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The Car Thread ... !
- Thread starter D.T.
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I'm either getting the 2015 Toyota Camry LE or the 2015 Toyota Camry XSE ( This is the one that I really love) by the end of 2015.
Not a truck guy by any means, but I saw my first 2015 F150 going down the road the other day (black Platinum) and MAN it looked good.
Actually made me head over to Ford's site and do a build and price on a platinum myself and made me wonder if I could see myself in a big truck.
Kudos to Ford.
Looked just like this:
Actually made me head over to Ford's site and do a build and price on a platinum myself and made me wonder if I could see myself in a big truck.
Kudos to Ford.
Looked just like this:
Yep, whole body is aluminum which saves 700 lbs. I'm a little worried though - Ford has used aluminum for the hoods on the 2005-2014 Mustangs and even in 2014 people are having the front edge of the hoods bubble due to piss poor prep of the aluminum at the factory - I'm watching the hood on my '14 GT like a hawk. Hopefully Ford learned from this, but it seems like if they did, they never bothered to implement the fix on the Mustang line since some people still have issues.
I think if I were buying a new F150 I'd hold off and see if there are issues with the aluminum over the first 1-2 years.
Not nearly as hideous as I thought it would be.
http://www.worldcarfans.com/115010686848/2016-lexus-gs-f-unveiled-with-467-bhp
The amount of power this makes is ********. The RS/M/AMG equivalents will be on another level. Even the S6 is probably more powerful than this.
http://www.worldcarfans.com/115010686848/2016-lexus-gs-f-unveiled-with-467-bhp
The amount of power this makes is ********. The RS/M/AMG equivalents will be on another level. Even the S6 is probably more powerful than this.
In fairness, it's a Lexus, so we can expect it won't spend as much time broken down as the RS/M/AMGs of the world.
Valid point, but also hyperbole. I've owned my fair share of German cars. They are completely fine. My S7 has been bulletproof so far.
I think the main issue I have is that I don't think Lexus should be in the business to build cars only for those who say less is good enough as long as it isn't German. This has the same engine out of the RC-F. It needed to be higher performance. Lexus is the only Japanese brand that is on par with the likes of Audi/BMW/Mercedes and they are screwing it up.
The difference between my argument and yours is there is actual, statistical evidence that Lexus is far and away the most reliable car brand. You base yours on a handful you have owned.
I love the Germans, too, but let's be real. There are a number of reasons to buy the Lexus over any of the Germans, and reliability is far and away number 1.
Yeah... I understand where you are coming from. I'm probably the biggest Lexus/Toyota fan on this forum. Lexus' quality is unrivaled. No one comes close.
The biggest issue that comes into play is what kind of buyer Lexus is going after for this car. If it's a Lexus loyalist who wants a more powerful GS, sure, this hits the mark perfectly. If I wanted a high performance car that I was keeping for 100k+ miles, bingo. The GS-F is my first choice.
But what if the buyer is already considering M/AMG/RS. This is where it falls short. These are also the buyers who don't consider reliability important. They might lease or buy and trade in after a few years for the next best thing. A simple glance at the spec sheets show that it falls short of the Germans.
Excellent point. I have no interest in Lexus and all the interest in the world in Mercedes.
Yeah. The new E Class is months away from release. I'm sure AMG has something unbelievable up their sleeves for the next E63. The current one is fantastic.
I just realized, the CTS-V is also being shown off at Detroit... and it will have almost 200 MORE hp than the GS-F. We live in such a fantastic time now. There is really no "bad" car these days. So many choices for everyone!
My little experience, rant, etc., and how I intend to resolve the issue 
Finally had to toss some new shoes on the 4Runner (’08 V8 AWD Limited), ~72K miles. Went with Nitto Crosstek, solid reviews, light aggressive for off road, but quiet for street/highway/touring.
While the car was up, the TK techs said the front struts were blown out, they’re definitely leaking, and in retro-spec I think the front is riding a little harsher. So I figure, I’m here, need the car, get it done with it’s up in the air (manager knocked off some labor), wind up needing to go before the parts arrive, come back an hour later, they get it up (same deal, great service), wheels off and find out the struts are the wrong part. Our T4R has the X-REAS setup, which is a mechanical/hydraulic system that balances the shock stiffness across opposite corners.
OK, so what? Well, the what is the shocks are ~$200 more each, more hours labor, doubles the price, I say feck it, let’s wait ...
I research this and yep, it’s a common issue and even worse, the system is easily F’ed up during installs, requiring the whole thing to be replaced (lines, center canisters, rear shocks), could run $2K+ ?!?!
So instead of spending close to $1000 to replace the fronts, and possibly needing the same costs for the rears in the near future, I’m going to pull everything out myself, swap in a nice set of Bilstein 5100s for about $400 (that’s all four corners and no more X-REAS issues!) I’ve also read that the stock FJ Cruiser suspension is excellent and a 4R bolt-in, and also gives it about a 1” lift. Also looking at other setups, there’s some stuff that’s much better than the stock (even the X-REAS), that’s so much cheaper.
Probably going to put on some spacers, give it a little wider stance.
Final thing:
The stock 18” wheels have a great satin painted finish, but it’s bubbling up and has peeled off on several spots. The local Toyota dealer (different owners/name since we originally purchased) won’t honor this under the rust-proof and some research shows this is a ongoing problem with several models and rarely is anything done about it by the dealer. The most I’ve heard done was the dealer paying for some paint or PC work, but no deal with mine.
So my plan is to either order a replacement set (found some killer deals on new-in-the-box OEM wheels, and I dig on the style), but more likely I'll just refinish them myself - do a strip and polish! I even started shopping soda blasters (Eastwood, Harbor Freight) to do the paint removal.
Heck, the wheel refinished, new suspension and a couple of worn interior parts replaced and it’ll be pretty much brand new. Funny, when I was waiting to talk to the service manager about the wheels, I chatted up a sales goober, and had him run some numbers and seriously thought about leaving with a new 5th Gen ... however, we may wind up going a totally different direction.
Finally had to toss some new shoes on the 4Runner (’08 V8 AWD Limited), ~72K miles. Went with Nitto Crosstek, solid reviews, light aggressive for off road, but quiet for street/highway/touring.
While the car was up, the TK techs said the front struts were blown out, they’re definitely leaking, and in retro-spec I think the front is riding a little harsher. So I figure, I’m here, need the car, get it done with it’s up in the air (manager knocked off some labor), wind up needing to go before the parts arrive, come back an hour later, they get it up (same deal, great service), wheels off and find out the struts are the wrong part. Our T4R has the X-REAS setup, which is a mechanical/hydraulic system that balances the shock stiffness across opposite corners.
OK, so what? Well, the what is the shocks are ~$200 more each, more hours labor, doubles the price, I say feck it, let’s wait ...
I research this and yep, it’s a common issue and even worse, the system is easily F’ed up during installs, requiring the whole thing to be replaced (lines, center canisters, rear shocks), could run $2K+ ?!?!
So instead of spending close to $1000 to replace the fronts, and possibly needing the same costs for the rears in the near future, I’m going to pull everything out myself, swap in a nice set of Bilstein 5100s for about $400 (that’s all four corners and no more X-REAS issues!) I’ve also read that the stock FJ Cruiser suspension is excellent and a 4R bolt-in, and also gives it about a 1” lift. Also looking at other setups, there’s some stuff that’s much better than the stock (even the X-REAS), that’s so much cheaper.
Probably going to put on some spacers, give it a little wider stance.
Final thing:
The stock 18” wheels have a great satin painted finish, but it’s bubbling up and has peeled off on several spots. The local Toyota dealer (different owners/name since we originally purchased) won’t honor this under the rust-proof and some research shows this is a ongoing problem with several models and rarely is anything done about it by the dealer. The most I’ve heard done was the dealer paying for some paint or PC work, but no deal with mine.
So my plan is to either order a replacement set (found some killer deals on new-in-the-box OEM wheels, and I dig on the style), but more likely I'll just refinish them myself - do a strip and polish! I even started shopping soda blasters (Eastwood, Harbor Freight) to do the paint removal.
Heck, the wheel refinished, new suspension and a couple of worn interior parts replaced and it’ll be pretty much brand new. Funny, when I was waiting to talk to the service manager about the wheels, I chatted up a sales goober, and had him run some numbers and seriously thought about leaving with a new 5th Gen ... however, we may wind up going a totally different direction.
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My gear head friends and I say the same thing. It’s amazing the performance/power that’s available, and in some cases at a pretty reasonable price.
Several years back if you told me that 4xx HP cars (in context of course, of the segment, weight, etc.
) would be considered lackluster, I would've said you’re crazy. What a bunch of crap. Escalate this to the Service Director and tell him/her to pass this onto the regional Toyota rep. My father's old Toyota with the 18s went thru 2 sets of bubbled wheels. Each time it took escalation to the regional rep to get it done. Of course, it helped that he was a loyal Toyota customer on his 7th or 8th Toyota at the time, all from the same dealer. They're pretty lenient about the wheels in the Northeast. Takes a few weeks to get them in though.
Thanks for the encouragement. I may get in touch with the consortium rep (this dealer is part of the Southeast Toyota Group), and I still have the numbers of some national reps (my Supra was used in some Toyota shows, got to know a few folks).
Though a semi-inexpensive fix, thats actually an _improvement_ (polished for example), still seems like a decent alternative - I love tinkering around with cars anyway, so its kind of like a break even in terms of hassle
Apparently this new owner has a pretty bad rep around town, this area is very hometown, everybody knows everybody, and there was some kind of bad deal that went down that allowed the current owners to come in, and people have _not_ been happy. That was actually one of my motivations in not considering another 4R, at least from this dealer.
Yeah, I feel you about how important ownership is these days. That same dealer, that my father had bought many Toyotas from, went through a huge renovation and has gone completely corporate. Every once of customer service and friendliness has gone out the window. Haven't set foot in that dealer in over 4 years. It only takes one incident to piss people off.
Most of the sales/service guys ended up jumping ship to another smaller Toyota dealer about 20 minutes away and their customer service has been unbelievable. Especially in such a small town, there is no place to be pissing off your customers. People talk, especially when it's such a popular brand, like Toyota.
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Speaking of Toyotas...
The TRD Pro 4R is such a cool looking car
Thanks for the heads up!
No new F-150 for we with the aluminum body.
My Father has a 2012 F-150 and no more Fords for him. He wants a Toyota Tundra and I want the 2015 Toyota Camry XSE or XLE. The aluminum has turn them off from Ford. In addition, the gas cover on his F-150 came off after about a year of owning this truck.
Thanks for the heads up!
No new F-150 for we with the aluminum body.
The Tundra is the second to worse full size truck on the market outside of the Titan..... The thing still dates back to 2006. Toyota is good with the mid-size trucks( and the new Tacoma is coming just in time to compete against the Colorado/Canyon). They seem to have thrown in the towel with the full size trucks if the only thing they have done in the past 8 years to compete is give it a slight cosmetic refresh.....
Franky, the Big 3's full size trucks are still the ones to go with.
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I agree with this 100%. As a self-proclaimed Toyota fanboy
)), I don't think I would even get a Tundra over the F150. In fact, I think my pick would be the RAM Eco Diesel. If we're looking at the compact pick-up market though... no way am I buying the new Colorado, etc. Tacoma, all day.
It's going to be interesting to see what the new Tacoma is like. No one is quite sure if it is just a cosmetic refresh or totally new.
If it is totally new, yeah it will compete well with the new GM mid-size twins( personally I would get the Canyon with the diesel once it is available) most likely. If it is like the Tundra and just a cosmetic refresh, I can't see how the Tacoma will compete. Sure it is a solid truck, but just like the Ford Ranger was, it's guts are ancient.
We know what the next Tacoma looks like, but we don't know the guts quite yet....
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/01/07/2016-toyota-tacoma-photos/
Also, does this Holden SSV Ute hide a mid-engine 'Vette underneath it?
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/01/08/mid-engine-2017-corvette-c8-spy-shots/
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