Looking for a new ride

[GabrielT]

 

I would stay far from liability, personally. I sure am glad I had full coverage on my Mustang.

 

 

Liability is for beaters you don't care about.  Anything still worth money is better off with full coverage whether it's paid off or not imo.

 

 

I did recommend he spend the 30k on 30 $1000 cars  

That is a recommendation I sand by it, just take out the bluetooth stereo and shove it in the next beater, preferably stick to a brand of reliable but unattractive cars that people don't want...

Holy crap, he could buy 30 low mileage Pontiac Aztecs   He would be set for transport for life, but at what cost? Hell you could get 15 excellent ones, I mean straight up cherry. 

Edited April 8, 2014 by GabrielTessin

[Waco]

+1, I swore I heard the new Impalas were Epic

I had one as a rental. The 6 speed auto is awesome (for a slushbox) and the V6 is surprisingly peppy. MPG was about 33 for a mostly-highway haul from Los Alamos, NM to Denver, CO and back (that's over mountains and with some "spirited driving" mixed in).

[AkakmanH]

GM has had a lot of build problems since the US gov't bailed them out. The unions just don't seem to care.

I also agree that a used car is better - 2-3 years old is great.

Out of all the cars available, I would recommend the Ford Fusion for a mid sized car.

Ford parts are generally cheaper than the foreign jobs and maintenance is less.

Ford is now getting about 200,000 miles on the drive train before any problems.

Good luck and let us know what you decided to do.

[Waco]

GM has had a lot of build problems since the US gov't bailed them out. The unions just don't seem to care.

You mean the recalls that affect cars built before the buyout?

[Miek]

I'm hoping to test drive a Fusion this weekend. The Fusion has pretty solid reviews, so I would hope the it's better built than my Fiesta is. It's been in the shop for warranty work about every two months. I still can't get past the whole bit about the transmission crapping out on me not even two years into having it. I've had multiple speakers stop working (and I don't even like loud music), my heat stopped working, my door sensor went and I had to disconnect my battery every night to stop my interior lights from burning out, not to mention safety recalls. On the same card, I've seen people with Fords where they drove it off the lot ten years ago and never had to do anything more than routine maintenance.

 

As for insurance, my insurance is pretty cheap. In Saskatchewan, it's more based on your actual driving history instead of predicted risk. Drive badly, pay more. Make lots of claims, pay more. Keep your record clean, and SGI slides you a discount once in a while. It's always nice to get a letter that says, "Hey, you haven't run anything over lately. We're gonna charge you $10 less a month for insurance from here on out."

Edited April 8, 2014 by Miek

[capthowdy575]

 

Ford Focus. As much as I dislike Ford, the new ones are pretty awesome.

 

I currently drive a Ford Fiesta, and the transmission is way more rough than I'd like. Sometimes it just stalls out entirely (it's the six speed automatic). According to reviews, that issue is on the Focus too, and Ford hasn't offered a fix yet. I should also mention that not even two years into owning my Fiesta, the transmission went. Fortunately, it was under warranty. However, my warranty will be up in December.

 

Ford's sort of low on my list to be honest, but I may well end up test driving a Focus and/or a Fusion yet. The Fusion has fairly solid reviews and I really like how it looks. I'd just hope that it'd be a higher build quality than the Fiesta. All things considered, though, the Fiesta IS a small economy car.

 

And about the Charger/V6 thing. I think that a mid-size is about as big as I want to go, and I'd like a 4-cylinder engine. The vehicle will be spending most of its time in the city so I can drive to and from work, but I do a decent amount of highway travel as well. A 4-banger offers a bit better economy than the V6, so I'm leaning that way. The Charger is a nice car, no doubt (my dad actually has an '08 Charger R/T and I love it when I get a chance to drive it), but it's just not quite what I want to own at this point in my life.

 

I'm not totally sure how reliable it would be in the long run, but I really liked the feel of the Altima's CVT when I drove it-- but to be totally honest, the Sonata's 6-speed auto was so smooth that it felt almost the same. When you stepped on it, it didn't wait too long to downshift. In my Fiesta, there's quite a delay, and then it sort of clumsily lurches forward when it grabs a gear.

 

 

Ford knows of its issues with its Auto's 4 came into the shop last week saying the dealership just replaced them and they are doing it again. I would go with something 4 wheel drive which dodge can offer on there charger. Or Jeep lol

Edited April 8, 2014 by capthowdy575

[VaporX]

I just bought a new car two weeks ago. If I could get anything I wanted the 2015 Chrysler 200 is an awesome car and would love to have gotten one but local dealers did not have any and had no time frame for stock. We bought a 2014 Dodge Avenger. Read the reviews online and most seem to give it low marks BUT, I know 8 people personally that drive Avengers an none of them have a complaint they all love their car. We love our as well, fairly bare bones but the price was right, has a 5 year 100K warrenty and is getting good gas mileage.

[Miek]

I had read that the Avenger got terrible mileage (in the realm of 30mpg on the highway). Is that true?

Edited April 8, 2014 by Miek

[IVIYTH0S]

You can save a lot of money buying used. Lots of 1-2 year old vehicles with low miles and the first owner is the one that ate the depreciation. A brand new car is worth less the moment you drive it off the lot.

THISSSS

 

Plus you could just add a bluetooth capable radio to any car

[Nerm]

I had read that the Avenger got terrible mileage (in the realm of 30mpg on the highway). Is that true?

30mpg is terrible mileage? I would give me left arm just for 15mpg lol.

[IVIYTH0S]

I had read that the Avenger got terrible mileage (in the realm of 30mpg on the highway). Is that true?

Definitely, my g/f has the Avenger and it's a POS (no offense Ed). It's doggy and mileage is often low 20s, I forget if it was able to get 30 or over on a pure highway drive down to south carolina (I feel like high 20s, which our 2004 V6 mazda6 can, consistently, do with MUCH more power) but overall it didn't get her much better mileage than her old trailblazer and it's not a rocket. It's a smooth ride but you can do so, so much better.

 

I still nag her for getting swindled by the bastard salesman... never let an uninformed woman driver go to a dealership alone. (sent her to LOOK at the dodge dart...comes home with that garbage heap) I'm partially at fault though, she wanted to get the first car we looked at (Mitsubishi Lancer) and I told her she should look around more...but that would have been a far better choice.

 

Can't you tell how much I love the Avenger??

 

TL:DR Leave the word avenger to the super heroes

[Coors]

 

 

I had read that the Avenger got terrible mileage (in the realm of 30mpg on the highway). Is that true?

30mpg is terrible mileage? I would give me left arm just for 15mpg lol.

Yeah my Jeep gets about 12-13...lol. And it was my most fuel efficient vehicle up until I got a cheap 02' Saturn with 35-39 MPG. The others are lucky to get double digit MPGs lmao