Motor Car News
开云体育My Subaru Forester is 23 years old this month and still going strong.On 5/13/21 5:00 PM, WillyTex via
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开云体育On 5/14/21 6:24 AM, awb via groups.io
wrote:
On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 07:01 PM, Bhairitu wrote: Not exactly pristine but in better shape than many older cars around here.? That's because I use my garage for what it was intended.? I planned to give it a wash next week at the self service wash before they shut them down for the "drought crisis" (I hope we get summer rains like happened when I moved here in 1991).? Service wise it's been kept up fortunately through an independent garage that has a Subaru mechanic.? OTOH, most of where I go is just clustered around here so I don't have to drive far for anything.? In fact I fill up these days about every three months and the car only has a little over 130K miles. |
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On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 09:47 AM, Bhairitu wrote:
Not exactly pristine but in better shape than many older cars around here.? That's because I use my garage for what it was intended.? I planned to give it a wash next week at the self service wash before they shut them down for the "drought crisis" (I hope we get summer rains like happened when I moved here in 1991).? Service wise it's been kept up fortunately through an independent garage that has a Subaru mechanic.? OTOH, most of where I go is just clustered around here so I don't have to drive far for anything.? In fact I fill up these days about every three months and the car only has a little over 130K miles.My sister has an ancient relic of a car. She lives in LA. She doesn't wash it or pamper it in any way other than the servicing she gets from some geezer who works out of his garage. The thing is a beater in my books. I am surprised she doesn't get an electric car as she is very environmentally sensitive but somehow she thinks driving the antiquity is better for the environment. I usually keep my vehicles for 15 years or so and they look show room new even after that many years. Anyone who ends up with my used cars get a whoppin' deal. Whenever we take our vehicles in for trade-in the salesmen usually are on the phone immediately to family or friends to let them know a sweet one just arrived. This electric Golf i just bought was an exception to the 15 year situation because I wanted electric and so traded in my Golf Highline after only 5 years. The downside is I no longer have a stick to drive. But, the electric is extremely peppy and I love it. |
开云体育I drove our car for 15 years when my kids were growing up, which made it very well-used. ?Still looked great at the end, but the engine was definitely shot. ?Traded it in for a smaller car, a Honda Fit, which we loved but that turned out to be a little TOO small. ?So I gave that to middle dd and got a lightly-used Prius which I’ve had ever since, 8 years now. ?I prefer to buy cars as seldom as possible, in general hang onto them as long as I can unless there’s a good reason not to. ?Really until they basically die. Sal On May 15, 2021, at 8:47 AM, awb via groups.io <abater@...> wrote:
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On Sat, May 15, 2021 at 07:45 AM, Sal Sunshine wrote:
I drove our car for 15 years when my kids were growing up, which made it very well-used. ?Still looked great at the end, but the engine was definitely shot. ?Traded it in for a smaller car, a Honda Fit, which we loved but that turned out to be a little TOO small. ?So I gave that to middle dd and got a lightly-used Prius which I’ve had ever since, 8 years now. ?I'm the same - drive 'em until they die.? And, I've never bought a new car.? When the kids were little I bought a Honda Accord wagon, which they don't make anymore.? It was a great car.? Unfortunately, it was "totaled" in an accident.? My sister was in Guatemala for a year and sold me her 1999 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4.0 L 6-cylinder that only had 50K on it.? I've had it ever since.? Nothing has ever gone wrong with the engine.? Car has 308,000 miles on it and is humming along.? It doesn't get good gas mileage though and I'll retire it to the garage when I can get an affordable and equivalent used electric. I expect it will still be running.?? -- Em |
开云体育I tend to view cars as a utility not a showpiece.? The other part of the Forester deal, I was in a situation to pay cash for it which ticked off the closer and probably the lot (but not accounting).? Dealers usually get a payback from the financers.? Also I went in wearing just t-shirt and shorts which made their lead salesman hand me off to "the kid" (probably the owner's grandson).? And so "the kid" got the sale and I could hear the lead salesman grouse about it.? Actually I had been scoping out when they were expecting a new shipment and jumped on it when they came in.It was also my third Subaru.? The first one I bought in 1977 for $2800 (new) and was a 5-speed wagon (I had to haul drum sets). Replaced it in 1989 with a used 1988 rental wagon that had only 10K miles on it.? That was an automatic because I fought almost no one could drive my 5-speed on trips even if they learned on a manual.? I had also test driven a Subaru Justy but decided it was too small to haul drums in.? Those had a dual transmission system and could be driven either stick or auto. Subarus are like water cooled VWs and the engine is a Porsche design.? The Forester is about due for another timing belt which won't be cheap. On 5/15/21 6:47 AM, awb via groups.io
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On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 09:47 AM, Bhairitu wrote: |
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On Sat, May 15, 2021 at 10:47 AM, Alex Stanley wrote:
I still have my 1996 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4, long bed, club cab, 360 V8, 5-speed manual pickup truck. It was my daily drive for 13 years; now, it's the farm truck. After that, I drove a Pontiac Vibe, followed by a Ford Escape, which I just traded in on a 2021 Mazda CX-30 Turbo. The Mazda is a rocket.Manuals!? My pop drove only manuals his whole life (he's quit driving).? So, of course, we all did too.? What is your opinion of the Ford Escape? ? -- Em |
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On Sat, May 15, 2021 at 08:08 PM, Emily Mae wrote:
On Sat, May 15, 2021 at 10:47 AM, Alex Stanley wrote: My 2015 Escape was a good car. If I'd purchased the 2.0 liter engine instead of the less powerful 1.6 liter, I'd probably still be driving it. Ford is the only domestic brand I'd buy at this point.? |
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On Sat, May 15, 2021 at 06:38 PM, Alex Stanley wrote:
My 2015 Escape was a good car. If I'd purchased the 2.0 liter engine instead of the less powerful 1.6 liter, I'd probably still be driving it. Ford is the only domestic brand I'd buy at this point.?Thanks.? I've been looking at this as a possible affordable replacement for the Jeep—if in fact, necessary.? I drove a 2010 one years ago as a rental on a 10-day road trip through Utah and was surprisingly impressed with the way it drove and the interior layout.? It has a comparable engine size and cubic feet of cargo space.?? Em |
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On Sun, May 16, 2021 at 07:56 AM, Emily Mae wrote:
Thanks.? I've been looking at this as a possible affordable replacement for the Jeep—if in fact, necessary.? I drove a 2010 one years ago as a rental on a 10-day road trip through Utah and was surprisingly impressed with the way it drove and the interior layout.? It has a comparable engine size and cubic feet of cargo space.??We recently traded in our Dodge 4x4 Ram, which we needed when we actually had a farm and I had to haul a horse trailer, for a Jeep Cherokee Trail Hawk. It will pull a single horse in a two horse aluminum trailer which is good but it is also much easier to park in small parking lots and it still fits three dogs comfortably in the back with the seats down. I am not a fan of SUV's but it is mostly my husband's car so he got to pick. It is also smaller than the Grand Cherokee which is good. |
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On Mon, May 17, 2021 at 06:36 AM, awb wrote:
We recently traded in our Dodge 4x4 Ram, which we needed when we actually had a farm and I had to haul a horse trailer, for a Jeep Cherokee Trail Hawk. It will pull a single horse in a two horse aluminum trailer which is good but it is also much easier to park in small parking lots and it still fits three dogs comfortably in the back with the seats down. I am not a fan of SUV's but it is mostly my husband's car so he got to pick. It is also smaller than the Grand Cherokee which is good.Nice.? I agree—have never like the Grand Cherokee.? Too monstrous.? My life also requires that I have a small truck and/or SUV of some sort.? It just does.?? ? -- Em |
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On Sun, May 16, 2021 at 05:16 PM, WillyTex wrote:
There are several things new cars just don’t have. First, simplicity.A friend of mine bought a new Suburu Forester with all the bells and whistles.? She loves that stuff.? Her husband refuses to drive the car.? He took it to work and ran the batter dead twice, mistakenly trying to manually turn the lights off and leaving the lights on.? She and I took it on our road trip to Big Sur recently; she would yell at Siri to play different music and Siri couldn't understand her or didn't recognize the group and so would continually repeat the reject phrase.? so irritating.? We ended up mostly playing the CD's her husband had put together for us.? Thank goodness the car had a player!? Ha.? ? I need a new stereo and speakers in the Jeep.? Nothing fancy, but obviously I need to plug an iphone in and I want a CD player.? I have no subscriptions.? Are there recommendations from the peanut gallery??? -- Em |
开云体育That's one of the great features I like about my Subaru Forester.? If you have the headlights on and shut the engine off the the lights go off too.? No forgetting the lights are still on when you leave the car and return to a dead battery.? There is a switch if you want some low beams on while in the engine is off that can be use in an emergency.On 5/17/21 9:23 AM, Emily Mae via
groups.io wrote:
On Sun, May 16, 2021 at 05:16 PM, WillyTex wrote: |
开云体育CDs? ?What are those ?Speaking of bells and whistles… The car I had for 15 years? It was an Explorer, and I loved it, it was perfect for what I needed at the time. But as I was getting ready to trade it in, I realize there were any number of features I haven’t bothered to figure out yet because I’d never needed them. For the average driver, I think they include a few too many “extras” so they can use that as an excuse to jack the price up. Sal On May 17, 2021, at 11:23 AM, Emily Mae via groups.io <emily.mae50@...> wrote:
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Bhairitu
awb
Sal Sunshine
Emily Mae
Alex Stanley