So, cars suck...

D

Dogsinplastic

avuncular to no one
Out 2008 Element has started the overheating cycle again. We were on our way out of the town to NY to go to a pair of Dave & Tim shows and it started. A couple of years ago this started with the fans crapping out in May (got them replaced), then the thermostat needing to be replaced in June or July (did), then a new head gasket in September (painfully done). So we got to the closest car rental place and got a car for the weekend.

It's started again and the first two things are being suggested again (all at once and far more than we were/are prepared to pay for what could be a band-aid...) with no guarantee that the gasket won't need to be replaced.

So, now we're going to have to get a new car. Summer is tight for us as my wife isn't working full time and therefore not at our maximum earning power. We've had a few unexpected expenses and the trip to Ireland took its toll (but it was worth it). We both get paid at the end of the month and these June paychecks are sternly rationed to maximize life for the summer. So now we'll need to dip into that for a couple of grand and start car payments.

Honda offering us crappy trade-in value for one of their own cars. We doubt we'd get anything from other dealers, but we're looking at a Subaru...the wife wants the Outback. We're likely getting an Outback, but the Forester is also on the table. We want safe, reliable, big enough to haul our shit (two kids: a new teen and a soon to be seven year old), and fuel efficient.

My greatest appreciation of cars is the control they provide us to get from point A to point B as needed. I hate car payments and tend to rage a bit as a driver. Can't avoid the first at this time and need to work on the second.
 
There are always other options...

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That blows, dude.

I'd shop around and see who would give you the most for your trade, and go from there.

I'm not a huge fan of Subaru, but only because I don't care for their engines. There certainly are enough of them on the road to prove they are reliable.

When my wife went to the local KIA dealer, they were desperate to make a sale and gave me TOP dollar for my trade in. Like.....$2500 more than I was expecting, so deals are out there, you just have to find them.

That's kind of odd to hear about Honda, but I guess there are turds in every manufacturer's lineup. 2008 is not that old......but I guess I am preaching to the choir...

I'd say shop around, don't just pick out a Subaru. See who will give you the most and make you the best deal. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Certainly worth your time to look.

My wife got her car from the Kia dealership with no money down, sight-unseen trade in of $4500 (or something like that) and $3K off the asking price of the car (if memory serves).

SOLD!
:lol:
 
car mojo. i would look seriously at the reports online about the subaru gas mileage. i don't think it's that dandy, IRRC.
 
Coralkong1 said:
That blows, dude.

I'd shop around and see who would give you the most for your trade, and go from there.

I'm not a huge fan of Subaru, but only because I don't care for their engines. There certainly are enough of them on the road to prove they are reliable.

When my wife went to the local KIA dealer, they were desperate to make a sale and gave me TOP dollar for my trade in. Like.....$2500 more than I was expecting, so deals are out there, you just have to find them.

That's kind of odd to hear about Honda, but I guess there are turds in every manufacturer's lineup. 2008 is not that old......but I guess I am preaching to the choir...

I'd say shop around, don't just pick out a Subaru. See who will give you the most and make you the best deal. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Certainly worth your time to look.

My wife got her car from the Kia dealership with no money down, sight-unseen trade in of $4500 (or something like that) and $3K off the asking price of the car (if memory serves).

SOLD!
:lol:
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Yeah, but it's our only car, the wife hates negotiating/haggling and waiting, and we need new wheels. We were looking at getting a new car in October or November, but we thought we'd have the Element too...as our road trip vehicle. It's not good to drive right now as we haven't done the repairs and we aren't going to, so I don't who would give us any real value for it.

The Honda dealer that did the diagnostic work only initially offered $500 which I said thanks and good bye to and they called back about a minute later offering $1,000. Fixing it costs them nothing really and they'll flip it refurbished for like $5,000...none of which helps us.

We'l see what happens. We've been eyeing a Subaru for a long time. VWs are really cheap right now too, but we had a Jetta we bought new in 2001 and it needed significantly more repairs than the Honda...which is par for the course.
 
mongooz said:
car mojo. i would look seriously at the reports online about the subaru gas mileage. i don't think it's that dandy, IRRC.
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25/33 is better than our Element. I haven't seen any research/articles disputing that. I know VW was busted lying about their fuel and emissions numbers, another reason we're not real excited by that option. We're also interested in the CRV, but not feeling Honda at the moment.
 
Dogsinotpalc said:
25/33 is better than our Element. I haven't seen any research/articles disputing that. I know VW was busted lying about their fuel and emissions numbers, another reason we're not real excited by that option. We're also interested in the CRV, but not feeling Honda at the moment.
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ok.....i just remember that maybe 6 or so years ago they were getting something like 15 city/18 hiway. maybe that's changed.
 
DFB said:
What about a Toyota Highlander, or Rav4?
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I think the Highlander is out of our price range (like the Pilot) and its gas mileage is not good...nor its emissions.

We've driven the RAV 4 a few times and don't care for it. The acceleration was no bueno...but we haven't tried one a couple of years.
 
Dogsinotpalc said:
Yeah, but it's our only car, the wife hates negotiating/haggling and waiting, and we need new wheels. We were looking at getting a new car in October or November, but we thought we'd have the Element too...as our road trip vehicle. It's not good to drive right now as we haven't done the repairs and we aren't going to, so I don't who would give us any real value for it.

The Honda dealer that did the diagnostic work only initially offered $500 which I said thanks and good bye to and they called back about a minute later offering $1,000. Fixing it costs them nothing really and they'll flip it refurbished for like $5,000...none of which helps us.

We'l see what happens. We've been eyeing a Subaru for a long time. VWs are really cheap right now too, but we had a Jetta we bought new in 2001 and it needed significantly more repairs than the Honda...which is par for the course.
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So you're saying you're stuck with whatever the closest dealership is selling. :wink:

That's not good, man. Not good at all.
 
Coralkong1 said:
So you're saying you're stuck with whatever the closest dealership is selling. :wink:

That's not good, man. Not good at all.
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We've got options...we've just lost the ideal of buying the new car when we wanted AND still having our Element in full working order. It's either/or and the either of hoping the car doesn't shit the bed and cost another couple of grand to fix (after spending nearly that get it to "working".
 
Dogsinotpalc said:
We've got options...we've just lost the ideal of buying the new car when we wanted AND still having our Element in full working order. It's either/or and the either of hoping the car doesn't shit the bed and cost another couple of grand to fix (after spending nearly that get it to "working".
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I feel your pain. Good luck, man.....maybe look used from a dealer? Investment is a lot smaller, and you can budget out a bit better. Sometimes you can get some good deals. You won't get anything for your trade, but since you're not getting anything anyway, you could keep it (and decide whether or not to fix it), or get rid of it.

I dunno, man. Good luck.

I hate hearing stories like this.

You buy a $30K car from a dealership. The car sucks and less than 10 years later they won't give you anything back for it, but still want you to come in and buy another one.

Fuck that. Sorry, man....really am.
 
mongooz said:
car mojo. i would look seriously at the reports online about the subaru gas mileage. i don't think it's that dandy, IRRC.
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I have a 2015 Forester and I get low 30s commuting in heavy traffic. I can get 35 going 60-65 on the highway in light traffic. And that's computed by me, not the lying trip computer.
 
Good luck, man. Cooling system issues can be hard to track down and totally eliminate sometimes. I've seen people throw money at radiators, fan clutches, head gaskets ect and never get rid of the issue. Not always though.

My S10 is plagued with overheating problems. Turned out the idiot before me dumped so much stop leak in it over time (when should've just replaced a leaking lower intake gasket) that the insides were gummed up beyond repair. Everything, the block, heads, hoses and rad were gummed to hell no matter how many times I flushed it. Thermostats only last a year or so before they start sticking. Between him and DexCool it's impossible to fix, aside from a total teardown.
 
Financially draining problems always seem to have terrible timing; hitting you when your finances are already stretched. Overheating issues can be one of those things that once you cook the shit out of a car, it's gimped with issues that keep cropping up. I have three friends with Elements that have some really high milage on them. One traded in on a XV and misses some of the utility of the Element but loves the Subaru. The Element was never really a high efficiency vehicle compared to most cars so you've not going to have a hard time equaling (3.6L) or exceeding there (2.5L) w/ the Outback. I like the Outback's towing capacity over the XV but it's grown so freaking huge over the years.
 
Flatspotter said:
I have a 2015 Forester and I get low 30s commuting in heavy traffic. I can get 35 going 60-65 on the highway in light traffic. And that's computed by me, not the lying trip computer.
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The computer in my car actually lies the wrong way :lol:

It tells me I'm getting something like 22 mpg when I'm actually getting in the mid-30's by computing it myself. I drove to Cleveland last year, something like 483 miles round trip (including driving all over downtown Cleveland) on one tank of gas. No way in hell I'm doing that if I'm only getting the 22-23 MPG my car's computer is telling me I'm getting :embarrassed:
 
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