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Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)
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No longer excited after that.
Yeah, that was sort of my impression, too. When I first started seeing pics of the thing, and seeing the concept on the auto show circuit, I was actually a bit excited about it. One of my friends was thinking about getting a new vehicle soon, and at that point had it narrowed down to an Xterra or an Equinox. I was hoping he'd check out a Caliber, too. Even though it's smaller than the other two, I figure it was still bigger than the '98 Tracker he had been driving!
He never did check out the Caliber, and ended up getting an Xterra. Once I finally got to sit in a Caliber, I thought my buddy made the right decision.
Around 24 on one tank and 22 on the other, with about 80% highway and 20% city driving. The little 2.7 was eventually able to make it up to some fairly high speeds, but the car had an annoying vibration over 85 MPH.
When I returned the car to Avis, a V6 Sonata was being returned behind me. I've gotta say I felt a little jealous--probably a cheaper price class, and it wouldn't have struggled nearly as much as the Charger did.
25 NX 450h+ / 24 Sienna Plat AWD / 23 Civic Type-R / 21 Boxster GTS 4.0 / 03 Montero Ltd
I have never been in a previous model CR-V but the new style is very comfortable and roomy. The seats fold flat with plenty of storage. The tire is inside so nothing hanging on the back.
I find the seating position quite nice. Even though it doesn't have electric seats, they are very adjustable. You can't beat the mileage as I get over 20 in the city and very close to 30 on the hwy (if flat surface). I have the AWD version and have used it in the snow in the mountains in Oregon this past Spring.
Mark156
screwed themselves by not competing in one of the most competitive and crowded segments where the Japanese dominate the market share? hmmm... don't know about that.
They may not succeed with it, but I give them credit for trying to generate another hit with no direct competition, ala the aforementioned PT Cruiser and the 300. The Caliber obviously hasn't caught on in the same way, however. I think its a shame.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
The best thing that I can say about the Caliber is that it was a major improvement over the Neon that it replaced.
The interior was spartan (I did not know that cars still came with window cranks.) The mileage was not great 27 mpg on desert roads in the Mojave (no traffic at all).
I looked at them when they first came out and was impressed by the head and legroom. Being 6'6" thats always the first test of any vehicle. Can I fit in it is never a given.
What killed the Caliber for me was the gas mileage, it is way behind the Vibe , probably it's most direct competitor.
I'm 6'4" so I hear ya on fitting in vehicles. Did you find the Vibe/Matrix cramped, though? I sure did.
It really needs a telescoping steering wheel and power seats.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
We were looking for something with a bit of room, as my stepson and his g/f were going to be meeting us there. Payless had the best rates for full size (Ford 500 or similar).
When we got to the airport, it turned out that "or similar" meant a Hyundai Sonata V6. Not quite the same interior space as the 500, but adequate for our needs.
Nice car in many ways -- decent power and very quiet, but wasn't too impressed with the center stack -- lots of plastic.
Fortunately, I'm only 5'11", so legroom isn't as much of an issue for me as it is for others here.
I feel your pain on the roofing situation. Hurricane Wilma destroyed 1/2 of our roof and Allstate reluctantly replaced the whole thing with a more expensive barrel style roof. We had a slate tile roof before, so was kinda surprised when they said we had to go with the barrel tile. Come 4 months later and they drop us for the homeowners policy. Can't honestly say it was because they sprang for the new roof and new gutters, but makes me wonder. Supposedly they dropped thousands of South Florida homeowners.
One last thing, we switched from Allstate for our car insurance to 21st.com. Very easy process with a savings of well over $200.00. Another good thing is since all the kids live away from home, we can put them on the policy 4 times a year for a month each time when they come home for school vacations. We'll see how this works out.
The Sandman
Yeah, but with the way fuel prices are these days, Chrysler really needs something more fuel-efficient in their fleet than the Caliber. That's why I think they should have gone and offered a sedan-type direct replacement for the Neon, in addition to the Caliber. I think the Caliber's just too nichey to pull in truly huge volume. It's like a Matrix/Vibe or a Focus wagon/5-door, just heavier. It'll have it's market, for sure, but I still think a sedan version would have really helped boost sales.
And for all the hoopla over the PT Cruiser, which I do think is kinda cool, I just look at it as a Matrix/Vibe or Focus wagon contender, just wrapped up in cool retro sheetmetal.
Where I see the Cruiser and Matrix being different is that they are not just wagon versions of existing cars, like the Ford or Saturn. And the Cruiser predates the yota/pontiac twins, so i don't think you'd be remiss saying it created a niche ... although not much different than the cute utes, it does seem to be perceived as such.
While I agree Chrysler may need to offer a more economical car, I think it would have to be of a completely different design. I don't see the Caliber working as a sedan. Its just too darned tall for its other proportions.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
I wanted to like the car. However, when you get 25 mpg driving through the Mojave desert with NO traffic, how thirsty will it be when you are driving in traffic in Chicago?
I really wanted to DISLIKE the Vibe/Matrix in that it reminded me of the old Dodge Colt Vista and looked sort of bulky. However, the 34 mpg driving in Northern Alabama was hard to miss.
What is scary is when you hear Chrysler saying "this is our most fuel efficient lineup" in the ads. If that is the case, they are in real trouble. I see nothing remarkable in any of the mileages they are advertising.
It just felt high up to me, like I was driving a minivan or something. And something about the seating position felt funny. Its a fine car though, I wanted to buy one 2x now, it just didn't fit the bill quite right yet.
Was surprised at how much room there was, but we drove an AWD and they only come with the slushbox, so with 4 of us aboard, the acceleration was, as they say, "leisurely".
Other than that, it was a nice car.
With such a small displacement motor, its very important to keep the revs up if you wish to make haste. The GT model with the 6spd and VVTI requires staying on the top half of the tach to hustle, while running on premium gas.
I don't know anything about Saturn dealers. I do know that bmw dealers take the owner's surveys VERY seriously, & it can affect your relationship with the dealer if you don't give them all 5's (may be unfair, but.....).
Best to work things out with the dealer before downgrading them, I think.....&/or wait until you have to go back for maintenence or something instead of making one trip just for a key (?).
I'm hoping they will call me (since they still need my GMS PIN number) and we can talk about what they can do for us to earn those 5's.
We were told, in no uncertain terms, that if there was anything that would prevent us from giving them perfect scores, to tell them about it and they would take whatever steps necessary to fix it.
And yes, Saturn dealers are deadly serious about their survey stats -- both sales and service.
Yes. It's a fairly primitive, 50-60 y.o. structure included with the $8500 cheap tract homes built in the early 1950's.
Got another estimate today from a reputable roofer for $1810, which includes up to 64 sq. ft. of sheathing board replacement (they are 1 x 8 boards, not plywood). This guy was inspecting it more closely, & more of the boards do look rotted than I thought. (You don't suppose letting it leak for 3+ yrs before getting it fixed was a bad idea??).
This is almost as much fun as when I was schlepping my 15 y.o. M6 around to different indie bmw mechanics getting estimates--& sorting thru all the different expensive options--for getting the whole failing suspension replaced.....
I could be over-thinking getting a stupid one car garage roof replaced, but I don't want to spend $1500+, & in 5 yrs. be having problems with it because of something overlooked.
thanks for the FB, Woody
1) My wife's ex-husband is a roofer, and she picked up a bit of knowledge on the topic over the years
2) We have had a few hail storms recently and are looking to get our entire house re-roofed. We'll probably submit an insurance claim, depending upon the cost - we've got a $1000 deductible. It's frustrating to think about spending that money, as the house is only 7 years old.
Check out the Home Remodeling and Repair discussion here for more off-topic chatter.
Where were you in North Alabama? We used to live in Huntsville. Much of the Northwest part of the state along the Tennessee River is very level and quite easy to get good mpg. But going south or east from Huntsville it can get very hilly. If that's the area you were in and you got 34 in a Vibe, you were really doing well.
Hey guys, I read this forum a lot, but am not a member (although I probably could qualify as I have now bought 6 cars in the past 7 years - for various reasons)....
Regarding the roofing deal, If it were mine, and with it only being a 1 car garage, I would probably look at having all of those 1x8s removed, and replaced with new 4'x8'x 7/16" OSB sheathing. OSB is now about as cheap as it has ever been (@ $6/sheet for the 7/16"), and then have a nice set of shingles put on top of the new OSB. You will have fewer joints with the 4'x8' sheets of OSB than you will have with a bunch of 1x8s. Just food for thought - especially if this is a house/garage you are anticipating keeping for a long time.
michaell - Regarding the hail damage to the roof...I had never heard of this happening before, but my boss just had his 9 year old roof replaced (insurance claim), due to hail damage. In his case, the cost was @ $8,000 (and he was having some leaks), so filing the claim was a no brainer.
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Limited Velvet Red over Wicker Beige
2024 Audi Q5 Premium Plus Daytona Gray over Beige
2017 BMW X1 Jet Black over Mocha
Anyway to stay OT I did buy two vehicles while we lived there. The first was an 01 F-150 SuperCrew. That's the one I should have kept and still be driving today. But being a Chronic Car Buyer.... We also bought our first Honda Civic there at Jerry Damson Honda. We loved that car as well, but two kids "necessitated" something bigger.
Both buying experiences in Huntsville were very good and each dealer's service department was top notch. Especially at Damson Honda. They were one of the few I've ever dealt with that always seemed to go the extra mile for you.
How does that play out for the rest of you guys and ladies? If you have an excellent experience with a particular dealer are you willing to pay a little extra to stick with them when you get ready to trade?
To topic, I tried to deal with Damson on a GMC truck. Not even sure if he still has the GMC franchise anymore. Ended up getting a Tacoma from Bill Penny Toyota.
I am glad to go back to a delaer that has given me great service even if it is a wee bit more. However, being stricken with the CCBA gene, I have never purchased the same make back to back.
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Limited Velvet Red over Wicker Beige
2024 Audi Q5 Premium Plus Daytona Gray over Beige
2017 BMW X1 Jet Black over Mocha
Spent about 20 minutes shooting the breeze with the salesfolks and managers, talking about the Saturn lineup and what's coming in the future.
We agreed that an Astra RedLine (with the 260HP turbo 4 from the Sky) would be a good car to have.
So, the deal is done and it looks like they will get all 5's on the survey.
Wife is on her way to Ft. Collins as we speak .. I've reminded her again to not spend too much time at one speed on the highway. Set up OnStar last night, and I think I've found her an XM radio station or two that she will like.
And, we noticed that there isn't as much cargo space in the '08 as there was in the '04 (duh!) - but we can live with that.
True story: a roofer who was working on replacing the roof over our company's warehouse commented that we had specified plywood, rather than OSB. He said that he supplemented his income by buying "distressed" homes and fixing them up to either sell or hold onto as rentals. He replaced the roofs on the houses that he intended to sell with OSB. If he planned to keep the house, he would use plywood.
Plywood can get wet, from a minor leak, dry out and survive. OSB, (unless it has been vastly improved in recent years), will swell up like a sponge and not return to its original state when it drys.
If you leave an untreated piece of exterior plywood out in the weather for a year, it will turn grey, but it will retain most of its strength. Given the same treatment, a piece of OSB could be crumbled with your bare hands. (You might get splinters though!) :P
james
That's interesting. I would've figured that the OSB would hold up better because of all the glue, composites, or whatever other crap is in there!
About 11 years ago, I built a doghouse with OSB for the sides and roof. I put it under my grandmother's deck, and intended to put shingles on it, but never did. One of the dogs is long since dead, and the other is getting old and never uses it. Over the years, a bunch of other junky has accumulated under that deck, and one of these days I'll have to get under there and clean it all out. I'm kinda curious to see how fragile that OSB has gotten. Even though it was under the deck it still would've gotten plenty wet over the last 11+ years.
After everyone has time to digest this, I think I'll move this roofing thread over to the Home Remodeling and Repair discussion. It could use some more posts.
The Miata I looked at in the Spring is still on the market, but the asking price is down to $4,000. Still too much. I lost the bug to buy anyway, which is one of the benefits of being a procrastinator.
Oddly enought that is when I start to get the itch. There is nothing like a crisp fall day with the top down and the heater on.
I remember when I first got my '67 Catalina convertible, I drove that thing all the time, even in the winter. The novelty wore off eventually, though. I drove it to work the other day though, and even though temps were in the 90's, I managed to take the long way home, with some narrow, winding back roads. I know, not the best of places to stretch the legs on something that size, but it didn't do too bad!
Hard to believe, with temps in the 90's currently, that in less than a month and a half it'll be October! And we've actually had frost that early on in the past!
Aawwww.....this is one of the great things about this forum.....you never know what you're gonna read, or what kind of advice you might get. I'm frankly amazed that I've learned so much about roofing here (which is, after all, is directly related to being car-obsessional, as it applies to garages at least).
Of course, now I have to study plywood vs OSB, vs just having some 1x8's replaced. The (reputable) roofer I was leaning towards going with, when I mentioned that today, was talking about, if too many of the old boards are damaged/rotting, just putting new plywood on top (???)
It's a drag that both the house, & the garage, are kind of marginal, & probably "tear-downs" in this town, but I've gotta keep them going for now.....I think I'll get some more estimates.
(Way more fun to fantasize about cars)....
Built like a tank, I'd own one.....
The local AutoNation dealerships are holding their "120% of book value" promotion.
They do this every few months to help folks get out of the negative equity they may have by offering "up to 120% of book value" on the trade in.
I'm trying to figure out what "book" they are using, but I believe it to be NADA trade in value.
Must ... stay ... strong. Only 4 payments left on the L300.
I guess I understand how Superman felt whenever Kryptonite was in the room.
Yeah, but I just bought a new car this week!
It's my wife's car, but still!
Want and need (and fiscal responsibility) are often at odds with one another on this forum.
4 more payments ... 4 more payments ... 4 more payments.
Built like a tank, I'd own one.....
The Bonneville was a step up from the Catalina, and longer overall. 124" wheelbase versus 121". They stuck it all in the rear, basically in that area behind the back seat but before the rear axle, so it didn't give you any more room in the passenger cabin. They also added some length to the back of the Bonneville, resulting in the car being something like 223" long, compared to 215" for the Catalina. So Bonnevilles did end up with larger trunks than Catalinas. The Bonneville also had a nicer interior, with upgraded vinyl, nicer armrests, more chrome, carpeted lower door panels, and, I think, a front seat center armrest. I think the plood on the dash was a richer texture, too. IIRC, they also put fender skirts standard on the Bonneville (yuck!), and I think it came with a standard 400-4bbl with 325-330 hp, versus a 290 hp 400-2bbl for the Catalina.
Here's a pic I took of it back in April. Back when the climate was wetter, and the grass was greener, and the creeks still flowed with water. :sick:
And here's a shot of its rump.
I had a good Summer though -- we bought my wife a 2007 Aura XE that we both like. Not long after that my Mom was in the market for a new car, and she ended up buying a 2008 Saturn Vue XE FWD. The same color as yours -- techno gray, which I think is the best color for the base FWD model since it comes with the charcoal bumpers.
Keep the Saturn and squirrel that money onto the back of your house mortgage, you'd be surprised at how nice that works. Wife did that when the kids were infants and I worked mucho hours of overtime. She surprised me in 1995 with a paid off house! All she said is she got real creative and we left it at that.
That's probably why I've gotten so fiscally responsible and usually advise others in here to be conservative. Sure, I'd love to drive my dream car, the '07 Acura TSX. Perfect size, a little longer than my Civic and much nicer creature comforts. I also really like the Volvo S40, basically just like our Mazda 3. But that conservative side came out last year when I was looking and decided to go with the less costly and more efficient Civic.
Life is full of trade off's I guess. Keep the Saturn a year or two longer or until you spend more than $1,000.00 in a few months on repairs, or pick your own repair threshold and then jump. It does get to a point where it doesn't pay to have a car nickel & dime one to death!
Sorry for the long rant here, but I'm truly getting more conservative as the years drag on.
The Sandman
How do you like your Aura? With all the time I've spent at our Saturn dealer the past couple of weeks, I've been looking closely at the Aura.
A couple of things really bother me, though:
1) narrow trunk opening .. there is as much room in the trunk as my L (I think), but because the decklid is so much shorter, it looks like it would be tough to get larger items into the trunk
2) the hard plastic arm rests on the doors seems to be a true cost cutting measure
3) if I were to get an Aura, it would probably be an XR, as I really like the 3.6L in the VUE and would love to see what it would do with a few hundred less pounds to haul around
Does your mom like her VUE?
sandman: as I get older (43 now), I am getting more fiscally conservative, so I am really, really trying to hang on to the L300.
On our way home from the dealer after making the deal on the VUE, we talked about the parameters for keeping or trading the L. A few hundred dollar repair or maintenance a few times a year would be OK, but several consecutive months of it might be the tipping point.
I know that I'll have a few relatively expensive maintenance items coming up over the next couple of years -- timing belt, new tires -- and I'll prepare for them.
I'm just hoping to avoid some large repair bills like I've unfortunately had in the past year and a half.
The last (and only) new car I bought was a 2000 Dodge Intrepid, but if I get another new car, I want to go with something a bit smaller/economical. I've heard the base Saturn take some flak for having a pushrod V-6, but the 3.5 still seems pretty powerful from what I've heard. And I've also heard that it's tight in the back seat for 3-across seating. That's something that used to be a concern for me, but I think it's been about 2-3 years since I've even had 3 people in the back seat of a car!
I've also noticed, like Michaell, the older I get, the more financially conservative I get. Okay, sometimes I can be downright cheap!
1999 SL2 (one of my wife's favorite cars -- it was a stripped one -- no power windows or locks. think the only option was the ABS/TC)
2002 Saturn Vue AWD V6 (my vehicle -- pretty loaded and silver in color)
2002 L200 (wife's car and disappointing to her and me)
and the two aforementioned ones.
I'd agree the trunk opening is narrower than the L series but we don't haul much in the trunk.
I just drove my wife's car for a carwash, and checked out the armrest as I really hadn't paid much attention before. Seemed ok to me but I usually drive with my left leg elevated a bit and rest my arm on that.
We looked at the XR, but I didn't want to spend that much and the paddle shifters were "stupid" per my wife. So that made that easy, but I probably would have enjoyed them.
My Mom is very pleased with her Vue. The main criteria was finding a vehicle that she could easily get in and out of. We'd started out by looking at minivans -- figured those flat floors made for easy exit and entry -- but she thought they were all too big, even the SWB ones. So we started looking at small SUVs and she just fell in love with the 2008 Vue, particularly the interior. It is really nice and definitely represents an upgrade from the interior of the 2002 I had -- austere is probably the kindest word for its interior.
So, yeah, we have bought our share of Saturns. Dealership has been great as usual.
I wouldn't mind having a Saturn myself, but nothing really grabs me right now except the Outlook and I just don't need a vehicle that big.
I think I've finally admitted to myself that I'm a GM guy. :-) Their cars just seem to fit me best (6'4" and 250 lbs.)
The 3.5 works for my wife and I just drove it on the expressway and it does what it needs to do. I was able to get around a semi without much problem.
3 folks in the back would be tight. I think two in back would be tight if you had two people like me in front, at least in terms of legroom.
When we were looking at cars, my wife and I looked at the Malibu Maxx as well. We have one of those in our fleet at work and it has a very good amount of legroom in back thanks to the movable rear seat and I love the hatchback flexibility. But, alas, after her first test drive she asked me just exactly how old is the Maxx's interior. She found, and I agree, the Aura's interior to be much nicer. I felt bad for the Chevy dealer. I like them and my current car was purchased from them. Their last pitch to us on the phone was that they'd be getting the new Malibu soon!