I'm looking to buy a car soon...

I'm sold on my Lincoln Navigator but I just gas it happily and always have. My wife has a Jeep Liberty. Its actually worse on gas than my Lincoln though and yet my Lincoln will pull more and haul more go figure. My philosophy is simple. Buy a gas hog and some oil stock at the same time. Then when you pay so much at the pump you can tell yourself you feel better because you are getting a little bit of that back in your stock prices. :D

Seriously. We've never owned a bad Toyota. When I was on the road all the time I went through a new car every two years and ran up about 200,000 miles on them in that time usually. The Hondas and the Toyotas were less trouble for me overall vs the others I had which were far and wide in variety.

One other thing I've seen from owning both is a little thing about tolerances. For example we here in Oklahoma have a little critter called box elder bugs. These are harmless really but they breed by the millions. Our box elder trees in our neighborhood make it impossible to live away from these little buggers. When I closed up the Japanese vehicles and got in them you never saw bugs in the cars. When they are sealed up and locked they are sealed up and locked. With my Lincoln, and GMCs, Caddys, Fords, Chevys, Buicks, Mercury and even Mercedes Benz and other brands there was no way to keep these bugs out of the passenger compartment. The box elder bugs could get inside the others even when they were shut with the windows up and the doors closed securely.

You have to admire the Japanese makes close tolerances.

STR
 
gadgetgeek said:
I'd shy away form the hyundi/ kia if you do any kind of dirt/ gravel/ rural road driving. they seem to start to leak. the smaller nissan SUVs seem to do well, and they are built very well.
Click to expand...

Depends on the Kia. The early Sportages are excellent. It was after the change to a car frame SUV that they got weak. My Sportage is well into year 11 and going strong over 100K miles with some offroad travel every year. Because of the placement of the oil filter, oil does spill on the frame during oil changes which does drip off for a few days after an oil change. But that's not a leak. We did replace the gasket in my oil pan this year for a tiny drip, but my mechanic is amazed at how this old car does not leak.
 
+1 on Toyoyas and Hondas, IMO stay away from the Fords. The Element is a great design unless you really like to drive fast- yes, I know they're really peppy and go better than you would think- but they're also light, top heavy and not very stable. They also aren't very sturdy when they crash. Can't speak to Subarus, but never heard them bad-mouthed. Also loved my Chevy truck.

You've got lots of choices. I would suggest looking around and seeing what appeals to you, then decide what features (size, seating, towing, etc.) are important to you. Use those two things to narrow the list, then do some homework on repairs etc. to help make your decision. Have fun!
 
bennyG19 said:
gotta disagree with you there. i've seen lots of pictures and stories of people being in bad wrecks in an Element and coming out unscathed.

here's one:
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38111&highlight=wreck
Click to expand...

Hmmm.... Rolled over 7 times, huh? I'm really happy for the driver, but I'd rather not take my chances. Obviously, the incident I know about did not have as happy an ending- minor (& unnecessary) crash on the freeway, driver paralyzed. Traded in my Element the next weekend. Not because of the accident, but because I'd felt too close to losing it too many times- wind gusts on the freeway, etc.- always seemed a bit scary- but like I said "if you like to drive fast", which I do.
 
Phatch, I know what you mean about that skid plate/ frame member, I've had to double check a few to make sure that the filter wasn't leaking, (and then chew the guy who should have cleaned up the mess) but I've seen unusual engine leaks (main seal or such at 20k miles) It may be the newer ones, or perhaps a bad batch all shipped to the same dealer? Which reminds me, knowing where your car was born can give an indication of how long it will last, there is a massive difference between german made and mexican made VWs. I'd suspect that it holds true, probably not to that extreme, for other vehicles as well. all depends on habits I guess, I've worked on many cars that the driver doesn't bother to maintain because it will get traded before its second winter, and some do everything on time in hopes that it will pay off 15 years from now.
 
MVF said:
+1 on Toyoyas and Hondas, IMO stay away from the Fords. The Element is a great design unless you really like to drive fast- yes, I know they're really peppy and go better than you would think- but they're also light, top heavy and not very stable. They also aren't very sturdy when they crash. Can't speak to Subarus, but never heard them bad-mouthed. Also loved my Chevy truck.

You've got lots of choices. I would suggest looking around and seeing what appeals to you, then decide what features (size, seating, towing, etc.) are important to you. Use those two things to narrow the list, then do some homework on repairs etc. to help make your decision. Have fun!
Click to expand...

Gotta disagree on the Element and crashes. Two years ago I hit a deer with ours at night going 60mph. Did alot of damage to the front. The Geico adjuster who came to look at it said I should not feel bad and he showed me a photo he took earlier that morning of a Suburban who had a deer strike at similar speed. The Suburban had way more damage.

Also Honda is known for the crash structure built around the passenger compartment. Our nieghbors college age daughter totaled her civic driving like a maniac and walked away from it.
 
My Colleague has the Diesel 4 x 4 Sorento auto. The new generation Kias are a world apart from their predecessors. The cost/mile is very low. Excellent safety, good fuel consumption and more than decent cruising speed.

I don't hold for expecting a high resale value of a car at 5+ years or 100K miles. By a Merc and it get accident damaged at 3 years it's resale at 5 will be very poor. A car is a consumable and an investment only in your earning capability.

Work on the Purchase price being 80% consumed in 5 years. Assume 100k miles in that time. Add in fuel consumption, service costs, parts of 10% of purchase price, insurance. Calculate the cost per mile. There are some staggering differences. The new Kias doing very well, Hondas ok and the Rav4 not so hot.
 
A car is a consumable and an investment only in your earning capability.
Click to expand...

This is why I do not buy new cars. Both our vehicles are 2000 models, and both were purchased with over 60k miles on them. I paid 1/3 the cost of a comparable new truck for my F150, for example, but it's still nice, and I saved a comparable amount on my wife's Avalon. We will keep and drive both until my 11 year old needs a vehicle, or one of them dies, whichever comes first. Whenever she's ready to drive, we'll have to decide who's getting a "new" vehicle. But I know one thing right now -- it won't be anything like new, more like 2-5 years old. I'm looking at new vehicles that are around right now and in the next couple of years as being what I'll be buying after somebody else gets to take the new off it.
 
only millionaires should buy new cars even then its pushing it. Just because you make a million dollars doesnt mean you have a million dollars
 
btuner said:
only millionaires should buy new cars even then its pushing it. Just because you make a million dollars doesnt mean you have a million dollars
Click to expand...

I buy only new cars, smallish good range and very tough. They are within my budget. Others will use the same budget to buy an older but bigger vehicle whose technology has become cheap enough to be put on curent small cars. I travel alot so my care at 5 years a car is old by milage. The accident rate is so high (highest in the world) that any second hand is likely to be accident dammaged.

In some weeks I do 700miles. Frequently there are 200mils beween stops and any form of help. My vehicle has to be able to do 600km on a tank at 130km/h. I carry spare fuel for trips longer. Several times I have come across empty pumps or gas stations with no power. Crossing the Kalahari to Ghanzi (710km/450mls) the midway Gas station fuel pumps were once dry so we were not able to top up. We were in my friend's Diesel Sorento we managed it, though we had a spare Jerry can in the back.

Waiting in the Kalahari is sitting in the sun at >40c. Travelling at night is risky from the many Buck, Cattle and Donkeys. My colleague risked it and the twit hit a donkey at 160km/h and cartwheeled his Opel Asta. No injuries but to his pride. most are not so lucky.

I favour Opel and Kia, excellent service, value, range safety and range. Long live is rare in Botswana.
 
The wife and I bought a 08 Highlander a few months ago. We are pleased with it so far. It has plenty of power, decent gas mileage and is roomy on the inside without being a huge SUV. It wasn't cheap compared to some other SUV's but we are happy with it.
 
For practical transportation: The Subaru Forester.

For FAST practical transportation: The Subaru Forester XT.
 
If you want the best car for money spent, I would go with Subaru.

I have a Legacy sedan, and it's the real deal.

Unless something changes with their quality control, I'll be buying another Subaru.
 
Hmmm... Lots of Subaru recommendations I see. I gotta tell you my crazy Subaru story now. Crazy driver, not crazy Subaru. I have a buddy who owns a cheapo used car lot. Several years ago I became intrigued by a little, red, Subaru Justy he had. Dinky, little, front wheel drive hatchback car with a transverse mounted (crossways) 3-cylinder (yes, 3) itty-bitty engine. It also had in its design the ability to throw a switch or shift a lever and engage the rear wheels, too, for four wheel drive, but with a difference. It worked like a solid rear axle with no differential. It was only for off road, loose surface driving, and you could really tell it when making tight turns at low speeds! OK, me being the inquisitive type and the Subaru Justy costing somewhere between $1,000 and $2,000, I took it for a test drive down the highway in front of his car lot. I went a mile or two at 65 and it did OK, so I turned around and came back toward the lot at 85 MPH! Like the old joke says, "And that's when it happened." I was driving in two wheel drive, of course, but I think a rear wheel bearing momentarily seized up and the tire on that wheel instantly burned through and blew out. Well, there I was on a four lane divided highway with a grassy median down the center, and I was fighting like crazy to keep my red little speed demon on my side of the road, never mind in my own lane. I got it slowed down from 85 to about 25 before it drifted over onto the median, which had a very shallow ditch in the middle for water drainage. The little booger got over on the already damp grass, rolled over on its side, and slid several more yards to a stop. In case you ever do something stupid like this, you must program your brain ahead of time to SHUT OFF THE IGNITION IMMEDIATELY to maybe help prevent a fire. I shut off the ignition, unbuckled myself, and crawled out the open window of the door that was then on top. I sat there looking around at the crowd that was gathering since I had evidently made some noise prior to rolling it over in the median. I had just had my hip joint replaced not too long before this, so I didn't just bale off the car and jump to the ground. Two big guys got me under my arms and eased me down to the ground. Needless to say, I felt like a fool for doing what I'd just done. I said, "Let's roll it back over on its wheels." They weren't too sure that was a good idea, so I got around the car in the right place and pushed it back onto its wheels by myself. Then I got back in, it started right up, and I drove it slowly and sheepishly down the shoulder of the road and back to the car lot. Other than getting the down side of the car muddy and stained by grass, the rollover did surprisingly little damage. The side mirror had simply folded over as it was intended to do, and my buddy just loosened the front fender mounting bolts and slid it a fraction of an inch forward so the door would open without binding. To this day I still like Subarus. :D
 
Thanks for the compliment, Jackknife. That really means a lot coming from someone who spins tales as well as you do. :thumbup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top