Car Talk

[O_V]

My DD is an OBS F150 with 80 thousand miles, manual shift, manual locks and manual windows, and an elite-tier sound system. I'll be buried with that truck.

 

[Shmurs]

Experienced the first real downside of Tesla ownership recently - auto shops won’t touch them and light damage is hard to repair. So I get backed into with my bumper dented but not cracked, and needed to take it to a Tesla collision center an hour away to replace the whole stupid lift gate. 2 weeks without a car and a big uber bill to go pick it up.

Otherwise I’m still in love with my 2020 model Y.

 

[LeBowen]

Felt like the most appropriate topic, tbh.

 

[rogcl1]

My DD is an OBS F150 with 80 thousand miles, manual shift, manual locks and manual windows, and an elite-tier sound system. I'll be buried with that truck.

My truck is a 79 ford f150 single cab long bed with the 300 cu. in. straight six automatic 150,000 miles and upgraded AC. My dad bought it new off the lot so not only is it a sentimental heirloom but also most practical for maintenance and driving into town and to the pool hall or working on the homestead.. Like you said I will probably be buried in it. After owning a couple of 70 Mach 1's , a tbird, a 80 Toyota truck and more recently a 2008 Mazda 3 my second car is a 2000 mercury Grand Marquis, a great reliable car. Obviously both are long paid for. For trips to Colorado or where I feel a newer vehicle would be better I just rent. Being 73 I think I have one new car with full warranty to see me thru my time here. I think it will be some sort of EV , just not sure what it will be.

 

[O_V]

My truck is a 79 ford f150 single cab long bed with the 300 cu. in. straight six automatic 150,000 miles and upgraded AC. My dad bought it new off the lot so not only is it a sentimental heirloom but also most practical for maintenance and driving into town and to the pool hall or working on the homestead.. Like you said I will probably be buried in it. After owning a couple of 70 Mach 1's , a tbird, a 80 Toyota truck and more recently a 2008 Mazda 3 my second car is a 2000 mercury Grand Marquis, a great reliable car. Obviously both are long paid for. For trips to Colorado or where I feel a newer vehicle would be better I just rent. Being 73 I think I have one new car with full warranty to see me thru my time here. I think it will be some sort of EV , just not sure what it will be.

Yeah mine is the EFI straight six, and my dad and I bought it new so it's very sentimental. I'm probably going to upgrade the fuel injection when the ecu finally dies. And I will save up for an aftermarket overdrive so I can cruise on the highway.

 

[Blake]

I've had any number of cars and have kept up with most of the history all of my family's and many of my friends vehicles.

Sure there are exceptions, but the base rule today I think is the same as it has been for 20+ years:

Pay a little more upfront for the Toyota or Honda (my preference always Toyota). I've hit 300k easy on two, (one was a Lexus) and the others I ended up giving away because we just wanted newer cars for the hell of it, which looking back was dumb. The Avalon AC was still blowing frigid air without ever touching it once.

Love the Honda motors except they're not the easiest to mess with under the hood as some things are hard to reach. Have had several CRVs and Pilots in the fam that have had ridiculous AC problems and that's a big enough reason for me to never buy another Honda while living in SA

American cars just still suck ass in the long run on the whole. Just my experience and 2 cents. I've had one small beamer in the past that was fun but the repair cost was not.

I hope SR's KIA treats him right but I'll be honest, I've heard too much wrong about them for the long haul.

 

[scott]

Been a long time BMW guy, but I am breaking the mold and have an order in for a Lexus GX550... hoping for this to be a long-term keeper (15+ years) for me. I only drive like 3k miles a year, so it might be doable.

 

[Fabbs]

What exactly is the hold up with the 2026 Rav4 PHEV?

Meanwhile i got a cherry used Range Rover Supercharged.

 

[scott]

What exactly is the hold up with the 2026 Rav4 PHEV?

Meanwhile i got a cherry used Range Rover Supercharged.

Land Rovers get a bad rap… had an LR4 once we really loved and have always been a fan of the Range Rover Sports

 

[Fabbs]

Land Rovers get a bad rap… had an LR4 once we really loved and have always been a fan of the Range Rover Sports

In these blowout rains and wind (by SoCal standards) lately it's been enjoyable.
I had to return 60 miles in rush hour on the windiest/rainiest 5:00 eve and me and another Rover were safely passing almost everybody.

 

[spurraider21]

I've had any number of cars and have kept up with most of the history all of my family's and many of my friends vehicles.

Sure there are exceptions, but the base rule today I think is the same as it has been for 20+ years:

Pay a little more upfront for the Toyota or Honda (my preference always Toyota). I've hit 300k easy on two, (one was a Lexus) and the others I ended up giving away because we just wanted newer cars for the hell of it, which looking back was dumb. The Avalon AC was still blowing frigid air without ever touching it once.

Love the Honda motors except they're not the easiest to mess with under the hood as some things are hard to reach. Have had several CRVs and Pilots in the fam that have had ridiculous AC problems and that's a big enough reason for me to never buy another Honda while living in SA

American cars just still suck ass in the long run on the whole. Just my experience and 2 cents. I've had one small beamer in the past that was fun but the repair cost was not.

I hope SR's KIA treats him right but I'll be honest, I've heard too much wrong about them for the long haul.

yeah i'll be holding my breath for a while with respect to my Kia purchase and wondering if i'll regret not just going with the tried and true Sienna. about 23k miles in right now without issue, but cant really judge a car's reliability until you fall outside the warranty period tbh. so far we love it, but that thought will be in the back of my head for a while

fortunately the hyundai/kia vehicles using this smartstream 2 engine (since about 2018-2019) have held up quite well so far. most of their big vehicles like the Palisade, Santa Fe, Sorrento, Sportage have been using them and those vehicle have been holding up pretty well, at least with respect to powertrain stuff.

minivan is just kind of a weird sector with extremely limited options

 

[scott]

Korean engineering culture is awesome, I wouldn't have any hesitation with a Hyundai/Kia at this point (I had a Kia Sorrento Hybrid for about 18 months), it's just a matter of preference. Amazing how far manufacturing in that country progressed in the matter of decades.

 

[Blake]

yeah i'll be holding my breath for a while with respect to my Kia purchases and wondering if i'll regret not just going with the tried and true Sienna. about 23k miles in right now without issue, but cant really judge a car's reliability until you fall outside the warranty period tbh. so far we love it, but that thought will be in the back of my head for a while

fortunately the hyundai/kia vehicles using this smartstream 2 engine (since about 2018-2019) have held up quite well so far. most of their big vehicles like the Palisade, Santa Fe, Sorrento, Sportage have been using them and those vehicle have been holding up pretty well, at least with respect to powertrain stuff.

minivan is just kind of a weird sector with extremely limited options

Yahh, not the best thing in the world that they discontinued making the Carnival minivan either after a 4-5 year run.

But who knows, maybe it ends up being a great deal in the long run.

 

[spurraider21]

Korean engineering culture is awesome, I wouldn't have any hesitation with a Hyundai/Kia at this point (I had a Kia Sorrento Hybrid for about 18 months), it's just a matter of preference. Amazing how far manufacturing in that country progressed in the matter of decades.

the carnival is also one of their models that are manufactured exclusively in korea and not over here, which most people agree is a positive

 

[spurraider21]

Yahh, not the best thing in the world that they discontinued making the Carnival minivan either after a 4-5 year run.

But who knows, maybe it ends up being a great deal in the long run.

carnival has not been discontinued. it used to be branded as the sedona, and in 2020 was renamed to carnival. but its the same line, still ongoing. their year over year sales spiked by about 45% in 2025 compared to 2024, so its doing quite well

 

[Blake]

carnival has not been discontinued. it used to be branded as the sedona, and in 2020 was renamed to carnival. but its the same line, still ongoing. their year over year sales spiked by about 45% in 2025 compared to 2024, so its doing quite well

Bleh I stumbled across some silly rumors about it being discontinued. Glad it's doing well. I do think Kia maybe has the best design team in the industry if nothing else.

 

[Area 51.247]

Been a long time BMW guy, but I am breaking the mold and have an order in for a Lexus GX550... hoping for this to be a long-term keeper (15+ years) for me. I only drive like 3k miles a year, so it might be doable.

Which flavor? The Overtrails have a lot of nice benefits and Nori Green is intriguing. Like the increased towing capacity it gets over the Land Cruiser from the V6 turbo and upgraded rear differential (9k vs. 6k). The GX550's are the Lexus variant of the Land Cruiser, 150K should be a walk in the park for it. The LC forums, including iH8Mud and Land Cruiser Forum, have some good communities talking about mods and maintaining their LC's and LX's, going back to the '60's FJ40's.

We got the 2025 LC in Heritage Blue/Grayscape and have really enjoyed it. Two grandparents, three grandkids under seven, and an Australian Shepherd in the back makes for memories when we visit. Great touring driver on crosscountry trip: sit up high with lots of glass all around. Good in the snow, ice, and mud; you just get that been there, done that, it's possible and probable, let's do it vibe from it.

Wife has been driving hybrid MKZ's since 2010 and we just preferred the better mpg from the LC's hybrid over the GX's upgrades. Had been driving a 2019 Honda Ridgeline and really enjoyed it; as we age, the better visibility and safety features from the LC are appreciated.

 

[Area 51.247]

Which flavor? The Overtrails have a lot of nice benefits and Nori Green is intriguing. Like the increased towing capacity it gets over the Land Cruiser from the V6 turbo and upgraded rear differential (9k vs. 6k). The GX550's are the Lexus variant of the Land Cruiser, 150K should be a walk in the park for it. The LC forums, including iH8Mud and Land Cruiser Forum, have some good communities talking about mods and maintaining their LC's and LX's, going back to the '60's FJ40's.

We got the 2025 LC in Heritage Blue/Grayscape and have really enjoyed it. Two grandparents, three grandkids under seven, and an Australian Shepherd in the back makes for memories when we visit. Great touring driver on crosscountry trip: sit up high with lots of glass all around. Good in the snow, ice, and mud; you just get that been there, done that, it's possible and probable, let's do it vibe from it.

Wife has been driving hybrid MKZ's since 2010 and we just preferred the better mpg from the LC's hybrid over the GX's upgrades. Had been driving a 2019 Honda Ridgeline and really enjoyed it; as we age, the better visibility and safety features from the LC are appreciated.

Not to mention, on some of the LC forums, the discussion and often, vitriol, about whether a J100, J200, or J300 is the "real Land Cruiser", and even if the new J250 LC's and GX550's built on the TNGF platform alongside Tundras, Tacomas, and 4Runners even qualify, can make the old ST look peaceful.

 

[Area 51.247]

yeah i'll be holding my breath for a while with respect to my Kia purchase and wondering if i'll regret not just going with the tried and true Sienna. about 23k miles in right now without issue, but cant really judge a car's reliability until you fall outside the warranty period tbh. so far we love it, but that thought will be in the back of my head for a while

fortunately the hyundai/kia vehicles using this smartstream 2 engine (since about 2018-2019) have held up quite well so far. most of their big vehicles like the Palisade, Santa Fe, Sorrento, Sportage have been using them and those vehicle have been holding up pretty well, at least with respect to powertrain stuff.

minivan is just kind of a weird sector with extremely limited options

But a really needed option as kids get older and start playing sports, joining clubs, doing after school activities. Having a place to put all their stuff, plus maybe a friend or two is invaluable. Especially if your kids are in different schools and activities on the same day. We had the first year Pilot (2003) and it was really useful and handy having 5 rear seats plus some storage.

 

[spurraider21]

But a really needed option as kids get older and start playing sports, joining clubs, doing after school activities. Having a place to put all their stuff, plus maybe a friend or two is invaluable. Especially if your kids are in different schools and activities on the same day. We had the first year Pilot (2003) and it was really useful and handy having 5 rear seats plus some storage.

my sister gave me shit for it but every time im visiting, guess who hauls around both families and all the kids to whatever we've got planned

we're planning to have a 3rd kid as well, and having 3 car seats lined up in a row is impossible at worst and impractical at best. and sliding doors make all the difference both with respect to the clearance to get kids in and out of car seats, but also for the older kids to be able to comfortably open/close their own doors without fear of them bashing another car or smashing the door on their fingers

getting a minivan is one of the best decisions ive made... its just going to be a question of whether i screwed up not picking the tried and true Sienna. but so far we love the carnival. the interior comfort blew away the sienna's when i was shopping around. since we regularly drive beteween Vegas and LA (on average ~1.5 times per month), that mattered quite a bit

 

[spurraider21]

my wife's Volt is still chugging along (i really dislike the car), but when looking at a potential EV replacement (had been looking at bigger cars like the Model Y, Ioniq5), i dont think i can touch the hyundai/kia brands there. they have an unresolved ongoing issue with one of the electric component that is a huge point of failure in their cars (ICCU). im not a big fan of the tesla brand these days, but the Y may end up being the safest bet in that segment. i really prefer the more traditional UI to the giant tesla ipad screen thing, though

 

[scott]

Which flavor? The Overtrails have a lot of nice benefits and Nori Green is intriguing. Like the increased towing capacity it gets over the Land Cruiser from the V6 turbo and upgraded rear differential (9k vs. 6k). The GX550's are the Lexus variant of the Land Cruiser, 150K should be a walk in the park for it. The LC forums, including iH8Mud and Land Cruiser Forum, have some good communities talking about mods and maintaining their LC's and LX's, going back to the '60's FJ40's.

We got the 2025 LC in Heritage Blue/Grayscape and have really enjoyed it. Two grandparents, three grandkids under seven, and an Australian Shepherd in the back makes for memories when we visit. Great touring driver on crosscountry trip: sit up high with lots of glass all around. Good in the snow, ice, and mud; you just get that been there, done that, it's possible and probable, let's do it vibe from it.

Wife has been driving hybrid MKZ's since 2010 and we just preferred the better mpg from the LC's hybrid over the GX's upgrades. Had been driving a 2019 Honda Ridgeline and really enjoyed it; as we age, the better visibility and safety features from the LC are appreciated.

I went with an OT+ in Earth but I looked long and hard at the Nori Green (it's officially down as my second choice with the dealer should one come in early). I had a chance to buy a White Pearl OT+ back in December but passed because I didn't realize at the time how hard to come by they were!

I love the Land Cruisers as well and was pretty torn between the two. Ended up going with the GX because of the larger engine (we have the hybrid 4 that is in the LC in my wife's 4Runner) and the fact that the price differential was close enough to not sway me to wards the LC. If I drove more (like 10-15k miles/year) then I would have gone with the LC for the fuel economy, but at 3k miles/yr it's pretty insignificant.

 

[Area 51.247]

I went with an OT+ in Earth but I looked long and hard at the Nori Green (it's officially down as my second choice with the dealer should one come in early). I had a chance to buy a White Pearl OT+ back in December but passed because I didn't realize at the time how hard to come by they were!

I love the Land Cruisers as well and was pretty torn between the two. Ended up going with the GX because of the larger engine (we have the hybrid 4 that is in the LC in my wife's 4Runner) and the fact that the price differential was close enough to not sway me to wards the LC. If I drove more (like 10-15k miles/year) then I would have gone with the LC for the fuel economy, but at 3k miles/yr it's pretty insignificant.

Have seen a few of the White Pearls and they are a brilliant color, both in the distance and up close. Same with the Nori Green. Haven't seen any GX's in Earth. We test drove a LC in Earth/Grayscape and it convinced me to get the Java interior and my wife to get the Heritage Blue.Her first car was a 1972 Corolla 2 door Wagon bought in 1977 in that same-ish earth color and her second was an 82'ish Corolla 4 door wagon in the same color family. She said that was enough Earth colored cars for her. One thing I do like about many of the colors is that they look different in different lights.

If you already have a 4Runner, the added towing and weight capacity above the LC are a good reason to get the GX. Plus the add-on accessories list goes on forever.

 

[scott]

Have seen a few of the White Pearls and they are a brilliant color, both in the distance and up close. Same with the Nori Green. Haven't seen any GX's in Earth. We test drove a LC in Earth/Grayscape and it convinced me to get the Java interior and my wife to get the Heritage Blue.Her first car was a 1972 Corolla 2 door Wagon bought in 1977 in that same-ish earth color and her second was an 82'ish Corolla 4 door wagon in the same color family. She said that was enough Earth colored cars for her. One thing I do like about many of the colors is that they look different in different lights.

If you already have a 4Runner, the added towing and weight capacity above the LC are a good reason to get the GX. Plus the add-on accessories list goes on forever.

Heritage Blue is one of my favorite colors amongst all car brands... I'm a fan of those baby blues in general... BMW's Yas Marina Blue on an M2/3/4 and the new RiveriaBlue on a 911 are my favorites to see out on the road, and the Heritage Blue from Toyota over the years - glad you are loving it!

My wife chose Everest for her 4Runner, and I must say it looks really good in person and we've gotten a lot of compliments on it - definitely more unique especially here in Hawaii where Tacomas and 4Runners rule the road. It looks really sharp on a Trailhunter with those bronze accents, but we went for a TRD Offroad