Random and Misc Car Talk Thread

I've owned a ton of cars in my life, but my two favorites:

74 Z-28-High School
427 BB, 4 speed M22 rock crusher, California turbo exhaust, 850 holley DP, Cragar SS (of course), etc. It had the widest legal rear tires and it still bounced all over the place. Broke down very often, but wow, it was fun. Yes, those are blue license plates; I'm old.

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2000 Honda Civic Si

Almost the exact opposite of the Camaro. Slow(160hp) but so fun to drive fast and of course reliable. 8000 rpm redline. Smooth 5 speed. Most people pimped them out, but I just added a cold air intake and some shocks. Did some auto-crossing. Paid $16,500 for it brand new, kept it 2 years, and sold it for the exact same price. They only made this version 2 years, and was somewhat in high demand.

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A really good friend of mine name Jeff Wisecup used to own a 1979 Black Camaro Type LT. He used to baby that thing. Fun car. I had another buddy in South Florida with a 1970 Camaro SS like the one pictured here. Another fun and fast Camaro.
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My wife's 2011 Kia Sorento is limping along and it's time for an upgrade. It has a loose timing chain and all kinds of random electrical problems, among other things.

She wants a mini-SUV. She really likes our son's 2011 Honda CR-V because of it's size and lack of blind spots. The CR-V has gotten bigger over the years, so she's likely more interested in an HR-V or something like it. We're looking for used and low(ish) miles (<75K). Anyone have a mini-SUV that they really like or don't like?
 
That's about the point where BMW's insistence on using ABS plastic and natural rubber becomes problematic. I called mine 'Project Bummer' for the first 6 months or so until I got all the little things totally squared away. Awesome looking car (ignoring the flatbed attached to it).
Went through injectors like candy and like you mentioned, BMW did not do enough to keep sealants from overheating on the V8 twin turbo models. Amazing car for the first handful of years though. Faster than my Mustang GT yet pure silence in the cabin.
 
My nephews, who own big ass pickups that you practically need ladders to climb into, like to tease me about the hybrid Maverick pickup I bought a few years ago. Well, I love my little Maverick and now that gas is nearing $4/gallon, I like to tease them back. I got these license plates to just to rub it in.

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Just bought a '26 hybrid with AWD and the towing package last week! So far I love it! How long did it take for initial break in to get to that 50 MPG? I assume having AWD I won't quite get that high. Got the Ruby red color.
 
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Just bought a '26 hybrid with AWD and the towing package las week! So far I love it! How long did it take for initial break in to get to that 50 MPG? I assume having AWD I won't qwuite get that high. Got the Ruby red color.
I started getting 50 mpg pretty much right away. I should qualify that statement, though. Pretty much all of my driving is putting around Ankeny, so do don't drive it much on the highway or interstate. If I did, the mpg would be a little less.
 
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If there's one thing we know about technology, it's that it always works. We're definitely not going to hear stories about people in a panic trying to get to a hospital or something and their car won't let them.

Cars are going the way of music and movies. You can buy them but you don't actually own them.

It has been a good time for that 90's/2000's nostalgia to hit me with cars, except the gas mileage I guess.
good thing I enjoy motorcycles too, can't see this tech getting implemented on them at any point. you might start to see the sales increase there now from this.
 
I was a big Jeep guy before I had kids. Sold everything a month before my first son was born (regretted it every day since) and am just now getting back into working on cars 15 years later because of how expensive everything has gotten. I've been doing almost everything on my wife's van and my Volvo.

Current project is a 93 F250 with a 7.5L 460, ZF5 manual, ext cab and 8' bed that sat for like a decade. Got it on the road again last spring and have enough miles on it now that I'm really starting to find the issues but overall it runs pretty solid. Coolant leak I haven't tracked down yet. Need to replace the 2nd fuel tank. Leaky valve cover gasket. Some belts. Hoses. Etc. Minimal rust and an interior with zero tears or cracks. Just waiting for it to warm back up again.

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With that 460 a second fuel tank is a necessity!
 
My nephews, who own big ass pickups that you practically need ladders to climb into, like to tease me about the hybrid Maverick pickup I bought a few years ago. Well, I love my little Maverick and now that gas is nearing $4/gallon, I like to tease them back. I got these license plates to just to rub it in.

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My son bought one of these yesterday! The back seat is totally useless, but other than that I like it!
 
That's about the point where BMW's insistence on using ABS plastic and natural rubber becomes problematic. I called mine 'Project Bummer' for the first 6 months or so until I got all the little things totally squared away. Awesome looking car (ignoring the flatbed attached to it).
Mechanic buddy calls them a B-M-Trouble You...
 
Anyone have a mini-SUV that they really like or don't like?
We just got rid of a 2024 Subaru Forester that we bought new in Nov 23 and put about 50k miles on. Aside from a couple annoyances related to living on gravel (would get a rock in rear brake splash guard every 5k or so that would screech ridiculous, and plugged evap filter with gravel dust once that lit up dash like a Christmas tree) we really liked the vehicle, just needed something bigger. My parents have a fairly new ('22 maybe) CR-V and we test drove Rav... both my wife and I significantly preferred the Forester over the others. Don't have as much of an opinion on Honda but kinda feel like Toyota has gotten fancy and US manufacturing quality is pretty underwhelming compared to Japan... to me recent Subaru lineup seems closer to straightforward reliability that Toyota used to be.

The dealer we bought minivan from were low on trade in value so I had Forester up for sale privately on FB marketplace for a little over a month, got a lot of dealer interest sourcing used inventory but exactly zero inquiries from anyone looking to purchase for themselves. So long story short, the last I knew ours was for sale at Greg Young in Newton. Used values are rather high for age/miles if you can remotely afford to buy new, though, IMO.
 
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My son bought one of these yesterday! The back seat is totally useless, but other than that I like it!
Useless? I've got two car seats in my Maverick back seat that I use for hauling two grandchildren around! But then again, I'm only 5'10" so I don't need to move the driver seat back much.
 
Useless? I've got two car seats in my Maverick back seat that I use for hauling two grandchildren around! But then again, I'm only 5'10" so I don't need to move the driver seat back much.
Forward or rear facing? I Sat in one when they 1st came out as it would have been a great run around vehicle really. But yeah wouldn't be able to have a rear facing seat in it with me or the wife in the passenger seat.
 
Forward or rear facing? I Sat in one when they 1st came out as it would have been a great run around vehicle really. But yeah wouldn't be able to have a rear facing seat in it with me or the wife in the passenger seat.
Forward facing.
 
Bought in 6-2019. 2007 BMW 328I, non-turbo. It is as clean inside as it looks outside.

A little research said to stay away from the turbo model. That model wouldhave been destroyed by some idiot throttle jockey. It is a 3 liter inline 6 with stump pulling acceleration, if needed.

Dude wanted $5K, I said "I'll offer $4.5K and we will settle at $4.75K".

20 seconds he agreed. A beauty to drive and admire.

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Always wanted a BMW, used ones really arent that expensive. Problem is the cost of repairs on German vehicles scare me and I like my cars to go to 200k
 
Went to the barnstormers game tonight. Bit of entertainment in the parking lots watching a tesla trying to back itself into a parking spot about 15 times from what I saw. Then after the game see it making laps around the parking lot as it didn't know what the exit was im assuming.
 
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Always wanted a BMW, used ones really arent that expensive. Problem is the cost of repairs on German vehicles scare me and I like my cars to go to 200k

I’m sitting in the same spot with my Volvo S90. It’s worth about 8-10 and is paid off but has 150k and parts are expensive AF. For example a headlight replacement is 2k because of the active beams. I’m riding it out because it has been flawless for 120k miles but still scared of what’s to come.
 

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