Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

[Matt2000]

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I hate the dealer badges that I keep seeing stuck on stuff, another very American thing it seems. A window sticker (that ages nicely with the car) is much less tacky. Edit: Ironically, the sticker is probably physically more tacky than the badge, as those all seem to be wonky or hanging off.

Also what's a Ford O anyway? J/K I know it's that funky old US spec Focus, there's a black one driving around the town here.

 

[EyeMWing]

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There is precisely zero chance I would surrender such a license plate voluntarily.

 

[Perc]

Road noise is similar to any other car. Its alltogether a much quieter experience, even on the highway.

Whenever I travel to the south (most everything is south from where I am) I notice how quiet traffic is. You can't hear cars coming the same way you do here. This is because the asphalt isn't constantly being ground down to coarse rubble. Any new stretch of asphalt is wonderfully quiet for a little while until it's ruined by the studded tire brigade.

But I digress. Fennoscandinavian roads are really good at exposing bad sound insulation in cars. The constant strive towards wider and lower profile rubber doesn't help either, of course.

 

[93Flareside]

Whenever I travel to the south (most everything is south from where I am) I notice how quiet traffic is. You can't hear cars coming the same way you do here. This is because the asphalt isn't constantly being ground down to coarse rubble. Any new stretch of asphalt is wonderfully quiet for a little while until it's ruined by the studded tire brigade.

But I digress. Fennoscandinavian roads are really good at exposing bad sound insulation in cars. The constant strive towards wider and lower profile rubber doesn't help either, of course.

Western USA uses a different blend of asphalt compared with the east due to whats available locally basically. Western US roads are a lot more rough and therefore makes roadnoise worse because of this. Roads in the midwest has a finer rock blend that even though these roads are heavily traveled in some areas and have snow plows dragging on them for half the year, still provide smooth or less noisy driving.

 

[Blind_Io]

This is likely because of environmental factors, a more coarse rock in the asphalt is less likely to "flow" when the tar gets hot - and we have a whole lot of very hot days. My friend is tracking his AC runtime and this year he's run the AC 50% more than last year.

 

[Perc]

Armchair guessing that our asphalt is coarse to deal with freezing winters, salty slush, plowing and studded tires on everything.

 

[Blind_Io]

But cold and icy winters happen in the Midwest and mountain west.

 

[Perc]

I hate the dealer badges that I keep seeing stuck on stuff, another very American thing it seems.

I kinda like the "Dick Johnson Chevrolet" etc badges that I see stuck to US imports. Particularly because US dealerships tend to be named "$Lastname $Carbrand", sometimes ending with "of $City".

Whenever I buy a car, the license plate frame with the dealer name on it is the first thing that goes.

edit: What are the odds that FB serves me an ad for novelty plates and plate frames JUST after I make this post? I've never seen an ad for plate frames before. And I didn't google anything of the sort before or after posting.

 

[public]

My view from here is that in the States roads are salted so much more to ensure people can get around with all-seasons, if they live in areas that get ice or snow on the roads. Here we do salt, and quite a lot, but some of the road keeping relies on people having studded or studless winter tires on. The studded tires and constant truck traffic (they don't use studs, but wear the road anyway) grinds asphalt to a very worn condition in about a year already. Bits of the highway near to me were resurfaced just now, so I'll see after the winter what it looks like.

My usual commute has a long section that's often quite icy. The 2019-2020 winter was less snowy and more wet-icy, and the W203 felt nervous and alert to the extent that driving to work and back felt tiring. I actually ditched it once due to the studs on the insides of the rear tires having worn off, which was a surprise to me. The 2020-2021 winter I drove the Volvo, and we also got a drier, colder winter that made the road easier to drive on. I could mentally autopilot a lot and the commute was a relaxed no-brainer thanks to front traction.

Now, the coming winter I'll be negotiating with the Hyundai. I specified studded tires, knowing the road.

Seats were fine at least in the 2017 used example I tested, thanks to properly adjustable lumbar support. But they'll never be XC70 level good.

 

[public]

I kinda like the "Dick Johnson Chevrolet" etc badges that I see stuck to US imports. Particularly because US dealerships tend to be named "$Lastname $Carbrand", sometimes ending with "of $City".

Whenever I buy a car, the license plate frame with the dealer name on it is the first thing that goes.

Yeah the Autovernkouppal ones will definitely go, gotta replace them with Biltema frameless ones.

 

[Quiky]

Need to purchase a vehicle for commuting, must seat 7 or 8 humans with a vertical length of 172-190cm, max price out the door of 60k usdollarys.
"Narrowed" it down to the following in no order:
Toyota Sienna
Chrysler Pacifica
Jeep Grand Cherokee L M N O P
Kia Carnival
Kia Telluride
Hyundai Palisade
Ford Explorer
Ford Expedition Max (stripper trim)

I'll probably put the pictures on the wall and throw a dart. Whichever gets hit is going to be bought. Thoughts?

 

[CraigB]

Sienna. I've had both it and a Pacifica as week long rentals. The Pacifica was great, but I just see long term Mopar problems.

 

[Quiky]

Sienna. I've had both it and a Pacifica as week long rentals. The Pacifica was great, but I just see long term Mopar problems.

I do agree, the Sienna drives nicely even in LE based models. Hardest part is actually finding one in stock- all the dealers out here showing inventory are pre-sold or on order for an existing customer. Toyota also suspended production while they switch over to the next model year…..

 

[Blind_Io]

Need to purchase a vehicle for commuting, must seat 7 or 8 humans with a vertical length of 172-190cm, max price out the door of 60k usdollarys.
"Narrowed" it down to the following in no order:
Toyota Sienna
Chrysler Pacifica
Jeep Grand Cherokee L M N O P
Kia Carnival
Kia Telluride
Hyundai Palisade
Ford Explorer
Ford Expedition Max (stripper trim)

I'll probably put the pictures on the wall and throw a dart. Whichever gets hit is going to be bought. Thoughts?

Cross off the Chrysler and Jeep - just say no to American Leyland.

 

[93Flareside]

Having been to American auto plants versus Japanese or German…. Buy the Japanese van.

 

[NecroJoe]

How important is the layout of the cargo space for you?

The Sienna has the 3rd row that folds down into the floor, and the cargo space behind the seat (when the seats are upright) is taller....but if you want a flat area with the 2nd and 3rd rows folded, the Toyota can't do that...you'd have to remove the 2nd row seats since even when you fold them, they don't sink into the floor. Vehicles like the Palisade just fold forward, so you get a flat cargo area with both rows still in place, but it's higher up and you have less availble height clearance.

 

[Blind_Io]

How important is the layout of the cargo space for you?

The Sienna has the 3rd row that folds down into the floor, and the cargo space behind the seat (when the seats are upright) is taller....but if you want a flat area with the 2nd and 3rd rows folded, the Toyota can't do that...you'd have to remove the 2nd row seats since even when you fold them, they don't sink into the floor. Vehicles like the Palisade just fold forward, so you get a flat cargo area with both rows still in place, but it's higher up and you have less availble height clearance.

I can tell you from person experience that the fold-flat seats are often a compromise. They raise the cargo floor, leaving you less room overall than removing the seats entirely from a lower floor.

 

[93Flareside]

I would like to update what I said last night, having been to the German factories I can say with confidence that the Not American branded auto factories are way nicer. They're cleaner, better organized, the workers are way more presentable and seemingly conduct themselves in a way that they enjoy what they're doing.

 

[Quiky]

How important is the layout of the cargo space for you?

The Sienna has the 3rd row that folds down into the floor, and the cargo space behind the seat (when the seats are upright) is taller....but if you want a flat area with the 2nd and 3rd rows folded, the Toyota can't do that...you'd have to remove the 2nd row seats since even when you fold them, they don't sink into the floor. Vehicles like the Palisade just fold forward, so you get a flat cargo area with both rows still in place, but it's higher up and you have less availble height clearance.

Cargo doesn't matter, it's mostly about practicality and passenger transport. Intending on vanpooling into work with transit benefits, and running a owner/operated/not-for-profit van is the most reasonable method. Existing local providers have lower quality vehicles, and I want to avoid the problems of a 15 year old van.

I can tell you from person experience that the fold-flat seats are often a compromise. They raise the cargo floor, leaving you less room overall than removing the seats entirely from a lower floor.

Yeah, the Grand Caravan's seats were thinly padded and uncomfortable for greater than an hour.

 

[gaasc]

How about a gently used Sienna then?

I wanted to recommend the final nissan quest, as it's basically just a JDM van with all of the high-quality trim that entails. Alas, they seem to be saddled with a CVT.

How about a Kia Carnival? At the same price as the stripper expedition, you get an utterly loaded Carnival with leather, dual sunroofs, Full LED lights, premium audio system, and assorted other goodies. It may be somewhat underpowered, you're asking the 3.5-liter, 290 HP corporate V6 to haul between 200 and 600 lbs more than it would under the Sorento before you begin to fill it with people. Nevertheless, it should at least merit a test drive