Let's Talk Cars

The main reason I preferred the Outback over the Forester is because I kayak. Shorter roof and built in cross racks is what I like about it.

 

lol. Took that long, huh? I'd never buy a Fiat anything. I was never a fan of Dodge reliability, but then FIat took them and Chrysler over and it was like "bad meets worse meets worst".

It'll be interesting to see how Chrysler and Dodge fair. Fiat may be squashing them in the future or at least shrinking them in size (which would be amazing since I think Chrysler only has 2 models left).

Hopefully you'll be ok with the Accord. I've lost a bit of faith in Honda/Acura after owning my TLX, so my next car won't be one, but in general, I'm guessing you should fair much better than rolling in the Charger.

 

I have Thule aerobars on my Forester. I'd prefer the standard rails with aftermarket crossbars compared to the Outback's built in cross bars because they have less compatibility with aftermarket racks. My Thule Hullavator would never work on an Outback.

 

Yeah. . Working on cars a lot, I'd personally never own a Dodge/Chrysler/Fiat and agree completely on your rating/transition of ownership... Went from what I had thought was rock bottom to below that....

I'm mainly ford, chevy, and Japanese cars kind of guy.. And a few other euro cars depending on year/make/model... Especially since I fix all my own cars (unless it's body work ...)

On a side note... after working on a chrysler recently it was absolute trash design. I thought the early 2k nissan 2.5s engines were bad but this design was so bad I didn't even want to work on it, and I like working on cars...

 

Didn't think about that. Good point.

 

A Dodge and a VW at the same time... you're lucky they didn't spontaneously combust in your garage and burn your house down.

 

I think your Accord Sport 2.0T was a great choice. Did you get the 10 speed automatic, or the 6 speed manual transmission? Both are supposed to be excellent. As for the mid-size SUV's, earlier someone mentioned the new 2019 Subaru Forester. My significant other has the earlier model and loves it, but I detest the CVT transmission. Excellent gas mileage, which is nice. Good ride in the front, but not the back seat, which is weird (seat close to the rear axle and suspension not adequately dampened). The 2019's CVT and the ride are supposed to be better. Would be worth a look at one that's a year or two old when you're shopping down the road. The standard all wheel drive is a major plus and it has a lot of ground clearance, so you could easily do some mild off-road travel.

 

Just helped my mother-in-law choose a 2018 Volvo XC-60. Great car. Has so much technology (self park, blind spot monitors, multiple drive modes, huge screen for GS, audio, climate control, phone) she really won't use but it came as part of the package in the car and its a great balance between luxury and performance (even with the turbo 4). We looked at the Infinitis and the Volvo just seemed better in every way.

 

I just got a 2018 Honda Civic Touring. It's amazing.

I drove an '06 F150 into the ground and it was time to re-up but with my family in mind. I don't mind saying, my truck was a mid-level trim, came with a few upgrades but not the craziest thing you've ever seen. Stepping into the '18 Civic after being used to the truck has been uh...mind blowing. The Technology alone was worth the price (which listed less than what my truck was fyi). Adaptive Cruise Control is a must for anyone, I'm convinced. Especially on the highway, the thing basically drives itself. The sound system is crisp. The ride is very comfortable driving and thumbs up from passengers. The gas mileage is like well over 2x what I was getting in the truck towards the end. Averaging 37.5mpg. I know this because it tells me lol

I was looking at all the family sedans. Had the Camry in my sights but seems like the higher trim levels were REALLY pricey in comparison. Probably isn't the best but maybe not the worst story ever told...me and the fam came out of Denny's and a Civic Touring was sitting right next to the old truck. I got a good minute to look at it and loved what I saw. Went home and loved what I saw. Went out and bought the **** lol true story.

So we got our family car for the next 20 years.

 

Is your opinion the same for RAM trucks?

 

I've yet to see a Chrysler product without the cheapest plastic known to mankind wall to wall. It's why I don't have a Jeep Wrangler.

 

I'm also with those that have said to steer clear of any Fiat/Chrysler produced vehicle. They may look nice or have quite a bit of performance to it, but my god they don't have a clue how to manufacture vehicles.

I've sadly been desperate enough in my early 20s to have owned 2 of their vehicles.

One was a 2006 Stratus SXT. Ex-Gf wanted one badly after her 96 Grand Am blew it's head gasket. Bought it used with 16k on the clock, and within 6 months it had to be serviced 3 separate times for electrical issues. On the final service of this car existence the dealer actually totaled the vehicle on a test drive. I took the money and ran.

During that same time frame I had also owned an Intrepid, mostly because I have an affinity for big body sedans. It actually lasted me quite a while, but not because it wanted to. I wasted so much money keeping that thing going. I finally sold it to a junk yard after quite a few years. It went through 2 engines in the span of 150k miles.

Just stay the hell away from them. Let that manufacture die already, please. How bad do you have to be to eventually get bought out by an Italian company specifically known for making some of the worst vehicles in history.

 

I'm glad they finally got elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

 

It really varies on year (older are better) but from what I've seen, unfortunately, yes. With that said, they're certainly better than the other lines/models Chrysler makes, and if you own one or are thinking of it, go all the way with the hemi and 4x4.

As Mentioned... Jeep is **** now, for example if you were looking at a jeep, you'd want a grand cherokee with hemi (and probably 8 years or older), but.. The days of wrangler and other jeeps being great are over... I mean their Patriot line uses the pos cvt transmission .. A CVT is just awful, at least the earlier ones (especially on an suv).

If anyone owns a car from about 05-11+ that has a CVT, do yourself a favor, flush the transmission 1 qt at a time (by turning car on/off with return line of trans off and measuring the drained qt exactly, continue until its the color of the new trans fluid (remember drain one and then add one). The **** coming out will probably be burnt to hell. Next buy a universal all in one external trans cooler (about $30-60), and mount it to the radiator fins, add a bit of trans tube and add it into the trans loop with the old radiator (so basically you'll have trans goto the radiator and then continue out to the new cooler and then back to the transmission). Also, buy your cvt fluid on amazon or similar... autozone and dealers etc think the **** is gold and sell it for $12-20 a qt, **** that, buy 6 qt cases of Castrol synthetic cvt fluid for $6 a qt on amazon.

 

My brother loves cars. Owned Ferrari's, Jaguars, Range Rovers, etc. He actually earned over 100k when he sold his Ferrari's.

But he loves Dodges. 4 door pickup is his daily driver, his wife drives a Challenger, and he's owned two vipers. (One for track purposes, the other as a weekend car.) That's just off the top of my head.

I don't get it, either, but I trust his judgement. In fact, in his opinion, the next car he sees spiking in price like the Ferrari's did is the 1st generation Viper.

 

Those first gen Vipers were very poor cars to drive tho. People make hardtops for them now which is good but the factory cloth top is trash. It has no side windows. You still have those side pipes that burn your legs, a horrible sound system. Less power than a Mustang GT, TINY cockpit. Interior parts look like they are stolen from an 90's Dodge Stratus. No airbags.


Looking at prices I guess I agree with him. 35K for one with 30K or less miles has to be a car that can only increase in value.