Car Talk

doghouse said:
Well, you totally are. It effects everything from handling to tire wear and drive train reliability. The Euros and Japanese honed in on this years ago.

The problem right now is that Toyota is basically evolved into producing bloated American cars from the 90s, while the Americans are slimming down. Everything Yota is making is ginourmous and inefficient. Even the SUVs, which are land yachts. The Tacoma, which was the de facto efficiency mobile in the truck segment gets worse fuel economy than the new full size F150's. The Camry and Corolla have gotten huge.
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Toyota is crap. I'll never buy another one of their cars ever again after this. We had problems with the last Toyota as well. To be fair though, they are just keeping up with the general sizing of the segment. All midsize and compact cars have gotten huge. Honda, Mazda, Ford, etc..

doghouse said:
The Ford Focus is a great car all around in that segment, and the Fusion for the next size up. I know several people who were deciding between the Fusion, Mercedes C Class, and BMW 3 series. That's how far Ford has come in their consumer range.
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consumer reports rates the fusion below the mazda 6, toyota camry, honda accord, hyundai sonata, kia optima, and subaru legacy.
 
Rambo said:
Toyota is crap. I'll never buy another one of their cars ever again after this. We had problems with the last Toyota as well. To be fair though, they are just keeping up with the general sizing of the segment. All midsize and compact cars have gotten huge. Honda, Mazda, Ford, etc..


consumer reports rates the fusion below the mazda 6, toyota camry, honda accord, hyundai sonata, kia optima, and subaru legacy.
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Ford's have gotten smaller outside, while maintaining volume. Park a Fusion next to an old Taurus and you'll see. Or a Focus by an old Escort.

Speaking of sleeper cars, the Taurus SHO is just silly. Not useful, but if you want to fuck with people taking off at traffic lights, man that thing is hilariously wicked.

I wouldn't use Consumer Reports for cars, but YMMV. Honda have gotten bulkier, but their quality seems to be solid. Nissan probably have the best body work of the Japanese cars, and by far the best engines. QC is suspect though.
 
Rambo said:
he's got you there Leit
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My car so far has been great and not one single issue, while it is true that VW are generally pretty crappy mine hasnt been the case. Then again I take great care of my cars. So doghouse doghouse while your statement may very well be truth, I have heard the horror stories of BMW and Mercedes. For christ sakes a friend of mine has a 3 series and in less than 40k miles bmw has had to replace the tranny twice because of quality control. Sinchros are shit and so forth.
 
doghouse said:
*Synchro
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Thank you my king of kings.

Rambo said:
why not? is there another independent, or supposedly independent resource, for automotive reviews?
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You can use to have an idea, but they are not the best idea. Best thing is to read forums and ao forth and even then you are just hitting a small number of people that have problems, better than nothing though.
 
Leitmotif said:
You can use to have an idea, but they are not the best idea. Best thing is to read forums and ao forth and even then you are just hitting a small number of people that have problems, better than nothing though.
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well of course, you have to do your homework. still, what one stop shop is better for reviews of cars than CR?
 
Rambo said:
why not? is there another independent, or supposedly independent resource, for automotive reviews?
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The Car rags (Car and Drive, etc..) are ok, Jalopnik is good for general trends and performance. The best thing to do is talk to independent mechanic shops. They will give you the real deal on reliability. If you have any friends in the car business, most of them will talk to you off the record.

Consumer Reports just doesn't have the expertise anymore for car stuff.
 
Rambo said:
why not? is there another independent, or supposedly independent resource, for automotive reviews?
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Top Gear? +CR for reliability. Or spend a weekend at Nordschleife or whatever there is in Florida and talk to people.
 
Rambo said:
which cars that are similar to the camry are any good? i'm not driving on a platform.


I was looking at the Primacy but there are two models - the MXV and the MXM. Can't really see what the difference is between them.

nope. just me and The Great Satan.



Did you hit your head? What's with all this common sense?
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MXM are a bit more premium. Slightly different compound, tread. For luxury vehicles. MXV for sedans & minivans.

About equal dry performance. MXM has better wet performance & better for you drifting your Camry

MXV4 has better tread life rating
 
Rambo said:
Toyota is crap. I'll never buy another one of their cars ever again after this. We had problems with the last Toyota as well. To be fair though, they are just keeping up with the general sizing of the segment. All midsize and compact cars have gotten huge. Honda, Mazda, Ford, etc..


consumer reports rates the fusion below the mazda 6, toyota camry, honda accord, hyundai sonata, kia optima, and subaru legacy.
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I like the Kia Optima. Solid choice and good warranty. It's also better looking than the Camry.

You could look into skoda if they have that in the US.

Leitmotif Leitmotif the only decent VWs are the phaeton and the Touareg. The phaeton because it's dirt cheap. $10k for what's basically a rebadged A8, and the Touareg because it's a rebadged Q7 but better looking/rebadged Cayenne but worse looking.
 
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doghouse said:
Well, you totally are. It effects everything from handling to tire wear and drive train reliability. The Euros and Japanese honed in on this years ago.

The problem right now is that Toyota is basically evolved into producing bloated American cars from the 90s, while the Americans are slimming down. Everything Yota is making is ginourmous and inefficient. Even the SUVs, which are land yachts. The Tacoma, which was the de facto efficiency mobile in the truck segment gets worse fuel economy than the new full size F150's. The Camry and Corolla have gotten huge.

I was a long time Toyota fan FWIW, my first car was an old Land Cruiser, and my mom had a Tercel when I was young.

The Ford Focus is a great car all around in that segment, and the Fusion for the next size up. I know several people who were deciding between the Fusion, Mercedes C Class, and BMW 3 series. That's how far Ford has come in their consumer range.
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I'm a big fan of Fords hot-hatches, fabulous handling. performance and well priced. I can't speak of their exclusively American offerings.

Your comments about Toyota are interesting, they struggle to sell their large cars in Europe, even Lexus struggle. I've never been a fan of how Japanese cars drive, too revvy for me, I like engines with low down grunt.
 
Monkeyface said:
I like the Kia Optima. Solid choice and good warranty. It's also better looking than the Camry.

You could look into skoda if they have that in the US.

Leitmotif Leitmotif the only decent VWs are the phaeton and the Touareg. The phaeton because it's dirt cheap. $10k for what's basically a rebadged A8, and the Touareg because it's a rebadged Q7 but better looking/rebadged Cayenne but worse looking.
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No Skoda in North America for many years. None since 1989 in Canada
 
formby said:
I'm a big fan of Fords hot-hatches, fabulous handling. performance and well priced. I can't speak of their exclusively American offerings.

Your comments about Toyota are interesting, they struggle to sell their large cars in Europe, even Lexus struggle. I've never been a fan of how Japanese cars drive, too revvy for me, I like engines with low down grunt.
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Well, you have stumbled upon it, Ford brought their Euro platforms over here. That was pretty much it. The Focus, then the Kuga was rebadged for us as the new Escape. It was a home run.

I agree, I'm not a high rev guy. I like torque.
 
The phaeton was always a steal, but the maintenance of that thing is a pain the ass. Also te toureg is a great suv, but I had a pick up for a while and while it was great the gas consumption was obscene. Im happy with my cc.
 
Monkeyface said:
Too bad, well priced rebadged audis.
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image.webp
 
I've driven in the new Focus. It's not impressive at all. I don't know what the hell you guys are talking about.

Also, the reports of their reliability have not improved.
 
doghouse said:
Well, you have stumbled upon it, Ford brought their Euro platforms over here. That was pretty much it. The Focus, then the Kuga was rebadged for us as the new Escape. It was a home run.

I agree, I'm not a high rev guy. I like torque.
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I'm not a fan of the styling of the Focus, but the hot hatches are great fun. I love the Fiesta ST which is like a bloody go-kart. Fantastic.

The Kuga is quite attractive in a chunky kinda way.

I had a Honda S2000 but only kept it a short while, I mean weeks, gave it to the wife, who loved it.
 
formby said:
I'm not a fan of the styling of the Focus, but the hot hatches are great fun. I love the Fiesta ST which is like a bloody go-kart. Fantastic.

The Kuga is quite attractive in a chunky kinda way.

I had a Honda S2000 but only kept it a short while, I mean weeks, gave it to the wife, who loved it.
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The Fiesta was another one they transported to us. The last Fiesta before that was in the 70's.

Pauly Chase said:
2012 MB GL450. 30k. 40k miles. One owner. Good deal? Never owned German cars before, need some advice
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Be realistic whether you want to pay for service. Though Merc is a lot more rugged than BMW. Definitely a good price if it has no questionable history

Monkeyface said:
How about Nissan/Infiniti?
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Phenomenal motors. Average construction.
 
Service fees are what worries me, ie never paid more than 30 bucks for an oil change. I know MB is a lot more than 30 bucks.
 
doghouse said:
The Fiesta was another one they transported to us. The last Fiesta before that was in the 70's.



Be realistic whether you want to pay for service. Though Merc is a lot more rugged than BMW. Definitely a good price if it has no questionable history



Phenomenal motors. Average construction.
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Yeah, I like the 350z a lot. Great engine, fun to drive and for a good price.
 
Two cars I am looking at currently:

Ford F150 crew cab: 25k miles, fully loaded with towing package and running boards. 2012

MB GL 450.

Both around the same price.

I dont haul nor have a family.
 
Pauly Chase said:
Two cars I am looking at currently:

Ford F150 crew cab: 25k miles, fully loaded with towing package and running boards. 2012

MB GL 450.

Both around the same price.

I dont haul nor have a family.
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CHINAMENZ in truck. Good for messing with redneck whitey's

What trim level on the F150?
 
Pauly Chase said:
Service fees are what worries me, ie never paid more than 30 bucks for an oil change. I know MB is a lot more than 30 bucks.
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If you really take the time and do your research, you can maintain them pretty well on your own besides the big stuff. But they do cost $$.

Monkeyface said:
Yeah, I like the 350z a lot. Great engine, fun to drive and for a good price.
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Another top 5 all time best value performance car. If Nissan did all their cars that well they'd be in much better shape.

Pauly Chase said:
Two cars I am looking at currently:

Ford F150 crew cab: 25k miles, fully loaded with towing package and running boards. 2012

MB GL 450.

Both around the same price.

I dont haul nor have a family.
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Those are pretty disparate choices. The Merc is going to be a lot more comfortable.
 
If anyone wants F150 reviews, then I will tell you straight up to come to me instead of any silly mag. I've bought dozens. Just bought four 2016's, which are surprisingly nice, even to me.
 
doghouse said:
If anyone wants F150 reviews, then I will tell you straight up to come to me instead of any silly mag. I've bought dozens. Just bought four 2016's, which are surprisingly nice, even to me.
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Tell me why to go Ford vs Chev/GMC. I realize aluminum body is market leading and all.
 
Pauly Chase said:
Two cars I am looking at currently:

Ford F150 crew cab: 25k miles, fully loaded with towing package and running boards. 2012

MB GL 450.

Both around the same price.

I dont haul nor have a family.
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If you want SUV I'd go for Porsche Cayenne/Macan. Much more fun.
 
Monkeyface said:
Got a raptor?
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No. These are work trucks.

Thruth said:
Tell me why to go Ford vs Chev/GMC. I realize aluminum body is market leading and all.
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Currently I'd say the positives are reliability and general value. We just got three XLTs with the 300A package, which is the base, and one XL with the 102A, and I have to say these things are really fucking nice inside. It's a lighter truck, and results in better fuel economy. The EcoBoost twin turbo motor is eyebrow raisingly powerful for someone who grew up on V8's. They are being reported as having less MPG than advertised, but ours are beating the supposed MPG. Around 24 MPG or so. I can't give you the long range report on the new ones obviously yet, but the 04-09 ish F150's we had were unquestionably the best trucks we've ever owned from a reliability/cost of ownership perspective. I keep a spreadsheet of ongoing cost for vehicles, with subtotals for total cost and fuel excluded. I think a couple of them were like $16/mo or something silly. For reference I have nine Silverados. They are having a lot of fuel pump issues, and I've replaced two transmissions and two motors. In the Fords, the only motor I replaced was in my old F 250 that one of the guys drives now, and that is because it jumped timing and sent shrapnel all over the crankcase. I have replaced a transmission in one F150 becuase the guy drives it like Mario Andretti. He burned through the brake pads in 20k miles. I have fourteen Fords I think. So a much better reliability ratio.

For a totally subjective bit, the new Fords look so much fucking better. And I only sat briefly in the cab of them, but I really like the cockpit in these versus Chevy which is like two miles across. I actually had two former die hard Chevy guys ask for new Fords becuase of how well their last ones performed.

Monkeyface said:
If you want SUV I'd go for Porsche Cayenne/Macan. Much more fun.
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Porsche are girls cars.
 
It would be hard to find a porsche in that price range. If I can find a 6 speed Cayenne GTS, I would buy it

The F150 is xlt crew cab. It has some after market parts on it from what I can tell.

The new Tacomoas are also very nice and I can get manual. Still contemplating on all of thse things, because fuel is cheap right now.

Paying cash, so 30 to 35k max.
 
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