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What do you guys drive? (Car Thread)


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Continuing to shop for cars…I think I’m addicted to looking at listings lol 

 

Anyways lately I’ve been looking at cop cars and today I’ve had my eye on these.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=616700531&clickType=myATCsavedcar

 

Chevy Caprice PPV. Seen a few listings (this dealer specializes in used patrol vehicles apparently)  and I they’re pretty cool. Interior looks to be pretty spartan but it’s a flex fuel V8 RWD Sedan and definitely not something you see everyday. Supposedly it’s a parts headache though, being basically a Holden I guess? Not 100% clear on that. 
 

Would prefer one of the V8 AWD Chargers but it’s seems like you can get these pretty cheap. 

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3 hours ago, Genghis_Dong said:

I'd assume a lot of the Holden parts would crossover with GM but not sure.

Been doing more research and a lot of the parts are specific to this car and sourced from Australia. It might not be too bad now but it can easily become a headache in the future between time and money. My neighbor has a Pontiac (G8 I think) and he’s complained about getting parts for his car.

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22 hours ago, scorp said:

Base 2019 white WRX

 

I'm laughing at the new 2022 engines.

Upped it to 2.4L and 3 more HP gain and same torque? Like what are you doing Subaru.

 

Pre-2022 STIs had a 2.4L and were 300+, did you cheap out on the turbo and other parts?

Yeah performance sedan are really growing on me but the 2022 WRX is real suspect. Crosstrek inspired aesthetics and somehow no HP gain from a 20% increase in displacement (on a car already stagnating power plant wise).

 

In other news I really hate how hard the Chevy SS flopped. I’d love to own a new one but that’s impossible, and used ones are insanely expensive even without the crazy market. GM could not have handled it worse.
 

 

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On 12/5/2021 at 1:21 PM, Genghis_Dong said:

I'd assume a lot of the Holden parts would crossover with GM but not sure.

I owned G8. That isn't the case. I've told the story before but I had to get windshield wipers from the dealer. One of sizes weren't carried by anyone else. Also both my brother and I had 6.0 V8s. His GTO had the LS2 (From the Corvette). I had the L76 (Holden Specific). My engine took 9 quarts of oil. His takes 6 IIRC. Bruh you should have seen my face at my first oil change. Bear in mind that I put full synthetic in that car. 😭

Edited by Darc_Requiem
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@VhoziteNot sure how I missed your post. The Chevy SS was doomed by the same thing that killed the GTO. The Australian dollar got too valuable. Their entire domestic auto market was contingent on exports. Their currencies value shot up 33% versus the US dollar IIRC (60 cents on the dollar to 80 cents on the dollar). This caused the GM to lose money on every GTO and G8 they sold. It was part of the reason for the SS's price hike over the G8 when it was just a newer version of the same car. Moreover it killed Holden, since most of their money came from exports. Last I checked Holden's are just rebadged front wheel drive based Opel/Vauxhalls now. 😔

 

Edit: If you want to know what the new G8/SS looks like. It's basically the same car as the current gen Buick Regal....

Edited by Darc_Requiem
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On 12/5/2021 at 1:07 PM, Vhozite said:

Would prefer one of the V8 AWD Chargers but it’s seems like you can get these pretty cheap. 

The AWD v8 Charger could be a monster. They were discontinued back in 2015 and really only rumors as to why (supposedly there was a lawsuit of sorts). The Caprice is a solid platform as well. 

 

45 minutes ago, Darc_Requiem said:

owned G8. That isn't the case. I've told the story before but I had to get windshield wipers from the dealer. One of sizes weren't carried by anyone else. Also both my brother and I had 6.0 V8s. His GTO had the LS2 (From the Corvette). I had the L76 (Holden Specific). My engine took 9 quarts of oil. His takes 6 IIRC. Bruh you should have seen my face at my first oil change. Bear in mind but I put full synthetic in that car.

Agreed with all things here. 

 

 

19 minutes ago, Darc_Requiem said:

@VhoziteNot sure how I missed your post. The Chevy SS was doomed by the same thing that killed the GTO. The Australian dollar got too valuable. Their entire domestic auto market was contingent on exports. Their currencies value shot up 33% versus the US dollar IIRC (60 cents on the dollar to 80 cents on the dollar). This caused the GM to lose money on every GTO and G8 they sold. It was part of the reason for the SS's price hike over the G8 when it was just a newer version of the same car. Moreover it killed Holden, since most of their money came from exports. Last I checked Holden's are just rebadged front wheel drive based Opel/Vauxhalls now.

The SS was the perfect sleeper. It was a no-nonsense car that packed a lot of power. It didn't help that Chevy's marketing strategy was basically pissing in the wind. Right now they seem to hold a fair bit of value given how "rare" they are. 

 

Also, got the Durango hooked back up and all the codes cleared.  It would have been flawless if I didn't forget to plug one of the fuel injectors in. It was only for 3 seconds 🤣. I think we've all forgotten to plug something in at some point. 

 

Now is the fun part of the drive cycle for emissions.  

Edited by OPTIMUS124
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  • 2 weeks later...
10 hours ago, Genghis_Dong said:

New water pump and radiator/hoses are in. Dropping it off at the shop on monday to have them do the front mount intercooler. Pics coming when its done. Will be nice not to have to take off the top mount intercooler every time to do literally anything in the engine bay.

That's awesome! How much boost are you running?

 

FINALLY got my Durango to clear the emissions monitors. Did every possible version of the drive cycles with 0 luck. The way I got it to "clear" was by performing some "spirited driving" with Tow/Haul mode engaged. After about 10 min, all the monitors cleared 🤣, Given the condition of this thing, I'm thinking that the Durango becomes the daily and the Charger becomes the project. The thing that keeps me from doing any sort of engine/drivetrain work is the lifetime powertrain on it. Granted in the terms Chrysler can just say "naaaaa" if the cost of the repair exceeds the NADA Clean Retail value of the vehicle. With this warranty I've gotten:

  • New heads
  • New long block assembly
  • Rear main seal replacement

Mind you, this is an 06 and the work was done as recently as 2019 at no cost to me. 

 

I have the entire SRT Brembo setup for the brakes. Once installed, all I need now is literally the front fascia, engine, and rear end to convert it to a 1st Gen SRT. If I ever go that far, I'm gonna push beyond that. 

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So sprung a leak today. Looks like the the water pump is leaking (despite still being functional). I am gonna pull the air intake off to see what's up. I also have a pinhole in the radiator near the neck. Neither is really a problem to fix. The issue really is the fact that it should have broke while I had the valve covers off. Since it's gonna rain all day tomorrow, this is something imma take care of tonight. While I'm at it, may as well do a coolant flush 🤣.

Edited by OPTIMUS124
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Got time to knock this out this evening. Ultimately this is what was replaced.

  • Water pump
  • radiator
  • Radiator hoses
  • 180 Deg T-Stat
  • Thermostat Gasket

The pump was definitely done. Once I was finished, I did a pressure test and got some hissing in a few places on the radiator. The other items were a "while I was in there" ordeal. I was a bit surprised that there wasn't a gasket around the T-stat when I pulled it off. 

 

Edited by OPTIMUS124
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Out of curiosity when shopping for cars what do you consider the cutoff for miles and/or years? Obviously all things being equal id rather both to me on the low end, but a mf is broke lol. 
 

Anyways, how flexible can I be when looking at age? I try not to shop for anything over a decade old, and people say 100k is the big number for mile based wear and tear, but I’m curious what you guys think. 

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 12/23/2021 at 3:58 PM, Vhozite said:

Out of curiosity when shopping for cars what do you consider the cutoff for miles and/or years? Obviously all things being equal id rather both to me on the low end, but a mf is broke lol. 
 

Anyways, how flexible can I be when looking at age? I try not to shop for anything over a decade old, and people say 100k is the big number for mile based wear and tear, but I’m curious what you guys think. 

I swore I responded to this 🤣

 

That's a very broad question. There are a few things to consider for when searching for the car. A guy looking to relive his childhood dream-car is different from someone looking to go from A to B. 

 

I will assume that this is a commuter. That said, cars are meant to be driven. I would think less about miles and more so average miles per year and the number of owners. If there were a lot of miles, the car was cruising most of the time.  Anything under a decade old (unless you get a really good deal on it) is probably a safe bet. If you can swing it, I'd say 2013 or higher since many OEMs were getting ready for the backup camera requirement. 

 

100K is that number because we needed a number. The metric works since the number of operating cycles across the chassis start to actually wear around that benchmark. Also, for most that's over five years. Like anything, once the newness goes away, people tend to let the maintenance slip. Cars can easily hit over 200K now with a proper maintenance schedule. 

 

On 12/23/2021 at 7:48 PM, Darc_Requiem said:

Honestly the last three cars I bought were 2 to 3 years old. It allows you to get a nice car that is usually still under warranty for a substantial discount. My Equus would have been 72K new, I got it for 27K.  The Taurus SHO I had was 47K new and I got it for 22.5K.

I'll never buy another new car again for this reason. Let someone else eat that depreciation.

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I used to be more against buying new cars but the last few years the used car market has gone so bonkers that I'm not sure if it's really that bad of a deal to buy new.  I remember when I was looking for a car for my wife a few years ago I only had to pay a couple of grand more to buy brand new which to me was worth it.

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  • 1 month later...

So what started as just doing the front mount intercooler turned into a lot more.....

 

Exhaust done. Custom downpipe build by my friend.

https://imgur.com/ZIWqtmX

 

Engine before with the intercooler off

https://imgur.com/64VtJ8n

 

Engine bay cleaned up a little

https://imgur.com/MjIfJt0

 

New turbo/injectors going on soon. Still getting the piping fitted for the intercooler. Waiting on the ecu to get here and then we get it tuned.

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48 minutes ago, Genghis_Dong said:

So what started as just doing the front mount intercooler turned into a lot more.....

 

Exhaust done. Custom downpipe build by my friend.

https://imgur.com/ZIWqtmX

 

Engine before with the intercooler off

https://imgur.com/64VtJ8n

 

Engine bay cleaned up a little

https://imgur.com/MjIfJt0

 

New turbo/injectors going on soon. Still getting the piping fitted for the intercooler. Waiting on the ecu to get here and then we get it tuned.

What are you aiming for with HP values?

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Well due to parts taking forever to get here the car has been on hold. ECU should get here Friday then just to get it tuned. Rest is done for now (Exhaust, intake, injectors, turbo, ecu, tune, fuel pump, cleaning, upgrade/move intercooler). We'll see about engine rebuild / new trans next year. 

 

https://imgur.com/a/AIIUCrz

 

edit: I know a blue SR20 isn't normal, but its the color i wanted so suck it up.

Edited by Genghis_Dong
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On 4/12/2022 at 1:19 PM, Genghis_Dong said:

Well due to parts taking forever to get here the car has been on hold. ECU should get here Friday then just to get it tuned. Rest is done for now (Exhaust, intake, injectors, turbo, ecu, tune, fuel pump, cleaning, upgrade/move intercooler). We'll see about engine rebuild / new trans next year. 

 

https://imgur.com/a/AIIUCrz

 

edit: I know a blue SR20 isn't normal, but its the color i wanted so suck it up.

How much power are you aiming for?

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Not yet. Since I got it I was slowly getting it back into good shape. Once we got there we started these big upgrades. We'll see once its ready. I'm in vegas so I do have some options to track it.

 

edit: gotta keep in mind its an almost 30 year old car. Had to replace nearly every piece of the suspension before I could even really drive it. I've been able to find the parts, but it hasn't been easy.  Its been a lot of work on the car, but we're almost there. First it was driveable, then I got it restored to near stock, then we did the fun stuff. Almost there.

Edited by Genghis_Dong
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Frame and subframe are in really good condition rustwise. Lucked out on that front. I started with the suspension and have replaced almost every piece of it. Coilovers/bushings/bearings/tie rods/control arms all done. Then went to the wheels. Bigger wheels (16' vs 14' stock), good tires, bigger rotors. Still have the old calipers on there for now, but want to change them moving forward. Next was radiator, water pump, and replaced as many hoses as I could without taking the engine out. 90% of the hoses were hard as a rock and starting to get real close to just turning to dust. Current project is move the intercooler, new turbo, injectors and fuel pump. MAF sensor was on its way out, but thats no issue with the new sensors/ecu. The window trim is bad on a couple windows and it really bothers me but I've had trouble finding OEM trim. Its my daily, but I work from home and have another vehicle to use when this one is down. I'd def be able to track it when I'm done, but just wanted a really unique car for the street.

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Oh man. That car is going to rock. That will become a bad ass daily driver. All that grip and power will be so fun. The power to weight ratio will become really high after the turbo upgrade. That car with 500hp will be insane. It sounds like it's going to be a highly polished racing weapon. 

 

What color will you paint it? You must have an expert group of people preparing the car. 

Edited by Seth Vega
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  • 2 weeks later...

I drive a chevy sonic that has  a manual transmission. 

 

I used to live in the bronx, and my former car got stolen so I got the best type of anti-theft car out there which is a manual, because so many americans are dumb and lazy  that they never learned how to drive a stick and can only operate shit that an 8 year old can in 2-3 days (given the height). Much more in high crime areas where the demographic is mostly black and a bunch of black 15-20 year olds have this mentality to break the law for street cred, you know they can't use anything that takes actual practice, time, and learning. 

 

So i've never had my car stolen again. I've had break ins before (until i moved out), but they couldn't drive it.. lol bunch of pussies. 

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1 hour ago, IcyBlackDeep said:

I'd csay turbo 4, just don't try to go all tuner on it and risk some maintenance problem.

 

My wife and I are looking for a new family hauler. Kiddo is outgrowing the small Hyundai sedan we have and we're looking at three-row SUVs. Right now we kinda have it narrowed down to the Jeep Grand Cherokee L, the new Nissan Pathfinder, and the Toyota Highlander. 

 

I'm partial to the Cherokee, but that's because I'm a Jeep guy. But all three of those models have V6. I did notice that there are some other brands like Mazda that have the turbo 4 in their three-row SUVs (I think it's the CX-9 for Mazda), but I'm just not sure what the advantages are of either the 4 or 6 in that type of vehicle.

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20 hours ago, Chadouken said:

My wife and I are looking for a new family hauler. Kiddo is outgrowing the small Hyundai sedan we have and we're looking at three-row SUVs. Right now we kinda have it narrowed down to the Jeep Grand Cherokee L, the new Nissan Pathfinder, and the Toyota Highlander. 

 

I'm partial to the Cherokee, but that's because I'm a Jeep guy. But all three of those models have V6. I did notice that there are some other brands like Mazda that have the turbo 4 in their three-row SUVs (I think it's the CX-9 for Mazda), but I'm just not sure what the advantages are of either the 4 or 6 in that type of vehicle.

The numbers are actually a lot closer than I thought they would be.

So I'm not too sure about this, but I think you'll tend to have a bit better fuel economy with the smaller turbo engine and a little higher torque & horsepower with the larger naturally-aspirated engine.  (The hybrid Toyota has markedly better fuel economy, though that's getting a little afield.)

 

Some people are wary of the added complexity of a turbo and that it could be an expensive repair if it breaks, but my feeling is that if it's stock and you leave it stock it should be reliable.

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I’ve been shopping for a car for like half a year and I’m still not sure what to get or what I even can get. So much shit is impossible to find it feels like can barely even determine what I actually want.

 

Also I sat in an 11 Camaro this morning and it’s true what people say about them feeling like sitting in a tank. I love the big V8’s but Christ I hate how tiny these cars are on the inside despite being gargantuan from the outside. 

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4 minutes ago, Vhozite said:

I’ve been shopping for a car for like half a year and I’m still not sure what to get or what I even can get. So much shit is impossible to find it feels like can barely even determine what I actually want.

 

Also I sat in an 11 Camaro this morning and it’s true what people say about them feeling like sitting in a tank. I love the big V8’s but Christ I hate how tiny these cars are on the inside despite being gargantuan from the outside. 

If you don't mind me asking, what have you found in your range? I know it's a difficult car market. My Hyundai dealer finally stopped trying to buy my car back from me. 

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