Need Help..... W/ car

[Gilbert]

ONLY 2 REAL CHOICES MY FRIEND.

HONDA ACCORD or CAMRY

NEW OR USED, DOESN'T MATTER. BOTH ARE RELIABLE TRANSPORTAION.

DO YOUR RESEARCH....Here are 2 non bias websites to help you along the way. Edmunds will give it all to you in a nut shell, autoweek will be a little more descriptive, and you'll here what the editors and owners have to say,

AUTOWEEK.

EDMUNDS.

[skonopa]

Despite all the people hyping up Hondas and Toyatas, I've look and nothing they had really appealed to me, thus the Saturn. If not Saturn, I'd most likely be getting a Ford (and almost did).

And about the Ranger pickups, my father has one with nearly 200K miles on it, and the thing still runs and looks like the day he brought it home off the dealer lot.

[sputnik]

Another good source of car information is Consumer Reports. The last issue, in fact, was the annual car issue. They cover about every 'common' car out there as well as provide good information on used cars.

[TBrennan]

I bought this little bugger a week and a half ago, have 1800 miles on it now (I'm in St. Augustine now), incredible car, I'd drive it to Tierra Del Fuego. Cadillac is back baby.

The Focus is a great car, I owned two. The cars are tight, quiet and well made. Very good handling and very comfortable for the size. I had a 2001 Focus and drove from New Orleans back home to Chicago in a day and could have driven more. The Focus is fun to drive.

I bought my daughter a 2002 Focus and we drove together from Chicago to DC in it, we were comfortable. I could travel anywhere in a Focus.

[Bill H.]

Gramas701,

Since you stated that you'd like to stay with Ford; I'd recommend the Focus-as others have. Consumer reports states they have a Good dependability rating......... I have rented these, and they are a fun practical car.........JM2CW.

[michael hurd]

Tbrennen?? Focus QUIET?? I worked for a ford dealership in the bodyshop dept and during slow times we would have to do PDI's, including test drives to test out the transmission shifitng, speed control and brakes. Those little cars are nasty for engine and tire noise, they make our '91 civic seem like a caddy in comparison.

Test driving the new civic is even quieter, the engine ( even the SI model ) is very quiet, only slightly noticable even under full throttle, umm I mean city driving conditions. The girlfriend hit the rev limiter which shut the engine off for a few milleseconds, pulling out of the dealership driveway! After selecting second, and moving on, we discovered that that little SI hatchback really flies.

[dgb]

I highly reccomend a Subaru, esepcially in the snow belt. I have a Forester and a WRX and love both of them. The Forester is an 01 w/ 165hp, you can get them with 230hp (actually much higher judging by the 1/4 mi times) now. Good storage along a station wagon line, drives like a car (it's built on the Imprezza chasis). The WRX is just a kick *** little rocket, handles excellently and is tops in bad weather. The STi is it's big brother upping the anti from 227hp to 300hp and will kick anythings butt this side of $50,000 or more. 300hp out of a 2.5L engine is just astounding. They are tons of fun if you like to go on unpaved roads. Front seats are very roomy (I'm 6-4 and have room to spare overhead) but the back seats are not good for large individuals.

Only issue I had was the standard tires are a little weak considering most people buying them are probably in snowy areas.

The gas milage isn't the best, about 27-30 hiway, but that's the cost of all wheel drive.

[skonopa]

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On 3/14/2005 1:25:11 PM michael hurd wrote:

Test driving the new civic is even quieter, the engine ( even the SI model ) is very quiet, only slightly noticable even under full throttle, umm I mean city driving conditions.

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That is something I noticed about my new Saturn, as today was the first time I got to drive it into work. It was much more quiet than even the last one that I had.

I test drove the Focus, and it was pretty noisy. It was not so much as that, but to me, it just felt so small. I found the Saturn to be a more comfortable car to me to drive, although I had to lower the seat a bit so the top of my head was not touching the headliner.

Now, the placement of the instruments will take some getting used to. The instruments are mounted up high, in the middle of the dashboard, instead of directly in front, looking through the steering wheel, where you'd expect them to be. The first time I drove this car, I was like, "Where the heck is the speedometer? Oh, there it is, over there!"

I agree, though that if the original poster wants to stick with Ford, and wants something small, then get a Focus. However, some nice deals can be had on some of those Taurus's, especially last-year's models. They are a good car with a good ride, and pretty easy on the gas, despite the 6-cylinder engines these typically come with.

As for the Hondas and Toyatas, yes the Civic was nice, but it just did not appeal to me. I went with the Saturn instead. Also to add, it was a friggan 2000 Honda Civic that ended the life of my last Saturn prematuraly!

[fini]

I second the choice of Toyota Prius. Unparalleled economy (what, like 50 mpg??), solid reliability (I think GM just recalled all their hybrids or electric cars?). Downside is it will not appeal to Steven Konopa (probably because you will be driving past him every time he's gassing up...).

[Cal Blacksmith]

Well, I am going to kick in a vote for good ol AMERICAN iron. I have driven Chrysler vehicles for nearly 30 years. In the last 15 years I had 4 Plymouths and they have been great cars All but the last one went 230,000+ miles with minimum maintaince. The last one had 165,000 miles on it when it was totaled while minding its own business parked in front of my house.

Having said the above, the cars were a '86 Acclaim, '90 Acclaim, '95 Neon 5 speed (a REALLY fun car to drive!) and a '01 Neon.

None of the cars got rave reviews in the consumer reports rag, they are way too stuck on Jap Crap to give an honest evaluation of an American car. I can tell you though, the repairs were only normal for what you would expect when a car goes over 230,000 miles. No engines, 1 transmission (leaking fluid) CV joints, etc.

Buy what you want but the American cars are not to be lightly dismissed. The only car that I have had that I could not wait to dump was a Nissan (I still had a Dodge truck so my string of years remains in tact.) It went out the door at 125,000 miles after replacing the transmission, drive axles, front suspension and when the engine started knocking that was it for that car, the dealer got to take care of it from then on.

[skonopa]

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On 3/14/2005 3:33:11 PM fini wrote:

Downside is it will not appeal to Steven Konopa (probably because you will be driving past him every time he's gassing up...).

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You know, the funny thing is that I did check out the Prius. Way to small for my needs (try to get a pair of skis or a weeks worth of camping gear into that thing!).

Hey, at 36 mpg on the highway, the Saturn is not to shabby either. Plus, I liked the looks of the Saturn better. .

[sputnik]

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On 3/14/2005 5:10:51 PM skonopa wrote:

try to get a pair of skis or a weeks worth of camping gear into that thing

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I didn't know that people skied east of the Rockies.

[SteelerFan]

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On 3/14/2005 2:00:17 PM skonopa wrote:

Also to add, it was a friggan 2000 Honda Civic that ended the life of my last Saturn prematuraly!

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Glad it wasn't my 2000 Civic.

[skonopa]

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On 3/14/2005 5:46:13 PM sputnik wrote:

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On 3/14/2005 5:10:51 PM skonopa wrote:

try to get a pair of skis or a weeks worth of camping gear into that thing

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I didn't know that people skied east of the Rockies.

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You'd be surprised how much skiing there actually is right here in the Mid-Atlantic. According to the DCSki website, there are some 29 ski areas within a day's drive of Washington, D.C. Now, granted, something like Vail proably has more skiable acreage than all 29 of those areas put together, though. But still! Better than nothing, and a whole lot cheaper than going out west all the time. At least I can still get some decent skiing in between trips out west.

[sputnik]

I clicked on the DCSki website link and got this:

"The page cannot be found

The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable..........................."

Hmmmm. East coast skiing "cannot be found"?? Just kidding. Seriously, I know that there are many good places to ski in the East other than hazardous waste landfills and golf courses. And, I know what you mean about taking advantage of skiing on what you have being better than nothing - I lived in Tucson for a few years. Mount Lemmon is a good little area there with good terrain but you can imagine how scarce snow was. Also, rest assured that you have way WAY more snow in the East right now that we do here so I won't be bragging . Well, maybe not til next year .

[skonopa]

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On 3/14/2005 9:50:39 PM sputnik wrote:

I clicked on the DCSki website link and got this:

"The page cannot be found

The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable..........................."

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I fixed it in my post. That is nice little site.

Believe me, if the oppurtunity ever presents itself for me to move to Colorado or Utah, I'd be on it like stink on crap! Even though we may not have the mountains like out there, I am not complaining, as this is definitly a nice area to live. Skiing or not. Hell, got a nice river maybe but a mile, if that, from my place with some nice white-water to go play in. Lots of camping and hiking, with the Shanandoah National Park only about hour and half away, amonst several other things. And only 1/2 hour south, got Kings Dominion, which opens this weekend! I can even get my coaster riding fix in. How many places can I go skiing on Saturday, and then hit a major theme park on Sunday to ride roller coasters?

[sputnik]

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On 3/14/2005 11:59:17 PM skonopa wrote:

I fixed it in my post. That is nice little site.

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Yeah, I agree. Here are a few web sites you may want to look at for our local areas:

www.bridgerbowl.com

www.moonlightbasin.com

www.bigskyresort.com

[gcoker]

My advice if you want to stay in the Ford Family; The Excape Hybrid.

They should be out shortly and get great gas milage. Other then that

it all depends on the size and space you need.

[gcoker]

My advice if you want to stay in the Ford Family; The Excape Hybrid.

They should be out shortly and get great gas milage. Other then that

it all depends on the size and space you need.

[dgb]

Personally I don't like the Neon, but Chrysler's higher end models are very, very cool. Especially the new 300. That's what a Chrysler car is supposed to look like. Too many American cars are copying Japanese sedan styling and are flat out boring. Look at Pontiac. The new GTO just looks like a big Accord.

For good or ill, when it comes to cheap performance, American cars are only now starting to keep up with the Japanese. American companies develop an engine and just beat it to death for a decade without making any improvements. When I bought my Forester in 2001, it's 2.5 4cyl engine, at 165 Hp, out performed every American 4 cyl engine and most of the V6 engines.

America does pick-ups, SUVs and muscle cars very well. It's starting to catch up in the luxury department as well now that they've finally got some unique styling and 8cyl engines (although the Germans still have edge IMO). Compact cars and 4cyl performance is still the realm of the Japanese IMO. The Neon SRT-4 is a step in the right direction, but that's an awful lot of power in a FWD drive car IMO.