Help with a vehicle choice, please?

Hybrids are crap. A good diesel will give a hybrid a run for its money in the gas mileage arena, but not sacrifice much in the way of passing power or ease of maintenance, not to mention they run forever. If gas mileage is a big concern, you might check out the Jetta and Passat diesels.

Of the rest you listed, I'm partial to Mazda. The 3, 5, and 6 are all loaded with features at competitive prices. Mazdas seem to all be more fun to drive than their competitors IMO.
 
Hugh,
We're seeing a lot of advertising dollars spent on those new Subaru B9 Tribecas out here. It too may be a bit out of your optimal price range, but it looks like it would be a nice fit otherwise.
 
If it snows where you live, do not but a Lincoln Mark VIII. It's the fastest, most comfortable, most powerful car I've ever owned, but in the snow it's a very expensive bobsled. Or get a towtruck as a second vehicle...

When it wasn't in the shop, my Dodge PowerRam pickup was the very best snow-and-ice vehicle I've ever driven - better than Jeeps, better than my F150, better than Subarus. Most of the vehicles mentioned don't have enough clearance to get above the snow and lack the power to push through.

Just my 2 cents.

-Bob
 
um can anyone say "Vespa".... heck just strap two of em together and put a lexan windscreen and top on it and you are good to go :D

seriously I have heard some of the VW diesel stuff is good for mileage and comfort.
 
Consumer Reports reported that the regular 2005 Silverado crew cab 4wd standard bed got 22mpg on gas. It reported that the hybrid 2005 Silverado crew cab 4wd standard bed got 19mpg on gas. Does that make sense to you?

IMHO, from what little information I've gleaned about hybrids, it really doesn't look to be worth it.
 
I was in a Ford Fusion the other day. Very solid car, should compete very well against the Japanese autos (better is some catagories). Also available AWD, 4 or 6 cyl.
 
In keeping with the theme of the thread, I've been examining some _low_cost_ options which include scions. I attempted to 'build and price your scion' several times, but every zipcode I try gives me the response 'your zipcode is not supported, please try another'. Does anyone have a zipcode that works? I cannot even browse the options without putting in a zipcode... grrr.

Thanks,
 
lizardman_u said:
um can anyone say "Vespa".... heck just strap two of em together and put a lexan windscreen and top on it and you are good to go :D

seriously I have heard some of the VW diesel stuff is good for mileage and comfort.
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Seriously, I have one. A 2005 PX150. At 75-80 mpg I ain't complaining. They DO make a side car for them so ya don't fall down if you hit a patch of ice in the winter.
 
Having made the mistake of purchasing not one, but two VW Jettas, I will never buy another. Their overall reliability is terrible. I loved driving my Turbo Diesel, but it was not reliable at all. All forms of problems, air conditioning, radio, drive train, brakes.

Hybrids don't have enough longevity for me. I drive a car far more than 100K.
 
JB in SC said:
Having made the mistake of purchasing not one, but two VW Jettas, I will never buy another. Their overall reliability is terrible. I loved driving my Turbo Diesel, but it was not reliable at all. All forms of problems, air conditioning, radio, drive train, brakes.

Hybrids don't have enough longevity for me. I drive a car far more than 100K.
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My partner's wife had a Jetta. Horrible reliability problems although it was more comfortable and drove better when it worked than other cars in the same price range.
 
I'm 6-2 and I just got a Honda Ridgeline.
IMO it's GREAT!!!! It's got plenty of room in front and in back, a truck bed and the thing I like the best, IT'S GOT A TRUNK!!! :D :thumbup:
 
then this appeared: http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/27/Autos/mazda/. The cars are subject to fires caused by the exhaust system and they have recalled all of them that have been brought into this country. Those who have bought them will be supplied a free loaner while Mazda "develops a remedy and makes repairs." This latter part makes me suspect that they have nopt yet figured out how to fix the problem.

I am aware that the problem, once fixed, will cause the cars to be slow sellers for a bit, so we might well get a good deal on one. I cannot imagine Mazda allowing any further mistakes like that to slip through, so I should think that the car will be a solid item.
 
Gotta say it, check out the Toyota Camry :D for the size/price/gas mileage (with 4-cylinder) it is near impossible to beat. For a midsize car with freakishly huge interior space look at the Dodge Charger/Chrysler 300 and Ford 500.

Having said that if I needed/wanted a new vehicle the Lexus RX330 would be top of my list.

Keep in mind though that although you want a smaller vehicle you are used to a minivan, once the newness wears off you will miss the size if you buy too small, I'd stick to a midsize car or carbased suv. There are some vehicles I wouldn't own just for the lack of interior room and difficult of entry/exit (pretty much the only reason why I don't have the new mustang :( ), but you may not be big enough to have that problem.
 
Spydiefan04 said:
Gotta say it, check out the Toyota Camry :D for the size/price/gas mileage (with 4-cylinder) it is near impossible to beat. ...
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Yep I'M leaning toward the matrix, which _is_ a camry underneath, essentially.
I'm also interested to hear what Hugh ends up with, as I'm still trying to decide for sure.

Thanks for the input so far, I've been enjoying this thread.
 
Several friends have purchased Honda Elements.
I thought them hideously ugly until I rode in one, and now I have never seen such a beautiful vehicle.
It has more space inside than the outside would seem to allow, and the seating does amazing things, including folding down into a real bed.
It comes in either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.
Go sit in one.
 
I was just at my local friendly Subaru dealership last night getting some scheduled service & an oil change done. I wandered around the showroom and checked out all of the new '06 Subaru's. Of course since I own an '05 Forester XT I checked out the new '06 forester first. The new '06 Forester really is a nice vehicle. The interior is extremely comfortable and practical. There are storage spaces everywhere and the seats will fold down into beds also. The base engine is a 2.5L flat-4 with 173 hp mated to an established AWD system in a very crash worthy frame/chassis that has tons of utility potential. Not to mention it's know to be a very reliable design. It's based on the Impreza frame so it rides and handles closer to a car then some of the truck frame based platforms. Hard to go wrong with one except it may be smaller then what you are looking for. But based on your Mazda5 post, maybe not.

But I have to admit, if I could have driven away in anything there last night it would have been an '06 WRX STi. Just an incredible piece of rally breed engineering. But that's for another post, I don't want to drag this one off topic. :D

It'll be interesting to see what you end up with. Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be nice. Most all new vehicles are pretty well built anymore with the exceptions of a few pigs.
 
My wife really likes the Forester, but the nearest dealer is about 40 minutes drive from us. That is my only problem with them. I would really like not to have to go that far for service.
 
Do yourself a favor and test drive a Scion Xa or Xb with a manual tranny. Yes, they're fugly. But 30+ miles to the gallon is nothing to sneeze at, and they're both very comfortable vehicles. I test-drove an Xb two nights ago with my brother and we were both very impressed with it's comfort and performance. The looks are a whole different story, but I could live with them considering how much fun the thing was to drive.
 
FullerH said:
My wife really likes the Forester, but the nearest dealer is about 40 minutes drive from us. That is my only problem with them. I would really like not to have to go that far for service.
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I know what you mean. That's about exactly how far away my dealer is also. But you really don't have to drive to service much when you consider how much you will be driving it on a daily basis. I wasn't convenient for me but the trade off for a fun vehicle was well worth it in my opinion.

Do you know if it's a good Subaru dealership? A 40 minute drive for subpar service wouldn't be to cool.

(edited for typo.)
 
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