let’s be real. Most people carry one bike.Room for one whole bike! Sign me up.
The Car thread
- Thread starter 6thElement
- Start date
How’re they using a Specialized to demonstrate the bike carrying capability of the Santa Cruz?
Last edited:
There are a few things happening in that picture, the bike brand being one of them.
A RWD Mazda that isn't Dorito powered?
Mazda's upcoming inline six and rear-wheel-drive platform detailed
Production will begin in 2022, engines will have 3.0 to 3.3 liters and come in gasoline, diesel and SkyActiv-X formats.
www.autoblog.com
it sounds neat. Chances are it will actually be a FWD SUV with a CVT instead because fuck driving enjoyment.
the era of mass market driving enjoyment is long over.Mazda's upcoming inline six and rear-wheel-drive platform detailed
Production will begin in 2022, engines will have 3.0 to 3.3 liters and come in gasoline, diesel and SkyActiv-X formats.
it sounds neat. Chances are it will actually be a FWD SUV with a CVT instead because fuck driving enjoyment.
How's the rest of it's life look? If you are 200k and know there are expensive repairs coming up soon, it might be time. Carry those expected maintenance costs over to the new car.
Then again, I just did $5k of improvements and servicing (in adtn to $2500 for belts, etc last yr) to my 2010 Forester with 78k, but that probably bought me another 10yrs on suspension and 5yrs before major maintenance on the engine.
I intend to drive this thing into the ground. Not sure what your intention with your little Matrix is - drive to death or upgrade to something more "appropriate" to lifestyle at some point?
Realistically it wouldn’t improve your life. High depreciation cars are stupid.
Watched a Clubman class race last week, some had some pretty elaborate cages, others just a hoop and diagonal.
At few had road registration.
At few had road registration.
The Santa Cruz cracked and they were cagey about getting a replacement.
There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the car and other than the clutch, I don't see anything popping up. Besides small paint chips on the nose, there is no body rust, which is a plus.
The car is around or just over 280000km now (174000ish miles), so it has done well.
The thing that I like about the car, besides having no car payment, is that it is a barebones reliable shitbox - no power windows, no ABS, etc etc so there is virtually nothing to go "bad" on it, in terms of usability. The back of the car is also perfect for biking and whatnot; perfectly flat floor from the drivers seat to the rear bumper and all plastic - so get it dirty and simply sweep the crud out.
My old mechanic had one, and besides breaking the transmission, his ran until over 500k. I think I owe it to the car to get it to at least 300000km's. If only to see the odometer stop working at 299999 (its a thing https://www.wheels.ca/news/odometer-dies-at-299999-km/ )
Though having a newer car with at least some comforts would also be nice. I just need to find something that is similar size, which can fit a bike in the back - so it'll have to be a wagon/hatch and preferably all wheel drive. So we know where that points to, Subaru.
about a year an a half ago I bought an uber low mileage 2009 wrx (30k). About 4 months ago wife said maybe I should get something more practical. So I bought an outback, lifted it and made it stupiderer.
Last edited:
Throw in a manual, and I would almost definitely buy this car.
Man, I'm a big fan of keeping a depreciating asset like a car as long as it's feasible. For all the shit I got here for my past Jeep ownership, it was much the same as how you describe the Matrix. Bare bones, did everything I wanted it to do. I drove it for 18 years, got almost 175K out of it and only 1 time did it break down bad enough to not get me home. Even then, I walked from where I parked it to the auto parts store bought a part, walked back, swapped out the coil, and it fired right back up. I lost maybe an hour of my day.
Like @stoney says, I only got rid of it when it's repair costs started to exceed it's actual value. As nice as the new car with all the bells and whistles is, I still kind of miss the jeep. I also miss not having a car payment. If you're not inclined to want something new, I say dont.
The Forester is worth all of $8k. I can spend $5k and it's, let's call it 80% modern, and in good working order. A new car, even just a par Forester, is $35k. What's my downside? There is effectively no depreciation left. If I compare it vs. a 10% mkt appreciation on the new car px, it has to last 2yrs. If I get into an accident, I can challenge at least some of the costs as repairs and payout tends to be higher than value. I have no downside.
Guy speaks the truth.
Not having a car payment rules. Especially given how expensive most cars are these days, even barebones down-trim models. All those bells and whistles are nice during the test drive, but their true cost sure makes itself known when you are 17 months into the 84 month car loan that you took out to spread that cost out over time.
I am very much looking forward to paying my truck off. At least with today's used truck prices, 3 years and 47K miles later I could sell it for what damn close to what I paid.
The MSRP for a 2003 Honda Civic SI was $19,000. Adjusted for inflation that is $27,360 today. A 2021 Civic SI has an MSRP of $25,200.
Cars are getting cheaper, safer, more comfortable and more reliable. People are spending a lot more money on cars but that is because everyone thinks they need a vehicle that can road trip cross country with a family of 8 over unpaved roads while hitting dragstrips and autocross courses along the way for something they spend 99.9% of their time commuting to work alone while stuck in heavy traffic.
Yeah, but those high strung BMW, Audi and Benz cars are engineered to self-destruct. Many other modern cars suffer from some of the same issues, but those tend to take it to the extreme. Squeezing out that much power and performance with all the modern features, it's not sustainable over the long term IMO. They are meant to stay together during the initial ownership/lease period and after that, it's jut not sustainable over the long term IMO. If I was keeping an AMG E63 long term, I'd be saving money for trans-swap, engine re-build, new turbos, ECUs, etc. at the same time. Some of those long-term insurance schemes might be worth it, but they generally don't save you money, just spread it out. Maybe I watch too many youtube videos, but one day the entire rear half of my BMW under warranty decided to just stop working. Rear ECU died. Was able to get it fixed at the dealer but christ, what if that happened out of warranty?
I could be convinced to go for a Porsche, they seem to pour more into engineering and support IMO.
I disagree. I think cars have passed a complexity level where they are not reliable over the long term. Peak reliability was a balance of performance and reliability and squeezing out more and more performance (not talking about HP, just things like mileage, features, etc,) and there's just no way all of those electronic features and complex systems are going to be working on said car 20 years down the road.
Second to that was the car I bought during peak COVID with 0% interest. I still laugh about that.
I am driving my 2001 Beetle until its demise. Recently it developed a symptom of the shift stick returning to the neutral position slowly, what sort of issue am I looking at? Low transmission fluid, worn linkages, ??
Pull the boot off and see if a little cleaning and lubrication on the ball/socket helps. If that doesn't do it your bushings/cables may be worn. There are rubber bushings on the cable ends at the transmission, those deteriorate after time and will also make the shifter feel super loose and vague. Item 46 in the exploded diagram
I didn't say they weren't expensive in yesteryear too.
like @_jm said, I dunno about the reliability part... suppose time will tell. The rest, definitely.
Autocross race is tomorrow.
what westy said....
had same problem in two or three of my mk2 vw"s....all that shit in the diagram gets sloppy and worn out....I think you can get rebuild kits at the dealership....
I enjoyed my free new beetle even though it was a huge fucking blindspot on wheels...
So it looks like the (properly german-engineered for obsolescence) rubber "boot" around the stick base is decomposing and rubber debris falls in the (delrin?) ball joint of the stick, causing extra resistance of movement. The entire plastic center console is falling apart - just like all other plastic parts in the interior - so this will be fun. :/
If this was engineered obsolescence and it took 20 years the engineer should be fired, but they have probably already retired.
Play stupid games, die in stupid accidents.
www.seattletimes.com
Tesla with ‘no one’ driving crashes in Texas, killing two people
A Tesla electric car that "no one" appeared to be driving crashed late Saturday in Texas, erupting into flames and killing the two passengers, according to local authorities. One victim was found in the front passenger seat of a 2019...
www.seattletimes.com
Why AWD? My buddies with a Bolt and a Leaf both fit their bikes in the back... In fact, buddy with the Bolt routinely fits two fatbikes in the back.