Cars?

[Frustrated Father]

I know this is going to get a laugh out of some people, but I\'m really thinking about picking up a Scion XB here in the next few.

Its based off the Honda Element and at first I laughed when I saw them but when the Scion came out and redid the interior and had a bit of fun with it, I got a bit more interested.


Add to the fact that it gets almost 40 miles to the gallon and tricked out with everything (some things you may or maynot want, special decals, paint jobs, neon lights - I\'m tempted to get it just so I can laugh to tell the truth) they come out to just a tad over sixteen thousand in price. I

Its a no hassle deal as well so it will cost the same in California as it does in Georgia and the warrenty is upheld through Honda and Scion dealers.

Anyhow ... bit of a box, but I\'m looking at one, especially with the damn cost of gas.

 

[Duende]

I like to recommend Saturns. I\'ve owned three so far and found them to be nice and very reliable. We currently own the third, but the first two had to go because of our actions, not the car\'s: First went because of an accident- somebody wasn\'t paying attention- car got totalled. I can really recommend Saturn\'s safety, the most of the damage was on the front passenger side- where I was, and all I felt was a heavy \"bump\" and then all I saw was the airbag deflating. I had not a single bruise.

The second Saturn had to go because it was the SL series, which is compact, and with our family \"expanding\" so we went up to a mid-size Saturn sedan, which we have now.

Of the few problems we\'ve had with them, none occured until after the 50,000 mile mark, and my only gripe would be that parts are hard to find as well as mechanics familiar with Saturns.

Of course, with gas prices the way they are, if I had the money, I\'d get a nice hybrid.



Oh, as a PS, I\'d NEVER buy a Dodge. Before we were married, my husband came into some money and he bought himself a Dodge Avenger, and when he bought it, he asked for their \"best\" warranty. But later, when the ABS went out, it somehow didn\'t fall into their definition of \"bumper-to-bumper\" ??? ?
Bastards. My mother-in-law\'s Neon also developed problems early too.

OK, that\'s all!

 

[airhead]

@Duende, we are on our 3rd Saturn too. I put 175,000 on the first one. Just the AC Delco parts went (alternator, fuel pump and a computer) I totaled it one night but did not get a bruise (buried it up over the engine under a Mercury).

Wife had a Nissan Maxima - sweet car - would still have it other than some semi made a left turn from the right lane in morning rush hour on the interstate. Infinity engine - but I am glad that I don\'t have to pay for premium any more.

 

[ZeCorto]

I agree that getting a French car in the US would be a big mistake, actually, I\'m not sure getting a French car anywhere would be the smartest move lol
And I must say that my last car in the US was a Nissan Sentra which was just great, it had great handling for a small car.
I also would recommend Subaru for reliability, I got one 325th hand that dated from 1805 and had 925415 light years on it and it ran fine for a long time still.

 

[Equus]

...and here I thought we were going to talk about Gary Numan. Just kidding.

I\'ve had my Mazda since 2000, and I\'ve only had two problems, which were fixed by service pretty easily. I\'ve heard wonderful things about Saturns as well.

 

[MarkusTay]

Thank God...

I thought this was gonna be a \"Post your car\'s pic\" thread!

(well, one person did, but just one is OK, anythings gotta be better then lightbulbs!)

 

[supervike]

here in my car, I feel safest of all....

Originally posted by Equus
...and here I thought we were going to talk about Gary Numan. Just kidding.

I was wondering if someone was going to mention him!!lol

 

[EricJ]

thanks for the imput everyone, lots of good food for thought, I think I\'m going car shopping this weekend in our little \"dealership mall\" strip here so pretty much everything mentioned should be there. Now time to test drive a few of these babies! I think I will definately stop by the nissan and toyota dealers first.

 

[minimaker]

Hi,

about small cars in Europe. An US friend was very surprised to see the large number of the Smart \"fortwo\" over here. It\'s actually pretty popular here. Great citycar. You can actually park two of them in one parkingspace.
See here for pics (the \"fortwo\" model that is, you don\'t see the others that much\").
http://www.thesmart.co.uk/index.html

I understood that they are also available in the US.

Bye, Ming-Hua

 

[praetorian0_1]

I fear I hurt your feelings about small cars there mini. I did use the laughing symbol- I was joking of course. I think small cars are neat. Euro dealers have the market on those for good reason- I never encountered such small streets- they are a must.
SUV\'s for a guy that never sees winter or mud or offroad- its all ego baby, and most of them are ugly. Besides try to park your Hummer anywhere. Its all status- too bad for the rest of the world and running out of gas eventually. Hybrids rule!- they even have SUV hybrids that make a lot more sence.

Now this all being said, I wouldn\'t want to go mini car vs. Mac truck. Especially as a former paramedic- I\'ve seen it first hand, physics just takes right over there. The thought still gives me the willies. Even with high tech crumple zones and roll bars, etc... they help, but not in those overwhelming cases.
Now saturn and volvo(and all its bigger brothers like mercedes)- those are friggin tanks. I have seen them hit hard by bigger vehicles and come out on their feet- unlike Jeeps and the like that flip at the drop of a hat. Take my professional opinion on that.

 

[frenchkid]

I like all the SUV and they are available in France. The only probleme is parking it afterwards. I already have trouble with my 206 and that\'s already a small car
Oh and if I ever run in a big amount of money I\'m getting an audi TT, just love that car

 

[Naukhel]

I\'ve had 2 cars in my life. An \'84 Honda Accord (I got it after it had been the family car for 4 years, and drove it for 10 more), and an \'85 Nissan Sentra (POS), which I drove for one year.
Odd thing about my Sentra... it burned oil, but not much gas. In 1 year of driving it, I put in about 25L of oil, and only filled the gas tank up twice. Go figure.

For actual recommendations... stay away from FORD. (or any american company).
My money\'s with Honda, Nissan, Saturn\'s ok (didn\'t like the one I test drove last year). SUV\'s are generally solid, and easy to maintain, but the Pathfinder\'s tops in my book, there.
If you want lots of room, Mercedes. Even their answer to the Austin Mini has tons and tons of room. Puny little car, but it can seat 5 in comfort. Weird.

Or, go classic. Anything built before 1960 was built to last, and if it\'s in the dry states... it did last. Roomy, nice looking, big fins, AM radio... can\'t top that!

Or, do like I\'m doing, and save for a real beast. A 1938 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery Wagon. Cast iron from bumper to bumper. 8 cylinder flat-head engine, calibrated to 180 mph. Sure, it guzzles gas the way fish drink water, but it\'ll party 30 (put the band in the trunk -- I\'m not kidding), and I can actually stand up in the thing, if I hunch my head a little. (I\'m six feet tall)
Drive it through a brick wall, do a couple of paint touch-ups, and keep going... unless you got a flat tire on the way through.

 

[minimaker]

Origineel geplaatst door praetorian0_1
I fear I hurt your feelings about small cars there mini.

No worries, you didn\'t. I\'ve always been amused by seeing all those large cars in the US. And also the reaction of my US friends when they come over here (both at the size of cars as well as the petrol price). So I was a bit curious about how you all would react to the Smart. Actually, I should post a pic I have of a Czech police Smart patrolcar.
SUV\'s are quite popular with family cars here. Formely that was stationwagons.

You\'re right about the Volvo\'s being tanks. They\'ve always had a high reputation for safety and are pretty good cars qulitywise as well. Unfortunately thye have been styled like tanks for quite a while too.

As to jeeps, another problem is that many of them are pretty stiff (i.e. limited functional crumplezone) which transfers a lot of impact energy to the occupants instead of the car frame. By the way, the russians have made their version of a Civilian Hummer styled vehicle. I posted that link a while ago.

@Naukhel: 1938 car? picture, picture.

 

[praetorian0_1]

The stiffer the car- the worse the passengers get it. There was a make of car in the 60\'s that had a metal dash shaped like this\" > \" pointed right at the passengers. An old medic told me you could just wash out the inside, repaint the scrapes and resell it like nothing ever happened. Sounds like Christine to me

 

[Modo]

BMW

If I should choose a car it would definately be a BMW! My father once had one and not only did it look very good, it was also very pleasent to be a passenger in.

I can\'t tell you how good it is to drive from my own experiences, but I remember that my dad constantly roused and cheered it. He never stopped speaking about its driving capableties either.
So all in all I think a BMW is a wonderful car!

 

[sniffles]

I\'ve had 8 cars in my life, all different makes and models. The one I had longest was a Toyota Corolla. It lasted for 12 years, but I wouldn\'t buy one of those now. I\'ve not heard good things about the newer ones - and they\'re ugly.

I had an AMC Gremlin once. Any car is an improvement over that!!
lol