much more situational awareness when I drive it. It is an absolute blast though. 

fintail

That happened to me in the fintail a few years ago, when cruising down 405 at ~60, a road work truck blindly pulled out from the shoulder in front of me, and I went for the brakes. It was not the straightest slowdown - but I kept it in line. Not a fun experience where in a modern car it would have had little drama.

tjc78 said:

I think at this point I'd really need to be careful in a non-ABS vehicle. Like mentioned above I've become conditioned to "Stomp and Steer".

fintail

The "luxury" trim shnoz is a little unique, but I like a traditional grille and hood ornament. I suspect cars with such trim are under 10% of E volume.

That one is even better with brown interior, drivers assist, and optional 19" 10 spoke wheels I've never seen in person before. Rare bird, and it would be good for hauling things. Unfortunately, big MSRP and they lease poorly.

ab348 said:

stickguy said:

The grille assembly reminds me of current Cadillacs, with the rectangular sensor box (I presume) in the center reminiscent of where the badge would be on a Caddy. Of course the headlight treatments are totally different so overall it doesn't have a huge resemblance.

Lots of room in the wagon for all your hockey gear, Fin!

Mr_Shiftright

roadburner said:

kyfdx said:

Funny... I bought my son a vehicle that had the ABS and stability control disabled, along with airbag removal. I guess I'm a bad Dad.

My son drove a 1975 2002 with NO nannies- deactivated or otherwise. He did attend three days of training- two at the BMW Performance Center and one day at Street Survival.

With all those active safety features, you aren't "driving"--you will never learn some basic control skills. Every jet airliner pilot or fighter pilot learned to fly no doubt, on a little Cessna.

stickguy

Not today. They learn on video games and simulators.

kyfdx

mjfloyd1 said:

My 1963 Corvette split window coupe is officially a beater. No nannies, no disc brakes, no power steering or power brakes.  Manual transmission. 

I am now wondering why I smile when I drive it. 

That sucks. You should just give it to me.

ab348

My '68 Cutlass has drum brakes which are sort of OK around town but scary if you need to use them hurriedly at highway speeds. I remember when I first bought the car, the power assist was really touchy, feeling like it could put you through the windshield if you stomped on it. A couple of years into ownership the master cylinder leaked on a steep downhill (what fun) and after it was replaced, the brakes weren't so touchy. I have all I need (I think) to replace the front drums with discs, down in storage. I will never do it myself now so I might have to persuade someone to do it for me for compensation.

Being an early production '68 model (built Sept/67) it also does not have shoulder belt, just lap belts. Apparently GM Canada held off until production ended in calendar 1967.

nyccarguy

I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea in here, but my accountant has a 2010 Lexus RX 350 AWD. Put into service in 2009, so effectively a 10 year old car (I think he bough it in 2011 as a CPO unit). He doesn't drive very much. There are less than 50K miles on it. I'm impressed with how solid, quiet, & well built it is. Even the "OH NO" handles have soft closing hinges.

Michaell

Mr_Shiftright said:

roadburner said:

kyfdx said:

Funny... I bought my son a vehicle that had the ABS and stability control disabled, along with airbag removal. I guess I'm a bad Dad.

My son drove a 1975 2002 with NO nannies- deactivated or otherwise. He did attend three days of training- two at the BMW Performance Center and one day at Street Survival.

With all those active safety features, you aren't "driving"--you will never learn some basic control skills. Every jet airliner pilot or fighter pilot learned to fly no doubt, on a little Cessna.

When we go to Colorado Springs in the summer, we see the cadets at the Air Force Academy actually start with a glider, then upgrade to a small prop plane.

tjc78

nyccarguy said:

I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea in here, but my accountant has a 2010 Lexus RX 350 AWD. Put into service in 2009, so effectively a 10 year old car (I think he bough it in 2011 as a CPO unit). He doesn't drive very much. There are less than 50K miles on it. I'm impressed with how solid, quiet, & well built it is. Even the "OH NO" handles have soft closing hinges.

The RX is a nice SUV, no doubt. Drives very similar to our Enclave quiet and isolated.

Mr_Shiftright

Michaell said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

roadburner said:

kyfdx said:

Funny... I bought my son a vehicle that had the ABS and stability control disabled, along with airbag removal. I guess I'm a bad Dad.

My son drove a 1975 2002 with NO nannies- deactivated or otherwise. He did attend three days of training- two at the BMW Performance Center and one day at Street Survival.

With all those active safety features, you aren't "driving"--you will never learn some basic control skills. Every jet airliner pilot or fighter pilot learned to fly no doubt, on a little Cessna.

When we go to Colorado Springs in the summer, we see the cadets at the Air Force Academy actually start with a glider, then upgrade to a small prop plane.

You could ride small waves and be a safer surfer.

au1994

Funny sighting running an errand at lunch. I approached a light and saw that there was a nice looking, blue E36 already stopped. Got a little closer and lo and behold its an IS couple. End up next to it, ready to give the driver a nod or thumbs up as this thing was really pretty and I’m shocked. The driver is a little old Snow White haired lady easily in her 70’s with her hands perfectly at 10 and 2. She never glanced my way and I chucked to myself for thinking it would have been driven by some guy like me or younger. She took off smooth as silk too, Were’nt all of the IS models sticks?

kyfdx

au1994 said:

Funny sighting running an errand at lunch. I approached a light and saw that there was a nice looking, blue E36 already stopped. Got a little closer and lo and behold its an IS couple. End up next to it, ready to give the driver a nod or thumbs up as this thing was really pretty and I’m shocked. The driver is a little old Snow White haired lady easily in her 70’s with her hands perfectly at 10 and 2. She never glanced my way and I chucked to myself for thinking it would have been driven by some guy like me or younger. She took off smooth as silk too, Were’nt all of the IS models sticks?

I think you could get an auto in an E36 325iS coupe. But, not sure. I wasn't following along that closely, once the E36 came around.

I mean, you could get an automatic in an M3 Coupe.

xwesx

kyfdx said:

Funny... we just replaced our Goodyear runflats with Pirelli.

Not ALL Pirelli tires have to be garbage just because some are... just like all the other brands out there! Man, those Potenza RE-92As they used to put on Subaru were so terrible, yet there are plenty of good Bridgestone tires out there.

xwesx

fushigi said:

28firefighter said:

My feelings there are a bit different (which probably makes no sense) - when someone is learning to drive, they need to learn how a car feels without a bunch of systems interfering or doing the work for them. I'd probably turn a lot of them off initially if the car had it for a new driver and then enable them later.

You'd be doing a huge disservice to the new driver.

Car tech advances and becomes the norm quickly. A new driver today, unless they're very cash-strapped and can only afford 15+ year old beaters, absolutely will have more and more of the safety systems. Much better for them to learn to drive while knowing how those systems work and how they change the driving dynamic than to encounter them and have to adjust on the fly, potentially in an emergency situation.

The easy example is ABS. Non-ABS has lockup, lots of noise, and generally a major loss of steering capability. With ABS the stopping distances are indeed a little longer but we're explicitly taught to "stomp and steer" and expect the pulsing/shudder from the system as it works (as designed). A driver who has to make an emergency maneuver to avoid a collision does very different things with v. w/out ABS.

I hope to do my children an incredible disservice in this regard. In doing so, may they be the most competent drivers of their generation... a generation otherwise without drivers at all.

marcogallo1986

 Nice on the E 35 siding above, 

marcogallo1986

 West, agree with the above but you wrote. Type your comment

marcogallo1986

 Agree with the others above, I can’t drive but just sitting in the passenger seat of the Thunderbird, makes me smile, and over drives it loves it. They say we could drive in this thing all day. 

marcogallo1986

 So we dropped off my mom‘s road yesterday for service. That’ll do some recall with the emergency braking system, and they replaced the sensor in the front that controls it. Also there was a check engine light that kept coming back on. So it was some sensor in the guest think they have to change, but the guy just called me before, he said the sensor was part of the whole fuel pump assembly so we had to change it all. I said I kind of figured that, I’m not surprised at all. Hopefully now she should be good to go, all they had to  and they have to replace the seal at the bottom of the steering column, because there was some vibration when you turn the wheel in either direction my mom had said. Obviously I couldn’t experience that unfortunately ha ha Ha. So going to pick it up tomorrow. They give us a loaner rogue exactly the same just silver, was hoping to give us something else. Oh well Type your comment

omarman

xwesx said:

I hope to do my children an incredible disservice in this regard. In doing so, may they be the most competent drivers of their generation... a generation otherwise without drivers at all.

My mom bought a used 1950 Chevy in 1953 to learn how to drive and pass the driver's exam. She learned well and got her license and a new car. But for next 24 years and 4 children my parents kept that car and used it to teach us kids how to drive.

First. You have to really want to learn to drive when you get behind the wheel of a 1950 Chevy. 3-speed on the column, pull out choke, key ignition, starter button (those have made a comeback now) and no turn signals. Except for hand signals. And the vacuum wipers.

My sister could never figure out the manual trans so mom gave up on her and let her drive "newer" old Corvair! (At least it had an automatic. Little T-handle on the dash.) When my sister passed her driver's exam with that my mom gave her the Corvair and my sister drove it until 1974.

My brothers and I learned to drive on that '50 Chevy and none of us wanted it when mom and dad offered it to us! I was the last one to use that old beast as a daily driver until I bought my own car in '76.

One of the last times I drove it was to a Stop-N-Go convenience store and one of the older clerks (She must have been at least a 40 year old dinosaur!) pointed out the window and said, "Old Chevys never die." I laughed and said "That's my ride!"

Another time and place compared to now but some things never change. I'm reminded of the story of Neil Armstrong taking manual control of the Eagle to land safely on the moon with just 30 seconds of fuel remaining. And both he and Buzz had to train for that possibility.

rayainsw

Current issue or R&T includes a test of the 2019 GTI w/DSG.
Quarter mile in 14.5 @ 99.7.
Hmmmmm...
- Ray
Wonder if that will be quick enough for my golden years?

roadburner

au1994 said:

Funny sighting running an errand at lunch. I approached a light and saw that there was a nice looking, blue E36 already stopped. Got a little closer and lo and behold its an IS couple. End up next to it, ready to give the driver a nod or thumbs up as this thing was really pretty and I’m shocked. The driver is a little old Snow White haired lady easily in her 70’s with her hands perfectly at 10 and 2. She never glanced my way and I chucked to myself for thinking it would have been driven by some guy like me or younger. She took off smooth as silk too, Were’nt all of the IS models sticks?

All E36 coupes were designated “is.” Automatics we’re available in every flavor- 318is, 323is, 325is, and 328is as well as the M3. 

corvette

Watched last week's Top Gear The Grand Tour. Was very surprised the side airbags on the ZR-1 didn't spontaneously deploy as Clarkson was spinning it around the track. Apparently that is a common problem on late-model GM vehicles (Canyon/Colorado, Camaro, etc.). Had it happened, I'm sure they would have had a field day documenting it and the inevitable GM fumbling to find a replacement car for filming.

stickguy

this is not a bad looking JMonroe mobile. Not my preferred color combo, but loaded. Miles a touch high, but price is pretty good for posing.

http://www.royaleasing.com/detail-2009-hyundai-genesis-used-18678474.html

qbrozen

Had to drive to PA and back yesterday for work. Had the cruise set to 79 most of the time, and off-highway was maybe 10% of the time. OBC had me at 31.5 mpg by the time I got home (and it has been pretty accurate so far, so real-world should be at least 31). That amazes me. My 2nd most efficient car ever, yet in the top 6 or so for quickness, plus it has AWD. Manufacturers have certainly come a long way in recent years in terms of fuel efficiency.

nyccarguy

qbrozen said:

Had to drive to PA and back yesterday for work. Had the cruise set to 79 most of the time, and off-highway was maybe 10% of the time. OBC had me at 31.5 mpg by the time I got home (and it has been pretty accurate so far, so real-world should be at least 31). That amazes me. My 2nd most efficient car ever, yet in the top 6 or so for quickness, plus it has AWD. Manufacturers have certainly come a long way in recent years in terms of fuel efficiency.

It is impressive what they do with turbo 4s and 8 speed transmissions.

marcogallo1986

Agree. With the above! Guys. All cool stuff thay. Are. Doing! Now! Happy friday. All.

breld

rayainsw said:

Current issue or R&T includes a test of the 2019 GTI w/DSG.
Quarter mile in 14.5 @ 99.7.
Hmmmmm...
- Ray
Wonder if that will be quick enough for my golden years?

I'm having a bit of GTI fever, which seems to come about for me every couple years or so.

At this point, I'm anxious to see the next gen (I believe for 2020?). I think it'd probably be quick enough for you - but it may be more of a matter of whether you are good with the FWD dynamic.

breld

Happy Friday to you as well @marcogallo1986

28firefighter

I am familiar with that fever, @breld. 

breld

Speak of the devil.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g26763822/2021-volkswagen-golf-future-spied/

henryn

omarman said:

xwesx said:

I hope to do my children an incredible disservice in this regard. In doing so, may they be the most competent drivers of their generation... a generation otherwise without drivers at all.

My mom bought a used 1950 Chevy in 1953 to learn how to drive and pass the driver's exam. She learned well and got her license and a new car. But for next 24 years and 4 children my parents kept that car and used it to teach us kids how to drive.

First. You have to really want to learn to drive when you get behind the wheel of a 1950 Chevy. 3-speed on the column, pull out choke, key ignition, starter button (those have made a comeback now) and no turn signals. Except for hand signals. And the vacuum wipers.

My sister could never figure out the manual trans so mom gave up on her and let her drive "newer" old Corvair! (At least it had an automatic. Little T-handle on the dash.) When my sister passed her driver's exam with that my mom gave her the Corvair and my sister drove it until 1974.

My brothers and I learned to drive on that '50 Chevy and none of us wanted it when mom and dad offered it to us! I was the last one to use that old beast as a daily driver until I bought my own car in '76.

One of the last times I drove it was to a Stop-N-Go convenience store and one of the older clerks (She must have been at least a 40 year old dinosaur!) pointed out the window and said, "Old Chevys never die." I laughed and said "That's my ride!"

Another time and place compared to now but some things never change. I'm reminded of the story of Neil Armstrong taking manual control of the Eagle to land safely on the moon with just 30 seconds of fuel remaining. And both he and Buzz had to train for that possibility.

I learned to drive in a 55 Plymouth and a 1951 Chevrolet pickup. The Plymouth was automatic, the Chevy pickup was a standard transmission with a floor shift. To start it, you mashed the accelerator to the floor, and that engaged a big button underneath the accelerator which worked the starter.

The first car I "owned" was a 1949 Chevrolet, much like the 1950 you describe above. I put "owned" in quotes, as I never had a title for it. A friend of my father's gave it to him in payment for a $35 debt. My father and I dropped the pan and shimmed the bearings with aluminum foil to get the oil pressure up, and I drove it for 2 years until I turned 16 and got my driver's license.

About half way through that 2 year span, the starter gave out. Some previous owner had converted the car from a 6 volt system to a 12 volt system, but did not replace the starter which eventually burned out. For several months, I drove the car with no starter. At home, I parked it on a hill. At school, my friends would give me a push start (by hand, didn't take much). After a few months, I saved up $5 and bought a used starter at the junk yard. My friends were appreciative.

marcogallo1986

Thank you Breld 

marcogallo1986

 Wow interesting story about, Type your comment

xwesx

omarman said:

One of the last times I drove it was to a Stop-N-Go convenience store and one of the older clerks (She must have been at least a 40 year old dinosaur!) pointed out the window and said, "Old Chevys never die." I laughed and said "That's my ride!"

Another time and place compared to now but some things never change. I'm reminded of the story of Neil Armstrong taking manual control of the Eagle to land safely on the moon with just 30 seconds of fuel remaining. And both he and Buzz had to train for that possibility.

Touche! So true, too. And, while none of you may have enjoyed driving that beast, You can basically get behind the wheel of anything and move it with competence.

@henryn I love stories like that! Reminds me of some of the crazy stuff we did in our youth as well. I think that my craziest driving moment may have come when I drove my Econoline home one dark blustery winter night, temperature at 5F, snowing, and without a windshield. I am not sure I have ever been as cold as that in my life.

A close second on crazy may have been when I had the front quarter of the van cut off, but I felt I just had to use it, so I built a rickety wooden scaffold to hold the battery so I could drive it across town to load up some furniture to haul home. I'm not sure that driving it 1,200 miles to Alaska without brakes counts. Or maybe it does.

Mr_Shiftright

I took the Volvo C30 on its first long drive--a 250 miler today. It's a nice highway cruiser for its size and weight, and turns a mere 2700 rpm at 80 mph (GPS reading). Didn't realize it was so long-legged. 30 mpg, too.

Saw my first C30 on the road, too. Driven by an old lady picking her nose, but nonetheless.........

marcogallo1986

Nice on the small road trip with the C30 today

Mr_Shiftright

Man Want.....

Man no pay this price....

https://www.camcarsales.com/1951_Chrysler_Town and Country_Sacramento_CA_22498916.veh

28firefighter

On the upshot, you could carry your C30 with you in the hatch of that thing. 

henryn

699,989 miles? Really?

That would have to be a typo, no one had odometers that went over 100k back in those days.

Mr_Shiftright

I'm sure it's a typo. Nice old thing. Photos suggest an old or rather slapdash restoration. I don't think it is worth anywhere near the asking price. This would be a great resto-mod, though, wouldn't it. Put in some power, brakes and suspension and hit the road. The perfect tank to challenge the SUVs out there. If you had an accident, you wouldn't even know about it unless someone sent you an e-mail.

roadburner

I know I'd end up regretting buying it, but I really do like this Italian siren.