Who likes this car?

Just for kicks, to ask the question Ecotourist, would you ever consider a Chevrolet Suburban as a vehicle? Not too bad for travelling; at least it uses regular... Or how about a Silverado 4wd, long rear doors, V6 4.3 litre, lose the cyl deactivation with a module, tri-fold solid rear toneau? Pickup trucks are the new domestic full sized four doors...
 
Ecotourist, maybe you can see why my '17 Mazda6 6MT made some sense to me, as a "cusp-of-the-gasoline-powered-era" vehicle... tho not super performance, by any means. Comfortable tourer, as much as 42mpg (imperial) on the highway, Cdn$22,400...
 
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Just for kicks, to ask the question Ecotourist, would you ever consider a Chevrolet Suburban as a vehicle? Not too bad for travelling; at least it uses regular... Or how about a Silverado 4wd, long rear doors, V6 4.3 litre, lose the cyl deactivation with a module, tri-fold solid rear toneau? Pickup trucks are the new domestic full sized four doors...
You might be right about trucks being the "new full size domestic car", but I'm not really interested in a truck or an SUV.

It does seem we're on the verge of losing "normal cars". I'd like to stay away from run flat tires, CVTs, and automated manual transmissions and that eliminates a lot of potential vehicles. I would like a manual transmission, a spare tire and an oil dipstick but they are becoming uncommon. One additional concern is that many manufacturers seem to have gone to "good performance for the first 5 years and we don't care after that" approach; repairability seems to be of little to no interest.
 
You might be right about trucks being the "new full size domestic car", but I'm not really interested in a truck or an SUV.

It does seem we're on the verge of losing "normal cars". I'd like to stay away from run flat tires, CVTs, and automated manual transmissions and that eliminates a lot of potential vehicles. I would like a manual transmission, a spare tire and an oil dipstick but they are becoming uncommon. One additional concern is that many manufacturers seem to have gone to "good performance for the first 5 years and we don't care after that" approach; repairability seems to be of little to no interest.
Jetta and Jetta GLI have the dipstick, spare tire, manual transmission. I don’t feel they are as unreliable as some say. There are too many on the road for them to be bad cars. I would at least test drive one and see what you think.
 
You might be right about trucks being the "new full size domestic car", but I'm not really interested in a truck or an SUV.

It does seem we're on the verge of losing "normal cars". I'd like to stay away from run flat tires, CVTs, and automated manual transmissions and that eliminates a lot of potential vehicles. I would like a manual transmission, a spare tire and an oil dipstick but they are becoming uncommon. One additional concern is that many manufacturers seem to have gone to "good performance for the first 5 years and we don't care after that" approach; repairability seems to be of little to no interest.


I am totally w/you on this. I was using an SUV as my "car" for a few years and I just couldn't take it any more. I had a motorcycle and a horse some/all of those years so I could get my "kicks," plus family/friend's cars to drive occasionally. I broke down last year and got a (used) Euro luxury/performance car.

Back to gas prices, - OUCH. On a semi-interesting note, I learned years ago US gas prices are pretty much very linear with your physical distance from the Port of Houston. On reflection, that makes perfect sense. Being in/around Seattle, that means I always pay about the highest prices in the US. ;)

Here's a map, though the color choices make reading the data trend a little hard.


Obviously there's political variation in the pricing (state taxes), and then I don't know how it applies over the border in Canada. My solution is to just always buy premium at Costco, which the other day equaled $3.70/gallon for 92 octane.
 
We took a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus for a test drive today. That is one amazing car. I know it wouldn't work in many places but the distances here are short, the climate is mild (both summer and winter), and fuel is very costly. We hardly ever drive more than 100 Km in a day and the projected range is over 400 Km, so there is lots of range to spare.

Here is what we found: Amazing acceleration, and I never got my foot down to the floor. Very quiet, though some road noise. Very good room inside for 4. The seats front and back are very comfortable. The back seats fold down flat. Luggage space seems to be on the small side but should be adequate. The controls are non traditional and a bit intimidating but everything is logical.

There is no spare tire and it doesn't have run flat tires either. So there is some work to do before any long trips through the sparsely populated northern routes. I'm thinking of an extra wheel with a regular tire in a bag behind the front seats with a jack, wheel wrench and a jack point in the "under trunk space" or the front trunk.

Other than that it will be hard to beat. It's as nice as anything we've test driven so far. The Lexus GS350 is more luxurious but its thirst for premium fuel is a real concern. And the only one available locally is black - and as someone said "a black car is a hobby", though beautiful when clean and polished.

We'll sleep on it.
 
The acceleration is supposed to be phenomenal; have not driven one.

Model 3's down here are just common - I saw two on the road tonight to Home Depot and back, maybe nine miles round trip and I'm now 50 miles from downtown Seattle or the Eastside. I used to live in Redmond, WA (aka "Eastside") and I saw at least three Model S's each time I went to the grocery (two miles or less!). If you can't find what you want in BC, come down to Seattle and take your pick!

Just depends upon your appetite for range; or another car to do that when you need it. If you are not selling your Accord, then you could certainly do that. I would implore you though to drive the S and (various sub-models and year changes); look at them before jumping into the 3. Different animals and you are more an "S" guy than a "3" guy from what I glean. ;)
 
I could find lots of cars I like better for the same money or less. I've never been a fan of silver, or medium blue because of paint peeling/fading issues usually in few years. If it were mine the black wheels would be the first thing to go. I'd find some factory/aftermarket chrome or aluminum wheels for it. I can't recall ever seeing a car I liked with black wheels. Personally, I'd rather have a nice looking set of wheel covers than black wheels. The styling of the body is OK but I'm not crazy about the grill in it. To me it ruins the looks of the front end. I'm like you when I get a car I use it till it's used up so I try to be sure I like what I'm getting before investing the money in it. Everyone has different tastes if this suits yours buy it, if not keep looking till you find something that does. At the price of cars today who wants to put $20-30K in something they're going to hate every time they look at it? Most cars now cost more than I paid for for my first house which was a 14x70 mobile home located on 1.5 acres purchased in 1991. I haven't had any dealings with Mazda vehicles since the '80's and they may not be like they were then but I bought a new Mazda B2000 in '84. It was always kept clean/waxed but it developed large patches of rust in just a few years. By the time I got rid of it it had holes in it I could have stuck my head in. I also didn't live in an area with lots of salty roads.
 
The acceleration is supposed to be phenomenal; have not driven one.

Model 3's down here are just common - I saw two on the road tonight to Home Depot and back, maybe nine miles round trip and I'm now 50 miles from downtown Seattle or the Eastside. I used to live in Redmond, WA (aka "Eastside") and I saw at least three Model S's each time I went to the grocery (two miles or less!). If you can't find what you want in BC, come down to Seattle and take your pick!

Just depends upon your appetite for range; or another car to do that when you need it. If you are not selling your Accord, then you could certainly do that. I would implore you though to drive the S and (various sub-models and year changes); look at them before jumping into the 3. Different animals and you are more an "S" guy than a "3" guy from what I glean. ;)
I agree with you. Model 3s are getting pretty common, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The acceleration of the Model 3 Standard Range Plus is quite remarkable. It's certainly fast enough to get me in trouble. And being rear wheel drive it handles quite well too.

Anyone thinking of a new vehicle really should test drive a Tesla. The new EV Mustang as one example is fairly comparable but Tesla has a 10 year head start so it should be better sorted out.

In BC a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus is eligible for $8,000 in grants. If you go beyond that model the grants are Zero. I would prefer a long range model but with the loss of the grants the cost difference becomes quite large.

I look at this as being like putting my toe in the water. If we really like it and have no range issues with this lower range model, but want something nicer or faster I can pass this one along to my daughter and get something more adventurous. If we don't like it we can just move along too. And if we really like it - we have 2 cars and a used Model S would make a nice garage companion.

We have to order them here and there is a long delivery time. But that gives me time to sell the BMW so that's okay. We'll keep the Accord which has low miles (180,000 Km = 112, 000 miles) and is in near perfect condition. It would be fine for long range trips for at least another 5 years if we're not happy with the range on the Tesla. And the Accord does double duty for hauling random 2 X 4s and such (a stack of 10 footers fit quite nicely).
 
If it were mine the black wheels would be the first thing to go. I'd find some factory/aftermarket chrome or aluminum wheels for it. I can't recall ever seeing a car I liked with black wheels. Personally, I'd rather have a nice looking set of wheel covers than black wheels. The styling of the body is OK but I'm not crazy about the grill in it. To me it ruins the looks of the front end.
The front end styling is a bit bland but other than that I find them quite attractive.

The standard charcoal aero wheels are a surprise. The plastic covers come off quite easily and underneath is a nice looking silver-grey alloy wheel. The covers are for aerodynamic purposes and supposedly increase the range by 5%. So those strange looking charcoal aero covers can stay in a box except on a long trip.

The alloy wheels under those covers are 18" which suits me fine. I like a bit of sidewall in my tires.
 
Hopefully Model 3's are well rustproofed. I'm not sure I'd spring for the optional colours unless the blue or the charcoal were really nice. Also, one would hope the paintwork is durable.
I don't think rust is that much of an issue in greater Victoria. And we're keeping the Honda so we have a bad weather car, a front wheel drive one at that.

We're a bit concerned about whether the bright blue will be as fussy as black, but we decided to go for a bit of colour anyway. Our current cars are silver and anthracite, a slightly greenish charcoal.
 
I'm wondering who will end up buying your BMW. For someone who is willing to go through the cooling system, replace the plastics, I would bet dollars to donuts they will be getting a really fine car! Double-declutched shifting, from day one, M series options, very very nice!
 
I'm wondering who will end up buying your BMW. For someone who is willing to go through the cooling system, replace the plastics, I would bet dollars to donuts they will be getting a really fine car! Double-declutched shifting, from day one, M series options, very very nice!
I'm hoping to sell it to a BMW enthusiast.

I'm careful who I sell things to. One of our long term cars was the '86 Volvo 740 Turbo 4MT plus OD, bought new and kept for 18 1/2 years. We sold it (well below market) to friends who taught their kids to drive with it and kept it for 5 more years. When they sold it, their daughter was heartbroken. I spoke to them recently and they're still talking about that car - the "Turbo Brick".
 
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