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Twerk from Home posted:Can anybody with firsthand experience tell me how supercharged Audis hold up in the long run? My dad is looking at luxury cars in the ~$40k range which honestly doesn't go very far new but is a great range to shop used. I see a tremendous number of A7s locally with less than 30,000 miles for that range, but he puts miles on at a good clip and hangs onto cars long enough that he'll probably own it past 100k miles. How does your father feel about receiving personalized Christmas cards from his local Audi dealer or four-ring specialist?
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May 15, 2015 19:31
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VideoTapir posted:How about interior Alaska, or Siberia? Nothing works well there. Minnesota gets too cold to snow which is what you asked. Colder tha Minneapolis and you'll need a block heater anyhow.
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May 15, 2015 19:34
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:How does your father feel about receiving personalized Christmas cards from his local Audi dealer or four-ring specialist? I keep hearing that VAG isn't as bad anymore. I see that I'm naive, and there's a reason why Prestige package A7s are $40k after 2 years.
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May 15, 2015 19:48
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At -78C, it get's cold enough to snow again. Snow CO2, anyway.
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May 15, 2015 19:50
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Twerk from Home posted:I keep hearing that VAG isn't as bad anymore. I see that I'm naive, and there's a reason why Prestige package A7s are $40k after 2 years. They are far less likely to catch on fire during the warranty period, but a big audi will always need the budget of a midium sized banana republic to keep running out of warranty.
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May 15, 2015 20:08
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The best (and only IMHO) way to drive an Audi is to lease it, provided you have a job that's fairly flexible and the dealer isn't too far away. I wouldn't own one outside of the factory warranty period. Drive it for 3/36 or 4/48 or whatever and give it back before it catches on fire, falls apart, or needs 5 figures worth of work. edit: lol I went to truedelta and looked at some of the repair comments, I particularly loved the one that said "Sunroof exploded while car parked, replaced under warranty" skipdogg fucked around with this message at 21:39 on May 15, 2015 |
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May 15, 2015 21:34
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:How does your father feel about receiving personalized Christmas cards from his local Audi dealer or four-ring specialist? I got a tin of Christmas cookies from the ford dealership I bought from.
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May 15, 2015 21:39
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I was going to say engraved watch, but that only happens if you have two Audis.
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May 16, 2015 01:13
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VideoTapir posted:Yeah, but what about extreme cold? Most "the prius is fine in cold" reports are from people who think "it snows here sometimes" means it's cold. I've yet to see anyone talking about how their Prius worked just fine when it was so cold that it can't snow. It gets to almost -50C (not that often, plenty of ~-40 depending on the year though) with wind on some days during the winter where I live, and most of the taxis around here are Prius'. 
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May 16, 2015 01:48
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Proposed Budget: We're flexible. Most of the cars I've been pricing out are $25-35k fully loaded, and we're okay with that. New or Used: New Body Style: 4 doors, on the small side How will you be using the car?: Urban commutes, 4-5 hour road trips. Car seats in the back. What aspects are most important to you?: Want to haul a little more than a sedan, so probably a hatchback or small crossover. Adaptive cruise sounds like a nice feature to make road trips more pleasant. LeeMajors posted:Buy a Prius IRQ posted:BUY A PRIUS Is the Prius V available with adaptive cruise? I'm finding conflicting information. Toyota's e-brochure and some reviews say yes but Toyota's build-a-car and dealer websites say no.
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May 16, 2015 04:40
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nm posted:Nothing works well there. Minnesota gets too cold to snow which is what you asked. I'm from there, plenty of things work well there. I've been curious about hybrids, but it seems people have been cautious because there aren't a lot of people talking about it.
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May 16, 2015 04:50
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Proposed Budget : 18k at the very most, would prefer to spend 15k. New or Used : Used Body Style: Small SUV How will you be using the car? : Lots and lots of driving. This is going to be a vehicle for my new business where I expect to be hauling a variety of bulky but not particularly heavy supplies. Do you prefer a luxury vehicle with all the gizmos? No gizmos required. Comfortable seating is a plus. Removable 2nd row seating is a must. If there aren't any reasonable small SUVs with removable seats then I'll have to go back to my original plan of a Town and Country or Grand Caravan (because they have the Stow and Go seating that folds up into the floor.) I am decidedly not enthusiastic about owning a minivan so any recommendations would be great. What aspects are most important to you? Reliability first, professional appearance second. Doesn't have to look fancy, just not goofy. I know very little about cars in general and I'm not excited about car shopping. I tend to reach analysis paralysis on most big purchases so car goons, I need your help.
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May 16, 2015 17:04
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I don't know if any small SUVs have removable seats, but they should all fold down to make a flat floor for cargo.
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May 16, 2015 17:06
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I'd go with a used Transit Connect or something like that. Reliable and professional.
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May 16, 2015 17:07
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:I'd go with a used Transit Connect or something like that. Reliable and professional. Seconded. My work uses these and they're solid little vans. Also cheap since there's boatloads of them around.
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May 16, 2015 17:51
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Captain Cool posted:Proposed Budget: We're flexible. Most of the cars I've been pricing out are $25-35k fully loaded, and we're okay with that. Have you used adaptive cruise before? Both of my cars have it, and it's neat, but honestly shouldn't be a factor in a car buying decision. It works well, but 90% of the time when my speed changes I take over control manually anyway. Worth mentioning I drive a ton and use cruise almost daily.
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May 16, 2015 20:53
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Proposed Budget: $10k-$12k New or Used: Used Body Style: 4 door compact to mid-size sedan (for a family of 3). How will you be using the car?: Commute (~25 miles one way, mostly highway), everything else as well (shopping, kid to sports, in city conditions). Living in Louisiana, so snow/cold isn't an issue, but rain and heat is. What aspects are most important to you? 1) Reliability 2) Ease of maintenance (I get the oil changes on time, don't crash into trees sort of level) I admit I'm not much of a car guy. I had a 2003 Hyundai Sonata with about 170,000 miles on it which had been running fine until I was rear ended a week ago. The cost of repairs to the trunk and lights alone basically meant it was totaled. So I find myself looking for a replacement vehicle on short notice after settling with the insurance. Just for history, I'll note I originally bought it 7 years ago (2008) with 100,000 miles on it for about 8,000 dollars total but haven't had any serious issues with it. I think over that 7 year period I've spent under 4,000 dollars in explicit repairs. Just basically buying gas and getting oil changes otherwise. Fords are out because we had one die on me and my (eventually to be) wife in the middle of nowhere when we were both in college. I'm tempted to get another Hyundai Sonata simply because of my experience with the previous one. Best deal I've priced so far is 12,100 (taxes, title, doc fees included in that, so out the door price) for a 2011 Hyundai Sonata, with 75,000 miles on it, single previous private owner. Does that sounds reasonable if it checks out with a mechanic? Should I really be looking for a different make/model? Most similarly aged/mileage Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords seem to be somewhat higher pricing, I'm guessing to due their reputation as being reliable. HirumaKai fucked around with this message at 00:44 on May 17, 2015 |
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May 17, 2015 00:15
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VideoTapir posted:I'm from there, plenty of things work well there. I've been curious about hybrids, but it seems people have been cautious because there aren't a lot of people talking about it. Minneapolis runs a fleet of toyota hybrids and they were extremely common otherwise when I lived there, and I never heard a single complaint, other than the fuel economy drops (needs to run the engine for the heater). Also, heat is actually worse for batteries, and I haven't seen any issues in the IE either.
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May 17, 2015 02:57
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skipdogg posted:Have you used adaptive cruise before? Both of my cars have it, and it's neat, but honestly shouldn't be a factor in a car buying decision. It works well, but 90% of the time when my speed changes I take over control manually anyway. Worth mentioning I drive a ton and use cruise almost daily.
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May 17, 2015 03:07
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nm posted:Is that why I had to change my (12v) battery every 2-3 years? Cold is hard on everything. I only ever had to buy one battery, to replace one that was something like 7 or 8 years old, and it was way colder there. I used a battery heater. Maybe you were buying crap batteries?
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May 17, 2015 03:32
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Gringo Heisenberg posted:It gets to almost -50C (not that often, plenty of ~-40 depending on the year though) with wind on some days during the winter where I live, and most of the taxis around here are Prius'. [/rant] My 1988 Honda Prelude - lacking a block heater because it was originally purchased new in Victoria, B.C. - refused to start at -29 C one day in Saskatoon, but once I swapped the battery for the brand new one I'd purchased the day before and left in the trunk, it fired right up. Similarly, the Florida-registered (hence, also no block heater) moving truck I used to move from southern Ontario to Saskatoon 6.5 years ago complained a bit after starting at -32 C in northwestern Ontario, but it was fine. I think any reasonably well-maintained car built in the last 25 years will start at any temperature you're willing to go outside for if the battery is less than a couple of years old or is otherwise in good shape. A Prius has a bigger battery than most cars, so I would think it could start at pretty much any temperature down to Antarctic levels, though it would need to run on gasoline because the battery wouldn't be able to hold much of a charge beyond what it needs to spin the starter. Over in the EV thread in AI there are a few people who live in reasonably cold places - Alaska, one of the northern states (Minnesota maybe?) - and are happy with their Leafs or whatever.
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May 17, 2015 04:06
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VideoTapir posted:I used a battery heater. And perhaps that should be a sign that cars don't do well in the cold regardless of power source.
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May 17, 2015 05:48
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Why has no one mentioned that the Prius has an insulated thermos that stores 3 liters of heated coolant well above ambient temp for hours after shut-off? It's designed to get the engine up to operating temp within a matter of minutes. I'm surprised more cars don't have these for emissions purposes.
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May 17, 2015 06:12
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goku chewbacca posted:Why has no one mentioned that the Prius has an insulated thermos that stores 3 liters of heated coolant well above ambient temp for hours after shut-off? It's designed to get the engine up to operating temp within a matter of minutes. I'm surprised more cars don't have these for emissions purposes. The 2nd gen Prius does that, the 3rd gen has a heat exchanger with the exhaust to heat up coolant faster.
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May 17, 2015 06:52
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Twerk from Home posted:Can anybody with firsthand experience tell me how supercharged Audis hold up in the long run? My dad is looking at luxury cars in the ~$40k range which honestly doesn't go very far new but is a great range to shop used. I see a tremendous number of A7s locally with less than 30,000 miles for that range, but he puts miles on at a good clip and hangs onto cars long enough that he'll probably own it past 100k miles. Tell your Dad to go drive a brand new Infiniti Q50s, which will only need oil changes. Lexus IS350s is another option, if he's into the way it looks. Don't buy a used Audi, ever.
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May 17, 2015 13:53
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Twerk from Home posted:Can anybody with firsthand experience tell me how supercharged Audis hold up in the long run? My dad is looking at luxury cars in the ~$40k range which honestly doesn't go very far new but is a great range to shop used. I see a tremendous number of A7s locally with less than 30,000 miles for that range, but he puts miles on at a good clip and hangs onto cars long enough that he'll probably own it past 100k miles. If you get a CPO or extended warranty, and don't get the active suspension, I don't think it's quite as unthinkable as some might be suggesting. The supercharged V6 is actually pretty mature at this point since it was first introduced in the facelift C6 A6 in 2011. It unsurprisingly had a lot of problems with the cooling system in the earlier - making a water pump that lasts for more than 4 years is apparently beyond the technical abilities of the German car industry but these may have been fixed somewhat with later revisions. With a car like the A7 you have a lot more poo poo besides the engine to worry about anyway - again you really should not get the active suspension even with a warranty which IIRC doesn't cover things like shocks.
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May 17, 2015 17:11
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You can buy anything with a carmax warranty (which covers virtually everything) and sell it before the warranty expires. Modern cars, even d class germans are unlikely to strand you, they'd just cost a poo poo ton of money in repairs.
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May 17, 2015 20:00
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nm posted:even d class germans are unlikely to strand you, they'd just cost a poo poo ton of money in repairs. No doubt, the good and bad thing about all the complicated computer systems is they'll usually just put the car in limp mode if they fail, and you can almost always still get home (or just straight to the shop...). As long as you fix those issues up quickly they do tend to prevent serious engine damage. The bad news is its typically expensive if that happens.
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May 17, 2015 20:41
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I live abroad and am trying to help a friend. She's Korean and is looking for a car while living in Auburn, Alabama. She'll be there for 2 years maximum. The person whose position she's taking over wants to pawn off an 8,000 USD car which was purchased for 10k 2 years ago. She doesn't want to pay that much and I don't want to see her get fleeced. She drives a decent Korean car in South Korea but I think she can cut her car budget in half. This is going to be a daily driver with maybe a few trips to Atlanta, Georgia. Probably not going to tour the USA in this thing. Proposed Budget: ($4,000, or maybe $2,000/year) New or Used: Used Body Style: Should be comfortable for a 150cm (sub 5 foot) girl to get into. How will you be using the car?: Back and forth from work, with the occasional trip to Georgia. I've told her not to buy anything sight unseen, but aside from craigslist, where else should she look. Any of you happen to be in Auburn, Alabama with a decent car for sale.
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May 18, 2015 15:45
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She may just want to consider a 2 year lease. Edit: maybe not at that price
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May 18, 2015 17:07
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The used car market is at a point where 4,000 dollars is the starting point where you can buy a car and expect it to run for 6 months without any major repairs. 2,000 dollars is going to get you a very very old car, or a car that needs a lot of work. Honestly, if she could get that 2 year old car for 7,000 instead of 8, and drive it for 2 years, then sell it for probably 4500 dollars, that's probably going to be the best TCO possible. I would avoid leasing, I'm assuming this person is going to be around the University there, and I generally recommend people not bring new cars to school.
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May 18, 2015 18:13
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politicorific posted:I live abroad and am trying to help a friend. She's Korean and is looking for a car while living in Auburn, Alabama. She'll be there for 2 years maximum. The person whose position she's taking over wants to pawn off an 8,000 USD car which was purchased for 10k 2 years ago. She doesn't want to pay that much and I don't want to see her get fleeced. She drives a decent Korean car in South Korea but I think she can cut her car budget in half. This is going to be a daily driver with maybe a few trips to Atlanta, Georgia. Probably not going to tour the USA in this thing. I'm moving from Montgomery (just graduated from auburn), and am selling my 07 Suzuki forenza atm. My husband and I are moving to northern California and can't take it with us (won't pass smog). It's not a great car, but it's done me good. It has 98k miles, non working catalytic converter, pulls slightly to one side. I drove it daily from Montgomery to Auburn (hour each way) for a couple years, and my husband drove it for the past two years to and from work (15-20min each way). It's never broken down on us, but we have had to change the battery twice after it sat without being driven for a couple weeks. We haven't really used it for long trips (we use our second car for that), but I did take it to Raleigh, NC once without much trouble -- except the A/C, which was fixed about two years ago and has been fine since. She could definitely afford a nicer car than this one though; we're looking for sub $2k. It's an ok car, but nothing special.
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May 18, 2015 19:30
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skipdogg posted:The used car market is at a point where 4,000 dollars is the starting point where you can buy a car and expect it to run for 6 months without any major repairs. 2,000 dollars is going to get you a very very old car, or a car that needs a lot of work. Oh horseshit. It isn't trivial to find a good car in that price range (especially at a dealer), but there are plenty of reliable vehicles in that range. And the Auburn craigslist looks pretty good.
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May 18, 2015 19:43
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VideoTapir posted:Oh horseshit. It isn't trivial to find a good car in that price range (especially at a dealer), but there are plenty of reliable vehicles in that range. And the Auburn craigslist looks pretty good. They're not looking for an AI special, I'm looking at this from the point of view that this woman is visiting our country for 2 years and needs transportation she can reasonably expect to run well for those 2 years without major maintenance issues. So... which cars on Auburn Craigslist would you feel comfortable having handing over to a small woman from South Korea that fits that bill? Assume this person is not mechanically inclined and even simple maintenance tasks need to be done by a shop.
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May 18, 2015 20:50
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These are likely candidates: https://auburn.craigslist.org/cto/5030924938.html https://auburn.craigslist.org/cto/5029325519.html This might go that low: https://auburn.craigslist.org/cto/5030842966.html This if it had the timing belt done at 180K https://auburn.craigslist.org/cto/5025979560.html What's the oldest car you've owned? Because you make it sound like any car older than 8 or 10 years is a time bomb. You're not basing your opinion on Neons, are you?
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May 18, 2015 22:39
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skipdogg posted:Have you used adaptive cruise before? Both of my cars have it, and it's neat, but honestly shouldn't be a factor in a car buying decision. It works well, but 90% of the time when my speed changes I take over control manually anyway. Worth mentioning I drive a ton and use cruise almost daily. I disagree, but I think it depends on the make. My adaptive cruise is terrific and I use it as soon as I'm out of the neighborhood, but my wife's is horrible and drives the car like a 16 year old. Hers is a newer model year (2013) too. I think you have to take them out for a test drive to feel if you'd use it. I use it 90% of the time.
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May 18, 2015 22:53
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VideoTapir posted:These are likely candidates:
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May 18, 2015 23:19
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Hed posted:I disagree, but I think it depends on the make. My adaptive cruise is terrific and I use it as soon as I'm out of the neighborhood, but my wife's is horrible and drives the car like a 16 year old. Hers is a newer model year (2013) too. I think you have to take them out for a test drive to feel if you'd use it. I use it 90% of the time. I'm not saying it's bad or anything, I'm actually surprised how really well it works and I use it almost every day. I'm saying it shouldn't be that big of a factor in a purchasing decision. If someone finds a car that is just perfect for them and they love, but it doesn't have adaptive cruise, you should still buy it. It's not a make or break feature in any way (in my opinion). Nice to have for sure, but if my next car didn't have it, I wouldn't miss it much. It's not like cooled seats.. those have loving ruined me. I'll never own another car without actively cooled seats and remote start if I can avoid it. VideoTapir posted:What's the oldest car you've owned? Because you make it sound like any car older than 8 or 10 years is a time bomb. You're not basing your opinion on Neons, are you? Actually I quite love the trusty 1st gen Neon. Most expensive thing to fix on that entire car was 350 bucks. Hell you could put a new drive train in one for 1000 dollars. I prefer new cars that I'm older, but I've driven old cars a good chunk of my life. 10 to 12 year old cars were my thing until I got a good job, but I was also handy with a wrench. I'm coming from the perspective of which car would I send my daughter to college with for 2 years, and out of the 4 you listed only 1 makes the cut, the 2001 Accord and it's listed at 4850 and would still need a thorough inspection and probably belts/hoses/fluids at a minimum. The 2004 is a repo that looks like someone literally beat with a baseball bat and it has a busted tail light. There's also something growing in the carpet it looks like. I would wager no major maintenance has been done to the car. The 1994 Accord is someone's big problem they're getting rid of. You don't put all that money into a car and then dump it unless someone found something major. My guess is it's burning oil (from the bottle of oil in the trunk), and the owner doesn't want to have the engine rebuilt. The proverbial last straw if you will. The 2002 has a rebuilt title, without major documentation, I wouldn't recommend it thought it is the best looking of the 4 cars. Anyway, you can I can argue about used cars on the internet all day, the point I was trying to make is the used car market has changed in the last 7 to 9 years, the days of finding a 2500 dollar beater they'll get you by for a year or two is gone, quality used cars cost a fair bit now. There are gems out there for shadetree or weekend mechanics who know what they're looking for, but I'm of the opinion rolling the dice on a 4,000 dollar car on Craigslist is not the best course of action for the person we're talking about.
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May 18, 2015 23:44
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nm posted:Isn't the 98-02 accord notorious for automatic transmission failures? only the 6 cylinder one, I think.
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May 19, 2015 04:35
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Thank you for the replies. I'm passing on the information.
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May 19, 2015 12:46
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