the anti-sportscar thread

Pete Guthrie · **Posted:** Tue Aug 13, 2013 2:08 pm

dude,i have a portable garmin navistar or what ever. It mostly gets me where i want all the time, its slow down town, so that's annoying, but on hte open road its great.The stereo system has sattelite xm radio, i pay, i got hooked on it at the rental car place i worked at. I can listen to bbc, rock, country, what ever anytime. NO COMMERCIALS and no same damn song over and over, that turned me off most regular radio.Especially like 105 and some others, that play elevator music .I can listen to old old country, intense metal, bbc, what ever i want. Yeah you have to pay a fee, but i tell you, its worth it if you are in your car alot.I travel with the subie crowd, and with yall, so I am in my car alot, and with my dog. I have a stock 6 disc in dash changer, so on real long trips i am not without some music.Overall, I like the setup in my wrx, its good stuff. I can update it online, so it always knows where stuff is. ON the open highway, really I can leave my house, and arrive in charlotte where my sister lives, no questions.

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Tue Jun 14, 2016 2:39 pm

Holy zombie thread resurrection, Batman!

So, apparently it makes me forever to act on anything. :roll:

I finally gave in. The WRX has been fine--paid off, low property taxes, decent insurance rates etc but it was getting long in the tooth now at 7 years old (but only 62000 miles) The paint was starting to act funky (despite reasonable attempts at consistent wash and wax), the boost gauge light went out, and most recently the AC got sketchy and quit during a couple of really hot days. Added to the fact that the interior was bargain basement and the stereo sucked, I knew that a new-to-me car for my (increasing longer) commute was coming. On a whim I found a reasonably priced ES300h at carMax and took it for a drive. Nice car, quiet (60-65dB at 70mph... vs 82 in the WRX and 86 in the S2000), soooooper nice interior and great stereo. 40 mpg on regular gas (vs 23 with premium on the WRX).

Got my CarMax trade-in offer of $14000 for the WRX. Seven year old car had lost only 40% of value, and the trade-in was very close to what similar prices I had seen being offered as sale prices on local 2008-2010 WRXes.

Found a different car (1-owner 11k miles) in Dulles and had it transferred down. Smooth process. Drove it, liked it, bought it. 45 minutes later all the paperwork was done.

Searching Kbb et al and the local market I noticed that in comparing hybrid vs standard models (ES300h, Avalon hybrid and Camry hybrid) showed no real price difference when controlling for mileage and car condition; it appears the hybrids lost their premium very quickly. My car was equivalently priced to numerous other non-hybrid examples within a 500 mile radius. It was more expensive than those with 30-40k, but of the 4 I checked out the reasons were obvious--one had no service history (big red flag as Lexus provides free service for first 2 years and should be visible on Lexus service database), one had a prior accident (on Carfax but not reported on CarMax Autocheck), and two had a pretty neglected interior (hole in carpet from high heels, scraped seat backs, worn seat bolsters etc) Hard to say if this is the effect of tax savings, low oil prices pushing down demand for hybrids or just normal market mechanics...but it was smart not to pay the premium for a new hybrid car, even with the tax incentives.

So if you see a gray metallic ES hybrid poking along in the right hand lane, that's me trying to stay in ECO mode. Don't judge :lol:

BriceJohnson · **Joined:** Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:33 am **Posts:** 2230

Wuss, I commute to Sanford in a Miata.

RickyBeam · **Posted:** Tue Jun 14, 2016 3:35 pm

Steven Carter wrote:

40 mpg on regular gas (vs 23 with premium on the WRX).

~36 if you drive it like a normal car. ('tho I've done ~60 following a truck to CMP) Lexus really knows how to make a car quiet -- it does make for a heavy car, 'tho; mine's 3800lbs. However, you'll have to get an older non-hybrid, or higher tier (GS, LS) to get the asphalt lined silence. (the hybrids get a cellulose based material)

Quote:

So if you see a gray metallic ES hybrid poking along in the right hand lane, that's me trying to stay in ECO mode. Don't judge :lol:

Hah. It has a knob to put it in ECO mode, and it'll stay there until you change it. "Power" returns to "normal" after the car is turned off. I hate "normal" mode; I want my car's power to be predictable.

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Tue Jun 14, 2016 4:19 pm

Thanks Ricky. I should have said "zone," not "mode." On the dash, the left hand gauge switches between an ECO and tachometer format depending on which mode you are in. On the ECO mode, the gauge has three sections: "Charge" "Eco" and "Power." Keeping the needle in the ECO zone while in ECO mode is the sweet spot for mpg goodness. I do enjoy the EV mode--makes sneaking up on people entertaining.

Other thoughts:
--Seat ventilation is awesome.
--Heated steering wheel is going to be sweet on winter mornings.
--Stereo is even better than I thought.
--It is pretty scary/intriguing just how much tech integration has developed in the last 7 years.
--The NAV and I are not on good terms just yet, but we could get there
--don't forget to purge your personal data when you trade-in a car! It's a little creepy checking out the prior owner's prior NAV destinations :lol:

Surprisingly, the form factor for the battery doesn't take up more than 2 cu ft or so of the trunk. I can fit four golf bags and a pushcart in there without much problem.

Chad Culbertson · **Posted:** Tue Jun 14, 2016 5:51 pm

The focus I bought had the cold weather package, which I don't really care about, but it was the interior color and exterior color I wanted.

I was amazed at how much I really liked the heated wheel over winter since I never had a car with one, I figured it would be kinda gimmicky to me.

The ventilated seats are really nice too, I don't have them but my dads GMC Sierra does and it's amazing how well they work to cool you off. It's just unfortunate for the folks in the back since it vents your sweaty air out of the back of the front seat in the GMC, haha.

Arthur McDonald · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 1:54 am **Posts:** 2052

I read a recent study where they found that every mile you drive a hybrid in ECO mode, you add an average of .002 seconds to your autocross times.

clinehall · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2016 8:25 am

First, I think this shows we veterans of the club are getting old, trading sports cars for luxury SUV's but I guess it is the circle of life!

I'm thinking of confiscating my wife's Cayenne but don't know what I will have to buy her to do so. I HATE the heated steering wheel and there is know way to control it. Mr. Porsche decides when you need it, I end up driving with two fingers until it cuts off.

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2016 8:35 am

BriceJohnson wrote:

Wuss, I commute to Sanford in a Miata.

But commuting in the S2000 would mess with my hair...oh, wait YOU'RE the one in the hairdresser's car right? :lol:

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2016 8:37 am

clinehall wrote:

First, I think this shows we veterans of the club are getting old, trading sports cars for luxury SUV's but I guess it is the circle of life!

I'm thinking of confiscating my wife's Cayenne but don't know what I will have to buy her to do so. I HATE the heated steering wheel and there is know way to control it. Mr. Porsche decides when you need it, I end up driving with two fingers until it cuts off.

Ze germanns know you better than you know your own needs! Mine only heats the non-wood part of the wheel, and has a little button on the dash. Is there no control option buried in the byzantine menu tree of your Cayenne's computer?

Andrew Jonell · **Joined:** Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:43 pm **Posts:** 1350

clinehall wrote:

First, I think this shows we veterans of the club are getting old, trading sports cars for luxury SUV's but I guess it is the circle of life!

I'm thinking of confiscating my wife's Cayenne but don't know what I will have to buy her to do so. I HATE the heated steering wheel and there is know way to control it. Mr. Porsche decides when you need it, I end up driving with two fingers until it cuts off.

I'm trying to figure a grey market Toyota Celsior or LS430 into my life.

It's hard.

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2016 12:31 pm

Andrew Jonell wrote:

I'm trying to figure a grey market Toyota Celsior or LS430 into my life.

It's hard.

I had you pegged as more of a Honda Beat kinda guy :lol:

. Following those Japanese Car Import companies on FB is a huge fanciful distraction. The thought of legal GTRs in the area is awesome.

Andrew Jonell · **Joined:** Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:43 pm **Posts:** 1350

There are more than a few R32s (GTS or GTS-Ts, no actual GTRs) floating around here.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2016 1:53 pm

Steven Carter wrote:

--The NAV and I are not on good terms just yet, but we could get there

I have found that in the Toyota/Lexus and Nissan/Infiniti world that using the voice command for the integrated navigation gives about 100% better hit rate. When typing in the addresses, it gets hung up on not converting "South Tryon Street" to "S Tryon Street" and things like that. The voice command takes that problem away. - AB

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2016 2:12 pm

Aaron Buckley wrote:

Steven Carter wrote:

--The NAV and I are not on good terms just yet, but we could get there

I have found that in the Toyota/Lexus and Nissan/Infiniti world that using the voice command for the integrated navigation gives about 100% better hit rate. When typing in the addresses, it gets hung up on not converting "South Tryon Street" to "S Tryon Street" and things like that. The voice command takes that problem away. - AB

Good to know...thanks! Still getting used to the NAV vocabulary etc as it's my first car with those features. I did successfully pair my iPhone so now I can listen to my podcasts, music etc.

The "Most Thankless Job at Lexus" Award I think may go to the writers of the owner's manual. Nearly 1000 pages long, and I bet <1% of owners even crack it open, instead opting for shorter quick guide.

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