It's nice not having to ever worry about car stuff. I just have to worry about this high horse instead.
this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2025
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Damn, you let your horse smoke weed?
Is the horse doing alright? Like … how high is it?
It’ll probably be fine, just don’t let it eat too many ding dongs.
New battery is cheap. Subaru headgaskets are not.
I’ve known plenty of people with Subarus and none have had head gasket issues. I think the problem is exaggerated because it’s memed.
Thanks for that diagram of shot zones on planes that returned to the bunker. Got an argument to make? Are you suggesting that my friends would cease to be my friends if their head gaskets blew? I don’t get the relation. Since I have an equally good chance of meeting someone with a Subaru that has a good head gasket vs a bad one, I don’t see any selection bias. What I’m suggesting is that there is selection bias on the internet. No one makes a post about how well their Subarus head gaskets are working— they only post on the internet when there is a problem.
I think his plane has chicken pox
Mhmm, because no one gets rid of cars because they're too expensive to repair and everyone feels the need to mention to you all the repairs their car had before they got it.
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It’s specific engines and they haven’t built those engines in a long time. I’d be more vary of their diesels splitting crankshafts.
In reality the eventual EV battery replacement cost is several times that of the head gasket job anyway.
EV battery replacements are one big cost in the future. The hundred little things to keep an ICE going over the years add up to a lot more than that.
They do not. I've kept several old ICEs running for years with barely any significant ICE-related costs (I STILL haven't replaced a single timing chain, turbo, or injector, but obviously I've done oil changes and timing belts). Maybe 1k for maintenance and repairs per year if I'm unlucky and get a lemon. Oh and I gravitate towards aging German executive and luxury cars lol
But the battery on an Audi E-Tron is something like 60 or 70 grand. 20k used. The cars are under 30k now and they're not even out of warranty yet. Nobody's going to be replacing any of those batteries out of warranty, all those cars will be landfill.
In comparison, if we're doing used parts, 20k gets you a lightly used engine AND modern 8-speed auto transmission AND a professional to fit them and for some models you still have enough left over to spend 10k on cocaine and hookers.
The Audi is at the far high end of that cost. Not surprising for the German brand. Hyundai IONIQ 5 (one of the most popular EVs outside of Tesla) are closer to $10k. Even the Volkswagen ID.4 is looking closer to $25k.
Count up literally everything. Oil changes. New spark plugs. Coolant flushes. Transmission flushes. EVs using regen braking tend to put less wear on the brakes, and hybrids were already looking at brakes being on there for the life of the car, so add brake changes, too. Even if you do your own work, you should be counting a reasonable hourly rate in there for your time. A huge amount of maintenance just plain goes away with EVs.
If you don't believe me, find a PDF of an owner's manual for the the recommended maintenance schedule on an EV and compare it to ICE. Dealerships are doing that, and they do not like the results at all. Takes a whole lot business away from them. In fact, some of the stuff listed almost feels like it was stuck in there just so dealers would have something for their mechanics to do.
The maintenance schedule on my bz4x wants to bring it in every 5000 miles to check that all the nuts are torqued down and the tires haven't fallen off.
Add on to that EV batteries in real use are lasting a lot longer than expected. This is maybe not surprising. Lab testing is done by charging and discharging many times sequentially and extrapolating those results. If anything, that's much harsher than real world conditions.
All that, even over 10 or 20 years, is still less than a single battery. And the battery is an unexpected one time cost when the stuff you mentioned is mostly expected.
I base my ICE maintenance and repair cost expectations off Audi, BMW and Mercedes, why would I look at Hyundai or VW for EV repair costs?
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My Subaru spun a rod bearing, which is apparently also a well-known problem.
Sorry about that. My Mazdaspeed3 has been running with no problems since 2013 despite all the concerns about VVT/timing chain problems and bad turbo seals you see all over the internet. Another Chevy of mine I once had was rife with problems even though I did all the proper maintenance.
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EV + solar panels on my house == free charging. i am so happy with this combo.
It cost $70 to drive is such a weird thing to say.
No it isn’t. I went to the Gas Store and bought one Gas and they asked me for a $70 bill. He even gave me my change: One $Change.
I think that the commenter is referring to the grammar. It should read "it costs," not "it cost." It makes it seem like they are referring to a very specific previous drive, but that context isn't provided here
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This entire comic is weird, it’s like it exists to cap read really basic opinions that its readers already hold. This isn’t even the first ICE vs EV comic they’ve done recently.
it's doing leftish talking points in a style usually done by people on the right; you agree with it so it must be good.
I agree with the points (often), I just dislike the comic. But I can see how it might attract some people.
I think the same points could be brought forward with more subtlety and humour though.
It isn’t when you have an EV. I just had this conversation with my wife a few days ago. My EV is $22/mo in electricity with my commute. My old gas car was $150/mo at best. What the comic leaves out is the cost of insurance on the EV being about $150/mo and my old car was dirt cheap so it’s almost a wash. The EV is a hell of a lot more fun to drive though.
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The gas is almost the cheapest thing. Insurance, maintenance, tires, etc
Yes, but an EV also needs insurance, maintenance, and tires. OP’s post is pointing out a distinction between EVs and ICE vehicles.
Yeah, was thinking more the “2 cars” vs 1. And $70/month to have backup transport may be worth it if it’s paid off. But yes, the EV would be cheaper to run.
Not just a backup transport, but something with a manual transmission. I'll ultimately end up getting an EV, but I don't think I ever want to ditch the MT, it's just a different, and IMO more enjoyable, driving experience.
You know what "EV" doesn't need insurance, and has vastly cheaper maintenance and tires? An E-bike!
E-bikes are the real "EVs," outselling electric cars by a wide margin for several years now.
I mean folks buy more bicycles than e-bikes a year, and they are even cheaper to maintain. I don’t see your point when a majority of people’s needs would not be served in the US with e-bikes. Perhaps in other communities that don’t require as much car dependence, sure.
EV's need even less maintenance since they don't need oil changes. They also rarely need brakes replaced due to regenerative breaking
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The EV is definitely a money improvement. A new battery and the Subaru will sell for a pretty penny, though.
I'm not against them, but I wonder how EVs will hold up in the long haul. Like in 20 years will there even be a feasible used market or will the batteries and motors be too shitty without a crazy expensive replacements to keep them practical?
And then there's the scrapping process for batteries too. Can batteries be refurbished, scrapped or recycled in a way that most regions can do it?
Like LEDs I know they CAN be built to last a long time, but I know companies often don't
page 9 goes into battery reuse and recycle <3
American Petroleum Institute... and the page is 404
EV batteries last a very long time when implemented right. Post-2015, and on cars not named the Nissan Leaf, batteries can last 10+ years and well over 200,000 miles. A Hyundai recently went in for a battery at 389,000 miles... all of which were not well maintained miles, as in, overnight to 100 percent, fast charge, drain to empty, etc. Hyundai bought the battery for Science reasons.
As for recycling, a company recently developed a system to turn used ev batteries into grid storage by literally plugging them into a special adapting charging controller.
This is in addition to recycling the batteries.
389k miles isn’t really a lot, but at least it’s better than 200k I guess. The issue is they’re still super expensive. Once your EV is old enough to be out of battery warranty, a new battery will cost twice the residual value of the vehicle and a used one will cost as much as the value of the vehicle :/
If your engine blows in a normal car at that mileage, replacing the engine will cost several times the car's value as well. In either case, it's time to replace it with someting new(er) anyway.
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In what world is 389k miles not a lot? Unless we're talking kilometers here, which I only thought about as I got this comment going, and then it's still 240, which is still a lot, IMO. Back when I used to drive a lot (feels like I keep saying that), I was doing 18-20k annually. So you're talking close to 20 years for 389k miles. Maybe 12 years isn't exactly a lot, but I think getting 20 years out of a car is very good.
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Yeah these batteries are like 95% recyclable
I have a friend with a Subaru he didn't drive much. Battery kept dieing on him. He determined that with the car of there was a small drain on the battery. Took quite a bit to figure out that the issue was the old 3g connection for starlink. Even though he hadn't ever paid for the service, the car still kept trying to connect to the cell network. With 3g retired, it had nothing to connect to.
I also have a Subaru with a 3g connection I never replaced, but it's a daily driver. From what I can tell on forums, this only became a problem once there was no longer a 3g network. Just curious that even without the subscription the car was connecting to something and now that there is no connection, it will continuously try to connect.
There is a bypass module that can be purchased, because apparently if you just pull the fuse, you lose Bluetooth and the front speakers. You can keep Bluetooth by having an aftermarket headunit which bypasses the manufacturer Bluetooth.
God, I really wish Subaru would just make their own EVs in-house instead of slapping their logo on a bunch of Toyotas
How they gonna put a boxer engine in an EV though?
They would lose that beautiful 60/40 weight distribution and their target audience would not allow that.
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Not just that, but a Toyota that is the most "eh, good enough" EV there is.
Have a bz4x because we got a very, very good deal on it. Do not recommend unless you also get a very, very good deal. It's aggressively OKish.
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