The Automobile Thread

I'll be curious to see how it plays out. He said he'd keep me posted and send me pics as it gets fixed. He said "the rear quarter" just arrived and work starts today. That panel is the absolute least of his worries, so I wonder if he's prepared for all that he's going to have to put into it.

 

A lot of the stolen cars from western Europe end up in eastern Europe and the middle east being stripped for parts....... Buy a wrecked but legit base and rebuild with knocked of bits and sell back to some unsuspecting punter at a tidy profit.

 

That is also why I said decent parts. Like new, OEM.

 

All cars are easy to break into. A $1 Harbor Freight hammer (minus the 5 finger discount) to a window and you are into ANY car.

I have been told that parts and labor costs for a Mercedes are cheaper in Europe and especially Germany because they don't price stuff over there the same way they do here. I never actually verified it as those sorts of vehicles don't interest me.

 

I guess the parts aren't "Import" over there.

 

I spent 3 weeks in Germany in late 2019 when my daughter was stationed there. I was AMAZED at how cheap some stuff, mostly food, was over there. Granted, we weren't in the major cities but I'd say food on the whole was 50% cheaper over there and that includes eating out.

 

You generally find that parts for taxis are always at the cheaper end of the scale

When we moved to the UK we couldn't believe how cheap things were, the cost of living is extremely low. My international unit for the cost of living is the price of beer. Australia is about $10 a pint in a pub (for local beer), California feels as much of a rip off but is slightly cheaper at $7/8. The UK, a pint of beer is cheaper in some pubs than a pint of coke. Outside of London you can easily find a pint for under $5. Europe is generally even cheaper. I think the best I found was Prague, beer from a street vender for 1 euro ($1.20)

 

But are you putting $Aus as converted to pounds as converted to USD? Apples to apples?

When I was in Perth, WA (40 years ago) I was amazed at how inexpensive the local suds were. NOT including Fosters.....

VB and Swan Lager, though . Can't recall the hyperlocal brands.

 

All converted to USD and all based of local brewed beers, a pint of domestic beer in Australia is $15AUD, you want some of the fancy imported stuff you are looking at an easy $20AUD in Melbourne. Perth prices were even worse that place will bleed you dry in no time. Mining boom made that place ridiculous.

 

A high school friend followed his ex-wife and kids to Australia. When he comes back for a visit, he literally laughs at the beer prices and restaurant bills here. I'm not a beer drinker but he is a Corona guy and said it's about $25 for a 6 pack in a store. @Lost Kiwi Prague was my absolute favorite city we visited in Europe. I read that that they drink more beer per capita that any other city.

 

I honestly don't remember what I paid for anything when I was overseas. And as I don't drink, I have no benchmark there.

 

So I may be contributing to Auto Union's viral marketing, but damn this is a good video...
https://www.thedrive.com/news/42172/heres-the-deleted-ad-audi-doesnt-want-you-to-see

 

I watched the first few mins. The dad in the beginning looks like a Vulcan.

 

I skipped around a little bit to get to the good stuff. Definitely needs to be headed down, which makes me wonder if this was a rough cut not intended to be released and it's current form. Once I get to the vintage stuff as well as the end credits it's pretty good!

 

Audi have lost their minds. WTF was that?

 

GREAT VIDEO, I had to watch all of it!!

 

Yes and yes!

 

I've been busy trying to recreate that new car smell. Buddy of mine in Bend has been bugging me about buying his BMW for a couple of years now. Real high miles (215xxx) but very well cared for by him, and the miles are basically from his pre-pandemic driving from Portland to the 'Mook out on the coast a couple times a week. So all road, minimal strain, yada-yada-yada. He's done the upper and lower gaskets, water pump, some electrical, as well as fluids obsessively. Good tires, decent paint, perfect interior. Anyway, good condition that makes the age a little less of a concern. Plus, it's a bit of a unicorn in that it's a 2006 330i, which is the last of the naturally aspirated big six motors. Sport package, winter package, iDrive delete, and get this... a manual transmission! I finally decided we needed another car, so told him yes!

Miserable Delta flight up that was cancelled on Friday and re-scheduled to Sat. Then another delay in Seattle. Finally a scary as F@ck flight to Redmond. A truly unpleasant experience, which I guess is the new norm for air travel from what I'm hearing.

The delay messed up our hang out and chill day in Bend which was an integral part of the trip. Settled for dinner at the Descuttes Public House which is a pretty legit settle. Talked cars, kids, bikes, jobs, beer for a while, and finally to bed.

We wanted to get up early Sunday around 4:00 for the drive home, but were just too tired. Two extra hours and we left at six thirty. Bend to Ridgecrest via the 395 is a favorite drive of mine, so off we went. Breakfast in Klamath Falls, latte in Susanville, gas at Carson City, waved hi to @mike, dinner at Bridgeport (everything was closed up except one spot), then cruise home.

My wife found out she basically can't drive at night due to some weird thing going on visually, so I ended up having to drive the last six hours home solo. She hasn't driven at night other than around town for a couple years now, so we had not idea. Wasn't planning on that, but what can you do. She's going to try some glasses and hope for the best, but this could be a big thing for her :-(

Anyway, car is amazingly comfortable, fast, great mileage (28 hwy @ 75mph), solid, and clean. He told me it was due for some coil packs, and it was throwing a code/CEL by the end of the drive, so I put on new ones and swapped out a plug that was fouling. Drove around for a couple of days to clear the codes, smogged it, and went to AAA to register (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, they were amazing!). Guess I'm good to go for a few years at least. Hopefully it can last seven years and I can think about retirement! He turned around a picked up a '19 VW eGolf with super low miles. I'll probably buy that from him in a decade or so!

So long/short, happy New Car Day to me!

 

Nice! My only car for 20 years, 98 E36 with 230k miles. Just replaced the first coil couple months ago as well. One annoyance is that pre-2000, still have to do the tail pipe test. Much easier with 2000+

 

Nice to you as well... keep it going! What model? I was warned about the coils going... I could have just done the one, but figured it was time to do them all.

I wold self-identify as an E30 guy (three of those), but had an E34 wagon for a long time, and an E36 318i for a minute. Shoulda' kept that one. I've always found Bimmers to be fantastic cars. Stepping into this one was night and day compared to my 2006 Mazda3... Wow, I've been missing out for the last decade!!!

 

E36 M3 sedan. Grew up with Porsche 914s then A2 GTI/GLIs and Miata galore, I like smaller cars. E30 M3 has always been my fav car and looked at both at the time and decided against it because I reasoned that the E36 would be more reliable. Maybe that was the correct reasoning but boy do I ever regret that decision every time I see an E30 M3 on the road since. Like those many 914-6s that I've looked at in the 80s but none remotely as clean as my lowly 4. Will never be able to afford either ever again. Also partial to the sedan, never considered the E46 M3 because of that. I think I've posted this before... A good friend bought the first year E46 M3 but he had to get SMG despite all his cars were manuals. I told him get the manual because some day you'll want to get rid of it, then I'd buy it. Couple years ago his SMG pump started acting up after 230k miles, he offered to give me the car. I told him that he should've bought the manual, He got something like $3k trade in for it. What an utter waste.

 

I had a feeling it might be an M!!! E36 M3s have always been on my radar, they are just such awesome cars! That E46 story is a bummer... man, tough one.

Oh yeah, I also had a '73 2002... that was a GREAT car, but I couldn't live without A/C...

 

for this:

FTFY.

 

Worth flying to Oregon for!

 

Not the time to be buying a new vehicle, but here I am.
My 2006 Dakota had the engine crap out at 160+k miles.
I'm thinking either Tacoma or Ranger.
Any way I go is gonna be pricey.

 

The new Frontier is out. Maybe a better deal can be had with a Nissan?

 

My co-worker bought a new ranger at MSRP. No discounts but no mark-up either. I’m a Toyota guy tho.

 

Costco is your friend here. Maybe worth a membership just to get there car buying service.

 

I'm not liking the looks of the Frontier.
I'm working with a broker and can probably get a Ranger a little below MSRP. Not sure yet on Toyota pricing.
Decisions, decisions.

 

I agree if you are referring to the standard front end. But the all-black front end makes the truck nearly as attractive as any other in its class...



I've had two Nissan small trucks, two Pathfinders, two X-Terras and a Titan. They were all great - albeit all were underpowered except the second X-Terra and the Titan. Much better value than the equivalent Toyotas of the era, with a better ride quality.