The Car Thread ... !

[bunnspecial]

But the profits goes over see instead of supporting the American economy... But it's not like there's a lot of that going on anyway

Tell that to all the folks I know who have made a great living working at TMMK.

Georgetown, KY went from a poor little town in the middle of nowhere to a thriving place thanks to all the jobs TMMK created. The same is true of a lot of other towns within commuting distance.

That's not to mention the supporting industries like the metal stamping plants that supply parts to TMMK and have created countless other jobs.

 

[AustinIllini]

But the profits goes over see instead of supporting the American economy... But it's not like there's a lot of that going on anyway

Except it really doesn't. Trickle down economics don't work. The money you pay to American companies line the pockets of executives while they exploit labor in Mexico.

 

[A.Goldberg]

Well let's be real.. Toyotas reliability is not what it used to be.. can't beat a 7yr/100,000 mile bumper2bumper for $800 bucks

All people I know who own Toyota/Lexus products seem to have surprisingly minimal or no problems. My mom for instance had a new ES350 for 6yrs/140k with ZERO problems (not so much as a lightbulb) aside from routine maintenece. As others have suggested Toyota/Lexus continues to score among the highest for reliability. I think it's hard to argue with that point. I believe Toyota has one of the highest rates of return buyers/customer loyalty.

I have to admit, in my opinion Lexus/Toyota products are some of the most boring looking and driving cars on the road, but they hold up and hold their value.

But the profits goes over see instead of supporting the American economy... But it's not like there's a lot of that going on anyway

What does that mean? A foreign company putting a plant in a US company is great for the US- especially if it's true that more US cars have foreign sources parts than Toyotas. Toyota is employing citizens (who in turn support pica economies) and paying taxes to the government (supporting local and federal governments). Building cars in the US with US sourced parts is better than Building cars in the US with foreign parts--- or better yet building US cars in Mexico. Would it be better for them to not be here at all?

The "profits" may go to Japan, but if their American market succeeds they will likely invest more money into US manufacturing and therefore support the US to an even greater extent.

And if you want to talk about supporting the US- GM and Chrysler's bailouts could be looked at as burdens on the country. The fact is, the two companies deserved to go out of business. Yes, auto unions suck, but that aside, they produced unattractive, subpar quality vehicles, with mediocre reliability compared to the Japnese brands. Economics is like Darwinism- survival of the fittest.

Though this may vary across the country, in the Northeast anyways, all the economy/family cars are Asian. All the luxury cars are European or Asian. GM/Ford/Chrysler can't keep up in these segments. The only American brand that really stands out in my mind is Jeep. American full size pickup trucks have the market dominated (but there isn't much competition there).

 

[yg17]

The difference is between already rich American execs getting richer or already rich Japanese execs getting richer. Most of the money is reinvested back into the US. And if people stop buying Camrys because of some misguided desire to "buy American" then those US factories close, taking thousands of jobs with them.

Now, my Subaru built in Japan? Yeah, that's probably not helping the American economy as much, but neither is buying the Chinese made MacBook and iPhone you have listed in your signature.

 

[Muscle Master]

All very good points....

 

[bunnspecial]

I was finally able to bring this home today

Unfortunately, the "prince of darkness" reared his head twice on the trip home(~45 miles). The first was when I stopped to get gas about 5-10 miles out. I went to start the car again, and it would crank but not start. I checked fuses, jiggled and reseated electrical connections, and everything else I could think of. I called the guy I bought it from, who came out and did the same thing with about the same result(and flooding the carbs in the process). Finally, he called his mechanic, who came out and ended up taking the distributor apart, cleaning it, and putting it back together. The car started right up.

Close to home, I pulled up to a light and it stopped dead as a doornail with seemingly no power. I pushed it into the parking lane then jiggled the batter connections-it came right back to life. I'm thinking my first parts order is going to include a new ground strap...

It's an absolute blast to drive, though.

 

[A.Goldberg]

I was finally able to bring this home today

View attachment 592142

Unfortunately, the "prince of darkness" reared his head twice on the trip home(~45 miles). The first was when I stopped to get gas about 5-10 miles out. I went to start the car again, and it would crank but not start. I checked fuses, jiggled and reseated electrical connections, and everything else I could think of. I called the guy I bought it from, who came out and did the same thing with about the same result(and flooding the carbs in the process). Finally, he called his mechanic, who came out and ended up taking the distributor apart, cleaning it, and putting it back together. The car started right up.

Close to home, I pulled up to a light and it stopped dead as a doornail with seemingly no power. I pushed it into the parking lane then jiggled the batter connections-it came right back to life. I'm thinking my first parts order is going to include a new ground strap...

It's an absolute blast to drive, though.

Looks gorgeous. Welcome to British car ownership!

 

[Suture]

I would skip an extended warranty on a Toyota. Definitely don't need it if it's a third party one, as they are notorious for screwing you out of claims with all of their fine print and exceptions.

If you favor driving dynamics at all, get the 6. You can't go wrong with a Camry, but it's a very disconnected-feeling car, just like the rest of the Toyota lineup.

Looks gorgeous. Welcome to British car ownership!

Couldn't have said it any better. Enjoy the car! My neighbor used to have one, and he loved taking it down to Summit Point.

 

[rdowns]

Just got this from Acura. NSX movie.

http://nsx.acura.com/

 

[AustinIllini]

Just got this from Acura. NSX movie.

http://nsx.acura.com/

I wish they would build the darn thing

 

[senseless]

Camrys may be ultra reliable, but it may have something to do with the demographics of the owners. They are mostly older drivers who drive gently and slow.

 

[D.T.]

In what may be a record, I posted my car for sale at about 10a on Friday, had a very interested buyer by mid afternoon, scheduled a Saturday look/drive, and by early afternoon we were at the bank doing the prelim paperwork It would've been gone but a slight banking issue forced us to wait till Monday.

I sent one email to a car I'd been watching, it was still available, said I'd be purchasing Monday afternoon

Updates to follow, but let's say I swapped my 2.2 for a 5.0

 

[2298754]

Camrys may be ultra reliable, but it may have something to do with the demographics of the owners. They are mostly older drivers who drive gently and slow.

So true. But it's actually funny how fast V6 Accords and Camrys really are. Lol

 

[macquariumguy]

I wish they would build the darn thing

No kidding. I can't say how frustrating it was to see the pictures of it at the NSXpo recently concluded in CA but also seeing that it'll be a 2017 model now.

I'm gonna hug my NSX tomorrow morning before I drive it to work.

 

[bunnspecial]

So true. But it's actually funny how fast V6 Accords and Camrys really are. Lol

The 2015 Camry SE V6 has a rated 5.8s 0-60 time and runs a quarter mile in 14.2s at 100mph, all while getting 31mpg on the interstate.

My 10 year old "sport" sedan with a V8 doesn't turn out numbers that good(6.7s 0-60, 14.8s in 1/4 mile) while also burning a lot more gas(25mpg on the interstate).

Even a 4 cylinder Camry will do 0-60 in 8s, while getting around 35mpg.

Those numbers aren't at all out of line for a typical "family" class car-it's astounding to me that this type of car can turn out straight-line performance that's better than most classic muscle cars while using a lot less gas and comfortably seating four people.

Throw in some non-straight line performance and a Camry will hold its own compared to cars a few years old.

Of course, true performance cars have been able to benefit from many of the same things that make family and economy cars so good now, so they are even better. A 2015 Corvette Z06 will go 0-60 in 2.96s and run 1/4 in 10.95s at 127mph. That's just scary for an American car!

 

[D.T.]

In what may be a record, I posted my car for sale at about 10a on Friday, had a very interested buyer by mid afternoon, scheduled a Saturday look/drive, and by early afternoon we were at the bank doing the prelim paperwork It would've been gone but a slight banking issue forced us to wait till Monday.

I sent one email to a car I'd been watching, it was still available, said I'd be purchasing Monday afternoon

Updates to follow, but let's say I swapped my 2.2 for a 5.0

And it's gone. Always kind of sad when you've had a car for a few years, done some things to really make it yours - I guess being a "car guy" I get some emotional attachment to my rides.

Excited about the replacement though!

 

[puma1552]

And it's gone. Always kind of sad when you've had a car for a few years, done some things to really make it yours - I guess being a "car guy" I get some emotional attachment to my rides.

Excited about the replacement though!

well post pics of the new 5.0 vert already!

 

[yg17]

Any Dodge drivers here? I currently have a Charger as a rental. I tried plugging my iPhone into the USB port. The phone tells me I need the UConnect app. Fine. I download that. The app wants me to register an account. No. Not bothering with that for a rental. Without the app, USB under media sources is disabled. Is it not possible to listen to music on my phone in the car without the stupid app? I paired with Bluetooth and that works, but it doesn't do voice control, and if I have to be plugged in anyway for power (using the phone for nav kills the battery) I might as well do music over USB and get voice control features and better sound quality.

 

[D.T.]

well post pics of the new 5.0 vert already!

It's in another state, having to get it shipped :/ I do have dealer photos, but kind of wanted to post the real deal

 

[2298754]

Any Dodge drivers here? I currently have a Charger as a rental. I tried plugging my iPhone into the USB port. The phone tells me I need the UConnect app. Fine. I download that. The app wants me to register an account. No. Not bothering with that for a rental. Without the app, USB under media sources is disabled. Is it not possible to listen to music on my phone in the car without the stupid app? I paired with Bluetooth and that works, but it doesn't do voice control, and if I have to be plugged in anyway for power (using the phone for nav kills the battery) I might as well do music over USB and get voice control features and better sound quality.

I had a Dart rental before. Same issue.

However, I found a way to make it work sometimes. Start playing the music in Sportify/Pandora/etc and then plug the USB cable into the iPhone. It re-routes it out to the car speakers. It's hit or miss though.

 

[puma1552]

It's in another state, having to get it shipped :/ I do have dealer photos, but kind of wanted to post the real deal

not to make you worry but make DAMN sure you comb over every inch of the car looking for bad prep work/swirls or god knows what other mass produced quality control issues there may be such as panel alignment, etc. Also make sure nobody curbed the wheels or scraped the lowest parts of the front/rear bumpers pulling it on/off the transporters

 

[yg17]

I had a Dart rental before. Same issue.

However, I found a way to make it work sometimes. Start playing the music in Sportify/Pandora/etc and then plug the USB cable into the iPhone. It re-routes it out to the car speakers. It's hit or miss though.

Thanks. You're right, it is hit or miss. I got it to work by restarting the car, but that only seems to work some of the time.

It's definitely an annoying issue, at least I only have to live with it until Friday. Thankfully my employer requires we choose National when renting and National lets you choose your own car. Guess I won't be choosing any Chrysler cars next time. Other than that the Charger is a pretty decent car, especially for a rental. I've had much worse.

 

[2298754]

Thanks. You're right, it is hit or miss. I got it to work by restarting the car, but that only seems to work some of the time.

I think it's more iOS 9's fault. I can't get my iPhone to play nice with most infotainment systems these days. Barely works over USB with my BMW. I'm using Spotify and the iDrive screen will display music information from the iPod app and the steering wheel controls almost never work correctly.

It downright refuses to work on MOPAR, Honda, Benz, and Toyota cars.

Works great with Hyundai/KIA and Ford products for some reason.

 

[yg17]

I think it's more iOS 9's fault. I can't get my iPhone to play nice with most infotainment systems these days. Barely works over USB with my BMW. I'm using Spotify and the iDrive screen will display music information from the iPod app and the steering wheel controls almost never work correctly.

It downright refuses to work on MOPAR, Honda, Benz, and Toyota cars.

Works great with Hyundai/KIA and Ford products for some reason.

Good to know, thanks. I have a Pioneer AVIC with CarPlay in my car so naturally that works fine and it worked flawlessly in the Mini and Kia I've had as rentals in the past few weeks. But yeah, sounds like it must be an iOS9 issue if it doesn't work on all those cars.

 

[D.T.]

not to make you worry but make DAMN sure you comb over every inch of the car looking for bad prep work/swirls or god knows what other mass produced quality control issues there may be such as panel alignment, etc. Also make sure nobody curbed the wheels or scraped the lowest parts of the front/rear bumpers pulling it on/off the transporters

Agh, yeah, that's the downside, though this would be the 3rd car I purchased sight unseen (including a used one through a dealer on EBay).

The transport company I'm familiar with as they came up in my research when I was coordinating a transport of my Z06, they deal with pretty high end vehicles, fully enclosed and temp/humidity controlled.

Wait, I've got a fun pic (it's not the new GT) ...