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  #61  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:02 PM
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Originally Posted by acottawa View Post
To me a huge advantage of a car is it fits in the garage, which makes life much easier in cities that get a substantial winter.
Our Toyota Yaris can barely fit in the garage. Don't know what we'll do if we buy anything larger.
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  #62  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Mister F View Post
Where do you live? The province where people drive the most small cars is apparently Quebec, where they get more snow than in most of the rest of the country. Quebec City, for example, gets more than twice as much snow as Prince George, BC. Cars are just fine in almost any winter climate.
Actually, it's not about the amount of snow a place gets but rather, all about the quality of plowing.

If you live in downtown Montreal, where parking spaces are small and where any snow gets immediately removed by an army of municipal plows... you'll be fine with a small car.

My ex lived in Edmonton for a while and told me that they didn't really plow much over there (by our standards), and that her little Ford Escort wagon was doomed to stay in the driveway on many winter days... and that she understood why people "needed" SUVs over there.
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  #63  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Mikemike View Post
On then minivans are even more practical and there's a whole lot of self-professed practical SUV guys who won't consider one.
Good point, it is peculiar how trucks and SUVs are celebrated as practical haulers while a lot of people reject out of hand station wagons and especially minivans, even though they are as good or better at a lot of those practical applications.

Having a good station wagon with ample cargo space is in some ways a better option than a SUV, but finding them can be a challenge. They are relatively rare on roads and in dealer lots.

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Originally Posted by J.OT13 View Post
I'm really bummed that the NA manufacturers will stop producing sedans. Not as much Chrysler and GM. I've lost interest in those brands years ago.
On that note, I rented a Chevrolet Impala in Vancouver recently... it was a fairly high trim level as it had a lot of options. I was completely impressed with it and I don't think it was in any way lacking compared to a Honda or Toyota. Not that I am looking to cars for excitement, but some of the dullest cars I've driven were Asian models. I remember renting a base model Mitsubishi Galant a few years ago... I swear, if Loblaws made a No Name car that came to you in a big yellow box labelled "Car", that would have been it.
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  #64  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:11 PM
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Originally Posted by milomilo View Post
... then I can't think of any advantages of a sedan over a hatchback.
Slightly better aerodynamics, and lighter too.

If all you do is highway driving, it may be worth it. Generally, though, I agree with you that a two-box design makes more sense.
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  #65  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:12 PM
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Originally Posted by lio45 View Post
Actually, it's not about the amount of snow a place gets but rather, all about the quality of plowing.

If you live in downtown Montreal, where parking spaces are small and where any snow gets immediately removed by an army of municipal plows... you'll be fine with a small car.

My ex lived in Edmonton for a while and told me that they didn't really plow much over there (by our standards), and that her little Ford Escort wagon was doomed to stay in the driveway on many winter days... and that she understood why people "needed" SUVs over there.
Roads are shit in Edmonton which is embarrassing for a city that's a frozen tundra wasteland for much of the year. You can get around in a little shitbox but having clearance and four wheel drive is a nice benefit. People don't really "need" an SUV but the city is car-centric and unlikely to change that anytime soon so if you're going to have a car you may as well have one that can handle our crumbling potholed streets and navigate the piss poor conditions in the winter

If we moved to Vancouver I'd take a long look at what's really required for vehicular transportation, as it's a night & day difference between there & here.
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  #66  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:15 PM
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Originally Posted by 240glt View Post
Roads are shit in Edmonton which is embarrassing for a city that's a frozen tundra wasteland for much of the year. You can get around in a little shitbox but having clearance and four wheel drive is a nice benefit. People don't really "need" an SUV but the city is car-centric and unlikely to change that anytime soon so if you're going to have a car you may as well have one that can handle our crumbling potholed streets and navigate the piss poor conditions in the winter
Winnipeg is similar... which is why I wince when I see someone driving an expensive sports or luxury car here, especially in the winter. It seems so pointless, seeing an Audi R8 or the like trundling along at rush hour, doing 25 km/h down Osborne, with the impeccably tuned suspension allowing the driver to feel every pothole.

If money is no object, seriously, the vehicle to buy is a top-trim Lincoln Navigator, GMC Yukon Denali or some other such beast that conquers the snow and smooths out the bumps.
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  #67  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:15 PM
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Originally Posted by MolsonExport View Post
why the fuck would someone buy a Ford Focus instead of say, a Honda Civic?
Current Focus vs current Civic? Easy answer: "because it's a better car"

https://www.ford.co.uk/cars/focus
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  #68  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:17 PM
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Originally Posted by esquire View Post
On that note, I rented a Chevrolet Impala in Vancouver recently... it was a fairly high trim level as it had a lot of options. I was completely impressed with it and I don't think it was in any way lacking compared to a Honda or Toyota. Not that I am looking to cars for excitement, but some of the dullest cars I've driven were Asian models. I remember renting a base model Mitsubishi Galant a few years ago... I swear, if Loblaws made a No Name car that came to you in a big yellow box labelled "Car", that would have been it.
Loved the Impalas up until they changed the design in the late 2000s. The design is just mind-numbingly boring now, as are all Chevs. I've also heard some horror stories on their reliability.

I love the designs of Fords and I am biased reliability wise because of my experience. I do realize that any new Ford won't compare to my current vehicle. No doubt that my Focus is the best car I will ever have.
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  #69  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:25 PM
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Originally Posted by J.OT13 View Post
Loved the Impalas up until they changed the design in the late 2000s. The design is just mind-numbingly boring now, as are all Chevs. I've also heard some horror stories on their reliability.
You must be kidding?! The Impala was like a early 90s car lurching into the 21st century before it was redesigned sometime around 2013. It was a dependable car but the appearance was lacking for a car at that price point. GM moved it firmly in to the 21st century... it's a nice, attractive car that compares very favourably to the Ford Fusion. A bit bigger than the Fusion, not quite as big (at least it feels like it isn't) as the Taurus.

I own a Ford Edge and it has been remarkably reliable. 6 years and routine maintenance only.
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  #70  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:27 PM
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Originally Posted by J.OT13 View Post
I've also heard some horror stories on their reliability.

I love the designs of Fords and I am biased reliability wise because of my experience.
Reliability varies much more on a per-model basis than per-brand.

Anything low-tech that has been in production for a long time (kinks all ironed out) will be highly reliable. A 2019 Chevy Express (RWD with a pushrod OHV V8 and bulletproof GM FR slushbox) is likely to be more reliable than any Toyota or Honda.
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  #71  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:30 PM
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You must be kidding?! The Impala was like a early 90s car lurching into the 21st century before it was redesigned sometime around 2013.
To be more precise, the GM-10 (W) platform had been developed starting in the early 1980s and the cars were on the roads by 1987. 100% a Reagan-era car.
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  #72  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:31 PM
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Originally Posted by lio45 View Post
Current Focus vs current Civic? Easy answer: "because it's a better car"

https://www.ford.co.uk/cars/focus

plugging for ford?


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  #73  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:35 PM
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Originally Posted by esquire View Post
You must be kidding?! The Impala was like a early 90s car lurching into the 21st century before it was redesigned sometime around 2013. It was a dependable car but the appearance was lacking for a car at that price point. GM moved it firmly in to the 21st century... it's a nice, attractive car that compares very favourably to the Ford Fusion. A bit bigger than the Fusion, not quite as big (at least it feels like it isn't) as the Taurus.

I own a Ford Edge and it has been remarkably reliable. 6 years and routine maintenance only.
For what it's worth, few people agree with my tastes in design. Other than Fords, there isn't much I like past 2008.
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  #74  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:39 PM
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I hate seeing this in the review mirror:




Do pickup trucks need to be so fucking gargantuan (as well as fugly)?

I guess these keep the Saudis happy. And the transfer payments flowing.
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  #75  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:40 PM
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Originally Posted by MolsonExport View Post
plugging for ford?
I'm a Ford owner (of multiple Fords; three at the moment) and also was a Ford shareholder for some 10+ years. FoMoCo is my favorite automaker.

Conversely, Ford would probably be my least favorite provincial Premier.
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  #76  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:40 PM
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Originally Posted by J.OT13 View Post
For what it's worth, few people agree with my tastes in design. Other than Fords, there isn't much I like past 2008.
Oh, OK, I get it now. If you pushed that date back 25 years, you'd be my dad
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  #77  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:43 PM
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BTW, I know you dislike it when I correct you, but you aren't seeing (present tense), nor have you ever seen, that next-generation Chevy Silverado HD front end in your rearview mirror, as that design was just released; it's a 2020 model and does not exist yet. The earliest examples should start being produced this summer and they'll be available by fall.
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  #78  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:47 PM
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Originally Posted by lio45 View Post
BTW, I know you dislike it when I correct you, but you aren't seeing (present tense), nor have you ever seen, that next-generation Chevy Silverado HD front end in your rearview mirror, as that design was just released; it's a 2020 model and does not exist yet. The earliest examples should start being produced this summer and they'll be available by fall.

probably not, but if you've seen one Huge-Gaping rightinyourface Pickup Truck Grill, you've seen it all. Predictably driven by a guy losing his hair, gaining a paunch, wearing a goatee, and toting some bud lite. Overweight wife/gf riding shotgun, with the redolent smell of Tim Hortons Double-doubles and fast food burgers wafting out of the windows.

I was never a fan of the erstwhile "big three" but the preponderance of their rolling stock of (screamingly ugly) pickup trucks has further put me off these brands.
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  #79  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:48 PM
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Originally Posted by esquire View Post
^ I'm not an expert, but in my observations, winter tires seem to make a bigger difference on a day to day basis than AWD.
Good Winter tires help with general handling and stopping.

AWD helps with getting going.

Combine the two and you have greatly reduce most of the annoyances and risks involved with winter driving.
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  #80  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2019, 5:57 PM
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Originally Posted by MolsonExport View Post
probably not, but if you've seen one Huge-Gaping rightinyourface Pickup Truck Grill, you've seen it all. Predictably driven by a guy losing his hair, gaining a paunch, wearing a goatee, and toting some bud lite. Overweight wife/gf riding shotgun, with the redolent smell of Tim Hortons Double-doubles and fast food burgers wafting out of the windows.

I was never a fan of the erstwhile "big three" but the preponderance of their rolling stock of (screamingly ugly) pickup trucks has further put me off these brands.
It is true that most of these truck buyers don't actually use their trucks.

I'm the opposite - I only use my truck(s) (one at a time...) when I need them, and they're work trucks. I'd never buy a newer truck - way too nice to use as a truck.
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