time for more car talk. suggestions?

BDx13 - 11-8-2010 at 12:03 PM

unfortunately, the ol' '06 sonata is going the big parking lot in the sky and i need a new ride. this is especially crappy because it was nearly paid off and i was very much looking forward to many years of no car payments.

i'm almost certainly going to buy something used. probably a mid-sized sedan or a wagon. not really interested in suvs, but might consider a smaller cuv (provided i fit in it). i'm looking for that balance between space and fuel efficiency.

any suggestions?

Vanilla Gorilla - 11-8-2010 at 12:21 PM

I have 2008 Ford Fusion bought it new, it was my first new car.
I'm a big dude and i have no problems with it size wise.

I got the 4 cylinder to help keep gas cost down i get about 26 city mpg and 32-34 mpg maybe a little more on highway. I love the car the sync feature is sweet, love being able to plug in the ipod and tell it what to play. Its also go the built in bluetooth so you just pair your phone to car.

Haven't had a single issue with anything on the car. YOu can probably get a used one for 8k or less depending on the features.

clevohardcore - 11-8-2010 at 01:49 PM

My Jeep Liberty is very nice. I really like the way the Dodge Nitro looks. I know your looking Sedan so I'll just leave it at that for compact SUV's. Our 2010 Mazda 6 is fantastic on gas and has a lot of kick.

JawnDiablo - 11-8-2010 at 01:54 PM

Did you get in a collision BD?

I don't know what is good out there these days. You have a lot of options though. getting something coming off a lease is a good idea. usually well manintained and low mles, and it is already done with it's early on depreciation in most cases.

I've been driving the same 2000 civic for almost 11 years / 150k miles since I purchased it new and never had any real issues yet.
I'll but another once I get real sick of it.

spyderdog - 11-8-2010 at 08:23 PM

my girl bought a used mazda protege for like 3500 bucks not too long ago

its actually a super nice car!

i have a 03 p71 ford interceptor that i bought a a police auction a few years ago too. it was cheap, its fun as hell to drive and its gone 200k with almost no problems

barc0debaby - 11-9-2010 at 01:23 AM

Can't go wrong with ford these days, especially the Fusion. Lots of space, looks classy, and gets good gas mileage.

BDx13 - 11-9-2010 at 07:42 AM

juan, unfortunately, yes. just about two weeks ago. just found out yesterday they're totaling the car.

JawnDiablo - 11-9-2010 at 07:53 AM

that sucks man.
on the flipside, everyone walked away from it safely right?

REV.PAULIE - 11-9-2010 at 07:54 AM

Get a NYC Taxi,with driver...They get me home,safe and prompt,and I've learned more about Islam,the Middle East/Persia,South America,and Eastern European cultures than touring or the American school system EVER taught me!

BDx13 - 11-9-2010 at 09:46 AM

we were traveling on a major road, doing around 40. a car pulled out from a stop sign at a secondary road, trying to cut across my lane of traffic. i knew the second i saw her bolt out there was no way we weren't going to crash. slammed on the break, tried to veer out of the way, braced myself and immediately started worrying about my daughter.

we both walked away, but went to the ER that night to get checked out. my right hand and forearm got jacked up by the airbag and my daughter's stomach was bothering her quite a bit. both fine though, so now we're just dealing with all the insurance issues.

gettin the cab and cabbie ain't a bad idea. in fact, my daughter has always said she wants to taxi driver when she grows, so we can get her started early.

Dave - 11-9-2010 at 10:02 AM

Passat or Jetta TDI Wagon?

BDx13 - 11-9-2010 at 10:26 AM

you know, the jetta wagon tdi isn't a bad idea.
didn't their new clean diesels just come out last year?
where are they on reliability these days?
probably going to be more than i want to spend, but worth looking into.
i'd love to get a wagon.

DaveMoral - 11-9-2010 at 01:41 PM

Subaru Outback or Forrester dude. We got us an Outback, and that thing is awesome.

BDx13 - 11-9-2010 at 02:02 PM

tell me about the outback, cause that is definitely on my list.
what year, what model, what kind of mileage, bought new or used, any issues?

Dave - 11-9-2010 at 03:04 PM

A great site for info/reviews on cars, new and old:

http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/consumer-guide-us...

XnMeX - 11-9-2010 at 03:26 PM

I have a 1991 Oldsmobile cutlass Ciera owned by "an old lady" with less than 100k miles of it. What a classic! Track bar just rotted on it so I have to get that fixed. Thing is going to die of rust before mechanical issues. I HOPE it will last me a bit longer though since I am broke and we want to get a house.

spyderdog - 11-9-2010 at 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BD

gettin the cab and cabbie ain't a bad idea. in fact, my daughter has always said she wants to taxi driver when she grows, so we can get her started early.

dude you totally have to get a cop car

8 airbags too!

tireironsaint - 11-10-2010 at 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BD
tell me about the outback, cause that is definitely on my list.
what year, what model, what kind of mileage, bought new or used, any issues?

Subarus are NOT built for big guys, BD. They drive nice, but the Outback I've driven got really uncomfortable really fast even with the seat all the way back and all. I'm pretty sure you're a bigger guy than me and I felt like I was smushed no matter what I did.

Six66Mike - 11-10-2010 at 12:59 AM

We got a 96 Ford Falcon piece of shit, spent more bucks fixing it now than we did buying it just 1 year ago. Fucking money pit, I hate cars. Looking for a new one but no funds to get one. Sedan is no good for a 5 person family once this baby pops out in a few days.

JawnDiablo - 11-10-2010 at 10:17 AM

http://automobiles.honda.com/accord-crosstour/

Vanilla Gorilla - 11-10-2010 at 10:30 AM

I had a 1993 grand marquis forever easily the most comfortable car ever, thing was like driving a couch. Engine was great but it had like every strange electrical problem it could have. If you weren't driving the headlights would be real dim, but when you hit the gas they would get relatively bright, but not enough to help you really see anything. i would always have a headlight out because they seemed to fill up with water anytime it rained, so i drilledholes in the bottom of the lights to drain the water that actually worked pretty well. Oh and the seat was broken before i got the car from my dad. So i tie wrapped the seat to the frame and put a block of wood behind it. I could go on and on with all the strange fixes i did to the car. Probably the best was NH wouldn't pass it for inspection because it had some jagged rust and hole in the door. So i filled it with expanding foam then cut the foam down covered with bondo and spray painted, it actuallylooked pretty good.

JawnDiablo - 11-10-2010 at 10:37 AM

"like driving a couch".......a friend of mine had an 84 or 86 Buick Regal with the front bench seat back in the day and that is exactly how he described it.
awesome.

barc0debaby - 11-10-2010 at 01:08 PM

Plus you get to pretend your Steven Seagal.

DaveMoral - 11-10-2010 at 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BD
tell me about the outback, cause that is definitely on my list.
what year, what model, what kind of mileage, bought new or used, any issues?

It's a 2003, I think, AWD LL Bean edition, 90k, used. The only issue we had was something to do with the fuel injectors, and we actually think that was caused by a gas jockey in Oregon not screwing the gas cap on til it clicked twice. It's a pretty damn sweet ride.

Leather interior(wouldn't get that new, but used I'm okay with), heated seats, 6 disc changer, etc.

DaveMoral - 11-10-2010 at 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tireironsaint

Quote:

Originally posted by BD
tell me about the outback, cause that is definitely on my list.
what year, what model, what kind of mileage, bought new or used, any issues?

The Forresters have more room than the Outbacks, that's for sure. Especially the newer models.

JawnDiablo - 11-10-2010 at 04:53 PM

Subarus take a beating and run for a looong time.

BDx13 - 11-16-2010 at 07:16 AM

this if finally a done deal. we basically bought a newer (and nicer - the interior was all new for this model year) version of what we had - '09 Sonata limited w/22k miles. great car, awesome that their resale prices are so poor. basically got 10k off a 24k car that's only been on the road for two years. the balance of the factory warranty give us 3 years, 40k miles worth of coverage. our old ride was a v6 that got about 24mpg. the new one is a 4cl, but it feels equally powerful, and is showing about 27mpg so far. happy to have this shit behind me.

thanks again for all the input. we looked seriously into some of the suggestions, but knowing what a value the used sonata was, especially with the warranty, we decided to just go for that.

Dave - 11-16-2010 at 11:02 AM

Nice work! give us some pics of the new ride!