What do you like about the vehicle you drive and would you have changed anythin about it?
What do you like about the vehicle you drive and would you have changed anythin about it?
Realized that with my new job I’m at $500/month for gas. Starting to seriously consider a hybrid or electric but damn they expensive. Either way might just need something more reliable than my 320k+ car.
Whatchya driving, do you like it, and why?
Let me tell you about my 2007 Toyota Yaris Hatchback manual drive.
In my opinion this is nearly as perfect of a vehicle as it is possible to get.
The 1.5 liter engine is small and efficient which means your gas bill is nice and tiny compared to the average vehicle I see on the road. It also has this weird quirk of FEELING really fast and exciting while driving while actually being rather pedestrian. A year after this vehicle was released motortrend came out with an article about the slowest cars they have ever tested: The Toyota Yaris was the 5th slowest. Probably due to the manual gear box, the sharp and agile steering, and the noise it makes, it simply feels a LOT faster than it really is. THIS IS A POSITIVE. It means you can have a good time and enjoy driving it but unless you are trying REALLY hard you won't be speeding all that often and even with your foot to the floor you won't be ripping away from traffic and drawing attention to yourself. That doesn't mean you can't red-line the engine, drop the clutch , and rip a nicely satisfying burnout, because you can... And I have.
Oh BTW... if you want to have some fun you can buy a ready to install everything included SUPERCHARGER kit for the Yaris. It's on my bucketlist.
The cargo space is MASSIVE! because the rear seats fold flat and it's a hatchback with a wide trunk opening and a flat-ish roof (instead of aggressively raked back) the amount of stuff you can fit in it is kind of insane. Several hundred pounds of firewood? Check. Two fully assembled kitchen cabinets to be turned into a kitchen island? Check. 55" TV in box? Check. 6.5' Christmas tree? Check. Just look at that cavernous space!
Shoot, my wife and I regularly go car camping out of the Yaris. If you push the front seats as far forward as they go you can fit an inflatable mattress in the back with only a slight bend in it. It's remarkably comfortable and unless you need to sleep perfectly straight as a log it serves very well as a mini RV. Back when I commuted 26 miles to my full time job and then another further 55 miles to my full time schooling I would often sleep in the back of the Yaris between the two and have very restful and replenishing sleep.
Here we are on Rollins Pass in Colorado at 11,600 ish feet:
At first having the gauges in the center of the dash was a bit weird but it comes with two bonuses. The first one took me a while to notice: You feel more connected to the road and your journey. Putting the dashboard gauges directly in front of the driver actually puts a barrier between the driver and the road ahead of them. It's a wall of information density that permanently exists between you and the world ahead and you have to go through it before you can experience what's before you. It might be a borderline subconscious thing but not having something that constantly wants your attention in front of you really lets your mind focus on the road ahead of you and the journey you are on. If you NEED the information, it's still there, just politely sitting off to the side waiting to tell you whatever you need to know.
The second bonus to the center gauges? MOTHER FUCKING GLOVEBOXES BABY! THIS CAR HAS THREE! There is the standard glove box around the knees of the passenger but there is also one above that and a THIRD one above the steering column on the driver's side. I never would have guessed how excited a grown man could be (me) about the discovery of multiple GLOVEBOXES in a car.
Almost nearly as much as I enjoy the gloveboxes I really am impressed by the setup of the cup holders. You have your standard 2 cup holders down by the hand brake in the center console but the really awesome ones are seamlessly folded into the dashboard near the doors. These aren't your tiny popout cupholders you find in most cars that break the second time you put a big gulp in one. No... these are chunky, heavy duty cup holders that make an audible ca-thunk when deployed. The amount of times I've deployed the cup holder at a driver through and had the teller make a visible reaction or even stop to say something is significant. My words probably do not do them justice so look at these pictures of their location and diagram from the manual and tell me that they don't inspire confidence.
There are only TWO things I would like changes about this car. Give me a Bluetooth enabled head unit with better speakers and a good place to put a chi charger for my phone. That is all.
I could go on for hours about this car but my last point about how epic this vehicle is and how we don't deserve it is this: It's a Toyota. A proper old fashioned bulletproof, reliable, affordable Toyota. Parts are dirt cheap and easy to replace.I've got 266,000 miles on mine and let me tell you, they have not been kind miles. We regularly take this on off road trails bouncing off of rocks and occasionally trees. I've torn the O2 sensor clean off of the car a couple of times and got it stuck up to the bottom of the door in deep snow while driving a dirt road pass in the Rockies. I have treated it like dirt and only done basic maintenance far less than it deserves. I've only had to replace the clutch once and this next summer will be the first time ever that I need to do anything even approaching major service. It's got a water pump leak and a front timing cover leak. Neither of these stop the car from functioning at all but as long as I keep an eye on the fluid levels we are good to go.
All this and it takes it like an absolute champ. It trucks along being the best little car it can be. The snow, dirt, and mud, and neverending miles of cross country journeys this car has never failed me. I will not part with my beautiful little car for anything less then total destruction. The day that happens I will remove the logo from it's sad lifeless carcass, frame it and hang it on my wall for all to know what an amazing being was part of our lives for so long and yet not nearly long enough.
I love my car.
Drive a 2018 Nissan leaf, fantastic car except for the fact that it uses CHADeMO for DC fast charging (cancelled connector, getting harder to find)
Would recommend getting an EV, especially if you can charge at home. With tax credits and the savings in gas you'll have paid the difference before you're done with the car for sure.
Was literally in that situation back in 2018. 110 mile round trip daily commute, ~$500/mo in gas. Had to fill up every other day.
Bought a 2017 Ford Fusion hybrid and cut my monthly gas expenditures down to about $200. Payments were about $225/mo so I ended up saving $50/mo once the insurance differential was factored in. A tank now lasted me just over a week.
As of 2020, l'm still driving it, but I've since moved much closer to work. A tank lasts me about a month now.
As of 2021, I work from home. A tank lasts me 3-4 months on average. Car is paid off.
2016 Toyota Camry. Up until that, I always bought used old beaters and ran them into the ground, but in 2017, my new job required a car less than 6 years old, so I bought the Camry.
I might be jinxing myself, but, besides normal (disposable) things like tires and brakes and minor tune ups, it hasn't needed any major repairs since I bought it.
I love the fact that I have no modern annoyances. No cacophony of binging noises to warn me about every small pointless thing: a car passing me, minor speeding, upcoming cameras, a car braking in front, reversing towards an object. Nice and quiet... just the hum of the engine. I don't think I can drive a 'new' car.
Just a 2007 TT. Nothing special.
I've a wee 2016 1.2tsi manual skoda fabia. I really like it, think the dashboards layed out perfectly, everything intuitive to use, the AC is simple to adjust, its reasonably efficient, and is the right size for me.
I'd prefer insurance companies to stop taking the piss with the prices, I've never hit anything or got any points, its literally just because I'm a young man. I'd also prefer there to be a little more space between the clutch and side wall in the footwell as I have wide feet and its easy to clip the clutch when putting my left foot on the foot rest.
I drive a 2000 Honda Insight. It's pretty cool.
Pro: good gas mileage, manual transmission, cheap maintenance, comfy seats. I can go ~700mi on a tank. Costs me $40 to fill. I fill it maybe 8-10 times a year assuming no road trips. It's about 60-70MPG.
Cons: slowest car I have ever driven so I have to plan merging onto highways/motorways very precisely. Literally my only complaint.
I like that car. It's pretty neat.
Edit:
Another con: it only has two seats. Doesn't hurt my use cases where I generally drive solo, or at most with my love, but for some that may pose an issue. (Think about it, though, most people who drive only drive themselves, generally to and from work.)
I have a Tesla model 3, it is very cheap to operate but expensive to buy. The only negative thing about it is public/political perception of the car.
People on the left hate Elon, tech people think a car can't drive itself without a weapons grade sensor array, and people on the right hate using electricity for propulsion, car people are threatened by electric car's acceleration, or that the battery is going to die and I'll need to get a new car.
Without all of that, owning one is super cool.
I have an escape plug in hybrid. I get about 40 miles all electric, and about 500 miles on gas. I just took a camping trip where I towed a trailer, so my average mpg is down to about 50. Normally it rides around 70-80, since most days I drive less than 40 miles.
I like my fuel efficiency, and that I can plug it in to charge. I wish I had a little more cargo space, since I'm just shy of "project" capacity, and more "flat pack furniture". I dislike that the towing capacity is low, since the hybrid drivetrain is more complex, and the car just weighs more, so I can only tow about 1500 lbs, which limits your choices for campers and such.
I originally started the buying process because I needed a new car, and I had a three hour round trip commute. Now I'm working from home, and it's even better because I basically never use gas, but haven't sacrificed range. Only my poor, beleaguered bank account. Which I don't regret.
Permanently Deleted
I ride an electric bicycle and charge it at work so I pay zero for fuel. Every other month I spend like $20 on maintenance, would recommend.
I went from £400 a month fuel spend to just over £100 going to hybrid. My insurance came down from £700ish to £450 p/y (all the anti collision toys etc). The services were 4-600 a year now 250-300. It’s been 4 1/2 years and I’m keeping it. It cost me about 10k more than I’d normally pay for a car and I reckon I’ve made my money back and then some. That anti collision stuff has also saved my arse a couple of times.
Sorry forgot to say: Posh Toyota.
I drive a 2000 bmw z3 dispute it being a bmw it's been quite bullet proof oil changes are a brease you can replace the rear windshield by unzipping a zipper my only complaint is how it occasionally breaks the laws of physics like how it smashed into a giant boulder and only broke off a single reflector and the airbag indicator light works even when there's no bulb or any light source of any kind the oil separator somehow got water in it and didn't effect the rest of the engine in any way ultimately it takes a lot to make something go wrong in this car and when they do fixing it will make you question if we are living in a very laggy simulation I'm honestly surprised I haven't lagged into the backrooms in this car yet
Christ Jesus, 500 a month? I might not even pay that much and I literally drive the work day (Amazon flex, Uber eats, etc) for my job. Do you know how to drive gas efficient? If your RPM's never pass 2K and you cruise to stop lights etc you can still drive a decent speed and get much better gas mileage. Stop idling at long lights - if you're going to wait more than 10 seconds, shut the car off. Perhaps invest in some fuel injector cleaner as a cheap alternative to a proper tune up.
unless you drive for a living you should definitely get that way down, (unless you live in california AND commute 3 hours a day or something, in which case you have bigger problems)
I don't have a car because I'm a college student, but I do have a 2006 Suzuki GZ250, a small cruiser motorcycle. It's my first vehicle that I own. I absolutely love riding it, even though a Prius is faster, this feels much faster because it's a manual transmission motorcycle, and gets better mpg.
Unfortunately, I need to replace the battery soon as it seems to have some parasitic loss when not ridden for several days. I want to DIY it to save money, but I can't unscrew this impossibly tight worn screw mounting the cover to access the battery.
Supercharged FJ cruiser. 280,000km on the clock.
I bloody love it but like yourself the petrol bill is starting to kick my arse.
I had every intention of keeping this thing for the next 10 years but fuel only seems to be going up and up.
I drive a 2011 nissan note wnd it's comfortable. I can get a lot of shit in it, including wheelchair. But it's absolutely fucking hideous. So probably that.
And maybe a fifth gear, the automatic only has 4. Oh and my radio is broken so that too.
Wife and I got a Mazda CX-90 PHEV and last mileage at fill up it on a 1/4 tank it had gone 600+ miles. She goes 45 min one way once a week. If it weren’t for that she’d get well over 1000 miles on a tank as she almost always drives it in EV only around town. It goes 26 miles on the battery. 2.5kWhs (not the best) and 36mpg on gas at the moment (that can go a lot higher depending on how you drive it).
Get a hybrid or PHEV for sure. EV really depends on how far you need to drive and how much electricity costs. During peak hours (4p-8p here) our rate (33¢/kWh) for our vehicle is equivalent to gas at $3.98/gal (not cheap in the US). Off peak the rate is $11¢/kWh and is much cheaper.
Just wish the battery was larger at ~50 miles and didn’t cost so much. Other than that, it’s an incredibly fun vehicle to drive, has a great interior, and has an easy to navigate and use infotainment system.
I bought a 2020 Honda Accord, and I have absolutely zero (meaningful) complaints.
Things I like about it so much that they are requirements for future car purchases:
- Adaptive cruise control
- Brake-holding
- Tactile inputs for media, cruise control, or climate control (almost wasn’t going to mention this, but new cars are shifting away from this, which I can’t stand)
- A respectably-snappy infotainment system that supports CarPlay
Little things:
- Adaptive cruise control is always ready to be set, so I can just head out and immediately start using it (I’m one of those people who likes to use cruise control at every possible opportunity)
- Comfortably seats 4, if I ever need it to
- It just looks nice, inside and out, in my opinion
Mk7 GTI. Great handling and enough power to be fun. Also quite practical.
I just changed the one thing that really bothered me by disabling the soundaktor that pumped buzzy "engine" noises into the cabin
I'd like to also reduce the turbo lag, but it's livable
I have one of the new Nightsters, it's a harley-davidson that isn't a vibrating air cooled dinosaur. It's smooth, fast, and quiet. It handles great. It gets decent gas mileage.
If it's raining or cold, I drive an old Samurai. It's not a vehicle for those on the spectrum like myself who have trouble talking to people, because it sometimes draws a crowd.
I currently drive a hybrid escape, ~600 miles per 14.5gal tank, pretty happy with it. Mine has the lane/brake assist but I turned off the lane since my state is so bad at painting lines it was trying to steer me out of lanes due to old lines being still visible or no lines being visible meant it was worthless too. That’s really my only complaint so far, had it 2 years now.
My driving is a mix of city and highway, I average low-mid 40s
23 plate Hyundai Ioniq 5 Premium Long Range.
Likes:
Getting 4 to 4.5 miles to kwh out of what is quite a large car by European standards. Costs approx. 9p a kw in the UK on an EV tariff so it costs a fraction of what an ICE car would cost to run.
350kw charging, I rarely wait longer than 20 minutes to charge from 20% to 80%
Tons of space.
Single pedal driving is awesome
Tows my 1400kg caravan with ease due to 100% of torque from 0 rpm and weighing 2 ton (more the car weighs compared to the trailer the better towing is, assuming enough torque). Even big Range Rovers aren't as smooth towing from stand still.
Same trait means its quick when driving round town or from a standstill. Above UK legal speeds its average for its price point.
Its also much much quieter than its ICE competitors.
Comfy on a long journey, like driving round sitting on a sofa.
Dislikes
Weighs 2 tons. Car it replaced was 1500kg and similar external size. Would like it to weigh less, but all new cars the same size, even ICE, are pretty fat these days. A brand new ICE 3 Series is also almost 2 ton with a few options on it and comparable usable space/purchase price.
Handling when hustling is compromised by the car being aimed at comfort and how fat it is. If you want handling buy the new performance model, its also stupid fast as it has 640bhp.
UK spec for this year has no heat pump for the battery even as an option, would be useful for improving winter mileage. Irish version of the same car has it as standard (at least for my model year and trim level), despite Ireland being warmer during the winter than the UK. Heat pump is now available as an option.
UK spec Premium cannot have memory seats, have to upgrade to a much more expensive trim level that has a ton of stuff I do not want or need. Same with the 360 cameras, I only get rear camera. Locking stuff behind a much more expensive trim level is a dick move.
I drive a Dodge Caravan. It's a vehicle I got for $3k with only 70k miles.
The first part of that is what I don't like. The second part is what I like about it.
I drive a 2013 F-150, and a 6 speed 2012 Audi S4.
I’m in northern Ontario, so I’m in the bush quite frequently. I pull trailers, haul 4 wheelers, wood, and other things in the back, and it does it without issue. Decent on fuel, being a truck and it’s mostly reliable… Older though, so I’ve had things break on me, but nothing I couldn’t fix myself.
The S4 is a hella fun car. I drive to Toronto a number of times throughout the year, and its handles the 24hr round trip with ease. Decent on fuel if you stay off the gas. Quite reliable, but the car is known to have a few rather expensive problems. One of which is the PCV, which I plan on replacing next summer as preventive maintenance, along with some other minor maintenance items. Hoping I don’t have to do the timing chain and tensioners any time soon, but it is a 200k km car. This is a 6 speed, so it doesn’t have the issues the DSG models have. It’s also lowered and has an exhaust… It is quite raspy unfortunately. Would like to install a resonator to help get rid of some of it.
I’ve replaced wheel bearings on both. 4WD actuators, some coolant hosing, O2 sensors, fixed the wire harness in the rear doors, patched the cab corners and a handful of other things on the ford (I’ve owned it longer than the S4).
I could go on forever about these two vehicles, but overall they’ve been good to me, and I haven’t had any major issues or have been left stranded (though I almost was a couple times with the ford, but I was able to get home).
I’d say with most vehicles, as long as you take care of them, they’ll take care of you, although there are some exceptions.
2014 Honda Civic EX - Great gas mileage, reliable, inconspicuous. I'd love to trade in for a sportier ride though.
I have a 2017 Mazda3, currently 35,000 miles. I live in a small town and have worked out of my house for over 10 years.
I drive maybe 3 miles a week on average.
My transportation also includes feet and a mountain bike geared for ... Mountains.
I'd like to take longer car trips, but I'm too busy working for a living.
2007 Nissan Navara King Cab (like Frontier in the US but diesel)
It's a two seat, 4x4, all black pickup truck. Other than the few mechanical issues with it, I have no complaints. It's basically my dream car and I truly don't even know if there's any other truck I'd rather have. Even the newer model is a bit meh and comes with all sorts of electronics I don't need.
At that cost, either move closer to work or get a job closer to home.
I have a 2010 Chrysler Town & Country and my dad has a 2018 Ford Fiesta. I drive both pretty regularly.
I prefer the Fiesta. The T&C is a fucking piece of shit. The only thing I don't like about the Fiesta is the same problem I have with every Ford I've ever driven: The steering is stiff and the pedals are sensitive af. But I prefer an overly sensitive brake to the one in the T&C that feels super weak even when pressing the pedal to the floor. When I wanna stop, I wanna know I'm able to.
I like my car (subaru OBXT) because it is fast and can generally be pretty flexible. I want an electric because gas is staggeringly expensive. Luckily though, I moved to a city that has an electric train and is extremely dense, so I can walk or take the stupidly cheap train. The train tickets also work on the buses, surface rail, boats, and other transit. Spending a lot less on gas, which is nice.
It's at least defrayed my need for a car within city limits.
I don't like how my 2014 Hyundai Elantra turns on the air conditioner all the time. Something is wrong with the controls, and it keeps engaging the AC when I turn on the car, no matter what the climate controls are set to.
I'm driving transit, and I love not burning a(nother, nowadays there are many different holes) hole in my bank account, and also being able to fuck around on Lemmy or my steam deck on my way to work and back
Well, mine is a very light, all-terrain vehicle with little maintenance and minimal expenses. It has only two wheels and many speeds of which I only use three on a good day. The only thing I'd change about it is the protection I get from other drivers who are sometimes a little too distracted in their metal-enclosed mobile living rooms.
I drive a 2001 Toyota celica. I like how it looks like a spaceship 🚀 the only thing I'd change is the power window buttons. I miss them being on the door instead of the center console. I could have bigger cup holder if those buttons weren't there
I genuinely wish I didn't have to own a vehicle and there's basically nothing I like about it.
2015 Toyota RAV4. Reliable and does everything I need a car for. Cheap-ish too.
I live in the very north Scandinavia. I go hunting and need a 4wd for that. 25% of my mileage is long drives in Arctic winter conditions. Electric cars that manage this drive were 2-3 times as expensive and I'd have to drive 2-3 times as far every year even when electricity is free to motivate the expense.
2004 Ford Escape
The car is a piece of shit. It’s falling apart on the inside and in general is probably getting close to death. Cost 5k like 5 years ago, so I’m not too worried.
I’m waiting to pay off my student loans before I commit to a new car payment. But there’s a 70’s RX-7 for sale near me that’s ~6k and I want a project.
'19 Civic coupe. My 3rd Civic since 2011.
Decent enough mpg. Zippy. Fun to drive. Fits in tight city spots.
I've upgraded speakers and amp. I'm also very dark tint.
I'm contemplating a full upgrade to the lights. LED for front & rear. I'd like to add one of those under rear bumper high-viz red lights that are good during inclement weather.
Pro: it... Um..... It goes.
Con: gas mileage, body damage, rust everywhere, air vents don't change and only spew hot air, gas mileage, interior is falling apart, every other month it's refusing to hot restart for a couple days, it's cramped in the foot and head space, gas mileage, and there rods are going to need replaced soon.
And honestly the gas mileage kind of sucks.
If I could get an EV, wall battery, and solar/wind combo I'd be content.
