Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

It makes total sense. There are so, so many aspects to vehicle fit. Some cars let the seat go lower, some cars you can take the ridiculous extreme tilting of the seat a lot further because of the steering wheel position/telescoping limit. Some cars throw the pedals really close to the driver and just force you to do all sorts of things to compensate that that put everything out of whack.

For me, personally, this was oddly enough one of the most friendly tall person vehicles that a friend of mine had way back:



Looking at that from the outside, it makes no sense.

At one point my mom had a first generation Cadillac CTS. The thing was completely un-driveable for me, just awful.

I can confirm. A 6'5" buddy of mine owned one of these (the better looking hatchback version) and it fit him well. Was a great vehicle in it's day as it wasn't fast but reliable and sporty enough with a manual transmission. The era when Toyota was on it's game.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I'm 6'4" and proportioned in just the perfect way to make a lot of this a challenge. A lot of people my height (I have three friends I can think of off the top of my head) just say fata it and drive trucks. That's great if you are satisfied with driving a truck every day, which I'm not. I love ripping around in cars. I actually even own an F-150 that I'm very comfortable in, but I just find driving it to be so boring that it strips all the joy out of driving.

I'm 6'0 with long legs and the legroom thing is an issue. It's not fun at that height, so at 6'4" I totally get how that could really suck. In many cars, I'm at the maximum limit of how far back the seat can go, then I have to adjust the seat so that my legs are not directly straight and bended so that I fit.

But then it makes it a little awkward at times and it feels like I'm often ungracefully climbing and then tumbling out of the seat when I get out. Knees hitting the steering wheel is rare because I'm not that height yet, but I agree with Sliver about the steering wheel telescoping limits which can make for a really weird and uncomfortable arm position which tires our your arms and shoulders rapidly which can make for an uncomfortable drive that's long.

The TL I used to drive had the ability for me to set a perfect nearly straight arm anchor position between the steering wheel and seat and also had the perfect door positioning so that I could also bend and rest my elbow in a comfortable position. I could easily drive 6-8 hours no problem without arm fatigue which was glorious. I recall being able to do this with my 2001 Infiniti. No other vehicles since then have had the right set up for this since and I agree with Sliver that I suspect it's due to the positioning and the requirements of certain safety features/design that is causing this. IIRC, most vehicles manufactured after 2015 will likely have issues with this due to side airbag and other North American safety feature requirements that I believe came out around 2014-2016.

Not to say safety features are bad, but the design decisions on how to implement those are bad. I don't need a 10-16 inch middle display section. Make it 6-8 inches with deep and practical storage plus improve the storage in the glove compartment and/or dash and give us comfier seats in sedans please.

A 2011-2012 era luxury sedan seat comfort with back up camera, lane assist and assisted cruise control is near perfect IMO. God I miss that car, but the build quality on the one I had basically made it a lemon. The TLX wasn't bad, but it wasn't the same comfort as the beak nose TL.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

(the better looking hatchback version)

I didn't even notice I grabbed the wrong picture. It was definitely this (agreed, much nicer):

[browna]

Longshot, anyone with some extra Carfax searches they won't use?
Honing in on a couple options for our second vehicle and they are private sales.

[Captaincanada80]

Originally Posted by browna

Longshot, anyone with some extra Carfax searches they won't use?
Honing in on a couple options for our second vehicle and they are private sales.

Have a peak at our site and let me know if there is any vehicles of interest

www.towerchrysler.com

I've now assisted about 5 people on CP get into something

[browna]

Originally Posted by Captaincanada80

Have a peak at our site and let me know if there is any vehicles of interest

www.towerchrysler.com

I've now assisted about 5 people on CP get into something

Thanks, took a look and nothing for what I am looking for...looking for something specific at a specific lower price range, that dealers usually send to auction if they get as trade.

[Lubicon]

Question regarding rebuilt status on a used vehicle in Alberta. I looked at a rebuilt vehicle ($10-$15k price range) that was rebuilt. They had pictures of the damage and it didn't look that bad (front end, appeared to be mainly bumper, side panels etc that were replaced. Engine seemed fine. So that amount of damage seems pretty small for a vehicle to get a rebuilt title. It has also passed the rebuilt inspection report.

Any red flags to look for?
Would a pre purchase mechanical inspection cover any more than the rebuilt inspection would have done already?
Opinions on buying a rebuilt status vehicle?

Still not sure I am comfortable buying one but need to better understand the process.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Question regarding rebuilt status on a used vehicle in Alberta. I looked at a rebuilt vehicle ($10-$15k price range) that was rebuilt. They had pictures of the damage and it didn't look that bad (front end, appeared to be mainly bumper, side panels etc that were replaced. Engine seemed fine. So that amount of damage seems pretty small for a vehicle to get a rebuilt title. It has also passed the rebuilt inspection report.

Any red flags to look for?
Would a pre purchase mechanical inspection cover any more than the rebuilt inspection would have done already?
Opinions on buying a rebuilt status vehicle?

Still not sure I am comfortable buying one but need to better understand the process.

We bought a rebuilt 2015 Honda CRV. The shop had lots of pictures of the damage, which was all to the drive side corner. They told us all the big items they replaced (radiator, front wheel, driver door, etc), and had no issue with us doing a 3rd party inspection. We took it to the Honda dealership on Barlow, they verified everything the seller told us and confirmed there was no frame damage. It served us very well until we upgraded to a Highlander last year, and we ended up selling it for only 3k less than we paid

[TorqueDog]

Rebuilt titles can be a funny thing. A car is branded salvage when it is written off by the insurer, but damage isn't the only reason. A vehicle that has been stolen and recovered after the insurance has been paid out is considered salvage before being recertified as roadworthy and given the title 'rebuilt'. And even damage, as with the vehicle you're looking at, that might not tell the whole story either. Parts on modern vehicles are more expensive than they used to be while not necessarily being worth any more, lowering the amount at which point an insurer will say "Screw it, we're not fixing this, take your money". It may be down to a few hundred bucks in repair costs that separates a salvage/rebuilt vehicle from an unbranded title vehicle that was fixed after a similar collision.

A PPI is still a good idea because that's what is going to check overall condition and operation of the vehicle; how are the brakes, the suspension, steering, etc. Is it leaking fluids? Your PPI will look at those things. A rebuilt inspection is making sure that the vehicle has been repaired to a degree that it is safe to operate on public highways again.

Resale is always going to take a hit on a rebuilt vehicle, so if you plan on keeping this thing a long enough time such that resale is a non-issue, get a PPI and go from there. Personally, I would consider a rebuilt vehicle under a few circumstances:
- the repairs have been done correctly
- it passes a PPI with no / minimal acceptable faults
- it is WAY cheaper than similar mileage, condition, and equipment/trim-level vehicles that do not have branded titles

Rebuilt vehicles lose the balance of any manufacturer warranty once the title is branded IIRC, so for newer vehicles this is another reason why it should be significantly discounted.

If the shop you're getting the PPI from is willing, maybe ask them to look over the front end for any signs that the rebuild work was questionable. Lastly, check with your insurer to make sure there's no surprises in insuring a branded title vehicle with them.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

My attempt to fix 10 or so paint chips with the finest of Canadian Tire products isn't cutting the mustard - still seeing some rust bleed through my touch up paint. Time for the pros.

Any recommendations here on any auto body shop to do this? Search tells me Augies and Maranello/Cosmos were previously recommended, but I'm thinking the latter two are more for high end cars.

This is for a 14 yr old Subaru - looking for some quality and fairly priced work to stop the rust, but don't need Michelangelo himself.

[zamler]

Use this for about 5 rounds 98% of the rust will be neutralized.
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/s...-0390574p.html

Then go to town with your touch up paint.

[TheIronMaiden]

It has probably been brought up a dozen times or more, but any knowledgeable folks here have strong opinions of car brands to avoid?

[timun]

You're going to get a wide variety of opinions, IronMaiden. There is no "right" answer to your question.

Personally, I would tend to not write off entire brands. People who hold strong opinions about car brands tend to have very old, very exaggerated opinions about them. E.g. one of my uncles would never, ever entertain the thought of buying a Hyundai or Kia. In his mind they're all cheap crap and they never got appreciably better than the Pony 35 years ago. He's a loyal VW buyer. He casually dismisses the issues he's had with his VWs over the last 40 years as just unfortunate luck, even though some of them have required thousands and thousands of dollars worth of warranty work that I would consider indicative of being "crap". Meanwhile, anecdotally I don't know anyone with a Kia or Hyundai product that has had any significant issues with them whatsoever.


Figure out what kind of car you want, test drive the ones that interest you, and buy the one you like most. Most brands make products I would never consider, even if I like the brand overall.

[Fuzz]

I'd stay away from Edsels and most AMCs.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by timun

You're going to get a wide variety of opinions, IronMaiden. There is no "right" answer to your question.

Personally, I would tend to not write off entire brands. People who hold strong opinions about car brands tend to have very old, very exaggerated opinions about them. E.g. one of my uncles would never, ever entertain the thought of buying a Hyundai or Kia. In his mind they're all cheap crap and they never got appreciably better than the Pony 35 years ago. He's a loyal VW buyer. He casually dismisses the issues he's had with his VWs over the last 40 years as just unfortunate luck, even though some of them have required thousands and thousands of dollars worth of warranty work that I would consider indicative of being "crap". Meanwhile, anecdotally I don't know anyone with a Kia or Hyundai product that has had any significant issues with them whatsoever.


Figure out what kind of car you want, test drive the ones that interest you, and buy the one you like most. Most brands make products I would never consider, even if I like the brand overall.

Pretty much this. You can find as many detractors for a brand as you will boosters, and Consumer Reports doesn't necessarily tell the whole story.

Since moving to Calgary, I have a history of owning vehicles from brands that have generally been regarded as 'less' reliable or at least more fussy to own, and they've completely defied expectations by being really reliable and not all that fussy. I mean, perhaps some fuss as vehicles have become more and more advanced over the years (TPMS sensors are always annoying), but nothing that has ever left me stranded at the side of the road. That's one Jeep JK Sahara, three Germans (BMW E39 M5, E90 335i, Merc E550c V8TT), and three Brits (2x AMV8, RRS S/C). For any vehicle I've purchased since my Jeep, I have always prioritized figuring out what I wanted to drive first, and then finding the best possible example for my budget.

Before coming to Calgary, I had GMs (Camaro, Buick Regal) and those both had catastrophic engine failures that left me stranded at the side of the road. The Regal had its crappy 2.8L V6 boat-motor rebuilt twice, and the Camaro had its engine rebuilt after the bottom end went kaboom on the highway.

TL,DR: Figure out what you want to drive, find the best example for your budget, and buy it. Drive what you like, fix it when it breaks. If you think the maintenance of the vehicle is too rich for your blood, go back to step 1 and re-evaluate what you want to drive.

[timun]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I'd stay away from Edsels and most AMCs.

#### you, AMCs were cool!

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

It has probably been brought up a dozen times or more, but any knowledgeable folks here have strong opinions of car brands to avoid?

If prioritizing reliability, I look for models that are longer in the tooth. Once something has been around for a while, the major issues are a more known quantity, and you can budget for the worst case with more certainty. Also, a lot of the kinks do get worked out.

[Hemi-Cuda]

The only brand I think I would consciously avoid is Land Rover. I've seen many of these charts over the years, and manufacturers change places frequently. But one constant is Land Rover is always at the bottom

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

My attempt to fix 10 or so paint chips with the finest of Canadian Tire products isn't cutting the mustard - still seeing some rust bleed through my touch up paint. Time for the pros.

Any recommendations here on any auto body shop to do this? Search tells me Augies and Maranello/Cosmos were previously recommended, but I'm thinking the latter two are more for high end cars.

This is for a 14 yr old Subaru - looking for some quality and fairly priced work to stop the rust, but don't need Michelangelo himself.

Wait, was that the car you came to my store in a few months ago? That's 14 years old? Looked sweet...I'm impressed.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

The only brand I think I would consciously avoid is Land Rover. I've seen many of these charts over the years, and manufacturers change places frequently. But one constant is Land Rover is always at the bottom

That's exactly what I talk about when I say that Consumer Reports, J.D. Power, et al. doesn't tell the whole story and why you should prioritize buying what you like over simply going by the numbers.

Look at the brands above the industry average and below. Three luxury brands above the line: Lexus (yawn), Genesis, and BMW. The rest of them overwhelmingly sit on the lower half of the bottom of the list.

Porsche generally is regarded as a very reliable brand, yet it's below the line. Mitsubishi is churning out hot garbage, and it's 6th place? Well, how much could go wrong with a Radio Flyer wagon that someone bolted a drivetrain and doors onto?

Land Rovers are complex vehicles; luxury vehicles are complex by design. There's simply more little stuff to go wrong with them. It doesn't mean you're going to be flat-decking it around any more than any other vehicle, but yeah, you might get a light on the dash because the f#$%ing TPMS sensors have lost connection for a split second or didn't wake up quickly enough upon starting the vehicle again. Or the module for the soft-close passenger doors got confused and thinks it's already shut. It's stupid little stuff, annoyances. But you aren't getting individual wheel-specific TPMS or soft-close anything on a papier-mâché Mitsubishi. or pretty much any other brand above that line (again, save for the luxury brands).

So charts like this generally tend to reflect, especially where premium/luxury brands are concerned, the complexity of the vehicles themselves compared to their non-luxury counterparts.

I mean, I have a thermoelectric fridge in the center armrest. Starting with room temperature bottled water and driving to Banff; 45 minutes and I have properly cold water. But if that fridge stops working, it isn't stranding me in town, it's just annoying. Nevertheless, it's another statistic just the same as if the engine started spitting connecting rods out the side of the block.