I have the ceramic coating full body, and the 3m on the front half of my Mustang. It's an utter blast to drive in the winter, and I love it. It even feels more stable and better than my wife's Escape. So far just have a cracked windshield from a putz driving in the schmutz on the side of the road, instead of the actual road (I was a bit too close, I admit it)
I have 11 years of experience with the Germans (7.5 years BMW, 3.5 years Mercedes), and they have never stranded me anywhere ... except once, 30 yards from my house, and it was a warrantied throttle position sensor. But the key word... warrantied. While they're usually pretty good once the previous owners have sorted the bugs, I don't think you could convince me to own a modern German car off warranty unless I didn't rely on it. The parts are expensive, and working on them is a bitch because they are seemingly packaged by a Tetris champion, so the labour is calculated high by default (even for stuff that is actually easy to fix, speaking from experience).
What years are you looking at, and do any of them at all qualify for a Mercedes CPO warranty? If not, do you love them enough to overlook that it might get expensive, especially if it was traded in because the last owner ran out of warranty and money? I don't have a lot of faith in car dealers actually getting the important stuff fixed so much as masked.
The one I was thinking about is a 2012 with just over 120,000km so no possibility of any extended warranty. The positives are that it is in great condition, has full service records with some work done earlier this year like brakes and it is a diesel which in general should be better for reliability. Obviously the worrisome part is the cost of potential future repairs. Ideally I'm hoping this would be a stop gap vehicle until I can get a decently discounted Palisade or GV80 but that might be 2 years or so.
The one I was thinking about is a 2012 with just over 120,000km so no possibility of any extended warranty. The positives are that it is in great condition, has full service records with some work done earlier this year like brakes and it is a diesel which in general should be better for reliability. Obviously the worrisome part is the cost of potential future repairs. Ideally I'm hoping this would be a stop gap vehicle until I can get a decently discounted Palisade or GV80 but that might be 2 years or so.
We had a 2012 GL350 as a kid-hauler and I would suggest looking at (newer) alternatives. Aside from some really expensive repairs, the tech and features just weren't up to par with newer cars.
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In a decade or so, I will have no issues nabbing some sort of soft top to cruise around with the wife. I still think that everyone would look at me weird if I were driving around in a Camaro/Miata or S2000 in -20C weather though (snow dump or not).
I'd rather get something like another TL~esque tank or RS4 type car I can buy to drive year round. The Porche doesn't bug me as a winter car, but those aforementioned 3 do bug me as a car to drive in the winter for reasons you guys might find really silly.
I was about 18 years old living in Winnipeg, and I saw a guy driving an old Lotus Elan in December with the top down, windows up, wearing a toque and scarf.
It was probably the most bad-ass, "give no f--ks" thing I had ever seen at that age. "Can't winter drive a convertible? We'll see, Margaret. We'll see."
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I seriously considered (and would probably seriously consider again) just full on Safari-ing a 996 C4 911 to drive year round.
Examples:
Spoiler!
Obnoxious.
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I was about 18 years old living in Winnipeg, and I saw a guy driving an old Lotus Elan in December with the top down, windows up, wearing a toque and scarf.
It was probably the most bad-ass, "give no f--ks" thing I had ever seen at that age. "Can't winter drive a convertible? We'll see, Margaret. We'll see."
This happened to a friend of mine. Got delivery of his F430 in March. In Saskatchewan. Went cruising around the city top down. Soon enough call comes into radio station “who’s the moron driving around all day in his Ferrari with the top down?”
Well my friend was listening and called up to tell him he was too excited to wait and had to take it out for a spin.
He also got caught in a snowstorm driving back to Sask from BC in September one year. Can’t remember if that was the Ferrari or 570s.
He finally bought a car that isn’t a convertible and then some lady crashed into him (her fault) like 6 months later. Bye bye mint condition McLarsn 720s! I think it’s still in Vancouver getting fixed.
Last edited by Cecil Terwilliger; 09-16-2020 at 03:18 PM.
He also got caught in a snowstorm driving back to Sask from BC in September one year. Can’t remember if that was the Ferrari or 570s.
By no means a Ferrari, but my wife and I drove our Cayman, from Long Island to Calgary in November, on performance summer tires. The first 2-3 days were smooth sailing as we had beautiful fall weather... then somewhere in North Dakota, glorious Fall turned into cold and snowy prairie Winter. The summer tires turn to Hot Wheels grade plastic around -1, and coupled with the icy roads, made the most basic of curves a hairy proposition. Fargo to Medicine Hat (about 12-13 hours normally) took us 2.5 days to complete. We were by far slowest car on the road, and Im sure every local that passed us was laughing at the morons with the NY license plate.
Having said that, the Cayman is actually pretty decent in winter...as long as you have winter tires.
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I'm really digging the new Z. Without pause, I'm a long time Z fan however. I started with a 1981 280ZX 2+2 when I was 20 and have subsequently owned a 1990 300ZXTT (Pearl Yellow), 1990 300ZX Non-Turbo (Aztec Red) and a 1973 240Z (Orange of course).
As enthusiasts, we should be grateful Nissan is even bringing a new Z to the table considering their current woes. I like that the new car pays homage to Z's of yore but still has some modernity to it. The interior is light years ahead of the Supra's cobbled mess IMO. I like that it isn't too overwrought with unnecessary crap. I feel it will be even better in the flesh, particularly in different hues.
My only wishes for this car:
Nissan needs to give this car a 'real' mechanical LSD and not another ####ty viscous unit.
Nissan cannot let the new Z be a car that starts at Supra price points, the audience quickly evaporates if this becomes a $60K car. I wholly expect a price increase, just not an enormous one.
I'm looking forward to seeing this car come to fruition, long live the Z!
For any Z/Nissan/Datsun enthusiasts out there, check out zcarblog.com, they do some amazing builds.
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I fully understand why the car has a V6, but it should have an I-6 instead.
The Z has now been V6 equipped for 36 consecutive years and was only I-6 equipped for roughly 14 years. The V6 works just fine and Nissan builds some of the best V6's on the planet. I have no complaints with the V6. Also, developing a new I-6 is simply not in the cards for Nissan, they are in survival mode and I look forward to their turnaround under new leadership.
Nissan has built some mighty I-6's so I get your point. I now mostly correlate the Datsun/Nissan I-6 with the Skyline/GT-R rather than the Z however. The L series were great engines and the RB's are legendary, easily equal to Toyota's 2JZ IMO. The RB26DETT is amongst the best I-6 engines ever produced by any manufacturer.
For all the focus on Nissan's current hardships and mostly mediocre lineup, they have a very rich motorsports history and have produced some legendary cars. Sliver might disagree
Agree with what you're saying except on the 2JZ this is best engine ever built. Everything about it is stellar right down to iron black and how it is cast, and the mix of metals. It is stronger than anything engine. The materials are so robust there is no main bearing girdle, doesn't need one. Sadly Toyota, like Nissan, gave up the I-6.
Friend owned this exact car (except the wheels) I loved it. Only Nissan Z worth owning outside of the classics IMO.
Ugh....I don't know why I keep getting the two mixed up but I meant to ask about WIX. I've heard bad things about K&N over the years but apparently they've improved.
Regardless, my question is regarding the WIX brand.
