Small / economy car deathwatch: we've passed "peak econobox" again

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

I have dozens of places I have to drive to do my jobs, so I accumulate at least 15 miles per day, but in small short bursts. What I don't like about it is there are times during the winter that the temp reading on my ScanGauge won't go above 100°F, unless I idle the engine for an extended period at some point. I have a block heater, but it doesn't seem to help that much, only heating the enigne some 30°F above ambient temps.

Yes, short trips are killer on ICE vehicles. You don't hit operating temperature which leads to oil dilution and other issues. That is why short trips are considered "severe duty" driving cycle and requires a more frequent schedule for oil changes and other maintenance.

15 miles per day x 365 days ~ 5,500 miles per year. Are you pairing short work commutes with long personal trips?

I ask because if you are also driving long personal trips to rack up those other 25,000 miles per year you might not be severe duty as you may be warming up the engine enough to burn off water and gasoline that accumulates in the oil from short trips.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by JSH

Yes, short trips are killer on ICE vehicles. You don't hit operating temperature which leads to oil dilution and other issues. That is why short trips are considered "severe duty" driving cycle and requires a more frequent schedule for oil changes and other maintenance.

15 miles per day x 365 days ~ 5,500 miles per year. Are you pairing short work commutes with long personal trips?

I ask because if you are also driving long personal trips to rack up those other 25,000 miles per year you might not be severe duty as you may be warming up the engine enough to burn off water and gasoline that accumulates in the oil from short trips.

Yes, I also drive long trips too. We go often, at least 4 times a year, to visit the in-laws who live 600 miles from here, so 1,200 in a round trip. We also have to go down to Denver several times a year, which is over 200 miles away, so 400 miles per trip. Also Grand Junction, and a lot of other towns, which are hundreds of miles away, several times per year. When I got the Avalon I put 30,000 miles on it in the first year. However, in 5 years I put a little over 90,000 miles on it, so not quite 20,000 miles average per year. It slumped a lot when Covid hit, we didn't visit the in-laws at all during that first year of Covid, but now we're getting back to normal.

I'd say the concern is that I can go for weeks, especially during the winter, without leaving town. Basically from the beginning of January through mid March we stay in town. It's mainly the summer months that rack up the miles.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

Timing belts (yes, it has two) are extremely difficult to replace (must remove all gears with the belts from a small cover from below as it has wet belts and go up into a cavity in the head, so lots of special tools needed to lock the cams and crank in place and to get up in there and remove and reinstall the gears and belts). The good news is that GM says it needs replaced only every 150,000 miles.

Talking to a woman who works at a local Chevy dealer, I said the oil-bathed belt of the 1.0L and 1.2L CSS Prime engines annoys me, from a more conservative perspective which I tended to consider an usual trait among Chevrolet buyers in my country. Then she said Chevy buyers were indeed conservative, based on a preference for analog instrument clusters

From my POV, a more conservative bias tended to revolve around the engines, as GM in Brazil tended to stick with tried and proven engines for a longer time, and was the last to switch from 4-cyl to 3-cyl in the 1.0L engines here.

[ME_Andy]

This is for Isaac.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BoltEV/comm..._11200_before/

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by ME_Andy

This is for Isaac.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BoltEV/comm..._11200_before/

Well that settles it. It looks like I'm getting a used Bolt next.

I see a used 2017 Bolt for sale in Arvada for $13,765. The ad says "$4,000 tax credit comes off price." But I don't know if they're referring to any tax credit or if they mean state only, since both Colorado state and Federal tax credits are up to $4,000 each.

I wonder what words would be best to use to figure out if the car qualifies for both federal and state tax credits (don't they get it off only once?), and whether or not one or both of those are already factored into the price. I guess: "Does that Bolt get the Federal and State Tax Credits off that price making it potentially $8,000 less than avertised?... Yes, great! / No, well then goodbye."

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

Well that settles it. It looks like I'm getting a used Bolt next.

I see a used 2017 Bolt for sale in Arvada for $13,765. The ad says "$4,000 tax credit comes off price." But I don't know if they're referring to any tax credit or if they mean state only, since both Colorado state and Federal tax credits are up to $4,000 each.

I wonder what words would be best to use to figure out if the car qualifies for both federal and state tax credits (don't they get it off only once?), and whether or not one or both of those are already factored into the price. I guess: "Does that Bolt get the Federal and State Tax Credits off that price making it potentially $8,000 less than avertised?... Yes, great! / No, well then goodbye."

State and Federal tax credits stack. So if they are each $4,000 for a used EV you would get $8,000 off. The best way to tell what the dealer is advertising is to ask them and then check the paperwork.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Outsourcing SUVs from China sometimes seems to be more interesting for traditional automakers than investing on new econoboxes...

[Isaac Zachary]

According to this lady on YouTube, the demand for small econo cars is actually going up, including for the Mitsubishi Mirage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQHXnMGdGng

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

According to this lady on YouTube, the demand for small econo cars is actually going up, including for the Mitsubishi Mirage.

The Mirage is on track to sell 20,000 units in 2024. Up from 13,000 last year but not enough to update for new US standards.

The rest is pretty much useless as all auto sales have greatly rebounded since the pandemic shortages.

The Maverick was supply limited from start of production and Ford increased capacity for both it and the Bronco Sport.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by JSH

The Mirage is on track to sell 20,000 units in 2024. Up from 13,000 last year but not enough to update for new US standards.

Maybe an updated model, as long as it's also supplied to other markets like it's currently done with the Mirage made mostly in Thailand for export (and a limited production in the Philippines for the local market), would still be quite reasonable to keep some US-spec model available. Otherwise we'll never know if the real problem is lack of an actual demand for such cars there or lack of supply as it's easier for automakers to turn everything into some sort of fake SUV because of American regulations favoring them. Not to mention some other markets, even though each one with a lower sales volume than the United States, in the end may account for enough sales to sustain the demand for US-spec versions in countries where it's quite common to find US-spec models too.

The Maverick was supply limited from start of production and Ford increased capacity for both it and the Bronco Sport.

IIRC the Bronco arrived first in my country, and I still see a larger amount of it than the Maverick. Maybe the Ranger here having only Diesel engines may have something to do with it, as there would be a lower demand for a gasser truck...