Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

jmonroe1 · May 26

corvette said:

jmonroe1 said:

I remember that. How fast was that guy moving to have driven a piece of unistrut clear though that van? Is that guy still employed by Enterprise?
He's lucky it didn't go through his or a passenger's head.

————————————————-
To be honest, if a passenger was in the front seat, it appears to be above head height for most folks. But, that doesn’t mean the passenger wouldn’t have been ducking and let’s not forget about having to clean the heavily soiled front seats.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 · May 27

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Sandman6472 said:
OF, drove a newish 2022 Kia Sorento at work today and was amazed at how well it was appointed inside plus the way it drove. Was a base model in black over black cloth but was a nice combo in the sunlight. Peppy engine and it seemed to sip the petrol on my 30 mile drive from West Palm to western Coral Springs. Seats were comfy and the cloth was grippy, excellent egress/ingress. Ergonomics were spot on with everything right where it should be and the audio was decent sounding. If in the market for a mid-sized CUV, would definitely have one of these on the short list.
Earlier in the day, drove a newer Ford Ecosport, Titanium edition which should be top of the line. Had the better audio system, a B&O unit I think, but have no idea what that stands for. The size was dead on perfect for my needs and egress/ingress wasn't bad at all. A bit anemic when I hit the gas pedal but one just would need to plan early to merge into traffic. Looked up the mileage figures and a bit dismal for it's size to be honest. And it's a Ford...something I'd never even consider buying. But for the rental market...why not.
Sandy, today we saw this on our lot:

It’s a Polestar2 EV. I guess it’s true that Enterprise is buying everything that isn’t nailed down.

On the EcoSport I found the interior to be kind of cheap and yeah, it didn’t have a lot of power.
————————————————-
Strange things these EV’s. I never knew you had to wash out the charging port before you hooked up the charging cable.

jmonroe
That’s funny. The charging line is located next to the old car wash. They haven’t used that wash since one of out guys did THIS with a high top van.

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I remember that. How fast was that guy moving to have driven a piece of unistrut clear though that van? Is that guy still employed by Enterprise?

jmonroe

I think the metal was flung through the van as the wash self destructed. Yeah, he’s still employed. The company is very forgiving.

stickguy · May 27

Integra road test. Sounds really nice. Even if it is slower to 60 than a corvette. Excellent all around package. If I was getting a “hot hatch” with a manual this would be the one.

kyfdx · May 27

henryn said:
I received my Amex bill online just now, and went over it carefully, as I always do. And it's a good thing I did. SiriusXM jumped from $12 a month to $30. Got online, threated to cancel all services, got it lowered back down to about $16, lowest I could get this time. This is for two vehicles.

I always feel scummy after dealing with them, they are a real bunch of crooks. But I do like the service.

Our one year promotional rate was ending. Last time it was $72 total for the year. The new monthly rate would have been $23. I called, and got another one year rate for $92.

This was yesterday.

qbrozen · May 27

@stickguy said:
Integra road test. Sounds really nice. Even if it is slower to 60 than a corvette. Excellent all around package. If I was getting a “hot hatch” with a manual this would be the one.

Wonder why she thinks it is underrated. Acceleration times per the media is very much inline with the old 200hp GTI. A couple tenths slower, in fact.

Michaell · May 27

qbrozen said:

@stickguy said:

Integra road test. Sounds really nice. Even if it is slower to 60 than a corvette. Excellent all around package. If I was getting a “hot hatch” with a manual this would be the one.

Wonder why she thinks it is underrated. Acceleration times per the media is very much inline with the old 200hp GTI. A couple tenths slower, in fact.

I actually read another article that claimed the same thing.

qbrozen · May 27

No clue. MT got 0-60 in 7.1 s with the Civic Si, so, according to their first drive article, "With only 200 hp and 192 lb-ft of torque, plus slightly more mass to contend with than the Civic Si, the identically geared Integra is likely a hair slower to 60 mph than the Si's 7.1 seconds."

7 secs is way too slow for me, unless it is in a minivan or SUV.

graphicguy · May 27

qbrozen said:
No clue. MT got 0-60 in 7.1 s with the Civic Si, so, according to their first drive article, "With only 200 hp and 192 lb-ft of torque, plus slightly more mass to contend with than the Civic Si, the identically geared Integra is likely a hair slower to 60 mph than the Si's 7.1 seconds."

7 secs is way too slow for me, unless it is in a minivan or SUV.

WoW! My Accord Hybrid is faster than that.

stickguy · May 27

So is my RDX but it doesn’t matter to me. I would get a hellcat if I wanted to drag race. I’ve driven an Si. It’s quick and fun to drive. Very well balanced. Relatively light. And can more than keep up with traffic.

I stopped paying much attention to car magazine numbers after reading an article in C&D about how they get them. I don’t tend to do 4K clutch dump starts at traffic lights. Mid range power, or even 5-60 rolling starts, are a lot more relevant at least to me.

ab348 · May 27

stickguy said:
I don’t tend to do 4K clutch dump starts at traffic lights.

In that case you probably aren't the target market for a Civic SI or an Integra.

tjc78 · May 27

@qbrozen said:
No clue. MT got 0-60 in 7.1 s with the Civic Si, so, according to their first drive article, "With only 200 hp and 192 lb-ft of torque, plus slightly more mass to contend with than the Civic Si, the identically geared Integra is likely a hair slower to 60 mph than the Si's 7.1 seconds."

7 secs is way too slow for me, unless it is in a minivan or SUV.

Yeah even my Mommy mobile XC90 is quicker.

qbrozen · May 27

But then why bother with a "hot hatch" at all? If I just wanted something that handled well, I could spend far less than $35k.

oldfarmer50 · May 27

stickguy said:
So is my RDX but it doesn’t matter to me. I would get a hellcat if I wanted to drag race. I’ve driven an Si. It’s quick and fun to drive. Very well balanced. Relatively light. And can more than keep up with traffic.

I stopped paying much attention to car magazine numbers after reading an article in C&D about how they get them. I don’t tend to do 4K clutch dump starts at traffic lights. Mid range power, or even 5-60 rolling starts, are a lot more relevant at least to me.

On RWD cars they seldom mention the rear end gear ratios of the particular car they test. If you have 4:11 gears you could have some blistering 0-60 times but the car might be rotten as a daily driver.

breld · May 27

I've only watched one review of the Integra so far (savagegeese)...that video included a great interview with an Acura representative. The reviewer praised the Integra for being a fun, comfortable daily driver, but felt it didn't have enough personality...though he fully acknowledged that is more reflective of current automobiles in general.

I think it's a nice modest upgrade to the Civic and Civic Si offerings, which is exactly what it always was. Since you have to check all the option boxes to get a manual, you're looking at a $9k upgrade over a Civic Si, and whether that's worth it or not is (mostly) subjective. Though I do think you could walk into an Acura dealership and make a reservation at MSRP easier than you can do so for a Civic these days.

I expect a Type S version will borrow the powertrain from the Civic Type R, lose some of the garishness, and gain some balance and comfort. That model will be more of a halo and this base model will benefit from it.

breld · May 27

I really miss the days when you could go out on any given weekend and generally find the car you wanted and make an impulse buy. These holiday weekends were notorious for that.

Better on the pocketbook I suppose.

breld · May 27

After our 18 inches of snow a week ago, Spring has seemingly settled into the Denver area this past week, so the ZHP was my driving choice for the entire week. What a treat that car is...I'm just so impressed at the balance between sport and comfort. Being close to 20 years old and leaning to the sporty end of vehicles, I sort of expected it to be on the harsh side, but I don't find that to be the case. It's very composed over bumps and rough roads, handles great, and provides such a strong, connected driving experience.

I'm surprised that it's not all that shorter in length than my wife's M340i, because it feels much smaller. It may be due to the height - you're really sitting close to the ground compared to the new 3, which is fun.

I also appreciate that I can push the car and have fun, without drawing unwanted attention. Other than BMW enthusiasts, it's pretty anonymous.

stickguy · May 27

qbrozen said:
But then why bother with a "hot hatch" at all? If I just wanted something that handled well, I could spend far less than $35k.

I don’t think it was ever intended (either car) to be a hot rod. If the Si isn’t hard core enough they do make the R version.

Vast majority of integras from the old days had relatively sedate motors. The R stuff was rare at the time too.

If the Si offered comfortable power seats it would be way more desirable. Even without the hatch.

ronsteve · May 27

stickguy said:
So is my RDX but it doesn’t matter to me. I would get a hellcat if I wanted to drag race. I’ve driven an Si. It’s quick and fun to drive. Very well balanced. Relatively light. And can more than keep up with traffic.

I stopped paying much attention to car magazine numbers after reading an article in C&D about how they get them. I don’t tend to do 4K clutch dump starts at traffic lights. Mid range power, or even 5-60 rolling starts, are a lot more relevant at least to me.

This! When I'm on a cloverleaf ramp at 30-35 and need to quickly get to 65-70, that's where I need the acceleration. That and the ability to get up the rolling hills at reasonable cruising speeds without too much gear hunting.

nyccarguy · May 27

Paging @breld to the white courtesy phone. @breld to the white courtesy phone please:

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3BlYMLjb/2003-bmw-m3-coupe

qbrozen · May 27

stickguy said:

I don’t think it was ever intended (either car) to be a hot rod. If the Si isn’t hard core enough they do make the R version.

Vast majority of integras from the old days had relatively sedate motors. The R stuff was rare at the time too.

If the Si offered comfortable power seats it would be way more desirable. Even without the hatch.

Hey, you called it hot first. lol. I think we are quite safe calling it simply a hatchback, akin to the pedestrian Golf (although not as much cargo space as the Golf).

oldfarmer50 · May 27

nyccarguy said:
Paging @breld to the white courtesy phone. @breld to the white courtesy phone please:

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3BlYMLjb/2003-bmw-m3-coupe

Seems a shame to have only driven that 1000 miles a year.

tifighter · May 27

This-

then this-

Seems like you're managing in these trying times...

tifighter · May 27

I kid because I care

graphicguy · May 27

breld said:
I really miss the days when you could go out on any given weekend and generally find the car you wanted and make an impulse buy. These holiday weekends were notorious for that.

Better on the pocketbook I suppose.

I miss you doing that, too!

roadburner · May 27

As far as hot hatches go, my Club Sport serves as my momentum car; with the Conforti chip it runs the 1/4 mile in the high 15 second range. What makes it really fun is the fact that you have to pay attention to drive it "briskly"- you need to keep the rpms north of 4,500 to stay within the power curve. Contrast that with the N55 in my 2er- which makes maximum torque from 1300-4500 rpm.

breld · May 27

nyccarguy said:
Paging @breld to the white courtesy phone. @breld to the white courtesy phone please:

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3BlYMLjb/2003-bmw-m3-coupe

Oh boy - that is pretty. My neighbors may not even notice the difference between this and the newly acquired ZHP!

And what I'd save in shipping costs would make it a screaming deal!

Being stock and with those miles? $40k's easy?

andres3 · May 27

qbrozen said:

@stickguy said:

Integra road test. Sounds really nice. Even if it is slower to 60 than a corvette. Excellent all around package. If I was getting a “hot hatch” with a manual this would be the one.

Wonder why she thinks it is underrated. Acceleration times per the media is very much inline with the old 200hp GTI. A couple tenths slower, in fact.

Because they get kickbacks for saying good things.

andres3 · May 27

stickguy said:
So is my RDX but it doesn’t matter to me. I would get a hellcat if I wanted to drag race. I’ve driven an Si. It’s quick and fun to drive. Very well balanced. Relatively light. And can more than keep up with traffic.

I stopped paying much attention to car magazine numbers after reading an article in C&D about how they get them. I don’t tend to do 4K clutch dump starts at traffic lights. Mid range power, or even 5-60 rolling starts, are a lot more relevant at least to me.

Some people don't just want to keep up with traffic, but PASS traffic, preferably in the left lanes. Also, sometimes you have to take corrective action for a poor merger in front of you, and get up to speed in a hurry.

tifighter · May 27

From last weekend’s PNW CCA meet-

stickguy · May 27

andres3 said:

stickguy said:
So is my RDX but it doesn’t matter to me. I would get a hellcat if I wanted to drag race. I’ve driven an Si. It’s quick and fun to drive. Very well balanced. Relatively light. And can more than keep up with traffic.

I stopped paying much attention to car magazine numbers after reading an article in C&D about how they get them. I don’t tend to do 4K clutch dump starts at traffic lights. Mid range power, or even 5-60 rolling starts, are a lot more relevant at least to me.
Some people don't just want to keep up with traffic, but PASS traffic, preferably in the left lanes. Also, sometimes you have to take corrective action for a poor merger in front of you, and get up to speed in a hurry.

if I don't pay attention my Maverick will quickly sneak up to 85 without really noticing it. and when needed will pull out and pass anybody. and can even do a fast merge.

and nobody is going to call that a hot rod or "fast" car.

IMO the baseline for performance has been raised so much in the last few decades that a basic economy type car (mazda 3?) is likely faster than a Corvette from the 70s, and most performance cars (including Euros) from the 80s. and back then, when plebian cars were not cracking 10 secs 0-60 we still managed to wildly exceed the speed limit on highways, and pass people on 2 lane roads.

plus it was more fun to wring out a 4 cyl manual trans car!

explorerx4 · May 27

E46 M3's had rod bearing issues. A friend of mine had one and had to have them replaced.

nyccarguy · May 27

breld said:

nyccarguy said:
Paging @breld to the white courtesy phone. @breld to the white courtesy phone please:

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3BlYMLjb/2003-bmw-m3-coupe
Oh boy - that is pretty. My neighbors may not even notice the difference between this and the newly acquired ZHP!

And what I'd save in shipping costs would make it a screaming deal!

Being stock and with those miles? $40k's easy?

$50k

kyfdx · May 27

If I'm getting that engine, I want it in a Z4 M Coupe.

Michaell · May 27

@tifighter - @roadburner was at the meet?

xwesx · May 27

28firefighter said:
No chance. My wife will not drive the G anymore.

Wives are such a pain.

sda · May 27

xwesx said:

28firefighter said:
No chance. My wife will not drive the G anymore.

Wives are such a pain.

Careful now, you never know who is monitoring.. Is you couch comfortable?

cdnpinhead · May 27

oldfarmer50 said:
Seems a shame to have only driven that 1000 miles a year.

There's a lot of that going around.

jmonroe1 · May 27

xwesx said:

28firefighter said:
No chance. My wife will not drive the G anymore.

Wives are such a pain.

———————————————
AND scaredy-cats.

jmonroe

28firefighter · May 27

@xwesx said:
Wives are such a pain.

She indulges my car habit with a very good sense of humor. She’s the best.

tifighter · May 27

@28firefighter said:

@xwesx said:
Wives are such a pain.

She indulges my car habit with a very good sense of humor. She’s the best.

Is she reading this right now? Use 2 emojis if she's reading this right now...

28firefighter · May 27

jmonroe1 · May 27

28firefighter said:

————————————————
Can’t you count?

jmonroe

explorerx4 · May 27

@jnonroe1,
Yes he can.

jmonroe1 · May 27

explorerx4 said:
@jnonroe1,
Yes he can.

————————————————
OK if you say so but you can’t spell. You should stick to copy and paste.

jmonroe

roadburner · May 27

Michaell said:
@tifighter - @roadburner was at the meet?

No, but that does appear to be a true Club Sport as it has M3 mirrors, although the 16" round spoke wheels have been replaced with 17" E36 M3 alloys.

imidazol97 · May 28

explorerx4 said:
I get a letter from Sirusxm at least a month before my subscription(s) run out.

I got an email this time in advance. Two months in advance of the first car expiring on the $72 total year package.

The Travel option is turned on this week as well. I don't know if there's a free SXM if your account is turned off.

I'm hoping when I go online to renew they'll offer a cheap one--year package I can just sign up for without having to joust with a live person.

I am really ambivalent on renewing. I've put a lot of music on CD I can play. It's better than the choices on the channels I have. SXM seems to play the same songs on the channels I like. Over and over.

kyfdx · May 28

imidazol97 said:

explorerx4 said:
I get a letter from Sirusxm at least a month before my subscription(s) run out.
I got an email this time in advance. Two months in advance of the first car expiring on the $72 total year package.

The Travel option is turned on this week as well. I don't know if there's a free SXM if your account is turned off.

I'm hoping when I go online to renew they'll offer a cheap one--year package I can just sign up for without having to joust with a live person.

I am really ambivalent on renewing. I've put a lot of music on CD I can play. It's better than the choices on the channels I have. SXM seems to play the same songs on the channels I like. Over and over.

In my case, the recording said long wait times, but they came on in less than a minute. Told them I wanted another one year plan, and they did it. $20 more than last year.

I didn’t see any options for anything other than monthly plans on the website.

corvette · May 28

Phone calls are so pre-2010. I use their online chat function.

jpp75 · May 28

Surprisingly I have a punch to report. The Rivian R1T arrived last week and I picked it up on Tuesday. Given my experience to date I really did not expect to get it this year but this was a pleasant surprise.

I'm meeting @breld and @Michaell for lunch so they can share their impressions as well.

So far I like it, but probably not enough to give up the Defender. The Rivian is well done and a nice vehicle but at the end of the day I've learned my driving patterns aren't well suited for a charging infrastructure that is still growing. I do a lot of driving to random parts of Colorado and I really like having the option to take the long way home or see where a certain road goes, etc. You give up a lot of that with an EV due to the lack of chargers in more rural areas, especially fast chargers.

After a few days of driving here's a few thoughts:

Likes:
-- Great sound system. I'm by no means an audiophile but the quality of the sound is noticeable. Both the Rivian and Defender have a Meridian sound system but the Rivian is far and away better
-- Neat touches like the gear tunnel and removable bluetooth speaker show they thought out some good use cases
-- The interior is very well done, I like the wood trim and seats

Dislikes:
-- I find the accelerator a little touchy, the Model3 felt much more smooth and linear where as the Rivian can be hit or miss. You can tell this is a HEAVY vehicle, I think the weight is around 7,700 lbs? It drives and handles well but it's a lot of mass to move around.
-- HVAC is marginal. In my test drive a few weeks ago it was a warm day and I couldn't seem to get cool enough.
-- Lack of CarPlay and other integrations. I wasn't a fan of CarPlay until I got the Defender and I've gotten used to having Google Maps and texts on the screen. As far as I can tell the Rivian doesn't have the ability to read/send text messages from the phone. I'm sure that will come with a software update.

Overall a good effort by Rivian and a very competent truck from my limited driving so far. Once the novelty of an EV wears off (quietness, instant torque/crazy acceleration) you're left with a very nice and capable vehicle that I'm sure will make many owners happy.

jmonroe1 · May 28

imidazol97 said:

explorerx4 said:
I get a letter from Sirusxm at least a month before my subscription(s) run out.
I got an email this time in advance. Two months in advance of the first car expiring on the $72 total year package.

The Travel option is turned on this week as well. I don't know if there's a free SXM if your account is turned off.

I'm hoping when I go online to renew they'll offer a cheap one--year package I can just sign up for without having to joust with a live person.

I am really ambivalent on renewing. I've put a lot of music on CD I can play. It's better than the choices on the channels I have. SXM seems to play the same songs on the channels I like. Over and over.

————————————————
C’mon man, where’s the fun in jousting with a corpse?

jmonroe

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