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Uncle Jam posted:Have you thought about Scion FRS? There is no telling what the reliability would be like, but the manual is at $25k and the automatic is at $26k. The people I know who have driven it love it, but I've heard its hard to find on lots right now. That might suck with the time pressure. Based on him cross shopping the Optima and Altima, what makes you think he wants something like the FRS/BRZ? I actually found the 4-cyl Camry to be more than adequate, power wise.
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Sep 8, 2012 00:21
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Based on him cross shopping the Optima and Altima, what makes you think he wants something like the FRS/BRZ? Last time I was buying I tried to drive as many different things as I could, because its a good excuse to drive a lot of cars, and you might surprise yourself. Each to his own I guess.
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Sep 8, 2012 00:44
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When talking about entry level cars, the old stand-bys of Civic, Corolla, Focus, etc get mentioned a lot, but I've seen that Ford Fiestas (and maybe other compact cars) are even less. Is there a reason I don't read Fiesta here much? Do they collapse at 80k miles or something?
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Sep 8, 2012 01:04
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Geckoagua posted:I agree, it's a pretty crap situation. The other insurance company is covering the rental until monday, but I really dislike having to pay out of pocket for something with zero return. In my brilliance I never took the rental clause on my insurance so I can't really use that option. I'm thinking I will check out several places over the weekend, if I simply don't find anything I'm satisfied with I'll extend, but I'd rather not. FYI, if you ask you can probably get the insurance company rate on your rental car. It can be like $10/day for a mid-size.
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Sep 8, 2012 03:42
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:When talking about entry level cars, the old stand-bys of Civic, Corolla, Focus, etc get mentioned a lot, but I've seen that Ford Fiestas (and maybe other compact cars) are even less. Is there a reason I don't read Fiesta here much? Do they collapse at 80k miles or something? Great little car but it's a subcompact class vehicle which is why it probably doesnt get mentioned as much. The newer ones (2008+) are pretty solid cars as far as I know.
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Sep 8, 2012 05:22
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Anyone considering an FRS/BRZ might wanna read this first. http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15577 Looks like they have some bugs to work out.
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Sep 8, 2012 05:44
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I thought I'd post a follow-up to my earlier post in this thread. My dad ended up test driving the following cars: '13 Hyundai Elantra (M/T) '12 Mazda 3 (Skyactive M/T) '12 Chevy Cruze Eco (M/T) '12 Toyota Corolla (A/T) '10 Toyota Prius III (A/T  with 25k miles for $20k)'12 Honda Fit (A/T) '12 Honda Civic (A/T) We didn't have time to make it to the Ford dealer before they closed so we didn't look at the Focus or the Fusion Hybrid. He generally didn't like how the A/T cars drove as much as he did the M/T cars and of them he only seriously considered getting the Civic. He felt the Elantra was a good value considering the features you got but was exceedingly bland in all other respects. He liked both the Mazda 3 and the Cruze quite a lot on their test drives and they were his top 2 picks. While he preferred the Cruze's interior and its smoother and quieter ride compared to the 3, he ended up getting the 3 because it was a better value (it was stickered $1500 less than the Cruze and $1000 less than the Civic, had 0%/60mo financing available and the dealer "included" a lifetime, unlimited-miles extended powertain warranty in the sticker price). So far he's very happy with it and on his first tank he got 41 MPG according to the trip computer.
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Sep 8, 2012 06:06
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Leperflesh posted:Just to elaborate on what Guinness said: in no way should you expect a early-2000s GM vehicle "more reliable" than a Hyundai. It is the opposite situation. A 2004 Pontiac Sunfire in particular is not a good car and you will never see anyone here recommend it. I should have elaborated: my Tiburon was breaking down quite regularly, and I was pouring money that I didn't have into it. Example, within a month I lost both my heating block (estimated $1000+ to fix with labor, since they would have to take out my dash just to get to it, plus cut through the AC) and my radiator. The guy that had it before me ran the thing into the ground, so it had pretty high kms. The Sunfire is a very common model in this area, and parts are plentiful and cheap (if I go to my regular guy; Chev is repairing the accelerator cable for me no charge this time). It also has comparatively low kilometers (72,000), so it seemed like the better choice.
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Sep 8, 2012 13:07
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:When talking about entry level cars, the old stand-bys of Civic, Corolla, Focus, etc get mentioned a lot, but I've seen that Ford Fiestas (and maybe other compact cars) are even less. Is there a reason I don't read Fiesta here much? Do they collapse at 80k miles or something? The Fiesta is great but has only been out in the US for like two years. Nobody made A-class cars in the US before the Fit, with the notable exception of the Toyota Echo, which has some limitations.
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Sep 8, 2012 14:03
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The Sunfire is great* if you treat it as a throwaway car and do your own basic maintenance. poo poo breaks? If you can't find the part at a pick-and-pull or on sale at your GM store, flip the thing for 500 bucks or junk it. Major repair? See ya. *relatively If you are getting a mid 2000s GM vehicle, get the W body with the L36 3800 V6 (or the L67  ) and the 4T60/4T65 transmission. They're pretty rock solid since they're essentially 1960s technology. Expect the interior to fall to pieces. I'll shut up about the 3800 now so that Throatwarbler doesn't yell at me. The J-body is one of the worst cars made in the 2000s.
KYOON GRIFFEY JR fucked around with this message at 14:08 on Sep 8, 2012 |
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Sep 8, 2012 14:05
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:The Sunfire is great* if you treat it as a throwaway car and do your own basic maintenance. poo poo breaks? If you can't find the part at a pick-and-pull or on sale at your GM store, flip the thing for 500 bucks or junk it. Major repair? See ya. Yeah, I'm only looking to get about a year and a half to two years out of it until I get a permanent job (teacher). My father in law had one for years (2000), never really had any major problems with it, and was encouraging me to get one anyway. Next car: Corolla, especially if they update their current models and get back their lagging reputation.
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Sep 8, 2012 14:24
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Nobody made A-class cars in the US before the Fit, with the notable exception of the Toyota Echo, which has some limitations. Everyone forgets the Aveo.  I've never heard of the Cavalier being a particularly unreliable car, especially the later years when they went to the Ecotech engine. Yes it didn't drive very well had fuel economy was poor compared to the competition, but they generally started and got you to work.
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Sep 8, 2012 14:59
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Every one wishes they could forget about the aveo.
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Sep 8, 2012 20:18
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http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/3231851811.html Here's an '08 Corolla with 27k miles for less than $10k. Too good to be true, maybe? Should I suspect something?
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Sep 9, 2012 04:14
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/3231851811.html Just looking at the Blue/Black Book values, which he's undercut by $1,100- $2000, as well as the fact that he is driving without hubcaps, makes me suspicious.
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Sep 9, 2012 11:35
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Throatwarbler posted:I've never heard of the Cavalier being a particularly unreliable car, especially the later years when they went to the Ecotech engine. Yes it didn't drive very well had fuel economy was poor compared to the competition, but they generally started and got you to work. I personally think some of the cheaper models of cars sold out there like Cavalier get a bad rap because people that tend to buy the cheapest vehicle possible usually don't take very good care of them. Someone that can barely afford the payment on a base model Cavalier is not going to get the 30 and 60K maintenance done, so you end up with a bunch of 70 to 80K mile Cavaliers on the market that have barely had any maintenance done to them.
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Sep 9, 2012 22:04
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Professor Shark posted:Just looking at the Blue/Black Book values, which he's undercut by $1,100- $2000, as well as the fact that he is driving without hubcaps, makes me suspicious. What the hell do hubcaps have to do with anything? Looks like a good deal to me.
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Sep 9, 2012 22:05
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leica posted:What the hell do hubcaps have to do with anything? Looks like a good deal to me. I will note that when I googled the vin, it came up with some references to salvage auctions. I might wonder if there's been a title washing. Missing hubcaps could mean nothing or could mean the OEM wheels/hubcaps were damaged in an accident. The price isn't that low, so not enough to trigger the too good to be true alarms, which may be the goal. That said, I'd get it PPIed by a reputable shop and tell them you suspect accident damage (I might even take it to a body shop) so they look for that. If it checks out, no reason to buy it except that corollas are boring as hell.
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Sep 9, 2012 22:34
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nm posted:Missing hubcaps could mean nothing or could mean the OEM wheels/hubcaps were damaged in an accident. I highly doubt that, if they went through the trouble of trying to hide an accident, you don't think they'd just buy new hub caps for it? Also how the hell would all four of them get damaged at once? It's just a look really, lots of people like the way black steelies look better than the lovely hub caps, I for one agree.
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Sep 10, 2012 02:42
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I was thinking he meant "suspicious" because maybe the seller stole the car, and it had custom rims on it, so he took the rims off so the real owner couldn't identify it if he saw it on Craiglist being sold to a sucker.
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Sep 10, 2012 02:47
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leica posted:I highly doubt that, if they went through the trouble of trying to hide an accident, you don't think they'd just buy new hub caps for it? Also how the hell would all four of them get damaged at once? It's just a look really, lots of people like the way black steelies look better than the lovely hub caps, I for one agree. An accident can damage 2 alloys easy. OEM alloys are extremely expensive, cheaper to just go to $50 steelies. But yeah, as I said it can mean nothing, I'd rely on a PPI, not wheels.
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Sep 10, 2012 03:47
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Proposed Budget: 25,000 CDN, 30,000 CDN is possible depending on how well we save over the next four months. I live in Vancouver, Canada. New or Used: My wife and I test drove the new Ford Escape SEL with the 2L Ecoboost engine over the weekend. We've been looking at this SUV for awhile now and we'd love to buy one but at the back of my mind a little voice is telling me not to buy a brand new SUV. So I think ultimately we'll buy used. Body Style: Compact SUV/Crossover How will you be using the car?: My wife and I are expecting a baby in February so we are replacing one of our cars (my 1997 Honda Civic) with an SUV. We also have a 2006 Ford Focus ZX3 (2 door so not baby friendly). The SUV will become our primary family vehicle that my wife will drive around the greater vancouver area when the baby is born. It will be our primary vehicle on weekends. My parents live about 400km away so it will be our primary vehicle for that journey as well as the vehicle we use for our 2-3 camping trips per year. At the moment we are not considering trading in the Focus because it is fully paid for, runs great and I don't think we'd get a great price on trade in. My wife thinks we should go with AWD but I'm not convinced that's worth the premium price especially in the Vancouver region. We don't live anywhere that becomes inaccessible when the weather is bad. If winter tires + FWD gives me the same stopping power as AWD then I think that's the way to go. The only reason I think we should go with AWD is if we get a tow package. At some point we'd like to pull a smaller camping trailer (something that a compact SUV could manage). What aspects are most important to you?: We like the bells and whistles in the new Ford Escape (Ford Sync with MyTouch -- we both have iPhones, dual climate control etc). A good engine is important because we are considering looking for something with a tow package. Possibly AWD. Obviously a high safety rating is important since my wife and kid will be in it.  Ultimately if we had access to an additional 20k we'd probably go with a new SUV (Ford Escape) but we don't so I'm basically looking for a great 3-5 year old compact SUV.
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Sep 10, 2012 16:23
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Rhaegar posted:Proposed Budget: 25,000 CDN, 30,000 CDN is possible depending on how well we save over the next four months. I live in Vancouver, Canada. "Bells and Whistles", "Good Engine" eh? Take your wife out and get her to test drive both the Range Rover Sport and the Porsche Cayenne. For your budget you should be able to get either one around 2007-8 depending on the engine(RRS Supercharged or Cayenne S will be more). These were $80k+ new so you will be getting lots of engine, bells and whistles. Women really, really love these cars so she will probably be very happy with either.
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Sep 10, 2012 16:44
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Rhaegar posted:Ultimately if we had access to an additional 20k we'd probably go with a new SUV (Ford Escape) but we don't so I'm basically looking for a great 3-5 year old compact SUV. Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Chevy Equinox/GMC Terrain would all fit the bill pretty nicely for you. Take a look at each one and see which you like best. Snag a 2 to 3 year old certified pre owned and I think you'll be very happy for the next few years.
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Sep 10, 2012 17:07
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skipdogg posted:I personally think some of the cheaper models of cars sold out there like Cavalier get a bad rap because people that tend to buy the cheapest vehicle possible usually don't take very good care of them. Someone that can barely afford the payment on a base model Cavalier is not going to get the 30 and 60K maintenance done, so you end up with a bunch of 70 to 80K mile Cavaliers on the market that have barely had any maintenance done to them. I agree to an extent; but the difference is that when a Civic or a Corolla gets that same level of abuse, it typically comes out of it looking much better than a Cavalier. If you're willing to accept the driving dynamics of a wet noodle, the interior quality of a Fisher Price Cozy Coupe that's been sitting in the sun for 10 years, and occasional annoying but cheap repairs, the J-body will work. Just remember that the car is near-worthless, so if you ever get a repair bill that's four figures, seriously consider either making do without it or just selling the car and buying another.
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Sep 10, 2012 17:28
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Proposed Budget: ~$10,000 US New or Used: Used Body Style: Pickup How will you be using the car?: My wife drives to work about 2 miles every day on a scooter and we share a 4 door car on bad weather days. We want to get a dependable, mid-size or small pickup that she can drive to work and we can use to haul/move things when needed. We can both drive standard so either one works for us. What aspects are most important to you?: Reliability, affordable maintenance, safety
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Sep 10, 2012 19:23
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skipdogg posted:Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Chevy Equinox/GMC Terrain would all fit the bill pretty nicely for you. I'll also roll in the Subaru Forester and Outback to the mix. The last gen Escape isn't too bad either.
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Sep 10, 2012 19:31
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Unzip and Attack posted:Proposed Budget: ~$10,000 US Little pickups (or even big ones) and safety don't go very well together. How much are you planning to haul and move things?
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Sep 10, 2012 19:32
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TRIPLE POST: For those of you considering a new midsize family sedan in the next few months, the new Accord was unveiled/de-embargoed or whatever today. It has been written up pretty favorably so far. http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/10/2013-honda-accord-sport-first-review-video/ http://www.insideline.com/honda/accord/2013/2013-honda-accord-ex-full-test.html http://www.insideline.com/honda/accord/2013/2013-honda-accord-ex-l-v6-full-test.html Might be worth waiting for to back-to-back with the new Camry, Passat, new Fusion and new Altima as well as the Kia Optima and Hyundai Sonata.
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Sep 10, 2012 19:55
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Proposed Budget: Preferably $5k or less. (7k is an absolute upper limit) New or Used: Used. Body Style: Both 2/4 doors are fine. I do strongly prefer wagons, hatchbacks, and smaller SUVs though. How will you be using the car?: Mostly for going back and forth to college classes (shouldn't be a tremendously long trip). Even mix of city/highway driving. Also, being a Colorado resident, I'd prefer something with 4wd/AWD; both for unexpected snow, and if possible the ability to traverse mild off-road paths (like semi-smooth trails up to the mountains). What aspects are most important to you?: Reliability and Maintenance costs lead by a *long* shot. I have a very tight budget to work with, so the less things are likely to break (and cheaper they tend to be to fix when they do) the better. Beyond that again is just 4wd/AWD capability, really. Hell, if you can point me to a vehicle I'm likely to be able to learn to work on myself due to relative simplicity, and easier access, that would be fine. So far, I've been looking at early 2000's (2000-2005 roughly): Subaru Outback and Forester, Jeep Liberty, Chevy Trailblazer, etc. I know the Subies used to have issues with their 2.5l engines' head gaskets, but I have no clue as to other weak points these vehicles might have. Should be ready to make a purchase near the beginning of 2013. Thanks in advance for any help!
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Sep 10, 2012 22:41
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Little pickups (or even big ones) and safety don't go very well together. How much are you planning to haul and move things? Not very often at all - the occasional big purchase from Home Depot or to help people move things when needed. Mainly we just want something inexpensive and reliable - no frills or extras needed.
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Sep 11, 2012 03:27
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Unzip and Attack posted:Not very often at all - the occasional big purchase from Home Depot or to help people move things when needed. Mainly we just want something inexpensive and reliable - no frills or extras needed. In my own searches it has been a bit hard to find bare bones trucks as most people (at least in this area) buy them with some frills (in specific the XLT ranger is far more popular than the XL). Keep in mind none of the around 1.75 ton+ trucks have better than an acceptable IIHS ratings. If you can afford something larger (2.3 ton+) the F150 tests the best. Dakotas and Frontiers are pretty terrible in safety ratings. That said you don't need to haul anything so I'd suggest getting the lowest trim Camry you can. Better safety and fuel economy by far. At least that's what I take from reading this thread. Raxmus fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Sep 11, 2012 |
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Sep 11, 2012 05:17
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Unzip and Attack posted:Not very often at all - the occasional big purchase from Home Depot or to help people move things when needed. Mainly we just want something inexpensive and reliable - no frills or extras needed. Zipcar membership and a second daily driver sedan/hatch, provided you live in a location where such things exist. It will save you money on fuel, you'll be more comfortable and have a more useful vehicle 95% of the time. Plus, Home Depot has trucks you can rent. If people need to move, they can figure that poo poo out for themselves. Having access to a truck just makes you people's go-to moving bitch.
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Sep 11, 2012 16:02
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Hi all, two part question: First off, my wife and I have two cars - a 2002 Nissan Pathfinder SE (hers) and a 2003 BMW 325iT M/T Wagon (mine). I'm trying to decide which of these to replace first. Hers has a lot of miles on it, almost hitting the 200k km range, while mine has about 85k km on it. They both run reasonably well, although her alternator konked out recently while on the highway which was a real hassle. It has been replaced and seems to be running fine now. My car has ran like a champ with no major issues and I have been good about regularly changing the oil (I don't buy into that BMW "every 24k km!" bullshit). But I'm always afraid there will be some pricey BMW repairs lurking ahead. So, once the choice of which one to trade up on first, the question becomes what to go to next? Well of course we have different requirements, which I will summarize: In case of Pathfinder trade up: She'd want another sport utility/crossover of some kind with a good amount of room, high visibility (she's short), easy driving and decent on fuel. AWD would be nice but not 100% required. We live up a hill and it gets snow on the top some winters. So far my top picks for her have been the Kia Sorento or the Ford Edge. Larger than the Sportage and Escape to fit our dogs, stroller, car seat etc. I'd lean more towards the crossover side than SUV, hence the Edge over the Explorer. Price range: $25-35k. In case of BMW wagon trade up: I'd want something that is fun to drive but also practical. Another RWD wagon would be ideal but BMW has lost the plot I feel. Not a fan of the E91s. I'm not opposed to going AWD either or a really nicely driving FWD. I've been burned by Audi mechanical failures in the past so they're not an option. I'm kind of interested by the look of the Kia Sportage and curious to find out how the SX drives with the turbo engine. Probably high with annoying body roll, though. Price range: $25-35k as well. Anyway hit me up with some suggestions, keen to see what I should check out, I haven't gone car shopping in forever so I'm fairly excited.
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Sep 11, 2012 19:19
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At only 85 kkm your E46 has a TON of life left in it. With just a little bit of maintenance E46s, especially the later years and manual-equipped models, make it past 200k miles (320kkm) easily. Just be sure to keep up on the scheduled service intervals and don't take it to the dealer - find a decent independent shop. You're being way paranoid about a solid car with barely any miles on it. The infamous Inspection II (every ~60k miles) that people talk about costing an arm and a leg recently only ran me a total of about $550 on my 2004 330Ci with 68k miles at a top notch independent euro shop, and that's including the little minor things they did along the way (both accessory belts & brake fluid and coolant flush). That's literally the only maintenance I've had to do in the near-two-years I've owned the car outside of an oil change, and they gave it a completely clean bill of health. E46s are very well built cars with only a small handful of common problems that are very well documented and generally easily/cheaply repaired at indy shops or by DIY. Plus, they're just not that old, not that complicated, and one of BMW's best-selling generations of cars of all time so parts are easy to find and generally not that much more expensive than something like a Honda (sometimes cheaper!). Guinness fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Sep 11, 2012 |
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Sep 11, 2012 19:32
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Excellent, it is a really fantastic car and I love driving it. I recently replaced the thermostat myself when it got stuck and it was surprisingly easy. My only beef with it is the stereo/speakers, really.
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Sep 11, 2012 19:37
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priznat posted:My only beef with it is the stereo/speakers, really. For sure, the factory iPod integration in my '04 leaves a lot to be desired, but it was cutting edge back in the day when factory iPod integration was a rarity. I've got the HK 'premium' sound in mine, though, so the speakers themselves are plenty good for me. Speakers are easily replaced (especially in the non-HK equipped cars) if you are so inclined. Then there are kickass interface overhauls like the DICE MediaBridge that integrate fully with the factory Business CD head unit: http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/product/711/282/DICE-MediaBridge-BMW-iPod--iPhone--Satellite--Bluetooth--USB-Integration-Kit/ Not the cheapest out there, but for only ~$250 you get to keep the clean factory stereo appearance, plug-and-play installation (no wire splicing), and it integrates with your radio display and steering wheel controls out of the box. Or if you really want to go whole-hog, there's the Dynavin Android-based head unit: http://www.dynavin.com/android.php I can't speak from experience on that one and I've read some mixed things so you'd have to do some research to see what the current status is on that whole thing. But it looks kind of neat. Guinness fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Sep 11, 2012 |
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Sep 11, 2012 19:42
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How big of a deal is 8k off (25k down from 33k) a car that has minor hail damage? I just graduated, and I'm looking to get a car maybe. It's black, so it doesn't show up that much. It's an Acura ILX with the technology package. Drove it once and liked it, and my parents have a higher end model. Payments would be about 401 a month. Is this one of those deals I'd be crazy to not go after? I don't know a lot about buying cars.
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Sep 12, 2012 06:15
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Doesn't show up much? I can see every flaw on my black car.
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Sep 12, 2012 06:18
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Good point. It was night, so it'd probably be more noticable in the day. They seem to have been struck by like quarter sized pieces of hail briefly. Just dunno if a discount like that is a good deal or not since I've never bought a car before.
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Sep 12, 2012 06:23
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