Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by Teamwork »

Teamwork wrote:
tankinbeans wrote:Is a 25 year old Nissan Pulsar something that's worth the expense of importing? I think I just saw one, right hand drive, at the petrol station. Not positive as there wasn't any badging on it. Could have been a Pulsar GTI, but I'm not certain. Either way it looked weird.
By any chance was this the hatchback GTIR? Those are pretty cool but I still don't know if worth importing.

On a side note as I've been out pretty often- when I took re-delivery of my car from a week ago it came back with cosmetic damage around the roof/driver side C-pillar. It honestly looks like someone tried to use a screw driver or some sort of sharp wedge around that area with a blind fold on. Scratches were deep enough you can stick a finger nail into and here a "click"... Went to the body guy and estimated around $3,000 to repair the "right way". Service center is claiming those were there which is funny because this is literally more damage to my car then I've done in 2+ years then they had it for 2 weeks. Pretty upsetting but I can't see myself fixing it as the scratches are light but they are so deep and the C panel runs pretty much the entire body of the car.

Sigh VW...
A happy ending outcome even though it did take some time... Got VWOA involved again and basically have been 2/2 for instances with the corporate outlier. A lot of bad publicity and write ups with customer service online with VWOA but let me tell you my experiences have been anything but. Calls and communication have been met in a timely manner, conflicts get resolved. I felt like I was searching for a miracle but they ended up giving me a "credit" of $3,500.00 and gave me the choice to do the repair through a certified body place through them or whoever I chose. I went with them and the car came out immaculate. It's probably the best my car looked since last summer because they fully detailed the inside and outside also. As a token I had some LI "pot hole" rash on two of my wheels and they are going to have them refinished as well. For the time away from the car which was merely this time 3 days I had a 2018 Passat SE w/ technology and the car was a delight also. It washed out all the bad taste of a base model Jetta thankfully but of course I only had 2.5 days really to spend with it.

It will be odd to say but both the Jetta and Passat had a satisfying new car smell to me. That seems to be a fleeting trait these days...

My fiancee turned out of her lease 2 months early (she was endanger of going over miles) and ended up going with a Civic Hatchback EX. Her last three contenders here was the 1. Civic, 2. Elantra Sport, 3. Mazda 3 Touring. They rolled a red carpet deal out and was able to keep her for what is now her 4th generation of Honda Civic. The other two cars -- well they were great and fine but the sales people were basically mindless rocks or were stiff on a deal. The most humorous though was when were quoted $386 a month for a mid level Mazda 3 touring hatchback with no package. I literally told the sales person I've never heard such a thing for an aged generation, D segment vehicle... Elantra sport had a pretty competitive rate but we were holding our breathe about an unproven DCT.

I'm hitting the 3 year mark now with my GTI... that means the warranty is gone and the games will now really begin. It also feels weird that I'm not looking at new cars...
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by potownrob »

Teamwork wrote: A happy ending outcome even though it did take some time... Got VWOA involved again and basically have been 2/2 for instances with the corporate outlier. A lot of bad publicity and write ups with customer service online with VWOA but let me tell you my experiences have been anything but. Calls and communication have been met in a timely manner, conflicts get resolved. I felt like I was searching for a miracle but they ended up giving me a "credit" of $3,500.00 and gave me the choice to do the repair through a certified body place through them or whoever I chose. I went with them and the car came out immaculate. It's probably the best my car looked since last summer because they fully detailed the inside and outside also. As a token I had some LI "pot hole" rash on two of my wheels and they are going to have them refinished as well.
eye forget what the damage was exactly (just deleted the rest of the original quoted posts; too lazy to go back and look) but $3500 sounds high based on what i remember. either way, they were probably happy to do it in-house (or through their associated shop). glad it worked out well either way.
For the time away from the car which was merely this time 3 days I had a 2018 Passat SE w/ technology and the car was a delight also. It washed out all the bad taste of a base model Jetta thankfully but of course I only had 2.5 days really to spend with it.

It will be odd to say but both the Jetta and Passat had a satisfying new car smell to me. That seems to be a fleeting trait these days...
how's dat new 2.0 turbo?? passat is definitely much nicer than the mk6 jetta. mqb platform of golf and new jetta is better though. new car smell is poisonous chemicals, by the way. :twisted:
My fiancee turned out of her lease 2 months early (she was endanger of going over miles) and ended up going with a Civic Hatchback EX. Her last three contenders here was the 1. Civic, 2. Elantra Sport, 3. Mazda 3 Touring. They rolled a red carpet deal out and was able to keep her for what is now her 4th generation of Honda Civic. The other two cars -- well they were great and fine but the sales people were basically mindless rocks or were stiff on a deal. The most humorous though was when were quoted $386 a month for a mid level Mazda 3 touring hatchback with no package. I literally told the sales person I've never heard such a thing for an aged generation, D segment vehicle... Elantra sport had a pretty competitive rate but we were holding our breathe about an unproven DCT.
big surprise there, but glad she got the new civic hatch. that's the more fun platform of the civic, and is actually tuned differently suspension wise than the sedans and coupes. it's a european model made in the UK. your car dealers are horrible; glad the honda dealers are half-way decent though. friend recently got a new cr-v from honda city and said he had a good experience. i did suggest he go up to westchester for a better deal though.
I'm hitting the 3 year mark now with my GTI... that means the warranty is gone and the games will now really begin. It also feels weird that I'm not looking at new cars...
yeah, my warranty will be gone soon too... time for new cars. :twisted: :idea: :)
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by Teamwork »

eye forget what the damage was exactly (just deleted the rest of the original quoted posts; too lazy to go back and look) but $3500 sounds high based on what i remember. either way, they were probably happy to do it in-house (or through their associated shop). glad it worked out well either way.
It essentially looked like someone with a blind fold took a screw driver to my C-pillar. The scratches were deep enough to fit a finger nail down and were all over the place. The management blamed "snow removal".
how's dat new 2.0 turbo?? passat is definitely much nicer than the mk6 jetta. mqb platform of golf and new jetta is better though. new car smell is poisonous chemicals, by the way. :twisted:
Good - but I am biased to forced induction now. To kind of segway aligning stories- I felt like the Mazda 3 2.5L was way weaker then I remembered back in 2015 but I've been bitten by the turbo bug much since then. I think the 2.0L does a fine job pulling a big boat- I really enjoyed my time with the car and could easily see myself owning it one day. Like the Jetta it's common strengths are the huge interior space / trunk versus the class and the fact it drives "smaller" on the outside. MIB II seems like they've ironed most kinks out and is shaping up to being a decent system. Really wish VW could've found a way to upgrade MIB II software onto the smaller MIB I units they had for the golf/GTI for the 1 year.
big surprise there, but glad she got the new civic hatch. that's the more fun platform of the civic, and is actually tuned differently suspension wise than the sedans and coupes. it's a european model made in the UK. your car dealers are horrible; glad the honda dealers are half-way decent though. friend recently got a new cr-v from honda city and said he had a good experience. i did suggest he go up to westchester for a better deal though.
I only had minimal seat time in the car yesterday but this car is probably better equipped then mine. It's pretty boring overall though I have to say but perfect for someone who wants something that is functional and will get to A to B. Turbo is pretty powerful versus the competition in this class and could seriously be a trump card going forward. It needs to be wider available across the trims though. Feature set/function + price sold her on this and honestly could probably sell anyone easy.

Two gripes so far though:
1) Not a fan of when climate control is built into the infotainment. I do not want to go through menu's and menu's to simply put my fan speed down one notch or to change my vent setting- give me back the physical tactile buttons.

2) The seating position in this car is terrible awkward. Have the seat on the lowest setting and my 5'10 frame is closer to the sun roof then I'd like. Have to recline a bit with a lean in order to negate this a bit. I'm pretty sure though at the highest seat travel setting though I can physically drive the car with my eyes above the sun roof.

Everything else has been Honda savvy though. I heard the manual version of this car is a disaster though.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by tankinbeans »

Mazda's 2.5 is wonderful in my opinion. Mrs. Frizzle made me realize that I don't need a pocket rocket as my commute and habits end up leaving a lot of the car's abilities on the table and wasted. The 2.0 from Mazda is adequate, but there are areas where it could be little more pushy.

In the 6 it's fast enough for me, responsive enough for me, and fuel efficient (during the winter it's been high 20s/low 30s and in the summer it was right around 35). People say it's slow, but I think they fundamentally misunderstand that the throttle exists and refuse to go above 2500 rpm.

I guess I'm one of those boring people who just need an appliance, even though I refuse to be caught dead in a Toyota (aside from maybe an 86).
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by Teamwork »

tankinbeans wrote:Mazda's 2.5 is wonderful in my opinion. Mrs. Frizzle made me realize that I don't need a pocket rocket as my commute and habits end up leaving a lot of the car's abilities on the table and wasted. The 2.0 from Mazda is adequate, but there are areas where it could be little more pushy.

In the 6 it's fast enough for me, responsive enough for me, and fuel efficient (during the winter it's been high 20s/low 30s and in the summer it was right around 35). People say it's slow, but I think they fundamentally misunderstand that the throttle exists and refuse to go above 2500 rpm.

I guess I'm one of those boring people who just need an appliance, even though I refuse to be caught dead in a Toyota (aside from maybe an 86).
I really liked that engine at one point... probably more so in 2013 for the first time around. The transmission in the 3 (albeit automatic) is a really decent unit-I would probably even take this over some DCT's. That car still has one of the best interiors in the class probably only to rival Hyundai/Kia/VW. Honda interiors still feel odd to me. Some of the parts and materials used feel like it should be used in a pick up truck and not a compact car but everything seems well put together at least- the palette just questionable.

I hope Mazda continues dishing out stick for the 6... we are down to two choices in the mid size market. Honda Accord and Mazda 6 since the departure of the Passat...
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by tankinbeans »

I've read somewhere that the Mazda3, Mazda6 and CX-5 transmission is some sort of voodoo hybrid between a DCT and a traditional automatic. I have seat time in a current CX-5 with the automatic and it was delightful, insofar as to say I didn't notice it doing its thing.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by Teamwork »

tankinbeans wrote:I've read somewhere that the Mazda3, Mazda6 and CX-5 transmission is some sort of voodoo hybrid between a DCT and a traditional automatic. I have seat time in a current CX-5 with the automatic and it was delightful, insofar as to say I didn't notice it doing its thing.
It's ironic that the automaker with a really decent manual set up- makes a really good automatic too. I preferred the 6 speed automatic over the 7-speed DCT in the Hyundai. The DCT in the Hyundai unit still needs work- it feels like half baked attempt on the VW/AUDI DSG. That car though, chasis, and engine is literally a transmission away from being a pretty serious threat to the Civic SI though IMO... and by having the ability to get that in an automatic format may steal sales regardless.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by tankinbeans »

This video is a bit old but I think it's pretty interesting. Curious to know what Robe thinks.

[Youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mPubahkVBa[/youtube]
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by potownrob »

tankinbeans wrote:This video is a bit old but I think it's pretty interesting. Curious to know what Robe thinks.

[Youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mPubahkVBa[/youtube]
can't get the video to work, even taking out the secure s. can't even see what the video is... :evil: :? :cry: :evil: :x
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by potownrob »

Teamwork wrote:
eye forget what the damage was exactly (just deleted the rest of the original quoted posts; too lazy to go back and look) but $3500 sounds high based on what i remember. either way, they were probably happy to do it in-house (or through their associated shop). glad it worked out well either way.
It essentially looked like someone with a blind fold took a screw driver to my C-pillar. The scratches were deep enough to fit a finger nail down and were all over the place. The management blamed "snow removal".
yuck man :| :!:
how's dat new 2.0 turbo?? passat is definitely much nicer than the mk6 jetta. mqb platform of golf and new jetta is better though. new car smell is poisonous chemicals, by the way. :twisted:
Good - but I am biased to forced induction now. To kind of segway aligning stories- I felt like the Mazda 3 2.5L was way weaker then I remembered back in 2015 but I've been bitten by the turbo bug much since then. I think the 2.0L does a fine job pulling a big boat- I really enjoyed my time with the car and could easily see myself owning it one day. Like the Jetta it's common strengths are the huge interior space / trunk versus the class and the fact it drives "smaller" on the outside. MIB II seems like they've ironed most kinks out and is shaping up to being a decent system. Really wish VW could've found a way to upgrade MIB II software onto the smaller MIB I units they had for the golf/GTI for the 1 year.
i hear you. passat is much bigger inside than jetta though. kinda wonder what new jetta is like. also wonder what future passat will be like (euro passat?). men in black II interface is decent but not perfect. mine glitches out now an then, especially after a big rainstorm. glad i have a (humongous) cd player though.
big surprise there, but glad she got the new civic hatch. that's the more fun platform of the civic, and is actually tuned differently suspension wise than the sedans and coupes. it's a european model made in the UK. your car dealers are horrible; glad the honda dealers are half-way decent though. friend recently got a new cr-v from honda city and said he had a good experience. i did suggest he go up to westchester for a better deal though.
I only had minimal seat time in the car yesterday but this car is probably better equipped then mine. It's pretty boring overall though I have to say but perfect for someone who wants something that is functional and will get to A to B. Turbo is pretty powerful versus the competition in this class and could seriously be a trump card going forward. It needs to be wider available across the trims though. Feature set/function + price sold her on this and honestly could probably sell anyone easy.
eye found the turbo engine lacking compared to the golf's 1.8 turbo. of course, i was driving a brand new civic ex-l sedan. interior up front felt cramped too, kinda like a fighter jet cockpit. new accord is much nicer and more fun to drive. i assume she got EX or EX-L??
Two gripes so far though:
1) Not a fan of when climate control is built into the infotainment. I do not want to go through menu's and menu's to simply put my fan speed down one notch or to change my vent setting- give me back the physical tactile buttons.
yeah, i hate that. keep the old school controls. even hondas auto climate control on the 9th gen accords was confusing.
2) The seating position in this car is terrible awkward. Have the seat on the lowest setting and my 5'10 frame is closer to the sun roof then I'd like. Have to recline a bit with a lean in order to negate this a bit. I'm pretty sure though at the highest seat travel setting though I can physically drive the car with my eyes above the sun roof.
yeah, i can picture that. no lumbar support either. ex-l sedan seat felt comfy though.
Everything else has been Honda savvy though. I heard the manual version of this car is a disaster though.
that's what i've heard too. like they forgot how to make a good manual gearbox and easy to modulate clutch. :lol: :? :( :evil: :x
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by tankinbeans »

Here's a link to the video without trying to embed it, since I've forgotten how to do so...again.

https://youtu.be/rqHGnfnQPk4
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by potownrob »

tankinbeans wrote:Here's a link to the video without trying to embed it, since I've forgotten how to do so...again.

https://youtu.be/rqHGnfnQPk4
very interesting. Cool accent too. Would be interested in reliability stats of those trannies. Maybe a cx5 would be fun. Cx3. Too small unfortunately.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by tankinbeans »

Allegedly Chevy is using a Nissan sourced striptease in the Cruze in a not too distant future. Killing the diesel/manual combo in the process.


http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2018/0 ... -expected/

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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by AHTOXA »

After days of searching, I think I finally found that annoying creak/click on my MTB. My preliminary tests suggest that it was the lower main suspension pivot bolt. I checked it for tightness during earlier searches and while it was plenty tight, I didn't think to check it for lube earlier.

As soon as I started loosening that bolt, it was making those dry clicking/creaking noises that I've been hunting.

Time to hit the trails before the rains come in over the next few days.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by watkins »

List of random things!

1. I want to fill my life with Sonos speakers. Those damn things are so convenient and sound good too. Too bad they cost $150 each. Im not made of money.

2. I get a new windshield Friday. After nearly a year of dealing with 1 1/2" wide scratches from both wipers (not my doing) and a chip right in front of me I bothered to call my insurance.

3. May 18th brings about the annual pilgrimage to Carlisle, PA for the Import and Kit Car Nationals, aka the home of Saabs at Carlisle. Its a weekend-long drunken mess with friends I see only once or twice a year. I cant wait.

4. I never mentioned it, but I now have another fur-child. Just before the new year we brought home a mini Schnauzer. Hes a douchebag, but he keeps the old fart animals on their toes.

5.Beer
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