I've heard the name, but channels like Doughnut Media, Doug, and Carfection make me want to puke. So I avoid them.Never even heard of Carfection, so they didn't do enough to promote themselves I guess.
Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]
- Thread starter CrzRsn
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One can't have too many project cars (says the guy with too many project cars).
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That turned out to be a rare instance where a mistake led to a profit. Took the engine and trans out of the above car and put it in another car (another 1993 LX). Then sold it all for about $1000 profit. The car it went into is still around, the guy who bought it has it and would like to sell it. Had weird rust (New Jersey car according to the CarFax), I do not want it back.
Sometimes I kind of want the Mercury back, but then I remember it drove horribly and has a water leak around the windshield on the drivers side that leaks onto the power window switches. Plus the weird rust around the high tension lower hinge on the tailgate. It was a good car to put on a pedestal and leave it, sadly.
In a couple years it will be legal to import a Fiat Multipla to the US. Maybe we should stock up as a whole within finalgear. 
Well, I think it's about time. After looking at all the midsize truck options available on the US market, I'm pretty much decided on what will be filling space in the driveway. Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong and this is a horrible idea; I will tell you why I'm ignoring you and doing it anyway.
The competitors:
Honda Ridgeline: I mean, it's a Honda. It also has best-in-class payload and towing; unfortunately, it's lightly built and not intended for anything harder than a gravel road, so it's out. I never drove this because it was never in the running.
Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro: There are some actual problems with the Toyota, but the biggest issue is I physically don't fit in the driver's seat. Well, I can, but not comfortably and not for very long. It also has a miserable payload of only 900 lb and the frame is flexy as hell and riveted rather than welded together. It is available with a manual transmission, which is a big plus. Worst seating position in the class for me. Comes from the factory with a rear locker. Seating position aside, my main issues with the Toyota are the chassis. The back half of the truck is c-channel rather than being fully boxed like every other truck on the market; the Tacoma has notable frame flex (you can actually see it if you fully articulate the truck). I think this will be a problem down the road because the back end of the frame is riveted to the front boxed section. This will allow for play, but if (when) the sealant they goop on there breaks down, water, salt, and dirt will get in and start sanding that joint to bare metal. That will mean frame rust and eventual failure.
Nissan Frontier Pro-4X: The new Nissan Frontier has the looks. I mean, dayum it's a good looking truck. It also has the most power in the class at 310 bhp; unfortunately that sweetheart of an engine is mated to a disappointing 9-speed automatic that never seems to know where it wants to be. The manu-matic mode is more of a suggestion to the transmission that it might please consider, when convenient, swapping some cogs around. The infotainment is also frustrating and not intuitive. I know that sounds strange coming from me, but if I have to interact with a screen, I don't want to hate it. No manual option on the transmission, unfortunately. Seating position was comfortable and the seats were above average - but Nissan removed some of the height adjustment on the driver's seat, I had less thigh support than my current Nissan. Rear locker is standard.
Chevrolet Colorado ZR2: Best ride in the class, hands down. The chassis is solid, the power is there and it will easily spin the rear on dry pavement if you aren't careful with the throttle. The engine, however, is notorious for timing chain tensioner and guide issues (usually $3,000+ to repair and the problem will come back), the fancy-ass shocks are proprietary and connected to the computer, so who knows what a shock rebuild or replacement would cost and the interior quality is what I would have expected in the 1990s. The 50k truck we tried out already had switches with notable wear through the markings to the white plastic below. The back seat is nearly unusable for a human with my seat in the right position and the seating position was not comfortable. No manual, but dual lockers.
Jeep Gladiator Rubicon: Comfortable seating position and excellent seats, but the dash feels closer and higher than other trucks. The rear seat could actually fit a second Sasquatch with my driver's seat set where I liked it. The engine delivered adequate power, the Butt Dyno says it had more power than my Xterra - and it does by about 15 BHP; not a road-burner, but no slouch either. The Jeep interior was the best of the contenders with superior fit and finish (that may be a brand new sentence). All the switchgear felt solid without any wobbles, the wheel was meaty and felt very nice to hold - pretty much every "interface point" was better than the competition. The Infotainment system, a consistent sore-spot in the reviews, was intuitive, easy to navigate, and had great functionality for off road use. The Rubicon has locking front and rear diffs, and a front swaybar remote-disconnect. The ride was surprisingly good, but I can see the complaints of it being sprung too soft for load carrying and towing. Also, it's long. Like really long. Nearly full-size truck levels of "long" here and still with a 5" bed. On the up side, you can get one in a manual, although they are hard to find. Finally, the cost. Holy shit on a stick, the Gladiator is expensive - $60,000+ for a midsize truck! But hey, you can take the roof and doors off.
And the winner is.
The Jeep Gladiator Rubicon
The smart money should be on the Frontier, but I got into it and felt very "meh" - just an overwhelming sense of "sameness" despite it being a new truck. The transmission just killed it for me. I hated it, even Kiki in the passenger seat hated it and she got frustrated with navigating the screen almost immediately.
The Jeep is not without flaws, the long wheelbase and overall length are detriments, but I really liked being in it. I liked looking at it. Say what you will about Jeep, they know how to make emotional and fun cars. The Jeep's 8-speed automatic was the best of the ones I drove and it's a common transmission used in a ton of vehicles; but it also has a 6-speed manual option. Although the manual is maligned in the press for being a bad fit with the Pentastar 3.6, I just didn't get that impression. Maybe it's the 4.10 diff gearing in the Rubicon that made the difference, but the shifting was light, quick, and felt very nice once I got used to not having the X-terra's heavy clutch underfoot.
The Pentastar 3.6 has been criticized for cracked heads, roller bearing failures, and cooling issues. You can also wreck the oil filter housing if you're a ham-fisted ape with the socket wrench. The engine's failure rate is actually quite low, 0.5% to 1% at the peak of the cylinder head crack issues - but when you have made over 10 million of those engines, that 0.5% ends up being a higher number. From what I've read, the engine has had several revisions and retrofit roller bearings have been available for some time - which of course were also used in production to address the problem. The cracking heads doesn't seem to be an issue in later-production engines either.
Gladiators (especially the Rubicon) holds value very well, so even if I hate it in a year or two, I should be able to unload it for almost what we buy it for.
The plan is to get past tax season when everyone is using their refund for their down payment, and hopefully the rates stabilize a bit in the next few months. It also gives us time to look for a clean low-miles used option.
So tell me why I'm wrong (and I'll tell you why I don't care and am doing it anyway).
The competitors:
Honda Ridgeline: I mean, it's a Honda. It also has best-in-class payload and towing; unfortunately, it's lightly built and not intended for anything harder than a gravel road, so it's out. I never drove this because it was never in the running.
Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro: There are some actual problems with the Toyota, but the biggest issue is I physically don't fit in the driver's seat. Well, I can, but not comfortably and not for very long. It also has a miserable payload of only 900 lb and the frame is flexy as hell and riveted rather than welded together. It is available with a manual transmission, which is a big plus. Worst seating position in the class for me. Comes from the factory with a rear locker. Seating position aside, my main issues with the Toyota are the chassis. The back half of the truck is c-channel rather than being fully boxed like every other truck on the market; the Tacoma has notable frame flex (you can actually see it if you fully articulate the truck). I think this will be a problem down the road because the back end of the frame is riveted to the front boxed section. This will allow for play, but if (when) the sealant they goop on there breaks down, water, salt, and dirt will get in and start sanding that joint to bare metal. That will mean frame rust and eventual failure.
Nissan Frontier Pro-4X: The new Nissan Frontier has the looks. I mean, dayum it's a good looking truck. It also has the most power in the class at 310 bhp; unfortunately that sweetheart of an engine is mated to a disappointing 9-speed automatic that never seems to know where it wants to be. The manu-matic mode is more of a suggestion to the transmission that it might please consider, when convenient, swapping some cogs around. The infotainment is also frustrating and not intuitive. I know that sounds strange coming from me, but if I have to interact with a screen, I don't want to hate it. No manual option on the transmission, unfortunately. Seating position was comfortable and the seats were above average - but Nissan removed some of the height adjustment on the driver's seat, I had less thigh support than my current Nissan. Rear locker is standard.
Chevrolet Colorado ZR2: Best ride in the class, hands down. The chassis is solid, the power is there and it will easily spin the rear on dry pavement if you aren't careful with the throttle. The engine, however, is notorious for timing chain tensioner and guide issues (usually $3,000+ to repair and the problem will come back), the fancy-ass shocks are proprietary and connected to the computer, so who knows what a shock rebuild or replacement would cost and the interior quality is what I would have expected in the 1990s. The 50k truck we tried out already had switches with notable wear through the markings to the white plastic below. The back seat is nearly unusable for a human with my seat in the right position and the seating position was not comfortable. No manual, but dual lockers.
Jeep Gladiator Rubicon: Comfortable seating position and excellent seats, but the dash feels closer and higher than other trucks. The rear seat could actually fit a second Sasquatch with my driver's seat set where I liked it. The engine delivered adequate power, the Butt Dyno says it had more power than my Xterra - and it does by about 15 BHP; not a road-burner, but no slouch either. The Jeep interior was the best of the contenders with superior fit and finish (that may be a brand new sentence). All the switchgear felt solid without any wobbles, the wheel was meaty and felt very nice to hold - pretty much every "interface point" was better than the competition. The Infotainment system, a consistent sore-spot in the reviews, was intuitive, easy to navigate, and had great functionality for off road use. The Rubicon has locking front and rear diffs, and a front swaybar remote-disconnect. The ride was surprisingly good, but I can see the complaints of it being sprung too soft for load carrying and towing. Also, it's long. Like really long. Nearly full-size truck levels of "long" here and still with a 5" bed. On the up side, you can get one in a manual, although they are hard to find. Finally, the cost. Holy shit on a stick, the Gladiator is expensive - $60,000+ for a midsize truck! But hey, you can take the roof and doors off.
And the winner is.
The Jeep Gladiator Rubicon
The smart money should be on the Frontier, but I got into it and felt very "meh" - just an overwhelming sense of "sameness" despite it being a new truck. The transmission just killed it for me. I hated it, even Kiki in the passenger seat hated it and she got frustrated with navigating the screen almost immediately.
The Jeep is not without flaws, the long wheelbase and overall length are detriments, but I really liked being in it. I liked looking at it. Say what you will about Jeep, they know how to make emotional and fun cars. The Jeep's 8-speed automatic was the best of the ones I drove and it's a common transmission used in a ton of vehicles; but it also has a 6-speed manual option. Although the manual is maligned in the press for being a bad fit with the Pentastar 3.6, I just didn't get that impression. Maybe it's the 4.10 diff gearing in the Rubicon that made the difference, but the shifting was light, quick, and felt very nice once I got used to not having the X-terra's heavy clutch underfoot.
The Pentastar 3.6 has been criticized for cracked heads, roller bearing failures, and cooling issues. You can also wreck the oil filter housing if you're a ham-fisted ape with the socket wrench. The engine's failure rate is actually quite low, 0.5% to 1% at the peak of the cylinder head crack issues - but when you have made over 10 million of those engines, that 0.5% ends up being a higher number. From what I've read, the engine has had several revisions and retrofit roller bearings have been available for some time - which of course were also used in production to address the problem. The cracking heads doesn't seem to be an issue in later-production engines either.
Gladiators (especially the Rubicon) holds value very well, so even if I hate it in a year or two, I should be able to unload it for almost what we buy it for.
The plan is to get past tax season when everyone is using their refund for their down payment, and hopefully the rates stabilize a bit in the next few months. It also gives us time to look for a clean low-miles used option.
So tell me why I'm wrong (and I'll tell you why I don't care and am doing it anyway).
Last edited:
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Guessing this is going to be replacing the X, so you're going to be a double Jeep driveway?
It's what I would've picked from those 4, from what I've seen everything Chevy falls apart quickly and I have a personal dislike for most Japanese stuff.
Also it has taken me this long (and a prompt from Blipshift) that you're supposed to say CrossTerra instead of ExTerra.
It's what I would've picked from those 4, from what I've seen everything Chevy falls apart quickly and I have a personal dislike for most Japanese stuff.
Also it has taken me this long (and a prompt from Blipshift) that you're supposed to say CrossTerra instead of ExTerra.
Also it has taken me this long (and a prompt from Blipshift) that you're supposed to say CrossTerra instead of ExTerra.
Wait, what? That's news to me, I've always called it "Ex-Terra" and so does everyone in the owner's community and the dealer network. No one has ever questioned "ex-terra" when I say the model name; probably because the model was named after the XTerra triathlon adventure races.
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OK maybe I'm not an idiot then, after I saw this Blipshift shirt 'All Terra' it just seemed like one of those things that I should've always known. I mean, it works. Maybe it's just because the Toyota Aygo X is pronounced 'Aygo Cross'.
DanRoM
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I even call the KTM X-Bow an ex-bow.
Crazyjeeper
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NecroJoe
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Same. Even when I see "X-mas", it'll always be "ex-mas". In fact, I can't think of a "X" that I pronounce as "cross" anywhere.
GRtak
Forum Addict
X town is the only one I say cross for.
Goddammit, I hate that I missed that shirt
DanRoM
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Well, Crossmas sounds just weird.
OK, I'll bite and make the obvious joke:
What, no Cybertruck?