New England B.S. Thread

Thanks Rob!

 

I went to the auto show in RI today as I'm starting the preliminary work into replacing the wife's JGC. I was disappointed with the manufacturer turnout as there were a ton of missing manufacturers (Honda, Mazda, Hyundai, GMC, Chevy, Audi, Acura, Lexus, etc).

That said, I finally had a chance to sit in the new 4G Tacoma and I was disappointed that I didn't like it. Honestly, I don't love the aesthetics of it, I think the creasing went a bit too far, although I do wonder if it would eventually grow on me. What hurt (and surprised me) was the size of the cabin, at least compared to my 3G (and by extension the 2G). Sitting in it my calf was touching the center console. It wasn't me touching the console by choice, it was impinging on my calf. I set the Isodynamic seat (the floor model was a Pro) to my preferred positions and the rear seatback was nearly touching the rear seat cushion. I'm fairly certain no one could sit behind me if they had legs, you certainly couldn't fit a child seat back there. The 3G has significantly more space. I would assume a standard seat would negate that, but regardless I was disappointed.

That said, I loved the Land Cruiser. I think I'd reluctantly take mine in GX trim as I don't like the load floor issue with the hybrid pack, nor the lack of third row seating. I like the aesthetics much more on the LC but the GX would likely fit my needs better and preliminary reports say the GX powertrain is better suited to the platform than the LC. I have zero issue with having a turbo 4 with a hybrid pack and would easily purchase one, but if there's a better suited option, I'm not going to negate it.

I sat in the Durango and it was hilarious. I'd be curious who is still buying one of these unless it has the Hellcat engine in it. The interior is nearly identical to my wife's JGC (same seats, same door panels / switches, same tweeters) that were basically already 6 years old when we bought it.

I liked the Maverick a lot if I needed a basic commuter truck, although some of the fit and finish was suspect.

I think of the 3-row options I saw, the Kia Telluride would be the strongest contender, although I'm waiting to see the CX-90 and Pilot to make a final decision. I really wanted to like the Volvo XC90, but it was too tight inside. I sat in the 3rd row and my knees were in the seat and head on the ceiling, and I'm not a particularly big guy.

 

I have wanted to go to RI auto show these past few years, but the pandemic (like you saw) stopped alot of the manufacturers turning out, so there is not as much to see. Plus we used to get free tickets when MotorTrend was sponsoring the show (there would be 2 tickets inside an issue and at the exit of the show you could sign up for a free year of MotorTrend, so we went for free for many years!) but that stopped before 2020.

 

The Mav isn't a bad little truck, my friend likes his. Long term is still unsure of course but he doesn't need a big vehicle and this seems to best check the boxes. He was looking at the 3G Tacoma among others before buying the Mav.

 

For $14.00 and a day out with a good friend I didn't hate it, but from a research standpoint it was certainly lacking. I did get to sit in the GR Corolla (rad) and the new Z (awful).

It's going to do 95% of what 95% of truck owners will do without the drawbacks for a truck. It's very basic, hauls people and tall cargo and gets decent fuel economy. It would be perfect for my FIL.

However, to give you an idea on the Maverick


I thought that the weird pattern around the vent was the material coming off the dash, but apparently it's supposed to be like that? Thanks, I hate it.

 

That seems rather tacky to me..cringe

 

We got my wife a CX-90 PHEV to replace her 2nd CX-5. We really like it so far, comfortable and spacious but not overly massive or expensive. The Volvo is 5" shorter than the Mazda and feels it in the legroom especially in the 3rd row. Telluride/Palisade are nice, just make sure you drive one and can live with that engine before making a purchase decision. I'll admit I love the V8 Durango in SRT and Hellcat trim but they are absolutely ancient and make no apologies about it.

 

Unless the PHEV plays with the money in terms of tax credits, the extra $5,000 buy-in doesn't excite me. I ruled out the XC90 as it's tiny in the third row and getting in and out was embarrassing, especially at the $5-10,000 premium over the CX-90 / Telluride.

What do you mean when you say the engine combo on the Telluride? Is it a weird shifting matrix thing like the 3G Tacoma, or just underpowered? For the family cruiser performance is simply "good enough to keep up with modern traffic". The JGC we have has the Pentastar and is plenty fine. The Telluride is getting restyled in 2026 (when I'll likely buy) and no one seems to know if they'll keep the 3.8L.

I agree on the Durango in terms of the powerful versions, but it was just wild to climb into a 2025 model car that has the same switchgear as my 2016, which already was old then.

 

My friend has had a Telluride since they came out. Not sure re the driving/shifting etc, but she road trips and sleeps in the vehicle often..and is very pleased with it.

 

When is the Boston auto show? I feel like RI gets the shaft and makers only sponsor one show per region and those are too close, so they'd rather only focus on Boston. it was going on same time as the outdoor expo last year.

 

Last year it was in April. Historically it was the winter time (Jan-Feb) but they've moved it, I guess.

I won't go to Providence again because there were simply too many manufacturers that were missed. For $14.00 I suppose I can't expect much, and it was a nice morning with a good friend, but for what I was hoping to do, it was a bit of a let down.

 

i need to start paying attention to new autos, the Ford will need replacing soon enough. I follow them enough to sort of what what’s going on, but I’m not in love with any of the current 3/4 ton trucks today. Ford messed with the design both inside and out, the base truck is fine but I don’t like the looks. It’s like they wanted to follow Chevy and beat their 3/4 ton lineup with the ugly stick. I do like the gas engine options from Ford, both the 6.8 or 7.3 would be fine for me.
GMC at least looks decent, I like the 6.6 gasser but there are some GM quirks I’m not a fan of.
Aesthetically, I think Ram wins inside and out, especially for the lower trim levels (which is were I’d be buying). I’m generally about a half step above the basic work truck and Ram puts more into the low trim levels than the others. Their drawback is the 6.4 MDS system, which may have improved.
I’m in no rush, still love the truck I’m in but it’s overkill for what I do with it. I’m at the point where I commit to running it into the ground and brace for some repairs or trade it while it’s still got value.

 

What's the odometer at presently?

 

Multitool pouch for a friend. He wore out the one that came with his Leatherman 15 years ago. I told him he was not likely to wear this one out. I would have gone with color.or contrasting thread but he wanted it blackonblack. Unfortunately I was out of black oxide snaps, but this style is alright.

Black veg tan, three piece construction, 100% saddlestitched.

 

You're right, it is a fun day out, I do miss going with family and friends, but since I have no interest in newer vehicles, I just don't feel like it is worth it (if you have a friend that works at a dealership, ask them to see if they get free tickets to the auto shows, I remember meeting with the owner of Colonial Toyota, now Toyota of Smithfield, and he had a stack of 50 tickets in his pocket!).

I have driven a few Tellurides/Palisades at my work (in various trim levels), and I think they are very nice SUVs, they ride well, drive nicely, have alot of tech that people want in cars now. The only thing that scares me about Hyundai/Kia vehicles is thier engines can grenade at a moments notice. My father's girlfriend's daughter has a '16 Kia Sportage, and me and my father have done almost all of the maintenance on it ( the first 20k miles she went to the dealer) and the engine spit a rod out of the oil pan at 75k miles! The engine was covered under a warranty enhancement program, so it got a brand new engine from Kia, but it is very off-putting that you can be religious with maintenance, and it still blows up.

 

finished my 2nd coat of Adams Graphene ceramic coating. Took them from a matte(ish) finish to a true satin. Hopefully this keeps these cleaner and prevents them from turning chalky like every other matte TRD wheel

 

My wife wanted a hybrid of sorts so the CX-90 was where we landed. We weren’t ready to fully commit to an EV but next go ‘round I’d love to do an EV9.

 

Just shy of 120k

 

It looks like the Boston show may not be happening this year. There is no date posted on the website. That sucks.

 

The Theta engine is notorious for that, though. Some initial cursory research shows that not being a common theme with the 3.8L. That said, everyone agrees the dealership experience overall with Kia is pretty bottom of the barrel.

Kia is redesigning the Telluride / Palisade for 2026, so we will see what the running gear looks like. While I generally have no issue buying the first year of a new model, Kia doesn't have the same reputation that say Honda / Toyota does in terms of reliability so I'd be a little more reluctant to do so with them.