New Cars

[disneychrista]

Not silly at all. I know lots of people who strictly went on looks. I have some needs that required us to do a bit of both.

It's not all looks. I do have certain needs as well. My boyfriend & I were comparing the models and because of that I am looking at the mid-model on most cars because they do have some features that the base model doesn't.

I am probably being more cautious about price then I really need to be but I am spending someone else's money so I don't want to seem as though I am adding on all the bells & whistles and not just buying something I would have bought anyway.

 

[sam_gordon]

Regarding the "safety features"...

Lane Departure Warning... this will put either a vibration in the steering wheel and/or have an audible alert if you start drifting out of your lane. If you have your turn signal on (because you should if you're changing lanes ), then the alert doesn't trigger. This is handy on the interstate, not so handy on curvy back roads.

Collision Avoidance... this will alert you visually and/or audibly if you are approaching something "too fast". I've had this trigger incorrectly occasionally but something I'd rather have than not. I've never looked to see how to turn it off.

Adaptive Cruise Control... LOVE THIS. If you're using CC, it will automatically adjust your speed to match the vehicle in front of you or the speed you've set (whichever is lower). There's usually an adjustment where you can select how large of a gap you want to maintain from the vehicle in front of you. After getting used to it, when I rent cars that don't have it, I have to remember to tap the brake.

 

[mikehn]

Lane departure warning is soooo annoying. I turned it off. Collision and Adaptive cruise are nice features. However, if and when there is a big snow fall that sticks to your car, all these features go haywire and your dash lights up like a christmas tree. Found that out the hard way last winter driving through NY during a snow storm. Dashboard lights up and goes nuts all the way till you get home and clean off all the snow. So much for the safety features.

 

[JBRB828]

We have a 2021 CRV Touring with 16,300 miles, fully loaded. Hubby is thinking about trading it in next year for a Hybrid, when we finish paying it off. Anyone have a CRV Honda Hybrid?

 

[tvguy]

Adaptive Cruise Control... LOVE THIS. If you're using CC, it will automatically adjust your speed to match the vehicle in front of you or the speed you've set (whichever is lower). There's usually an adjustment where you can select how large of a gap you want to maintain from the vehicle in front of you. After getting used to it, when I rent cars that don't have it, I have to remember to tap the brake.

I have to remember when I am in my car that it does not have adaptive cruise control. My wife's Camry has it. Only complaint I have is it seems to brake later and more aggressively than I would like. I find my self stepping on the gas to close the gap between the car ahead of me as I make my lane change.

 

[sam_gordon]

I have to remember when I am in my car that it does not have adaptive cruise control. My wife's Camry has it. Only complaint I have is it seems to brake later and more aggressively than I would like. I find my self stepping on the gas to close the gap between the car ahead of me as I make my lane change.

The cars I've driven with it (including my Camry), there's a selector button to determine the gap you want (far, medium, close). I prefer the "close" (still a couple of car lengths). BUT, every time I turn my car off, when it comes back on, it's reset to "far". Something you may want to look at.

ETA: I've never noticed the Adaptive CC "braking", much less aggressively. It just slows the car down (like letting up on the accelerator). There's been a number of times I haven't even notice it adjusting,

 

[tvguy]

If the Toyota Crown we are driving now is what a Toyota hybrid is supposed to be like, I don’t want one.

When it turns on whatever it needs to charge the battery the entire car vibrates and makes a really loud humming noise.

It accelerates horribly and the overall driving experience leaves a lot to be desired.

Newer cars make different sounds for sure. My Camry is pretty smooth when the gas engine kicks in, often the only way you can tell is the monitor shows the gas engine is on. But when it is in electric mode at slow speeds you can hear the electric motor whine, and when I use the cruise control and you are going down the hill and the regenerative braking kicks in, there is a rumble when it is on. And of course there are the Federally mandated space ship noises hybrids and electric cars make when they are going under 20 mph or backing up. I assume those are also the same with your Mach E. I know when a Mach E passes me in a parking lot I can hear the electric motor whine.

 

[disneychrista]

I’m showing my cars age I don’t even know what “adaptive” cruise control is

 

[sam_gordon]

I’m showing my cars age I don’t even know what “adaptive” cruise control is

umm, that's why I included what it does in the description...

Adaptive Cruise Control... LOVE THIS. If you're using CC, it will automatically adjust your speed to match the vehicle in front of you or the speed you've set (whichever is lower).

 

[Dan Murphy]

As for hybrids (not plugin versions), they really the cars of the present. Two of the most popular cars, Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, both now come only in hybrid (the 2 lowest equipped Accord models only come IC), top 4 models, only hybrid). Honda's HP is 204 (IC models are 192). Camry is 225. Both IC engines in the hybrids are designed to charge the battery for the electric motors. In normal driving, the batteries are used the most by far.

As for ordering cars, I have had many cars over my 60+ driving years. Many I only had for 2 years, leased before I retired a few years ago. I can recall 2 cars I took from inventory. Those two were exactly as I wanted, color (inside and out), model, options (the ones I wanted and not the ones I didn't want). Wait times were usually one to two months.

 

[disneychrista]

As for ordering cars, I have had many cars over my 60+ driving years. Many I only had for 2 years, leased before I retired a few years ago. I can recall 2 cars I took from inventory. Those two were exactly as I wanted, color (inside and out), model, options (the ones I wanted and not the ones I didn't want). Wait times were usually one to two months.

That is good to know. I can wait a couple months for a car if it is the car I want.

umm, that's why I included what it does in the description...

That seems pretty handy.

 

[BrianL]

I’m showing my cars age I don’t even know what “adaptive” cruise control is

Last year I went from a twenty year old car to a 2024 model - it was like learning how to operate a spaceship to me! All of these fancy features, huge touch screen - all these sensors and monitors. It's cool though and it comes in handy too.

 

[disneychrista]

Last year I went from a twenty year old car to a 2024 model - it was like learning how to operate a spaceship to me! All of these fancy features, huge touch screen - all these sensors and monitors. It's cool though and it comes in handy too.

I am expecting a learning curve for sure. And of course, I am sure not even using half the features.

 

[kdonnel]

Newer cars make different sounds for sure. My Camry is pretty smooth when the gas engine kicks in, often the only way you can tell is the monitor shows the gas engine is on. But when it is in electric mode at slow speeds you can hear the electric motor whine, and when I use the cruise control and you are going down the hill and the regenerative braking kicks in, there is a rumble when it is on. And of course there are the Federally mandated space ship noises hybrids and electric cars make when they are going under 20 mph or backing up. I assume those are also the same with your Mach E. I know when a Mach E passes me in a parking lot I can hear the electric motor whine.

This wasn’t the electric motor whine, which made me look for a police car every time we slowed as that sounded like a siren in the distance. This was the whole car shaking like it was going to fall apart during regenerative braking. I really hope the car was broken, otherwise I don’t see how anyone would own a Toyota hybrid.

 

[tvguy]

This wasn’t the electric motor whine, which made me look for a police car every time we slowed as that sounded like a siren in the distance. This was the whole car shaking like it was going to fall apart during regenerative braking. I really hope the car was broken, otherwise I don’t see how anyone would own a Toyota hybrid.

Sounds like something wrong as my Camry Hybrid doesn't do that. Toyota has been making Hybrids for 26 years with great success. I'll be honest, I never thought I would buy a Toyota. I had a series of company cars in the 1970's that were Toyotas, and while I don't recall them needing repairs, they were just not impressive. The entire dashboard was plastic, the door panels were pressed cardboard and the brake master cylinder was plastic. Well, guess what, now EVERY car has a plastic brake master cylinder, and the quality of the interior materials has improved.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Marie has been interested in getting a 2025 Accord. I have watched online reviews, YouTube,, typically about 30 minutes each, since their 11th Accord version came out, 2023. I have also watched a lot of similar Camry videos. One thing that is consistent in the reviews, at least on these 2 cars, is the quietness and lack of feeling when the IC kicks on and then off for recharging purposes. It seems that at least these two manufactures have the hybrid puzzle pretty well figured out.

 

[Skippy918]

When I bought my car, the dealership had to find one at the factory with my specs. The sensing packing was optional at the time and there were none on the lot so I preordered. Took about 2 months.

 

[sam_gordon]

This wasn’t the electric motor whine, which made me look for a police car every time we slowed as that sounded like a siren in the distance. This was the whole car shaking like it was going to fall apart during regenerative braking. I really hope the car was broken, otherwise I don’t see how anyone would own a Toyota hybrid.

DD's car is an 09 Camry Hybrid. There is a slight whine when going in reverse that we were told was normal, and when I researched it, I found that to be true.

Was this a rental you were driving? Why wouldn't you return it?

 

[tvguy]

DD's car is an 09 Camry Hybrid. There is a slight whine when going in reverse that we were told was normal, and when I researched it, I found that to be true.

Was this a rental you were driving? Why wouldn't you return it?

That is the federally mandated "Acoustical Vehicle Alerting System" that electric cars, and hybrids in all electric mode have. It is louder in reverse but also operates going forward up to a certain speed, but at a lower volume. There is a speaker in the front of the car.

 

[kdonnel]

DD's car is an 09 Camry Hybrid. There is a slight whine when going in reverse that we were told was normal, and when I researched it, I found that to be true.

Was this a rental you were driving? Why wouldn't you return it?

It was a rental.

Didn't return it early because I didn't want to spend the time taking away from my vacation.

Plus the choices were horrible at initial pickup and was worried the replacement would be worse. Hertz is not at all what it was before Covid.

I have Presidents Circle with Hertz, which in the past was great, but this trip there were a bunch of Mustangs which would not have held the four of us and our bags, a bunch of Bolts that also would not have held the four of us and our bags, the Toyota Crown we picked, and a Hyundai covered in stickers. I have never seen a rental car in that bad of shape as the Hyundai for rent. There were a dozen or so butterfly stickers on the hood, trunk, roof, and doors. There was a hole in the carpet on the drivers side about the size of a baseball. The car stunk like an animal had died in it. I have become accustomed to smelling cars before picking them in Las Vegas because of legal weed but this was death not weed.