Advice on car

[MRWSM]

Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

I agree. A lot of this adulation for anything foreign is just snob appeal or the product of reading too many gee whiz car mags, written by tech heads who drive the car for a couple of days and never have to live with it. Certainly Japanese brands have good build quality and fit and finish, and German brands are solid feeling and look and handle nice. Start actually working on them and the picture changes. Parts are hideously expensive, all that high tech can cause problems and be next to impossible to repair. Peppy small engines with overhead cams require frequent and expensive valve lash adjustments, while those "obsolete" OHV V-8's with hydraulic lifters will churn out 200k miles with little or nothng in the way of maintenance.

If you want a meaningful opinion, talk to a mechanic, not some guy who has never changed an oil filter.

Thanks. When I was in school I worked as a mechanic, then worked at Ford Research & Engineering near the old proving grounds. So I know a little.

 

[marketsurfer]

Quote from MRWSM:

Thanks. When I was in school I worked as a mechanic, then worked at Ford Research & Engineering near the old proving grounds. So I know a little.

i agree overall. USA has a good product--in particular---- the new ford GT is competition for anything by ferrari or porsche.


surfer

 

[nitro]

Apex Capital,

Thanks.

I absolutely agree with you and I am seeing the discrepancy first hand. The car sticker says 21/25 (or 20/24 I forget) but the car comes with a digital display that shows all sorts of information that the computer is keeping track of in realtime. One of the stats is the mileage per gallon.

[I don't know why cars don't have a web server running and the car should have a wireless adapater installed. That way I can log on to the cars internal website with a laptop and check more stats. That would be cool.]

When I go through my first tank of gas, I am going to let you know what it was to see how close it comes to that posted on the sticker. So far, I am driving very conservatively because it has been a while since I have owned an SUV, so the mileage should reflect conservative driving. On the downside I live in Chicago and the gas mileage goes down dramatically in cold weather, so....

Thanks for the tip.

nitro

Quote from Apex Capital:

Nitro, congratulations on your purchase!
By the way, don't get too cranked-up by those EPA figures for gas mileage since they use some totally absurd testing standards that have no relation to 21 st century driving.

In fact, the December issue of Car & Driver tells how the EPA figures out those bogus MPG figures . . .

Some excerpts:


Csaba Csere points out that the highway test crawls along at an average speed of 48.3 MPH and never exceeds 60 MPH. It goes on for 10.26 miles, for a 12.75 minute cycle, albeit with a warmed-up engine and the air conditioning turned off.

What's more, the peak acceleration on this test is 3.3 MPH per second. This is the equivalent to a 0-60 times of more than 18 seconds. The city cycle is equally slothlike, they say.

The peak acceleration rate of 3.3 MPH per second was established because the tests are conducted on indoor chassis dynos and 30 years ago those dynos could not reliably tolerate faster acceleration without a vehicle's tires slipping or jumping off the device's rollers.

When Congress introduced the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards in 1975, the EPA simply adopted this emissions test to measure City fuel economy.

When the EPA was overwhelmed with complaints in the early 80's, they turned around and decided to modify the printed window estimates by cutting the city tests for MPG by 10% from the actual test, and the highway test was cut by 22%.

This approach delivered more realistic numbers to vehicle buyers without affecting the challenge of the CAFE standards.

As we all know, these mileage estimates have become a total joke.
Nonetheless, a very informative article by Csaba Csere.

 

[Covertibility]

rofl, Made in America is a warning label. No one buys American junk. Good bye GM and Ford, you use to make stuff when the country had a sense of decency.

 

[MRWSM]

Quote from Covertibility:

rofl, Made in America is a warning label. No one buys American junk. Good bye GM and Ford, you use to make stuff when the country had a sense of decency.

Ok, you say America sucks, I say yes it does suck but the rest of the world sucks more. Ted N.

Since we've resorted to trashing others products, I'll have to say Jap Mobiles are classified in category's 5 year and 10 year. Look it up. That's why you don't see them with a ton of miles for sale at autotrader.com, they don't last. Sure they give initial 6 month quality, but you can shove that up your ass after 300,000 miles. Like I said before, the fact you see 2000 Cadillac Devilles for sale with 370,000 miles should totally make your statements idiotic in a thinking persons mind.

 

[Free Thinker]

Quote from nitro:

I finally caved in tonight when I got stuck in 1" of snow in my parking space, couldn't get out and ended up dinging my stang on a firehydrant

I went out and leased a brand new '05 of this car:

http://www.nissanusa.com/vehicles/ModelHomePage/0,,127581,00.html?destination=VLP&modelName=murano

Why?

1) Great deal
2) 95% made in Japan (I am 97% sure I will buy the car out at the end of the lease if it turns out to be a good car)
3) Drives great
4) Ok gas mileage (21/26)
5) Has all the options I need
6) The people I worked with were great and really wanted to do business with me (If you live in Chicago area and are looking at a Nissan, PM me)
7) It was on the best of this list: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/used-cars/used-cars-best-and-worst-405.htm

nitro

some friends have one of those. 2005 model that they have 12k miles on already. got to ride in it the other night. some observations.
out there styling. might grow on you.
stiff suv like ride.
hard seats.
blind spot in rear corners.
they claimed 23 mpg.
the tires seem too big for the body visually.
goofy looking dash instrument layout. looks like they couldn't figure out where to put it so just mounted it on top of dash.
no shift transmission is very smooth.
they love it so maybe its just me.

 

[BSAM]

Quote from vhehn:

some friends have one of those. 2005 model that they have 12k miles on already. got to ride in it the other night. some observations.
out there styling. might grow on you.
stiff suv like ride.
hard seats.
blind spot in rear corners.
they claimed 23 mpg.
the tires seem too big for the body visually.
goofy looking dash instrument layout. looks like they couldn't figure out where to put it so just mounted it on top of dash.
no shift transmission is very smooth.
they love it so maybe its just me.

Vhehn.....

I'm taking it that you aren't getting one of these for Christmas??

 

[Free Thinker]

Quote from BSAM:

Vhehn.....

I'm taking it that you aren't getting one of these for Christmas??

no, but i looked at eopinions for other peoples opinion on this car and they mostly have very positive things to say. to each his own i guess.

 

[nitro]

I have only had it two days so I can't really comment on it, but from first impressions you are almost dead on.

A few comments I will make:

1) The transmition is super quiet but takes some getting used to - it doesn't behave the way I expect it to. When slowing down almost to a stop (3 MPH ?), the car seems to lurch forward sometimes before comming to a complete stop...a bit strange...I am going to have it checked.

2) The ride is a little stiff, but I have owned cars for far too long to blame a stiff ride on the suspension. I put on different tires on my stang, Michelin in fact, and the car rode waaaaay softer. I verified this with my dad and he showed me what they put in Caddies, Michelin.

3) My MPG is a little low, but I live in very cold weather and in a brutal city with tons of stop-and-go traffic. Hard to say since I am also breaking the car in.

4) The design doesn't bother me one bit. The tires are a little big for the car, but it gives you a higher ride. This car is clearly designed for right brained people and I am one of them.

5) I can't figure out where to plug my phone in for power RTFM I guess.

6) Have not noticed the blind spot, but will look for it.

7) Seats are ok. My only beef is that the headrest does not tilt forward/backward on the cloth version - just up/down.

8) The exactness and specifications on the car are amazing. This thing, outside of the possible transmission "issue" is the "tightest" car I have ever driven, including my (now ex's) BMW. I am not surprised one bit that it is 95% made in Japan.

nitro

Quote from vhehn:

some friends have one of those. 2005 model that they have 12k miles on already. got to ride in it the other night. some observations.
out there styling. might grow on you.
stiff suv like ride.
hard seats.
blind spot in rear corners.
they claimed 23 mpg.
the tires seem too big for the body visually.
goofy looking dash instrument layout. looks like they couldn't figure out where to put it so just mounted it on top of dash.
no shift transmission is very smooth.
they love it so maybe its just me.

 

[nitro]

Quote from nitro:

...
1) The transmition is super quiet but takes some getting used to - it doesn't behave the way I expect it to. When slowing down almost to a stop (3 MPH ?), the car seems to lurch forward sometimes before comming to a complete stop...a bit strange...I am going to have it checked.
...

This might be the problem, a mild case of it - "Break Pedal Pulsation" or Brake Judder:

http://www.nissanhelp.com/Ownership/Bulletins/Nissan/2004/NTB04-068.htm

nitro