Need advice on what car to buy....

[vanson1200r]

Buy American.

 

[deadlycobra06]

Get the new Ford Focus RS, Its a beast

 

[anrkizm95]

Buy American.

that narrows it down to toyota.

 

[WALLSXB]

Quote:
Buy American.


that narrows it down to toyota.

AND some Hondas, Mazdas, Hyundais, Bmw, Mercedes, Nissan, Kia, Subaru and now Volkswagen. Or get one of those mexican built italian Fiat 500s ! It's sooooo confusing.

 

[Ebeo1]

Subaru Anything.

I agree with that statement

Quote:
Buy American.


that narrows it down to toyota.

I'm not trying to argue economics here but I know three people who are currently working in the car industry 2 work for toyota 1 works for honda[sad]

recently drove a vw tdi and loved it

only get a srt4 if you want to get mediocre gas milage or make people think your a skirt wearing nancy

 

[ReconLdr]

I got mine for 7k, cant beat that. dont you want to have fun while your not on your buell?

I traded my SRT4 in so my wife could get a mini-van. I had recenly had to put down my old hunting truck and needed an excuse to get a new one. I've never seen anyone throw a deer carcass in the trunk of an SRT-anything and I couldn't bring myself to put a trailer hitch on it. So now I when I'm not riding the Buell, I drive a 2007 Dodge Nitro.

Don't get Neon! See the other thread! Most hated car in this forum...

Sorry, its a Dodge Neon SRT4!

Neons get a bad rap but all in all aren't bad cars. I spent 12 years in the car business (10 fixing 2 management) with most of my experience/training on the Chrysler products. My wife and I drive Dodge exclusively (I still get employee pricing at the dealership) and have for years. We have never had a bad one. The dealer I worked for did have some "lemons" but I would suspect a lot of those were due to abuse or lack of maintenance.

This being said, my next new truck may end up being a Ford. Not becuase of quality but because they refused the Bailout money and preffered to succeed or fail on their own efforts rather than on the backs of the tax-payers. This carries a lot of meaning for me.

only get a srt4 if you want to get mediocre gas milage or make people think your a skirt wearing nancy

If getting 27mpg in a car that has 240hp/250lbft torque is mediocre so be it. I didn't have any complaints about the car other than I got pulled over a lot. (never a ticket) The LEOs seemed to always be surprised to find a 30something(at the time) white dude behind the wheel.

To the OP: If you can find an SRT4 Neon or Caliber, that hasn't been beaten to death... Get it, they are fun as hell, handle great and they don't ride too bad on bumpy roads like other sporty cars.

 

[SnyderJ21]

Legacys have 243/241 and they look great. SRT4s are like grand prixs.... I'm sure they are great cars but damn they are all over the place. I just hate owning something that I can see 5 of the same thing just going to get gas. I'm not knocking them at all, but I just see too many of them.

 

[Stevenc150]

Put right at 20,000 miles/year on my Toyota Scion TC for the last 2 years. Round trip of 75 miles to my work & home. Drove through stupid KY winters and the little bastard does awesome on the highways and such - passed the snow truck several times. Only thing is it isn't heavy enough for really steep hills unless you get a run-and-go.

Overall Great Car for long commutes with radio controls on steering wheel, sunroof, better ergonomics than the Civics I tried out, and cheaper, and gets 34-37mpg. Planning on replacing with another when I beat this one to death.

 

[captain chaos]

Hey Captain Chos at least most of the money stays in the good old U.S.A. so eat me

yup, right into the pockets of the GM execs who thought they could save a dime by building in Canada, Mexico or some 3rd world country where they work for a nickle a day. The same ones who ran the largest car company in the world into bankruptcy.

Time for a reality check; there is no clear-cut "American car company" anymore. Not GM not Ford, not anyone. The only question that is valid anymore is which CEO do you want to give money to as there are probably nearly as many hard working Americans building Toyota's, Honda's and, Hyundais as there are Ford's and GM's.

I'm assuming the OP is talking about used cars anyway in which case ALL of the money stays in the US as the original purchasers cash is the only one who contributed ANYTHING to the manufacturer.

 

[rockerphotographer]

If you don't buy a Mazda3 then they obviously suck and I'll get rid of mine and buy exactly what you get

 

[rusko466]

Am I correct in saying Ford didn't refuse the money for the bailout?? They had the same offers anyone else had and they just held out long enough to not need it..they would have taken it in a heartbeat if they needed it. My uncle has an 09 ford pickup and the rear bumper is already rusted out. Poor quality. They say buying a Toyota gives more money to the US economy instantly, and the Ford gives more money in the long run. Is reliability a deciding factor here?

 

[Baal]

Assuming you're buying used, the OPs are correct in that there are a host of Civics/Corollas/Mazda 3s or 6s out there pretty reasonable. They're pretty hard to hurt, so even if they've been owned by a (relative) moron, they'll serve you for what you want. Second generation MINIs ('06 on, I think) have a much better service record than the first generation. If you stay away from the S models (turbos), they're pretty hard to hurt, too, and resale is currently down on them. The manual transmission cars get an honest 37-39 highway.

As to the TDIs, aside from typical VW issues and parts cost, they're great cars. BUT, do the math on fuel economy first. With the cost difference for diesel fuel, a gas car that gets 35-37 may be a better deal.

Good luck with the search.

 

[njdevils1990]

me personally I dont care too much for FWD cars and unless its a beater dont plan on buying any.
"American"
Im partial to ford and im not sure what your price range is but the Fusion is a good car and the 4cyl comes with a 5speed or you can go v6 but only in auto but has an AWD option.
Or a newer 2000+ Ranger or a 1998-2001 Ford Explorer with the 4.0 puts out about 210hp and 254 torque and is a reliable engine (I have a 2000 Explorer Sport w/171,000 miles and no issues even tho i beat the shit out of it, i have bigger tires and 4.10s in the rear and average 15mpg around town and 20 straight highway)Or the 4 door Explorer 1998-2001 has the 5.0l v8 and you gain the power and torque and gets about the same mpg and is actually more reliable than the V6.
"Europian"
BMW 3series straight six (multiple displacements from a 2.2l to a 3.0l) auto and manual trans and RWD or AWD. They are also relatively relyable as a friend had a 328i with 255,000 and still had more to go all tho the starter was going and from autozone was about 250ish.
Also i will say the Jetta TDI is pretty sweet but in my mind is only good for mpg's
I do like the Gulf and Jetta w/ the VR6 (its a W6 motor) with 6 speed and their are some that ive seen with AWD but most for sale are FWD.
"Japanese"
Subaru Impreza
auto or manual
2.5l H4 auto, and 5 speed
or 2.0l turbo H4 with auto, 5speed (WRX), or 6 speed (STI)
Symetrical AWD system is awesome!
Honda Accord
plain Jane beater car
not a fan of Toyota but whatever you can find really, stay away from the trucks
Nissan Pathfinders are pretty good off road (get the v8)
or Maxima 3.5 v6 or ALtima w/ either 2.5 I4 or 3.5 v6
or for your classy guy the Infinity G35 (they go for about 8,000 low and hight miles to 20,000+high and low miles and also G35X is AWD as apposed to FWD
Some of the cars that i would consider buying at least, hope this helps even if just a little.

 

[IYAOYAS]

My Golf get 46 - 51 MPG consistantly. I drive 80 miles round trip to work. Fuel inmy area is 3.79 wich is the same or less than the premium I put in my Buell. On average Diesel is .25 more than regular unleaded. When my diesel is getting 15 - 30 mpg better than similairly sized cars, it is cheaper to drive. My wifes care goes less than 300 mi on a fill up of nearly 60 bucks right now, I go 600+ on about 52.

 

[WALLSXB]

Just buy what you really want and can afford ! Everyone will have an opinion but your the one paying/ living with it. I bought my 1995 Volvo 850 T new and took a beating from friends for buying a boxy, boring Volvo when they were buying BMWs . Still have the Volvo 16 yrs later with 141,000 miles and still running like a top. All the friends that thought I made the wrong choice are the ones that make all the positive comments about my car now! [smirk]

Not bad for a 16 year old car !

 

[christianmb]

I vote a Lincoln Mark VIII or Olds Aurora. Had both and loved them. The Mark VIII was a 28MPG beast @ 80+MPH

 

[njdevils1990]

walls
i will say its not a bad looking volvo haha

 

[Ebeo1]

Kind of makes me think I should buy a used volvo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waj2KrKYTZo

 

[WALLSXB]

That was painful to watch !! The key to Volvo longevity is a GREAT Volvo mechanic. I have that 1995 850 and a 1989 740 Turbo wagon that has 240,000 miles. I have two mechanics that have been dealing with the brand for over 35 years and while the parts are sort of expensive they really do hold up well. Don't be afraid to look at a Volvo with 100,000 plus miles although the best ones are the pre 1997 models, IMHO !

 

[Burton]

wow, that was very painful to watch!