Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

jmonroe1

xwesx said:

I am. But, don't be late; we don't save leftovers!

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Thanks, I hate frozen leftovers.

jmonroe

qbrozen

We having a BBQ, but the food has been picked over. We got potato salad and corn on the cob and maybe some hot dogs left.

breld

qbrozen said:

@breld said:

Plan is to do some car shopping tomorrow. I know most of you all are bemoaning the replacement of the wagon, but we do want an SUV that is a bit larger and comfortable for passenger hauling. It’s different than when our kids were all at home, but now we’re getting to the other side of things where we are driving our parents around more and more. As I write this, my wife is heading up to the north end of town to pick up her parents and her son to bring them down to our place for a BBQ, and then will take them back at the end of the day.

We’re sort of approaching this as we did back in the day when we had a minivan…functional but no one’s primary vehicle. So trying to resist the urge to go too nice and fancy, but still want something enjoyable to drive. Top candidates are the MDX and the GX460. Also looked at the new QX60 and liked it much more than I expected. GV80 would be a consideration too, but it’s actually quite a bit more expensive than these other options. Could save some money and go Palisade/Telluride/Pilot.

I could very well be off, but don’t you HAVE an MDX?? Or was that trade on the Bronco. Oh, and you already have an SUV, FYI.

Just recalled maybe the Bronco is a 2-door. So trade that for a 4-door.

My son drives his mom’s old MDX. I like our Bronco, but it’s not exactly the most comfortable passenger hauling vehicle, especially for older folks, even in the 4-door version.

28firefighter

I’m seriously debating picking up another wrangler hybrid. There is a heavily discounted ‘23 rubicon not far from me and it’s calling my name.

stickguy

I pointed out a few Jeeps to my wife. She really hates those. I might sell her on something, but that hill I would definitely die on.

stickguy

showing how exciting out life is, wife and I are watching Let's make a deal in prime time now.

they just had as a prize a Lambo Hurrican convertible. $330,000 sticker.

sadly the contestant did not win it.

roadburner

qbrozen said:

@nyccarguy said:

I know you have all experienced this scenario multiple times. The "Hey, you are into cars. what should I get?" from a friend, co-worker, or family member. … Then they just go ahead and get what they were going to anyway and explain why they got their car.

Every damned time

I finally ended up refusing to give my mother advice because it was always "wrong."

stickguy

every car guy knows they aren't asking for advice, just for you to confirm what they are going to do anyway was a good idea.

though I have had a few that actually took my suggestion on specific cars to look at (at least add to their check out list!) One I do know listened was a college friend that bought a G35 when they first came out. She had no idea what it was, and while talking to her about what she was looking for, that seemed like a good fit so I mentioned it. She went to look, loved it, and bought one.

sda

My BIL had a 09 G37 top model and loved it. In the past year he traded the G37 which had about 65k for a 18 Q50 Red Sport AWD with 20k on it. What a sharp car. He is smitten with it. Isn’t this what @graphicguy had? My BIL bought both at the local Infiniti dealer and his G37 was immediately snatched up by the Service Advisor that my BIL used when getting the car serviced.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

We having a BBQ, but the food has been picked over. We got potato salad and corn on the cob and maybe some hot dogs left.

One year the company had an employee appreciation cook out for the suit and tie crowd on the back side of the building where we couldn’t see them. Of course we weren’t invited but could sure smell what was going on. The rumor was that when asked the executives told one driver that if any hot dogs fell on the ground, they were all ours.

Maybe you can make the same offer to any of your unwanted guests.

oldfarmer50

Here’s a question for the experts in here.

Has anyone heard that as part of the federal infrastructure bill, starting in 2026-2028 cars will be monitoring you for drunk driving, fatigued or erratic driving and be programmed to shut down if the algorithm deems you to be unsafe? This technology which will be mandated on all new cars will also video all your activity inside the car with the presumption that it could be used against you by law enforcement. It would detect alcohol vapors in the car among other things.

Is this true and would you buy a car with this technology regardless of it’s good intentions?

Michaell

oldfarmer50 said:

Here’s a question for the experts in here.

Has anyone heard that as part of the federal infrastructure bill, starting in 2026-2028 cars will be monitoring you for drunk driving, fatigued or erratic driving and be programmed to shut down if the algorithm deems you to be unsafe? This technology which will be mandated on all new cars will also video all your activity inside the car with the presumption that it could be used against you by law enforcement. It would detect alcohol vapors in the car among other things.

Is this true and would you buy a car with this technology regardless of it’s good intentions?

First I'm hearing about this. You have a link for this information?

explorerx4

My Explorer and the Lincoln I had both warn you to pull over if they think you are fatigued.

houdini1

jmonroe1 said:

stickguy said:

I have a calendar event in my phone for next week to do that on the Acura. Ford has 3 months free so in august will be dealing with that one.

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I remember when I got my ‘09 Genny SiriusXM was free for a year. Then 6 months when I got my ‘15 Genny. So, now it seems like it is free for only 3 months. The car manufacturers have found another way to cut costs. Of course they’ve always been good at that.

jmonroe

A buddy of mine bought an 09 Genny when they first came out. A dark metalic silver. He still has it as his everyday driver and it still looks new. Ever miss your 09?

jmonroe1

sda said:

My BIL had a 09 G37 top model and loved it. In the past year he traded the G37 which had about 65k for a 18 Q50 Red Sport AWD with 20k on it. What a sharp car. He is smitten with it. Isn’t this what @graphicguy had? My BIL bought both at the local Infiniti dealer and his G37 was immediately snatched up by the Service Advisor that my BIL used when getting the car serviced.

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I’ve heard more than a few similar stories about Service Advisors.

As a result I’m beginning to think Service Advisors don’t sell upgrades for servicing to make the dealership profitable as much as they do so they know what trade-ins to buy.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

Here’s a question for the experts in here.

Has anyone heard that as part of the federal infrastructure bill, starting in 2026-2028 cars will be monitoring you for drunk driving, fatigued or erratic driving and be programmed to shut down if the algorithm deems you to be unsafe? This technology which will be mandated on all new cars will also video all your activity inside the car with the presumption that it could be used against you by law enforcement. It would detect alcohol vapors in the car among other things.

Is this true and would you buy a car with this technology regardless of its good intentions?

————————————————
That reeks of the same mentality as those that thought getting the Covid 19 shot was a ploy by our government to inject us with chips so they could track our every move.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

houdini1 said:

jmonroe1 said:

stickguy said:

I have a calendar event in my phone for next week to do that on the Acura. Ford has 3 months free so in august will be dealing with that one.

————————————————
I remember when I got my ‘09 Genny SiriusXM was free for a year. Then 6 months when I got my ‘15 Genny. So, now it seems like it is free for only 3 months. The car manufacturers have found another way to cut costs. Of course they’ve always been good at that.

jmonroe

A buddy of mine bought an 09 Genny when they first came out. A dark metalic silver. He still has it as his everyday driver and it still looks new. Ever miss your 09?

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That’s hitting below the belt.

My ‘09 was a beautiful Cabernet Red Pearl and my ‘15 is Old Man’s Gray.

Don’t bring this up again.

jmonroe

28firefighter

@oldfarmer50 said:
Here’s a question for the experts in here.

Has anyone heard that as part of the federal infrastructure bill, starting in 2026-2028 cars will be monitoring you for drunk driving, fatigued or erratic driving and be programmed to shut down if the algorithm deems you to be unsafe? This technology which will be mandated on all new cars will also video all your activity inside the car with the presumption that it could be used against you by law enforcement. It would detect alcohol vapors in the car among other things.

Is this true and would you buy a car with this technology regardless of it’s good intentions?

Admittedly I haven’t read the entirety of the infrastructure bill, but I don’t see any planet under which this is real. Even if it were, it’d never stand a chance against a constitutional challenge. Sounds like something that would make the rounds as a copy paste on Facebook.

fintail

breld said:

Plan is to do some car shopping tomorrow. I know most of you all are bemoaning the replacement of the wagon, but we do want an SUV that is a bit larger and comfortable for passenger hauling. It’s different than when our kids were all at home, but now we’re getting to the other side of things where we are driving our parents around more and more. As I write this, my wife is heading up to the north end of town to pick up her parents and her son to bring them down to our place for a BBQ, and then will take them back at the end of the day.

We’re sort of approaching this as we did back in the day when we had a minivan…functional but no one’s primary vehicle. So trying to resist the urge to go too nice and fancy, but still want something enjoyable to drive. Top candidates are the MDX and the GX460. Also looked at the new QX60 and liked it much more than I expected. GV80 would be a consideration too, but it’s actually quite a bit more expensive than these other options. Could save some money and go Palisade/Telluride/Pilot.

I can say from experience that the wagons are a little lower than older people like. My mom (mid 70s) kind of gripes getting in and out, especially as one maybe seems to sit a little more inboard on these these than some other cars too (she doesn't complain about her XV30 Camry, but she has also had it for ages and is used to it). My sister's family has a Model Y and a Subaru Tribeca my brother in law is attached to - she likes both of those.

corvette

New addition to the driveway (but not a punch and not mine)… drives better than you might expect for a Camry, but I think I prefer the Maverick as a road trip vehicle.

tjc78

@corvette said:

New addition to the driveway (but not a punch and not mine)… drives better than you might expect for a Camry, but I think I prefer the Maverick as a road trip vehicle.

I had a recent Camry SE as a recent. Flame 🔥 suit on… I didn’t mind it at all except it that it was modestly equipped.

@explorerx4
My Volvo does that too.

@oldfarmer50
No way that is true. It would be overturned very quickly before it even got traction.

oldfarmer50

Michaell said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Here’s a question for the experts in here.

Has anyone heard that as part of the federal infrastructure bill, starting in 2026-2028 cars will be monitoring you for drunk driving, fatigued or erratic driving and be programmed to shut down if the algorithm deems you to be unsafe? This technology which will be mandated on all new cars will also video all your activity inside the car with the presumption that it could be used against you by law enforcement. It would detect alcohol vapors in the car among other things.

Is this true and would you buy a car with this technology regardless of it’s good intentions?

First I'm hearing about this. You have a link for this information?

I first heard it on a YT video from some lawyer who was warning about it. His interpretation was much more dire but here’s a Motor Trend article from 2021 that touches on it.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/anti-drunk-driving-technology-mandated-infrastructure-bill/

I don’t know if this YT lawyer has more current information but his video sounded much more ominous. I hope he was exaggerating for views. Here’s the video:

https://youtu.be/vwaVO1sPFi8

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Here’s a question for the experts in here.

Has anyone heard that as part of the federal infrastructure bill, starting in 2026-2028 cars will be monitoring you for drunk driving, fatigued or erratic driving and be programmed to shut down if the algorithm deems you to be unsafe? This technology which will be mandated on all new cars will also video all your activity inside the car with the presumption that it could be used against you by law enforcement. It would detect alcohol vapors in the car among other things.

Is this true and would you buy a car with this technology regardless of its good intentions?

————————————————
That reeks of the same mentality as those that thought getting the Covid 19 shot was a ploy by our government to inject us with chips so they could track our every move.

jmonroe

They only put the chips in suspected tax cheats.😵 the rest of us will get tracked through the digital currency.

fintail

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Here’s a question for the experts in here.

Has anyone heard that as part of the federal infrastructure bill, starting in 2026-2028 cars will be monitoring you for drunk driving, fatigued or erratic driving and be programmed to shut down if the algorithm deems you to be unsafe? This technology which will be mandated on all new cars will also video all your activity inside the car with the presumption that it could be used against you by law enforcement. It would detect alcohol vapors in the car among other things.

Is this true and would you buy a car with this technology regardless of its good intentions?

————————————————
That reeks of the same mentality as those that thought getting the Covid 19 shot was a ploy by our government to inject us with chips so they could track our every move.

jmonroe

All I know is that my wifi has never been faster, I just got a free upgrade to Windows15, and the lizard people down the street brought me amazing cookies.

tjc78

Made a pretty large mistake with my golf cart and I know better. I charged it Friday night and didn’t use it until today. When I turned it on, the battery was reading 80%. That shouldn’t be.

While driving it felt a little sluggish. When I got home it dawned on me I haven’t checked the water in the batteries in a long time.

Well they were low enough I could see the plates. It took nearly four gallons of distilled water (8 batteries) to bring them back up. I charged it to full and just took it on a quick ride and it felt much better.

Now I’m setting a monthly reminder to check them. Hopefully, I didn’t damage them

nyccarguy

corvette said:

New addition to the driveway (but not a punch and not mine)… drives better than you might expect for a Camry, but I think I prefer the Maverick as a road trip vehicle.

Girlfriend's car?

I've driven a few Camrys as rentals and was surprised at how they drove pretty well.

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

Made a pretty large mistake with my golf cart and I know better. I charged it Friday night and didn’t use it until today. When I turned it on, the battery was reading 80%. That shouldn’t be.

While driving it felt a little sluggish. When I got home it dawned on me I haven’t checked the water in the batteries in a long time.

Well they were low enough I could see the plates. It took nearly four gallons of distilled water (8 batteries) to bring them back up. I charged it to full and just took it on a quick ride and it felt much better.

Now I’m setting a monthly reminder to check them. Hopefully, I didn’t damage them

————————————————
Good idea to set a monthly reminder to check the water level. Unless you find you have to check it sooner.

Just curious but when was the last time you had to add water and how often do you have to add water also how much water do you usually add.

A good indication about any damage that may have been caused by a low water level is to have checked to see how warm/hot the battery was after noticing that you ran it around when it was low on water. You can’t fix any damage that was done but if your battery dies in a month or two at least you’ll know why and not think it was caused by something else.

See if your local auto parts or service center can perform a load test using a “dead rate battery tester”. That is the best way to check a battery’s load capacity.

jmonroe

roadburner

oldfarmer50 said:

Here’s a question for the experts in here.

Has anyone heard that as part of the federal infrastructure bill, starting in 2026-2028 cars will be monitoring you for drunk driving, fatigued or erratic driving and be programmed to shut down if the algorithm deems you to be unsafe? This technology which will be mandated on all new cars will also video all your activity inside the car with the presumption that it could be used against you by law enforcement. It would detect alcohol vapors in the car among other things.

Is this true and would you buy a car with this technology regardless of it’s good intentions?

There's a lot of overeach in that infrastructure bill; I don't know about the cameras but there is definitely a push to make some sort of DUI detection mandatory in new cars- MADD has been calling for that for some time. I see that becoming a huge boondoggle along the lines of the the seatbelt interlocks in the mid 1970's.

tjc78

@jmonroe1 said:
————————————————
Good idea to set a monthly reminder to check the water level. Unless you find you have to check it sooner.

Just curious but when was the last time you had to add water and how often do you have to add water also how much water do you usually add.

A good indication about any damage that may have been caused by a low water level is to have checked to see how warm/hot the battery was after noticing that you ran it around when it was low on water. You can’t fix any damage that was done but if your battery dies in a month or two at least you’ll know why and not think it was caused by something else.

See if your local auto parts or service center can perform a load test using a “dead rate battery tester”. That is the best way to check a battery’s load capacity.

jmonroe

It was sometime in the late summer I checked them. It got very little use and the batteries were never run very low from then until now.

It seems fine. Put 4 miles on it last night and it felt normal and the charge only dropped about 13% which would be as good as it ever gets. Also it was only 60 degrees. Typically from my experience the cart performs slightly better when it’s warmer out.

Fingers crossed I didn’t damaged them too much, once we are down here for the summer and using it more often then we will know for sure.

benjaminh

....All of this is why Ford CEO Jim Farley joined Tesla and Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Thursday, May 25, for a Twitter Spaces announcement that Ford EVs will be able to use the Tesla Supercharger network starting early in 2024 (via NACS to CCS adapters) and that in 2025, Ford EVs would come equipped with the NACS hardware and software to make the charging experience completely seamless.

As Farley mentioned in a separate interview with CNBC, he has been working on this plan for "a couple of years" with Elon and team. Clearly the terrible state of US charging infrastructure in and Tesla's advantages have been on Farley's mind of years. Back in August of 2022, at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, he tipped his hand in an interview with us:

"Charging is awful. It's awful. No high speed chargers, right? No quality metric around whether they're broken or not. You can't reserve one, so if someone pulls right in front of you... They're not in locations that you want to spend time anyways," Farley said, before commenting on the competition. "Other than Tesla. Charging plugs break. Tesla's plug is excellent, by the way, doesn't break if you drop it."

There are many lies being perpetuated around electric cars, but if there is one pervasive truth, it is that all over charging networks aside from Tesla's are not ready for mass EV adoption. They are inconsistent at best, and terrible, soul sucking experiences at worst. When we asked why Ford didn't just go out and build their own Supercharger network, Farley replied, "It was too expensive…We're starting 10 years too late. So we had to use Electrify America and EVgo and they're going to have to completely rebuild their networks. It's not competitive."

https://www.motortrend.com/features/ford-brilliant-move-embracing-tesla-charging-standard/

I wonder if Tesla drivers will get annoyed that they'll soon have to share their supercharger stations with Ford EV owners?


Btw stickguy, what's your highway range on your new Maverick hybrid?

stickguy

I finally got gas yesterday at about 430 miles. Range left was about 145. Seems to get around 41 on an extended highway run I think. Better doing local driving.

I think I should be able to push 500 miles on a highway trip and still fill up before the light goes on. That is with a 13.8 gallon tank. We go to the Jersey shore in July and that now is going to be about 300 miles straight highway though I might bring 2 bikes on a hitch rack so might kill the mileage!

corvette

nyccarguy said:

Girlfriend's car?

I've driven a few Camrys as rentals and was surprised at how they drove pretty well.

Yes... She really loves it but I doubt she will buy another, as she doesn't like to have the same car twice. She's interested in the Corolla Cross. We got around 36-37 MPG on the trip up here from Louisiana, which is pretty close to the EPA highway rating.

corvette

EV infrastructure-related: there are Tesla superchargers as well as non-Tesla chargers at the Beaver Dam rest area on the Western Kentucky Parkway. This is a rest area in the center median of the parkway. Many years ago, there were barriers to prevent traffic from performing a U-turn and reentering the parkway in the opposite direction. Those barriers are no longer present, because the EV chargers are only located on the westbound side of the rest area.

breld

Holiday punch…2022 GX460.

stickguy

I like the wheels.

must be quite a downgrade in driving experience from the Mercedes.

laurasdada

In my 2+ years of PHEV ownership, I've found that once a charging station is down, it stays down. And, a few I frequented have been removed.
But, I also have learned where my local free stations are (predominately Chargepoint) and they have remained viable; I haven't noticed them in heavy use. Perhaps that is why they're still functional.
Casual observation, Electrify America seems unreliable.

tjc78

@breld said:
Holiday punch…2022 GX460.

Love it!

Michaell

Just for reference - the GX with the V8 makes less HP than the Camry V6.

But, it fills a niche in the fleet.

Congrats!

stickguy

More torque I assume. More important in a big beast like this.

kyfdx

@breld Congrats!

Anyone here looking for a slightly used GX460, about October?

stickguy

I’m waiting on the next Miata cycle. Though a mini could be attractive! Easier sell to the wife too. Maybe.

pensfan83

@kyfdx said:
@breld Congrats!

Anyone here looking for a slightly used GX460, about October?

I was pulling for an MDX Type S for that reason

Michaell

stickguy said:

I’m waiting on the next Miata cycle. Though a mini could be attractive! Easier sell to the wife too. Maybe.

I’d recommend a mini, with our ownership experience.

So many body styles to choose from.

au1994

Love the GX @breld. Nothing wrong with an old school SUV.

@stickguy those are phenomenal numbers on the Maverick. That just slid up the list to replace the Wrangler next year.

tifighter

@breld said:
Holiday punch…2022 GX460.

Activate CCBA 2022 grayscale Lexus club-

tifighter

Running behind, picked up at the end of April.

qbrozen

Mach E is next on the block when he realizes he has 2 CUVs and one of them is far more efficient. And I do think possibly a convertible fills that space, so Stick may get his wish in about 6 mos.

stickguy

got the Maverick detail and repair work taken care of today. Pops even more now that it has been washed, clayed, and waxed with the JMonroe approved Canuba wax. Detail guy also finished smoothing out the touch up paint repair and put a couple of coats of clear on it. Not perfect but vastly better than what it started out as (and of course, much better than I could have ever done myself). Barely noticeable, especially if you don't know it was there and OCD about it like me. And as soon as the next layer of pollen covers the car, really won't see it.

The gouges were deep enough that to really make it perfect probably needed some level of body work (filler, blend, etc.) and I had no desire to go down that road if I could avoid it. But at least it is good to go for now, so my next project is to get the bed cover put back on. I will do that tomorrow morning when it is cooler out.

Truck really likes the ~12 mile drive to the detail shop. Reported 48.3 MPG this morning on that run.

stickguy

@Corvette, did you put on tailgate letters? I can't remember. I want to get some of those and there are a bazillion options now so looking for recommendations.

28firefighter

Congrats @breld and @tifighter!

What vehicle is this to replace, @tifighter ? Or an addition to the fleet?