OT: Talking Cars Tuesday - Car Advice
I thought we had a real good thread last week on brands. There was (mostly) well informed discussion on the global-ness of the Auto Industry, as well as lots people explaining why they like the cars they like. I find it interesting too that not one person said "I like Brand X because they make the best cars." There was lots of "I had one, it was reliable, I got another" or "My family's worked for Brand X" etc.... but no one claimed "Best".
Anyway, on to this week. What's the best piece of car advice you've ever gotten? Maybe you ignored it and have a good story to tell. Maybe your parents told you something specific about the family ride and it never treated you wrong. Did someone recommend buying a car you never would have thought of? Maybe you got horrible advice like "oil doesn't need changing". Maybe you want the MGoBoard's advice on something? Let's hear about that friend/parent/significant other who gave you great advice or steered (sorry) you wrong.
And I'd add to that don't buy the first model year of a major redesign. They always find bugs that are fixed in later years.
for example, Honda has had great redesign years with the Pilot '09 and the Civic '06. There are other examples too.
My dad's version was make sure the passenger seat can lean back all the way. I was getting ready for prom at the time.
They now teach (and recommend) driving at 9 and 3, because airbags.
Why would driving at 9am instead of 10am have anything to do with airbags?
I'll admit that being able to drive the car after 2 would make it easier to pick the kids up from skool.
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had a minivan. A Chevy Astro IIRC. That thing was like a mobile hotel room. Why her parents didn't think of that when they bought it is beyond me, but I thank them for it.
I've thought of buying a minivan as an extra car just for roadhead purposes.
a Chevy Asstro?
The original Chrysler minivans had a convert-a-bed option. Some young engineer was looking out for his bros.
http://www.allpar.com/model/m/original-minivans.html
"Seating configurations for the minivans allowed for anywhere from five to eight seats by 1986. The Convert-a-Bed option was available, though it is rare to find one; coded CYL, it converted the three-passenger bench seat into a bed “with the flick of a wrist,” with a quick release assembly for easier removal. It was only available on short wheelbase, five passenger models."
You must have dated her after I did.
Always check a new vehicle for headroom under the steering wheel!
"Never trust the military industrial complex,
and always buy a slanted six'.
(He had family that worked for Chrysler).
I'm happy that straight 6's are making a comeback. Perfect inherent balance is a wonderful thing.
But I've had several cars with straight 6 engines and I'm a big fan. Jeep Cherokee, BMW, and a Volvo S80 TT.
That S80 was awesome. The engine was smooth as butter and once those turbo's kicked in holy fuck was it fast. It wasn't very reliable though. I bought a 99, which was the first model year for the S80. This thread would have come in handy before I got that car.
one slant 6 211 in my Mom's Duster as a kid, and one in my old XJ. I loved them both. Both went many many miles with just standard maintanance.
I love straight sixes.
Leather is way easier to clean and won't burn when you drop a lit cigarette on it.
I smoked for a long time. And I'm the sort of person that offers guests an ashtray in my now non-smoking home. Because I'm polite like that.
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just before I got kids. 'Its harder to stain leather...'
The carpet is totally fucked in both of my cars thanks to my 4 year old, but the seats still look great!
Sigh.
For those of us in northern states, an occasional underbody wash is a must if you do not want your car to die an early death due to corrosion.
I did not do this in the Prizm that I had for almost 12 years and it came at the price of a lot of replacement parts at the end of that car's life, so yeah, definitely do this if you live in a state that has salt slathered on its roads a few months out of each year. I take my current vehicle to the car wash once or twice a month now and pay for the full deal, as a matter of fact, and usually I will bitch until my wife promises to do the same thing. Once burned and all that.
Advice from my dad. As he stated, you are spending a lot of money on a car (a lot is a different dollar amount to different people and different times in your life), so you might as well spend it on something you like.
So far, all of my purchases have been cars I've enjoyed driving and enjoyed how they look and feel, and it makes me happy when I go out and get in them.
This probably applies more to people who are into cars, but even though my wife isn't really into cars, I know she enjoys the cars she has owned, and made sure to get the cars she wanted and not settle.
My wife decided she was looking to spend 25-30k and decided a couple year old infiniti was the way to go. One of her friends had a g35 at the time and she really liked it. I told her to look at the Kia Optima which topped out at around $35k. She ended up getting a top of the line Optima with everything but the threshold decals and really likes it. She said she still likes it 3 years and 45k miles later.
I drive a sportage which i wanted because the rear window opens independently of the hatch. It doesn't do that anymore. I think it was the last small SUV which the window opened. Bastards. It's great for carrying a small amount of lumber since it couldn't do that if the window did not open... My next vehicle might be the 2018 ranger. We'll see.
If you're riding in the bed of the truck make sure you sit up near the cab so you don't get bounced around too much.
I think they arrest you if you ride in the back of the truck now.
4x4 doesn't help you stop on ice.
-My personal PSA to every SUV driver on the first snow of the year
4 wheel drive doesn't help you slow down - the extra weight makes it worse! All cars have 4 wheel braking.
This is the first thing my dad made sure I understood when I bought my first 4x4 vehicle.
and I have to admit that I'm looking at turning it to snow mode and going through some deaper snow. My mazdaspeed 3 has done fine in the winters, especially when I had blizzaks, but there was definitely some times I really had to plan ahead to ensure I had enough momentum to get where I was going.
I'll have to be careful now, though, as my new vehicle is around 1,400 lbs more than what I'm used to. Stopping will be a concern.
From my big brother, just as I was learning to drive: "I know you're going to want to go tear assing around. I get it. But remember, if you ever hit anyone you'd never forgive yourself" and "When the rain first starts to hit, the asphalt roads can get really slippery. More so than if they've been raining a long time.
To stretch things a bit, I've given some advice I consider good:
A) Don't skimp on your tires. It doesn't matter how many electronic do-dads you have, if your tires are bald or nearly so, your car won't stop, accelerate, or turn as well (in response to a relative who thought they could save money on tires by running them forever).
B) Get a new car, one day when conditions are snowy, take it to an empty parking lot and see what its driving dynamics are. Do donuts. Skids. Emergency stops. Learn how your car handles when its relatively safe.
Especially the tires part. I took a grad-level vehicle dynamics class at Michigan and the professor was obsessed with tires. On our final there was a fill in the blank.
The _______ stop the ________. The ________ stop the car.
(The Brakes stop the tires. The tires stop the car).
I've never bought from them, but tirerack.com has wonderful reviews of tires - http://www.tirerack.com/tires/reviews/MenuServlet?search=surveyComments
You can put your car in and see what tires other people have gotten and what they think.
ITs a great place for model specific information.
I did the snowy parking lot thing with my son and will be taking the daughter as soon as winter hits this year. This is great practice for new drivers. You learn to drive a sliding car by driving a sliding car.
Exactly! You can talk about steering into a skid, or pumping vs not-pumping til you are blue in the face, but it's actually experienceing these situations that develops a good driver.
often, and make sure someone that knows what the hell they're doing does it. I hate people that leave their car go wayyyy over schedule for an oil change. Obviously, the oil change helps your car, but if your car gets checked over properly at regular times, problems should be kept in check on your vehicle. I've mentioned before I worked for a car dealership for 3 years out of college, and I'll never forget the dude that destroyed his 2 year old Durango in under 30,000 miles because HE NEVER CHANGED THE OIL ONCE. Bravo, idiot.
What do you consider wayyyy over? Getting it changed right at 3,000 miles is unnecessary. I think the most I have gone over the suggested 3,000 limit is 1,000ish.
Is doubling the recommended time that you should. So if your car/oil recommends 5,000, pushing it up to 8,000 - 10,000 just makes me shake my head.
My wife's, and my 2nd car, both recommend annual or 10K miles.