Midlife Crisis Car

Midlife Crisis Car:


  • Total voters
    52
I guess I had a different "view" of my needs and wants for a mid-life transition car... I got a VW Golf Tdi (German engineering and handling for ordinary people who can't afford any other German car). My main motivation was to stop wasting precious fuel with a gas-guzzler, and autonomy (I get 55 mpg, and can drive 680 miles without refueling, and that's just under 13 gallons). All that and yet it's an absolute pleasure to drive and has more than enough torque for my needs. My first Golf Tdi was still running perfectly after 13 years and nearly 400,000 miles, and I replaced it with a new one in order to feel the same hassle-free pleasure for the next 15 years.

Call me boring...
 
I guess I had a different "view" of my needs and wants for a mid-life transition car... I got a VW Golf Tdi (German engineering and handling for ordinary people who can't afford any other German car). My main motivation was to stop wasting precious fuel with a gas-guzzler, and autonomy (I get 55 mpg, and can drive 680 miles without refueling, and that's just under 13 gallons). All that and yet it's an absolute pleasure to drive and has more than enough torque for my needs. My first Golf Tdi was still running perfectly after 13 years and nearly 400,000 miles, and I replaced it with a new one in order to feel the same hassle-free pleasure for the next 15 years.

Call me boring...

....you’re boring. :)

Seriously though , my 2019 Denali truck is a cure for the - old man blues.
It’s got a beast of an engine, with a tuned exhaust. I feel like I’m driving my old camaro , except with a better ride , better stereo , and the ability to carry - stuff. Beats the little roadster routine. The 6.2L has the ability to snap your neck hard enough to make you look up your favorite chiropractor’s phone number, if you’re not careful. My vehicles all have a reasonable amount of “get up and go” anyways - for safety reasons. Nothing worse than passing a car or pulling out in traffic with a squirrel under the hood.

Edit : I forgot to mention , when you’re not driving it like a “sports car” , you can slam ii into 4 wheel drive , while everyone else is either stuck or slipping. Lol
 
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Tesla is way more fun.

It will get fully autonomous this year.

It parks for you, it will pick you up, it saves your life by recognizing collision and preventing it. Even if the collision is 2 cars ahead.
Comfortable, great sounds system.

I had bme 550 gt before. I have a Tesla 3, dual motor, now. Way more fun.

And it's quick.

No gas, no oil, no leaking.

In case you want one. You can use my referral code to get 5,000 free Supercharger miles on a new Tesla: https://ts.la/levente42835
 
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I don't know about that. It doesn't snow in Austin, so it's not an overstatement for me :)
Try it in downtown Austin then. See if it'll stop at a stop light, a stop sign and turn a 90º corner. It won't.

Anything that isn't LIDAR based is fair-weather at best. And even LIDAR is years from working well. Tesla's hype machine is very good. Autnomous driving is decades away. We can't pack enough computational power into a car yet to do true autonomous driving.
 
I had my years with German cars, and while I had a blast in the Porsche, and loved my BMWs, I wouldn't buy a new one. Well, I can't afford a new Porsche, as the one I would want is well North of $100k now. I have enjoyed driving Ms in the past, but I would not own one out of warranty. I had one of the S54 M-Roadsters, and I swear, the first week out of warranty, $900 bill for some fuel sensor thing. Every other month, something new. $600 here, $800 there. I threw in the towel.

I test drove some newer BMWs one day at a big tent event. They still handle well, and some go like stink, but the quality of the interiors has really dropped off. For what they cost, it should be nicer, or at least more durable. A lot of the cars I looked at were 1-3 years old, and looked 10 on the inside. Seats were worn, button on the steering wheel had the lettering worn off, dash looked rough. It really is like they just design them to last 3 years, and no more. I think the early 2000s I've sat in have held up better.
 
And to be sure, I don't mind paying extra for "German quality", so as long as the actual "quality" and durability is there, which it doesn't seem to be anymore. So I'll be driving my 535 until it starts falling apart and then get a car with a lot fewer moving parts and maintenance: an electric one. And almost certainly not a BMW electric.
 
Co-worker got a Model 3 recently. One of the suped up ones. Anyway, it's pretty nice, but just not me. My vehicles the last 30 years have all been either 2-seater sports cars, trucks, and now the Jeep. There isn't an electric anything that fills any of those. I guess the original Tesla Roadster did. I'm definitely not opposed to them, as the instant torque is pretty addictive, but they're going to have to wrap those batteries and motor into something more my style.
 
There are lots of models coming to the market this year that you wouldn't be able to tell are electric. Audi, Jaguar, etc. Looks more or less like a regular car, but there's nothing under the hood, and a lot fewer things that can break. As to Tesla, when Roadster2 comes out it will fill a niche that's impossible for ICE cars to fill: 0-60 in 2 seconds.
 
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