Tech Looking to buy a new car

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Lanny said:
When I was in my early 20s I bought a brand new Volvo. Paid a fortune and I loved that car (perhaps too much?). So, New Year's Eve and me and my fiancee decide to go to this party we heard about. We got there and it was about 20 people seated in a rough circle in the living room. Everyone was stoned and everyone was very quiet. My fiancee looked at me and I looked at her and we left. OMG, boring. So, I went out to my car parked on the street and there was this great big dent in my driver's door. Holy crap. I went back to the 'party' and asked around if anyone knew anything about running into a Volvo. Good Lord, I could hardly get anyone's attention and when I did I couldn't keep their attention long enough to finish my description. I threw up my hands in disgust thinking I'll never get satisfaction and left. As I went back to my car, a VW bus pulls up. It's painted in a psychedelic design and this hippy climbs out. He had bell bottom pants and hair as long as any girl I had seen the last 6 months. He says "Hey man, is that your car?" Yes, I answered and told him I had a huge dent. He says "Oh, wow, I think I did that and I don't have any insurance." He asked for my name and address and he gave me his name and address. He asked me to send him an estimate to get it fixed. I left thinking well that's the end of that I'll never see a dime. I got an estimate and sent it to him. Small checks started arriving on a monthly basis until the entire bill was paid in full. At that point, you could have knocked me over with a feather.
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LINK?
 
HCP said:
I would drive that before these new Japanese cars. Honest
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uh...no....I've driven plenty of them...I'll take my ride anyday...better have a spare engine for the microbus and a line on used transaxles...
my Japanese car rocks
Prius.jpg
 
HCP said:
LINK?
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It was nearly 50 years ago. I don't think they even had internet back then. Hell, they didn't even have computers unless you want to count mainframes that used vacuum tubes and took up an entire room. The it took so many vacuum tubes that there was nearly always one or more failing. Pretty unreliable.

Edit: I remember the days of IBM cards and how you could easily get one out of position and screw up your program or you'd maybe even drop the whole deck and spend an hour trying to get the cards back in order only to have one or more still out of place.
 
I don’t know if it is in your budget, but take a look at the RAV4 hybrid. I rode in a new one a few weeks ago and really liked it
 
andalusian said:
The IS is absolutely not a Camry. It is a RWD car, the Camry is FWD - very different chassis. The ES350 and the Camry were once one and the same, not sure if it is still the same - or if the ES is based on the Avalon now (which is bigger than the Camry).

Having said that, the IS is a fantastic car.
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Lexus builds a nice car but the front end grill design is one of the ugliest designs i have seen. Looks like a snow plow.
 
uu3J9eT.jpg
 
Natebishop3 said:
EXPENSIVE! EXPENSIVE! EXPENSIVE!

Expensive to buy. Expensive to maintain. Expensive to repair. And are they really worth it?
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Actually none of what you just said was true.

My brother has had a mercedes for almost 15 years now, has 240K on it and runs like it's brand new. In the entire time he's owned it, he's had to spend maybe 300 bucks on repairs.

Most people who say the above have either never owned one, or owned one that was improperly cared for by a previous owner.
 
CupWizier said:
Lexus builds a nice car but the front end grill design is one of the ugliest designs i have seen. Looks like a snow plow.
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Depends on the car. Looks excellent on the LC and RC, and the IS as well imho. Not a fan on the new LX, GX.

At the end of the day, you are inside the car, so who cares.

End of the day, I went from someone that thought he would never own a Lexus (too boring) to being on my 2nd one and loving the experience. I would still avoid the ES and RX, but the sporty ones (IS, RC, LC) and the proper off-road capable ones (GX, LX) are wonderful.
 
julius said:
Actually none of what you just said was true.

My brother has had a mercedes for almost 15 years now, has 240K on it and runs like it's brand new. In the entire time he's owned it, he's had to spend maybe 300 bucks on repairs.

Most people who say the above have either never owned one, or owned one that was improperly cared for by a previous owner.
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I think that your brother was lucky....I've known a lot of people with Mercedes and they are famous for problems..and very expensive to repair..I also don't think they handle that well and get shitty gas mileage. To me they are one of the most overrated vehicles around....sort of like trophy wives...look good but don't work well very often...I'll buy a Toyota anytime over a Benz
 
andalusian said:
Depends on the car. Looks excellent on the LC and RC, and the IS as well imho. Not a fan on the new LX, GX.

At the end of the day, you are inside the car, so who cares.

End of the day, I went from someone that thought he would never own a Lexus (too boring) to being on my 2nd one and loving the experience. I would still avoid the ES and RX, but the sporty ones (IS, RC, LC) and the proper off-road capable ones (GX, LX) are wonderful.
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I know looks are all in the eye of the beholder, but to me they took a beautiful car and made it ugly with that front end.USC70LEC132A021001.jpg
 
riverman said:
I think that your brother was lucky....I've known a lot of people with Mercedes and they are famous for problems..and very expensive to repair..I also don't think they handle that well and get shitty gas mileage. To me they are one of the most overrated vehicles around....sort of like trophy wives...look good but don't work well very often
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Really depends on the model. If you look at their bread-and-butter (The E Class) they are usually pretty good - routine maintenance will get you going for a long time. If you get into the places where they cram every known feature an engineer thought about or the cars when they tried to go down-market - you are more often than not going to get into trouble when things go wrong.

My experience with German cars is limited to old BMWs and a new VW - The BMWs were not cheap to fix when things went wrong - but they usually lasted a long time before these things happened and they were a lot of fun to drive. Unfortunately, BMW has in the early 90s started to move into larger production rates and they did it in 2 ways - cheapening the bread-and-butter models (3 series) with plastics everywhere - and cramming technology everywhere for the higher level cars. This meant they lost that simplicity and well engineered portion of them programs. Unfortunately, 15 years later they decided that they wanted to be the German Buick and started to lose the fun to drive portion as well. At this point, there are very few BMW models that I care about. I actually bought my first Lexus - an IS300 because every M3 that I really wanted to buy just felt like a car ready to fall to pieces.

We had an e-Golf EV for my wife on a lease that we just returned. It was a combination of brilliant engineering and design with sub-par production and some very odd (and stupid) design choices. Despite the problems it had, we would have leased a new one to replace the 2015 - but the lease rates have gone nuts (probably because they depreciate like rocks) - the 2018 model has 50% more range (good) but the lease rate is up 80%. The reality is that I still do not think the Germans know how to do UX and electronics like the Asians - they are still super confused about it and it shows. Combine that with some beautiful interior design that used really bad materials - and I still think that they design for looks over long-term abuse. It's a shame - because that car had a brilliant chassis and suspension and great "analog" interface.

Since we are certain that EV technology is still evolving very fast, my wife decided not to buy an EV and go for a lease again. She decided she wanted to get the cheapest lease she could find that was comfortable and had a lot of space. She ended up with a Kia Soul EV - and this is the perfect appliance. It has 125 miles range, lots of space in it and nothing seems to phase it. On the other hand, it is the perfect appliance - it is not an interesting car to drive at all. But, all the stupid stuff that annoyed us in the e-Golf is fixed, the seats do not stain when my kid sits on them with a wet bathing-suit, the trim pieces are not chipping immediately, the UX for phone integration is brilliant, you do not need to listen to the radio when navigation is on (really VW, you could not figure out that if navigation is happening via the car, it should be done without the radio playing?) - and I suspect that the battery will not see the degradation that the VW's battery saw (it is air-cooled like the VW's was, but there is an electric fan to cool it down during fast charging). Best part about this car tho is the lease rate. They were basically giving them away, we are paying less per month now for this car than what we paid for the e-Golf 3 years ago - for 50% more range. Exactly the ticket until 2021 when I suspect a lot more EV options will be available and maybe we will actually buy one.
 
riverman said:
I think that your brother was lucky....I've known a lot of people with Mercedes and they are famous for problems..and very expensive to repair..I also don't think they handle that well and get shitty gas mileage. To me they are one of the most overrated vehicles around....sort of like trophy wives...look good but don't work well very often...I'll buy a Toyota anytime over a Benz
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How many of those people who have owned Mercedes, that you're talking about, are cars from 25+ years ago?

Look at Volvos, they have a reputation for being reliable, dependable and easy to work on. They had common issues in the old 240's, but they were reliable for a long time. Same with their 700 and 900 series, and even the 850's. Once Ford bought them, their reliability issues went in the shitter. So if you ask someone own owned a 1995 850 vs someone who owned a 2003 V70, chances are their stories will be different.

I've driven Hondas, Volvos, Toyotas, Subarus and Caddies. The car that handled the best was an old Volv0 850. But the one that had the best drive was my brothers Mercedes. And despite what most people say, they're not actually that hard to work on. At least, anymore than any other modern car.

Now personally, I wouldn't get one because I can't afford a new one. But of the cars I've owned or driven (a lot of) the one that was the most pedestrian was the Toyota. But as the old saying goes, your mileage may vary.

Almost any car that is well maintained will last you a long time.
 
andalusian said:
Really depends on the model. If you look at their bread-and-butter (The E Class) they are usually pretty good - routine maintenance will get you going for a long time. If you get into the places where they cram every known feature an engineer thought about or the cars when they tried to go down-market - you are more often than not going to get into trouble when things go wrong.
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Thats the style my brother has. E 320. He says its their bread and butter. When they went away from it, their quality struggled a bit.

Of course, I can't speak for the new cars, I refuse to buy a new car. Not only because of the cost, but because I'd rather save the $$ and buy used knowing the history of the the cars and what goes wrong.

Like, I know to avoid 2002 Volkswagons and Volvos, and that 2002 E320's are really good cars.

One thing is for certain though, lux cars value plummet quick as fuck. I don't mind letting some other schmuck pay 70K for a car.
 
julius said:
How many of those people who have owned Mercedes, that you're talking about, are cars from 25+ years ago?
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I have a Dodge truck that starts and runs well everyday from 1988.....the age of the vehicle just means it's probably well built if it still runs....my ex girlfriend had a Mercedes....was thrilled to replace it with a Japanese car...I don't think German cars are better than many Japanese cars at all.....nor do I think Harley motorcycles are better than Honda motorcycles....those things last forever
 
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Go to any parking lot filled with cars and see how many older Toyotas are there compared to older Benz cars....to me, the Toyota is a fine automobile and retains it's value more than most brands. I have a 2013 Toyota that is flawless and has had zero problems..I bought it new and it was a fraction of the price of a 2013 german car
 
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riverman said:
I have a Dodge truck that starts and runs well everyday from 1988.....the age of the vehicle just means it's probably well built if it still runs....my girlfriend had a Mercedes....was thrilled to replace it with a Japanese car...I don't think German cars are better than many Japanese cars at all.....nor do I think Harley motorcycles are better than Honda motorcycles....those things last forever
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Most, if not all, American cars from the 70s and 80's and early 90's suck shit. The trucks were much better built.

That's why I'd much rather have a mid 80's Volvo or Honda over a Chevrolet or Ford car of the same vintage. Quality of build too. It doesn't necessarily reflect on how things are now of course.

Each person can have an anecdote about a car. For example, my mom has had an 86, 89 and 2000 Honda. The 86 was the best of the 3 of them, but it doesn't mean all 86's were good or that Hondas from the 90's or after are bad.

Like I said, your mileage may vary.
 
riverman said:
Go to any parking lot filled with cars and see how many older Toyotas are there compared to older Benz cars....to me, the Toyota is a fine automobile and retains it's value more than most brands. I have a 2013 Toyota that is flawless and has had zero problems..I bought it new and it was a fraction of the price of a 2013 german car
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That's because they sold a shit ton more of the Toyotas.

Whats the most common old car in Portland? Subarus and Volvos.
 
julius said:
That's because they sold a shit ton more of the Toyotas.

Whats the most common old car in Portland? Subarus and Volvos.
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Go to any mechanics parking lot, you'll see a lot of Mercedes ...doesn't matter how many they sold...they are not great value which contributes to that
 
riverman said:
Go to any mechanics parking lot, you'll see a lot of Mercedes ...doesn't matter how many they sold...they are not great value which contributes to that
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what mechanics parking lots are you looking at??
 
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