The Automobile Thread

My Fiesta makes it to St George on a single 11 gallon gas tank. It averages, daily use, 35 MPG. Also a stick shift, the way cars SHOULD be. I can total it and replace it with another for probably $5k. That is a LOT of electric vehicles. Of course at 170,000 miles, I got my moneys worth.

I don't have anywhere to charge a car, so I would still have to stop at a gas station. I also have no desire for a big payment, and I will never lease a vehicle. So electric vehicles are no go for me.
 
Brought it home last Friday. Very happy with it so far, 2.0T , and can't really complain, doesn't feel underpowered. Only complaint is only the v6 comes with the hitch...

IMG_20201113_155547__01.jpg
 
Now the bad news....
Had to take it to the dealer today because after only owning it for a few days... we got notified of a recall. Apparently some from this production had damage to the steering knuckles during assembly, and were issued "stop drive" notification. Dropped it off down the street in Pasadena today, and ours is one of the ones that was effected. (affected?)

Not sure how long it will be.. since it is a 2021 and as of right now service associate said he initially couldn't find any replacements in the country.....

Getting a free Atlas Cross Sport loaner in the meantime.
 
Derkderkall said:
Now the bad news....
Had to take it to the dealer today because after only owning it for a few days... we got notified of a recall. Apparently some from this production had damage to the steering knuckles during assembly, and were issued "stop drive" notification. Dropped it off down the street in Pasadena today, and ours is one of the ones that was effected. (affected?)

Not sure how long it will be.. since it is a 2021 and as of right now service associate said he initially couldn't find any replacements in the country.....

Getting a free Atlas Cross Sport loaner in the meantime.
Click to expand...
Rule No. 8 of archaeological fieldwork: always send the rental car through first!

It’s affected, and the effect is inconvenience.
 
Derkderkall said:
Brought it home last Friday. Very happy with it so far, 2.0T , and can't really complain, doesn't feel underpowered. Only complaint is only the v6 comes with the hitch...

View attachment 70854
Click to expand...
Great looking ride, Congrats!
A custom hitch should be an easy fix for that complaint. I paid like $230 out-the-door for the one on my car and you'll never notice it when the rack is not on the car.
 
Refreshed my Q5 today out of necessity. My 11 year old Q5 with 175,000 miles developed some very suspicious ailments that would cost over $3k to fix now, and that fix is not likely an actual fix. Consuming coolant and oil without dripping it onto the driveway is not a good sign.

2018 version. 21k miles. Not very imaginative, but the Q5 did everything I wanted it to do in every condition, including snow, rain, commute, cross country travel, hauling bikes, driving offroad, parking etc. And they are amazing to drive. Perfect ergonomics for me. Why change now? OK electric might be a reason to change now, but out of my price range at the moment.

Blue Q 11-24-20.JPG


For those keeping score at home, yes, we replaced both of our vehicles this year. No we didn't lease. What a horrible year to need to do so. First world problems, I'd say. The proceeds from the Megatower helped with the downpayment on the car, and I am down to one bike, as I should be.
 
herzalot said:
Refreshed my Q5 today out of necessity. My 11 year old Q5 with 175,000 miles developed some very suspicious ailments that would cost over $3k to fix now, and that fix is not likely an actual fix. Consuming coolant and oil without dripping it onto the driveway is not a good sign.

2018 version. 21k miles. Not very imaginative, but the Q5 did everything I wanted it to do in every condition, including snow, rain, commute, cross country travel, hauling bikes, driving offroad, parking etc. And they are amazing to drive. Perfect ergonomics for me. Why change now? OK electric might be a reason to change now, but out of my price range at the moment.

View attachment 70973

For those keeping score at home, yes, we replaced both of our vehicles this year. No we didn't lease. What a horrible year to need to do so. First world problems, I'd say. The proceeds from the Megatower helped with the downpayment on the car, and I am down to one bike, as I should be.
Click to expand...

We've been very happy with our Audi, a fully loaded 2015 A3. My wife is a stickler for their standard routine maintenance every 10K miles and it isn't cheap. I put my foot down when they wanted $600+ for a set of brakes. I took it to a friends shop in OC and had the work done for $230. I would seriously look at the Q5 Quattro if Prescott had an Audi dealer but I foresee a Subaru or Toyota Highlander AWD purchase instead.
 
herzalot said:
Refreshed my Q5 today out of necessity. My 11 year old Q5 with 175,000 miles developed some very suspicious ailments that would cost over $3k to fix now, and that fix is not likely an actual fix. Consuming coolant and oil without dripping it onto the driveway is not a good sign.

2018 version. 21k miles. Not very imaginative, but the Q5 did everything I wanted it to do in every condition, including snow, rain, commute, cross country travel, hauling bikes, driving offroad, parking etc. And they are amazing to drive. Perfect ergonomics for me. Why change now? OK electric might be a reason to change now, but out of my price range at the moment.

View attachment 70973

For those keeping score at home, yes, we replaced both of our vehicles this year. No we didn't lease. What a horrible year to need to do so. First world problems, I'd say. The proceeds from the Megatower helped with the downpayment on the car, and I am down to one bike, as I should be.
Click to expand...
Congrats again. The Q5 really does a lot of things right, and you got a beautiful spec. Enjoy!
 
herzalot said:
Refreshed my Q5 today out of necessity. My 11 year old Q5 with 175,000 miles developed some very suspicious ailments that would cost over $3k to fix now, and that fix is not likely an actual fix. Consuming coolant and oil without dripping it onto the driveway is not a good sign.

2018 version. 21k miles. Not very imaginative, but the Q5 did everything I wanted it to do in every condition, including snow, rain, commute, cross country travel, hauling bikes, driving offroad, parking etc. And they are amazing to drive. Perfect ergonomics for me. Why change now? OK electric might be a reason to change now, but out of my price range at the moment.

View attachment 70973

For those keeping score at home, yes, we replaced both of our vehicles this year. No we didn't lease. What a horrible year to need to do so. First world problems, I'd say. The proceeds from the Megatower helped with the downpayment on the car, and I am down to one bike, as I should be.
Click to expand...

Nice choice... :thumbsup:

And I'm glad to hear that the old one went 175,000... At our current pace, the A5 should easily go another 25 years. :p
 
Yet another positive review for Michelin CrossClimates. Yesterday was nuts in the San Bernardinos but the Outback+CrossClimates did great.

if you live in SoCal and go to the snow, there isn’t another tire out there with this much snow traction, that also works year round. It’s a unicorn tire.
 
tick said:
Yet another positive review for Michelin CrossClimates. Yesterday was nuts in the San Bernardinos but the Outback+CrossClimates did great.

if you live in SoCal and go to the snow, there isn’t another tire out there with this much snow traction, that also works year round. It’s a unicorn tire.
Click to expand...
Hmmm
I’ve always been leery of that type of uniform tread pattern on tires. Kinda reminds me of a Yokohama tire that I can’t remember the model of. It works on snow huh?
 
There were a bunch of Range Rovers, Audis, X5s, etc on the mountain yesterday, all of the newer ones had to chain up, since people seem to like to buy big clunky SUVs and run track tires...

im pretty sure a front wheel drive sedan with these tires would do better in the mountains than an X5 on summer tires.

the guy driving his 4-series without chains through big bear yesterday was not doing any of us any favors.
 
tick said:
There were a bunch of Range Rovers, Audis, X5s, etc on the mountain yesterday, all of the newer ones had to chain up, since people seem to like to buy big clunky SUVs and run track tires...

im pretty sure a front wheel drive sedan with these tires would do better in the mountains than an X5 on summer tires.

the guy driving his 4-series without chains through big bear yesterday was not doing any of us any favors.
Click to expand...
I've always found it such a head scratcher that these 4X4 and AWD SUVs come with Summer tires. Those things turn to hockey pucks in the snow. Hell, you can't even get an all season tire in the OEM 21" size for the SQ5, and I think there's only 1 dedicated snow tire in that size. I've always gone with aftermarket sizes anyway, and the Conti Extreme Contact DWS06 is a pretty remarkable balance of high street performance and snow capability.
 
tick said:
There were a bunch of Range Rovers, Audis, X5s, etc on the mountain yesterday, all of the newer ones had to chain up, since people seem to like to buy big clunky SUVs and run track tires...

im pretty sure a front wheel drive sedan with these tires would do better in the mountains than an X5 on summer tires.

the guy driving his 4-series without chains through big bear yesterday was not doing any of us any favors.
Click to expand...

One of my fondest memories as a kid was blowing past my brother's radar gun at 60 on solid ice... 83 Dodge Colt with studded tires up front. The other fond memory was him trying to catch me... :p
 
tick said:
There were a bunch of Range Rovers, Audis, X5s, etc on the mountain yesterday, all of the newer ones had to chain up, since people seem to like to buy big clunky SUVs and run track tires...

im pretty sure a front wheel drive sedan with these tires would do better in the mountains than an X5 on summer tires.

the guy driving his 4-series without chains through big bear yesterday was not doing any of us any favors.
Click to expand...
My new to me Q5 did great in the snow Monday, despite the Michelins looking a little too highway-ish for my tastes. They do have M+S on the sidewall, but they certainly don't look sufficient. But I didn't slip at all, even getting started on an off-camber uphill after waiting for the jackwad in his 2x Toyota truck to get unstuck and out of the way.

Michelins.JPG
 
Cyclotourist said:
The smart folks in winter-lands have two sets of wheels. One with winter tires, the other with summer. Hassle to store and swap out, but that's the way to get you were you want to go!
Click to expand...
That’s the genius of the new “all-weather” tires like the Cross Climate. These tires satisfy Canadian and European winter tire laws, and don’t need to be stored in a European apartment once the temperatures get above 5C.

after reading Consumer Reports’ tire reviews, I sent them an email asking if this tire would be appropriate for a California summer. They answered to the affirmative on their podcast, so I had a set shipped in, as the nearest set was in Kansas. They’ve been good for the past year, though 2020 didn’t see us rack up many miles, so no word on total longevity.
 
tick said:
That’s the genius of the new “all-weather” tires like the Cross Climate. These tires satisfy Canadian and European winter tire laws, and don’t need to be stored in a European apartment once the temperatures get above 5C.

after reading Consumer Reports’ tire reviews, I sent them an email asking if this tire would be appropriate for a California summer. They answered to the affirmative on their podcast, so I had a set shipped in, as the nearest set was in Kansas. They’ve been good for the past year, though 2020 didn’t see us rack up many miles, so no word on total longevity.
Click to expand...

Agreed... if they can check all the boxes, they could be winter specific tire killers. No more steelies!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top