New Car thoughts

[sheilafri]

I have a 2012 Lincoln sedan nearing 100k miles. No problems. It is very comfortable, handles well and is very smooth and quiet going down the road. Decide on 2 or 3 possible cars then test drive each one. Check Consumer Reports for their take. I will never buy the first year of a new model or major redesign.

 

[_19disnA]

As some prior posters have mentioned that guy on youtube seems to have an opinion on something and includes a bit of facts in an effort to support his otherwise distorted views of reality. Most of what he is saying is nonsense. Sure not the person I would look to get valid information from....................LOL.

 

[tvguy]

As some prior posters have mentioned that guy on youtube seems to have an opinion on something and includes a bit of facts in an effort to support his otherwise distorted views of reality. Most of what he is saying is nonsense. Sure not the person I would look to get valid information from....................LOL.

LOL. Rightly on wrongly, Scotty Kilmer is a highly respected voice on autos.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

LOL. Rightly on wrongly, Scotty Kilmer is a highly respected voice on autos.

By who? I’ve seen very little from him but the little bit I have seen tells me he doesn’t know much about the auto industry. He needs to stay in his lane.

While I value feedback from technicians there are many in that field who are painful to work with. They get big heads and think they know how to do everyone’s jobs better. Dunning Kruger effect on full display. Scotty very much reminds me of those technicians.

 

[tvguy]

By who? I’ve seen very little from him but the little bit I have seen tells me he doesn’t know much about the auto industry. He needs to stay in his lane.

While I value feedback from technicians there are many in that field who are painful to work with. They get big heads and think they know how to do everyone’s jobs better. Dunning Kruger effect on full display. Scotty very much reminds me of those technicians.

YAA is one of the sites that quotes Scotty. Check them out, they are very very very very much in touch with the auto industry from a manufacturing, stats and sale angle with all the supporting data. Check out their Youtube vlogs. They were the only auto site that six months ago predicted that 10 million cars would be taken out of production this year because of the chip shortage . Their latest forecast, it will be late 2024 or 2025 before auto sales get back to normal.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

YAA is one of the sites that quotes Scotty. Check them out, they are very very very very much in touch with the auto industry from a manufacturing, stats and sale angle with all the supporting data. Check out their Youtube vlogs. They were the only auto site that six months ago predicted that 10 million cars would be taken out of production this year because of the chip shortage . Their latest forecast, it will be late 2024 or 2025 before auto sales get back to normal.

To be completely honest I have never even heard of YAA until this moment. I went and watched one of their videos and it didn’t seem bad but was relying heavily on publicly available info. The video I watched also didn’t reference Scotty.. so kind of curious what they referenced him on.

There are only a handful of youtubers that I’ve seen mentioned inside the industry but I’m in the design/manufacturing side (things may be different in other areas). Sandy Munro, Savagegeese, and Jason Cammisa are the three I’ve seen mentioned most frequently with some of the others (Farrah, Straightpipes, etc) getting occasional shares. I’ve heard Scotty mentioned once in a verbal convo and the statement was along the lines of “he’s a homer who thinks a 94 Celica is a perfect vehicle.”

The key thing with production shortages is”this year.” Some assembly plants could operate at higher volumes once parts are available so I would not be surprised to see some of those lost units made up.

The other thing to note is the issue isn’t just semiconductors. I have been dealing with nylon shortages for months, logistics is a mess (especially if going through the ports), I’ve heard some grades of aluminum are tough right now, etc. The global supply chain in the auto industry is so complex that it’s incomprehensible and you need every piece to build a vehicle.

All of that being said, if this stretches into 2024/2025 I will be shocked. We are already seeing signs of improvement on my side and the auto industry specializes in correcting supply chain issues quickly. There is a reason the first move when we needed supplies at the beginning of the pandemic was to talk to the automakers.

 

[tvguy]

To be completely honest I have never even heard of YAA until this moment. I went and watched one of their videos and it didn’t seem bad but was relying heavily on publicly available info. The video I watched also didn’t reference Scotty.. so kind of curious what they referenced him on.

There are only a handful of youtubers that I’ve seen mentioned inside the industry but I’m in the design/manufacturing side (things may be different in other areas). Sandy Munro, Savagegeese, and Jason Cammisa are the three I’ve seen mentioned most frequently with some of the others (Farrah, Straightpipes, etc) getting occasional shares. I’ve heard Scotty mentioned once in a verbal convo and the statement was along the lines of “he’s a homer who thinks a 94 Celica is a perfect vehicle.”

The key thing with production shortages is”this year.” Some assembly plants could operate at higher volumes once parts are available so I would not be surprised to see some of those lost units made up.

The other thing to note is the issue isn’t just semiconductors. I have been dealing with nylon shortages for months, logistics is a mess (especially if going through the ports), I’ve heard some grades of aluminum are tough right now, etc. The global supply chain in the auto industry is so complex that it’s incomprehensible and you need every piece to build a vehicle.

All of that being said, if this stretches into 2024/2025 I will be shocked. We are already seeing signs of improvement on my side and the auto industry specializes in correcting supply chain issues quickly. There is a reason the first move when we needed supplies at the beginning of the pandemic was to talk to the automakers.

I found this article interesting on the chip shortage. Chip makers won't expand production because the chips automakers use are "old" technology. Automakers won't convert to state of the art chips because they aren't durable enough for use in a car. The chips that run iPhones have a life expectancy of about 5 years, and cell phone users have no issue with that. Chips in cars need to last two to three times that long.

https://jalopnik.com/i-asked-experts-why-carmakers-cant-just-transition-to-n-1847739665

 

[mjkacmom]

My sister is dating a car guy, and he warned her to start looking for a new car because her son gets his license in May, and due to part shortages plus flooding in the northeast and south, there is a wait. She was interested in a higher end Kia suv. She went to 9 dealerships in the Chicago area, only one agreed to order her one and that will take 3 - 6 months, $5000 over sticker (originally wanted $10,000 over sticker). I hope our vehicles hold up.

 

[RamblingMad]

My sister is dating a car guy, and he warned her to start looking for a new car because her son gets his license in May, and due to part shortages plus flooding in the northeast and south, there is a wait. She was interested in a higher end Kia suv. She went to 9 dealerships in the Chicago area, only one agreed to order her one and that will take 3 - 6 months, $5000 over sticker (originally wanted $10,000 over sticker). I hope our vehicles hold up.

My one friend went with a 4Runner because Kia wanted her to pay more than sticker. She bought her 4Runner pretty much at MSRP. Why pay premium for a Kia when you can get a Toyota at sticker?

 

[RamblingMad]

I looked at this guy's lineup of videos. My goodness, the sky is falling, and so is everything else. I think if I were to watch 30 minutes of his crap I would jump off a building.

He cracks me up. I like his advice to mainly stick with Toyota.

 

[tvguy]

He cracks me up. I like his advice to mainly stick with Toyota.

We bought our first Toyota last year, so we will see. I had a number of Toyotas (74 Corolla, 77 Pickup, 79 Corolla) as company cars in the 1970's and I wasn't impressed, but this car seems much better as far as materials and build quality. Of course a friend who just retired after 50 years as a Toyota dealer mechanic put it, he felt Toyota owned up to their mistakes and did free repairs where other auto makers did not. But he added, if Toyotas were as well built as some claimed, Toyota dealers wouldn't have service departments.

 

[TheDad00]

Hyundai Kona. Great car

 

[tvguy]

Hyundai Kona. Great car

LOL. Monday my son gets his check from Hyundai buying back his lemon Kona. Actually, in Hyundai's defense, THEY have been great, the dealer muffed warranty repairs. When Hyundai got involved, they immediately offered a buy back. Hyundai has been fighting with their dealer to get all the paperwork finished for the buy back.

 

[mjkacmom]

My one friend went with a 4Runner because Kia wanted her to pay more than sticker. She bought her 4Runner pretty much at MSRP. Why pay premium for a Kia when you can get a Toyota at sticker?

She wanted a fully loaded telluride, because she liked specific features. Money isn’t an issue, but getting what she wants is.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We bought our first Toyota last year, so we will see. I had a number of Toyotas (74 Corolla, 77 Pickup, 79 Corolla) as company cars in the 1970's and I wasn't impressed, but this car seems much better as far as materials and build quality. Of course a friend who just retired after 50 years as a Toyota dealer mechanic put it, he felt Toyota owned up to their mistakes and did free repairs where other auto makers did not. But he added, if Toyotas were as well built as some claimed, Toyota dealers wouldn't have service departments.

When we were looking to buy a new car about a year ago, I talked to my mechanic about the ones I had narrowed it down to and he said if your main concern is longevity of the vehicle, no maker could hold a candle to Toyota or Honda. I really wanted to get a Subaru, but ended up going with a Honda on his advice.

 

[RamblingMad]

We bought our first Toyota last year, so we will see. I had a number of Toyotas (74 Corolla, 77 Pickup, 79 Corolla) as company cars in the 1970's and I wasn't impressed, but this car seems much better as far as materials and build quality. Of course a friend who just retired after 50 years as a Toyota dealer mechanic put it, he felt Toyota owned up to their mistakes and did free repairs where other auto makers did not. But he added, if Toyotas were as well built as some claimed, Toyota dealers wouldn't have service departments.

All cars break. It's really a function of what breaks and how much it costs to fix it. It's also how frequently it breaks.

 

[tvguy]

All cars break. It's really a function of what breaks and how much it costs to fix it. It's also how frequently it breaks.

Exactly my friend's point

 

[tcufrog]

I got an AWD Volkswagen Atlas in 2018 and I love it. I looked at brands from Honda to Mercedes but I liked the Atlas best. It had the biggest and most comfortable 3rd row for its size. It also has lots of storage and drives well in terrible weather. It has more than 70k miles on it already. It's a wonderful road trip car. I splurged and bought the trim level that offered ventilated seats and I'm very glad I did during Texas summers.

 

[mrodgers]

We bought our first Toyota last year, so we will see. I had a number of Toyotas (74 Corolla, 77 Pickup, 79 Corolla) as company cars in the 1970's and I wasn't impressed, but this car seems much better as far as materials and build quality. Of course a friend who just retired after 50 years as a Toyota dealer mechanic put it, he felt Toyota owned up to their mistakes and did free repairs where other auto makers did not. But he added, if Toyotas were as well built as some claimed, Toyota dealers wouldn't have service departments.

Even if there was a perfect car that never needs repaired, all vehicles still need service. They still need wear items replaced and fluid changes.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I got an AWD Volkswagen Atlas in 2018 and I love it. I looked at brands from Honda to Mercedes but I liked the Atlas best. It had the biggest and most comfortable 3rd row for its size. It also has lots of storage and drives well in terrible weather. It has more than 70k miles on it already. It's a wonderful road trip car. I splurged and bought the trim level that offered ventilated seats and I'm very glad I did during Texas summers.

That category (midsize three row SUVs) has so many quality vehicles at competitive price points. The Atlas, Palisade, Telluride, Ascent, CX-9, Explorer, Durango... Such a strong segment right now.

I went with the Subaru Ascent because it was the only one configured to tow what I need without paying a fortune for an upgraded engine or extremely expensive towing package.