OT | Cars

drew881 · Post #101 » by **drew881** » Sun May 24, 2015 8:30 pm

My first car was a 1996 Subaru Legacy gt, which I shared with my parents. We only leased it, so I can't comment on the long term wear, but we had no problems with it in the three years. Given the age of the car, check for rust. I think a lot of the ones you'll find will be be taken to the limit in terms of wear, winter use, etc. I live in NH now and still see a ton of them on the road, so that perhaps is a testament.

Cold Crush 24 · Post #102 » by **Cold Crush 24** » Sun May 24, 2015 8:45 pm

Leasing isn't terrible if you drive <15k miles and want a new car every 3 years.

You can decide to buy the car once the lease is up if you choose and you'll owe what you didn't pay in lease payments (i.e. residual value your lease is calculated based upon).

I would personally lease if I didn't drive a ridiculous punt of miles.

If you buy a car on a 5 year purchase, you won't owe what your car is worth until year 4 usually. With a lease, after year 3 you can turn it in and owe nothing or buy it out. Just something to keep in mind.

TroyD92 · Post #103 » by **TroyD92** » Sun May 24, 2015 9:22 pm

For Waukee wrote:This bump probably isn't warranted, but with the limbo of the bucks offseason upon us, I thought I would ask for some help. I've been looking to purchase my first car for awhile now. What I've come to realize is, it's harder than I thought to find a good car when you don't have much money to spend.

Anyhow, with that said, does anyone have any insight about late 90's, early 00's Subaru Outbacks? Look like good utility cars, which I love, but would appreciate any other info I can get about what to look for and what to stay away from.

Thanks in advance.

Subaru's are money pits. Coming from a guy who has only owned Audi's in his lifetime. Head gaskets are notorious for blowing.

Ill-yasova · Post #104 » by **Ill-yasova** » Mon May 25, 2015 12:12 am

So a couple of years ago I bought a Hyundai Elantra for it's good gas mileage because I was working in sales and I could pocket any portion of my car allowance I didn't use. Long story short I'm in a different position today and I miss having a bigger vehicle for it's practicality. My wife and I would also like to buy a pop-up camper at some point so we would need something capable of towing it around too. We both prefer a "boxier" style of SUV so I'm debating something along the lines of a Toyota FJ Cruiser or a Jeep Liberty (heard some bad things about this vehicle, but would like opinions). We're not looking for anything huge either like a Suburban. Any thoughts are recommendations would be great.

trwi7 · Post #105 » by **trwi7** » Mon May 25, 2015 2:53 am

Get a Highlander.

StillABucksFan · Post #106 » by **StillABucksFan** » Mon May 25, 2015 3:13 am

trwi7 wrote:Get a Highlander.

I got a Highlander. It's dope, but I wish I went 4runner.

Ill-yasova · Post #107 » by **Ill-yasova** » Mon May 25, 2015 3:18 am

StillABucksFan wrote:
trwi7 wrote:Get a Highlander.

I got a Highlander. It's dope, but I wish I went 4runner.

Interesting. I've looked at both, but what makes you say that?

trwi7 · Post #108 » by **trwi7** » Mon May 25, 2015 3:19 am

Ill-yasova wrote:
StillABucksFan wrote:
trwi7 wrote:Get a Highlander.

I got a Highlander. It's dope, but I wish I went 4runner.

Interesting. I've looked at both, but what makes you say that?

My uncle has one and though I've only been in it once, it seemed awesome. Plus, the muppets would never endorse a product if it wasn't quality.

Ill-yasova · Post #109 » by **Ill-yasova** » Mon May 25, 2015 3:25 am

trwi7 wrote:
Ill-yasova wrote:
StillABucksFan wrote:I got a Highlander. It's dope, but I wish I went 4runner.

Interesting. I've looked at both, but what makes you say that?

My uncle has one and though I've only been in it once, it seemed awesome. Plus, the muppets would never endorse a product if it wasn't quality.

SOLD!

StillABucksFan · Post #110 » by **StillABucksFan** » Mon May 25, 2015 3:33 am

Ill-yasova wrote:
trwi7 wrote:
Ill-yasova wrote:Interesting. I've looked at both, but what makes you say that?

My uncle has one and though I've only been in it once, it seemed awesome. Plus, the muppets would never endorse a product if it wasn't quality.

SOLD!

We'll obv the Muppets don't lie, but I got stuck in a ditch this winter shortly after I got the car. It was way up north, in the middle of nowhere, so I prefer the ground clearance. Populated city/highway shouldn't be a prob. Tows, solid milage, spacious, all around nice.

MontaHaveABall · Post #111 » by **MontaHaveABall** » Mon May 25, 2015 5:47 am

Leasing a 2014 Civic from Honda City and I couldn't be happier.

I'm paying the advertised sale price, with maintenance, and dealing with a great, honest service department. Car runs great, gets excellent mileage, and looks bause.

10/10 would lease again (but I'm probably buying this one)

th87 · Post #112 » by **th87** » Mon May 25, 2015 6:15 am

th87 wrote:
TroyD92 wrote:
th87 wrote:
Yeah, that's why I got the 4 specifically to avoid this issue.

Mechanic said it's a broken wrist pin. I'm betting it happened because of a sudden oil leak that I didn't notice (on a long, frantic drive because of a family emergency). So yeah, it's my fault.

I don't know if I trust this mechanic. I live in DC, and the engine died on me just across the Delaware Memorial Bridge. I had it towed to the local Pep Boys, and then AAMCO, who made the assessment. Unfortunately, I'd have to defer to him, because I had to come back to DC, and I can't really shop around for other mechanics.

However, do you think I should find an engine on Ebay or something (going for about $1000), tow the car down here, and take it to my local guy? Is it a pretty seamless fix that I can cut corners in this way?

Always leave your vehicle with someone you trust. I've always done my work on my own, because I don't trust any of the local mechanics (or I'm really cheap....probably that one lol). I would definitely get a second opinion from someone else too.

Yeah I may just do that.

They are charging $2900 for the engine. The defense is that it only has 37,000 miles on it (one year warranty), and that it's in good condition. Not comfortable paying that much.

Thank you guys for the advice last year.

In case you were wondering, I ended up getting the Camry towed down here to weigh my options. Here, they were quoting roughly $2500 for a replacement including labor. But then I ended up finding a 2004 Lexus IS300 on craigslist for only $4200 (got it inspected; things seem okay for now). Then I sold the engineless Camry for $1200. I hope it works out.

VooDoo7 · Post #113 » by **VooDoo7** » Mon May 25, 2015 7:25 am

Ill-yasova wrote:We both prefer a "boxier" style of SUV

Not many boxier than a Jeep Wrangler. I have a '14 Wrangler Unlimited (4 door) and love it. But it's not for everybody as far as a daily driver goes.

Chapter29 · Post #114 » by **Chapter29** » Mon May 25, 2015 12:09 pm

I just got a new car. Always been a sports car guy. My 2012 G37xS coupe came off lease, gonna miss that car. That was a sexy car.

Bought a fully loaded 2015 Subaru STI. OMG, what an amazing car. Amazing grip, incredibly fun to drive. Currently sitting at a stage 1 tune with plans to go to stage 2.

A Daily Driven race car that can handle any climate and any road condition. Not as refined of course of a car as my Infiniti, let alone a new BMW or Audi. But also not as far off as you might think. Performance wise its off the charts.

I was looking at the Audi S5 but at nearly 70k compared to 40k I just couldn't do it. I decided to go the more fun and somewhat affordable route. I would have had to lease the Audi and I was sick of leasing. I couldn't afford buying it with just 7k down.

chuckleslove · Post #115 » by **chuckleslove** » Mon May 25, 2015 1:46 pm

Ill-yasova wrote:So a couple of years ago I bought a Hyundai Elantra for it's good gas mileage because I was working in sales and I could pocket any portion of my car allowance I didn't use. Long story short I'm in a different position today and I miss having a bigger vehicle for it's practicality. My wife and I would also like to buy a pop-up camper at some point so we would need something capable of towing it around too. We both prefer a "boxier" style of SUV so I'm debating something along the lines of a Toyota FJ Cruiser or a Jeep Liberty (heard some bad things about this vehicle, but would like opinions). We're not looking for anything huge either like a Suburban. Any thoughts are recommendations would be great.

We just traded my wife's Elantra in for a 2016 Mazda CX-5 not the boxy style you prefer but we are loving it.

Ill-yasova · Post #116 » by **Ill-yasova** » Mon May 25, 2015 11:37 pm

Definitely some good options in here. Like I said earlier, I'm going to need something capable of towing at least a pop-up trailer for the time being so I'd like to stick to a 6 cylinder engine. There are definitely some options I can work with here.

Nebula1 · Post #117 » by **Nebula1** » Tue May 26, 2015 2:16 am

Get an American truck. Sierra or Silverado.

You'll never want a car again.

brewcitygymratt · Post #118 » by **brewcitygymratt** » Sat May 30, 2015 3:42 am

Chapter29 wrote:I just got a new car. Always been a sports car guy. My 2012 G37xS coupe came off lease, gonna miss that car. That was a sexy car.

Bought a fully loaded 2015 Subaru STI. OMG, what an amazing car. Amazing grip, incredibly fun to drive. Currently sitting at a stage 1 tune with plans to go to stage 2.

A Daily Driven race car that can handle any climate and any road condition. Not as refined of course of a car as my Infiniti, let alone a new BMW or Audi. But also not as far off as you might think. Performance wise its off the charts.

I was looking at the Audi S5 but at nearly 70k compared to 40k I just couldn't do it. I decided to go the more fun and somewhat affordable route. I would have had to lease the Audi and I was sick of leasing. I couldn't afford buying it with just 7k down.

nice car, do you plan on tracking it much like PDX or dragstrip? The sti is a lot of car for the money. My bro had a 14 wrx but the motor blew with 2k on it due to the questionable factory tune(quite a few cases on the forums). First thing he should have done is get a tune to correct the oem ECM tune. I usually drag race my heads/cam/stall converter c6 vette at Great Lakes and was looking into trying some scca PDX this summer.

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Chapter29 · Post #119 » by **Chapter29** » Tue Jun 2, 2015 4:53 pm

brewcitygymratt wrote:nice car, do you plan on tracking it much like PDX or dragstrip? The sti is a lot of car for the money. My bro had a 14 wrx but the motor blew with 2k on it due to the questionable factory tune(quite a few cases on the forums). First thing he should have done is get a tune to correct the oem ECM tune. I usually drag race my heads/cam/stall converter c6 vette at Great Lakes and was looking into trying some scca PDX this summer.

Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Yes, this car will be tracked. Going to start with some simple track days at places like Road America where some of my friends go. I have never tracked a car, so I am by no means an expert. I may look for some classes / training.

The STI IMO is not a drag car. It can me made quite fast, but its forte IMO is track and off road racing on different road surfaces / conditions. Rally car it is. My car is probably right now sitting around mid-high 4's 0-60 and just a hair under 13 in the 1/4 mile. Now when I build my engine after I go stage 2, my hopes are to get those numbers much lower.

There are a small percentage of 2015 STI's that appear to have bearing tolerance issues and they end up having a spun rod (usually bearing #3). I believe this to be a factory defect.

You are correct the OEM tune is not a good tune even with the new cars. They have to create a tune that works for everyone and that seldom works well for anyone. Plus they are trying really hard to improve gas mileage and reduce emissions. My tune is good.

Bren Tuning FTW!

BMatt07 · Post #120 » by **BMatt07** » Tue Jun 2, 2015 5:47 pm

So I got my windows tinted last week, and they turned out awesome. If anyone is thinking about getting theirs done, I went to a place called Blackout, and they did an absolutely amazing job.

Little pricey compared to other shops, about $250, but the windows are absolutely flawless.