Automobiles

[robin3mj]

My father had a Prius for 8 years and it is now owned by good friends of ours who needed a second car that wasn't full of wood chips and power tools. I think we're on year number 11 and counting.

I kind of wish there was a Toyota hybrid wagon. Wagons are so great, but I guess no one would buy it.

edit: Duplicate rant to Davids'

Everyone remembers the 4WD Toyota Tercel right? Put a hybrid engine in it? Make it in a cutaway version, aka Subaru Brat truckwagon?

I have been half looking at late 80s VW Golfs and Jettas lately (my first car was an 85 Jetta with manual transmission and hand cranked sunroof), and there’s nothing out there in decent shape. One of these would be even cooler but I bet they’re even more rare in decent condition. My aunt had one and I remember day trips down the Shore, and how loud it was at highway speeds versus our Volvo wagon at the time. It was that sweet sky/ice blue metallic color.

Which, I should also note, we had a Toyota van before that Volvo. The moon lander looking thing. And one day my dad came home from work, white as a sheet, in his car (a little Beemer I recall), having seen a Toyota van in a wreck crumpled like a can of Campbell’s. The new Volvo was in the driveway a week after.

[robin3mj]

I want a Porsche 718 4.0 but a Miata makes so much more sense at every level. I owned a 1990 and really enjoyed it. Underpowered but light and a bunch of fun. And a surprisingly reasonable car for most daily errands and not even bad at road trips.

Yep. We’ll give up the minivan over my dead body (3 kids, dog), and my wife hates it (Jetta wagon commuter, sadly automatic after we swapped out our manual diesel for silly money), and with an au pair in the house, sometimes a third car makes sense if you squint. I’m still spry enough that I could justify taking it on work trips to Richmond, Philly, Hartford, etc. as well as the usual runaround town jaunts. Hence my interest in the retractable hardtop versus the true ragtop.

I could only imagine the looks on the kids’ face when I tell them that just me and mom are going to Shenandoah this weekend- blast skyline drive like a car commercial.

[j44ke]

I have been half looking at late 80s VW Golfs and Jettas lately (my first car was an 85 Jetta with manual transmission and hand cranked sunroof), and there’s nothing out there in decent shape. One of these would be even cooler but I bet they’re even more rare in decent condition. My aunt had one and I remember day trips down the Shore, and how loud it was at highway speeds versus our Volvo wagon at the time. It was that sweet sky/ice blue metallic color.

Which, I should also note, we had a Toyota van before that Volvo. The moon lander looking thing. And one day my dad came home from work, white as a sheet, in his car (a little Beemer I recall), having seen a Toyota van in a wreck crumpled like a can of Campbell’s. The new Volvo was in the driveway a week after.

My Dad had a Toyota van too. He had a 4WD model? Wasn't all-wheel, it was full-on 4WD with the extra stick and 2WD, 4WD low and 4WD high. By the time he was done with it, it had a well-worn patina on every surface. He used to laugh at humvees. Nearly lost it on a stream crossing but it somehow got traction and made it across. The all-terrain birdwatching mobile.

[echappist]

Interesting that you were offered a new V60 at below msrp in these times. Maybe suggests that volvo will soon have those on the chopping block like they did with the FWD version? Makes me sorta want to keep my wagon despite the reliability issues. Every brand that used to be cool is pretty much a SUV company now.

Second follow up to this. In the end, I don't think it was truly under MSRP, as it was loaded with backend fees.

Though I was offered $2,000 off, that alone bumped the already ridiculous fees up by a further $400 (to $1,700), and given what I know now, even the $1,300 in fees is highly marked up (by $900 or so). In the end, maybe only truly $700 off (plus ~$100 more, due to less tax is owed with a decrease the price upon which tax is based). Unfortunately, I didn't quite figure out how negotiable the fees were until well into the buying process. On the other hand, another nearby dealer that was selling strictly at MSRP was tagging a $1k coating fee regardless of whether one wants it. So comparatively, the dealership offering $2k off (even with the absurd $1,700 fee) would have been cheaper by ~$1700.

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As for the car I was interested in buying, not too much off with the vehicle itself (1 minor paint scratch, and plastic cladding not slightly unflush at the wheel well). The purchase experience was certainly subpar, as I realized toward the end that I was not getting the best publicly available price offered by the dealer. I probably should have walked away, but in the end I was offered at least the publicly available best price and decided that everything concerning the car itself passed muster at least thus far, including the fact that it has four new tires installed. I might have knocked another $1k off with harder bargaining, but in the end I felt okay with the purchase. Certainly a bit that I learned that I should take to my next vehicle purchase.

The car is certainly the fanciest I've ever driven, and it felt like a premium vehicle with the nice seats and trim inlays. I've been experiencing cold hands/ Raynaud's in the past few years, and the heated steering wheel is definitely a nice touch (worked quite nicely on my drive back). The seat is comfortable, and on my drive today, I accidentally learned that I could sit quite low in the vehicle (comparable to the height in my 2000 Camry and quite a bit lower compared than my 2010 Camry). Speaking of which, Carmax gave me a ridiculous offer on my 2010 Camry, so at least it wasn't all bad. If I were to buy a used Japanese vehicle in the future (which is very likely), I'm definitely leaning toward Carmax, as they seem to pull a lot fewer shenanigans.

Photo below. Unfortunately, my bike served as a mere prop in this photo, but I'm going back to this spot on my bike later on today. Also, the bike can be loaded altogether when the rear seats are down, which is nice. Actually wasn't able to do that in an older X3 a family friend let me borrow.

[j44ke]

Looks good! Hope you like it - eventually if not immediately. Sounds like the buying process was quite a run around.

We put a Yakima rack on the roof of ours. We could have adapted our old Yakima to the new car, but when I realized the fairing would cut across the sunroof, we switched to the newest, most aero cross bars. The fairing still interfered with the sunroof (left it off) but the aero shape keeps them relatively quiet. The attachment point is the roof rails so no door or window gaskets get mashed. There is a set of Volvo racks available, which both Yakima and Thule mounts can adapt to, but they had just been redesigned (or something) and weren’t available from Volvo when we bought the car. Plus brand loyalty. Most recently I had a bike mount crumble into rusty pieces (other mount bought at the same time is perfectly sound) and Yakima sent me a new one with free 2 day shipping, no questions. I always buy Yakima stuff from REI because it lowers the price by adding a chunk to the dividend.

[robin3mj]

Volvo wagons are so nice.
We love our Golf wagen, but had a Volvo loaner about a year ago and the difference in tech and luxury was pretty stark.

[echappist]

Thanks for the kind words. I'm doing my best to "compartmentalize" things by separating out the vehicle per se from the dealership. It's just baffling that car dealerships are perhaps one of the few purveyors of upscale goods with a penchant for shenanigans.

We put a Yakima rack on the roof of ours. We could have adapted our old Yakima to the new car, but when I realized the fairing would cut across the sunroof, we switched to the newest, most aero cross bars. The fairing still interfered with the sunroof (left it off) but the aero shape keeps them relatively quiet. The attachment point is the roof rails so no door or window gaskets get mashed. There is a set of Volvo racks available, which both Yakima and Thule mounts can adapt to, but they had just been redesigned (or something) and weren’t available from Volvo when we bought the car. Plus brand loyalty. Most recently I had a bike mount crumble into rusty pieces (other mount bought at the same time is perfectly sound) and Yakima sent me a new one with free 2 day shipping, no questions. I always buy Yakima stuff from REI because it lowers the price by adding a chunk to the dividend.

This may be the route I go down eventually.

Out of curiosity, are your cross bars from Volvo or are they made by another company?

[j44ke]

Thanks for the kind words. I'm doing my best to "compartmentalize" things by separating out the vehicle per se from the dealership. It's just baffling that car dealerships are perhaps one of the few purveyors of upscale goods with a penchant for shenanigans.



This may be the route I go down eventually.

Out of curiosity, are your cross bars from Volvo or are they made by another company?

All Yakima. We got the Jetstream cross bars with Ridgeline towers and Forklift bike mounts from Yakima. They make two aero-er models that have integrated bars and towers, but neither of those fit our 2017 V60.

[SeanEasley]

Volvo wagons are so nice.
We love our Golf wagen, but had a Volvo loaner about a year ago and the difference in tech and luxury was pretty stark.

I traded a golf wagon for the V60 I'm in now. I thought the golf was the perfect little car...until I tested a volvo. I didn't know until I got it that it wasn't normal to have your hips and back hurt every time you drive more than a couple hours until experiencing the volvo seats. It's really night and day, and the mileage is as good or better in the volvo since I have the FWD version.

I've complained about the electrical bugs and the front rotors that went at 12k miles, but as fate would have it I'm going to buy it out tomorrow off my lease. In normal times that would be crazy to pay that much to end up with the car, but the value is so good and we can't seem to find a RAV4 hybrid without some ludicrous mark-up

You're not alone if you're feeling screwed over buying right now. I'm just lucky I have a contracted buy-out or they would be marking my car up close to 10K for some poor sap.

[rec head]

I saw a parked Ioniq 5 today. Definitely unique but not as crazy looking as I thought it would be. I like it but holding out for the Rivian as our first EV.

[echappist]

I traded a golf wagon for the V60 I'm in now. I thought the golf was the perfect little car...until I tested a volvo. I didn't know until I got it that it wasn't normal to have your hips and back hurt every time you drive more than a couple hours until experiencing the volvo seats. It's really night and day, and the mileage is as good or better in the volvo since I have the FWD version.

I've complained about the electrical bugs and the front rotors that went at 12k miles, but as fate would have it I'm going to buy it out tomorrow off my lease. In normal times that would be crazy to pay that much to end up with the car, but the value is so good and we can't seem to find a RAV4 hybrid without some ludicrous mark-up

You're not alone if you're feeling screwed over buying right now. I'm just lucky I have a contracted buy-out or they would be marking my car up close to 10K for some poor sap.

I hope it’s at least covered under warranty. Those rotor repairs cost a few pretty pennies.

[jimcav]

I saw a parked Ioniq 5 today. Definitely unique but not as crazy looking as I thought it would be. I like it but holding out for the Rivian as our first EV.

I saw the EV6 at my son's swim meet 2 weeks ago--not bad. Considering you can practically get 2-3 Ionoq5 or EV6 for one Rivian, they seem apples to oranges in so many ways. I did see a RT on the road for the 1st time today, looked like a smooth(er) truck.

[rec head]

I bought a minivan so I can haul stuff like plywood or bikes easily whenever I want. The Rivian is the only EV I know of that makes this reasonable. Plus I'm in before the price hike so I can drive it for while and if I don't like it for some reason I can sell it for more than I paid. That isn't likely to happen but knowing I can makes the R1T seem like a deal. I should also note that my wife is all in on the Rivian.

I have seen one on the street and it looks pretty good. The Chicago Service Center should be opening fairly soon so I will see about a test drive when they open.

[j44ke]

I just got my new driver's license that allows the gubmint to track me from space, and in the envelope was a nys.gov blurb trumpeting possible savings on a e-vehicle of up to $9500 off the purchase price. $2000 of it is a state rebate while the remainder is a "possible" "up to" $7500 Federal Tax Credit. Seems like (logically) the largest rebates/credits are on fully electric vehicles, but there are hybrids on the list as well.

Overall program website.

https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/drive-clean-rebate

Here are the eligible models.

https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Progr...ligible-Models

[72gmc]

You could have a “Bently”!

[Marvinlungwitz]

Nice wagon, echappist!

My wife’s MDX is still running well at 140k miles, but I anticipate a new vehicle for her in 2-3 years. I think we’ll condense the vehicle fleet to the Miata and a single everyday vehicle for both of us, as I’ll be retiring around the same time. Road-trip worthiness is important, but I think we should move on to something with better mpg than a SUV, or go electric. From my experience with my sedan Audi A6, as well as a magazine review of the A6 AllRoad in which they saw over 30 mpg highway (well above EPA estimate), the A6 wagon is a strong contender (I decided the RS6 wagon is too thirsty). Then I saw this, and I’m hoping the rumors of an impending longer range for e Audis are true. We’ll see what happens over the next few years.

[echappist]

My wife’s MDX is still running well at 140k miles, but I anticipate a new vehicle for her in 2-3 years. I think we’ll condense the vehicle fleet to the Miata and a single everyday vehicle for both of us, as I’ll be retiring around the same time. Road-trip worthiness is important, but I think we should move on to something with better mpg than a SUV, or go electric. From my experience with my sedan Audi A6, as well as a magazine review of the A6 AllRoad in which they saw over 30 mpg highway (well above EPA estimate), the A6 wagon is a strong contender (I decided the RS6 wagon is too thirsty). Then I saw this, and I’m hoping the rumors of an impending longer range for e Audis are true. We’ll see what happens over the next few years.

Oh my, that's one stylish wagon. With a good amount of shooting brake aesthetics. I read somewhere the e-Tron counterpart of the A6 wagon is supposed to be quite aerodynamic as well, with drag coefficient in the low 0.2x range?

That wagon above would look at home on a race track.

[Marvinlungwitz]

Oh my, that's one stylish wagon. With a good amount of shooting brake aesthetics. I read somewhere the e-Tron counterpart of the A6 wagon is supposed to be quite aerodynamic as well, with drag coefficient in the low 0.2x range?

That wagon above would look at home on a race track.

Yup. Currently, Audi offer 2 versions of an ICE A6 wagon in the US, the All Road and the RS6.

The pic looks like an electric RS6, I think. I’m guessing they’ll also do an All Road version.

[robin3mj]

Looks like the love child of the latest Volvo wagon and a Taycan.
That’s not a bad thing.

[SlowPokePete]

Oh my, that's one stylish wagon.
That wagon above would look at home on a race track.

Just don't hit a pot hole.

SPP