[Ratmagiclady]

Well, congrats! Which model Volvo is it? Too bad Volvo doesn't give out the hundred thousand mile badges anymore. I have a couple 100k badges, but none higher. I've owned several Volvos over the years, and for some strange reason several of them have hit a stumbling block at about the 230k mile mark. Three head gasket failures and one spun rod bearing. Four separate cars, obviously. We're on our 6th one now and it has only 145k on the odo. Got my fingers crossed we'll get past that 230k barrier when we get there -- probably another 7 or 8 years the way we put miles on our cars.

She's a '94 Volvo 940 wagon, Here's a pic I uploaded a few years ago, Currently everything's covered in pollen and seed pods.

[mattb123]

We got a 2020 Subaru Crosstrek Limited fairly recently. Was intended for my wife's new job that required a bit of travel around the state but now they are just doing it all remotely.
First new brand new vehicle we have bought since 2001 and first vehicle purchase since 2009. So I guess we were due. Seems nice so far but I'd like it better of there was a turbo version but this will be more fuel efficient.
The technology in cars has come a long way since my last purchase! I'm a fan of adaptive cruise control already.

My old 2004 Forester will become my son's daily driver once he has somewhere to go again.

[Astro-Baby]

Toyota Yaris Hybrid.....love it as I never have to bother changing gear and the auto box is so smooth you never feel it shifting gear at all. Its the top of the range one so it just does everything for you, climate control, auto headlamps and wipers, always turns the fog lamps off after use and keyless ignition so when you get out the car you just press a button and know that everything ans been turned off. Concealed USB jack in the glovebox so I just leave an iPOD in there a d all my tunes are ready to go.
Years ago when I was a petrol head I would have hated it as too cosy but these days theres little fun in driving on congested roads.

I get fun in the Yaris though by driving really sloooooowwwwwwlllly everywhere to max the mpg and know that at last I am sticking it to the oil companies and the government taxes and as she was bought before they changed the law I pay no road tax either. Brilliant.

[ivanvernon]

I love my little Prius C, 2013 model, now at 75,000+ miles. It gets me mileage around 50 mpg, and its 99 hp 1.8L engine gives this little mini car plenty of oomph for most circumstances. Though small, it is still reasonably comfortable with firm front bucket seats. Did I mention that its gasoline mileage is around 50 mpg? Two fillups of its 11.5 gallon tank generally gets me through the month. The hatchback storage area provides plenty of camera space, even when transporting the Pentax 645Z and FA 645 400mm f 5.6! I do have a second vehicle that I can drive when needing hauling space for gardening supplies or when anyone in the family wants to offset the wimpish image of the Prius or needs to haul something big--a big white 2009 Dodge Ram 3500 4WD dually with the 6.7L turbo-charged diesel engine.)

[lesmore49]

I love my little Prius C, 2013 model, now at 75,000+ miles. It gets me mileage around 50 mpg, and its 99 hp 1.8L engine gives this little mini car plenty of oomph for most circumstances. Though small, it is still reasonably comfortable with firm front bucket seats. Did I mention that its gasoline mileage is around 50 mpg? Two fillups of its 11.5 gallon tank generally gets me through the month. The hatchback storage area provides plenty of camera space, even when transporting the Pentax 645Z and FA 645 400mm f 5.6! I do have a second vehicle that I can drive when needing hauling space for gardening supplies or when anyone in the family wants to offset the wimpish image of the Prius or needs to haul something big--a big white 2009 Dodge Ram 3500 4WD dually with the 6.7L turbo-charged diesel engine.)

Your little Toyota could almost be carried as a dinghy for your XL Dodge dually diesel .....which BTW is a wonderfully equipped pickup truck. That Cummins diesel Turbocharged 6.7 liter, inline six cylinder packs a tremendous amount of torque to move just about anything. I'm envious.

You have quite a contrast in vehicles, although between them I'm sure you could handle just about every vehicle need .

[ivanvernon]

Your little Toyota could almost be carried as a dinghy for your XL Dodge dually diesel .....which BTW is a wonderfully equipped pickup truck. That Cummins diesel Turbocharged 6.7 liter, inline six cylinder packs a tremendous amount of torque to move just about anything. I'm envious.

You have quite a contrast in vehicles, although between them I'm sure you could handle just about every vehicle need .

Right you are. The Ram diesel truck with its Cummins 6.7L 4WD dually turbo is also a straight pipe full delete, so is kicking out somewhere around 385 hp and 900 lbs torque (just a guess since I have not put it on a dynometer). The turbo makes it fairly fast off the line, and I get around 20 mpg in highway driving. The Prius C only weighs around 2,000 lbs, so it could easily go as freight in the Ram truck if it could only be made to fit. My wife likes to ride in the truck; she says she likes the higher ride and enjoys the sound of the Cummins under throttle. If you like power, there are lots of things you can do to the 6.7L to bring it up to as much as 2,000 hp, and costing up to $35,000 for engine work. The Ram trucks have the best power train in the business, which even a few Ford and Chevy owners will admit, but maybe the worst interiors. The Cummins engine and power train makes it the truck of choice for pipeline workers, and my pipeliner welding son says he sees 60 percent Ram diesels, 25 percent Fords, and 15 percent or less Chevy/GMs. The ideal pickup, in my view, would be a Ford truck with a Cummins 6.7L engine, GM Allison transmission and rear-end, and of this kind of transplant has been done as per the URL below. However, I have never heard of anyone taking the Cummins out of their truck and putting in a Ford Power Stroke or Chevy Duramax! Historically, Cummins engines are so tough because they were originally designed as an off-road, heavy duty engine. They have timing gears instead of chains or belts, heat-treated crankshafts and piston rods, and over-sized cast-iron poured blocks.The older 5.9L has a duty cycle of one million miles, and the 6.7Ls are said to go to 600-750,000 miles with little attention.

Re-Powering F-Series with the Ultimate Inline-Six

[mattb123]

Right you are. The Ram diesel truck with its Cummins 6.7L 4WD dually turbo is also a straight pipe full delete, so is kicking out somewhere around 385 hp and 900 lbs torque (just a guess since I have not put it on a dynometer). The turbo makes it fairly fast off the line, and I get around 20 mpg in highway driving. The Prius C only weighs around 2,000 lbs, so it could easily go as freight in the Ram truck if it could only be made to fit. My wife likes to ride in the truck; she says she likes the higher ride and enjoys the sound of the Cummins under throttle. If you like power, there are lots of things you can do to the 6.7L to bring it up to as much as 2,000 hp, and costing up to $35,000 for engine work. The Ram trucks have the best power train in the business, which even a few Ford and Chevy owners will admit, but maybe the worst interiors. The Cummins engine and power train makes it the truck of choice for pipeline workers, and my pipeliner welding son says he sees 60 percent Ram diesels, 25 percent Fords, and 15 percent or less Chevy/GMs. The ideal pickup, in my view, would be a Ford truck with a Cummins 6.7L engine, GM Allison transmission and rear-end, and of this kind of transplant has been done as per the URL below. However, I have never heard of anyone taking the Cummins out of their truck and putting in a Ford Power Stroke or Chevy Duramax! Historically, Cummins engines are so tough because they were originally designed as an off-road, heavy duty engine. They have timing gears instead of chains or belts, heat-treated crankshafts and piston rods, and over-sized cast-iron poured blocks.The older 5.9L has a duty cycle of one million miles, and the 6.7Ls are said to go to 600-750,000 miles with little attention.

Re-Powering F-Series with the Ultimate Inline-Six

You could roll coal on your own Prius. Take that, hippies!

[Just1MoreDave]

I had just gotten a lot of deferred maintenance done on my 2002 Nissan Frontier before the lockdown. New shocks really work a lot better than broken ones. Just for fun, I started looking at the Rivian R1T electric pickup which was supposed to go into production in the fall. From what they have revealed (not a lot) it's interesting. I kind of want just some electric motors and a bunch of batteries, but by the time these guys are done, base prices is already $70K. At that price the truck probably can self-drive to Home Depot and load its own 2x6s.

[Canada_Rockies]

I had just gotten a lot of deferred maintenance done on my 2002 Nissan Frontier before the lockdown. New shocks really work a lot better than broken ones. Just for fun, I started looking at the Rivian R1T electric pickup which was supposed to go into production in the fall. From what they have revealed (not a lot) it's interesting. I kind of want just some electric motors and a bunch of batteries, but by the time these guys are done, base prices is already $70K. At that price the truck probably can self-drive to Home Depot and load its own 2x6s.

I'm several degrees of latitude North of you. No electrics for me. Battery output tanks at freezing temperatures. We get a fair amount of those temperatures here North of the 49th.

[Just1MoreDave]

I'm several degrees of latitude North of you. No electrics for me. Battery output tanks at freezing temperatures. We get a fair amount of those temperatures here North of the 49th.

Yes, one of the problems that won't go away. The problem list grows quickly when you really look at it.

[Racer X 69]

I'm several degrees of latitude North of you. No electrics for me. Battery output tanks at freezing temperatures. We get a fair amount of those temperatures here North of the 49th.

Yes, one of the problems that won't go away. The problem list grows quickly when you really look at it.

They just need to put electric heating blankets around the battery packs.

And power them with a Briggs And Stratton lawn mower engine.

[lesmore49]

I'm several degrees of latitude North of you. No electrics for me. Battery output tanks at freezing temperatures. We get a fair amount of those temperatures here North of the 49th.

You are exactly right.

Extreme cold temps are part and parcel of our Canadian winters, particularly in areas of the north, the prairies, etc. My wife and I travel back and forth between Manitoba, through Saskatchewan to Alberta a number of times per year. In 2019, it was four times.

In January 2019 for example we traveled 700 miles in one day and night, during tremendous changing weather and cold during this day, which is not unusual on the Canadian prairies....or I would say in states such as Montana, the Dakotas, Northern Minnesota...to name a few.

We left somewhat west of Medicine Hat in the morning...temps were about 20 + degrees F, skies were fine. But we track the weather when were driving and an ice storm was forming at the Saskatchewan/Alberta border, which was forecast to change to heavy snow storm with plunging temps midway in the province of Saskatchewan. We wanted to out run (at speed limit) the huge ice/snow storm coming...

By the time we hit Eastern Saskatchewan actual temperatures, not with the addition of wind chill...reached -33 F to -35 F and we drove through the evening at these temps, reaching our home destination by about 10:15 PM. The storm came early that morning and roads both in Saskatchewan and Manitoba were closed for a few days till they could be plowed out. Our vehicle had both the in car heater and defroster system on full...which in an IC vehicle takes excess heat from the IC engine and directs it to the vehicle cabin and windows. It's not heat powered by the battery as it is in an electric vehicle. In an IC car...providing heat/defrost doesn't use more IC fuel...where in an electric vehicle...the heat/defrost comes from the same battery moving the car...and consumes a significant amount of battery power if on full, like we needed.

Again, electric cars rely completely on battery power for movement, but the also power heater / defroster systems in cars and when they do in very cold temps their mile ranges plunges significantly and in the rural areas of the prairies there are not a lot of recharger infrastructure. With a internal combustion engine (IC)(gas/diesel) you have a pretty good idea of your range as it doesn't change much in different temps...but also with IC there is a lot of infrastructure...gas stations along the way...even in western Canadian/western northern American rural areas that have far distances between villages, towns , cities.

At this point we wouldn't of been able to make that trip, in these extreme temps,in 12 hours. We refueled or IC engine four times....and each time it took 5-7 minutes before we were on our way again...and we knew our mile range would not be affected by the extreme cold.

I'm not saying complete electric vehicles are not the future, they probably are....but at this stage of development if you live in certain areas of North America where it can get very cold and the distances are long between places...complete electric is not at the point where it can take over.

Yes, progress will be made, in increasing electric vehicle range, improving battery power so it's much more resistant to the effect of extreme cold , infrastructure, etc.

Living in many largely northern rural areas is different from living in a large city with moderate temps and driving needs restricted to the city limits and that needs to be recognized.

Also in the Canadian prairies and north...our public transportation is not intercity buses, passenger trains...because we don't for most part, have that anymore. Greyhound bus pulled out from the prairies about a year or so ago.

What we need to have in between IC vehicles and total electric vehicles...is a bridge...say use of hybrids which feature both electric motors and IC gas engines...or look more seriously at hydrogen, which I think maybe the better choice for transportation use in a wide range of temps, range, etc.

[Just1MoreDave]

They just need to put electric heating blankets around the battery packs.

And power them with a Briggs And Stratton lawn mower engine.

:cheesy:

Exactly, then in warmer weather, it's a range extender.

[lesmore49]

I had just gotten a lot of deferred maintenance done on my 2002 Nissan Frontier before the lockdown. New shocks really work a lot better than broken ones. Just for fun, I started looking at the Rivian R1T electric pickup which was supposed to go into production in the fall. From what they have revealed (not a lot) it's interesting. I kind of want just some electric motors and a bunch of batteries, but by the time these guys are done, base prices is already $70K. At that price the truck probably can self-drive to Home Depot and load its own 2x6s.

Interesting you have an old Frontier, maybe if you're looking at replacing it you might want to consider a later generation of Frontiers. They appear to be good, solid trucks.

Check out 'The Fast Lane Trucks' . an internet blog.

They have a number of test videos on both older Nissan Frontier 4W trucks and the new 2020 that just came out. Our son has a 2017 Frontier 4WD with the off road package the Pro4X. These Frontiers have been around for a long time, but they seem to be tough, reliable and capable and are a smaller pickup being mid size...but with a body on frame, healthy V6, etc. Some complain that the Frontier is old fashioned, been around a long time with little change...and that's so...but during this long time the bugs have been worked out...such as the automatic transmission which caused some issues early on, but it seems to be bulletproof now.

So if you want the latest fashion, look elsewhere, but if you want a tough, proven smaller pickup...at a reasonable price...maybe the Frontier is a vehicle to check out.

[Just1MoreDave]

Interesting you have an old Frontier, maybe if you're looking at replacing it you might want to consider a later generation of Frontiers. They appear to be good, solid trucks...

The "problem" is that it only has 64,000 miles on it, although it's 18 years old. Any new purchase would be $30K ish, and still not be perfect for me. The best idea is to wait a couple of years, then keep doing that until like 2032.

One possibility is an electric conversion. I have minimal requirements - I don't need that much range or to carry a lot of weight. I could even give up some climate control, 4WD and power steering. I can't do it myself but possibly find someone willing to swap engine, transmission and gas tank for lots of batteries and an electric motor. As more electric cars come out, more parts and batteries are available. It wouldn't be as high-tech as the Tesla or Rivian, but it would be as functional as I need and way cheaper. In my mind that conversion is $15,000 and gets cheaper or better over time.

I expect more new electric pickup trucks but I also expect they will follow the Tesla model and be expensive at first. GM has been talking the most. Ford has invested in Rivian.

I just "serviced" my battery-powered lawnmower for another year - sharpened the blade and blew the dust off. It started right up.