So what's Petite's record for length of time car shopping?

[Indy]

Unless I get lucky, I think I might break it.

[jsharr ★]

Around 5 years I think, give or take a month.

[Razors Edge ★]

9 minutes ago, Indy said:

Unless I get lucky, I think I might break it.

I too am torn.  Get a truck early or a car for the interim until I need the truck.  Big dilemma. But I think/hope I have a year before I have to decide.

[Indy]

8 minutes ago, jsharr said:

Around 5 years I think, give or take a month.

Okay, guess her record is in no jeopardy then.  I'll either find what I am looking for or settle before then because the car it's replacing, probably will not last that long.

[Longjohn ★]

4 minutes ago, Indy said:

Okay, guess her record is in no jeopardy then.  I'll either find what I am looking for or settle before then because the car it's replacing, probably will not last that long.

What car are you replacing? How old?

[Indy]

3 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I too am torn.  Get a truck early or a car for the interim until I need the truck.  Big dilemma. But I think/hope I have a year before I have to decide.

I am not torn, I know exactly what I want.  Just have to find it.  Luckily I have friend that works at a dealership, so he's looking.  Wife almost had me talked into something else, but my friend kind of laughed at it and said I will not be happy with it since I like reliable.

[Razors Edge ★]

2 minutes ago, Indy said:

I am not torn, I know exactly what I want.  Just have to find it.  Luckily I have friend that works at a dealership, so he's looking.  Wife almost had me talked into something else, but my friend kind of laughed at it and said I will not be happy with it since I like reliable. 

So what is it? What's in short supply?

[Indy]

Just now, Longjohn said:

What car are you replacing? How old?

My Mazda 3 commuter.  Stupid reason, I am bored with it.  It's a base 2008 model.  As my wife says, I am spoiled, I haven't anything not fully loaded in over a decade.  After a year and a half, I am bored with the Mazda, plus it doesn't help that my wife likes to make fun of it which is what spurred me into looking to begin with.

[Indy]

Just now, Razors Edge said:

So what is it? What's in short supply?

Infiniti G37 convertible.  There is two in the Indianapolis market (three if you count the one that the roof doesn't work) one has a rebuilt title and to expensive for a rebuilt title, the other is red.  I can't do red, also on a questionable lot.

[Longjohn ★]

1 minute ago, Indy said:

I can't do red, also on a questionable lot.

Painting cars is fun, if the price is right you should try it.

[ChrisL]

Well WOChrisL has been car shopping for about 6 months now.  Week 1 of single car has been going fine.  I have been a bit under the weather so working 1/2 days so she hasn’t had to ride/walk home yet...

She wants a Crosstrek but doesn’t want to pay $30K for a car so keeps looking for less expensive alternatives...

[jsharr ★]

18 minutes ago, Indy said:

Okay, guess her record is in no jeopardy then.  I'll either find what I am looking for or settle before then because the car it's replacing, probably will not last that long.

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/t-Used-INFINITI-G37-Convertible-RWD-t38894

[Indy]

9 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Well WOChrisL has been car shopping for about 6 months now.  Week 1 of single car has been going fine.  I have been a bit under the weather so working 1/2 days so she hasn’t had to ride/walk home yet...

She wants a Crosstrek but doesn’t want to pay $30K for a car so keeps looking for less expensive alternatives...

Inexpensive Subaru?  Those don't exist, at least not on used market.  I started out looking for a WRX or similar. 

[Indy]

5 minutes ago, jsharr said:

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/t-Used-INFINITI-G37-Convertible-RWD-t38894

Yeap, I'm there daily, so I know what I want exists, just a matter of how far I have to travel to get it, or how long it takes for my friend to work a deal and get one transferred here.  Figure as fall approaches, a lot of those will start hitting the car auctions and he can grab me one cheaper, or at least that's my hope.

[jsharr ★]

We are at an impasse with our 18 year old.  He just started driving, we are looking for a car, but he wants a Challenger with a Hemi.   Trying to explain the doubled cost of insurance to him is not working.   Insurance payment would be as high as the car payment.

Looking at other options but at 6'5" and built like an offensive lineman, we have to eliminated a lot of cars just on size, so full size sedan or coupe, truck or SUV.  Trucks and SUVs hold their value well, so we have to go higher mileage than we want.

Not many Challengers on the market at a price and mileage we want.

 

[ChrisL]

20 minutes ago, Indy said:

Inexpensive Subaru?  Those don't exist, at least not on used market.  I started out looking for a WRX or similar. 

Sorry wasn’t clear... As in other makes & models from Honda, Toyota etc.  She really loves the Crosstrek tho and the plan is to buy new and hold on to it for a decade or more.

[Indy]

12 minutes ago, jsharr said:

We are at an impasse with our 18 year old.  He just started driving, we are looking for a car, but he wants a Challenger with a Hemi.   Trying to explain the doubled cost of insurance to him is not working.   Insurance payment would be as high as the car payment.

Looking at other options but at 6'5" and built like an offensive lineman, we have to eliminated a lot of cars just on size, so full size sedan or coupe, truck or SUV.  Trucks and SUVs hold their value well, so we have to go higher mileage than we want.

Not many Challengers on the market at a price and mileage we want.

 

I know where there is a Mazda 3 that will be going on sale soon.  Amazing amount of leg room with the seat all the way back.

[ChrisL]

3 minutes ago, Indy said:

I know where there is a Mazda 3 that will be going on sale soon.  Amazing amount of leg room with the seat all the way back.

I loved my Mazda 3 hatchback.  It was an 08 or 09.  With the 2.3 engine & nimble handling it was a fun car.   

I planned to give it to my son but it died a horrible death so that I could live... 

[dinneR ★]

24 minutes ago, jsharr said:

We are at an impasse with our 18 year old.  He just started driving, we are looking for a car, but he wants a Challenger with a Hemi.   Trying to explain the doubled cost of insurance to him is not working.   Insurance payment would be as high as the car payment.

Looking at other options but at 6'5" and built like an offensive lineman, we have to eliminated a lot of cars just on size, so full size sedan or coupe, truck or SUV.  Trucks and SUVs hold their value well, so we have to go higher mileage than we want.

Not many Challengers on the market at a price and mileage we want.

 

 

[jsharr ★]

7 minutes ago, Indy said:

I know where there is a Mazda 3 that will be going on sale soon.  Amazing amount of leg room with the seat all the way back.

He already told us he does not want a chick car.

[maddmaxx ★]

Chic car???

 

[Prophet Zacharia]

32 minutes ago, jsharr said:

We are at an impasse with our 18 year old.  He just started driving, we are looking for a car, but he wants a Challenger with a Hemi.   Trying to explain the doubled cost of insurance to him is not working.   Insurance payment would be as high as the car payment.

Looking at other options but at 6'5" and built like an offensive lineman, we have to eliminated a lot of cars just on size, so full size sedan or coupe, truck or SUV.  Trucks and SUVs hold their value well, so we have to go higher mileage than we want.

Not many Challengers on the market at a price and mileage we want.

 

We went Jeep for our 6’10” son, I think it’s a Wrangler? 2 door, I think it has extended seat rails on the drivers side.

[Scrapr ★]

33 minutes ago, jsharr said:

We are at an impasse with our 18 year old.  He just started driving, we are looking for a car, but he wants a Challenger with a Hemi.   Trying to explain the doubled cost of insurance to him is not working.   Insurance payment would be as high as the car payment.
 

New driver you say?  Are you worried about new driver + Challenger + lotsa HP?

Lil Scrapr totaled 3 cars (or was it 4?) before he got his car removed from his possession I did not know that the bus has lotsa of legroom for big fellas

[maddmaxx ★]

Under no conditions should you give a first time driver a hemi challenger.  That's a killer combination.  Too much horsepower and fun and not enough time spent learning how to control it.  Car payment.  Insurance costs.  Fuel costs.  Tire costs.  It's a bigger hole in the wallet than a boat.

[jsharr ★]

1 minute ago, maddmaxx said:

Under no conditions should you give a first time driver a hemi challenger.  That's a killer combination.  Too much horsepower and fun and not enough time spent learning how to control it.  Car payment.  Insurance costs.  Fuel costs.  Tire costs.  It's a bigger hole in the wallet than a boat.

I agree fully.  Wade does not.  However, since it is my money, guess who wins this one?

[jsharr ★]

Just now, jsharr said:

I agree fully.  Wade does not.  However, since it is my money, guess who wins this one?

Martha, that's who!

[maddmaxx ★]

27 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I agree fully.  Wade does not.  However, since it is my money, guess who wins this one?

He can lust after a challenger some day but you gotta play on the JV team for just a bit first.

[ChrisL]

33 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I agree fully.  Wade does not.  However, since it is my money, guess who wins this one?

We had similar discussions. My son saw a Toyota/Scion TC and fell in love with it.  Well the price & insurance weren’t a hit with me so I told him no.  He basically said if I can’t have that car I don’t want a car at all... I told him  I ain’t driving you to college so plan to take the bus, ride a bike or find a fucking car that fits the budget....

He did and is happy with his Nissan Sentra.

[Indy]

1 hour ago, ChrisL said:

I loved my Mazda 3 hatchback.  It was an 08 or 09.  With the 2.3 engine & nimble handling it was a fun car.   

I planned to give it to my son but it died a horrible death so that I could live... 

Mine's an 08 hatchback with the 2.3.  It is a fun little car to throw around.  But a year and half, I'm getting tired of the manual, and having to constantly use a clutch, reminded me how bad my knees are.

[ChrisL]

51 minutes ago, Scrapr said:

New driver you say?  Are you worried about new driver + Challenger + lotsa HP?

Lil Scrapr totaled 3 cars (or was it 4?) before he got his car removed from his possession I did not know that the bus has lotsa of legroom for big fellas

My daughter has a friend who is a freaking scatter brain ditz.  Her scatterbrained ditz parents bought her a fancy Mustang for her 16th bday.  I told my daughter the car would be totaled in a month.  It didn’t last a week...

They got her a VW bug after that...

[Indy]

43 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

Under no conditions should you give a first time driver a hemi challenger.  That's a killer combination.  Too much horsepower and fun and not enough time spent learning how to control it.  Car payment.  Insurance costs.  Fuel costs.  Tire costs.  It's a bigger hole in the wallet than a boat.

Oh come on now.  My boat hasn't had a single issue in the almost 20 years I owned it (it's a 1993 boat).  All it ever cost me is fuel and once a year a gallon of oil in the spring and six gallons of antifreeze in the fall.

[jsharr ★]

Just now, Indy said:

Oh come on now.  My boat hasn't had a single issue in the almost 20 years I owned it (it's a 1993 boat).  All it ever cost me is fuel and once a year a gallon of oil in the spring and six gallons of antifreeze in the fall.

Never had the prop rebuilt, no tune ups, prop shaft repacked, nothing?  Pretty amazing.

[Indy]

1 minute ago, jsharr said:

Never had the prop rebuilt, no tune ups, prop shaft repacked, nothing?  Pretty amazing.

Nope, prop shaft probably could use a repack at some point.  Drip is a little fast, but not anywhere near a level of concern, just something that one of these years should be done.

Okay, so I did have to replace the return spring on the carburetor once.  That couple bucks at the hardware store was rough.  I also have to every few years through a new impeller in the raw water pump.

They don't make them like the used to and why when ever I start looking at a newer boat, I have to smack myself.

[jsharr ★]

2 minutes ago, Indy said:

Nope, prop shaft probably could use a repack at some point.  Drip is a little fast, but not anywhere near a level of concern, just something that one of these years should be done.

Okay, so I did have to replace the return spring on the carburetor once.  That couple bucks at the hardware store was rough.  I also have to every few years through a new impeller in the raw water pump.

They don't make them like the used to and why when ever I start looking at a newer boat, I have to smack myself.

Those old inboards are sweet.  impeller, oil change, winterize, will run forever.  As long as you do not hit stuff, they last and last.

[Indy]

Just now, jsharr said:

Those old inboards are sweet.  impeller, oil change, winterize, will run forever.  As long as you do not hit stuff, they last and last.

Yeah, they are bloody simple.  Really not much to go wrong.  And dang it, forgot when I first got it I did have to get the starter rebuilt once.  Now looking back it, what a freaking money hole.  ?

 

Used to work with a guy who had an old Master Craft the same vintage as mine (same engine and transmission even).  He had a weekend lake house.  He would say he'd go up there, his neighbor had a new Master Craft and would ask him if he wanted to go out and ski with them.  He said it seemed inevitable, there would always be something wrong with it and it wouldn't start so they would end up taking his old one.  He said his neighbor hated his old boat because it always just worked.

[maddmaxx ★]

Mind you I was 22 before I had my first car.  No car till after I was in the service and then no car for the first two years because I simply didn't make enough money.  First car 1966 Barracuda 273 cu in engine.  Not toooooo fast.  In street trim it topped out at about 95 mph in the quarter mile.  I learned a lot about cars and drag racing with that car.  Of course I was hooked on racing so the cars got faster over the years.  Maybe I was lucky to have survived my youth.

[jsharr ★]

2 minutes ago, Indy said:

Yeah, they are bloody simple.  Really not much to go wrong.  And dang it, forgot when I first got it I did have to get the starter rebuilt once.  Now looking back it, what a freaking money hole.  ?

 

Used to work with a guy who had an old Master Craft the same vintage as mine (same engine and transmission even).  He had a weekend lake house.  He would say he'd go up there, his neighbor had a new Master Craft and would ask him if he wanted to go out and ski with them.  He said it seemed inevitable, there would always be something wrong with it and it wouldn't start so they would end up taking his old one.  He said his neighbor hated his old boat because it always just worked.

Have to be careful with marine starters,  Need to be sparkless, due to the chance of gas fumes in bilge.  Really should not use automotive starters.  Or at least that is how I was taught when I was in the boat business.  Had a special rebuilder for our starters.

[jsharr ★]

Just now, maddmaxx said:

Mind you I was 22 before I had my first car.  No car till after I was in the service and then no car for the first two years because I simply didn't make enough money.  First car 1966 Barracuda 273 cu in engine.  Not toooooo fast.  In street trim it topped out at about 95 mph in the quarter mile.  I learned a lot about cars and drag racing with that car.  Of course I was hooked on racing so the cars got faster over the years.  Maybe I was lucky to have survived my youth.

That is the other thing Wade does not understand.  A modern V6 puts out more horsepower than a 70s V8.   300 ponies out of 3.7l V-6 vs the 150ish HP out of the 305 2bbl V8 in my 76 chevy nova.    My Chrysler 300 is probably the fastest car I have ever owned.

[Dottleshead ★]

2 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

I too am torn.  Get a truck early or a car for the interim until I need the truck.  Big dilemma. But I think/hope I have a year before I have to decide.

Truck if you want bad gas mileage.  Car if you want better gas mileage.  Truck if you want to haul big things.  Car if you don't.  Glad I could help.

[Indy]

5 minutes ago, jsharr said:

Have to be careful with marine starters,  Need to be sparkless, due to the chance of gas fumes in bilge.  Really should not use automotive starters.  Or at least that is how I was taught when I was in the boat business.  Had a special rebuilder for our starters.

Yes, you are correct.  Had a local shop that knew what they were doing rebuild it, made sure to make sure they were familiar with sparkless marine starters before they did it.  Almost 20 years of trouble free operation, I'd say they did a good job.  And the old Indmar Ford 351 is not an easy cranking engine.

[maddmaxx ★]

3 minutes ago, jsharr said:

That is the other thing Wade does not understand.  A modern V6 puts out more horsepower than a 70s V8.   300 ponies out of 3.7l V-6 vs the 150ish HP out of the 305 2bbl V8 in my 76 chevy nova.    My Chrysler 300 is probably the fastest car I have ever owned.

Ahhh no.

My 273 Barracuda was a factory race car special at 275 hp out the door and easily 300 after my work on it.  It was a showroom stock drag car through and through.  I only use it as an example because it was slow for me............

[Indy]

4 minutes ago, jsharr said:

That is the other thing Wade does not understand.  A modern V6 puts out more horsepower than a 70s V8.   300 ponies out of 3.7l V-6 vs the 150ish HP out of the 305 2bbl V8 in my 76 chevy nova.    My Chrysler 300 is probably the fastest car I have ever owned.

My Mazda 3 will out run my brother in laws 68 GTO.  Of course so will their old minivan.  I love old cars, but by today's standards, old muscle cars are ridiculously slow.  But man do the sound good and look good doing it.

[Indy]

1 minute ago, maddmaxx said:

Ahhh no.

My 273 Barracuda was a factory race car special at 275 hp out the door and easily 300 after my work on it.  It was a showroom stock drag car through and through.  I only use it as an example because it was slow for me............

No, it was still slow by today's standards.  Power to weight ratios on those old cars are horrendously bad.  Also the newer motors are a lot more torquey than old ones, so your more modern torque curves blow away the old "high" horsepower muscle cars.

[Dottleshead ★]

2 minutes ago, Indy said:

My Mazda 3 will out run my brother in laws 68 GTO.  Of course so will their old minivan.  I love old cars, but by today's standards, old muscle cars are ridiculously slow.  But man do the sound good and look good doing it.

I had a Mazda 6 and would buy another.  Mazda 3's seem like a good way to go.

[maddmaxx ★]

25 minutes ago, Indy said:

No, it was still slow by today's standards.  Power to weight ratios on those old cars are horrendously bad.  Also the newer motors are a lot more torquey than old ones, so your more modern torque curves blow away the old "high" horsepower muscle cars.

Ok.

Do compare apples to apples though.  A modern Ford factory drag mustang, street capable would still have it's hands full with a street capable 68 Hemi Dart.  Now Hemi Darts are rare, but Hemi Cudas are in that ball park too.

A modern Chrysler 300 ( for Jsharr)  with a 5.7 Hemi produces 363 hp and 394 ft lbs of torque.  It will run 0-160 kph (100 mph) in 14.3 seconds.  My Daytona in stock trim at a heavier weight would run 14.0 on street tires in a quarter at 105 mph.  That was a larger motor (440) but not the hemi and it weighed 4200 lbs wet.

A Dodge Hurricane makes about 750 hp and is not the same class of car.  The Ford drag mustang is faster but again is a marginally legal street car.

My Barracuda was not a "high horsepower" muscle car.  It was just quick for it's class ( J-stock) That's down in 283 Chevy II country.

[maddmaxx ★]

The biggest advantage modern cars have is the computer that allows you to detune a high horsepower car so it can be driven on the street, sometimes with some of the cylinders shut off.  In 1970 you had a carb that could be jetted for racing and get about 3 mpg on the street with a spark plug life of about 500 miles or it could be jetted for the street and not be race worthy.  You just had to change back and forth.  Today, the electronic brain makes the changes on demand automatically.

[ChrisL]

1 hour ago, Dottie said:

I had a Mazda 6 and would buy another.  Mazda 3's seem like a good way to go.

With the 2.3 or 2.5 engine.  The Mazda 3 with the 2 liter is fine as a commuter but the 2.3 makes them extremely quick.

I never drove a “muscle car” from the 60’s or 70’s, just a Police Cruiser from the 80’s but that Mazda 3 would give a lot of cars a run for the money.  By far my most favorite car.

[maddmaxx ★]

1 hour ago, ChrisL said:

With the 2.3 or 2.5 engine.  The Mazda 3 with the 2 liter is fine as a commuter but the 2.3 makes them extremely quick.

I never drove a “muscle car” from the 60’s or 70’s, just a Police Cruiser from the 80’s but that Mazda 3 would give a lot of cars a run for the money.  By far my most favorite car.

Muscle cars were straight line fast.  They weren't exactly gymkhana material.  Once you got into quick left rights you were in trouble.  They were ok for constant turns in one direction once you got the drift right but if you had to switch back quickly the back end tended to lead the way.  There is a level of sophistication in modern cars that is difficult to match with old iron.  They just feel better to drive.

[Razors Edge ★]

2 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

The biggest advantage modern cars have is the computer that allows you to detune a high horsepower car so it can be driven on the street, sometimes with some of the cylinders shut off.  In 1970 you had a carb that could be jetted for racing and get about 3 mpg on the street with a spark plug life of about 500 miles or it could be jetted for the street and not be race worthy.  You just had to change back and forth.  Today, the electronic brain makes the changes on demand automatically. 

The new Silverado is pretty intense:

New Cylinder Deactivation System

The base 5.3-liter V-8 uses an active fuel management system that deactivates cylinders to conserve fuel. It's similar to the setup in the 2018 Silverado and can either run the truck on four or eight cylinders. The new setup, also on the 6.2-liter V-8, uses what Chevy is calling Dynamic Fuel Management. This technology can run on all eight cylinders or as few as one. But it's way more advanced than that. The oil control valves on the new DFM setup are located in the engine block and there is one for each cylinder. There are also two switching lifters for each cylinder, totaling 16. Building the oil control valves into the block shortens the distance required for the oil to travel and speeds up response time.

The firing pattern for the new engine remains the same: 1-8-7-2-6-5-4-3. What is different is that the system can control which cylinder fires in the rotation. Chevrolet uses fractions to describe which mode the engine is in. For a basic example, 1/2 mode fires cylinders 8, 2, 5 and 3 during each cycle. That's the same as V-4 mode in the older active fuel management setup. It gets more complicated when fewer cylinders are required. In a 1/3-firing fraction, the engine has to cycle three complete times for each cylinder to fire once. On the first cycle, 7 and 5 fire. On the second cycle, it's 1, 2 and 4. On the third cycle, it's 8, 6 and 3. Eventually every cylinder fires, but the system can control individually which cylinders fire on which rotation.

System Benefits

The benefits to the driver are multifold. Under the standard EPA test cycle with the old engine, the engine operated in four-cylinder mode 52 percent of the time. The other 48 percent of the time it was running as a full V-8.

Using the same test cycle, the upgraded engine operated in V-8 mode only 39 percent of the time. It then operated between four- and eight-cylinder modes 45 percent of the time. Finally, 16 percent of the time the engine operated on less than four cylinders. Using this new setup, the 5.3-liter Chevy can use up to 29 different cylinder firing patterns. In the production version of the Silverado, it uses only 17.

[Further]

2 hours ago, jsharr said:

That is the other thing Wade does not understand.  A modern V6 puts out more horsepower than a 70s V8.   300 ponies out of 3.7l V-6 vs the 150ish HP out of the 305 2bbl V8 in my 76 chevy nova.    My Chrysler 300 is probably the fastest car I have ever owned.

A friend of mine cosigned the loan for his kid to buy an Acura, not sure of the model, but it was sporty & had a turbo. My buddy counted 4 spark plugs & assumed it would on the slow side.

After the car had been home for awhile my buddy took it for it a drive, the next day at work he told me that had he known how fast it was he would never have signed the loan. 

Said he peeked under the hood again to count cylinders cause he swore it had a V8 when he drove it