Gearhead Thread

[Munson]

Also been looking at Hyundai Santa Fe's since they seem to also have decent towing capacity and are much more reasonably priced for something that I've read has has decent reliability as well. Wife's parents had a Santa Fe when we met actually, that thing lasted a solid 12ish years I think.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Towing can and usually does shorten the life of a tranny. You can prolong the life by changing the fluid in shorter intervals than if you weren't hitching up to something. If you're going to travel a lot and row then just stay militant about your maintenance. Fluid changes, alignments...shtein like that. Rather than going 5000 miles between oil changes maybe shorten it. Use full synthetic fluids (oil, Trans, differential).

I don't have much experience with CVTs but I know that many of the import manufacturers and some domestics use them.

I'd recommend relying on the name of the manufacturer so for example Subaru has a pretty good track record when it comes to longevity and quality. Whereas Nissan does not. Toyota and Honda are trustworthy too.

Hyundai has really stepped their game up over the years. They went from putting out shteinboxes to making a decently reliable car.

[PhillyPhreak54]

My girlfriend needs a new car. She's got a ten year old Honda Fit. Her dream car is a Lexus RX350 but that's out of her price range.

Toyota Camry was her next choice. The TRDs are pricey. They're v6 equipped and the TRD is a performance trim level. Sticker on the color/options she wanted was $47k.

Next level was the XSE and that one came in at $37k. Still a bit more than she wants to spend per month. Nice car though.

I found an SE Nightshade (black accents/wheels) and it is the color (white) she wants. Sticker was a few bills over $30k.

Toyota is notorious for not really offering rebates. They know they have a reliable product and usually their price is their price. But now they were a little more open to dealing.

They're offering, like many auto makers, 0% for 60mo or 1.9% for 72mo. If you choose either of those then you lose the rebates and pay sticker basically. But because her credit is perfect she's getting something like 2.7% and I'm able to keep the rebates attached.

I was able to get them down to out the door for $25.5k. Felt pretty good about that especially considering how reliable the Camry's are. The MPG rating on this one is 28/39.

[Rome]

I've been a Honda man my whole life.  Had a Prelude and two Accords.  Love them.

But...

I have a 2015 Mazda 6 now.  Bought it used a couple of years ago.  I absolutely love this car. It's comfortable, fast enough and I haven't had to do much maintenance on it at all.  Just routine stuff.

I've been considering trading it in for a newer model, but farg it. It's only got 69,000 miles on it and it still drives like a dream.

I bought it with 42,000 miles on it and paid around $14K for it.    Sticker was $28K.

[Diomedes]

Where Tomahawk anymore?

This for you, bro:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-buick-riviera-6/

[Diomedes]

for Phreak

from r/camaro

https://www.reddit.com/r/camaro/comments/gowwz5/mt_4th_genplsignore_the_green_mustang_in_the/

[Rome]

Ha!!

[PhillyPhreak54]

Haha that's actually funny.

Wonder what the Camaro drivers mullet length to teeth ratio is though?!

[Diomedes]

It's Mustang week at

https://www.carscoops.com/2020/05/angry-neighbor-allegedly-uses-expanding-foam-to-silence-mustangs-noisy-exhaust/


inevitable I guess, but ludicrous all the same that Mustangs (and other muscle/sport cars) have exhaust audio piped throughout so the man boys who drive them can feel like their motor is mean

[PhillyPhreak54]

I'd burn the house down of whomever did that.

The sound tubes are stupid. I took mine off. I can hear my exhaust just fine without it.

[Munson]

So we ended up getting a 2017 Outback Limited with just under 41K miles for $21.5. I should have been more aggressive in price negotiations, but got them to go down a little bit, and it is certified pre-owned so we got the rest of the warranty and etc. Between our trade in and a pretty sizeable down payment (thanks in part to the stimulus), and the certified pre-owned status getting us a 2.99% APR, we ended up doing a 6 year term because even at 6 years we'd only be paying an extra $1400 over the life of the loan (if I'm reading the paperwork right), and the car shouldn't ever be worth less than what we owe on it. So the 6 year term gave us flexibility with the monthly payments but we're prob gonna pay extra every month and pay it off in 5-5 and a half years.

[Diomedes]

This is the gearhead thread not the Get Financial Help thread.

[Munson]

Well, it's got 4 wheels, some gears, and it's the Limited model so it's got all the bells and whistles

[Diomedes]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/53527355

Formula 1 decided that the situation in the U.S. is nuts, cancels planned race in Austin...also, Mexico and Brazil....

so much winning

[Rome]

I am legit impressed with the new Bronco line coming out.  I mean $50K for an SUV is derp stupid but damn they look nice.