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FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
These Roadmasters are great. There are still a couple of them in my area that are used by construction/maintenance small businesses.
I am seriously thinking of trying to find one down south soonish. I've always loved the style. Cars are too short; what if the world goes all "Mad Max" and I need to strap on a gun or three? And roadkill for dinner? It's hard to fit a deer carcass in a Honda Fit!
 
Check this out: it's parked in front of the place I'm staying!View attachment 1183592
Am I right? Chick magnet? With room for her walker and a case of Depends in the back, and yer golf clubs? And a pontoon boat for the water hazards!

Anyone here into drag racing? Ever hear of the "Farm Truck"? Look it up on Youtube. This beast would be perfect for modding into the ULTIMATE "sleeper". There's also a guy in California who modded a (I think) Honda Odyssey into something like a 900 bHp street machine.
 
Thread resurrection: I have the same question. I have a car with low miles that I have owned for 13 years since new, and when I went to shop for a replacement from the same make, I saw that a new one would be twice as expensive, slower, and with an engine that I would consider to be not much bigger or better than a lawnmower engine.
Sorry, just saw this. I have a 2nd gen CTS with the 3.6L V6 that is a strong runner. Since the CTS no longer exists, I'd be looking at a CT4 or CT5 with a 4-cylinder turbo engine for nearly twice the price (the CT6 also no longer exists). At this point, since I drive so little, I am even considering a classic car with a pre-smog V8, since I am old enough to be able to work on it.
I would consider keeping the one you have and set the new car fund aside for whenever it is needed in the future. That is assuming your existing car is not having problems and you could have it checked out by a mechanic for more peace of mind. The new CT4 or CT5 might be great (I have no idea), but in general small turbo charged engines are not the best for longevity and the newer cars have even more computers involved in controlling everything. If the electric cars keep growing exponentially I wonder if that will start to depress the price of complex gasoline powered cars more than normal.
 
2x a year I buy the Consumer Reports New Car issue. If nothing else, it makes for a good bathroom read. CR also has a Used Car Issue that comes out 2x a year. However when you get serious about buying any car, the best site to check is CarComplaints.com. That's where you find the real problems. I wish my oldest daughter had asked me before she bought her Huyndai which now has major engine problems.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
I don't mind the actual shopping part. You can shop online and narrow it down. It's the dealers that **** me off.
That’s what I mean. Two years ago I was replacing a car and looking for the same model but two years newer. I looked on line. Every dealer I called “needed” me to come in to test drive and talk about it. I would explain until I was blue in the face that I didn’t need to test drive I wanted their best price I was a cash buyer no bs. All that didn’t matter. I had hoped the internet really changed things but nope. I had to go to about 10 dealerships and play their stupid games before I went to a dealership 2 hours away based on internet pricing. Once there the manager said the internet price was for buyers who financed. Then gave me a pitch about leasing. I left. They tried to keep me but I finally said I had to go to a wake. Guess what. The salesman called me the next day with the deal. It was a great deal but why the bs and torture. Then after all that they beg you to give them high marks on the survey. Literally the guy was begging. He gets cash with so many 5 star reviews bla bla bla. If I was a real so and so I would have given him all Fs.

Several dealerships i went to in this process. I’m dealing with some scruffy guy with a business card with no name on it. Literally they guy doesn’t even have a business card with his name printed on it. And he’s lecturing me about some vehicle like he’s an expert. Give me a break.

One of our vehicles I lease from a guy who is a manager at a place 3 hours away. Every 3 years we talk on the phone. He sets me up. Great deal. No bs. They drive the new one to me and take the old one away. Boom done. I love that guy.
 
I would consider keeping the one you have and set the new car fund aside for whenever it is needed in the future. That is assuming your existing car is not having problems and you could have it checked out by a mechanic for more peace of mind. The new CT4 or CT5 might be great (I have no idea), but in general small turbo charged engines are not the best for longevity and the newer cars have even more computers involved in controlling everything. If the electric cars keep growing exponentially I wonder if that will start to depress the price of complex gasoline powered cars more than normal.
Thanks, and I agree 100% about the small turbo engines and computers/electronics. Since I've had turbos die on me in the past, I don't want to go down that road again and am planning to keep my current car, probably until gasoline is gone.

By the way, my current car is solid, and the only thing that has failed is electronic: the radio console head unit!
 

Commander Quan

Commander Yellow Pantyhose
I just replaced my 05 Mazda 3. I really loved that car. It had 163,000 miles on it and the motor and factory clutch were still going strong. Unfortunately, the 04 and 05s are plagued by rust issues and it was going to need suspension parts replaced for the second time. Coupled with the fact that my wife would never to drive a manual, and 2 growing kids it was time for a upgrade.

I bought I found a off lease Jetta GLI with ridiculously low miles. It's everything that I needed and tons of fun with the sport mode / paddle shifters for the type of driving I do. VW reliability is somewhat of a concern so I'm keeping my fingers crossed this is a good one.
 
I drive a 2020 Ford Escape for work, Turbo 1.5, 3 cylinder........Makes weird go noises, and it will cut down to 2 cylinders in ECO mode on the highway, all of that and the best i have seen yet is like 24 MPG??? Do not carry a bunch of stuff in it either.....Push to electric vehicles coming.....
 
I drive a 2020 Ford Escape for work, Turbo 1.5, 3 cylinder........Makes weird go noises, and it will cut down to 2 cylinders in ECO mode on the highway, all of that and the best i have seen yet is like 24 MPG??? Do not carry a bunch of stuff in it either.....Push to electric vehicles coming.....
Interesting. Didn't most regular 4-cylinder 2-liter engines of 20 years ago get 30+ MPG? I thought the push for smaller turbo engines was to meet increasing EPA fleetwide average fuel economy?? Even though that hurt the consumer in that these engines wore out faster and were more complicated.
 
Interesting. Didn't most regular 4-cylinder 2-liter engines of 20 years ago get 30+ MPG? I thought the push for smaller turbo engines was to meet increasing EPA fleetwide average fuel economy?? Even though that hurt the consumer in that these engines wore out faster and were more complicated.
The more things change........
 
For my next purchase I'm considering hiring a guy who's a contributing writer on Jalopnik. He has a company where he works as your negotiator to get a good price on a car and you pay him about $500. If he can save me a few thousand on a vehicle that doesn't have many deals and is kind of low volume, then $500 is worth it to me.
 
Interesting. Didn't most regular 4-cylinder 2-liter engines of 20 years ago get 30+ MPG? I thought the push for smaller turbo engines was to meet increasing EPA fleetwide average fuel economy?? Even though that hurt the consumer in that these engines wore out faster and were more complicated.

Yeah, look back at the Honda Civic's of the mid- late 80's. They regularly got 30 around town and 40+ on the highway. They also weighed about 2,500lbs. Check a new Civic, its now over 3,000lbs. So to get the mileage, 8+ speed transmissions, or CVT's and small displacement engines with Turbo. More features and safety stuff all add's up.
 
Would rather a dentist drill my tooth than subject myself to the mockery that car dealerships make of people. So I don't. I have gone to Carmax for years. Find the car you want. The price is the price. Yes, you pay more for the convenience and you also get a written and limited guarantee. Hand them your check. Thank you sir, here are your keys. Buh, bye. I have things to do.
 
My last new vehicle was a Ford. I used an online tool to build the truck and get MSRP, invoice, X Plan, A plan, Z plan, ect. I qualified for X plan which is a fair deal. The dealer I chose came in a few hundred bucks under X plan. I had a $3000 private cash offer that I applied as well. I special ordered a truck and got exactly what I wanted with no hassle and at a very good price compared to the number on the window sticker.
 
I drive a 2020 Ford Escape for work, Turbo 1.5, 3 cylinder........Makes weird go noises, and it will cut down to 2 cylinders in ECO mode on the highway, all of that and the best i have seen yet is like 24 MPG??? Do not carry a bunch of stuff in it either.....Push to electric vehicles coming.....
It's a heavy car with poor aerodynamics. That hurts your mileage two ways. Every time you accelerate, it takes more power to get all that weight up to speed. Pushing a brick at 70 mph takes a lot more power than a smaller, more streamlined shape.

The turbo engines tend to guzzle gas when under heavy load because they are made to run rich under boost. If you allow a turbo engine to run lean you risk detonation and engine damage. You get your best mileage with a turbo cruising at light load at steady speed.
 
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