My Current Vehicle Purchasing Edicts

General Discussion
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I am so tired of hearing about people suffering trying to make car payments and repair payments on newer vehicles. These vehicles have 6,8 or 10 speed transmissions. All of these transmissions seem to be “Glass” transmissions, they break easily. All these Whiz-Bang marvels with 10 speeds are great, except that the manufacturers cannot figure out how to make them last.

Edict #1 I WILL NO LONGER CONSIDER A VEHICLE WITH AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION THAT HAS MORE GEARS THAN WHEELS.

Secondly, a Top Mechanic on Tik Tok has declared that if a vehicle isnt old enough to have an ashtray, then he is not interested in it.

Edict #2 IF A VEHICLE HAS NO ASHTRAY IM NOT BUYING IT.

Edict #3 IF A VEHICLE HAS AN ELECTRONIC PARKING BRAKE I AM NOT BUYING IT. These Electronic parking brakes are ridiculous such as the new Tahoes that apply it every time you put in in park.

Edict #4 IF A VEHICLE HAS A STOP START FEATURE I AM NOT BUYING IT. - These are absolutely asinine in practice, on off on off sometimes for a second. Stupid and completely unnecessary. Any fuel savings will be spent by having the system fixed and having the tow truck haul the jalopy in.

What are some other Edicts I should add? What Edicts do you have when buying a vehicle?

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These systems can be shut-off with the mere push of a button, and with no more effort than it takes to change stations on your radio.

I hope you realize that, with your list of restrictions, your list of “acceptable” vehicles is going to shrink every year and that, as the years pass, parts might not be available.

But…Whatever floats your boat…

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Some vehicles you cannot disable the auto stop.

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Which ones?

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Some Cadillacs, some chevus have no button to disable it.

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I guess I would tend to agree with you but some of this stuff hasn’t been around for over ten years. As far as the transmission, that’s why I like th3 50k warranty plus I change fluid every 30k without fail.

Interesting though I had 300k on my old riviera. I was getting concerned about the transmission so had it overhauled. The guy said it didn’t look that bad.

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Me does not think Tic Tok is where I would go for vehicle advice.

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  1. I won’t buy a car with low profile tires. If the wheels are more than 16" and can’t be replaced (sometimes the brakes are too big), then no.
  2. Electric power steering.
  3. Seat belt load limiters with unlimited spool out.
  4. CVT that does not have parts for overhaul available.

I don’t like. I would rather avoid:
The screw in tow hooks.
Short width bumpers.
No Styrofoam behind the bumper cover
Vehicles built to do the minimum to pass crash tests, like Ford does.
Front mounted airbag sensors that deploy the airbag after a deer hit.
Short engine oil pan that does not allow access to rod bearings.
Transmission without bottom mounted pan.
All wheel drive
Extra tight clearances in engine bay.
Manual transmission unavailable as an option.
Engine that is unable to use thicker oil, usually due to VVT.

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I don’t buy vehicles that:
have a turbo
have any type of automatic transmission
have any kind of camera and screen
have GDI
have low profile tires
have any engine other than an L4
is a model that has been around for less than 5 years
is not sold in large numbers in multiple countries

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Wow, there is SO much “Get off my lawn, you whippersnapper!” here! :laughing:

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Sounds like several folks will be shopping here for their next ‘new’ car:

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Backup cameras became mandantory May 1, 2018 and many vehicles had them before that.

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Yes I know. That’s why I bought my last new car in 2018.

I also wouldn’t buy a car that didn’t have a regular old key with no battery.

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None of my business but just curious as to what you bought that does not even have remote entry or automatic transmission .

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Nissan Versa S

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Infotainment: I won’t buy a car that requires you to take your eyes off the road to turn the radio on or adjust the heat.

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Needs a little work but that’s a pretty nice 59 Chevy. If I only had an engine, transmission, front end, etc.

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YES! I hate low profile tires. They have no place on a daily driver IMHO. They are so prone to damage that they sell special insurance on them now when they sell you the vehicle.

These low profile tires were great when tgey were on sports cars, but now every vehicle seems to have some ridiculous low sidewall option.

Why are rims so big now. We got by perfectly fine with 13,14 and 15 inch being the primary choices.

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My previous Camry had 205/65R15

My current Camry has 205/65R16 and rides just fine

It’s a family sedan, Rick

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I agree with all of this, although I don’t really need an ashtray. I want a basic car with a NA 4-cylinder engine, 3-speed or 4-speed automatic transmission, 2WD, hand-crank windows, no alarm, no remote start, no remote entry, no chip in the key, and of course there must be a mechanical lock cylinder on both front doors and on the trunk or rear hatch. And needless to say, no sunroof, no powered seats, no touchscreen gadgets, no data collection/telemetry, and no remote communication features. Something like an early 1990’s Caravan/Voyager, Spirit/Acclaim, Shadow/Sundance, Lumina sedan, Corsica, Corolla/Prizm, etc. would be ideal.

Obviously, something this old won’t have automatic engine stop/restart, electric power steering, electric parking brake, or any of the other silly features which exist today.

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