Piston Slap: A Modest Proposal For a Shiny Ride

TTAC commentator raded writes:

Sajeev,

I recently bought a new car for the first time. Up until 9 months ago, I had been driving a 1995 Buick Regal coupe that wore scratches and dents like badges of honor. After the transmission went out, I drove a hand-me-down 2002 Saturn L200 that had spent the majority of its life behind a motor home. In eight years of ownership, I took the Buick through an automatic car wash maybe three times and never washed it by hand (I live in Portland, Oregon. It rains almost nonstop October through May. That’s kind of like a car wash, right? Right??). Recently I took the Saturn through a car wash for the first time simply because I’m trying to sell it.

Now my fiancée and I have a pretty blue 2012 Mazda3 hatchback. For the first time in my life, I have a car that I want to keep looking good.

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  • Jeff My wife owned a 2013 AWD CRV since new it has been trouble free but I am not a fan of turbos so I would lean toward the Rav 4. If I were getting a hybrid it definitely would be a Rav 4 with Toyota's hybrid system being the best. Honestly you could not go wrong with either a CRV or a Rav 4. My third choice would be a Mazda.
  • 3-On-The-Tree We like our 2021 Rav4 non hybrid.
  • Vatchy FSD never has been so what is with the hype about robo-taxis? You would need the first in order for the second to work.
  • EBFlex Honda all day long. Why? It's a Honda.
  • Lou_BC My ex had issues with the turbo CRV not warming up in the winter.I'd lean to the normally aspirated RAV 4. In some cases asking people to chose is like asking a Muslim and Christian to pick their favourite religion.