Modern engines, much better quality than it was years back.

[bdalameda]

My brother had a GT550 and later a GT750. Solid, shaft-drive inline fours.

Strange - As said already - Kawasaki made the KZ550 and 750 in the states - without shaft drive.

 

[tpasco1995]

Clearly, you have skills that most of us do not. I only dispute your prediction that the Prius would last another 20 years exposed to Ohio road salt. Unless, of course, they use it sparingly in Columbus. Up here they mix sugar with brine and spray that on the roads before the snowfall, and then add rock salt once the precipitation begins.

The salt really is a killer, but when I was underneath I gave it a solid needle scaling and gave the whole thing multiple coats of WD-40 and sprayed-on used motor oil. (Also swapped the original catalytic converter for an aftermarket because the precious metals content made it a lucrative swap and it gave no engine codes, so welded in some exhaust hole patches while I was at it).

A lot of the car is aluminum, so it held up impressively well.

Quick edit because I meant to type it the first time:

I actually learned a lot on this car over the years. Obviously my parents had it for about 15, and I helped my dad with routine stuff as it came up. It meant I got really comfortable under it. There were a couple small things over the years like wiring in a Sirius dock and tow hitch and wiring that made it easy to get comfortable taking it apart and putting it back together.

I'd say that the only skills that were much of anything outside the ordinary were soldering the capacitor (cheap soldering station on Amazon and a Christmas tree LED ornament kit are great practice; it's how I learned) and welding, which I didn't know how to do until the exhaust. Bought a cheap stick welder and tried until I figured it out.

Best suggestions I can give in life are when you need a new skill, just jump into it. We all have to start somewhere.

 

[Chris09]

The 3.6 seems to get better reviews than the earlier 3.8 as far as performance but I'm not convinced that the 3.8 is bad at all from guys I know that have had them. There are a variety of problems with the 3.6, problems already mentioned but the worst I think are some doomed valve train / head failures of some possibly due to casting / initial cleaning issues. Story seems to go that these failures usually occur sooner than later destroy one head and valve train [left?] but not too common and many were covered by warranty.
The 3.6 from 2012 to about 2018 is changed for 2019 and I think some weight is shaved through thinner casting walls and I think low rpm torque is addressed.
The 2012 3.6 is a 60 degree even firing VVT engine and after 2018 may be VVT / VVL.
The Penstar 3.6 is widely used in many different vehicles and had millions of test miles done by [can't remember the name of the race team / company, did the '64 Hemi if I'm not mistaken] during the course of development. I believe they're nearly the template for modern V6 engines.
My 2012 is the standard 6 speed NSG370 which I had to rebuild because of failure of the second gear engagement teeth / shift collar. My shifter and fork assembly were in good condition but at only 115,000 km the clutch disc was near the rivets. The flywheel which has a contoured surface and can't really be machined cleaned up well. Bearings, seals, 2nd and reverse gears, synchros made an inexpensive rebuild, but if someone had bashed the fork assembly or cooked the flywheel would have doubled / trippled the cost.
Many complaints about the factory clutch being too weak or failing; 275 hp and an 11" clutch so I thought that was BS, I installed a cheap kit.
After 2018 I think they go to the dual clutch which is a recall problem with some odd 75,000 units affected and a stop on delivery of new Jeeps until a remedy was determined. It seems that if the clutch was failing or overheating it could reach 5,000 degrees or so, disintegrate and splash through the newly thinned out transmission casting and passenger compartment.
Mine has probably the lowest available factory gear ratio and stock 18" wheels without any mods. The combination of non predicatable / repeatable rpm vs accelerator position inherent with the drive by wire combined with lousy torque below about 1,900 rpm and living on a hill [and maybe not being the driver...] makes clutch wear and tear a maintenance fact of life in my case but I know of a couple flat earth people that have 200,000 km on the original clutch.
Also, the ebrake, well, that just doesn't work; when I initially bought it I replaced the rear disc / drums along with new pads and [ebrake] shoes. Still couldn't hold on any significant grade.
So... get an automatic
On the plus side, they're well engineered and built, the engine is awesome [over 1,800 rpm] once you rev it up, great on the highway, transfer case is great, unstoppable in snow [what I bought if for] and [for now anyway] the transmission and clutch work perfectly, very happy with it and no regrets.

 

[mortenk]

After having owned a 1993 Ford Thunderbird, a 1995 Ford Taurus, and a 1995 Lincoln Mark VIII - all associated with loads of problems and thousands of dollars in repairs, I swore to never own an American car again. I moved onto a 1997 Lexus ES 300, 2008 Lexus IS 250, and a 2012 Lexus CT 200h - they were all great cars with very little maintenance cost. Well - I am not the owner of an American car once again - a 2023 Tesla Y. However, in my defense that is the only real choice in the EV space IMO due to the Tesla Supercharger network, and the technology offered. So far so good - it's not as luxurious as a Lexus, and the details lack some, but it makes up for this in the fun factor, and obviously operating cost.

 

[Valker]

After having owned a 1993 Ford Thunderbird, a 1995 Ford Taurus, and a 1995 Lincoln Mark VIII - all associated with loads of problems and thousands of dollars in repairs, I swore to never own an American car again. I moved onto a 1997 Lexus ES 300, 2008 Lexus IS 250, and a 2012 Lexus CT 200h - they were all great cars with very little maintenance cost. Well - I am not the owner of an American car once again - a 2023 Tesla Y. However, in my defense that is the only real choice in the EV space IMO due to the Tesla Supercharger network, and the technology offered. So far so good - it's not as luxurious as a Lexus, and the details lack some, but it makes up for this in the fun factor, and obviously operating cost.

How much does a full recharge cost at one of those recharge places and for how many miles?

 

[mortenk]

How much does a full recharge cost at one of those recharge places and for how many miles?

Driving an EV is not like driving an ICE. You basically don't wait until battery is almost empty and then charge to 100%. Instead, on longer trips you plug the car in whenever you are stopped anyway (lunch, toilet break, walk the dog, etc.) and this way top off the battery. For daily use you plug in at home e.g. every night so that you start every day with e.g. 80% battery.

However, if you were to charge an empty battery to 100%, it would cost about $10 at home (@13 cents/kWh) or as much as $25 at a supercharger (the cost for these varies greatly from 10 to 40 cents/kWh depending on location and time). My EV will go around 300 miles on a full charge under "good conditions" (flat terrain, moderate temperature, back roads, easy on the throttle). However, if you want to feel the thrill of the EV acceleration at every light (0-60 mph in 4.5 sec), or if it's very hot or cold, your range will be less of course - like any other vehicle. On average I get around 250 miles on a "full charge" - but again, that never happens in an EV.

 

[DannoXYZ]

How much does a full recharge cost at one of those recharge places and for how many miles?

All Superchargers here in convenient locations charge $0.50/kWh so costs me about $30 per charge to 80-90% on my Model X. Then I'll get 170-240 miles out of it depending upon driving style, terrain, weather conditions. Just sitting in garage, it can use 15-20% of charge per day to run AC to keep batteries cool. So uses an entire charge and half per week just sitting in garage during summer.

 

[Larry Fine]

The batteries need cooling when it's sitting unused????

 

[Andrew Shadow]

The batteries need cooling when it's sitting unused????

Yes.
My neighbor has a Tesla and the fan is always running in the summer to keep the batteries cool. When it's plugged in and charging the fan is often running as well, summer or winter, to keep the batteries in a specific temperature range.

When he first got it I thought that there was something wrong with it and that the batteries would be dead on him in the morning. I went and rang his bell to tell him that his fan was running. If you didn't know that it was an electric vehicle you would think that the wacko leaves his engine running all the time.

 

[Larry Fine]

If you didn't know that it was an electric vehicle you would think that the wacko leaves his engine running all the time.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto were at the bar drinking, when in walks a cowboy who yells, "Who's white horse is that outside?"

The Lone Ranger finishes off his whiskey, slams down the glass, turns around and says, "It's my horse. Why do you want to know?"

The cowboy looks at him and says, "Well, your horse is standing out there in the sun and he don't look too good."

The Lone Ranger and Tonto run outside and they see that Silver is in bad shape, suffering from heat exhaustion. The Loan Ranger moves his horse into the shade and gets a bucket of water. He then pours some of the water over the horse and gives the rest to Silver to drink.

It is then he notices that there isn't a breeze so he asks Tonto if he would start running around Silver to get some air flowing and perhaps cool him down.

Being a faithful friend, Tonto starts running around Silver. The Lone Ranger stands there for a bit then realizes there is not much more he can do, so he goes back into the bar and orders another whiskey.

After a bit another cowboy walks in and says, "Who's white horse is that outside?"

Slowly the Lone Ranger turns around and says, "That is my horse, what is wrong with him now?"

"Nothing," replies the cowboy, "I just wanted to let you know that you left your Injun running."

 

[DannoXYZ]

Fan actually doesn’t cool batteries. It cools AC condenser which is part of AC system that sheds heat. Then cooled refrigerant is sent back in to cool batteries.

 

[Daboo]

So you're saying it cools the batteries...

 

[ToddC]

 

[DannoXYZ]

So far, I’m spending more on maintenance with EV than I ever did with ICE cars. Hopefully that’s issues with 1st-generation designs that will be fixed in subsequent models. Mistakes like using GM’s old hydroforming equipment used to make steel monocoque bodies and re-using them for aluminium without increasing wall-thickness.

My wife’s last Corolla was at 350k-miles when we sold it 5-yrs ago. New owner reported that it just ticked over 400k last year! Pretty much all it needed during its entire life was oil-changes, tyres and brake pads.

I learned to drive on Supra. Learners always abuse car they 1st used. I went all through high-school and university with that car. After 10-yrs and 250k-miles, engine finally wore out! Surprised it lasted that long with poor maintenance teenager did!

 

[tpasco1995]

So far, I’m spending more on maintenance with EV than I ever did with ICE cars. Hopefully that’s issues with 1st-generation designs that will be fixed in subsequent models. Mistakes like using GM’s old hydrodorming equipment used to make steel monocoque bodies and re-using them for aluminium without increasing wall-thickness.

My wife’s last Corolla was at 350k-miles when we sold it 5-yrs ago. New owner reported that it just ticked over 400k last year! Pretty much all it needed during its entire life was oil-changes, tyres and brake pads.

I learned to drive on Supra. Learners always abuse car they 1st used. I went all through high-school and university with that car. After 10-yrs and 250k-miles, engine finally wore out! Surprised it lasted that long with poor maintenance teenager did!

Current car is a 2020 Prius Prime (plug-in hybrid). My daily commute is about 23 miles each way, and I have a charger at work, so I normally get to do the entire trip without gas.

We did a 2,500 mile road trip for vacation this past summer. Two adults, a kiddo, plus enough stuff for DC, OBX, and Gatlinburg for a week and a half. Two of the hotels had free charging entirely by mistake, so other than the longer legs of the drive, we didn't use any gas puttering around town. Also meant not paying for gas in tourist cities.

Total maintenance 25,000 miles on (how the hell did I do 25,000 miles in 10 months...) has been four oil changes; I can realistically ignore the service interval and bump out to 10,000 miles between because the oil is still yellow each time, but it's in warranty so I'm not going to be mean to it yet. Coming close to tires; that's probably 10,000 miles out because it came on dealership specials.

I'm curious where your maintenance costs are sitting. Not because I don't believe you, but because I want to avoid the issues.

 

[mortenk]

All Superchargers here in convenient locations charge $0.50/kWh so costs me about $30 per charge to 80-90% on my Model X. Then I'll get 170-240 miles out of it depending upon driving style, terrain, weather conditions. Just sitting in garage, it can use 15-20% of charge per day to run AC to keep batteries cool. So uses an entire charge and half per week just sitting in garage during summer.

How hot is your garage? Is it really necessary to leave the AC on all the time? It seems like such a waste, so something to keep in mind if considering an EV if you live in a very warm place.

 

[mortenk]

So far, I’m spending more on maintenance with EV than I ever did with ICE cars. Hopefully that’s issues with 1st-generation designs that will be fixed in subsequent models. Mistakes like using GM’s old hydroforming equipment used to make steel monocoque bodies and re-using them for aluminium without increasing wall-thickness.

What are you maintaining on your EV? I've had mine for almost a year and maintenance cost is $0 so far. I don't expect any maintenance until I need tires at maybe 25k? I haven't barely touched the brake pedal so far so brake pads will likely last the lifetime of the car.

 

[rwthomas1]

Four things have changed:
1. Design is now done on computer, with 3d rendering, etc. any issues can be sorted out long before the design hits production.
2. Machining is very close/tight tolerance now. Parts are incredibly uniform. They wear better and last longer.
3. LUBRICANTS! There have been quantum leaps in lubricants and the additives in them. I remember taking apart old V8's in the 80's. They were full of black sludge. Old oils with no dispersants, detergents, etc. New oil keeps the crud in suspension and from adhering to surfaces.
4. People keep cars longer now, drive longer distances, and tend to maintain them better since they are so expensive.

I haven't really noticed a difference in longevity between foreign and domestic. I have taken 5-6 domestics well past 200K without issue, as well as German and Japanese vehicles. The key is maintenance. My 03 Jetta TDI has 340K on it and the engine has never been apart. Runs smooth and burns almost no oil. I also have an 07 Camry with the "oil burner" 4 cylinder at 77K. Was burning 1 qt every 700miles when I got it. Now it burns a quart every 3K. How did I do that? Flush it, run it hard, etc. and then regular oil changes. Maintenance isn't rocket science....

 

[Daboo]

Study: EVs Release More Toxic Emissions and Are Worse for the Environment than Gas-Powered Cars

Electric vehicles including EVs produced by Elon Musk's Tesla release more toxic emissions into the atmosphere and are worse for the environment than gas-powered vehicles, a resurfaced study from 2022 revealed.

www.breitbart.com

Chris

 

[Chris09]

I guess it takes money to set up a charging station and they have to make a profit, but 50 cents a kWhr made me go look at my latest bill, would be three times more than my higher tier rate. Could be a good after school job if you were a kid though, set up a little charging station out in front of the house... wrap the cables back neatly before Dad pulls that new Tesla back in the driveway... offer free lemonade...
Wish I could do it all over again, so many opportunities we never had.