2014 Car Resolutions….
2014 Car Resolutions….
…...
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 94,430
Likes: 249
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
OK, Mike, here are mine..............
1. CAR CHAT members sometimes criticize me for not giving complex dash/video-screen systems enough of a chance (and getting used to) before criticizing them in my auto-reviews. I'll try and keep that in mind.......though I'll probably never be as comfortable with those systems (or be able to adjust to them) as easily as younger people. In general, the older the drivers are, the more difficult those screens are to operate.
2. Try and accept more of today's stiffer-riding cars as normal. I still think that too many vehicles today (even many non-sporting ones) have needlessly low-profile, rubber-band tires and stiffer underpinnings. I've always liked a soft-riding car (even in my youth), as long as the handling was not too bad (although some big older Buicks/Cadillacs/Lincolns had what I consider too much body lean and understeer, even by my standards). I still don't like stiff-riding cars (and never will), but *****ing about them is probably not going to change anything....the auto companies seem to have their minds made up.
3. Perhaps (?) stop griping quite as much about tight-fitting engines underhood, components being covered-up, and lack of space to easily do repairs/service. Aside from simple oil/filter or wiper-blade changes, most car owners don't do as much of their own work anymore as they used to. So the Service Technicians, more so than the car owners, are really the ones that have to cope with these poor underhood designs. Still, it isn't necessarily fair to them, either....it just makes THEIR work harder.
4. No, I'm NOT going to stop *****ing about cheap manual underhood prop-rods to hold up the hood (they aren't really that big a problem for me myself, but older and/or weaker people may have a very difficult time with them, particularly with big heavy hoods). Nor will I stop *****ing about a lack of body-side mouldings on many new cars that help prevent parking lot-damage, though just having mouldings themselves doesn't protect from everything that can happen with other car doors next to you. Nor will I stop *****ing about temporary/donut spares or compressed-air cans in the trunk instead of a proper spare tire. Temporary spares are generally good for about 50 miles at 50 MPH, but a tire failure can happen farther away from a service/repair shop than that, particularly out West. I find all three of these lacks in newer cars to be simply the result of over-zealous bean-counting/cost-cutting (without a good excuse), and it wouldn't cost much extra at all (even with a real spare tire) to go ahead and include them on the assembly-line. One will notice, for example, that most off-road-rated new vehicles today still DO come with real spare tires (either standard or as options)....so not including a real spare isn't just an excuse for weight-savings either, as some claim.
1. CAR CHAT members sometimes criticize me for not giving complex dash/video-screen systems enough of a chance (and getting used to) before criticizing them in my auto-reviews. I'll try and keep that in mind.......though I'll probably never be as comfortable with those systems (or be able to adjust to them) as easily as younger people. In general, the older the drivers are, the more difficult those screens are to operate.
2. Try and accept more of today's stiffer-riding cars as normal. I still think that too many vehicles today (even many non-sporting ones) have needlessly low-profile, rubber-band tires and stiffer underpinnings. I've always liked a soft-riding car (even in my youth), as long as the handling was not too bad (although some big older Buicks/Cadillacs/Lincolns had what I consider too much body lean and understeer, even by my standards). I still don't like stiff-riding cars (and never will), but *****ing about them is probably not going to change anything....the auto companies seem to have their minds made up.
3. Perhaps (?) stop griping quite as much about tight-fitting engines underhood, components being covered-up, and lack of space to easily do repairs/service. Aside from simple oil/filter or wiper-blade changes, most car owners don't do as much of their own work anymore as they used to. So the Service Technicians, more so than the car owners, are really the ones that have to cope with these poor underhood designs. Still, it isn't necessarily fair to them, either....it just makes THEIR work harder.
4. No, I'm NOT going to stop *****ing about cheap manual underhood prop-rods to hold up the hood (they aren't really that big a problem for me myself, but older and/or weaker people may have a very difficult time with them, particularly with big heavy hoods). Nor will I stop *****ing about a lack of body-side mouldings on many new cars that help prevent parking lot-damage, though just having mouldings themselves doesn't protect from everything that can happen with other car doors next to you. Nor will I stop *****ing about temporary/donut spares or compressed-air cans in the trunk instead of a proper spare tire. Temporary spares are generally good for about 50 miles at 50 MPH, but a tire failure can happen farther away from a service/repair shop than that, particularly out West. I find all three of these lacks in newer cars to be simply the result of over-zealous bean-counting/cost-cutting (without a good excuse), and it wouldn't cost much extra at all (even with a real spare tire) to go ahead and include them on the assembly-line. One will notice, for example, that most off-road-rated new vehicles today still DO come with real spare tires (either standard or as options)....so not including a real spare isn't just an excuse for weight-savings either, as some claim.
Last edited by mmarshall; Jan 1, 2014 at 12:11 PM.
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Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 9,994
Likes: 248
From: California
1) Wax car more often.
2) Get rear wheels properly aligned once and for all to quell inside tire wear.
3) Get the one ding I have removed so car is back to as-delivered look.
4) Not be tempted to buy new Audi S3.
5) Go for a driving trip outside of California.
2) Get rear wheels properly aligned once and for all to quell inside tire wear.
3) Get the one ding I have removed so car is back to as-delivered look.
4) Not be tempted to buy new Audi S3.
5) Go for a driving trip outside of California.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 94,430
Likes: 249
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
These cars are only a few years old at most. You make it sound like you're restoring an old car.
I didn't know you were in the military.
The youth that buys these cars like the CT, IS and older GS's mod their cars Mike. Similar to LexFather's project Lexus's. I myself invested over half of what I initially bought my car for in car parts and mods for shows. I've decontented mine a lot in preperation for something new, but glad I got to experience the show scene. I'm sure you're familiar with muscle car projects/restorations and seeing them in shows, but with these Lexus's the culture is to make them JDM/VIP which usually means slammed, tucked, VIP appointments like tables, curtains, body kits, wheels, and sound systems. Not a scence for everyone, but it's huge in Flordia, Texas and California and here on CL.