New Vehicle Question

[ksaves2]

I had an AWD 2012 Buick Enclave for 12 years. Used to own AWD Audi's before then as I liked the stability in the winter. The Enclave
was a "boat" but due to size, weight, ground clearance and AWD could negotiate the winter's in Illinois when they got bad.

I stopped driving like a maniac as I aged but the Audi's were fun though underpowered on dry pavement and were stable on wet or ice. That probably kept me from killing myself by being under powered. (The "monster" motored Quattro was out of my price range but the 4000's and 5000's were affordable at the time.)

Weeeeelllllll, I read where the "General" is going to kill the Buick marque and decided to get a new Enclave before they go away. Can haul my rocket stuff without issue.
Only problem I had with the 2012 was the driver's side seat heater croaked and the dealer said it be close to $4k to correct!!! Needless to say, I lived without the seat heater the last few years. I don't go far very often so can live with the mileage then and now.

Got a new 2023 Enclave and so many cameras with ultrasonic detectors it's a piece o' cake to pull into my garage now and hit the wheel chock I have set to line up the vehicle on my side of the garage. The 2012 only had a backup camera. The 2023 vibrates the seat and shows me possible issues on the camera and with indicators on
the dashboard from the ultrasonic inputs. Cameras front and back.

This is not a problem but my gosh, if I brake/stop at a stop sign or stoplight it seems like the motor stops/shuts off!!! I release the brake and the motor comes right back!

I find it's amazing. I don't feel an idling motor when stopped. Release the brake and the the motor is running again and ready to go. Anyone know how that's done?

I was so used to vehicles idling when stopped but this thing seems to go dead and comes back to life when the brake is released. Yeah I'm an old man at 67 and haven't
been reading car magazines lately. I'm beyond the sports car age. Kurt

 

[rfjustin]

I had an AWD 2012 Buick Enclave for 12 years. Used to own AWD Audi's before then as I liked the stability in the winter. The Enclave
was a "boat" but due to size, weight, ground clearance and AWD could negotiate the winter's in Illinois when they got bad.

I stopped driving like a maniac as I aged but the Audi's were fun though underpowered on dry pavement and were stable on wet or ice. That probably kept me from killing myself by being under powered. (The "monster" motored Quattro was out of my price range but the 4000's and 5000's were affordable at the time.)

Weeeeelllllll, I read where the "General" is going to kill the Buick marque and decided to get a new Enclave before they go away. Can haul my rocket stuff without issue.
Only problem I had with the 2012 was the driver's side seat heater croaked and the dealer said it be close to $4k to correct!!! Needless to say, I lived without the seat heater the last few years. I don't go far very often so can live with the mileage then and now.

Got a new 2023 Enclave and so many cameras with ultrasonic detectors it's a piece o' cake to pull into my garage now and hit the wheel chock I have set to line up the vehicle on my side of the garage. The 2012 only had a backup camera. The 2023 vibrates the seat and shows me possible issues on the camera and with indicators on
the dashboard from the ultrasonic inputs. Cameras front and back.

This is not a problem but my gosh, if I brake/stop at a stop sign or stoplight it seems like the motor stops/shuts off!!! I release the brake and the motor comes right back!

I find it's amazing. I don't feel an idling motor when stopped. Release the brake and the the motor is running again and ready to go. Anyone know how that's done?

I was so used to vehicles idling when stopped but this thing seems to go dead and comes back to life when the brake is released. Yeah I'm an old man at 67 and haven't
been reading car magazines lately. I'm beyond the sports car age. Kurt

https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/features/do-stop-start-systems-really-save-fuel.html

 

[lr64]

When I was faced with chronically slippery conditions, I got Blizzaks all around instead of a new car. There are other tires like them.

 

[bjphoenix]

I don't feel an idling motor when stopped. Release the brake and the the motor is running again and ready to go. Anyone know how that's done?

The computer monitors things and just shuts the engine off under certain conditions. You get ready to go again and it starts it back up. Different manufacturers do this different ways. My Jeep has 2 batteries so when you are sitting at a traffic light you operate off of one battery and the other one is saved to restart the car. Any kind of hybrid automatically has systems to allow this to work. There are ways to disable this temporarily and longer than temporarily. For instance if you hold your foot on the gas to fast idle the engine it probably won't shut off. Some cars test other sensors for instance if the hood is open the engine will stay running, things like that.

I bought my Jeep used from a dealer but the start/stop never worked, there is a warning light on the dash. I didn't care for s/s so I didn't bother with it, and it doesn't get driven much in city traffic anyway. I bought the Jeep to go on remote trails and I read that the dual batteries of the s/s system were unreliable so I disconnected the small battery and replaced the main battery with the best brand I could find.

 

[teepot]

I hated the start stop feature and turned it of before we left the dealership when we picked it up. With the scooter lift on the back the sensors squeal. And the car would slam on the breaks because it thought we were going to hit something. The fix for that was to turn off the traction control. Which I actually like because then I can spin the tires.

 

[cwbullet]

I had an AWD 2012 Buick Enclave for 12 years. Used to own AWD Audi's before then as I liked the stability in the winter. The Enclave
was a "boat" but due to size, weight, ground clearance and AWD could negotiate the winter's in Illinois when they got bad.

I stopped driving like a maniac as I aged but the Audi's were fun though underpowered on dry pavement and were stable on wet or ice. That probably kept me from killing myself by being under powered. (The "monster" motored Quattro was out of my price range but the 4000's and 5000's were affordable at the time.)

Weeeeelllllll, I read where the "General" is going to kill the Buick marque and decided to get a new Enclave before they go away. Can haul my rocket stuff without issue.
Only problem I had with the 2012 was the driver's side seat heater croaked and the dealer said it be close to $4k to correct!!! Needless to say, I lived without the seat heater the last few years. I don't go far very often so can live with the mileage then and now.

Got a new 2023 Enclave and so many cameras with ultrasonic detectors it's a piece o' cake to pull into my garage now and hit the wheel chock I have set to line up the vehicle on my side of the garage. The 2012 only had a backup camera. The 2023 vibrates the seat and shows me possible issues on the camera and with indicators on
the dashboard from the ultrasonic inputs. Cameras front and back.

This is not a problem but my gosh, if I brake/stop at a stop sign or stoplight it seems like the motor stops/shuts off!!! I release the brake and the motor comes right back!

I find it's amazing. I don't feel an idling motor when stopped. Release the brake and the the motor is running again and ready to go. Anyone know how that's done?

I was so used to vehicles idling when stopped but this thing seems to go dead and comes back to life when the brake is released. Yeah I'm an old man at 67 and haven't
been reading car magazines lately. I'm beyond the sports car age. Kurt

If you like something sporty but not a sports car, look at the Toyota Crown- AWD Hybrid with a Turbo Charged 4-cylinder engine. Good mpg and good acceleration.

 

[Art Upton]

If you like something sporty but not a sports car, look at the Toyota Crown- AWD Hybrid with a Turbo Charged 4-cylinder engine. Good mpg and good acceleration.

And the name that goes back to Toyota's beginnings

 

[TheTank]

I hated the start stop feature and turned it of before we left the dealership when we picked it up. With the scooter lift on the back the sensors squeal. And the car would slam on the breaks because it thought we were going to hit something. The fix for that was to turn off the traction control. Which I actually like because then I can spin the tires.

Agreed. I absolutely hated that useless feature. I ordered my last vehicle with it removed as with it installed, the button to turn it off would always reset after each shut down.

 

[OverTheTop]

I hate stop/start features in any car I drive. Thankfully neither of our two have that feature.

The car stops the engine with the crank in optimal position for restart. The batteries are usually significantly more expensive than standard. Very little fuel saving and a lot of extra stresses on systems.

 

[Mugs914]

I had a car with start/stop once a long time ago.

Didn't like to idle because of the HUGE cam and carbs. Clear it's throat with a blip of the throttle and it was fine...

Still the only kind of start/stop I will tolerate...

 

[teepot]

If you like something sporty but not a sports car, look at the Toyota Crown- AWD Hybrid with a Turbo Charged 4-cylinder engine. Good mpg and good acceleration.

Our Explorer ST is very sporty. Twin turbo V6 that makes 400 hp and 415 torque. It's 4wheel drive. Has a sport tuned suspension, tuned exhaust ect. It sounds good for a 6. Wide 21" high speed tires. Paddle shifters. The automatic transmission is quicker thought. I saw an article recently about the 2025 Explorer ST. Ford is considering offering it with the V8 coyote engine. It will make 500hp. It might get a supercharger too. It is supposed to have styling cues from the Shelby GT 500 in and out. Aero kit, hood scope, racing stripe and a wicked looking splitter. I showed the picture to my wife and she wasn't impressed but I was drooling.

 

[lr64]

500 hp? That should be in an airplane. Or maybe in an 18 wheeler.

 

[teepot]

500 hp? That should be in an airplane. Or maybe in an 18 wheeler.

There is currently a version of a Durango that has a 500 hp engine. I'm a Ford guy since my first car that I got in 1972 and wouldn't own a Dodge.

 

[cwbullet]

There is currently a version of a Durango that has a 500 hp engine. I'm a Ford guy since my first car that I got in 1972 and wouldn't own a Dodge.

I used to be a Ford guy. I swore I would never own anything else. They do have good repair records, no matter what someone says. Our last F250 has never seen a shop outside of routine milage fixes and had 300K on it. It will be there soon to fix a mile oil leak.

Then I drove a Toyota. Great drive. Better controls. Better bells and whistles.

I will still probably buy Ford trucks, but cars are another story.

 

[KenECoyote]

A disadvantage of the start-stop is that the starter is likely to need replacing much sooner.

Edit: I had read this from someone else's post, but just Googled and the start-stop vehicles use special stronger and more durable starters.

 

[tim cubbedge]

A disadvantage of the start-stop is that the starter is likely to need replacing much sooner.

I’ve got a 2019 Grand Cherokee and was told by the dealer that it was initially a problem but now the alternator restarts the engine.

 

[Mugs914]

I used to be a Ford guy. I swore I would never own anything else. They do have good repair records, no matter what someone says. Our last F250 has never seen a shop outside of routine milage fixes and had 300K on it. It will be there soon to fix a mile oil leak.

Then I drove a Toyota. Great drive. Better controls. Better bells and whistles.

I will still probably buy Ford trucks, but cars are another story.

I'm with you on the Ford trucks. My '06 F350 just turned 350K! Love this thing!



When it comes to cars, let's just say that my priorities tend to lie pretty far outside those of the average car buyer...

 

[cwbullet]

I'm with you on the Ford trucks. My '06 F350 just turned 350K! Love this thing!

View attachment 643830

When it comes to cars, let's just say that my priorities tend to lie pretty far outside those of the average car buyer...

They will take a beating!

 

[ZEDL1]

I laugh at myself, as I'm so very interested in both cars and rockets. Both can be more than a little bit expensive. Why did I do that, I don't know. It just happened. One follows one's heart and mind.
I became so very fascinated with rockets in 1967, with America and Russia wanting to be the first to the moon. That interest never left me, and after all those years, rocketry and the friends that I've made over all that time still consumes me. I'll never give up rocketry as a hobby/obsession.

The car interest started in 1970 when I first saw a Second Gen 1970 Camaro driving down my then-home town in northern Ontario Canada. I bought my first new car, a 1976 Camaro, after working two jobs and saving all that I could, at the age of 17 to buy it fully in cash. I now own a 2013 ZL1 Camaro and a 2015 non-ZL1 as my DD. I sold the 1976 to a very good Camaro friend before I left Ontario to move to America 6 years ago.

To cw's point about Fords, I love Ford Mustangs. I've never owned one, but I'm thinking of going down that road. But for the Mustang, there would never have been a Camaro.

 

[Art Upton]

A disadvantage of the start-stop is that the starter is likely to need replacing much sooner.

Edit: I had read this from someone else's post, but just Googled and the start-stop vehicles use special stronger and more durable starters.

They still are going to need to be replaced sooner.

 

[Cape Byron]

I had a car with start/stop once a long time ago.

Didn't like to idle because of the HUGE cam and carbs. Clear it's throat with a blip of the throttle and it was fine...

Still the only kind of start/stop I will tolerate...

BSA made a lot of stop/start motorcycles in the 1960s. Not intentionally of course.

 

[ksaves2]

If you like something sporty but not a sports car, look at the Toyota Crown- AWD Hybrid with a Turbo Charged 4-cylinder engine. Good mpg and good acceleration.

Yeah, but I like the room to haul my rocket stuff in the Enclave and don't want to own two cars as I'm a widower and by myself. I don't generally travel far and can live with the mileage. The "stop sign" motor stop feature isn't bugging me.

I got through the crazy piss stage when I was younger with the Audis and drive more sedately now at age 67. Besides, I don't want to hurt the rockets in the back with fast starts and stops! No I don't drive so slow to keep everyone back and go the speed most are traveling at or pull over in the right lane.

I liked the lockable differentials in the early Audis. They were good on getting started on slippery surfaces but I generally didn't have to use them. Once the car was rolling on a slippery surface, I'd unlock the diffs. It was fun on a straight road to lock the center and rear diffs on a totally straight road at speed and take my hands off the wheel. That thing would track straight were I set it. Problem is as straight as a road is, it really isn't. I'd have to unlock the diffs and take control after a short period of time. Other thing is the Audis didn't have the road clearance like my Enclaves have. The Enclave is better on rocket launch sites with better ground clearance.

Audi had to get rid of the manually lockable diffs as the stupid Americans didn't know their proper use and screwed up their transmissions. Their use was/is only indicated rarely and that's the way I treated them. I think I sometimes ran with a locked center diff on a slippery road as I had directional control to a degree but always shut it off in a 90 degree turn.

Oh, on the new 2023 AWD Enclave there is an AWD switch on the dashboard that can be pushed that made me smile as it reminded me of the Audis. Still getting through the monstrous manual but will figure it out before next winter what it does. Coming from the Audis of old, I don't think I'll have trouble determining the proper situations to use the switch.

It might just be to switch from front 2 wheel to 4 wheel drive in which case the "General" probably made sure the diffs allow for steering while driving 'cause most Americans were stupid with all wheel drive cars back then and probably now. Except.....................For all the Jeep and truck guys and gals who knew what they were doing back in the day! The early AWD Audis with switchable differentials one needed to read the manuals front to back and follow the suggestion/rules the German engineers recommended to a "T".

When I started flying rockets, I appreciated the fact that the backseats in the Audi sedans folded down!!! I had a mini station wagon I could haul rocket stuff in!

I didn't have a problem with driving the Enclaves as in the early 70's my dad had monster Cadillacs that were bigger and I also drove a company Chevy carry-all that is now known as the Chevy Suburban. Learned to drive in a '65 Chrysler New Yorker that had a 410 cubic inch hemi "rat" motor that could burn rubber. Needed "leaded Premium" fuel and had to be detuned after that fuel went away. My mom kept that car for over 25 years. Those were the days when a luxury car could burn rubber right from the dealership. Kurt

 

[Art Upton]

Most AWD drive cars in the USA are free wheeling AWD, not Locked. But the cheat is that if a wheel slips, the ABS/Traction control senses it and locks the wheel with the brake. Then the power shift to another wheel that can get traction hopefully.

4WD and AWD are not the same. Then their is the button in my Truck and activates a limited slip when normally the truck is AWD free wheeling. My past 2008 Chevy K1500 burned out the transfer case in 4WD "Auto" mode, it did not have a forward bearing , only a bushing.

So they back pedaled on the owners manual and said you drive in 2WD mode till you get stuck, then switch to 4WD to get out. Bullocks, I wanted my truck to be easy to drive like the AWD suvs.

My Toyota Tundra will AWD if you leave Limited Slip off.

 

[bjphoenix]

I used to be a Ford guy. I swore I would never own anything else. They do have good repair records, no matter what someone says. Our last F250 has never seen a shop outside of routine milage fixes and had 300K on it. It will be there soon to fix a mile oil leak.

The old saying still applies- YMMV. Every brand has its skeletons in the closet and can produce a lemon.

My father owned a car repair business for over 60 years. When I worked there, and worked on all brands, I didn't like Fords for the way the ignition timing and carburetors worked. The engines always seemed too sluggish to me. My father and I were both Chevrolet fans but he did buy my mother a Chrysler 300 which turned out to be a good car. A lot of our customers owned Fords and they convinced my father to buy a Ford pickup. The transmission failed within 10,000 miles. There's that "ymmv" part. I bought a Ford years later, a first gen Taurus SHO. I thought this was a good car and overall is one of the best cars I've owned. By then Ford engines were fuel injected with electronic engine controls and didn't even have distributors, but the SHO had a motor designed and built by Yamaha. My third SHO was the V8 model with engine designed by Yamaha and automatic transmission. There was a fatal flaw in the design of the motor that caused a lot of them to fail, and the transmission in my car failed. It was rebuilt and failed again. Otherwise those were pretty good cars too. My current car is a 18 year old GM and has been totally reliable to 150k miles requiring no major repairs but it has had minor issues such as sunroof leaks and so forth. This one is a lot of fun to drive but I can't take advantage of 400hp and 6-speed here in the big city. My second vehicle is a Jeep Wrangler and it has also been totally reliable, except that I do take it a lot of rough offroad trails and some front suspension components eed to be replaced. A lot of people consider foreign models to be more reliable. My father having been in the repair business over 60 years would disagree with that. The only thing I can think of is the foreign brands may enforce higher quality standards on their third party suppliers. My next car will likely be another Jeep, when mine won't go anymore. My wife talks about wanting to replace her 12 year old GMC Acadia, which looks and runs like new. She asks me questions about electric cars, I think the best choice might be a plug-in hybrid if we can find one that she likes.

 

[ksaves2]

To cw's point about Fords, I love Ford Mustangs. I've never owned one, but I'm thinking of going down that road. But for the Mustang, there would never have been a Camaro.

The old saying still applies- YMMV. Every brand has its skeletons in the closet and can produce a lemon.

My next car will likely be another Jeep, when mine won't go anymore. My wife talks about wanting to replace her 12 year old GMC Acadia, which looks and runs like new. She asks me questions about electric cars, I think the best choice might be a plug-in hybrid if we can find one that she likes.

Ahhhhhh........ With an electric, one needs to make sure their travel profile matches the the profile of the car. For commuting to work from home as long as round trip range is there to get home to the charger one is o.k. The hybrid is a better choice as the gas motor can keep the batteries charged. Then again, read the manuals/specs before buying to make sure it meets your wife's needs. So much easier to fill a gas tank than sit at a charger. I suspect most know that high-speed charging cuts down on battery life and can't achieve a full charge like a lower current charging cycle can. It's battery 101 reading.

 

[cwbullet]

To cw's point about Fords, I love Ford Mustangs. I've never owned one, but I'm thinking of going down that road. But for the Mustang, there would never have been a Camaro.

If I ever won the lotto can could afford a 3rd car. I would buy a mach E. Electrics are nice, but just not feasible for me as my primary car in location .

 

[teepot]

A Mach E is a sacrilege. How dare Ford put the Mustang name on it. I learned how to drive in my mom's 68 Mustang notch back. I have a 2007 Mustang GT. When I saw the 2005 and it looked like a Boss 302 I had to have one. I still have the Mustang and it has 213,000 miles on it and it still runs great. The only thing I needed done was to have the the dealership I have bought Fords from for 30 years rebuild the front suspension around 180,000 miles. After that the car drives like new. I'll never get rid of it even if I win a lottery and buy a Shelby GT500. Or by a miracle and my wife lets me by the Shelby. I've only asked her a few dozen times. Has anybody seen the $300,000 Mustang?

 

[lr64]

If you get a smallish car and a trailer to use when you're hauling lots of rockets, you can buy a lot more rocket stuff with the money you're not spending on an SUV and more gasoline.

 

[teepot]

If you get a smallish car and a trailer to use when you're hauling lots of rockets, you can buy a lot more rocket stuff with the money you're not spending on an SUV and more gasoline.

With a smallish car it would have to be RWD and you could only pull a smallish trailer. More Horse Power!

 

[lr64]

Why RWD? And what's wrong with RWD? It would be a great excuse to find an old BMW 2002. ;-) Just how much weight are we talking about? Aren't we aerospace types? Can't we make lightweight trailers? When I was moving, U haul rented me a trailer for me to pull with my front wheel drive Saturn. If I recall correctly, it weighed 1,000 lbs, which was a bit much for the car, and it was far too much when loaded, but I managed to make a bunch of trips. 300 lbs or so, on a trailer with that car, was hardly noticeable, and I think 400 or 500 wouldn't have been much of a problem. If you want to bring your Lazy Boy and your granite topped coffee table, plus all the amps for your rock band along, you might have a problem. Anyone working on Sugar Shot to Space, of course, is given a dispensation.