Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[Brendone]

Originally Posted by Locke

Yeah, especially the Extended Cabs with a 4-foot box. I could probably fit more stuff in the back of my Volkswagen.

Sounds like you Need a bigger truck

[FurnaceFace]

Originally Posted by Table 5

That whole "each according to need" BS is what leads to everyone driving a Trabant.

This one I saw in Warsaw was fantastic [looking].

[Locke]

Say what you will about the Trabant.

Mechanically it was garbage.

Physically? Indestructible.

[Sliver]

Nah, you guys don't know jack squat. It's not a good financial decision to have a car and a truck.. .extra insurance and mechanical expenses to have a car to commute in so you don't drive your guzzling truck? There's no savings there. Your wallet is better off with just the truck.

Trucks are required for towing. So many small SUVs claim to tow 5000 pounds or even 7500, but they can never manage the tongue weight of trailers that heavy. You need a truck for towing almost any RV once you get over 16', and that's actually small in RV terms.

You can also think the guy commuting in his truck doesn't need it, but so many do. Like today I got called out of town with mine, bogged through some mud and had a full load, but it was all under my tonneau.

It's hard to imagine anybody even owning a truck unless they had to. Cars are a bazillion times more fun to drive. I know so many people with a truck and I don't know a single one who doesn't use it for truck stuff. Maybe there are people out there not trucking around but own trucks, but I don't know any.

I think the bigger crime is people with fast cars who drive them like pussies.

[WideReceiver]

My neighbour has two trucks — two people. They do truck stuff including hauling a camper but I’ve never once seen them use both trucks. They’re retired so the need has diminished but still have two trucks.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

This one I saw in Warsaw was fantastic [looking].

FYI that’s not a Trabant, that’s a Polski Fiat.

I will always have a soft spot for the commie cars, but there’s a reason they were a joke.

[photon]

I finally made a choice.. I probably would have gone with a C43 if I could find a coupe in the price range / year / kms range I wanted, but after driving this 2021 BMW 440i I was hooked. At my age the Mercedes is probably more what I would be expected to be driving but my wife tells me this fits my mid life crisis mode better lol.

This is the exact model and colour but it's not mine, I need to get some good pictures of my own at some point.

Always wanted to own a BMW so super excited.

[photon]

Didn't come with winters though so a bit worried about the next month, I was hoping to put off getting winters until the fall as I wanted to decide if I just got tires and did swaps on the 19" rims or if I wanted to get some 18" rims for the winters.

It had a stage 2 paint correction before I got it, I would probably like to do a ceramic coat, any recommendations for someone to do that?

[woob]

There's a whole class of big SUVs that should be wiped from the face of the Earth too. Armadas, Tahoes, Suburbans, Escalades, Defenders, Etc. And 3/4 tonne trucks shouldn't even exist outside of certain work capacities.

Of course, I say this as an owner of a V8 GMC Sierra largely used to commute in, so massive hypocrite. But will be replacing it this year!

[kevman]

I try not to judge other peoples vehicles choices.

I drove a truck for a while, tried my luck with a small hatchback, and am now in a mid-size SUV. I've definitely considered a larger SUV as our next vehicle choice. To Sliver's point, it makes sense to have a single vehicle that can do it all instead of making sure you're always in a fit for purpose vehicle. Is a large SUV a bit overkill when I'm running to the store by myself? Absolutely. But as a family of 4, with young kids, it's pretty easy to overload our mid-size SUV on a vacation. Even with a Thule on the roof it can be a tight squeeze.

And then there are bikes, a fully loaded hitch bike rack can easily exceed 300lbs and the load is a few feet further out than your typical trailer ball. Sure there are mid-size vehicles that claim they can handle 500lbs of tongue weight, but in reality a loaded bike rack and passengers not only exceeds GVWR, it puts the rear end on bump stops and points your headlights to the sky.

[Table 5]

As a lifelong member of the "small car fanclub" I currently have a giant Canyonero as a daily right now, and gotta say it's awesome for family life. Perfect for road trips, camping, hauling around furniture (wife is an interior designer), Home Depot trips, hauling around bikes/kayaks etc.

What's funny though is that because mine is old (2004) it still has lots of windows so is easy to see out of and park. Way better than my wife's Acura RDX that is half the size, but absolutely terrible in terms of 360 visibility.

Still would rather daily a Miata though.

[FLAME ENVY]

Originally Posted by photon

Didn't come with winters though so a bit worried about the next month, I was hoping to put off getting winters until the fall as I wanted to decide if I just got tires and did swaps on the 19" rims or if I wanted to get some 18" rims for the winters.

It had a stage 2 paint correction before I got it, I would probably like to do a ceramic coat, any recommendations for someone to do that?

https://expressiveautoworks.ca

Rainer is fantastic!

Refine Auto Salon is also excellent.

The B58/ZF 8HP are amongst the best combo's in the automotive world, you'll thoroughly enjoy. Make sure to do some road tripping and marvel at the ridiculously good fuel economy you get in Eco Pro.

[undercoverbrother]

The best trucks are someone else's

[WideReceiver]

Yup, my son has a truck so I don’t need one.

[Sylvanfan]

Come spring when I have yard cleanup and some dog induced repair work. I'll miss having my old 06 Silverado. I liked the idea of the commuter car and a pickup that can haul stuff with. SUV...can fill both roles but with flaws. So if you are a one vehicle family maybe. But if you're going to have more than one...I think a SUV is a terrible choice. I'm living that nightmare because...well wife.

[woob]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Come spring when I have yard cleanup and some dog induced repair work. I'll miss having my old 06 Silverado. I liked the idea of the commuter car and a pickup that can haul stuff with. SUV...can fill both roles but with flaws. So if you are a one vehicle family maybe. But if you're going to have more than one...I think a SUV is a terrible choice. I'm living that nightmare because...well wife.

Yeah that versatility of a truck is something I'll miss for sure. It's nice to not even have to think twice about cargo capacity. Need to move/haul/pickup something that won't fit in our VW wagon? Then the truck it is.

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by photon

I finally made a choice.. I probably would have gone with a C43 if I could find a coupe in the price range / year / kms range I wanted, but after driving this 2021 BMW 440i I was hooked. At my age the Mercedes is probably more what I would be expected to be driving but my wife tells me this fits my mid life crisis mode better lol.

This is the exact model and colour but it's not mine, I need to get some good pictures of my own at some point.

Always wanted to own a BMW so super excited.

She's a keeper! The wife, that is. I have no opinion on the vehicle.

[woob]

Does anyone have any experience with one of those aftermarket CarPlay self contained screens? I'm looking to understand how connections work. So in my mind, I would connect to the CarPlay unit via a USB-C cable with my phone, and then the CarPlay unit would connect to my vehicle Infotainment system with Bluetooth, which means it would use my in-vehicle microphone?

Also, if I'm listening to the radio currently and a call comes in, it brings up the phone mode on my Infotainment system so I can answer the call. Would this be the same with with CarPlay unit, in that it's intellgent enough to pass on that a call is coming in and would override the radio and pop me back to CarPlay mode? Or am I expecting too much?

Part of me is wondering if I'd have to be on the Bluetooth (media) setting on my Infotainment unit for calls, so if one came in while I was on radio, I'd have to switch to Bluetooth to answer.

[TSXCman]

I have always had sporty, nice, manual transmission cars and always will.

My modern F-150 is somehow higher in luxury, speed, acceleration, and is gigantic compared to almost anything on the road.

These companies really did a good job of making trucks a daily use vehicle.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Nah, you guys don't know jack squat. It's not a good financial decision to have a car and a truck.. .extra insurance and mechanical expenses to have a car to commute in so you don't drive your guzzling truck? There's no savings there. Your wallet is better off with just the truck.

Your wallet is better off with a car and renting a truck for a day or two when you need one.

Originally Posted by Sliver

Trucks are required for towing. So many small SUVs claim to tow 5000 pounds or even 7500, but they can never manage the tongue weight of trailers that heavy. You need a truck for towing almost any RV once you get over 16', and that's actually small in RV terms.

So there's one scenario that requires it... and most truck owners don't pull trailers. You can tell by the lack of marking in the hitch receivers from any sort of actual use.

Originally Posted by Sliver

You can also think the guy commuting in his truck doesn't need it, but so many do. Like today I got called out of town with mine, bogged through some mud and had a full load, but it was all under my tonneau.

Yeah, I know tons of truck-driving desk jockeys who get called out to drive through a bog so they can prepare their Excel spreadsheets.

Originally Posted by Sliver

I think the bigger crime is people with fast cars who drive them like pussies.

I'll agree with this. Just have to pick your spots is all.