ICE Vehicles: General topics

[User.45]

Yeah, multi-car, multi-stuff discount (home, cars). I guess my post was in response to a discussion about insurance - specifically on Teslas (generally on EVs) - ours more or less didn't change from the previous cars / no EV specific rate hike. Heck, would think with the near perfect IIHS scores it wouldn't but you never know, insurance is a mystery ...

I've actually done some speculative pricing (on cars I didn't wind up buying) and even a Porsche and a Viper were within $25/month or so vs. anything else.

You probably have a LOT of things on that insurance

 

[User.168]

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[User.168]

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[JohnR]

Phew! Caught up! ok, so

Just picked up a new Mega Truck. This one has a Black Intimidation Grill instead of a Chrome Intimidation Grill.

2021 F-250 Lariat 6.7. This is my third one in a row (6th overall with a couple of F-150's in the mix) but this is by far the best of them. That could change, but the last one I put 109K on without any major issues.

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Nice Super Duty! Love the look of these. Have you picked it up already? I ask because I live near the Ford plant where they make these and they have been shut down a lot this year due to chip shortage. They have a LOT (not sure how many but they filled the entire parking lots) of them at the Kentucky Motor Speedway up in Sparta KY (If you are driving on I-71 you can see them when you go by Sparta). I wonder what would happen if a storm came in dropping tons of hail on them.

Also, have you heard about the "death wobble"? A buddy had a 2014 that had this. Not sure if Ford ever corrected it.

 

[JohnR]

It's not in a spot that for me will make it worth it to go through that effort. If it was in a more obvious spot that I would see often, I would probably look into it.

I can't find where you mentioned it, but how do you like that Metrovac dryer?

 

[DT]

I live in Europe and we have no requirement to carry a football team around. Even something the size of a Range Rover is a hassle for parking and driving around these parts.

Years ago I worked with a company that had an office in the UK, their MD used to come over a few times a year, he was a big car enthusiast. At the time I had a C4 Corvette, I used to let him drive it, hahaha, he used to say, "I love this beast, but it won't even fit on my street!"

 

[quagmire]

I can't find where you mentioned it, but how do you like that Metrovac dryer?

I like it, but you definitely want the car to be coated with a wax/sealant/ceramic coating to make it easy. Initial test run on my dads car which is not coated and it was a PITA since the water did not want to be blown off. The more powerful version drew 19 amps and I didn't feel comfortable being that close to the breakers 20A limit, plus the outlet is technically only rated for 15 amps so there is that.

 

[JohnR]

That's good to know your mobile support experience was positive, I mean, I'd rather avoid service, but if it has to happen, that's a nice option.

Mobile service is VERY convenient...they will come to wherever you park your car (work, home, etc). They can fix a lot of things.

For those Tesla owners, I would highly recommend hooking up with your local owners club. https://engage.tesla.com top right, find a club

You can get a lot of information from other owners, get help with any issues you might have, etc. The president of the club (like me, I'm the president of the Kentucky club) has a contact within Tesla that can (hopefully) get any issues resolved.

Some may see me as a "fan boy", but I consider myself the same as I was when Apple was releasing the original colored iMacs (anyone remember which song and sung by which group? if you do, you are an Apple fan boy haha)
I'm just super pleased with my purchase. There are a LOT more people who my wife would call tesla-nerds (Ryan McCaffrey with the podcast Ride the Lightning...super fanboy). What is really funny is that my wife calls me a nerd, yet when we go to a club meetup (usually at a car show), and when people approach to ask questions, she's right there answering them.

Sure, it's great for the environment as far as the no pollution coming out of a tailpipe, but I love the car more for the acceleration and tech. Does it look like a sports car like a corvette, ferrari, camaro? nope, and that's another reason why I like it...I look like some dumb dude in a white car. But meet me at a stoplight and rev your engine...I'm gone...see ya. I'll even slow down and let you catch up. I don't know how many times I get mustang owners (or mouse as my dad called his 70 Mustang) flooring it trying to catch me. They will eventually, but hey, who just got embarrassed?

as for the white seats vs black seats, yeah, the white is more comfortable, but honestly, I like the black too. If you got the 18" stock wheels for your 3, check these out: https://rimetrix.com I have seen them in person and they look VERY sharp and actually might get better efficiency than the stock ones.

 

[Herdfan]

Phew! Caught up! ok, so



Nice Super Duty! Love the look of these. Have you picked it up already? I ask because I live near the Ford plant where they make these and they have been shut down a lot this year due to chip shortage. They have a LOT (not sure how many but they filled the entire parking lots) of them at the Kentucky Motor Speedway up in Sparta KY (If you are driving on I-71 you can see them when you go by Sparta). I wonder what would happen if a storm came in dropping tons of hail on them.

Also, have you heard about the "death wobble"? A buddy had a 2014 that had this. Not sure if Ford ever corrected it.

Thanks! Yes, I got it a month ago. Got lucky. Had been looking at the Ford site and this one popped as "Just Arrived" at Ricart in Columbus. I called and was told it was already sold.

But somehow the guy captured my name and number because I got a call that afternoon that the guy was not sure he was going to take it and the Sales Manager had given him until the end of the day. Got a call that evening at 7:45 that he wasn't taking it and the SM would hold if for me for an hour. I was sitting in the lot 15 minutes before they opened.

Yes, the dreaded Death Wobble. Cost me $1200 on my 2018 at around 60K miles. Ford has since agreed to replace the steering damper at no cost, but that is a small part. By the time mine was getting fixed, they had to replace a bunch of other parts that had been worn from it. I did the 4 year, 120 bumper to bumper extended warranty on this new one, so not worried about it.

There is a Class Action about this so at some point I will get an Applebee's Gift Card for my trouble.

 

[Herdfan]

I live in Europe and we have no requirement to carry a football team around.

So there are no engine displacement regs over there. Not sure why, but thought you all had limits on engine size. I just remember being stunned the first time I saw a 190SEL (or something like that) and thinking no way they engine is big enough.

 

[DT]

Thanks! Yes, I got it a month ago.

Well post some actual photos vs. that stock image BS

 

[User.168]

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[Huntn]

Toyota Hilander (2013)- Walmart Max battery with 5 year warranty purchased 2019, dead 2021. I took the battery in for replacement. Since 2019 Walmart has changed their 5 year warranty to 3. I asked about pro-rating for replacement costs, they are no longer doing that. Got a new battery for free with a 3 warranty that starts at 2019, basically a 1 year warranty which is ok because it was free. They said now when a battery dies before the warranty period they replace it for free, which is better than pro-rated.

So next time the battery is replaced it will be without a warranty. At that point I’ll compare this brand with others and compare prices and warranties. When we first moved to Texas the guy at the local car shop said it is not usual to replace batteries every couple of years due to the heat.

 

[bunnspecial]

I've had surprisingly good luck with Walmart Everstart batteries, and it's hard to beat the price.

 

[User.168]

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[Herdfan]

Well post some actual photos vs. that stock image BS

I am not aware of any country with engine displacement limits of any kind - it just costs you a lot of money to own such cars. Hence why we can own V12 supercars. There are 4 main reasons why people in Europe generally drive smaller cars with smaller engines:



GLC 63S with the options that I have
UK = approx 130,000 USD
Netherlands = approx 221,750 USD. That is not a typo.
US = approx 93,420 USD - Unfortunately I only just remembered that you do not get the GLC 63S SUV in the US. To get the S you have to opt for the Coupe, which is a bit more expensive than the SUV, but I built one to the exact same spec anyway
Germany = approx 136,000 USD

This is from the NL configurator:

I wonder if I am thinking of the Carribean.

That is insane!

The last 4 European cars we have bought were Certified Pre-owned. Can't beat the MB CPO's. in June 2019 we got my daughter a 2017 GLA 250 4Matic with 17K miles for $27K with a 7 year (original service date) unlimited mileage warranty. That is better than the new warranty. Wife's Rover was similar except it is 7/100 which is also better than factory but not unlimited.

 

[DT]

2. Price of petrol

I've heard of this mysterious substance, I see people at what appears to be some kind of dispensary for it with hoses sticking out of their vehicles ...

 

[DT]

Japan had a displacement limit of some sort (not sure how it was imposed, taxed, etc., don't believe it's still in place). That's why you saw a ton of performance oriented cars stay at 3.0L or less and use turbocharging. It wasn't like the net result was that much more effective in terms of weight, packaging, cost, complexity, etc.

 

[DT]

I've had surprisingly good luck with Walmart Everstart batteries, and it's hard to beat the price.

You know, I used some "high end" batteries a few times, they didn't work/last any better, I'm convinced the "store brand" batteries are 100% as good.

 

[User.168]

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