Finally buying a new car (1 Viewer)

[Francois Caron]

I'll be waiting until the proper electric non-compliance Fiat 500e makes its appearance with the Tesla plug before I consider buying an EV once I've worn out my 500 Abarth.

Funny thing. It'll only be initially launched in Quebec and BC before being launched in the rest of Canada, which makes sense considering those are the only two provinces where the 500 was a bit popular and where small cars are still sought after.

It won't be a daily drive; I've already tried that last summer with my new job. The drive on the highway is extremely stressful, the lack of walking hit my physical fitness very badly, and I started to hate my Abarth! Good thing the exhaust valve blew when it did!

I got lucky. One train and bus to work, very little total waiting for either.

 

[Clinton McClure]

EVs are a non-starter for me. I travel too much, often with little notice, taking care of customers who get more cross the longer their equipment is broken (for instance, I drove over 470 miles to Houston for work today) and am frequently in places where there are no charging stations so I’ll keep on driving petrol powered cars.

 

[Edwin-S]

@samposten
How is that electric Ford.pickup.working out for you? Would you buy electric.again?

 

[DaveF]

… so I’ll keep on driving petrol powered cars.

<puzzles over which region of Great Britain is in Central Arkansas>

 

[DaveF]

I’ve pushed out my new car and prospective EV purchase another year or two. The combo of EV’s still going through basic maturation, new models coming out, Wireless CarPlay still not standard, transition to CCA charge connector, especially the complete disaster of the $7500 EV rebate situation, and personal financial overhauls, all conspire to make me want to wait a little longer. If my car just died tomorrow, there are a couple of EVs I’d likely buy. I’d also look at used, since there are some decent prices there. But if my Subaru Legacry continues to be ok, it makes sense for me to stay with it for now.

 

[Clinton McClure]

<puzzles over which region of Great Britain is in Central Arkansas>

Whoops. I’d probably just rewatched an episode of The Grand Tour before I posted that.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I sometimes call diesel fuel gas.

 

[Jeffrey D]

Eight years ago today, I bought my Charger. That was a crazy day- I was on my way to town, and I hit a deer. I immediately decided I needed a backup vehicle, so I turned my damaged Chevy Trail Blazer into a local
body shop, and drove a loaner to buy something- wasn’t sure what I was going to get. I did like the look of the Charger, so I drove to the nearest Chrysler dealership. The salesman pointed to my car- a year old, with 24,000 miles on it- never looked at another car. I took it for a spin, and immediately liked the feel of it. During all that craziness, I stopped for gas, and left my wallet at the filling station. I got a call from someone who tracked my phone number down, and she told me where to retrieve my wallet. In the 8 years that I have had the car, I have put only 27,150 miles on it, including 4 trips to Philly/north Jersey, totaling roughly 8,000 miles. I still love the feel of the car.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I’ve put a bit north of 162,000 miles on my Civic in the 6 years I’ve had it.

 

[Ted Todorov]

I'll be waiting until the proper electric non-compliance Fiat 500e makes its appearance with the Tesla plug before I consider buying an EV once I've worn out my 500 Abarth.

I'm absolutely mystified by legacy car companies unwillingness (or inability?) to turn their classic cars into long range EVs. Look at VW: the 2019 VW Beetle is a great looking, fun to drive car (one of my last rentals before we got our Tesla in 2020) -- but no -- all you get is the VW iD4 which has none of the VW Bug's fun and spirit (I drove a '56 VW Bug in high school). I've always loved the Fiat 500 as well.

The drive on the highway is extremely stressful, the lack of walking hit my physical fitness very badly

I'm 100% with you there - I would never again drive a car that didn't have Autopilot/FSD or equivalent. Fortunately the 2 hours of walking our schnauzers every day is saving me from deteriorating, but I need to get back on my bike as well.

I’ve put a bit north of 162,000 miles on my Civic in the 6 years I’ve had it.

So far 43,000 miles on our Model Y in 3 and a half years.

If my car just died tomorrow, there are a couple of EVs I’d likely buy. I’d also look at used, since there are some decent prices there.

I looked at https://carsandbids.com/search/tesla a few days ago, they had a Tesla Model S with free, unlimited Supercharging for ~$10K -- that had to be the bargain of the century. (Tesla was offering free unlimited Supercharging for the Model S & X until 2020)

 

[DaveF]

I looked at https://carsandbids.com/search/tesla a few days ago, they had a Tesla Model S with free, unlimited Supercharging for ~$10K -- that had to be the bargain of the century. (Tesla was offering free unlimited Supercharging for the Model S & X until 2020)

Tesla won’t be on my shopping list when I’m buying my next car.

 

[Edwin-S]

Tesla won’t be on my shopping list when I’m buying my next car.

Curious as to why not? In my case, it's because I can't stand Elon Musk ever since he started shitposting on Twitter. I won't call it X.

The only thing I would like to get access to is the Tesla supercharger network. Musk is a Dick but, unfortunately, the supercharger network is also one of the most extensive and reliable of all.of the public charging networks out there.

 

[DaveF]

Tesla‘s two big feature problems for me are:
Doesn’t have CarPlay
Does have Musk

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Tesla‘s two big feature problems for me are:
Doesn’t have CarPlay
Does have Musk

Pretty much the same for me.

Don't think they are reliable vehiclees

 

[Ted Todorov]

Pretty much the same for me.

Don't think they are reliable vehiclees

I have no comment on Musk, but I strongly disagree that Tesla are not reliable vehicles -- not only have we had our Tesla Model Y since the summer of 2020, but a number of close friends and relatives also have Tesla EVs, and all of would agree that they are the most reliable vehicles we have ever driven. And indeed, by all available evidence, Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y are the two safest cars currently available in the United States.

Tesla won’t be on my shopping list when I’m buying my next car.

I totally agree that we can't all be driving the same car -- the last thing I want to do is turn the US into what Bulgaria was like in the 1970s, where there was only a total of 4 or 5 different cars. Also, I really like the Subaru Outback -- before EVs existed, it would have been at the top of my list on what to buy. It is very unfortunate, that Japanese car makers, specifically Toyota and Subaru have so far completely missed the EV boat. I hope they both wake up before its too late, and in the case of Subaru, produce an EV version of the Outback

 

[DaveF]

I currently have a Subaru Legacy (2016). The long term quality has been ok but not great (not as good as I expected / hoped). And Subaru are basically not doing EVs. So Subaru isn't on my short list for a next car either.

I'm looking at Ford, Audi, Huyndai, Kia, VW as my most likely options. I don't want a truck so Rivian is out. Tesla is out as noted. GM has said no CarPlay, so out -- a pity since the Cadillac Lyric looks good. Porsche and BMW are outside my budget. And as you say, Honda, Toyota, and Subaru aren't doing EV.

 

[LeoA]

Only a bit over 9,000 miles to go before my 2012 Impala hits the 250k mark and I start looking around at my options.

I wish that Chevy still made them.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I currently have a Subaru Legacy (2016). The long term quality has been ok but not great (not as good as I expected / hoped).

I was looking at maybe moving from a Civic Sport Hatchback to a Subaru WRX TR next year. Decisions, decisions…

 

[Ted Todorov]

I currently have a Subaru Legacy (2016). The long term quality has been ok but not great (not as good as I expected / hoped). And Subaru are basically not doing EVs. So Subaru isn't on my short list for a next car either.

I'm looking at Ford, Audi, Huyndai, Kia, VW as my most likely options. I don't want a truck so Rivian is out. Tesla is out as noted. GM has said no CarPlay, so out -- a pity since the Cadillac Lyric looks good. Porsche and BMW are outside my budget. And as you say, Honda, Toyota, and Subaru aren't doing EV.

Rivian makes SUV EVs: Rivian R1S right now, the R2 & R3 (hatchback) in the future. However like Tesla, it does not support CarPlay. Keep in mind though that there is a huge difference between GM not supporting CarPlay and Tesla or Rivian doing their own thing. Tesla and Rivian have excellent in-house software - their native apps are viable. GM on the other hand makes/buys abysmally bad software -- their motive for dropping CarPlay was to get a hold of user data which they can then sell to the highest bidder.
See for instance: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/technology/carmakers-driver-tracking-insurance.html

 

[DaveF]

Rivian makes SUV EVs: Rivian R1S right now, the R2 & R3 (hatchback) in the future.

Trucks and SUVs are all big trucks to me

I might buy a smaller CUV like the Mustang, but I prefer sedans, and to date have never been a giant truck guy. I had a Grand Cherokee for a rental last week. While I enjoyed driving it, a 2024 Hybrid with many modern conveniences, I prefer smaller vehicles.