smk4565

If they could get these to quality for the $7500 tax credit they would be cheaper than the Escape.

So the powertrain that is standard in a Toyota Sequoia is optional in the Lexus. And this powertrain isn't really the hallmark of reliability that Lexus and Toyota had with the old powertrains. The interior on the LX seems to be behind what you get in the X7, GLS or Escalade, and I think the LX is newer than all those, and with the 10-12 year refresh rate these seem to get, you wonder how dated the interior will look in 2033 when they are selling the same interior as in the photo. It looks dated now.

Sounds like the Lincoln will work. I think the price is quite fair, it looks in pretty good shape.

Can get a 2018 GLS450 for under $20k. 2018 GLS 450

If you don't need a body on frame SUV, I am sure you can get cheaper SUV's and the Pilot and Highlander though boring will be reliable and they have cheap parts cost. I just saw a news story about a police department wanting to dump all their Durangos because they are so unreliable and break down all the time and replace them with Explorers that they wanted but couldn't get during covid. The cops seem to do well with the Explorer so they must be pretty reliable. I wouldn't buy any Stellantis product, they are all unreliable trash. There is a Stellantis dealer near me selling Compasses for $10k off, Hornets for $12k off, Grand Cherokees for as mush as $20k off, Ram trucks are $9k off, etc. And I work with one of their body shops and I was told they sold about 120 cars a month before the pandemic and sold 34 in July. Awful product, no discount is big enough to buy anything from them because maintenance and depreciation will eat you alive. And Kia/Hyundai with the 2.0 or 2.4 cylinder engines burn oil and grenade themselves, the 3.8 V6 vehicles are probably fine. But any Kia/Hyundai without the push button starter is a theft target, I see thefts or attempted thefts on them all the time. And Tellurides always have pars shortages if you are ever in an accident and need parts for it.

I think the Navigator and Expedition both look pretty clean for the model year. I don't know too much about the reliability of them, but Fords tend to pretty reasonable from a routine maintenance standpoint. And if you need a body on frame SUV those are a good price, because I searched for Yukon's, Sequoia/Land Cruiser and Escalade within a few hundred miles of IL and there are basically none newer than 2015 under $20k. And most of the Tahoes available are 2WD or look like a former police or fleet vehicle, and there are a few 2015-16 with 100k miles around $18-19k. The GM pushrod V8s seem to run a long time so that's a plus. I think the Navigator is a pretty good buy actually for the price. but the terrible fuel economy needs factored in too, the running costs will be higher on that than probably just about anything else.

My car has the M272 5.5 liter V8. But my point was the V8s and V6s are going away a being replaced by 2 liter or smaller turbo 4's with electrification. A third of Toyotas were hybrid last year, I bet half their sales in 2025 are hybrid because most of their models you are forced to get a hybrid. And 10 years ago you could get a 301 hp 3.6 V6 in an Equinox, even a couple years ago a 250 hp turbo 4, now it is just a 175 hp turbo 4. And maybe that is by design, if you want more than 175 hp you buy the Equinox EV. A 2007 Mercedes E350 had a 268 hp V6, a 2025 E350 has a 255 hp turbo 4. Soon they'll do this with pick up trucks, and you'll see 2 liter turbos in full size trucks to power the front axle and a 100 hp electric motor to power the rear axle. Agree that a $30-35k EV could clean up, because a Camry is now hybrid only and starts at $30k. I bet the next-gen Rav4 becomes hybrid only, and Hyundai has 1.6 liter turbo 4's with hybrid. They are creating complexity and maintenance costs for these new cars, and I don't think consumers realize it yet, but in a few years they'll probably want to jump ship from this and go to EV and not have to worry about plugging in a car, and putting gas in, and changing oil, and changing CVT transmission fluid every 20,000 miles, etc.

You don't have to have a high revving DOHC cam engine, DOHC engines can still make torque, mine makes 391 lb-ft form 2800-5000 rpm. The new E450 has 369 lb-ft from 1,800-5,800 so it is flatter, but a lower peak too from the smaller engine. But it is all brands, the 2025 Equinox/Terrain have a 175 hp turbo 4 and 10 years ago they had a 182 hp NA 4-cylinder or a 301 hp V6. Every car brand is taking power away in the name of fuel economy and emissions. Which is good to have better economy and emissions. But I think what might push people to EV's faster is that gas cars will all be electrified or hybrid and be super heavy and super complex to work on like the new C63, and they will be expensive to buy and expensive to maintain.

I haven't seen an EV9 or EV6 in one of my shops so I don't know what the repair cost is like on them. Hyundais and Kias tend to have a high repair cost in general because their parts are expensive. A door on a Tucson is about $2400 compared to a Rav4 is about $900, any Subaru is about $800. Hyundais and Kias also you plastic radiator supports, they break almost always in an impact, compared to Chevy, Toyota, Subaru use steel. I did look up the price of an EV9 headlight, they are $2500. But it is only 1 unit. The Tucson and Santa Cruz that do the split headlight and signal lamp cost about $1600 each and usually if one breaks the other does too, so you are looking at about $3200 for the set. I had a '23 Tucson that needed a bumper, grille, the 4 lights and a hood, probably a rad support too from hitting a deer, fenders and structure were fine, and it was like $13,000 in damage. On a CR-V or Forester that is probably a $6,000 repair.

Perhaps the Godzilla engines will last that long, but it will depend on what rivals come out with also, that engine may not be competitive in 5 years. But I could see 10 more years of gas V8s in the Super Duty's, they'll be long gone in an F150, the 2025 Ram has no V8, the Silverado probably won't in 5 years, they are already pushing the 4-cylinder Silverado.

GM's turbo 4 is a better move, but that 3.6 V6 had issues anyway so I don't think it is as hard to replace, compared to the VQ engines that were great in their day but are past their prime now. But everyone does this, and 2024 Mercedes E350 makes 13 less horsepower than a 2007 E350 and nearly 50 less hp than a 2012 E350. The goal is all fuel economy and reducing emissions now, big engines are dead, and it's kind of sad.

Diesel V8 will continue, I wouldn't be surprised if Ford doesn't have a gas V8 by 2030 because the Mustang coupe will probably be dead by then since it is their worst seller, and they won't justify R&D on it (unless they joint develop it with Toyota or Nissan or someone) and the F150 will be V6 only.

That V8 won't last long, the Super Duty will go V6 hybrid and they'll probably make the hybrid system standard, plug-in hybrid optional as a way to raise MSRP and make more money.

Kill those V6's. People were sad to see the V8 go, I think the V6 is about 5 years behind it. And what may accelerate the switch to EV's is that every gas car will be a 3 or 4 cylinder turbo and even performance cars like the M5 will be plug in hybrids and so freaking heavy, no one will really want it.

I think the problem with this screens = luxury trend that is going on with everyone is that these screens will probably all look dated in 10 years.

That's hella ugly, but people will buy it because it says "off road" Look at how it tackles that gravel road that a Nissan Sentra could easily navigate.

True, but some larger apartment complexes or parking garages could put in level 2 chargers, maybe even level 1 for places like an airport extended parking. If people have their car sit 12 hours at their apartment, or 8 hours in a parking garage while at work, there is opportunity there also for charing without having to build out expensive super chargers. And really it is rural America that should be embracing EV's way more because there aren't many gas stations when you get into farm country, you might have to drive 30-40 minutes to find a gas station in some parts of rural America, but they have houses with electricity and can easily charge.

This is good news, they need to get these chargers built because even though most people would charge at home, you still need the charge network big enough so range anxiety isn't a thing. Because really people have charge anxiety, I think 300 miles is plenty of range and all these EV's do that, Ford's research I think said people drive more than 150 miles in a day only days per year. So no sense buying cars with huge batteries that are super expensive, if the chargers are there and you can easily recharge if out away from home.

That's an exciting purchase, EV is tempting to me, but I still think all these current Gen EV's are too expensive compared to ICE cars. If they can cut weight and cost 15% then I think the flood gates open on EV sales.

But none of these cars with headlights in the bumpers look good. It isn't like the Hyundai Kona, this Enclave, Mitsubishi Outlander, Kia Rio, etc are ranking up there with a Ferrari 599 or Aston Martin DB9 for best styled cars of the past 20 years. And it adds parts cost too, when you they should be trying to cut cost to make a more competitive priced car.

Another problem is no rear window, in addition to the styling and everything on a touch screen. Polestar keeps putting out new models but none of these actually sell. Maybe they should build 1 car that people want to buy, rather than Polstar 1-7 that combine to sell like 1,000 cars a year.

Not a fan of the new look of Buick with the big grilles, but I wasn't a fan of old Buick styling either. Also, STOP putting headlights in bumpers! The 2015 Cherokee did it, then no the car in history ever should have done it.

Yawn.

Plastic cladding = off road. Instead of killing the Sonata, they should just put plastic body cladding down the side and raise the price by $10k and call it the Sonata HD Overlander X. Instant hit.

I think it looks kind of dated because they are stuck with an old frame and body, they can put a lot of new on top, but the old bones are still in there. I don't see this as jump starting the brand, Infiniti looks more dead than Nissan is, because neither brand has anything new or exciting. It is a lot of carry over powertrains, carry over chassis, that they just keep trying to dress up. And I wonder if in 5-10 years time, luxury cars will have physical buttons, and not all these screens. Because sub $30k Kia's are loaded with touch screens now, the cheap cars are all screens all over the place because they are cheap. Designing and having actual physical buttons and tactile things you can touch costs money.