Vehicle shopping

[K Frame]

Slowpoke. 

My self-reflection afterwards wasn't terribly different from yours.

I sometimes have a moderately heavy foot on the open road, but I've since avoided triple digits or double the posted limit.

A lot of automotive scribes were wondering if Alfas were going to be more reliable when they re-entered the US market after leaving it in 1995, when they had a TERRIBLE reputation for reliability. I guess now we know.

Oh, I was fully intent on going a LOT faster until I realized what I was doing.

[K Frame]

"
Prices are up, but dealers ARE negotiating prices. At least, more than they were during the Covid supply chain shortages."

I think I mentioned what neighbors went through when they were looking to replace their one car in, IIRC, early 2022.

They went to either a Toyota or Honda dealership (they're like me, they go where the standard transmissions are).

Dealer essentially said "There's a $5,000 non negotiable upcharge on top of the MSRP window price, which is non-negotiable, you'll take what you get (as in, no package ordering and no guarantee that they would get a standard transmission or the color they wanted), you'll get it when you get it, we have no idea when that will be, and you have to pay for it up front, but since we don't know what will come off the truck, you'll have to pay for the most expensive version of the car you want."

They walked out, of course, went to the Subaru dealership where I got my current Forester.

No up charge, they ordered what they wanted, in the color they wanted, only had to leave a relatively marginal deposit, and it got there in, IIRC, less than 3 months.

[Opportunity]

I sincerely envy you, friends. Almost nothing has changed in your driving life )))
Everything in our automotive life has changed absolutely dramatically! If until recently probably 80 percent of cars were European cars, now 80 percent of cars sold are Chinese cars, the names of which make your head spin.
I have already bought a Chinese car for my wife, and for now I drive a Mazda, but I feel that the next car will be Chinese.
Of course, I can buy any European (American, Japanese) car, but they will all be significantly more expensive (due to logistics) and they do not have a factory warranty.

[K Frame]

"Of course, I can buy any European (American, Japanese) car, but they will all be significantly more expensive (due to logistics) and they do not have a factory warranty."

Where do you live?

Here in the United States more and more cars are coming with warranties up to 10 years/100,000 miles.

[Opportunity]

Where do you live?
Here in the United States more and more cars are coming with warranties up to 10 years/100,000 miles.

In Russia.

Surprisingly, many Chinese automobile factories now provide a fairly long warranty as well, for example, my wife’s car has a warranty of 8 years or 100,000 km.
In China itself, as far as I know, many manufacturers give a lifetime (infinite) guarantee to the first owner of the car. Theoretically, this is quite reasonable and gives a good marketing advantage, because in the modern world, most car owners use a new car for no longer than 5-6 years.

[dogmush]

I sincerely envy you, friends. Almost nothing has changed in your driving life )))
Everything in our automotive life has changed absolutely dramatically! If until recently probably 80 percent of cars were European cars, now 80 percent of cars sold are Chinese cars, the names of which make your head spin.
I have already bought a Chinese car for my wife, and for now I drive a Mazda, but I feel that the next car will be Chinese.
Of course, I can buy any European (American, Japanese) car, but they will all be significantly more expensive (due to logistics) and they do not have a factory warranty.

I'm curious about the higher end of the growing Chinese car manufacturing sector.  The only Chinese cars I have personal experience with were complete *expletive deleted*it boxes, but they were also notably the cheap end of the range.  The absolute cheapest American car is a shitbox as well.  I wonder what the mid-range and higher CHinese cars are like.

You guys still build Лады?  I drove one of those for two weeks on a trip in the early '90's. 

[K Frame]

About 10 years ago Top Gear did an update on the state of the Chinese auto industry, and their prediction was that in something like 20 years China was going to be the world's dominant car manufacturer worldwide.

[HankB]

I really prefer passengers to fulfill that function for me.

OH MY *expletive deleted*ing GOD WHAT THE *expletive deleted*ck ARE YOU DOING WE'RE GOING TO DIE YOU ahole!!!!

I can relate. I pulled out to pass a truck, and it turned out there was a long line of trucks to pass, so I pressed the pedal to the floor and went.

My passenger told me I was going awfully fast as I zipped past the first truck in line, and . . . well, I didn't look at the speedometer until I'd pulled back in line and it was going down past a number I won't repeat here. But she was right.

About 10 years ago Top Gear did an update on the state of the Chinese auto industry, and their prediction was that in something like 20 years China was going to be the world's dominant car manufacturer worldwide.

So maybe all those single male Chinese illegal aliens coming across the border from Mexico aren't actually spies and saboteurs, but a pre-positioned workforce for the Chinese car factories that will be built on our soil as soon as their Manchurian Candidate in the White House (that would be Joe Biden) arranges for US government subsidies?

[Opportunity]

I'm curious about the higher end of the growing Chinese car manufacturing sector.  The only Chinese cars I have personal experience with were complete *expletive deleted*it boxes, but they were also notably the cheap end of the range.  The absolute cheapest American car is a shitbox as well.  I wonder what the mid-range and higher CHinese cars are like.

You guys still build Лады?  I drove one of those for two weeks on a trip in the early '90's.

Cars in the middle segment are quite well equipped. Usually even the most budget version has a full set, incl. for example, a heated windshield, sunroof, all-round cameras, radars, lane control, automatic stopping system, etc. For me, the very small engine size is very unusual and suspicious. As a rule, for gasoline and diesel engines it is no more than 2 liters of engine displacement, and more often - 1.5-1.6 liters.
As for the higher segment, either hybrids or fully electric cars are the most common. Most of them look very interesting and not as tacky as Chinese cars were 10 years ago.

[Kingcreek]

Somebody should market a new truck, call it the Geezer.
Straight 6 cyl with a carb and mech fuel pump, manual transmission with traditional clutch, hand crank windows, and a couple ball pivot outside mirrors.
They could sell them cheap and sell the heck out of them. But of course the gubmint wouldn’t allow that because fuel economy and gay planet crisis and safety etc.
Yesterday a guy told me he had to replace a headlight assembly on a ford escape. $1300 a headlight used to cost $17.
With all the electronics and cameras and sensors, I’m glad I bought the ext warranty. I’m covered 6 years and 100k on everything and 10 years/200k on power train. I’ve never bought an ext warranty on anything before.

[zahc]

Somebody should market a new truck, call it the Geezer.
Straight 6 cyl with a carb and mech fuel pump, manual transmission with traditional clutch, hand crank windows, and a couple ball pivot outside mirrors.
They could sell them cheap and sell the heck out of them. But of course the gubmint wouldn’t allow that because fuel economy and gay planet crisis and safety etc.
Yesterday a guy told me he had to replace a headlight assembly on a ford escape. $1300 a headlight used to cost $17.
With all the electronics and cameras and sensors, I’m glad I bought the ext warranty. I’m covered 6 years and 100k on everything and 10 years/200k on power train. I’ve never bought an ext warranty on anything before.

You can get something like that by importing a kei car, which aside from the carburetor part are still built pretty much like that, and still wildly popular. The new ones are still illegal to import though because of the chicken tax.

When I first started driving I almost bought a base model S-10 with rubber floors and crank windows for 13,999 new.

[Bogie]

You know what I hate about "luxury" cars? Most of the owners.
 
Yeah, some folks buy them because they can afford them, and don't plan to keep them...
 
But at least once a week, I'll have someone walk in the front door at the store, and when I ask them how I can help them, they announce that they have a Mercedes Benz and have decided to lower themselves to speak to me. They need some of the proper car wax, whatever...
 
And it's a 2000 C230 or C300 or the lowest model hooptie, but it's a Benz, so they're SPECIAL people...

[dogmush]

You can get something like that by importing a kei car, which aside from the carburetor part are still built pretty much like that, and still wildly popular. The new ones are still illegal to import though because of the chicken tax.

When I first started driving I almost bought a base model S-10 with rubber floors and crank windows for 13,999 new.

Every now and then I look at the export tiny cars and I find something like this:
https://www.mitsuicoltd.com/cars/for-sale-1992-suzuki-jimny-ja11-212854-japanese-keisuv-minisuv-4wd-suzuki-jimny-usa-uk/   and am tempted.

Then I think about buying a car that is minimum 25 years old, sight unseen, and bringing it to a country where they never had any parts for it, and I come to my senses.

[Declaration Day]

If these were available in the United States, I'd buy one for all of my work commuting miles or any time it's just me in the car running errands.  Base model, manual transmission, crank windows, A/C.

https://www.dacia.co.uk/vehicles/sandero.html

[dogmush]

Would you though?

The Chevy Spark was very similar to that. And sold so poorly GM discontinued it in 2023.  The Mitsubishi Mirage is sold here as well. Small hatchback, manual trans standard, pretty much same price.  How many do you see on the road here?

The Nissan Versa and Kia Rio looks the hatchback for a sedan body, but the rest of the bones are there. Same price or cheaper than the Dacia.

Heck the Ford Fiesta was a direct competitor to that car that they TRIED to sell here, and it sold so poorly they cancelled it too.

[Declaration Day]

Would you though?

I'd at least test drive one!  I looked into a new Versa about a year ago, and had trouble finding one with a manual transmission. There was one in Michigan (where I live) and one in Ohio, neither in the color I wanted.  The Mirage is an ancient design, save for updated headlights and taillights. By all accounts it's an awful car, yet I see a surprising number of them in my area. The Rio is no longer available with a manual.  The Dacia is much better looking than any of those models, IMO.

[RocketMan]

All I know about the Dacia brand vehicles is that they were a running joke on Top Gear for many years.

[K Frame]

If I remember correctly, though, James May was always pretty impressed with the Dacias, especially the Sandero. He thought they were a very good car for the money.

And I have to admit, the current Sandero isn't a bad looking car. Definitely not a hot hatch, as they used to call them, but the styling isn't bad and even the baseline models seem to be pretty nicely equipped.

The base model comes with lane departure, traffic sign recognition, ABS, stability and traction control, automatic lights and wipers (not sure if that's rain sensing wipers and dark sensing lights or not), and LED headlights. That's not bad at all. AND it comes with a 5 speed manual as standard.

The one funny thing I just noticed is that the front windows are electric, but the rear windows are manual. I've not seen manual crank windows in a car since my 1991 Plymouth Sundance.

The one thing I just noticed though is that you can have your Sandero in any color you want, as long as it's white, gray, or black. And gray and black will cost you and extra $750.

And, if you want a spare tire (looks like a donut), it's an extra $400.

[HankB]

. . . But at least once a week, I'll have someone walk in the front door at the store, and when I ask them how I can help them, they announce that they have a Mercedes Benz and have decided to lower themselves to speak to me. They need some of the proper car wax, whatever...
 
And it's a 2000 C230 or C300 or the lowest model hooptie, but it's a Benz, so they're SPECIAL people...

Ask them how they like driving a German taxicab. 

[bedlamite]

Somebody should market a new truck, call it the Geezer.
Straight 6 cyl with a carb and mech fuel pump, manual transmission with traditional clutch, hand crank windows, and a couple ball pivot outside mirrors.
They could sell them cheap and sell the heck out of them. But of course the gubmint wouldn’t allow that because fuel economy and gay planet crisis and safety etc.
Yesterday a guy told me he had to replace a headlight assembly on a ford escape. $1300 a headlight used to cost $17.
With all the electronics and cameras and sensors, I’m glad I bought the ext warranty. I’m covered 6 years and 100k on everything and 10 years/200k on power train. I’ve never bought an ext warranty on anything before.

I could use a farm truck. 3/4 ton, 4wd, long bed, standard cab, bench seat, full manual controls, rubber mat instead of carpet, I'd prefer a small V8 over a straight six, and EFI is mature enough to be reliable.  5.3 iron block (no AFM/DOD), sm465, and NP205.

[dogmush]

I could use a farm truck. 3/4 ton, 4wd, long bed, standard cab, bench seat, full manual controls, rubber mat instead of carpet, I'd prefer a small V8 over a straight six, and EFI is mature enough to be reliable.  5.3 iron block (no AFM/DOD), sm465, and NP205.

Look in the commercial truck market for that.

https://www.commercialtrucktrader.com/listing/2015-FORD-F250-5023895631

[Ben]

The popular farm trucks around here seem to be flatbeds. For the real farmers, not the halfass ones like me, though I see plenty of hobby farmers driving them.

[K Frame]

My friend Dave grew up on a farmette -- about 17 acres. They grew a lot of corn, but their big crops were peaches and apples and, in high school, cantaloupes. Dave largely put himself through college by growing and selling cantaloupes. Best damned cantaloupes I've ever had.

But, they had a 1953 Dodge B4D flatbed truck, one of these bad boys...



If I remember correctly, it had a 3-speed on the column manual.

After his Dad died his Mom sold the truck and the tractor, a late 1940s Ford N series.