Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

mjfloyd1

We don't make the same distinction with smokers who get lung cancer, alcoholics who get cirrhosis, morbidly obese who have high blood pressure, diabetes or coronary artery disease. Everybody gets treated. I don't see covid as any different personally-they should be treated even after they make a bad choice. I couldn't sleep at night if I took that stance. The Hippocratic oath says do no harm. Not treating, in my mind, is doing harm.

jmonroe1

mjfloyd1 said:

We don't make the same distinction with smokers who get lung cancer, alcoholics who get cirrhosis, morbidly obese who have high blood pressure, diabetes or coronary artery disease. Everybody gets treated. I don't see covid as any different personally-they should be treated even after they make a bad choice. I couldn't sleep at night if I took that stance. The Hippocratic oath says do no harm. Not treating, in my mind, is doing harm.

Like I said, “it can’t be done”. As for not sleeping at night, I’d have no problem with that. Probably why I didn’t get into med school.

jmonroe

stickguy

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

if this did not have the infamous 3 valve Triton V8, it would be interesting. Pull the tint off, and I kinda like it!

I suppose you would just have to figure into your purchase price taking it in for new timing gear and rocker arms as preventive maintenance.

There is a guy on Youtube that is an expert Ford tech that puts out videos on these engines. I watched a bunch. Really interesting. And somewhat scary if you own one! Too bad he is out in Indiana or Illinois someplace.

https://www.royalmotorsnj.com/details-2007-ford-f~150-2wd_supercab_145_xlt-used-1ftpx12547na66198.html

Is that guy Fordtecmakuloco? I’ve watched some of his 5.4 videos. Isn’t some of the problems they have related to poor maintenance as well as design?

I don’t think I’d buy anything with that engine used.

that is him. Definitely the indy you want to have nearby if you have one of those trucks. or any Ford.

maintenance is a big part of it. But seems that not ignoring warning signs (like ticking and tapping) is huge. That is your early notice to get it taken care of before something lets go and trashes the engine. Unfortunately, lots of people just turn up the radio instead then boom.

stickguy

stopped at Ford dealer showing a Maverick as available. Sadly already sold, none on the lot. But local Honda dealer showed an Si in stock so we stopped (wife, not thrilled with today's activities). Conveniently, it was even in the showroom (though that would make a test drive hard). I really just wanted to sit in it, which we did.

very nice car overall. Looked great in bright blue. But I am not willing to try the seats. Wife said she felt the bolsters pushing but it was not too bad (though that was 5 minutes, not 2 hours!) But mostly, just could not get enough cushion tilt to support my legs. Even flat on the floor (much lower than I want the seat) it lacked thigh support. Raised up to where I could see, I would have needed to resurrect my pillow I used in the Elantra. Just not willing to spend $30K to do that. So taking that off the list.

I did sit in a Touring model too. That seat with power was supportive (cushion a little short though). If they could plop the Si seat on the Touring power adjustable frame, it would be about perfect!

so my guess, the Integra will take care of the seat issue, and give all the driving goodness of the Si. Whenever that finally comes out.

mjfloyd1

@jmonroe1 said:
Like I said, “it can’t be done”. As for not sleeping at night, I’d have no problem with that. Probably why I didn’t get into med school.

jmonroe

Funny that you say that about medical school. My radiologist dad told me to be an engineer and not go to medical school. That’s the main reason that I went to medical school

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

if this did not have the infamous 3 valve Triton V8, it would be interesting. Pull the tint off, and I kinda like it!

I suppose you would just have to figure into your purchase price taking it in for new timing gear and rocker arms as preventive maintenance.

There is a guy on Youtube that is an expert Ford tech that puts out videos on these engines. I watched a bunch. Really interesting. And somewhat scary if you own one! Too bad he is out in Indiana or Illinois someplace.

https://www.royalmotorsnj.com/details-2007-ford-f~150-2wd_supercab_145_xlt-used-1ftpx12547na66198.html

Is that guy Fordtecmakuloco? I’ve watched some of his 5.4 videos. Isn’t some of the problems they have related to poor maintenance as well as design?

I don’t think I’d buy anything with that engine used.

that is him. Definitely the indy you want to have nearby if you have one of those trucks. or any Ford.

maintenance is a big part of it. But seems that not ignoring warning signs (like ticking and tapping) is huge. That is your early notice to get it taken care of before something lets go and trashes the engine. Unfortunately, lots of people just turn up the radio instead then boom.

I think your last sentence is absolutely right. I have to get the knock sensor upgrade done to my Kia because people keep driving them with a rod knock until the engine blows up. Reminds me of some of those YT neglected oil change videos where they have to drain the pan with a screw driver.

jmonroe1

mjfloyd1 said:

@jmonroe1 said:

Like I said, “it can’t be done”. As for not sleeping at night, I’d have no problem with that. Probably why I didn’t get into med school.

jmonroe

Funny that you say that about medical school. My radiologist dad told me to be an engineer and not go to medical school. That’s the main reason that I went to medical school

You took the easy way out. Glad it worked for you.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

if this did not have the infamous 3 valve Triton V8, it would be interesting. Pull the tint off, and I kinda like it!

I suppose you would just have to figure into your purchase price taking it in for new timing gear and rocker arms as preventive maintenance.

There is a guy on Youtube that is an expert Ford tech that puts out videos on these engines. I watched a bunch. Really interesting. And somewhat scary if you own one! Too bad he is out in Indiana or Illinois someplace.

https://www.royalmotorsnj.com/details-2007-ford-f~150-2wd_supercab_145_xlt-used-1ftpx12547na66198.html

Is that guy Fordtecmakuloco? I’ve watched some of his 5.4 videos. Isn’t some of the problems they have related to poor maintenance as well as design?

I don’t think I’d buy anything with that engine used.

that is him. Definitely the indy you want to have nearby if you have one of those trucks. or any Ford.

maintenance is a big part of it. But seems that not ignoring warning signs (like ticking and tapping) is huge. That is your early notice to get it taken care of before something lets go and trashes the engine. Unfortunately, lots of people just turn up the radio instead then boom.

I think your last sentence is absolutely right. I have to get the knock sensor upgrade done to my Kia because people keep driving them with a rod knock until the engine blows up. Reminds me of some of those YT neglected oil change videos where they have to drain the pan with a screw driver.

Very unlikely that any of those folks had an oil leak at the end.

jmonroe

qbrozen

Surprised I hadn’t remembered to look into this earlier but opened the frunk yesterday. Not much room, and has a divider for bags and, best of all, a leprechaun launcher!!

ab348

qbrozen said:

Surprised I hadn’t remembered to look into this earlier but opened the frunk yesterday. Not much room, and has a divider for bags and, best of all, a leprechaun launcher!!

What is that supposed to be illustrating/explaining?

mjfloyd1

Leprechaun launcher

stickguy

looks like a button to push to release the trunk from the inside, instead of a pull handle. Hope the car has enough power left!

Sandman6472

Seems I'm the last one to know. My daughter accepted a position at the Boca Raton hospital and starts on 1/3/22. They went apartment hunting today and finally clued me in when they got home tonight. Looks like we'll be staying put for the next many years and no moving to Orlando which I guess is o k. Luckily, she'll be living within 20 minutes from us instead of the longish hour to South Miami. And her new schedule is quite unique to, 7 days on/7 days off. The work week will be a bit intense but then having a week off, kind of makes it a bit better. And her hours ain't to bad either, 5 pm to 3:30 am. Currently, she gets off at 11:30 pm so she'll just have to re-adjust her internal clock a bit. Her apartment will only be about12 minutes from the hospital, so think it'll be just fine.
All this means is we'll have to look into fixing the kitchen and dealing with some other things I had planned not doing if we were going to move. She's so happy about moving back so close to us which is a good thing. Deep down I had a feeling that she'd stay local which again, is fine with us. Nice that she finally has a set plan though it's happening way quicker than anyone expected! And definitely makes my job of taking care of her vehicle that much easier.

qbrozen

@mjfloyd1 said:
Leprechaun launcher

Either that or pixies. Nothing else could possibly fit. Well, Ok, you could fit a baby, but, come on, we all know a baby ain’t finding that button in the dark. Geesh.

explorerx4

You can easily remove the dividers to fit something larger in the frunk.

qbrozen

@explorerx4 said:
You can easily remove the dividers to fit something larger in the frunk.

Oh, of course. I’d have to fold the baby in half if I didn’t remove the dividers.

Dimensions are 36x16x16. Very small.

stickguy

Sandy, if you really want to be near Orlando, or any other place, why not just go? Parents aren't required to stay within a certain distance of their adult children! Plus it means you picked a favorite!

I do like that schedule though. Interesting. pretty much never need to have a vacation day (that seems like it would work oddly).

but if you are going to stay, fix the old place up. will get the money back eventually, and you should at least enjoy where you are living. Consider it an investment.

corvette

28firefighter said:

Kentucky friends, are you all safe?

Yes. I don't think Louisville had any tornadoes, but as luck would have it, I was spending the night at my parents' house. We went to the basement about 2:00 this morning. No issues at their house, but I think one of the barns at my mother's farm has some wind damage.

corvette

I finally made it to NOLA tonight somewhat after 8:00. Waze's initial projection was 6:00-ish (assuming no stops). Got stuck in stop and go traffic for over an hour south of Franklin, TN (Waze was no help in avoiding) and again for about 15-20 minutes in Alabama. Arrived to find NOLA already in full weekend party mode, and parking hassles at the hotel. I'm too exhausted to do anything much, so I'm typing this as I'm enjoying beer and chicken tenders from the convenience store across the street in the comfort of my hotel room.

stickguy

dinner of champions!

28firefighter

@corvette said:
I finally made it to NOLA tonight somewhat after 8:00. Waze's initial projection was 6:00-ish (assuming no stops). Got stuck in stop and go traffic for over an hour south of Franklin, TN (Waze was no help in avoiding) and again for about 15-20 minutes in Alabama. Arrived to find NOLA already in full weekend party mode, and parking hassles at the hotel. I'm too exhausted to do anything much, so I'm typing this as I'm enjoying beer and chicken tenders from the convenience store across the street in the comfort of my hotel room.

Fond memories of my consulting days…

roadburner

28firefighter said:

Kentucky friends, are you all safe?

We were extremely fortunate as the supercell and tornado weakened somewhat and tracked south of us. We had four trees down on the driveway, it took about 3 hours to cut them up and remove them.

mjfloyd1

@qbrozen said:

@explorerx4 said:
You can easily remove the dividers to fit something larger in the frunk.

Oh, of course. I’d have to fold the baby in half if I didn’t remove the dividers.

Dimensions are 36x16x16. Very small.

I think I read somewhere that it is best to not store a baby in a frunk

breld

qbrozen said:

@explorerx4 said:

You can easily remove the dividers to fit something larger in the frunk.

Oh, of course. I’d have to fold the baby in half if I didn’t remove the dividers.

Dimensions are 36x16x16. Very small.

You probably already know this, but that frunk has a drain so you can fill it up with ice and use it as a cooler and then just drain the melted ice later. That was part of Ford’s marketing of that frunk. Cool idea really.

jmonroe1

mjfloyd1 said:

@qbrozen said:

@explorerx4 said:

You can easily remove the dividers to fit something larger in the frunk.

Oh, of course. I’d have to fold the baby in half if I didn’t remove the dividers.

Dimensions are 36x16x16. Very small.

I think I read somewhere that it is best to not store a baby in a frunk

I think I read that too.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

breld said:

qbrozen said:

@explorerx4 said:

You can easily remove the dividers to fit something larger in the frunk.

Oh, of course. I’d have to fold the baby in half if I didn’t remove the dividers.

Dimensions are 36x16x16. Very small.

You probably already know this, but that frunk has a drain so you can fill it up with ice and use it as a cooler and then just drain the melted ice later. That was part of Ford’s marketing of that frunk. Cool idea really.

No pun intended, right?

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

Seems I'm the last one to know. My daughter accepted a position at the Boca Raton hospital and starts on 1/3/22. They went apartment hunting today and finally clued me in when they got home tonight. Looks like we'll be staying put for the next many years and no moving to Orlando which I guess is o k. Luckily, she'll be living within 20 minutes from us instead of the longish hour to South Miami. And her new schedule is quite unique to, 7 days on/7 days off. The work week will be a bit intense but then having a week off, kind of makes it a bit better. And her hours ain't to bad either, 5 pm to 3:30 am. Currently, she gets off at 11:30 pm so she'll just have to re-adjust her internal clock a bit. Her apartment will only be about12 minutes from the hospital, so think it'll be just fine.
All this means is we'll have to look into fixing the kitchen and dealing with some other things I had planned not doing if we were going to move. She's so happy about moving back so close to us which is a good thing. Deep down I had a feeling that she'd stay local which again, is fine with us. Nice that she finally has a set plan though it's happening way quicker than anyone expected! And definitely makes my job of taking care of her vehicle that much easier.

There goes your plans to increase your driving time.

qbrozen

@breld said:
You probably already know this, but that frunk has a drain so you can fill it up with ice and use it as a cooler and then just drain the melted ice later. That was part of Ford’s marketing of that frunk. Cool idea really.

I did not. Or, at least, did not remember. Thanks. Too bad it won’t be around past the winter anyway.

Surprisingly, my wife dislikes it so much, she is still driving the Escape around.

stickguy

just curious, but what in particular does she dislike about it? I could see my wife being like that, but she just does not like change much, and with cars, takes a while to get used to one so likes to stick with what is familiar.

No clue how she would adapt to an entirely different driving experience, and not just different controls.

ab348

She much prefers the driving experience of a hotel shuttle bus.

28firefighter

My wife asked me yesterday if I would consider getting a Model Y at some point and going all electric. Why yes, yes dear I would.

sda

I took the Q5 in for routine service yesterday and had a 2022 Q5 loaner, silver and black. Not surprisingly it drove much like our 16 Q5. The ride was a little firmer, a little quieter, somewhat sluggish accelerating from a stop but punch it while underway, felt a lot quicker. Am not a fan of the touch screen for the audio and other controls. I found myself taking my eyes off the road for too long when trying to change music stations. It had the standard audio which sounded very decent. The service experience was positive, no real surprises. Front and rear brakes may need replacing at the next visit.

stickguy

the horror stories on the new VW infortainment are enough to make me not even consider a new GTI. Though I think the GLI still has the old style, so maybe that is an option!

qbrozen

stickguy said:

just curious, but what in particular does she dislike about it? I could see my wife being like that, but she just does not like change much, and with cars, takes a while to get used to one so likes to stick with what is familiar.

No clue how she would adapt to an entirely different driving experience, and not just different controls.

She doesn't like the 1-pedal driving and she can't get in a comfortable driving position where she can see over the hood.

Sandman6472

The first time I drove a Tesla, and the only time, at work, it was a quick learning curve but I figured it out. Think if it were my d d, I'd get used to it. Guess Q's wife just doesn't care for the whole thing and would just rather not be bothered. I had thought the Fiat was to be her d d but guess things have changed.
Worked a full day today and had to drive a Range Rover Discovery for one of the trips. Drove decent enough though not sure I'd like it as my d d to be honest. Bet it's on the pricey side even though I think it's their entry level model.

qbrozen

She rarely drives the Fiat. Not sure why. Probably thinks it should only be driven if she plans on dropping the top.

Meanwhile, the Escape needs new shoes. That really bad front end alignment destroyed 2 of them and they now make all kinds of noise and vibrations being on the back of the car. New set will be here this week.

corvette

I may be reading too literally, but I got the impression that qb's wife had two options in the Mach E:
1. Adequate visibility but an uncomfortable seating position; or
2. Poor visibility but a comfortable seating position.

I wouldn't want to drive it, either, if those are the two options.

qbrozen

That is correct

sda

qbrozen said:

That is correct

It's a shame as I've read primarily positive reviews about the Mach-e.

stickguy

I know how personal seat comfort is. Many cars that get get reviews but I won’t buy due to seats. Either I’m weird about that, or other people just aren’t picky.

stickguy

This, is a dream house. And garage. I’m sure the house itself is ok. 3 attached, and a big detached hobby shop? Perfect!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AADbc8bFyX0

stickguy

And yes, the thumbnail picture is the garage, not the house.

qbrozen

sda said:

qbrozen said:

That is correct

It's a shame as I've read primarily positive reviews about the Mach-e.

Well, don't take it as a knock on the car. She is 5'2", so I'd certainly call that an outlier. I happen to think the car is great.

nyccarguy

qbrozen said:

sda said:

qbrozen said:

That is correct

It's a shame as I've read primarily positive reviews about the Mach-e.

Well, don't take it as a knock on the car. She is 5'2", so I'd certainly call that an outlier. I happen to think the car is great.

"Well, if you think it is so great then YOU can drive it! You know what I think was great? MY VAN!"

Mrs. Qbrozen

qbrozen

hey, no worries. Of course, my thinking is: stop complaining about the escape if you insist on driving it. lol. Maybe the Benz will come home one of these days and she can drive that for a while.

28firefighter

This would have lasted about 10 seconds as a thought exercise in my house. It would have gone something like "you aren't selling MY car until we have a replacement lined up that I want."

stickguy

Same here. My wife doesn’t really care what I do with my car, if I mostly leave her out of it. But hands off hers unless I have permission. And definitely need replacement on hand first.

qbrozen

Of course I had permission. Heck, the van was in her name, so I couldn't do it without her. haha.
She just agreed with me that we had to take that offer and run. I'm sure her having a $68k van on order helped. Will be the most expensive vehicle we have every owned by a WIDE margin.

xwesx

Sandman6472 said:

Seems I'm the last one to know. My daughter accepted a position at the Boca Raton hospital and starts on 1/3/22. They went apartment hunting today and finally clued me in when they got home tonight. Looks like we'll be staying put for the next many years and no moving to Orlando which I guess is o k. Luckily, she'll be living within 20 minutes from us instead of the longish hour to South Miami. And her new schedule is quite unique to, 7 days on/7 days off. The work week will be a bit intense but then having a week off, kind of makes it a bit better. And her hours ain't to bad either, 5 pm to 3:30 am. Currently, she gets off at 11:30 pm so she'll just have to re-adjust her internal clock a bit. Her apartment will only be about12 minutes from the hospital, so think it'll be just fine.
All this means is we'll have to look into fixing the kitchen and dealing with some other things I had planned not doing if we were going to move. She's so happy about moving back so close to us which is a good thing. Deep down I had a feeling that she'd stay local which again, is fine with us. Nice that she finally has a set plan though it's happening way quicker than anyone expected! And definitely makes my job of taking care of her vehicle that much easier.

Maybe you should sell your house to them, then just move into a cardboard box in the back yard. Looking at places like Portland, OR, that's all the rage these days. Plus, she'll surely let you sneak in to use the bathroom, so that's a bonus, too.

Sandman6472

Thinking that she'll just buy something within the next year. Both her sister & brother are now homeowners and guess she wants "the American Dream" also. Being a pharmacist, she makes a good living so she can afford something nice. I can see her in a condo as she's really not home much and when she is, she's sleeping a good part of it to catch up due to her weird work schedule. Or, we could sell our place and get a home for the three of us but doubt we'll go that route. If my health were in a worse place, that might have been a perfect solution but as of now, I'm still pretty mobile and able to hold down my part time gig. Her new apartment has a great pool area and since my pain doctor has been on me to use the pool as therapy, I'll now have a pool I can use to walk in.
I'm just happy that she'll be living closer to us. That hour drive to South Miami is a very tough drive so her being within 20 minutes is wonderful. We'll just be able to see her more which will be nice. Our kids seem to like us & spending time at home. We don't intrude on their lives as we're both busy ourselves but now, on her week off, we'll be able to have a meal with her more. And since I handle most of her vehicular issues, I can just bring hers to our mechanic when needed.
Would've been o k if she had moved to the Orlando area as her sister is there, but would've been more driving for us. Just funny how G-d makes things work out. He's blessed our small family so much and we are forever grateful for it all!