Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[photon]

It doesn't exist anymore, Polestar is now EVs only.

I don't even think they have the eye searing Polestar Blue anymore

[Sliver]

Ahhh, that explains it. Out of thanks, but thanks.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Is polestar really not a Volvo option anymore? Wow. Lame. I guess they just do "R Design".

But I'm not sure I would spec a V90 with any of that stuff even if they did offer it. Not that type of wagon.

[TorqueDog]

As recently as three months ago, Volvo still had the Polestar Performance variant for at least the S60. But yeah, now only the “R-Design” is available.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Is polestar really not a Volvo option anymore? Wow. Lame. I guess they just do "R Design".

But I'm not sure I would spec a V90 with any of that stuff even if they did offer it. Not that type of wagon.

Volvo and Polestar were purchased by Chinese manufacturer Geely, the same parent company of Lotus. Volvo and Polestar are both still engineered in Sweden, but the EV manufacturing is now through Chinese factories with Volvo ICE production being through European and North American facilities. Polestar will be opening a North American manufacturing plant to do the Polestar 3 SUV, but all vehicles are currently produced from the Chinese plants and shipped to foreign markets. Polestar will be manufacturing only electric vehicles after the introduction of the Polestar 1 hybrid did not capture the market segment they were hoping for. At over $140K I can see why. For those with Tesla fatigue the Polestar 2 is probably the best option out there even though it does have some minor shortcomings. One of the best looking EVs produced and is a real attention getter on the road.

[timun]

Correction: Polestars are built in China, but Volvos are still primarily built in Sweden, their plant in Ghent, Belgium, and a new plant in South Carolina.

[Erick Estrada]

I know it's just the initial quality study but if the Polestar was a hockey team they would be the Edmonton Oilers as they are no good. Consumer reports studies rate them low as well. I can't imagine a manufacturer worse than Tesla when it comes to initial quality but here we are.

https://www.jdpower.com/business/pre...lity-study-iqs

[timun]

Amusingly the top-rated Buick brand has one out of three of its products built in China (Envision).

[Sliver]

So it looks like the R Design V60 has a 0-60 of 5.8. I think that would take it off the table for me. It's hard once you've had a fast car to take a step back to something markedly slower. Not that I'm really looking right now, but I like to know what my next car will be once I'm done with my 2012 CLS550. There's nothing I want more, though, so it seems like I'm still in the right car.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by timun

Amusingly the top-rated Buick brand has one out of three of its products built in China (Envision).

I looked at that vehicle, price to what you get is good.

I just can't get past China built. It's not quality thing, I suspect the quality is good, it is a supporting China thing. I am aware the device I am typing this on is build in China, but if there are options to buy a vehicle that wasn't fully built in China...

[Sylvanfan]

If you are too poor to afford an electric SUV, refuse to buy a Kia or Hyundai, and have a spouse who is hellbent on getting a mid size SUV what options are there?

I already have a 2 year old ICE car, so I think it would be a bad idea to get a ICE SUV. So it's looking like Hybrid might be my only option. That or hold out for another 6 years until the mid level guys get on board with these. Of course irrational spouse will really hate me if she has to wait this long.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

If you are too poor to afford an electric SUV, refuse to buy a Kia or Hyundai, and have a spouse who is hellbent on getting a mid size SUV what options are there?

I already have a 2 year old ICE car, so I think it would be a bad idea to get a ICE SUV. So it's looking like Hybrid might be my only option. That or hold out for another 6 years until the mid level guys get on board with these. Of course irrational spouse will really hate me if she has to wait this long.

If you're me, you end up in a Kia or Hyundai anyway, then wonder why anyone was ever silly enough to spend more $ on the equivalent Toyota or Honda to just get less features

[timun]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I looked at that vehicle, price to what you get is good.

I just can't get past China built. It's not quality thing, I suspect the quality is good, it is a supporting China thing. I am aware the device I am typing this on is build in China, but if there are options to buy a vehicle that wasn't fully built in China...

Same goes for me. I don't care how good the Buick Envision may or may not be, how competitively priced, etc.: I can't abide buying a car built in China because I don't want to support the Chinese regime.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by btimbit

If you're me, you end up in a Kia or Hyundai anyway, then wonder why anyone was ever silly enough to spend more $ on the equivalent Toyota or Honda to just get less features

Yeah, we picked up my wife's Kia Telluride Nightfall a couple months ago and it is so much better than the competition it's not even fair.

[Sylvanfan]

See how you feel when they get to 150,000 km. Co worker of mine was ecstatic to get 2 grand for a 9 year old Sante Fe with 160,000 km that was riddled with mechanical issues.

If you keep buying a new one every 3-4 years people love them. Too many others I knew had the things falling apart at 8 years old.

Surprised a guy who thinks 5.8 seconds yo get to 100 is too slow would pimp a Kia....

[timun]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

If you are too poor to afford an electric SUV, refuse to buy a Kia or Hyundai, and have a spouse who is hellbent on getting a mid size SUV what options are there?

Honestly you should give Kia & Hyundai a shot. They're pretty good for what they are. As btimbit wrote, you'll probably leave yourself wondering why people pay a premium for an equivalent Toyota or Honda.

[Sylvanfan]

When I see more 10 year old Kia's on the road...maybe I'll change my mind.

After owning Samsung and LG appliances that crater at 5 years old...I have no trust on the longevity of Korean products. To me they're packed with fancy, glitzy features, but lack substance.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by btimbit

If you're me, you end up in a Kia or Hyundai anyway, then wonder why anyone was ever silly enough to spend more $ on the equivalent Toyota or Honda to just get less features

Because the build quality is appalling, they burst into flames at an alarming rate, and they depreciate like they were thrown out of a plane.

Yes, they have more features.

That’s all.

A 2011-12 Rav with 150,000km is worth between $15-17k.

A similar aged Tucson goes for reliably less, with half the mileage. With 200,000km, you’d be lucky to get seven grand.

You get what you pay for.

[btimbit]

Yes, 10+ years ago they were bad.

He's not talking about buying a 2010 though

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

See how you feel when they get to 150,000 km. Co worker of mine was ecstatic to get 2 grand for a 9 year old Sante Fe with 160,000 km that was riddled with mechanical issues.

If you keep buying a new one every 3-4 years people love them. Too many others I knew had the things falling apart at 8 years old.

Surprised a guy who thinks 5.8 seconds yo get to 100 is too slow would pimp a Kia....

Do you have any evidence to support what you're saying?

Kia/Hyundai top basically every list I can find on reliability.

As for the slow SUV thing, it's a different type of vehicle. My wife doesn't care about being super fast and I find the really fast SUVs have embarrassingly bad fuel economy, anyway. We're getting about 26-28 mpg on the highway in our Telluride, which is pretty respectable for a seven-passenger vehicle.

My car is a tuned twin-turbo V8 with about 550 horsepower and over 600 pound-feet of torque. It's fast AF and can put it all down because it's AWD.

Would I buy a Telluride for my own vehicle? No, but I don't like SUVs in general, anyway. I like cars/wagons. But I did test drive a ton of SUVs with my wife including Mercedes, Acura, Audi, Ford, Toyota, VW and Honda. They all were worse than the Kia, with fewer features, more expensive, and ranked lower for reliability. We did like Mercedes and Audi, but the third row was totally useless, as it was in the Toyota Highlander, too. VW Atlas was overpriced/boring and the Honda Pilot was blah and ugly. Explorer seemed cheap inside relative to the KIA and is rated quite poorly. The Kia right now - in this class - is the king and you'd be hard pressed to find anybody who didn't agree with that.

I'm not worried about long-term reliability because I can't find anything that suggests I should be. Your anecdotes are meaningless...like, how well were the vehicles treated before they hit 160,000 kms? I'm on top of all maintenance and would never let a vehicle get to a point where it was riddled with issues...if I did, I would sell it. BFD.