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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1202 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for February 19, 2025

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

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I'm probably buying a new car this weekend. The 2007 Toyota Corolla has accrued more repairs than it's presently worth. Still drivable, but soon won't be, though it has earned itself 273k miles in its honorable time served.

So, got any car recommendations? Do you buy new, or lightly used? Hybrids worth looking at? If your car right now was summoned to the great car dealership in the sky right now, and you had to buy a new car, what kind of budget is sensible? Are you an old person who makes good car decisions, or a young enlisted man who makes horrible car decisions? I will refuse to listen to you, either way. But I still want to read your replies about car recommendations.

Consider something comma.ai compatible - $1000 for open source self driving. What could possibly go wrong.

Adaptive cruise control is the best. Strongly recommend you get it one way or another if you spend much time on the interstate/etc.

40’s, American. Nissan has motors that last as long as Toyota’s but cabins which feel spacious on even their smallest cars. The Versa is going away soon, but if you can get a late model Versa internal combustion with a manual transmission, you’ll have a dependable, affordable 4-banger equivalent to that Corolla.

Just be careful with the temperature dial; if the strings snap, it’ll be $2k to pull the dash and replace the heater core.

I'm not qualified to make car suggestions, since I have come to the Motte for recommendations on a secondhand car before. That being said, I am rather grateful that the market for secondhand cars is much saner in the UK, at least compared to the US. I don't know what on earth covid did to the market, such that prices still haven't returned to baseline 5 years later.

Before the war I was thinking about upgrading to a Mazda CX-5 or CX-30. If something happened to my current car (knocks on wood) I have no idea what I would do, as I have no desire to buy a Chinese car when it costs more than a German car before the war. Probably something used.

as I have no desire to buy a Chinese car when it costs more than a German car before the war.

Is that because of big tariffs on Chinese auto imports?

No, it's because practically all other car makers have left Russia and Chinese ones can charge whatever they want with no competition.

Surely there are enterprising businessmen just driving western and Japanese cars over from Armenia or the Stans?

Yes, but they target the top of the market. I am not paying them $100000 for an E-class Merc.

The 1:1 replacement would be a 2025 Toyota Prius. The new Prius (prime) is a good looking car and will run for ages.

I recommend buying a used EV. The prices are stupid low. I don't know why the market is so negative towards them. But, a used Model 3 is the best deal on the market right now.

Personally, I'm biased towards the Mazda 3 Turbo hatch. Perfect balance of power, handling, premium, longevity and price.

The Gen 2 will forever be my favorite Prius. That car had an unbelievable amount of cargo space. The newer models have much less, unfortunately.

On the other hand, the gen 2 is basically begging to have its catalytic converter stolen. This isn't an issue on the newer models.

Toyota warranties the hybrid battery for 10 years, so you can buy a used one without worrying that it's going to crap out on you soon after.

IMO:

  • You want something about 5 years old, so it's already done most of its depreciation, but is unlikely to have issues for a long time.
  • There are 4 cars worth considering: Tesla model 3/Y, Korean E-GMP (comes in Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5/Ioniq 6 flavors), Toyota hybrid (corolla, rav4, camry, prius), Honda hybrid (fit, civic). Everything else is worse or does something you don't want or need. If I had to pick one EV, Ioniq 5. If I had to pick one non-EV, corolla hybrid.
  • If you have somewhere to charge it overnight, get an EV.
  • Look into getting a Comma 3 unit for it. All the cars above should be compatible, but double check (Tesla compatibility coming soon).

I am seriously debating buying a used Tesla, possibly after joining the retards drawing swastikas on them to lower the price.

Anyone have any experience with them? It's not my type of car, I just want something cheap and electric for local use that I can use excess noon solar on.

The Euros keep failing them in large numbers in their road-worthiness inspections at around 4 years. Depending on the exact country, it seems 20%-30% have "substantial deficits" which require major repair work. Worst EV in class, every single time.

The biggest problem is certainly brake rust from under-use (which you can mediate yourself, and Tesla could probably fix that by software update), but the reports I've seen also all mention suspension problems and faults with the headlight systems.

I wanted a used Model 3, but major repairs at 4 years is kinda scary. I've driven my Toyotas all well past 15 years of age, and I'm not confident the early generations of the Model 3 will get anywhere close to that.

I'm glad you said something! I was just looking at a used Tesla since these posts made me aware of how cheap you could get them on the used market. I wonder if this could be mitigated by buying a used 5 year old one from Tesla which comes with a 1 year/10k mi warranty? These appear to be typically "repaired," so they likely ran into the 4-5 year issues you mentioned.

At around $15,000 for a 5+ year old 50k-75k mi model 3, I'm struggling to not go for it and find out. It won't be my only car so worst case scenario I'll just return to my land cruiser.

They're awesome. But I now can't stand driving ICE vehicles after owning an EV.

Could you explain why? I'm driving an ancient car into the ground, but I'm going to need a new car (or two, depending where my oldest goes to college) in the next couple years, and I'm still struggling with both "new vs used" (one of our current cars was new, one was used, and the tradeoffs seem to change with warranty policies and market fluctuations) and with "EV vs ICE".

We're in the exact same situation. My '92 Ford really wants to die, but I haven't given it permission yet

The acceleration and handling feels much more responsive in an EV. I never realized how jerky ICE cars are until I had an EV to compare them to.

Much less maintenance involved since the cars are so much simpler. I've had one for 3 years and don't miss oil changes or other annual service bullshit. Your actual brakes last longer as well because of regenerative braking.

Regenerative braking is nice because it enables "one pedal driving" most of the time: if you're not pressing pressing the accelerator the car slows down -- nice in stop and go traffic.

A lot of people will say they hate this, especially if they're too cool, but I find the app integration really convenient. EVs don't need the motor running to have power, so it's actually a computer that's always available to take commands over their cell data connection, like warm the car up, or tell me your location, close the trunk now that I'm inside the house with all of the groceries, etc

As a software engineer I find all of the software in cars borderline retarded. In Teslas it's actually relatively good (though still sometimes retarded).

In the summer time you can tell the car to never let it get above 100 degrees while parked, so you don't have to burn your balls off when you get in. Uses power but not that much. And power is cheap.

Never have to visit a gas station again. Ended up buying a portable tire inflator that connects to the cigarette lighter port since I'm not going to gas stations anymore but still need to inflate tires once in awhile.

Thanks!

How long have you had yours? I do like to drive cars into the ground, and I worry that everything but the Model S still has less than a decade of track record. On the other hand, my current 20yo car is a Hyundai, and IIRC when I bought it their track record was so bad that they had started offering extra-long warranties to try to prove to customers that their latest models weren't more of the same, and I didn't regret it.

The best option is to order a plain jane version of the model you want through a dealership. It will be significantly cheaper than the fancier ones the dealer has in stock. Your second best option is to do significant research on finding a used car deal and purchase it. Get preapproved through a bank at the lowest rate possible so you have a backup option to whatever financing the dealership offers.

Hybrids are definitely worth looking at because the cost difference keeps shrinking.

Are pluggable hybrids still a reasonable thing, or did they get squeezed out of the market by full EVs?

I used to think they'd be the best of both worlds, with electricity for the bulk of our driving on short commutes/errands but with gas range/refueling-speed for road trips.

I tend to buy used, though I would like to have a new car at some point. I was pretty impressed with the 2022 Mazda CX-30 my wife had. It seemed to me like Mazda has the right idea in that it was just... a well made car. Nothing fancy really, but I want a car that gets the basics right and doesn't try to be high tech. I will definitely consider a Mazda for whenever my Mustang bites the dust.

Yeah I can second this -- we drove quite a lot of cars in the 'lightly used' and 'new on the lot' categories a couple of years ago, and ended up with a nice Mazda. In some ways nicer that the 'budget' euro models, and something like 20-30k less money. No problems a year in, decent fuel economy, and I kind of like driving it.

I have driven a mid-2010s Buick sedan for four years. It's been the best car I've owned in terms of reliability and cost of ownership. And I appreciate that it's more plushy than the most basic transportation appliances. I was a Volvo enthusiast for many years, but I no longer have the spare time or patience to do the maintenance that went into that.

I admit that I find Hondas and Toyotas too common/boring to be worth their sterling reliability rating; most modern cars are so much more reliable than what we used to have that it's not nearly as big a deal as it used to be. (I drove a Honda Accord for many years, and got my fill.) I also have potentially irrational biases against Nissans, Jeeps, and most German makes. I like the looks and features of Stellantis products, but I just can't bring myself to trust them.

The wife and I are actually looking at getting her some kind of crossover in the next few months. Budget is 20k, seeking something certified pre-owned of about 3 to 5 years old. Most common brands are on the table. Something cheap and cheerful like a Mitsubishi would be fine with us, or indeed another Buick like an Encore. If we wanted to spend more money on it, we'd probably go for a Mazda. There's also nothing wrong with Ford Escapes and Edges etc.; but I've driven those and just wasn't very impressed by them. (I also drove a jellybean-type Ford Taurus for some years, and honestly I liked it a lot. I have the opinion that Ford has lost its way.)

I am not closed off to hybrids, but I have a local mechanic who I really like and trust, and he only knows ICE technology. I don't drive long enough distances that the gas mileage benefit of the hybrid is meaningful to me.

Actually, now that you mention it, I was thinking of getting a Honda because it might be cheaper than a Toyota, but I always hear that their transmissions are worse and are usually the first thing to go bad. Is that true? Also is it worth learning to drive stick shift? I am thinking it is not, since you lose out on cruise control.

There are many implications to each of these questions.

1.) Honestly, "the transmission is the weak point" is something I've heard about nearly every make of vehicle. They just seem to break more than other components of the drivetrain. Ironically, the only transmission I have direct personal knowledge of failure in was that of my mom's Toyota Camry back in the 2000s. Anyway, the only vehicles I'd specifically avoid for that reason are Nissans. Bear in mind though, this is just my anecdata. You could find hard facts about failure rates if you went looking. My impression was always that Honda made some of the best automatic transmissions around.

I have always gone out of my way to proactively drain + fill automatic transmissions with fresh fluid every 50k miles or so, and have never had a transmission-related problem. On my old Volvos, it was almost exactly the same procedure as replacing the oil, so not a big deal.

2.) I think knowing how to drive stick is a skill worth having. It doesn't take that long to pick that skill up - maybe just one day if you have someone to show you and plenty of time to practice. Additionally - manual transmissions are much more repairable and durable than auto-transmissions, and some people get them just for that reason. You'll be able to drive any vehicle you encounter, and honestly, it's just kind of badass.

I don't like them that much for city driving, though. It's kind of a pain in stop and go traffic.

Manual transmissions are a complete pain for city driving with regular changes in speed and lots of stopping and starting. It doesn't just become a background process in your mind. I say that as someone who drove manuals for years.

They are, however, significantly cheaper on the used market.

Whenever I look for manuals in the cars I'm interested in, they're going for a premium over the automatics. Maybe that's untrue for used corollas or cars like that.

the only vehicles I'd specifically avoid for that reason are Nissans

It's their CVTs that are the problem. Toyota gets around that problem in their CVT models mostly by having a gear for "first".

My impression was always that Honda made some of the best automatic transmissions around.

Honda makes the best transmissions more or less period.

manual transmissions are much more repairable and durable than auto-transmissions

You also get to the point where shifting a manual is automatic- a background process that lives in your head and hand motions that you don't consciously think about. It helps if the transmission isn't terrible; if you have to fight it into gear you're not going to like that very much, but otherwise it's... well, automatic.

I don't like them that much for city driving, though. It's kind of a pain in stop and go traffic.

Technically, the best answer to this is to buy a car whose engine has enough torque to pull it forward simply by letting the clutch out. 300 ft-lbs is enough to do this to a car that weighs 3500 lbs (250 is only enough on level ground).

It's their CVTs that are the problem. Toyota gets around that problem in their CVT models mostly by having a gear for "first".

According to /o/: The problem with Nissan's CVTs is that they are too small for the engines to which they are connected. Mitsubishi uses the same CVTs, but matches them better with engines, so Mitsubishi cars don't have the same transmission problems. For example, according to Wikipedia, the Jatco JF015E is used both in the Mitsubishi Mirage (76 horsepower) and in the Nissan Juke (122 horsepower).

Seems common with Mitsubishi products. Everyone says their mini splits are better because of the fancy tech, but most of it is that their heat exchangers are massively over-spec for their rating. Just vastly more copper than a Midea unit. (They can only do that because their compressors have such good turndown ratios, admittedly)

Coming up on middle age, I don't care about cars as much as I used to, so I'm still driving a Scion that I leased a decade ago and then decided to purchase when the lease was up. Were I buying now, I would probably buy a Subaru, likely either a Crosstrek or an Impreza. I like hatchbacks for their practicality, the AWD is excellent in the winter, I think they look nice enough, and I'm not super price sensitive.

The main reason I'd consider spending more would be to get something with solid self-driving capabilities.

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