Car lovers?

Blind_Evil wrote:

I liked the headlights on the older models but this is just fine. Still under warantee for a couple years too, which is a plus.

You can't beat Hyundai's warranty. When they say bumper to bumper they really mean it.

I said I'd post photos of my new Elantra 5 months ago and never did. Here's the only one I have handy:

IMAGE(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4316585461_04dd8ab22c_b.jpg)

Things about it I love:
* Working A/C
* CD player and aux-in jack for my mp3 player
* Working cruise control
* Smooth quiet ride
* Almost twice the gas mileage
* Blue gradient backlight on the gauges
* Powered everything except seat adjustment
* Remote trunk open (except when I hit it accidentally, which sucks)
* Warranty

Things I miss about the Jeep:
* 4WD in snowy conditions
* Rear wind-shield wiper (I need to apply some Rain-X)
* Engine temperature and oil gauges
* Fewer blind spots

Quintin_Stone wrote:

* Engine temperature and oil gauges

I hate cars that only have the warning light. I think I got it from my dad. He's spent years referring to them as "idiot lights" and it definitely rubbed off on me.

Thin_J wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

* Engine temperature and oil gauges

I hate cars that only have the warning light. I think I got it from my dad. He's spent years referring to them as "idiot lights" and it definitely rubbed off on me.

It's true though. Instrument panel reduction is making people stupid. Granted, the temp gauges haven't been representative of actual temp for years, but still.

edit - And on the topic of getting new to you cars, I'm looking for something in the small SUV/car class w/ available AWD and a stick that gets low to mid 20s gas mileage. I've been looking at Ford Escape, Subaru Legacy/Impreza and Audi A4, any other suggestions?

I'm glad they left the tachometer, even if it is an automatic transmission.

Same here with my 06 T&C. I went nuts driving my wife's Focus after we got married since it didn't have a tach.

I never have and never will own a car without a tachometer.

AnimeJ wrote:

edit - And on the topic of getting new to you cars, I'm looking for something in the small SUV/car class w/ available AWD and a stick that gets low to mid 20s gas mileage. I've been looking at Ford Escape, Subaru Legacy/Impreza and Audi A4, any other suggestions?

We've had a pretty good experience with Sigsbee's Honda CRV.

Thin_J wrote:

I never have and never will own a car without a tachometer.

reminds me of my sister-in-law's KIA Rio stripped down model, it is a manual and no TACH! She shifts based on sound, but she did pick it up for like 7000 dollars new with ten year warranty so I guess it is all good.

I would second the CRV, a friend just picked one up and he likes it.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
AnimeJ wrote:

edit - And on the topic of getting new to you cars, I'm looking for something in the small SUV/car class w/ available AWD and a stick that gets low to mid 20s gas mileage. I've been looking at Ford Escape, Subaru Legacy/Impreza and Audi A4, any other suggestions?

We've had a pretty good experience with Sigsbee's Honda CRV.

The CRV's a solid choice, though they tend to be overpriced for used cars. Prepare to haggle if you want to get one for a reasonable price.

I see a lot of solid deals on late 90's and early 2000 model Toyota 4runners these days. I almost went and bought a 99 that was going for $3500 a few months ago. It had 90,000 miles on it which is low for a car that old, and it had really been taken care of. It was in pretty much pristine condition. I waited a couple of days though, and of course it was gone

So I'm building a demolition car with a buddy. This is a first for me. I usually enchance cars not destoy them. Hopefully my roll cage holds up for my buddy's sake

Thin_J wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:
AnimeJ wrote:

edit - And on the topic of getting new to you cars, I'm looking for something in the small SUV/car class w/ available AWD and a stick that gets low to mid 20s gas mileage. I've been looking at Ford Escape, Subaru Legacy/Impreza and Audi A4, any other suggestions?

We've had a pretty good experience with Sigsbee's Honda CRV.

The CRV's a solid choice, though they tend to be overpriced for used cars. Prepare to haggle if you want to get one for a reasonable price.

I see a lot of solid deals on late 90's and early 2000 model Toyota 4runners these days. I almost went and bought a 99 that was going for $3500 a few months ago. It had 90,000 miles on it which is low for a car that old, and it had really been taken care of. It was in pretty much pristine condition. I waited a couple of days though, and of course it was gone :(

Yarr. I did a quick look into CRVs and 4Runners and sadly, there's no 4Runners within 200 miles of Dayton listed by dealers on Autotrader or Cars.com. There's a handful of CR-Vs, but all really high mileage.

I'm driving out to Columbus on Saturday to test drive an Escape. I've driven them before, but it's been about 10 years, so no idea if the newer models drive any better than the one I did for work back then. From what I hear, they do, which is good. Beyond that, it's just a matter of wait and see if my tax money gets here before the one I'm looking at buying from Carmax sells.

Just bought my first new car ever. Ok, it's not new but it's a 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid that a guy had for six months before he decided he wanted a sports car. The sticker price was $23,500 and I got it for everything included (meaning tags, title, fees, taxes) for $20,000 across the board.

AnimeJ did you go drive a Subaru? We were looking at the same class when we bought my wife's car and were all over the place until we checked out the Outback. Never looked back. I've also gotten some time out in the weather with it recently, and the thing is a beast. Easily bests my Pathfinder as long as clearance doesn't become an issue.

Caveat is they are real difficult to find used.....

pol wrote:

AnimeJ did you go drive a Subaru? We were looking at the same class when we bought my wife's car and were all over the place until we checked out the Outback. Never looked back. I've also gotten some time out in the weather with it recently, and the thing is a beast. Easily bests my Pathfinder as long as clearance doesn't become an issue.

Caveat is they are real difficult to find used.....

I've been looking for one, but can't find any with manuals around here for a fairly reasonable price. The other catch is that while I'm ok with an SUV, not real interested in a wagon. Dunno why, just not.

Got my car (the Tiburon) back from the detailer this morning, and learned how to drive it. I don't think I mentioned it, but I'd never learned how to drive stick. It came to me pretty quickly once I got out by myself. Hills are tricky though, even the little baby ones around here.

Blind_Evil wrote:

Got my car (the Tiburon) back from the detailer this morning, and learned how to drive it. I don't think I mentioned it, but I'd never learned how to drive stick. It came to me pretty quickly once I got out by myself. Hills are tricky though, even the little baby ones around here.

Driving a manual transmission is one of the great joys in life, if you ask me. Congrats on it though

There is a reason you cant find one....no one wants to give theirs up. Very difficult car to buy used overall.

pol wrote:

There is a reason you cant find one....no one wants to give theirs up. Very difficult car to buy used overall.

Nah, there's plenty out there. The catch is that they're overpriced or automatics. I haven't seen a single Outback with a manual transmission in 2 months of looking.

Traction Control in the Mustang does not actually mean Traction Control when it comes to snow. What that light on the dashboard coming on actually signifies is that your car is trying desperately to kill you.

If you drive a mustang with a manual transmission and want to continue living... turn that sh*t off.

Thin_J wrote:

Traction Control in the Mustang does not actually mean Traction Control when it comes to snow. What that light on the dashboard coming on actually signifies is that your car is trying desperately to kill you.

If you drive a mustang with a manual transmission and want to continue living... turn that sh*t off.

The Mustang is one of the world's worst cars to drive in the snow. Rear wheel drive, no four wheel independent suspension, lots of HP and torque, all the weight forward of the drive wheels, and next to zero ground clearance. Add to that the aforementioned faux traction control and you have a death machine on snow.

Best bet? Put the tarp on the Mustang for the winter and drive the Honda Accord.

Paleocon wrote:

The Mustang is one of the world's worst cars to drive in the snow. Rear wheel drive, no four wheel independent suspension, lots of HP and torque, all the weight forward of the drive wheels, and next to zero ground clearance. Add to that the aforementioned faux traction control and you have a death machine on snow.

I haven't actually had any real problems driving in the winter weather so far. I've made it through areas that overconfident assholes with AWD have failed to navigate multiple times.

The only time the car has failed me was this morning when I forgot to turn the stupid traction control off. Navigating a snowy road in the Mustang isn't hard. It's just slower than it would be in a FWD car. But it does require regular, light, and constant pressure on the gas pedal. You can't be twitchy with it. Traction control in this car kills that.

I was going up a slight hill on the way to the interstate this morning, going about 25 miles an hour (limit's 35 through there anyway), easing up it and keeping a nice steady pace. Then about halfway up the traction control kicked in which, of course, kills all power to both rear wheels. In the span of a second or two the car cuts power, slows, and then resumes the same amount of power you were applying before instantly. So of course, it actually causes far more tire spin than I was getting otherwise. It's the equivalent of letting off the gas completely for a second and then goosing the throttle. So, so stupid.

Terrible. Never again will I forget to hit that goddamn button.

*edit*

For clarification, I've got about 350 pounds of sand in the trunk. It helps immensely. Takes a lot of the challenge out of the whole thing really. You just have to be smart about driving it and it goes fine.

Paleocon wrote:

The Mustang is one of the world's worst cars to drive in the snow.

No no no, that prize goes to the 2wd '78 chevy pickup I drove through highschool, and my college years. I'd skate that thing around the icy streets of Bozeman MT in the winter. To compound the problem, the truck liked to vaporlock, and a mechanic had turned up the idle speed. I would sit at the intersection with my foot on the brake, and the front wheels would lock up but the back wheels would continue to spin a bit. If the front wheels were on ice I'd start scooting into the intersection. So I'd have to put it in Neutral, but then the revs would go down and the engine would stall. So, I'd have to put my left foot on the brake and keep up the revs with my right foot.

Smoothest, most comfortable highway vehicle I've driven though(up until my wife got her BMW a few months ago). I'd pop Jim Reeves in the 8-track, roll down the window and watch the miles melt away. And the gas as well, 350 v8's aren't for the thrifty driver.

Druidpeak wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

The Mustang is one of the world's worst cars to drive in the snow.

No no no, that prize goes to the 2wd '78 chevy pickup I drove through highschool, and my college years.

Yeah, I would argue that any 2wd pickup is just as bad or worse in the snow than my car unless you have big knobby snow tires on it. The little Ford Ranger we have here at work as the company vehicle is every ounce as bad as the Mustang, as is my Dad's F-150.

Quite a few years ago when I was still in high school my parents had two Chevy Suburbans, both diesels, and as a third vehicle we had a Chevy Silverado 3500HD Crew cab, dualie rear end, the whole deal, with the Duramax Diesel.

The RWD only suburbans were both better in the snow than the Silverado ever was, despite the 4WD option and the two extra wheels and tires in the back. The first huge snow we had after they got the pickup we dug out the snow around it so we could get it rolling ok and it still got stuck spinning all 6 tires loosely in the snow after it had moved about ten yards.

Went in the garage, hopped in the '94 Suburban and off we went.

In my car related news, I'm leaning more and more towards a small gas friendly coupe over the 4WD I really would rather have. I can afford either, but can't get away from the fact that come summer time, I'm going to want a small car over the small SUV.

Secret Asian Man wrote:

So I'm building a demolition car with a buddy. This is a first for me. I usually enchance cars not destoy them. Hopefully my roll cage holds up for my buddy's sake :)

If you are lucky enough to find one. Do not buy the 1964-1966 Chrysler Imperial, they are banned from most demolition Deby's as they are impossible to kill. If you want something cheap and fun look into the 24 hours of LEMONs. 500 dollar racing cars on real race tracks going for as long as they can. I think someone was building a race car on the forum awhile back.

Thin_J wrote:

The RWD only suburbans were both better in the snow than the Silverado ever was, despite the 4WD option and the two extra wheels and tires in the back. The first huge snow we had after they got the pickup we dug out the snow around it so we could get it rolling ok and it still got stuck spinning all 6 tires loosely in the snow after it had moved about ten yards.

Hehe, I always thought mudding trucks were cool and wondered why my old man never had big wide knobby tires on his truck. Then I discovered that wider is definitely not better when it comes to snow, unless you're going all out and building a rig for permafrost and antarctic conditions then you need monstrously wide tires.

Well the wife and I are in the market for a new vehicle after an accident last month.

I had some dude run a stop sign and shoot out in front of me in an older Camaro. I T-boned him in the passenger door (no passenger in it), thankfully he wasn't going slightly slower or me slighter faster as he would've come through my door at that point. Both the other guy and I walked away just bumps and bruises, but my little Suzuki Swift didn't make it, paid for and 40mpg, down the drain.

Friday the wife an I are taking a road trip to pick this up. It will be the wifes daily driver while I take over her Kia Sephia, wohooo!

Thin_J wrote:

Traction Control in the Mustang does not actually mean Traction Control when it comes to snow. What that light on the dashboard coming on actually signifies is that your car is trying desperately to kill you.

If you drive a mustang with a manual transmission and want to continue living... turn that sh*t off.

I have it permanently turned off through my SCT tuner. But now i am running the twin screw the Stang is in the garage and will not come out until this sh*t clears up. I picked up this in Jan for the winter.

IMAGE(http://www.autosoftautos.com/CarPics/472/L/L_CarPic_D-472_S-1398_1.jpg)

WiredAsylum wrote:

I have it permanently turned off through my SCT tuner.

I did not know you could do that. Definitely getting out the tuner later though.

Jealous of the truck. Wish I could afford a nice 4WD of some kind right now. Instead I'm trying to save up to just buy an old beater.