(10-04-2024, 06:08 AM)FlyingClayDisk Wrote: Speaking of car sizes and fitting inside; I'm a big guy 6'-4"+ and about 270 (15E boots), so fitting inside a vehicle is a primary consideration for me (air travel in coach is pure misery). One of the worst cars we've owned for foot placement (which is actually a big deal for any longer trip) was a Cadillac DeVille. Monstrous car, with the tiniest, most awkward, foot well ever. The rest of the car was pure luxury, but the foot well issue caused me to sell it. Surprisingly, one of the roomiest cars to fit into is actually a Subaru Outback. Somehow Subaru has designed the cabin in such a way that there is a lot more room (both front and back seats) than just about any other "car" I've ever sat in. People make fun of Subaru's (calling them Lez-baru's), but I don't care; I can fit inside comfortably and that's what counts. Not to mention the fact that the Subies are true ALL wheel drive, and our drive is a 14% grade, and 17.5% right up by the house, so in wintertime in the deep snow the Subie will make it up with no issues. It's an amazing car actually; we liked it so much we bought (2) of them for daily commuters (have a '15 and a '20).
Our other vehicles are all trucks. Have no issues fitting in the new Ram 3500 mega cab 4x4 (6.7L Cummins turbo diesel, bay-bee!). But I literally cannot fit inside a standard cab half ton pickup. The wife's truck is a F-250 crew, and I can fit in the drivers side of that, but not the passenger's side other than for a short trip (weird foot well in that one too).
I've never been a Subaru driver but I do understand they tend to have rather fragile transmissions and lots of problems with under-carriage bushings that are very difficult to replace.
(10-04-2024, 12:34 PM)Raptured Wrote: Friends had a small PIH a few years ago. I forget if it was a Kia or Hyndai but they absolutely loved it. He mentioned 3 months between fill-ups!
Hopefully they'll (any manufacturer) start making a semi-luxury sedan as a PIH, not just small subcompacts. I'm sure it has to do with weight and required battery size/drive train and all that.
About ready to ditch my GTI. I've loved it for the 4 years I've had it but it's just not practical anymore. It was more of a "adolescent dream car" thing for me so...bucket-list checked.
Previous to that I had a Jetta (2017) that I absolutely loved for some reason. No major bells or whistles. SE model with sunroof and nav. (my only requirements back then).
Still a VW guy but I'm considering a Genesis G70 (V6, Grand Touring or Tech trim) and also an Atlas Cross Sport (SEL or better).
I dunno. I don't think I'd buy a Hyundai or Kia anything unless I planned on selling it before the warranty was over.
Friend of mine has a Kia Santa Fe that roached the engine at 56K and all of the maintenance was done by the book. He's an old man and drives like one.
(10-04-2024, 06:57 PM)Maxmars Wrote: I know there is a certain potential for these kinds of discussion to veer into 'fanboi' territory... and frankly - I'm not one.
If you enjoy performance, it's difference, it about the vehicles' operation - and all the art that entails...
if you are more utilitarian... it's a car... to get you reliably from point A to B and back again in safety.
But my last vehicle is a 2015 Jeep Cherokee... and she is both a tank, and a workhorse. No significant complaints.
She's not some fancy or refined piece of performance technology, she is a car... and she serves well (so far) without tiresome minutiae providing fickle repair needs.
Although I have never used anything but synthetic oil in her... I can't say it made a difference, but it sure seems to have.
(Actually, I just wanted to participate in the convo.)
My experience with synthetic is that ALL of the seals will leak post ~130K or so. No sludge deposits to plug the leaks.
I had a Civic that ran synthetic its whole life while I owned it. ~160K the rear main seal leakage reached about 1qt a wk. Pop the valve cover and the head looks pristine. Zero oil burn. Just leak leak leak. Whole underside of the car was covered with oil. Guess that's good automatic rust-proofing if you live in the snow belt.
I've had good success using Blue Devil Rear Main Sealer. Once wasn't enough. Twice resolved it. Until then, 1 cap full of DOT-3 brake fluid in the oil will swell the seals enough to stop the leaking until the next oil change. Been 2.5 years on Blue Devil and no leaks, yet. I only ran it the 2 oil changes and never again. I do still run "high mileage" oil which has crap in it to swell the seals. "Conditioners" as they call them.
