Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

GMT 800 3/4 ton Suburban for the fiancé, SW20 MR2 for you.

I'm pretty sure this ends exactly one way, with me crawling through every single CUV and SUV model with a tape measure (NOBODY publishes actual dimensions. Just lame cubic foot shenanigans) before concluding that a minivan is inevitable.
 
Dunno. Depends on what I can get to replace it.

Really badly feeling the electric car need. My fuel expenses are so utterly ridiculous.

But I'm not sure a base Model 3 will actually do my commute reliably.

Keep me in mind if you decide on a price. I don't need it, but an auto-x/track beater sounds fun.

What about the Leaf? Does it have enough range?
 
Keep me in mind if you decide on a price. I don't need it, but an auto-x/track beater sounds fun.

What about the Leaf? Does it have enough range?

I still kick myself sometimes that I didn't go for your focus.
 
I'm pretty sure this ends exactly one way, with me crawling through every single CUV and SUV model with a tape measure (NOBODY publishes actual dimensions. Just lame cubic foot shenanigans) before concluding that a minivan is inevitable.

What about a Transit Connect? Get one meant for passengers and remove the seats. At least that way you have an interior to keep road noise down and you get space for dog cages.
 
Fianceé also needs a new car. She's a competitive dog groomer and transporting the furry children safely means bigass transport kennels. One of them is big enough that the minimum size is "Subaru Outback with rear seat delete". This is going to suck.

Around here, that basically automatically means Yukon, Tahoe or minivan. They don't seem to have found any large crossover to buy in large numbers.

Edit: Local groomers firms apparently tried the Transit Connect but they seem to have given up on it and gone to back to the big GM SUVs.
 
I still kick myself sometimes that I didn't go for your focus.

That's one I think I should have kept. The friend I sold it to drove it for awhile, then sold it. Some dumb kid got it and ruined it last I'd heard.
 
Around here, that basically automatically means Yukon, Tahoe or minivan. They don't seem to have found any large crossover to buy in large numbers.

Edit: Local groomers firms apparently tried the Transit Connect but they seem to have given up on it and gone to back to the big GM SUVs.
Yeah. This is a personal vehicle for our dogs, though, not customers, so it also needs to not suck on a day to day basis in Friggin LA. Which basically rules out the fullsizes.

Fortunately, this means it only needs to be 1 big crate and 1 medium. The big crate totally fits in the back of a big crossover with room to spare for luggage. What it doesn't do is fit there with the medium crate. The medium crate ends up deleting half the back seat at a minimum.
 
Yeah. This is a personal vehicle for our dogs, though, not customers, so it also needs to not suck on a day to day basis in Friggin LA. Which basically rules out the fullsizes.

Fortunately, this means it only needs to be 1 big crate and 1 medium. The big crate totally fits in the back of a big crossover with room to spare for luggage. What it doesn't do is fit there with the medium crate. The medium crate ends up deleting half the back seat at a minimum.

Unfortunately, the latter part is why they use GMT800/900s or Kxxs. On the other hand, when sitting in traffic in LA, they are at least comfortable - and sitting in traffic is most of what you do in LA. :p
 
Unfortunately, the latter part is why they use GMT800/900s or Kxxs. On the other hand, when sitting in traffic in LA, they are at least comfortable - and sitting in traffic is most of what you do in LA. :p
Yeah but you have to park the damn thing.

I'm personally leaning towards "take out half the back seat".

It puts a handy practical limit on the number of demon hellspawn that can be produced that corresponds perfectly with a number I am comfortable with.
 
BRZ is officially a beater car. Took full insurance off it and a hailstorm promptly decorated every single panel with golfball sized dings. 48 or more of them by cursory count. Anybody want to buy a beater BRZ with a quarter million miles?

I need to switch up to something more practical... I've been traveling a lot more recently and the only place a full size hardshell luggage fits is in the front passenger seat (it would fit in the back seat if the front seats moved/leaned enough to make a wider opening. They don't.)

Fianceé also needs a new car. She's a competitive dog groomer and transporting the furry children safely means bigass transport kennels. One of them is big enough that the minimum size is "Subaru Outback with rear seat delete". This is going to suck.
Hail, in Pennsylvania, in May?!?
 
Hail, in Pennsylvania, in May?!?

They just had a tornado warning in NYC a few days ago. They come with hail as a no extra cost feature and there were several in the surrounding states. Not the first time, either. So, yes, hail can appear in PA in May.

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Well damn. I just tape-measured the shit out of an Outback. NOPE. The measurements online were taken by someone who doesn't do geometry - wheel box to wheel box, floor to seatback, floor to ceiling.

Failed to account for the seat backs sloping back, rear window sloping forward, ceiling (but not the roof. JUST THE CEILING!) sloping down.

Each of those clips a good 10 inches out of the usable max-cube.
 
Well damn. I just tape-measured the shit out of an Outback. NOPE. The measurements online were taken by someone who doesn't do geometry - wheel box to wheel box, floor to seatback, floor to ceiling.

Failed to account for the seat backs sloping back, rear window sloping forward, ceiling (but not the roof. JUST THE CEILING!) sloping down.

Each of those clips a good 10 inches out of the usable max-cube.


Um, yeah. There's a reason groomers are buying big boxes on wheels. Don't forget that (especially in California) you also have to strap the crates down, which takes extra room.
 
Um, yeah. There's a reason groomers are buying big boxes on wheels. Don't forget that (especially in California) you also have to strap the crates down, which takes extra room.
Who needs straps when you have welded captive nuts and capscrews?

This is how I end up owning a $#&@ minivan.
Is a Ford Flex a minivan?
 
Who needs straps when you have welded captive nuts and capscrews?

This is how I end up owning a $#&@ minivan.
Is a Ford Flex a minivan?

No, it's a Taurus wagon... but it might not fit the carriers, depending on what sizes they actually are.

You also should not bolt the carriers down with exposed capscrews through the body of the carrier - animals can be injured on them even without an accident. Then guess who gets sued. Further, imagine how much fun it will be to remove the hard-mounted carriers when you need to use the vehicle for other purposes and have to clear the cargo area.
 
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No, it's a Taurus wagon... but it might not fit the carriers, depending on what sizes they actually are.

You also should not bolt the carriers down with exposed capscrews through the body of the carrier - animals can be injured on them even without an accident. Then guess who gets sued. Further, imagine how much fun it will be to remove the hard-mounted carriers when you need to use the vehicle for other purposes and have to clear the cargo area.
Eh, nobody's suing anybody, this is just for our own personal pack of pea-brained poodle pups*. Schlepping them back and forth from the shop every damned day (right now they all ride loose in a Civic coupe and it's BEDLAM) and occasional longer trips to shows as far away as Vegas. The crate manufacturer actually has an optional provision for bolt-down installation - they're external ears, away from any reasonable animal contact.

So. Revisiting some assumptions. First, we were originally going to do collapsible cages. But apparently those are about 5 inches taller, and the larger one actually exceeds the available cargo headroom in a frigging Suburban. So dropping to a fixed-dimension cage saves us those 5 inches, but means it has to actually fit through the rear hatch opening in one piece. Still probably more achievable.

Second, we're going to drop the IATA (airline) extra-headroom-inside-the-crate requirement because, frankly, if Arthur The World's Dumbest Standard Poodle ever needs to fly, we can buy another crate just for that. This means we can use a shorter crate than the manufacturer typically recommends.


* And a shih-tzu. Because why not.
 
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