The Garage

[Nathan]

Are they continuing the Pontiac G6 under any other badge?  That was my next car until they killed Pontiac.

Not the car, but the platform is the global Epsilon I that the Malibu uses, and the next generation Epsilon II underpins the Regal.

[tomterp]

All the stereo speakers had dry-rotted

One of my larger door speakers is blown.  Can't imagine how much that would cost to repair.

[PANatsFan]

One of my larger door speakers is blown.  Can't imagine how much that would cost to repair.

That happened to me, so I sold the car

[PANatsFan]

they take a while to pay for themselves (8 to 301 years depending on price of gas and mileage)

http://hybridreview.blogspot.com/2008/03/how-long-does-it-take-to-make-up.html

terrible site (I read about the study when it came out and am too lazy to find something better)

I don't care if they pay for themselves. I care that you can get a car with reasonable hauling capacity and room for kids, and it won't use enough power to light a small city.

[Nathan]

I don't care if they pay for themselves. I care that you can get a car with reasonable hauling capacity and room for kids, and it won't use enough power to light a small city.

Then diesel is a much better option.

[PANatsFan]

Then diesel is a much better option.

And you can stop at those cool Willie Nelson Biodiesel stations in the middle of nowhere!

[Nathan]

In all seriousness, diesel technology today is much better than it was years ago.  They are no longer the clattering smoking heaps like they used to be.  You can cruise along in a TDI Golf getting 50 mpg with stump pulling torque on tap.

[blue911]

One of my larger door speakers is blown.  Can't imagine how much that would cost to repair.

Well that'll teach to ride around with the bass cranked all the up!

[tomterp]

Well that'll teach to ride around with the bass cranked all the up!

"Your speaker blowing was brought to you today by Kenny Gradney, of Little Feat"

[blue911]

"Your speaker blowing was brought to you today by Kenny Gradney, of Little Feat"

Don't get much Little Feat at 150db.

The wife's Boxster is always a treat to take in for service.

[tomterp]

The wife's Boxster is always a treat to take in for service.

An oil change is $............?

[blue911]

An oil change is $............?

Around $300, if I remember correctly. Synthetic oil makes it an annual event (they claim every 15,000 miles but that would put us close to 5 years between changes).

[The Chief]

$300 annually isn't that bad compared to going to Jiffy Lube 4-5 times a year with an older car.  Of course it's a lot more than if you do the same thing yourself, but eh.

They told me every 10k for the synthetic in my car, which is about ~10 months for me, and the 10k, 20k, and 30k scheduled maintenance visits are on the house, after which I'll probably trade in anyway.

[HalfSmokes]

Around $300, if I remember correctly. Synthetic oil makes it an annual event (they claim every 15,000 miles but that would put us close to 5 years between changes).

my car is supposed to be 15k, but even under a maintenance warrenty, they reccomend/cover it at least once per year

[blue911]

$300 annually isn't that bad compared to going to Jiffy Lube 4-5 times a year with an older car.  Of course it's a lot more than if you do the same thing yourself, but eh.

They told me every 10k for the synthetic in my car, which is about ~10 months for me, and the 10k, 20k, and 30k scheduled maintenance visits are on the house, after which I'll probably trade in anyway.

It isn't worth the hassle to do it myself. It needs to be on a lift to change the filter, then I'd have to deal with disposing of 10 quarts of used oil (plus finding a catch basin that would hold 2.5 gallons). Just too many problems. On top of that BMW of Arlington (the Porsche dealer) will pick up and deliver the car so it's hassle free.

[blue911]

my car is supposed to be 15k, but even under a maintenance warrenty, they reccomend/cover it at least once per year

That's what my mechanic recommended. When you only average slightly more than 3,000 a year, you have different maintenance problems. I have to keep the car plugged into a trickle charger or it'll kill the battery. 

[HalfSmokes]

That's what my mechanic recommended. When you only average slightly more than 3,000 a year, you have different maintenance problems. I have to keep the car plugged into a trickle charger or it'll kill the battery. 

Ours tells us to make sure to drive it a tleast one 15 minute stretch per week to give the alternator enough time to charge the battery, though we do put a healthy 5k on our car per year now

[The Chief]

It isn't worth the hassle to do it myself. It needs to be on a lift to change the filter, then I'd have to deal with disposing of 10 quarts of used oil (plus finding a catch basin that would hold 2.5 gallons). Just too many problems. On top of that BMW of Arlington (the Porsche dealer) will pick up and deliver the car so it's hassle free.

I didn't mean do the Boxster yourself, I just meant general-case "changing your own oil with any old car" kind of scenario.  I personally wouldn't know anything about Porsche maintenance

[PANatsFan]

On top of that BMW of Arlington (the Porsche dealer) will pick up and deliver the car so it's hassle free.

You let them drive your car? I'm amazed they have the insurance to cover that.

[blue911]

You let them drive your car? I'm amazed they have the insurance to cover that.

It's only a car.

[Nathan]

It's only a car.

Only a car?  ONLY A CAR!?  But..but..but... I love her!

[HalfSmokes]

You let them drive your car? I'm amazed they have the insurance to cover that.

They have to drive new Porsches all the time (the showroom and service area aren't on the same lot), so one would assume dealer prep for a new car would mean driving it between the two places.

[PANatsFan]

They have to drive new Porsches all the time (the showroom and service area aren't on the same lot), so one would assume dealer prep for a new car would mean driving it between the two places.

That's different than say 10 miles to blue's house. And they own the new Porsches, that's different insurance, I would think.

They have to insure someone to drive other people's porsche's presumably all around the DC area. Wow. Isn't there a Naughty By Nature song about that?

[Nathan]

The 2012 Ford Focus looks like a sleek new competitor in the C segment.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

I assume they return the Boxter with rose petals on the seats and an iced bottle of Dom in the boot.