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The Official Car Talk Thread

18,933 670 November 20, 2012 at 11:55 AM in Chat
I suppose can continue the conversation from the Funniest Pics thread here, along with any other car talk..


Quote from Jabbit :
The SLS is pretty nuts, I have seen a couple on the streets and they sounds almost musclecar-ish. I also saw an Enzo at the car show (it was actually Cars & Coffee in Irvine CA which is pretty well known). I would like an older M3, the last one that had the inline-6. I have never been in one but they seem like they would be a lot of fun. Not really practical in New England though.

We should start an official "Car Chat" thread.
That enzo is awesome. I spotted a 599GTO at F1 as well. There were a few people leaning up against it taking pics. If I was the owner I'd have been pissed.

BMW is bringing back the straight 6 for 2013 (or maybe 14).. They're doing a twin turbo version in the name of fuel economy. There was rumor about there being a third turbo in there too.

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Moot-N-Me
12-09-2012 at 12:44 PM.
12-09-2012 at 12:44 PM.
Quote from Landers :
Sure, just lemme know.

2008 328i is the current car. I actually love it. Sometimes I wish it had the power that the 335i has, but honestly I don't need that, and this generations 335is have had multiple issues with the wastegate on the twin-turbos. Mine does have the M-Sport package so I've got a slightly tuned suspension and paddle shifters. Makes it just fun enough for a daily driver that I can enjoy each time I get in it.

328i has been BMW's bread and butter lately. Solidly built car with very few issues. 75k on the clock here and when I took it to get a pre-purchase inspection my mechanic said it was the cleanest 65k+ BMW he'd ever seen. Sold me on it right there.
That is an awesome BMW!!!! I'm guessing you live in a southern state where you can drive these cars year round? I'm in NY so my husband has a Ford Focus (or Fukus as he calls it) as his everyday driver. The Ford is actually a decent car. The Boxster just stays in the garage for the winter. He starts it up and pulls it into the driveway every week when winter hits and lets it run a bit. I guess it has something to do with the tires. Not sure why he lets it run because he puts some kind of stabilizer in it. Dontknow I don't even know if it could make it through snow, not to mention the salt tears up the underneath of every car around here. We've had a few dustings of snow so far and he only took it out once about a week ago after a heavy 2-3 day rain assuming that DPW salted during those light snowfalls.

I had the H2 undercoated this summer. I got a package with a lifetime warranty which allows me to bring it in whenever I need a touch up of any amount. The nice part is I will be bringing it in every spring for major touch up.....I'm guessing more like complete re-spray laugh out loud I'm sure the salt will eat through that substance pretty quick. The reason I chose to get that is because it sits up so high that you could see rust on under parts and it looked like shit when the rest of the vehicle looks brand new. They basically scraped off any loose rust, sanded any flat rust and then sprayed it with a black substance (not tar, or paint) that dries with a nice matte finish. It makes such a difference esp when you're paying for something and keeping it nice, not to have that junky rust visible that you have no control over.

I bought it in 2010, and the first owner bought it in 2008. They ordered everything they could, including a chrome rim and tire package that I found a receipt for in the center console....$7995 Roll The sweet part was that the original tires and rims were never used but they kept them and gave them to the dealer when they traded it in. (tires still had those little hairlike nubs) I had dealer install the originals and they used one of their utility vans to haul the chrome rims and tires to the dealer close to me. One of the guys at the dealer stored them there and sold them for me and I split the profits for his time and allowing me to store them there. The tires were a bit larger which is fine with me but the rims....I don't care how much they cost...were major pimpified and hideous. IMO that much chrome esp on that vehicle looks moronic. I love the original Hummer rim or a black powder coat rim if I were to change them.

So I wanted to ask you your opinion on a trade. I started with an H3....doesn't compare AT ALL to the H2. It had a V5 of all things. At first I liked it but when I started looking at the 2008 H2, it was like night and day. Engine, interior, options, and looks. Now I've been looking at the H1. I've been researching pros and cons for a few months. One model looks very similar to the H2 but noticable differences that I love are the center separation in the windsheild and the bolts in the doors and other parts. They have a beautiful rim and are wider (not sure how much) but I like that too. I also like the model (Alpha I believe) that has a removable top and extends out in the back. Not sure if they come in hard top. The engine is still a V8 but I think they are 6.8L or around that, where mine is a 6.2. They run on diesel. The interior is not that great.

My biggest issue is that they stopped production of those in 2006 so GM will stop making parts in 2016 or so. If I do this I would keep mine until it's paid off....about 2 years. I bought a bumper to bumper GM extended warranty that will still be in effect after it is paid off. When I looked at the hourly rates for repairs and knowing anything can happen, I chose to buy that so I didn't have to pay for any major repairs while still making a payment. My original warranty ran out a few months ago....because of time not miles. It has about 46,000 right now. I doubt the extended will run out due to miles either....95,700. I'm adding this info because I know I won't be able to get an extended GM warranty on an H1 because they are all out of original warranty by now. I know there are "independent" warranties but I have never heard anything good about them.

I know repairs will be more on a diesel and there are other things that run different on the
H1 that would be expensive to repair. Again, if an extended GM warranty was an option I wouldn't care. There is no doubt I would be looking into payments again even with my paid off trade. Actually I would sell it on my own because at this point I could still get what I paid for it. They aren't depreciating, and I'm actually get letters every few months from the dealership that still services the Hummers(made up of several brands)offering to buy it because people are looking for them.

I just have reservations because I would be financing something older, with no warranty, that has expensive repair costs. I don't care about the small amout of extra power, so I really need to think about it. I have gone off road with mine and it has had no issues. I've had it in water that was probably way too high for what is recomended and it has no issues at all. I've had it checked out after going out with the Hummer Club in this area and it's always been fine. The dealer takes off your skid plate and step bars and puts them back on when you get back, no charge. I guess that's because some of the Hummer techs there own one and also go to the events. One time I went and didn't have anything removed and dented up a side step and the passenger side rocker panel. I had the steps replaced (GM sells them in pairs) and a collision center repaired and painted the rocker panel. You would never notice anything. I kept the old steps in my garage just in case I screw up the driver side. I've done this for fun but I don't get crazy into it because I don't want to fark up the vehicle.

My thought is that the fact that mine will be easy to get parts for even after the ten years that GM will make parts when production stopped (2010). I'm pretty sure my chassis is based on that of a Tahoe/Yukon, which makes sense since it is one of GM's larger platforms. It's modified to fit the width of the H2 and is actually assembled in 3 different hydroformed sections to handle the weight and size. Do you think this will be an issue if repairs are needed way down the road in that it is a unique chassis?

I'm sorry, I'm rambling. LMAO I always think too much when I consider buying a car. My husband agrees that repairs will be more on the H1. He basically says if you really want to, go for it. He loves the outside of some of the models but thinks that the interior of the
H2 is alot nicer and doesn't see a huge difference in performance that I would care about. I'm just looking for your thoughts on the facts.

If I don't trade for an H1 I won't be getting rid of it. It's such a smooth ride for it's size, fully loaded, and looks brand new. Not to mention there is nothing that looks anything like it so nothing else has caught my eye. I have the oil changed every 3 months even though it's synthetic and I never hit the milage. I'm also taking it in at about 48,000 miles for the complete fluid change. I assume it should run for a long time. When it's time to get new tires I think I will look into Nitto Grapplers with very defined tread. Those give a nice look. I have heard they sound loud on the highway but I will research that too.
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Jabbit
12-10-2012 at 04:42 PM.
12-10-2012 at 04:42 PM.
Found my next new car, hopefully my current car can last until the summer

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/11/2...t-la-2012/
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Joined Aug 2003
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ikonoklast
12-10-2012 at 05:18 PM.
12-10-2012 at 05:18 PM.
Quote from Jabbit :
Found my next new car, hopefully my current car can last until the summer

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/11/2...t-la-2012/
Nice. I rented the regular one and it handled pretty well but was pretty slow.

Focus ST is pretty damn nice too.
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Joined Jun 2006
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tsuperwanker
12-10-2012 at 06:02 PM.
12-10-2012 at 06:02 PM.
Quote from Landers :
No Porsche yet! I'm on the two-year plan to pick up a Cayman though. Pay off the BMW, put some extra savings to put down and find a CPO 2013 model that comes in off a lease or something.

I remember the thread about the 928. Too bad it was still having issues Frown. The new Boxster is the best looking Boxster they've made. Same with the new Cayman. (which is why I want the Cayman.. hehe). He should totally go drive the 2013 Boxster S and let me know what he thinks!

Speaking of PCA.. The PCA down here is going to be doing a track day event at the COTA track. My buddy has a 911 and is considering going down for the day to play around on the track. He's pushing me to buy a Porsche ASAP so we can do track days and stuff. I keep telling myself I need to be patient. laugh out loud



That Top Gear GPS sounds awesome. If I didn't have in-dash Nav I would totally look into getting it. Having Clarkson yell at me as I'm driving around would be hilarious.
Damnit, so jealous. I'm in NY, and there's a track in the finger lakes - Watkins Glen. Awesome track, also used for some Nascar events. Not your typical turn left oval, it's a great track. PCA has so many events there, and they go pretty much all day (they leave the track to get more gas laugh out loud). Wish I could join, but I don't have a Porsche laugh out loud Mercedes unfortunately does no such events. Car culture in western NY sucks! No one appreciates good cars around here. Yes, the winter can be harsh, but that shouldn't stop people from having good cars.

Watkins Glen has these events called thunder tours - anyone can take any car (no motorcycles) on the track for 3 laps. They advertise the pace car goes 55 mph, but the pace car goes 75-80ish. I got up to 130 mph on the straight. It could've been faster had it not been for slower cars!

Anyways, gotta love Porsche. Excellent reliability (you can actually find Porsche's with 50k+ miles unlike most other supercar manufacturers), fun track cars, and great daily drivers. I was looking at a Cayman myself, but I really couldn't find anything up here that was decent.
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Joined Nov 2007
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oldgrump
12-10-2012 at 06:43 PM.
12-10-2012 at 06:43 PM.
Picked up a P71 with the street appearance package for a song at an online auction. Well cared for with synthetic oil and nitrogen, looks almost new inside and out and cared for better than I'd have done.

Super comfortable, awesome strong sound system and amazing handling. MPG around town sucks, but makes up for it on the highway at 24. Feel bad using all that fuel in stop and go, but if I sold it someone else would just feed it so what's the difference?

Don't see why it's not more popular. Those engines are good for 300,000 miles plus with low maintenance costs and high reliablilty. Cost per mile is neglible, even with the fuel guzzling.
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Joined Oct 2004
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Jabbit
12-11-2012 at 03:58 AM.
12-11-2012 at 03:58 AM.
Quote from ikonoklast :
Nice. I rented the regular one and it handled pretty well but was pretty slow.

Focus ST is pretty damn nice too.
Focus ST is really nice, but I imagine the Fiesta ST will be a lot cheaper.

Quote from oldgrump :
Picked up a P71 with the street appearance package for a song at an online auction. Well cared for with synthetic oil and nitrogen, looks almost new inside and out and cared for better than I'd have done.

Super comfortable, awesome strong sound system and amazing handling. MPG around town sucks, but makes up for it on the highway at 24. Feel bad using all that fuel in stop and go, but if I sold it someone else would just feed it so what's the difference?

Don't see why it's not more popular. Those engines are good for 300,000 miles plus with low maintenance costs and high reliablilty. Cost per mile is neglible, even with the fuel guzzling.
Shhh don't tell anyone, those are on my radar too. How much did you pay?
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oldgrump
12-11-2012 at 04:27 AM.
12-11-2012 at 04:27 AM.
Quote from Jabbit :
Shhh don't tell anyone, those are on my radar too. How much did you pay?
$990, full tank of gas, serviced and needing nothing with two spare Eagle tires perfect for mounting snows on. It was the heads car - an old guy in a sleepy rich community who used it seemingly only to commute. The community dumped their entire fleet at once when changing to a greener fuel.

Funny thing.... my wife yearned for a small cheap car in good shape to use while I had our one car out. The P71 was one of the first that came up in the online sale and I dropped a small bid on it in case she didn't get hers just so we'd have something, the one she wanted was next to the last. Well, she did (28k miles on it, similalry serviced, $2950) so now we have three cars and I don't want to part with either. Such problems. Both of these cars are in better shape than our old Toyota with almost 200,000 miles.

You know about those poorly advertised online auctions? The Registry made me pay sales tax for a value over 4x what I paid for it, &**&'s.

Best of all, I LIKE NOT BEING IN DEBT.
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Last edited by oldgrump December 11, 2012 at 05:10 AM.

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Joined Oct 2004
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Jabbit
12-11-2012 at 05:44 AM.
12-11-2012 at 05:44 AM.
Quote from oldgrump :
$990, full tank of gas, serviced and needing nothing with two spare Eagle tires perfect for mounting snows on. It was the heads car - an old guy in a sleepy rich community who used it seemingly only to commute. The community dumped their entire fleet at once when changing to a greener fuel.

Funny thing.... my wife yearned for a small cheap car in good shape to use while I had our one car out. The P71 was one of the first that came up in the online sale and I dropped a small bid on it in case she didn't get hers just so we'd have something, the one she wanted was next to the last. Well, she did (28k miles on it, similalry serviced, $2950) so now we have three cars and I don't want to part with either. Such problems. Both of these cars are in better shape than our old Toyota with almost 200,000 miles.

You know about those poorly advertised online auctions? The Registry made me pay sales tax for a value over 4x what I paid for it, &**&'s.

Best of all, I LIKE NOT BEING IN DEBT.
Wow sounds like you got a great deal. You don't happen to live in the New England area do you? If so, we could cut a deal. Either way, nice work! Do those things have traction control or is it all you? I am guessing snow tires are a must.
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oldgrump
12-11-2012 at 07:10 AM.
12-11-2012 at 07:10 AM.
It has what's called a trac-lock rear. Car has four massive disc ABS brakes - it must stop on a dime but I haven't tried that. Tranny is unusual in low gear (stays there longer than I'd like it to, normal) but coasts at 50 in OD on the highway and effortlessly zooms to 85 (max I've taken it). Suspension turns corners like nothing I've ever driven before. The AC can make it an icebox, the blaring dome light is really nice to have. If I could use the super comfortable seats as furniture in the house, I would. Carries six with room to spare. You should get one, there's a good amount of nonbeaten up one's out there. You'll also like having general traffic yeild to you like never before!

I've driven this car almost 1,000 miles and haven't had to do a thing to it besides reset the radio stations. It just goes. I expect it will want a battery and might change it before it dies.

Rear wheel drive cars like snow tires. My front wheel drive Toyota is like a skateboard on the snow and should have them, too. I think "all season" tires are a fallacy.
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Last edited by oldgrump December 11, 2012 at 07:17 AM.
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Jabbit
12-11-2012 at 07:37 AM.
12-11-2012 at 07:37 AM.
Quote from oldgrump :
It has what's called a trac-lock rear. Car has four massive disc ABS brakes - it must stop on a dime but I haven't tried that. Tranny is unusual in low gear (stays there longer than I'd like it to, normal) but coasts at 50 in OD on the highway and effortlessly zooms to 85 (max I've taken it). Suspension turns corners like nothing I've ever driven before. The AC can make it an icebox, the blaring dome light is really nice to have. If I could use the super comfortable seats as furniture in the house, I would. Carries six with room to spare. You should get one, there's a good amount of nonbeaten up one's out there. You'll also like having general traffic yeild to you like never before!

I've driven this car almost 1,000 miles and haven't had to do a thing to it besides reset the radio stations. It just goes. I expect it will want a battery and might change it before it dies.

Rear wheel drive cars like snow tires. My front wheel drive Toyota is like a skateboard on the snow and should have them, too. I think "all season" tires are a fallacy.
I agree, there is no such thing as all-season tires. Just got my snow tires mounted on my wife's car, mine will get mounted in a couple days. Hmm now you've got me thinking. If my current Ford would just die then maybe I could move on! LMAO
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Frogstar
12-11-2012 at 07:44 AM.
12-11-2012 at 07:44 AM.
Quote from oldgrump :
It has what's called a trac-lock rear. Car has four massive disc ABS brakes - it must stop on a dime but I haven't tried that. Tranny is unusual in low gear (stays there longer than I'd like it to, normal) but coasts at 50 in OD on the highway and effortlessly zooms to 85 (max I've taken it). Suspension turns corners like nothing I've ever driven before. The AC can make it an icebox, the blaring dome light is really nice to have. If I could use the super comfortable seats as furniture in the house, I would. Carries six with room to spare. You should get one, there's a good amount of nonbeaten up one's out there. You'll also like having general traffic yeild to you like never before!

I've driven this car almost 1,000 miles and haven't had to do a thing to it besides reset the radio stations. It just goes. I expect it will want a battery and might change it before it dies.

Rear wheel drive cars like snow tires. My front wheel drive Toyota is like a skateboard on the snow and should have them, too. I think "all season" tires are a fallacy.
It's got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks.
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Joined Jan 2006
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Original Poster
Landers
12-11-2012 at 10:03 AM.
12-11-2012 at 10:03 AM.
Quote from ikonoklast :
Nice. I rented the regular one and it handled pretty well but was pretty slow.

Focus ST is pretty damn nice too.
I drove the regular as a rental last time I was in CA. I absolutely hated it. Slow, uncomfortable, just overall, blah. I bet the ST will be a little better, but still.. ugh.

Quote from tsuperwanker :
Damnit, so jealous. I'm in NY, and there's a track in the finger lakes - Watkins Glen. Awesome track, also used for some Nascar events. Not your typical turn left oval, it's a great track. PCA has so many events there, and they go pretty much all day (they leave the track to get more gas laugh out loud). Wish I could join, but I don't have a Porsche laugh out loud Mercedes unfortunately does no such events. Car culture in western NY sucks! No one appreciates good cars around here. Yes, the winter can be harsh, but that shouldn't stop people from having good cars.

Watkins Glen has these events called thunder tours - anyone can take any car (no motorcycles) on the track for 3 laps. They advertise the pace car goes 55 mph, but the pace car goes 75-80ish. I got up to 130 mph on the straight. It could've been faster had it not been for slower cars!

Anyways, gotta love Porsche. Excellent reliability (you can actually find Porsche's with 50k+ miles unlike most other supercar manufacturers), fun track cars, and great daily drivers. I was looking at a Cayman myself, but I really couldn't find anything up here that was decent.
I'm surprised there isn't some kind of AMG club that finds track days for you.. I bet you'd love to the the AMG out on the track, I'm sure it's just an absolute beast!
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Last edited by Landers December 11, 2012 at 10:04 AM.
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Jabbit
12-11-2012 at 10:34 AM.
12-11-2012 at 10:34 AM.
Quote from Landers :
I drove the regular as a rental last time I was in CA. I absolutely hated it. Slow, uncomfortable, just overall, blah. I bet the ST will be a little better, but still.. ugh.
Honestly, with the Fiesta ST, my goal was (is) to drive it as-is until it was out of warranty. Then modify the heck out of it and take it to track days. Hoping I can order one next summer if I am able to test drive in and enjoy it (and convince my wife that she can drive a manual).
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tsuperwanker
12-11-2012 at 01:13 PM.
12-11-2012 at 01:13 PM.
Quote from Landers :
I'm surprised there isn't some kind of AMG club that finds track days for you.. I bet you'd love to the the AMG out on the track, I'm sure it's just an absolute beast!
Eh not really. I have seen maybe a grand total of 3-4 AMG's up here. Again car culture is weak, and most people don't really know what an AMG is. I have been on some MB forums, looking for like a meet at Watkins or just a general meetup. Not really much luck. But, yeah, car is an absolute beast - gotta enjoy the whole experience. Ze Germans sure know how to build cars! Big Grin
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Joined Jan 2006
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Landers
12-11-2012 at 01:19 PM.
12-11-2012 at 01:19 PM.
Quote from tsuperwanker :
Eh not really. I have seen maybe a grand total of 3-4 AMG's up here. Again car culture is weak, and most people don't really know what an AMG is. I have been on some MB forums, looking for like a meet at Watkins or just a general meetup. Not really much luck. But, yeah, car is an absolute beast - gotta enjoy the whole experience. Ze Germans sure know how to build cars! Big Grin
Sad there's a lack of car culture. Honestly it seems like Americans don't really give a damn overall about cars besides point A to point B, except for a smaller subset of people.

You have the S-Class AMG, right? I had a friend with the C55 AMG and it was insane. I can only imagine the S-Class is just as crazy. I've always heard: AMG is basically this beast that loves to destroy tires and scare the piss out of the driver, whereas stuff from BMW M-Power, and the RS line from Audi a bit more refined for track stuff that just all-out-craziness. If that's as true as I hope it is, it just makes the AMG's all that more fun.
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