Car Enthusiast Club [Now Motorcycle friendly!] - First thread to 150k! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[IKnight]

13 minutes ago, Benji said:

Did you remove the black high gloss cooler inlet?  It looks a little odd. But she still is beautiful. My parents also have one, and I'd say it's even the same colour (although on the picture yours seems a little darker).

I actually don't think of it that highly. If I wanted to own a car (haha, I can't even afford the driver's licence, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), I want to "really own" it, and not just pay monthly for something that I might own after the leasing rate runs out and I pay the rest of the financial amount that is still open for me to own the car. A relative of mine does that and I personally couldn't deal with it.

If you're just talking about financing your car, as in you own it but pay monthly for a certain amount of time without having the larger final payment of still thousands of bucks, I still don't really like it, but in my opinion it's a better option than car leasing. Car leasing only leads to base trim levels without any extras flooding the market because you're getting a new car every few years in my opinion.

Financing makes sense for higher value cars. Why put down $100k cash when you can put $20k down, and invest the rest? With the interest being so low it makes more sense. 

[IKnight]

Just now, Benji said:

Higher-value cars, yes. But the ones that were leased by the relative I was talking about were a Ford Fiesta Titanium with the Cool & Sound package 3 (Ford SYNC with AppLink and automated climate control), Easy Driver's Package 1 (PDC sensors front+back, electrically folding mirrors) for 17050€ listing price and the current one is a Ford Focus Titanium with the Business Package 2 (sat nav, automated parking assist) and the extra Xenon headlamps. Listing price was 28340€. I wouldn't lease that at all... Titanium, by the way, is the second-highest "sports-luxury" trim level in Germany behind the new Vignale models that have almost everything that you can configure in the car. For example, on the current Ford Fiesta Vignale you can only add the full-LED headlamps and that's it, because the automated parking assist and front camera assisted technologies and all that are already included in the Vignale trim.

And this is basically why I see leasing such cars as non-sensical. The current car that the ralative has, would have a sensible price that I'd be interested in and it has basically all the features I was looking for - but due to the fact that it was all "standard feature packages" they skimped on the DAB+ for 195€ listing price, which is a few cents extra in leasing. That's what would keep me from getting a car, because it doesn't have the digital radio tuner even though they're dirt cheap. At that time (now they're actually standard in every car's basic trim level), the digital radio tuners weren't standard in any package. I recently found a Focus ST in Sunset Yellow (1200€ additional costs) with literally everything - Technology Package (front camera technologies, Xenon headlamps by default cause it was the highest trim level of ST cars), all the packages and even the crappy electrical roof for ~1100€, even the 420€ back-up camera. But obviously no digital radio tuner. Otherwise it had literally everything.

You're confusing leasing and financing. Leasing is not worth it most of the time, I ain't disagreeing with you there. 

[TVwazhere]

1 hour ago, Benji said:

Did you remove the black high gloss cooler inlet?  It looks a little odd. But she still is beautiful. My parents also have one, and I'd say it's even the same colour (although on the picture yours seems a little darker).

Do they have a 2013 or 2014? those years used a lighter "performance Blue" whereas the 2015-2017 Facelift used a darker "Kona Blue" which has a drastically different look based on the lighting conditions (in dark or diffused lighting, the car almost looks purple). We dont talk about the 2018 Blue used

 

A large portion of the intercooler grill has been removed, and the top Hexagon grill has been replaced entirely for a wire mesh one. 

[vetali]

8 hours ago, arnavvr said:

How do you guys feel about car financing? I am generally against debt for assets that depreciate, but interest rates are ridiculously low right now, it might make sense if you can allocate the capital in a more productive place.

Fine if these 3 rules:

 

Don't get a buy here pay here "loan"

 

Don't buy something you cannot afford month to month, or have unstable income. Also factor in insurance prices as you need full coverage insurance.

 

If buying used, make sure its hit its first depreciation floor. So about 3 years or older... unless its a truck. Then you are better off buying new with all the incentives and can nearly turn a profit off lack of depreciation. Right now is an unpredictable time for depreciation, especially with manufacturers pledging to go full EV/hybrid by a certain date. There will still be people that only want ICE vehicles. The prices on used cars might continue to go up unless the government does a cash for clunkers sort of thing to get people in EVs and hybrids.

[iDeFecZx]

17 hours ago, bcredeur97 said:

What more could you want out of a driver's car? Seems like peak drivers car to me lol

 

It to be cheaper so I have a chance of buying one

[FakeFBI]

12 hours ago, RevoltTrain said:

KA > SR Seen countless SRs blow around 400-500HP, even fully built examples. KA is cheaper to build, and more reliable when under high strain

ok thats something i can agree

[Bitter]

I plan to buy something in the next few years to replace my 98 Mazda 626 daily driver, and when I do I'll finance it but only if the interest rate is less than the account I'm pulling money from is making. If the dealership can't get mean good enough rate I'll go elsewhere or just pay it up front 100%. I'm thinking about an off lease Mazda 3, turbo/awd if it's available but I don't know if I want anything that nice for a daily driver. Might just get something cheaper and older than 3 years and be happy it's good enough. Like a 60k mile Corolla or something.

[vetali]

4 hours ago, Bitter said:

I plan to buy something in the next few years to replace my 98 Mazda 626 daily driver, and when I do I'll finance it but only if the interest rate is less than the account I'm pulling money from is making. If the dealership can't get mean good enough rate I'll go elsewhere or just pay it up front 100%. I'm thinking about an off lease Mazda 3, turbo/awd if it's available but I don't know if I want anything that nice for a daily driver. Might just get something cheaper and older than 3 years and be happy it's good enough. Like a 60k mile Corolla or something.

I was looking at the CX-5 carbons with the turbo. I like how they look. Having a diesel redline in a gas engine is too boring to me.

[That_Random_Guy]

welp... half if my tires came in today lol..... rims are still stuck in texass and have been for a week now. one day ill have a good experience with shipping but seems like every other order i make has some issue in shipping.... not even lying. its only feb and ive had at least 6 misplaced shipments since jan. Getting kind of old.

275/40/r17s

falken AZENIS RT615K+

 

[RevoltTrain]

18 hours ago, JoaoPRSousa said:

 

The VAG (Group)

Ahh yes

The

Volkswagen

Audi

Group

Group

[bcredeur97]

8 hours ago, That_Random_Guy said:

welp... half if my tires came in today lol..... rims are still stuck in texass and have been for a week now. one day ill have a good experience with shipping but seems like every other order i make has some issue in shipping.... not even lying. its only feb and ive had at least 6 misplaced shipments since jan. Getting kind of old.

275/40/r17s

falken AZENIS RT615K+

-snip-

Those are great tires for the money. They last a while too, so much that people use them for amateur endurance racing 

[JoaoPRSousa]

9 hours ago, RevoltTrain said:

Ahh yes

The

Volkswagen

Audi

Group

Group

 

If you've watched MCM recently, you know what I meant xD

[arnavvr]

Is it just me or has everything become more expensive? I'm not making more money, but everything seems unusually expensive now.

[arnavvr]

3 minutes ago, Benji said:

Look at the first sentence of the actual text. These are seemingly average prices due to more people going from regular passenger cars to SUVs, which are obviously more expensive (and totally unnecessary in my opinion).

Not to mention that the semiconductor manufacturing issues also have a negative effect on the automotive industry.

Yeah, I do think SUVs are pretty unnecessary, but I do understand why some people like them.

 

Driving on the freeway in a small car, can definitely be a bit intimidating.

 

I'd be curious to know what @bcredeur97thinks about this, driving a Miata on the freeway must be a bit nerve-wracking. 

[bcredeur97]

27 minutes ago, arnavvr said:

Yeah, I do think SUVs are pretty unnecessary, but I do understand why some people like them.

 

Driving on the freeway in a small car, can definitely be a bit intimidating.

 

I'd be curious to know what @bcredeur97thinks about this, driving a Miata on the freeway must be a bit nerve-wracking. 

it's not that bad once you get used to it. Semi trucks are def unnerving at first (your head height in a miata is about where the top of their wheels are, so it's like "HOLY CRAP I COULD DIE IN AN INSTANT IF HE MAKES A MISTAKE")

What makes it significantly less stressful is working to distance yourself from other drivers as much as possible. If you're following too close you can't see anything. Drive like your on a motorcycle(though I've never actually driven a motorcycle), assume no one can see you.

The worst part to me about small cars is night time. Everything blinds you when you're so low to the ground. I hate driving at night. Not really much I can do about it. Im sure my glasses probably make it worse.

[TVwazhere]

35 minutes ago, Benji said:

Look at the first sentence of the actual text. These are seemingly average prices due to more people going from regular passenger cars to SUVs, which are obviously more expensive (and totally unnecessary in my opinion).

Not to mention that the semiconductor manufacturing issues also have a negative effect on the automotive industry.

Initially I agreed with this, but I think theres more to it.

 

10 years ago we bought a Kia Soul for under $12k. Now starting price is $17k. A lot of it is definitely the tech in the car, as mechanically the car only has about 30 more hp and one extra gear in the transmission

[arnavvr]

4 minutes ago, bcredeur97 said:

it's not that bad once you get used to it. Semi trucks are def unnerving at first (your head height in a miata is about where the top of their wheels are, so it's like "HOLY CRAP I COULD DIE IN AN INSTANT IF HE MAKES A MISTAKE")

What makes it significantly less stressful is working to distance yourself from other drivers as much as possible. If you're following too close you can't see anything. Drive like your on a motorcycle(though I've never actually driven a motorcycle), assume no one can see you.

The worst part to me about small cars is night time. Everything blinds you when you're so low to the ground. I hate driving at night. Not really much I can do about it. Im sure my glasses probably make it worse.

I don't even know if it's a small car problem or an old car problem. The new LED lights on some of these cars need to be illegal. They are WAY too bright. Brighter than my headlights with high-beams on.

[bcredeur97]

2 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Initially I agreed with this, but I think theres more to it.

 

10 years ago we bought a Kia Soul for under $12k. Now starting price is $17k. A lot of it is definitely the tech in the car, as mechanically the car only has about 30 more hp and one extra gear in the transmission

to me, replacing a gauge cluster with a screen should be cheaper. Screens really are pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things. 

Though the real cost of that is developing the interface for said screen. I wonder if it costs less to develop vs designing and building the intricacies of a traditional gauge cluster. 

They've made car networks simpler in a way with CAN bus networks. If it's designed well, it cuts down on the wiring needed and makes it easier to debug issues (if you have the correct tools anyway). 

So in a way I feel like cars have had a lot of costs cut on them.. yet they are more expensive. 

A lot of it could be shortages too as @Benji said. Used car prices are up like 10-15% from one year ago still too. Higher demand for used cars, either from a lack of new ones, or people penny pinching and buying used to cut their costs due to the economic uncertainty (though things seem to be recovering?)

We're gonna be paying back all this money governments printed for stimulus though. Inflation rate might increase in the next few years. That'll affect the prices of everything (it just takes a while to be realized so while everything looks the same now, 5 years might not be the case, it sneaks up on you)

[TVwazhere]

1 minute ago, Benji said:

Are these the same car or are they different generations? Because usually newer generations are much more expensive than the previous one. Let me take the extreme case: Here, the cheapest new car (obviously without anything, not even electrically operated windows) was the Dacia Sandero for 6990€ listing price. Now with the facelift that introduced nothing new, it can't be had for below 8000€.

Definitely different generations, I believe it got updated in 2012, and at least once since then

 

 

Also I'm just looking at the new 202 and I cant help but see this face in the grill 

[bcredeur97]

4 minutes ago, arnavvr said:

I don't even know if it's a small car problem or an old car problem. The new LED lights on some of these cars need to be illegal. They are WAY too bright. Brighter than my headlights with high-beams on.

i think if they changed the color temp at least to be less blue, it would help. Just wouldn't have that "modern look" that a white or blue hue gives you.

I do like the advantages to LED's.. they are more efficient and last longer. But they are very intense and hard to look at directly. Wheras with a halogen bulb, I can look directly at it from a distance and be fine .. just because it has less *intensity* 

It's that same *intensity* that makes LED's hard to use for lighting a wide area... they have to go through a lot of effort to make the light "Spread out"... look at LED home lightbulbs for instance, they have to engineer quite a lot on them to make them not act like a spotlight. 

That's also why you find LED's tend to shine on the road... but then make an almost perfect line where they stop. The light doesn't want to evenly spread out and fade like it does for halogens. 

It kinda sucks both ways really. Just the efficiency argument and *looks*  is a strong one.
 

[arnavvr]

4 minutes ago, Benji said:

Haha, lol  Yup. Concerning design: Isn't the new BMW cooler inlet disgusting? The "BMW kidney" turned SO large, it looks like the BMW lung by now. The BMW M3/M4 has such a fucking disgusting cooler grill, I can't even.

 

Yup, for new generations you have to wait a few years for them to become cheaper/level out around the same price as the predecessor. The Ford Fiesta Mk7 facelift was sold in base trim for 6990€ as well before it got replaced. Now the same base trim (with the adding of a small LED headlamp and a daytime sensor for automatically turning it on/off) can't be had for below 10k. And the new one doesn't even have a radio by default in the base trim.

BMW definitely peaked 15 years ago... they've been sliding with design ever since.

[iDeFecZx]

16 minutes ago, Benji said:

Haha, lol  Yup. Concerning design: Isn't the new BMW cooler inlet disgusting? The "BMW kidney" turned SO large, it looks like the BMW lung by now. The BMW M3/M4 has such a fucking disgusting cooler grill, I can't even.

I kinda like how it looks on the upcoming M3 Touring

 

I do agree though that modern day BMWs are way behind compared to the old designs

One for @JoaoPRSousa

[bcredeur97]

1 minute ago, iDeFecZx said:

I kinda like how it looks on the upcoming M3 Touring

it looks kinda alpha romeo to me

[bcredeur97]

7 minutes ago, Benji said:

There literally isn't a single BMW that I ever visually liked besides the i8. They all look bad to me.

Well, it's based on how they are calibrated. The TÜV (technical inspection in Germany) also checks Xenon and LED headlamps and checks if they light up too high and blind other people. They are adjustable in the control unit after all. Well-calibrated Xenon and LED headlamps blind me WAY less than the average halogen light, look better, last longer and light the street both further and wider than most halogen lights I've seen so far. The current VW Polo, for example, has the issue of aiming too low and not shining far enough, but that can easily be corrected. Not to mention that they have adaptive controls on LED and Xenon headlamps that continuously adapt the cone of light, and they do it way better in my opinion than manually setting up halogen lights in my opinion. I have legitimately never been blinded by LED or Xenon, but plenty of times by badly-adjusted halogen lighting.

y'all have better regulations for lighting than us. lol

But that's kinda unsurprising. land of the "you're not gonna tell me what i can't put on my car" here

[iDeFecZx]

2 minutes ago, bcredeur97 said:

it looks kinda alpha romeo to me

Does a little, I think the bigger body helps a bit

Similar with the X7s and its cemetery gate of a mouth