Ask Lemmy

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.

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

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 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.

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 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 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

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.

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

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.

2014 Honda Civic EX - Great gas mileage, reliable, inconspicuous. I'd love to trade in for a sportier ride though.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.