My head has been turned.... I was looking at Mavericks, for my personal get around and towing toys in summer. For the 30mpg tow pig. The price in CDN has been climbing, somewhat inexplicably, because they are hecho in Mexico and CUSMA still in effect twixt hither and thither. Plus what is really annoying me, is that I want the gizmos if I am getting new (or newish). Fact is, I have infirmities and I'm getting older, I want the car to look after me if I get hit with a "bad day" after I've thought I was okay to go off somewhere. The annoyance is that while many other makes have ACC on base trims, or at least you can order it, the Maverick in Ford's infinite wisdom (Which sees fit to include it on low trims of Escape and Bronco) is not able to have ACC unless you go for the top, fake leatherised, cosplay cowboy Lariat. So wanting the good tow package, the AWD and the ACC on that in a hybrid, it's coming out just shy of 50,000 Canadian 🇨🇦 😮‍💨 oof and THEN the jerkwad dealers keep ordering them with moonroof donotwant, Black Appearance Package, donotwant, extra bed stuff and trimmings kinda not a dealbreaker if they throw it in but I can get pretty much anything for less than half what the Ford official price is.. LATER, don't want it jacking price now. Result, what I want is in $55k 🇨🇦 "cheap little trucks" aaaaargh.

I then just found out, the Hyundai Santa Fe BASE model in Canada, comes stuffed with all this forrrrrr $45k 🇨🇦 a 7 seater SUV with mpg only a hair worse than the AWD Maverick in the hybrid form. Reasonable towing, the back is relatively cavernous, it's not quite a Suburban or Expedition but it's big enough. It's like wow, anything I put in the 4.5ft bed has to get wet if it's longer than that, (assuming some kind of cover) whereas I can prolly get 6ft long stuff in here ... and it comes with a rack. So, I'd be up to 60k for some of that in a Maverick if I got the Ford official topper/shell/cap. Though about 3k more for aftermarket. As a bonus, it seems a little more soft road capable than the Lariat AWD, not as good as Tremor or FX4 trims probably on the Maverick, maybe halfway to those, which you can't get as hybrid, but a middling amount more offroad capable than Lariat AWD. I kinda like the look too, kinda halfway between a Bronco and a Classic Range Rover, with maybe a bit of Discovery round the wheel wells. Wins points in that former point for being the "storm beater" vehicle. Which is why I'm looking for AWD and some winter friendly features like heated seats and wheel. I guess for fairness you say I've gotta buy a trailer for the dirty stuff, but that was likely to happen anyway with 4.5ft bed limit.

So the reason Hyundais weren't under consideration previously, the questions over drivetrain reliability are less concerning for 2nd car, as it will do way less miles. I believe I would be inside warranty over 5 years, and I think since it's a hybrid it gets 8years 160,000 on pretty much the entire drivetrain. I also will cope if it's in the shop for a month having a new engine at Hyundais expense, whereas main car cannot be out of service that long. Anyway, 5 or 8 years, stay inside warranty mileage, then trade it is the thinking with this one, whereas primary vehicle was all about ongoing reliability, best possible gas mileage, least time in shop etc.

Lastly, Hyundai is looking itchy to clear 2025 stock already whereas Ford probably doesn't care until November or so. So unless Ford get their finger out their butt for Canadian Friends and Family pricing, Costco auto program Canada gets Fords like the US one, or Maverick 2026s get announced with ACC in the XLT and some killer features, I might be swerving to Santa Fe.

Oh yeah and that other problem, liberating enough readies from my notional mattress, when I was planning spending "near" 40k in the first place, not over.

Edit: BTW while a RAV4 hybrid woodland edition should theoretically make for comparison for it's okay tow rating and okay mpg, though interior space less, at around $45k 🇨🇦 list, it doesn't get considered because it's unobtanium for anyone who a) likes seeing a car they're going to buy and b) doesn't want to wait an indeterminate possibly multiyear period for one. Any that make it onto a lot due to order cancellation get snapped up at 60k plus.

EditII: the mostly german diesels might have sounded like a better idea, but I realised they need frequent episodes of bahnstorming (long highway drives) to regenerate the DPF filters, so if I just putter around the city in them and only stretch their legs once a month they'll choke up.

BitWrangler wrote on 2025-06-09, 17:07:

Cool I like VWs from before they started thinking they were a luxury brand,

Interestingly, this seemed to happen immediately after the fall of the Berlin wall.
A lot of the older VW designs continued production in the developing world, but sadly it all ended just over 10 years ago.

Anonymous Coward wrote on 2025-06-09, 12:58:

After 17 years of not owning a car, I decided to buy a Volkswagen. I've always liked the styling of the VWs from the 70s and 80s, and thankfully in China they kept making these B2 Passats until 2012. I grew up in the rust belt, and these things all turned to dust and mostly disappeared from the roads decades ago.

In China these are not considered classic at all. They were mostly used as taxis, and driven privately by poor farmers. It's a great FU car. People get out of my way because they think I'm driving a piece of crap and I have nothing to lose in an accident.

Thought you might get a kick out of this "Santana driving through Windows XP..."

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI4gal2hHoS/

I see the video was posted by "hanchungclassics". I recently tried to use their website to obtain a part, but they ghosted me. I'm not entirely sure why, but I suspect they might be selling sub-par aftermarket replacement parts in OEM packaging. This problem is rampant in China. If you are an overseas buyer you are less likely to return an item. I guess they figured as I live in China I'm more likely to give them trouble if I receive fakes. So far I haven't managed to find their online Chinese store, which leads me to believe they only deal with foreign customers. If they are indeed selling fakes, the markup is at least 10 times what it sells for domestically.

Kia Rio update, with a lot of touch wood...

Seems to have smoothed out, and the engine light which I assumed I would be stuck with, has gone out. (Rear O2 for cat efficiency) Only had a couple of thousand km go on it since we got the Escape PHEV. Oil consumption might have slowed, unsure.

So what I was doing when I had to drive it, trying to keep it alive, was the "complete opposite" of "running in" procedure, where it is recommended not to run at light load at steady low engine speeds or it will glaze the bores... So I was doing that and may have glazed over the bore scoring with combustion deposits/carbon... for now.

Also did a highway jaunt the other weekend, now what I was thinking was "high speed blow through" of the cat, but I got medium heavy traffic on the way there, that wasn't that fast, then on the way back it was super hot, and traffic was two and a half hours of stop start crawling... got like 27mpg in that crap... and I was really bummed that I didn't get "air" through the cat... I must have called it wrong though, all that sitting over sizzling asphalt with next to no airflow cooling, seems to have done the other thing, baked it out... the hydrocarbon flood from that initial ring failure oil gush must have burned out finally... and if oil consumption has slowed... and if I don't short trip it too much... things might stay working... hmmm.

Though, even though that drive seemed to have positive benefits, it soured me again on keeping the beast.... because my leg is not upright driving it, (tallish guy problems) and it really messed up my knee and ankle in 2.5 hours of stop start. I typically work the cruise hard so I can give my knee a break.

So now I got a car that's giving appearances of continuing to work for a bit, which if I was driving it might be able to be nursed along a couple of years... but I don't wanna have it for my own driver because of the knee pain thing on trips that are more than half hour a stint if there's much stop and go involved. IDK what to do with it, get it "inspected" while I can keep the CEL off and give it to one of the fam who'd be glad of anything that moves... though even if it does them a favor for a while I wouldn't relish problems landing back in my lap eventually... or trade it in to an out of town dealer or something... take it to one of those "we buy any Kias" shops that flip them and take what they'll give me after I tell them it had probs.... drive it with a knee brace...

I am coming out of the closet....

I've become a truck guy....

developments are developmentatifying.

baby truck doodoo doodadoo
baby truck doodoo doodadoo
baby truck doodoo doodadoo
baby truck.

Yeah, head unturnt by Ford's employee pricing...

Most recently a Toyota verso. Previously had a Toyota Corolla which I loved. I was looking to run it into the ground but was written off due to front being side swiped coming out of a T junction. Used to boot it down at constant 70 mph on outer lane as much as I could, really comfortable seats, good mpg and was a joy to own. Had it for 9 years...

We kinda had that briefly as the Scion iM I think. ... and the Lexus NX is kinda close. Dunno if that means you can get luxo bits to swap in off eBay. Shame about the Corolla, I hate seeing favorites gone for stupid reasons. Think it's one of those there's a UK youtube hiker/walker channel guy semi-camps out of, so they seem versatile.

BitWrangler wrote on 2025-08-08, 22:51:

We kinda had that briefly as the Scion iM I think. ... and the Lexus NX is kinda close. Dunno if that means you can get luxo bits to swap in off eBay. Shame about the Corolla, I hate seeing favorites gone for stupid reasons. Think it's one of those there's a UK youtube hiker/walker channel guy semi-camps out of, so they seem versatile.

Interesting, the Scion iM looks like an Auris, I had the 9th gen corolla which had a decent boot. For the hatchback Auris, Toyota nerfed the boot space. When searching for a replacement I only considered Toyota. I had considered the Auris estate but it didn't have much poke. The Estima was too much of a gamble (insurance and parts/labour, would be going into the unknown/money pit territory), which is a Japanese import but have seen them pop up in the UK. Went for a Verso instead which has a huge boot space like a mini van. It's a bit heavier, the driver seat is a bit higher plus the suspension is smoother
On a side note, did look at a Honda civic, shocked at the lack of space inside the car, was a poky drive but the chassis felt flimsy and thin, whereas the corolla was cavernous inside and its chassis metal was thicker, so Honda was disqualified from my list

gmaverick2k wrote on 2025-08-09, 05:40:

On a side note, did look at a Honda civic, shocked at the lack of space inside the car, was a poky drive but the chassis felt flimsy and thin, whereas the corolla was cavernous inside and its chassis metal was thicker, so Honda was disqualified from my list

Yeah I was feeling like they lost their way with the civic in the previous gen, seemed tinnier than a Hyundai Accent. Haven't been in a current gen yet tho.

News...

So delayed a couple of days getting shipped in, now there's a wait on some dealer work, so looking like after weekend I can take delivery, maybe delays with the heat partially, but the paperwork is near done ... and...

Pickup da pickup day!

Exhausted now, think I was over tense, too anticipotato or something. Got a chunk off in the Employee Pricing event. This worked out at about 35k USD at current exchange. So it's a Maverick Lariat Hybrid in Velocity Blue. The tire is turned out so you can see what the trade in of the Kia Rio paid for.

Seats are very nice, drive is great, only got 40mpg on the way home, so guess it's not run in yet and gotta practise, but in general...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wALArd2rvo

And a picture of the new "fleet". Escape Phev and Maverick.

Thinking about changing my daily driver early next year.

Currently a 2017 VW Scirocco GT, 2.0 TSi (same gen 3 EA888 engine as the Mk6/7 Golf GTi). Will have had it for 3 years next March and I'd like to sell it while it still has a reasonable amount of value remaining - been caught in the kept-the-car-for-too-long trap before and am keen not to fall in to it again.

Will probably stay with a hatchback design for practicality, so considering a Golf R, Audi S3 or an RS3 if I can stretch to it. Likely something maybe 2-3 years old.

We've not been seeing any quality or longevity out of VAG product in most of the last decade on this side of the pond, so the "kept the car too long" trap seems to start at 3 years now, with expensive stuff like AC compressor grenading, metalling out the system and being hung up in the shop for months waiting on the parts. (Happened to people I know on a Passat). Though you've got different models and drivetrains there maybe doing better. In general I would be inclined to stick with a good one, if you've got a good one, I have no idea what the corrosion protection sitch is like over there now, better or worse. Or if you held a gun to my head when I lived in Europe and said I had to have a VAG, go with a Skoda Karoq or something to try to get best risk/reward.

Not that I am that plugged into UK/Euro market at the moment, all I know is my relatives have been having good luck with Peugeots. I would talk you into a Kuga like my Escape Phev, since they are possibly still underpriced from the battery failure FUD which is all sorted out now, but nobody can promise you what is going to happen with parts availability since the US trade policy might screw it up, also in UK they seem to fall just the wrong side of some tax threshold which kinda claws back your petrol money savings.

megatron-uk wrote on 2025-09-07, 22:28:

Thinking about changing my daily driver early next year.

Currently a 2017 VW Scirocco GT, 2.0 TSi (same gen 3 EA888 engine as the Mk6/7 Golf GTi). Will have had it for 3 years next March and I'd like to sell it while it still has a reasonable amount of value remaining - been caught in the kept-the-car-for-too-long trap before and am keen not to fall in to it again.

Will probably stay with a hatchback design for practicality, so considering a Golf R, Audi S3 or an RS3 if I can stretch to it. Likely something maybe 2-3 years old.

Nice ride.
On of the guys at work has one in silver over black.
Another has a Golf R, and I think another has an S3.

All nice cars. Wouldnt consider any of them myself but they are nice.

BitWrangler wrote on 2025-09-08, 02:14:

Not that I am that plugged into UK/Euro market at the moment, all I know is my relatives have been having good luck with Peugeots. I would talk you into a Kuga like my Escape Phev, since they are possibly still underpriced from the battery failure FUD which is all sorted out now, but nobody can promise you what is going to happen with parts availability since the US trade policy might screw it up, also in UK they seem to fall just the wrong side of some tax threshold which kinda claws back your petrol money savings.

My wife likes the Kuga (our neighbour has one), but she was wanting a (non-plugin) hybrid (to replace her Focus which munched it's wet-belt last year), and the only hybrid models Ford do over here at the moment are all 'mild' hybrids that you can't actually drive on battery alone. In the end it came down between the Hyundai Ioniq and Kia Niro (they share the same drivetrain) and she went with the Kia as it was slightly newer and still under manufacturer warranty for the same price. It's a bit more spacious, too. Not a car I would have picked, but it's nice enough and she is happy with it.

I was surprised at the quality (from both manufacturers) - they've come a long way since the really cheap, tinny things they had on the market in the 90's.

In relation to the PSA group, beyond relatively niche models like the 208GTi and the RCZ I'm not that familiar with them... for a long time they fell out of favour and were considered pretty bland and unexciting - I have to admit that some of the recent design motifs (grill, rear lights) do look rather nice, but I've got no idea about the cars themselves. Citroen, on the other hand, seem to have reinvented themselves to a certain extent with the DS brand and some funky styling. Of course the PSA group is also plagued by stupid wet belt designs, especially the smaller (1.2 I think) units used across the ranges.

I'm afraid I'm a complete petrolhead (the Scirocco is actually my most sensible car), so at the moment there is nothing in the electric/hybrid models on the market that really excites me (beyond absolute insane, impractical things like the recent hybrid supercars and 911's - but I already have a 911 that I ain't getting rid of for love nor money). In regards to pure electric, I can accept that they may have some elements of performance where they are outright superior - but most are utterly soulless and the almost non-tactile, button-less interface is one of the worst things to be introduced to motoring in the last several decades. I'd give up driving before being forced to drive something like that.

I also do so few miles these days since changing to mostly working from home that a really high economy car isn't my first priority, despite fuel prices being what they are in the UK - I probably only do 3000-4000 miles a year now, whereas I was up to 12-15000 at the worst.

The Scirocco is my first VAG car that I've owned, coming from Ford, Alfa and (lots of) Toyotas, and whilst you can argue with some of the not-quite-premium materials choices on the exterior and interior, there's a definite improvement in construction and materials underneath. I don't think there's a lot in it, these days; certainly not compared to the days when Nissan or Honda could build rust-proof, completely dry cars next to British Leyland turning out sponges that leaked oil... but definitely a small bump up in construction quality compared to the several Alfa models I've had, for example.

A lot of the interesting stuff seems to be disappearing over the last few years. Like maybe a V60 R design or something. BMW doesn't seem to have anything interesting but unexcessive, unless you like the eDrive.

Though if I retired to UK now, I'd be trying to drive weird shit, like Skoda Rapide Coupes, Reliant Scimitars, Morgan 3 wheelers. Being in Canada, I keep thinking of building weird shit, like I know where I can get a 61 Thunderbird shell with no drivetrain and wonder how Jaguar mechanicals would fit. (Lot of rusted out nineties/noughts Jags, relatively).

megatron-uk wrote on 2025-09-08, 15:30:

My wife likes the Kuga (our neighbour has one), but she was wanting a (non-plugin) hybrid (to replace her Focus which munched it […]
Show full quote

BitWrangler wrote on 2025-09-08, 02:14:

Not that I am that plugged into UK/Euro market at the moment, all I know is my relatives have been having good luck with Peugeots. I would talk you into a Kuga like my Escape Phev, since they are possibly still underpriced from the battery failure FUD which is all sorted out now, but nobody can promise you what is going to happen with parts availability since the US trade policy might screw it up, also in UK they seem to fall just the wrong side of some tax threshold which kinda claws back your petrol money savings.

My wife likes the Kuga (our neighbour has one), but she was wanting a (non-plugin) hybrid (to replace her Focus which munched it's wet-belt last year), and the only hybrid models Ford do over here at the moment are all 'mild' hybrids that you can't actually drive on battery alone. In the end it came down between the Hyundai Ioniq and Kia Niro (they share the same drivetrain) and she went with the Kia as it was slightly newer and still under manufacturer warranty for the same price. It's a bit more spacious, too. Not a car I would have picked, but it's nice enough and she is happy with it.

I was surprised at the quality (from both manufacturers) - they've come a long way since the really cheap, tinny things they had on the market in the 90's.

In relation to the PSA group, beyond relatively niche models like the 208GTi and the RCZ I'm not that familiar with them... for a long time they fell out of favour and were considered pretty bland and unexciting - I have to admit that some of the recent design motifs (grill, rear lights) do look rather nice, but I've got no idea about the cars themselves. Citroen, on the other hand, seem to have reinvented themselves to a certain extent with the DS brand and some funky styling. Of course the PSA group is also plagued by stupid wet belt designs, especially the smaller (1.2 I think) units used across the ranges.

I'm afraid I'm a complete petrolhead (the Scirocco is actually my most sensible car), so at the moment there is nothing in the electric/hybrid models on the market that really excites me (beyond absolute insane, impractical things like the recent hybrid supercars and 911's - but I already have a 911 that I ain't getting rid of for love nor money). In regards to pure electric, I can accept that they may have some elements of performance where they are outright superior - but most are utterly soulless and the almost non-tactile, button-less interface is one of the worst things to be introduced to motoring in the last several decades. I'd give up driving before being forced to drive something like that.

I also do so few miles these days since changing to mostly working from home that a really high economy car isn't my first priority, despite fuel prices being what they are in the UK - I probably only do 3000-4000 miles a year now, whereas I was up to 12-15000 at the worst.

The Scirocco is my first VAG car that I've owned, coming from Ford, Alfa and (lots of) Toyotas, and whilst you can argue with some of the not-quite-premium materials choices on the exterior and interior, there's a definite improvement in construction and materials underneath. I don't think there's a lot in it, these days; certainly not compared to the days when Nissan or Honda could build rust-proof, completely dry cars next to British Leyland turning out sponges that leaked oil... but definitely a small bump up in construction quality compared to the several Alfa models I've had, for example.

I couldnt comment on the likes of a Kia as Ive never had one, I know a friend of mine had a Sportage that was super reliable for all the years she had it, then sold it to a friend who also found it reliable.

These days I wouldnt consider a car from the PSA group. I prefer German cars.
The car I have is a hybrid, but it cant drive on its electric motor, its there to help the IC engine. Which is fine by me, I dont want an all electric car. If it doesnt burn hydrocarbons it isnt mine.

Kia/Hyundai had a bit of a golden era from 2003 to 2012ish, in which their vehicles were quite reliable. Then faults in various engines started showing up from 2013, and it's super hard to pick the good ones, because as mentioned earlier, some of the most faily were getting awarded car of the year etc by various media, then 5 years down the road, boom. I mentioned trying to pick a "good" year for the 1.6 GDI, but that didn't work out for me. You never find these timebomb problems until the clock is run down. Hopefully they can build better electrics than ICs, and their ICs have improved. The Ioniqs seem to be doing well.

The magic of the eCVT hybrids, is they can work in serial and parallel mode assisting or replacing IC motor as required, the planetary gearbox is such that two motors work together to set the drive ratio and power flow, putting what is needed to the road, extracting excess as generators. No belts in this CVT, the term CVT is like motor, in that you can have an air motor, steam motor, IC motor, electric motor... it does the same thing, but not the same way. I think there are less moving parts in eCVTs than there are in "simple" manual transmissions now.

Anyway, I like the way mine work, in effect there's enough grunt in the electric motors to equal a 4 cylinder motor, and there's also a 4 cylinder motor. Bolt two 4 cylinders together and you have a virtual V8, albeit a detuned 90s one. Though the atkinson motor is like a "no bottom end" motor, and the electric is all torque from zero RPM, so you've kinda got the electric as the bottom half of your virtual V8 and the IC as the top half. If your battery "cache" is out of juice, the one motor will act partially as a generator and and partially to bias the ratio to let the IC run where it makes power, and the power goes through, while extra is tapped off to add charge or drive the other electric motor for torque. If your "cache" has juice, it may not need to run the IC, and you go down the road in stealth mode. Without the plugin battery, you only get 2 or 3 miles max, but in traffic you put it back in regen fairly quickly, and almost every time the IC runs it's putting that length of run time back in the "cache". (For notional purposes I'd say the 4.6 V8 in a '92 lincoln town car, HP near enough identical, Torque appears more in the V8, but torque is "just right there" oh no, it's over, whereas the eCVT can access it at any speed, it's near it's 173ftlb all the way, "It doesn't have a torque curve" is right on the money, it has a torque plateau.)

Anyway, I am quite delighted to be getting 40mpg US, ~47mpg Imperial without trying in my new trucklet with the assistance of the magic smoke bottled up in the hybrid parts, and also getting similar performance to Ferris's buddy's dad's Ferrari... that's a claim too far? Nope...
Performance data for 1961 Ferrari 250GT California https://fastestlaps.com/models/ferrari-250-gt … lifornia-spyder
0-60 and quarter mile times achieved in 2025 Model Year AWD Hybrid Maverick, jump in at about 3mins 30 secs... https://www.pbs.org/video/2025-ford-maverick- … -kia-k4-id8a4z/

Not saying it handles like a Ferrari, but it doesn't handle like a truck, and can probably get more power down out of a corner quicker with the AWD. (Actually saw some development stuff about the Lobo model, apparently center of gravity was already low enough for SCCA competition, they had to drop the suspension a little for dimensional height)

Obviously I went with Ford due to the Ferrari's tow rating being shitty, the seating capacity being meh, and the not wanting to spend 1.3 million or whatever they are going for now.

Edit: For some reason the figures quoted frequently for HP and Torque of the Maverick Hybrid are the total combined output of the ICE and electric motors for HP of 191 but the torque is the ICE by itself 155, total torque output is believed to be 173. These may be nominal/minimum figures also with the electric motors being current limited, and dependent on battery condition, temperature and other factors may be able to exceed basic ratings. Due to the transmission being beefed up and getting larger motors for the AWD and 4000lb towing configurations for 2025 it seems that base output may be exceeded more often. This leads to the intriguing possibility that a battery swap to one of higher current output capability could increase performance... Or in the case of the PHEV where the plugin battery opens up more of the potential of the "lesser" transmission, that a transmission swap to the one with the bigger motors benefits total power output... cue conspiracy theory that they aren't doing a PHEV especially with AWD in the Maverick because it would end up more lobo than the Lobo and rob their own sales. (Also because hybrid demand is high enough that they sell all they can make anyway, where the ecoboost needs more halo models to keep up. )

A Colombo V12...
No.