Car ownership experiences

[Ray B]

Have any of you experienced car accidents ? if yes what happend ?

Yes, been in a few. 1966 driving a '62 Karmann Ghia, girl in a Buick ran a red light and T-boned me. she took it right between the tires and squashed the car into a U. March 1969 driving through Wyoming on my way back to Charleston,SC. Strong gusts of wind blew me off road into median- no damage. A few months later, at stop light in charleston, SC a woman didn't stop until she had done major damage to back of the Buick Skylark that I was driving. After I got out of USMC in Jan 1970, driving from my dad's in N Calif to moms in Oregon hit an icy spot and spun into the ditch. Not much of anything since then and I've driven several hundred thousand miles in the last 55 years so I may have learned how to keep the car on he road and not stop in front of distracted women.

 

[Ray B]

As to off-road vehicles the one that was the coolest was a 1960 Austin Gypsy. Very similar to a Land Rover. the main disadvantage to it was that it had at least a dozen U-joints on it. Fortunately a lot of parts such as U-Joints and wheel bearings were interchangeable with some GM parts. It was noisy to drive and had sliding windows that didn't roll-down and for a 4 banger it didn't get very good mileage but in low range and low gear it could crawl over anything.
For the last several years I've had a '86 Ford F-350 standard cab, 8' box, 460 cu in V8 Holley carb 4x4 with air lockers, 17x12" Weld wheels with 37" BFG Krawlr tires. It will go anywhere provided that I take enough gas.

 

[baxterb]

I just buy Toyotas and leave it at that. Have a 21 Tundra, a 2012 Highlander, and a 24 Rav4 Hybrid. Have also had an 02 tundra and 90 22RE Pickup.


Speaking of foreign diesels, my cousin was dropping off a tractor at the house of a guy who moved here from Zim, and he brought with him two right-hand drive Land Rover 110 diesels. I;ve not been that jealous in a while.

 

[Spacebogan]

Your your Zimbo buddy takes you for a 30 minute drive in a 110 at highway speeds,you jealousy will evaporate.

Landy's are good at many things,however comfortable is not one of them

 

[Pondoro]

4x4 cars since 1999, Subaru Forester, 2 Volvo XC70´s, Range Rover Sport 3.0 diesel and now a 2013 Range Rover SDV8 diesel..

Guess what..less trouble with both RR´s than the Volvos..the SDV8 closing in on 100000miles.

 

[Bonk]

What’s worse is much of that crap you can’t turn off… and the few things you can, you have to go through the process of turning them off every time you start the truck..

Love the drive train…

Hate the tech package..

Agree. Hooking up a trailer is an exercise in deactivating all the parking sensor and cross traffic warning tech. Otherwise you’ll be trying to back the trailer and the truck slams on the brakes because it thinks you’re backing into something. What’s frustrating is the truck will recognize when you install the hitch and it deactivates a couple of things but it won’t deactivate everything that frustrates hauling a trailer. My 2021 F250 had some of that stuff too but it was easier to deal with. Not so much on the Toyota. It’s a PITA on what is in every other way a terrific truck. I guess if you use your truck primarily as a way to restore your suburban masculinity modern trucks are great. If you need a real work/farm truck they can be annoying.

 

[deewayne2003]

Never heard of that.. but seems to be a very affordable and cool option… high quality leaf replacement kits are pretty cheap (found a really well reviewed one for $550).. and if you just want to add an additional leaf that appears to be as little as $110 (plus labor)…

I may actually have to look into that.. I’ve got maybe another 6-8 months and I’m going to be looking at new tires… I was already planning on going with a taller, more aggressive AT tire than what it came with from the factory… swapping out for heavier leafs at the same time might be a good idea..

@mdwest - you can get adjustable helper springs that simply bolt on top of the factory springs and won’t affect ride/handling; also Bilstein shocks are a great addition and are the same shock that comes on the TRD package.

I decided to get a Tundra after seeing them in use as company trucks in the fleet I managed, I had superintendents that put 150k+ miles per year in them with no issues.

Likewise from what I have witnessed in excavation business, I will never own a Dodge truck!

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Agree. Hooking up a trailer is an exercise in deactivating all the parking sensor and cross traffic warning tech. Otherwise you’ll be trying to back the trailer and the truck slams on the brakes because it thinks you’re backing into something. What’s frustrating is the truck will recognize when you install the hitch and it deactivates a couple of things but it won’t deactivate everything that frustrates hauling a trailer. My 2021 F250 had some of that stuff too but it was easier to deal with. Not so much on the Toyota. It’s a PITA on what is in every other way a terrific truck. I guess if you use your truck primarily as a way to restore your suburban masculinity modern trucks are great. If you need a real work/farm truck they can be annoying.

You got that right about attempting to restore suburban masculinity! Seems all the retired fat guys in this town must drive huge shiny 4x4 four-door full bed pickups with all the bells and whistles. Gad, those silly retracting running boards are something sure to break down every 25K miles or less. If you can't climb into the truck on your own, it's trying to tell you something. And I'm tired of fishing my way around those locomotives with ass ends hanging out in shopping mall parking lots. Grrr! I am a suburban type and no need to prove anything to anybody. SUV is practical, better gas mileage (usually), and easier to drive. Unfortunately, as pickups grow in size, SUVs are shrinking. SUV is not a golf cart! The happy medium is disappearing.

 

[Bonk]

You got that right about attempting to restore suburban masculinity! Seems all the retired fat guys in this town must drive huge shiny 4x4 four-door full bed pickups with all the bells and whistles. Gad, those silly retracting running boards are something sure to break down every 25K miles or less. If you can't climb into the truck on your own, it's trying to tell you something. And I'm tired of fishing my way around those locomotives with ass ends hanging out in shopping mall parking lots. Grrr! I am a suburban type and no need to prove anything to anybody. SUV is practical, better gas mileage (usually), and easier to drive. Unfortunately, as pickups grow in size, SUVs are shrinking. SUV is not a golf cart! The happy medium is disappearing.

I see a ton if people driving 3/4 ton trucks that are spotlessly clean, running low profile street tires on 22/24” rims, lift kits, and decked out in stupid bright under carriage LED lighting. They’ve never seen dirt nor hauled anything bigger than a box of diapers. OTOH, lots of real farmers around here are driving $80-100K 3/4 ton trucks that are honest to goodness farm trucks. They’re filthy, dented and usually have a muddy dog in the back. Despite my judgement of people that have trucks as toys there’s still a lot of farmers and tradesmen that actually use their trucks to make a living.

 

[baxterb]

Your your Zimbo buddy takes you for a 30 minute drive in a 110 at highway speeds,you jealousy will evaporate.

Landy's are good at many things,however comfortable is not one of them

Of course. No one ever said a 110 was a commuter vehicle.

 

[fourfive8]

Except for a bunch of different work/company vehicles, I think I’ve owned about 20 different. 17 used and 3 purchased new. First vehicle was ‘53 Ford coupe. Currently own three- 2015 Toy Corolla, 2014 Ford FX4, 2020 Mazda diesel BT 50 4x4 PU. No issues with current three. The Corolla and FX4 each have about 90k miles. The Mazda has about 25k miles.

The three vehicles purchased new- a ‘74 Chevy PU, an ‘83 4x4 Isuzu PU and a ‘90 Jeep Cherokee were all easy to forget. The Isuzu may have been the best of the three with the Cherokee being the worse.

So far I’m impressed with the Mazda diesel 4x4 PU but need to have an EGR bypass kit installed as a preventative next time I visit the family- it’s not in US.

So far, both the 2014 FX4 and the 2015 Corolla have been excellent vehicles. The Corolla averages 46 MPG

 

[Russ16]

I know the current trend is to look down on the American trucks. I’ve just never had a problem. 2005 GMC Yukon XL had 275,000 miles with one water pump replacement. 1995 GMC Sierra base model is till going for the guy I sold it to. It’s been on for for 20 years and I have no idea how many miles it has. My current 2018 GMC Sierra has had not a single problem and just rolled over 100,000 miles.

 

[Tex .416]

I see a ton if people driving 3/4 ton trucks that are spotlessly clean, running low profile street tires on 22/24” rims, lift kits, and decked out in stupid bright under carriage LED lighting. They’ve never seen dirt nor hauled anything bigger than a box of diapers. OTOH, lots of real farmers around here are driving $80-100K 3/4 ton trucks that are honest to goodness farm trucks. They’re filthy, dented and usually have a muddy dog in the back. Despite my judgement of people that have trucks as toys there’s still a lot of farmers and tradesmen that actually use their trucks to make a living.

The ranches I work for require all trucks and equipment to be washed before entering if they have been on any other property for hygiene reasons. One client owns three ranches within 50 miles of each other. Everything is washed moving between those properties. The biggest fear is tracking in fever ticks. If fever ticks are detected, all livestock is quarantined for the whole county until it is proven to be eradicated, which can take a year or more. That can financially devastate ranching operations. Tracking in Russian Thistle, which is a fire hazard, is another problem. In the last few years, Chronic Wasting Disease is creeping this direction and is another threat to the animals. Apparently CWD is indestructible if it contaminates a property.

Seeing you are in Kentucky, the properties in the horse business may have similar concerns.

Hunters taking deer in the quarantined counties are required to have the hides inspected. Now we also are facing Screw Worms coming back from Mexico.

Texas Animal Health Commission

www.tahc.texas.gov

 

[Tex .416]

Adding one note about some of the US diesel engines, which use a CP4 high pressure fuel pump made in Germany. Apparently, US diesel #2 now has lower lubricity than the diesel in Germany. So this high pressure fuel pump is prone to wearing excessively and can send off metal particles into the fuel injectors and cause a catastrophic failure. This is a known weak point. The solution is to add a fuel additive that adds lubricity like Hot Shot Every Day Diesel Treatment and/or replace the CP4 with a DCR high pressure fuel pump, which cures the problem. The real walkaway cost of the fuel pump swap is about $2,000 or more at diesel shops that know what they are doing. Not doing the swap and having to replace the injection system is multiples of that cost.

I replaced it in my current truck at 150,000 as a preventative measure after deciding to keep this truck since I liked it so much.

Here is an article.

CP4 Pump: Which Diesel Engines Use It And Why Is It So Problematic? - SlashGear

CP4 pumps in diesel engines are notorious for failing and causing major damage to fuel systems. Here is what engines use them and why they fail.

www.slashgear.com

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

We had a little ford figo that constantly broke down. So that was replaced by a 2018 Honda wrv , and believe me even after 7 years and 50k kms it still feels like new.

@bigborelover
That's why ford stands for fix or repair daily
Bob

 

[mdwest]

@bigborelover
That's why ford stands for fix or repair daily
Bob

That’s the down under definition..

Here it’s Found On Road Dead

 

[Denvir Tire]

Fix Or Repair Daily
Found On Road Dead
First On Race Day
For Off Road Driving
Focked Over Rebuilt Dodge

 

[Ray B]

Say what you will but my '86 F350 with all the crap removed from the 460 has run nearly 40 years- the only thing to cause problems was the thermostat which my son replaced for about $15. I could get something that gets better mileage, but figuring $4/gallon- I get 10 mpg & in something of equal performance could get 15, That's about $13,333 over 100,000 miles and at this stage of it's use- primarily hunting trips and projects needing a pickup, I'm money ahead to buy the gas and being able to fix whatever issues it has myself.

 

[Rubberhead]

I've put 160k, 250k, 170k, 170k on my past four Ford Explorers with no major problems (outside of warranty) and very little "small" maintenance expenses. I'll stick with them as long as I keep having good experiences.

 

[YancyW]

I drive Ford diesel pickups and Toyota/Lexus SUVs. I had a Yukon for a bit, was a piece of sh!t.