Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

corvette · March 29

@xwesx - you may have discussed this before, but were they able to fix the pinging issue?

Sandman6472 · March 30

Can't imagine living in New York City as sure, things are pretty close to get to, but it's so crowded. It was fun to take the train in when I was a kid but now, doubt I'll ever go back. And it's weird, both my folks were born in Brooklyn as I recall and loved the city, heck, our family business even had a showroom at 1515 Broadway if I'm not mistaken. But for me, just not a fan. Guess I just prefer living in suburbia like we have been for years. Things are pretty close and if I drive 30 miles a week, I'm lucky.

Sandman6472 · March 30

Filled up my tank last Monday and it was showing 360 miles as the current range. As of getting home yesterday, showing 320, but that's all local driving. Have noticed that if I throw some expressway time in there, when full, it could show 450 as the range. Seems that the higher mileage shows when the tank is full after a fill up. Many of the vehicles I drive at work show upwards of 450 at times as many of them are driven on the highway. Mine is due for it's first real highway trip soon. And plan to do a oil/filter change sometime in June as July will be one year of ownership. The time does fly buy.
Did drive a 2024 GTI yesterday but it had the plaid seats and the smaller infotainment system. Same tire size but had the rims I prefer. Just under 45K on the clock and needed an alignment badly but got up to speed quickly. Do prefer mine though with the larger infotainment screen and the HK audio system with the faux leather seats. Just adds a few goodies to an already competent vehicle.

xwesx · March 30

corvette said:
@xwesx - you may have discussed this before, but were they able to fix the pinging issue?

I honestly don't know yet, and for a couple of reasons:

1. My wife barely drives it...
2. The weather has been so cold that we haven't really had an opportunity (environmentally) to replicate the normal driving conditions under which we could get that issue.

However.... I think we actually reached freezing yesterday, or very close to it, and I strongly expect that we will get above freezing today, so it is time for "meltdown" to begin in earnest, and then maybe we'll get a chance to see how the car is doing in that regard.

xwesx · March 30

Sandman6472 said:
Filled up my tank last Monday and it was showing 360 miles as the current range.

Speaking of filling up... I filled the Q7 yesterday after 2+ weeks of using that tank. $5.50/gal. The fill up literally cost me 50% more than it did the last time I filled. Fill ups have cost me right at $80 all winter long, and this one was $120.

stickguy · March 30

The range calculation is really just a guesstimate based on your recent driving. So perfectly normal to go up or down depending on the sample size it is using.

kyfdx · March 30

stickguy said:
The range calculation is really just a guesstimate based on your recent driving. So perfectly normal to go up or down depending on the sample size it is using.

As noted... can vary a lot

My GTI:
On highway trips, about 36 MPG.
All around town trips, about 27-28 mpg.

300-400 mile range, depending on usage.

tjc78 · March 30

Yep - My Ram

On highway trips - dismal
All around town trips - even more dismal

stickguy · March 30

But that one time during the lease you need to pick up a load of gravel you are ready

I actually had to punt truck duties this weekend due to a job beyond the mavericks capacities. Daughter came to retrieve some of her furniture we inherited years ago and I had her rent a 10’ box U-Haul. Load was a kitchen table and 4 chairs, and a queen sized bed frame and mattress.

In a couple of trips max I could have managed the table, chairs, and with disassembly and ratchet straps the bed frame. The mattress, no good way to get that secured for a 20 mile drive. So it was just easier to get something it all easily fit in and not have to spend time taking a metal frame fully apart.

tjc78 · March 30

But that one time during the lease you need to pick up a load of gravel you are ready

It's not gravel I worry about... it is the massive amount of crap I haul back and forth to the shore. I was already asked today if we were taking the truck as apparently there are "things" to bring down there for Easter (we host there).

Kids have a shortened spring break due to snow days - only off Good Friday, Monday & Tuesday this year.

ab348 · March 30

Good thing you have the Maverick so you can bring home the new furniture Mrs. Stick will soon be purchasing to take up the empty space you reclaimed with the stuff the youngsters took back.

stickguy · March 30

No new pieces. We just read out what was doubles in in another bedroom. Turning my office into the grandkids nursery (for now) by moving the crib out of a spare bedroom. So now will have two spare rooms with queen sized beds and one with a crib. And looking much less cluttered.

We still have another spare kitchen table set In The basement. She took the 2nd spare.

explorerx4 · March 30

@stickguy,
You rented a trailer, yes?

kyfdx · March 30

explorerx4 said:
@stickguy,
You rented a trailer, yes?

I bet it was a truck

stickguy · March 30

daughter rented it (her house, her stuff, her dime!). I thought about getting the trailer but I only have the 2K tow capacity which limits which trailer they will rent, and the enclosed one was not going to fit the mattress very well. So she got to pay a little extra for the truck.

explorerx4 · March 30

@stickguy,
A queen mattess and frame easily fits in a 5x8 single axle trailer and 2K towing capacity is plenty for everything you hauled.
Single axle trailers can be a pain to back up. I'm not good at it.
You can stop with the Maverick being a good substitute for a larger pickup.

stickguy · March 30

at an angle maybe. The frame and dinette set were not easily fitting with it. In any case, I offered it and she decline and got the truck.

a bigger truck (Ranger) only has a 6" longer bed so not fitting in there. Even an F150 with the 5.5' bed would require putting it at an angle at best, and you still have issues keeping a mattress secure. Basically, pickups are not good for carrying a queen sized mattress.

and yes, the Maverick can do most of what a bigger truck does. Only difference is length without having to lay down the tailgate. Towing is different but most people don't tow, and if you do, just get the 4K tow package option and get a bigger trailer.

explorerx4 · March 30

@stickguy,
Maverick bed does not have the length, width or depth of the next size up pickups.
For less than $70 I now have a dozen tie down points in the bed, so keeping any size matress secure is not a problem. Put the table on the bed floor too.
If I fold up the rear seat I could have fit all those chairs inside the cab.

stickguy · March 30

Maverick is designed to handle 4x8 sheets.

and it can also easily handle the overly tight garages and parking lots we have around here. So yes, it does not have as much capacity as a truck 3' longer, but it also does not require toting the capacity around for the majority of the time it isn't needed!

Very rare that I have something too big for the baby truck, so once every couple of years we spend the $80 on something bigger. But as always, YMMV and get whatever suits your needs.

stickguy · March 30

I think my wife really does need to retire. She seems to be losing it. Was watching the game and an Audi ad came on, for a nice dark blue Q5. I will admit it was good looking. So I said sure we could look at one, but I thought she did not like Audis? She replied about not thinking so, until I pointed out that they were part of VW at which point she changed her mind. Also odd, in that she always liked a dark blue paint color until recently when I pointed some out and she decided that she was no longer a big fan.

oldfarmer50 · March 31

stickguy said:
Maverick is designed to handle 4x8 sheets.

and it can also easily handle the overly tight garages and parking lots we have around here. So yes, it does not have as much capacity as a truck 3' longer, but it also does not require toting the capacity around for the majority of the time it isn't needed!

Very rare that I have something too big for the baby truck, so once every couple of years we spend the $80 on something bigger. But as always, YMMV and get whatever suits your needs.

Nothing beats a full size truck with an 8’ bed. My coworker borrowed mine to haul specialized golf carts that allow paralyzed golfers to play and he was able to fit three of them in my truck.

stickguy · March 31

I’m guessing they are Less than 1% of truck sales now. Mostly seem to be huge cab, small bed in the personal use segment.

ab348 · March 31

stickguy said:
I think my wife really does need to retire. She seems to be losing it. Was watching the game and an Audi ad came on, for a nice dark blue Q5. I will admit it was good looking. So I said sure we could look at one, but I thought she did not like Audis? She replied about not thinking so, until I pointed out that they were part of VW at which point she changed her mind. Also odd, in that she always liked a dark blue paint color until recently when I pointed some out and she decided that she was no longer a big fan.

Seems a perfectly sane defense given her situation.

tjc78 · March 31

I can't even tell you the last time I saw a single cab long bed modern truck that wasn't marked with some sort of business.

Just for giggles I did a search on Car Gurus and there 39 such F-150s for sale in a 150 mile radius of Philly. There are over 2700 Crew Cab Short Bed.

I think one the reasons quad/crew cab pickups are so popular is the interior room. They are very large inside and can be equipped to the moon these days.

stickguy · March 31

I see the attraction. Just not for me. I have no desire to daily something that big. And I know my wife would never go near the drivers seat.

To Tom’s point, IMO a lot of the half tons (especially Chevy) look odd because there is a huge cab and a stubby little bed. If I am vetting something that large it would be to handle big loads so a lot shorter cab with a longer bed would make a lot more sense.

One advantage to the mavericks often maligned unibody design (which I don’t understand since the bed seems like any other pickup) is much better space utilization in the cab. Sunday I had my daughter and SIL in the back seat and they were perfectly comfy. And he is a pretty big guy. Not a limo but not cramped by any means. I have seen comparisons where they found the mid sized (Tacoma, ranger) to have less back seat space. The frame eats up people room!

stickguy · March 31

Oh, I did recently see one beast I liked at the ford dealer (while in for service). A standard cab F250. Maybe a 6.5’ bed? Not sure if that or 8’. That I could see out the back. Still way too much hood but at least it sat nice and high. And had the snow plow prep package. Never know when you might need that!

oldfarmer50 · March 31

stickguy said:
I’m guessing they are Less than 1% of truck sales now. Mostly seem to be huge cab, small bed in the personal use segment.

Mostly fleet sales. Ford only offers a single cab 8’ bed in the lowest level XL trim although the previous owner of mine tarted it up with some chrome accents, tow package and Sync.

Andres3333333 · March 31

explorerx4 said:
@andres3333333,
There is not a huge difference between a range of 80k-90K and 80K-95K.

Didn't I say look at 70K to 100K? I agree there's not a huge difference which is why they should be included in the search parameters

explorerx4 · March 31

Maybe that's how thing work where you live but in the rest of the market mileage matters.

stickguy · March 31

I think I will take the wife out to test drive some EVs. I have an outlet in the garage for a dedicated charger so might as well!

tjc78 · March 31

stickguy said:
I think I will take the wife out to test drive some EVs. I have an outlet in the garage for a dedicated charger so might as well!

Check out an EQE 350 SUV. I'd be curious what you think of it. Of course that is if there are any around. Not sure they have ramped production back up yet.

xwesx · March 31

stickguy said:
Oh, I did recently see one beast I liked at the ford dealer (while in for service). A standard cab F250. Maybe a 6.5’ bed? Not sure if that or 8’. That I could see out the back. Still way too much hood but at least it sat nice and high. And had the snow plow prep package. Never know when you might need that!

Perhaps.... during the winter months?

Andres3333333 · March 31

explorerx4 said:
Maybe that's how thing work where you live but in the rest of the market mileage matters.

You went from "not a huge difference" to "mileage matters." Of course it matters, but there's not a huge reason to have such a narrow comp comparison criteria for pricing exercises. 20K extra miles might be offset by good new tires alone vs. bald tires; among other "wear item" differences.

stickguy · March 31

tjc78 said:

stickguy said:
I think I will take the wife out to test drive some EVs. I have an outlet in the garage for a dedicated charger so might as well!

Check out an EQE 350 SUV. I'd be curious what you think of it. Of course that is if there are any around. Not sure they have ramped production back up yet.

Isn't that on the large size? We would be looking in the GLC class probably at the biggest.

I did see a Hyundai Ioniq5 (I think that was it) on our walk yesterday that looked interesting. Might go check them out, see what the boss thinks.

suydam · March 31

Love the color.

stickguy said:

tjc78 said:

stickguy said:
I think I will take the wife out to test drive some EVs. I have an outlet in the garage for a dedicated charger so might as well!

Check out an EQE 350 SUV. I'd be curious what you think of it. Of course that is if there are any around. Not sure they have ramped production back up yet.
Isn't that on the large size? We would be looking in the GLC class probably at the biggest.

I did see a Hyundai Ioniq5 (I think that was it) on our walk yesterday that looked interesting. Might go check them out, see what the boss thinks.

Hyundai Ioniq5 is very nice. We thought it was a little low for our taste and not quite roomy enough back seat for our daughter’s family with 2 car seats. But if we were looking for a more Equinox size car we would definitely have considered it pretty seriously. The tech is really integrated well throughout.
I am very happy not to be buying gas now!

corvette · March 31

I'm seeing the lower ride heights on a lot of EVs and some newer gas powered vehicles, probably to eke out a little more efficiency. The newest Pilot seems to be lower. The Kia EV6 is even lower than the Ioniq5, which also isn't very tall. Did Hyundai/Kia ever engineer a permanent fix for the widespread ICCU failures?

stickguy · March 31

ride height (or more accurately, hip point) will be the wife's call, EV or gasser. I would need to see one of those in person to judge the interior space. But we have the truck so don't really need anything very large, especially since we won't not be looking to take it on vacation trips.

if nothing else, adding EVs to the mix will give us more options to look at!

ab348 · March 31

stickguy said:

tjc78 said:

stickguy said:
I think I will take the wife out to test drive some EVs. I have an outlet in the garage for a dedicated charger so might as well!

Check out an EQE 350 SUV. I'd be curious what you think of it. Of course that is if there are any around. Not sure they have ramped production back up yet.
Isn't that on the large size? We would be looking in the GLC class probably at the biggest.

I did see a Hyundai Ioniq5 (I think that was it) on our walk yesterday that looked interesting. Might go check them out, see what the boss thinks.

Ionic5 has had lots of problems recently and I thought I saw some mention of a stop-sale from corporate. Reviews I’ve seen generally liked it but said the suspension was stiff and the steering like a sports car, darty and tough to handle on expressways.

I bet Mrs. Stick might like a Cadillac Optiq.

suydam · March 31

I know a lot of people who have them and they all love them. We thought it drove very well.
An Optiq is really a consideration. They are on the smaller side and really nice.

stickguy · March 31

I would take a look at the Caddy too. or at least one of the related ones. Do they still make the Acura version?

tjc78 · March 31

Pretty sure the EQE is the same size as an RDX. There is a full size EQS as well.

Probably a moot point, I peeked at a few dealers and they don’t have any. I guess they never went back into production as planned.

explorerx4 · March 31

Last year sisters husband had an Ioniq 5.
I asked him if I could drive it bur he didn't let me.
Don't know if he still has it.
He's one of those people that boasts about whatever he is driving until it suddenly goes away, usually due to some catastrophic failure.
Other than that, he is a fantastic person.

stickguy · March 31

tjc78 said:
Pretty sure the EQE is the same size as an RDX. There is a full size EQS as well.

Probably a moot point, I peeked at a few dealers and they don’t have any. I guess they never went back into production as planned.

I am probably well out of date on Mercedes naming conventions. I figured it was comparable to the GLE and GLS

kyfdx · March 31

stickguy said:
ride height (or more accurately, hip point) will be the wife's call, EV or gasser. I would need to see one of those in person to judge the interior space. But we have the truck so don't really need anything very large, especially since we won't not be looking to take it on vacation trips.

if nothing else, adding EVs to the mix will give us more options to look at!

When my wife got a feeling that an SUV looked too much like a wagon, she was out. 🤷‍♂️

corvette · March 31

stickguy said:
ride height (or more accurately, hip point)

I'd love to see a database of the hip point of every car, because it would eliminate quite a few for me, and be the deciding factor in other cases. Something like my Mustang was not comfortable beyond a couple of hours. I hike regularly and have no issues with my left knee, but it just can't handle that seating position longer than that. The G37, not much higher - occasionally I would feel a twinge, but I could just stretch a bit and be good for an 8-10 hour drive.

nyccarguy · March 31

stickguy · March 31

is that like a bar handing our free drinks at an AA meeting?

corvette · March 31

Yes, Toyota of Stamford, everyone here is in the market for a car at all times. Please tell us more.

stickguy · March 31

corvette said:

stickguy said:
ride height (or more accurately, hip point)
I'd love to see a database of the hip point of every car, because it would eliminate quite a few for me, and be the deciding factor in other cases. Something like my Mustang was not comfortable beyond a couple of hours. I hike regularly and have no issues with my left knee, but it just can't handle that seating position longer than that. The G37, not much higher - occasionally I would feel a twinge, but I could just stretch a bit and be good for an 8-10 hour drive.

the Maverick is actually perfect. Wife does not complain about that. slide right in without climbing up or dropping in. The RDX is pretty good too, but more bolsters to get over. and smaller doors. Something to be said for a very boxy cab!

nyccarguy · March 31

@stickguy said:
the Maverick is actually perfect. Wife does not complain about that. slide right in without climbing up or dropping in. The RDX is pretty good too, but more bolsters to get over. and smaller doors. Something to be said for a very boxy cab!

I saw one of these guys, maybe carsforme just bought a brand new leftover 2025 Maverick XL AWD with the 2.0T Ecoboost with a $30K sticker for $24K plus tax. Steelies, no bed liner, but that’s a sweet truck for that price.

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