So was my '84 Subie GL Hardtop. Liked that car a lot, only Japanese car I ever had that didn't give me a ton of carburetor problems once it was old. It just went right on starting up every morning and passing every smog check. Of course, the whole exhaust rotted away to nothing in ten years, but that's another story...
:-P
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
So was my '84 Subie GL Hardtop. Liked that car a lot, only Japanese car I ever had that didn't give me a ton of carburetor problems once it was old. It just went right on starting up every morning and passing every smog check. Of course, the whole exhaust rotted away to nothing in ten years, but that's another story...
I dunno, I think I am okay with that. The Civic exhaust was toast in 10 years, the Isuzu Impulse got its first exhaust replaced under warranty for corrosion WHILE LIVING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, and its second exhaust a couple of years after moving to Michigan. The Contour had the SVT stainless steel exhaust and was fine at 150k or something like that when the car got replaced.
first exhaust replaced under warranty for corrosion WHILE LIVING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, and its second exhaust a couple of years after moving to Michigan
The one on my Subaru was the last one I had to replace, and that was more than a decade ago now. And I got that car about five years old from a college girl that had just moved here (California) from Michigan, so perhaps the car had a good excuse. Had that car a bunch of years, can't remember now why I sold it. I think it was maybe when I bought my OBS in '97.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
my problem is that I don't really know what I want, or even if I want to get something new
LOL, Join the club. I have the similar (or opposite?) problem; I KNOW I want something new (to me at least), but I only need 1 car, have an excellent one already, a crumbling 1-car garage, blah, blah blah. So no excuse for a new one, or practical space for a 2nd. And I have expensive tastes in cars; a new 3 or 5-series wagon would "do it" for me, but very expensive for the average person.
I've been doing a bit of Mini fantasizing (again), reading about the upgrades & changes on the new version. R&T & edmunds both make it sound pretty great. I think if I had a nice 2 car garage, I'd be looking for something to fill that 2nd space; E30 convert, or iX? New mini S?.....Or?
My gut is saying, for the $$, the new Mini Cooper S is almost a no-brainer. Altho, there is the new WRX.....
Yes. If I ever get the two broken bolts for the exhaust hanger bracket out of the Nissan, I'll finish putting on the new 2.25" header-back setup.
The Contour got the SVT one because I'm a nerd, the Civic got an eBay flamethrower knockoff special because sometimes I'm a cheap nerd. The Isuzu found itself under a bus. Oh and the '76 Nova got a new midpipe.
The old days of the guy having to weld something from a bunch of pipes at the muffler shop are over. You just buy the vehicle specific pipes you need and bolt them up. Easy-peasy.
Oh, for those bolts, try a butane torch and an easy out after you penetrating oil of choice.
All this talk about coupes really has me missing the days when coupes & sports cars were all that I would consider.
I guess I have too wait another 15 years before I can look at them again. Hopefully the 2023 Camaro will have the bugs worked out by then.
I feel your pain, man. With a 7 and 8 year old, I'm doomed to taxi service for at least eight more years. Everything I own has four doors and an automatic. :sick:
I feel your pain, man. With a 7 and 8 year old, I'm doomed to taxi service for at least eight more years. Everything I own has four doors and an automatic.
Having a spouse that drives stick is key. Actually, her car is a stick too. Might as well have some fun driving around in the family truckster.
I never though of giving my wife a drivers test before we got married. At 35 , I think she is too old in her mind to learn. Plus I don't think she would get any enjoyment out of a manual.
I never though of giving my wife a drivers test before we got married. At 35 , I think she is too old in her mind to learn. Plus I don't think she would get any enjoyment out of a manual.
I have fond memories of my wife driving my stick shift car around in her tennis skirt in high school (before we were married, obviously), so I guess I skipped the driver's test thing. She is a little bit younger than your wife (although not much) and seems to enjoy scooting around in a stick shift still. My MIL had a manual transmission until she got her Prius 2 years ago. I agree with your point though, if its not going to be fun for her, its definitely not worth doing.
Tell her it's a safety issue - since no one can drive stick anymore, any car-jacker won't be able to pull her out of the car and drive off with the kids.
Tell her it's a safety issue - since no one can drive stick anymore, any car-jacker won't be able to pull her out of the car and drive off with the kids.
THAT'S BRILLIANT!!! Why didn't I think of that one when I was getting ready to trade?
And I would second Steve's suggestion to check out the future of M/T discussion. If you love debate, and are strongly opinionated, it's one of the best.
Of the five of us in our family, only my stepdaughter hasn't learned to drive a stick. She can do it under duress, but she's just not comfortable with it.
The boys (21 and 18) both prefer stick, and my wife drove a stick for many years before getting lazy (her words, not mine!) and preferring an automatic.
Never had the downshift issue on a VW/Audi automatic (I've had a four-speed auto in a Jetta and now a six-speed auto in my A4). The top gear is still short enough that it doesn't need to downshift on most uphill grades I drive on. The Audi turns around 2300 RPM at 70 MPH--I think the Jetta VR6 turned around 3000 (with fuel economy to match).
Other automatic cars I've driven do exhibit irritating behavior when going uphill with the cruise control activated. The worst was a Chevy Malibu (which was otherwise surprisingly decent to drive), which hunted very badly, straying +-5 MPH from the set speed.
I'd rather not deal with a stick shift on a daily driver, but would want one if it were predominately a weekend/road trip car.
I just posted this on the Outback forum, but I drove an Outback as a loaner this week while my Forester (I've kept it a whole 17 months now!) was being serviced. The OB sure is a step up in comfort and interior detail vs. my car. I liked how quiet it was. Gas mileage was excellent. Thoughts are crossing to the dark side; incentives on them are pretty good right now with rebates and interest rates. Doing an invoice less rebate deal or better should be pretty easy. Oh, the temptation.
Anyone else wrestling with their CCBA demons this week? Michaell buy another Saturn yet? Anyone hear from Jolie; we just passed a holiday, y'know. :P
Not yet, but I have agreement in principle from the management to replace our minivan. The question is what to replace it with. But hey, this is the fun part.
Plan du jour is to trade the L300 in for a small, economical car. Lease it, and get cash back for the trade difference -- I should clear a minimum of $5K.
Anyone hear from Jolie; we just passed a holiday, y'know
Was at the Honda dealer yesterday getting the Pilot its first oil change. Didn't even walk through the lot, I sat in the waiting room. This is VERY odd for me, I usually prowl the lot while I'm waiting. I still adore my Pilot, can't think of anything else I'd rather drive. Even after nearly 2 months (6 more days) and 3600 miles, I still grin when I slide behind the wheel. :P
Anyone else wrestling with their CCBA demons this week?
Wrestling, we are having a full blown cage match. I have been looking at Mazda3s and Honda Civics. The old rule of thumb on not buying used Hondas because of the prices is definitely true. It seems to be true for Mazda 3's also. I have received some great prices on 08 3's , much better than 07 Civics.
Now I need my Escape to roll off a cliff so I can get a decent price for it.
Anyone else wrestling with their CCBA demons this week?
ugh. fuggedaboudit. I keep browsing the papers and pondering, but so far my common sense keeps winning out and I can't justify breaking my Accord lease early for the amount of money it will cost me. Its almost the same amount it would cost me to keep driving it another 18 months. Yet, I keep browsing. I can't figure it out.
'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
Tell me about it! If logic followed I'm not in the market for four or five years, yet remarkably I'm always glancing at the Auto Shopper or some such thing. I had the Accord detailed but the only result is it looks like a nice, new 00 Accord with dings and 137K on it....
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
OK. I'm looking for help on this and don't know where else to turn. I caught a show on HD one night a little while back and I want to set my DVR to record any other episodes. It was a racing show between 3 regular joes and their street cars. One was a Ferrari Mondial, the other a Boxster (I think), and the last was an E55. They do a few solo laps to set up their handicap, then all race together. IIRC, the E55 won this one (because the Ferrari spun out). Does anyone know this show???
'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
On my way to lunch, a car full of HS kids tried to make a left in front of me. I t-boned him on the right front fender. His car ('93 Subaru Legacy) had to be towed and will probably be totalled; I was able to drive off.
Whole front end of my car is gone.
Am now in a Ford Fusion rental while my car gets an estimate. Initial damage amount - without doing any disassembly - was $2300.
Sigh.
Need to find out if Colorado accepts diminished value claims.
If you were doing around 35 mph and then slowed down from there then the airbags wouldn't have deployed. You aren't really going fast enough at that point.
Yikes, glad you're okay! You know I had a little incident with the Civic right before I was going to trade it in, ended up selling it privately as my dealer friend knew about it. I'm sure glad it was with the old car and not a new one!
I'm sure glad it was with the old car and not a new one!
Yeah, if this had happened while driving the wifes' '08 VUE, you wouldn't be hearing about any of this as I would have committed suicide first!
Thinking about it, I probably wasn't going very fast when I hit them .. 10-15MPH I figure.
Impact wasn't too bad and I didn't spin the other car out - he was still pointed in the general direction he was headed in.
I'll probably know more about the estimate on t damage on my car on Monday. All of this will be billed to his policy - fortunately, we both use State Farm.
My rental Fusion I have (4-cyl, automatic) is a bland car. Of course, what do you expect from Enterprise?
They're hitting me again...and my wife...bad...so far, we're ok...deep breaths.
Here's the deal--I'm actually great. Last year I traded my 2002 Intrigue for a Toyota Camry Hybrid. My Intrigue was almost paid off, had about 45k but was deteriorating rapidly. It kept dying (literally...like everything, engine, electronics, power steering, etc) at high speeds. Dealer had a hard time figuring out the problem. It was still under the 5/60k Oldsmobile warranty. After $4k of warranty work, they think they fixed it...but I just didn't trust it.
Plus, I live in Northern VA, and we bought a condo quite a ways from where I work on Capitol Hill. In VA, hybrids get HOV lane access...so I starting thinking about it and was able to convince all involved that it made sense to buy a hybrid.
So last June, I purchased a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid--at that time standard with an awesome 6 disc system, bluetooth, etc--basically XLE level--and an optional sunroof. Got a great deal for $1k under MSRP at Fitzgerald (only dealer anywhere that was under MSRP for a car in very high demand), a $2600 federal rebate, and $7300 for my Intrigue. All in all, it made a lot of sense.
I LOVE my car. I don't want to drive anything else...but I've already put 27k on it. At this rate, it will have 100k in 4 years.
So I try to use my wife's car for family outings on the weekends. We have a 7 month old, and we find ourselves lacking space at time. Its her car that's causing our demons to emerge.
She's got a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx. It, too, has only 27k. We owe about $5k on it, and it was appraised for $9500 at CarMax. Its settled down some now, but we had quite a few problems with it. Its had its rotors resurfaced 7 times, and is on its third set. Also new pads. Some plastic trim pieces in the cabin have fallen off. In short, its not a very well made car.
Now, we only paid $16k for it NEW--and that was with an option package that added curtain airbags and a few creature comforts. But, well...we just aren't feeling it for this thing anymore. I know the mileage is low, but...the rear seat room is great, cargo area is so-so, driving dynamics kind of suck.
We want a crossover. I'm done with GM...(long story even besides my Trig and the Maxx), so that's out and we REALLY can't afford the Lamda twins anyway. We found ourselves at some dealers last weekend looking at some crossovers--Veracruz, Highlander, CX-9, Taurus X and Pacifica. Oddly, my wife liked the Pacifica the best. Found a totally tricked out '07 with dvd, heated seats, bluetooth, backup camera...for $28k off a $35k MSRP. Pretty damn tempting. EXCEPT--I have a reliabilty concerns for a Chrysler product. I liked the CX-9 the best...but its pricey. The Highlander just plain seems overpriced. The Veracruz is nice, but cargo area is pretty tight, and to actually get one with what we want is too expensive, and bluetooth is not even available.
So I suppose there's nothing out there for us. For the first time, I've kicked around the idea of a lease, since my wife drives low miles...but even that Pacfica is $480 a month with nothing down, and I can't see putting like $4k down and still pay $360 a month and not own anything.
Today, I noticed some great lease deals on an Outback. Doesn't get us a crossover, but deft. an upgrade over what she's got. But on the "good deal" model, of course, no auto climate, and very few other creature comforts.
So I guess we're not doing anything...but man, the itch is bad!
$7300 sounds like a generous offer on the Intrigue, even given the lowish miles.
As for not being a CCBA, the 4.3-liter V6 in my grandfather's 1996 Chevrolet S-10 recently started making an internal bearing noise (at ~130,000 miles). After being quoted (in his words) a very attractive price on a brand new Colorado, he decided to put a remanufactured engine in the S-10. Chacun à son goût!
We want a crossover. I'm done with GM...(long story even besides my Trig and the Maxx), so that's out and we REALLY can't afford the Lamda twins anyway
mfletou1, I was done with GM since I bought my new 1981 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Brougham Diesel! That car was a disaster! It ran OK for the first year then everything started falling apart. The alignment was off from day one and the dealer just rotated the tires to fix the problem... the motor used more oil than the Exxon Valdez... truck struts broke, front passenger side leaned, dash air controls burned out.. etc, etc. I had to have it towed 2 or 3 times in 3 years of ownership.
GM NEVER AGAIN!!! The only American car that I purchased since 1981 were two Jeep Grand Cherokee's.. ;\'96 and '99... they were just average reliability wise.
Everything I have now is made across the pond except for the motorhome.
Mark156
2010 Land Rover LR4, 2013 Honda CR-V, 2009 Bentley GTC, 1990 MB 500SL, 2001 MB S500, 2007 Lincoln TC, 1964 RR Silver Cloud III, 1995 MB E320 Cab., 2015 Prevost Liberty Coach
done with GM since I bought my new 1981 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Brougham Diesel
I was one of the fools who bought a FS Chevy P/U with that same 350 Olds Diesel V8. I paid a big premium over what I could have gotten the truck with a gas 6 cyl., or V8.
Ironically, the stupid Olds Diesel engine blowing up, & subsequent engine trouble, was the only problem I had with the truck in 4 years--it was built like a Brick Outhouse otherwise......
Glad you are OK. That is pretty scary. I had an experience years ago getting T-boned by a geezer. It seems the car that is on the receiving end of the t-bone is the one that gets totaled.
Of course one should look at this as a sign from the car gods. It might even be encouraging to those Volvo voices you've been hearing....
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
Comments
:-P
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I dunno, I think I am okay with that. The Civic exhaust was toast in 10 years, the Isuzu Impulse got its first exhaust replaced under warranty for corrosion WHILE LIVING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, and its second exhaust a couple of years after moving to Michigan. The Contour had the SVT stainless steel exhaust and was fine at 150k or something like that when the car got replaced.
Do people even replace exhaust systems anymore?
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Yes. If I ever get the two broken bolts for the exhaust hanger bracket out of the Nissan, I'll finish putting on the new 2.25" header-back setup.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
LOL, Join the club. I have the similar (or opposite?) problem; I KNOW I want something new (to me at least), but I only need 1 car, have an excellent one already, a crumbling 1-car garage, blah, blah blah. So no excuse for a new one, or practical space for a 2nd. And I have expensive tastes in cars; a new 3 or 5-series wagon would "do it" for me, but very expensive for the average person.
I've been doing a bit of Mini fantasizing (again), reading about the upgrades & changes on the new version. R&T & edmunds both make it sound pretty great. I think if I had a nice 2 car garage, I'd be looking for something to fill that 2nd space; E30 convert, or iX? New mini S?.....Or?
My gut is saying, for the $$, the new Mini Cooper S is almost a no-brainer. Altho, there is the new WRX.....
Yes. If I ever get the two broken bolts for the exhaust hanger bracket out of the Nissan, I'll finish putting on the new 2.25" header-back setup.
The Contour got the SVT one because I'm a nerd, the Civic got an eBay flamethrower knockoff special because sometimes I'm a cheap nerd. The Isuzu found itself under a bus. Oh and the '76 Nova got a new midpipe.
The old days of the guy having to weld something from a bunch of pipes at the muffler shop are over. You just buy the vehicle specific pipes you need and bolt them up. Easy-peasy.
Oh, for those bolts, try a butane torch and an easy out after you penetrating oil of choice.
I've had to replace the system on 3 out of my 5 cars in the past year. state inspection is a pain.
'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
Yeah, I've already drilled, oiled, and heated them and got one of the three out. I just need a free, not-windy weekend to work on the ornery pair.
I've had idle thoughts about putting a titanium exhaust on the S2000 for weight reduction, but the catback alone is something like $3,000.
I guess I have too wait another 15 years before I can look at them again. Hopefully the 2023 Camaro will have the bugs worked out by then.
I feel your pain, man. With a 7 and 8 year old, I'm doomed to taxi service for at least eight more years.
Having a spouse that drives stick is key. Actually, her car is a stick too. Might as well have some fun driving around in the family truckster.
I have fond memories of my wife driving my stick shift car around in her tennis skirt in high school (before we were married, obviously), so I guess I skipped the driver's test thing.
She is a little bit younger than your wife (although not much) and seems to enjoy scooting around in a stick shift still. My MIL had a manual transmission until she got her Prius 2 years ago.
I agree with your point though, if its not going to be fun for her, its definitely not worth doing.
There's some better reasons to be found in the The Future Of The Manual Transmission discussion.
THAT'S BRILLIANT!!! Why didn't I think of that one when I was getting ready to trade?
And I would second Steve's suggestion to check out the future of M/T discussion. If you love debate, and are strongly opinionated, it's one of the best.
http://www.carspace.com/blogs/AlternateRoute/Cruising-Attitude
http://www.carspace.com/blogs/AlternateRoute/Stick-to-itivity
Fortunately, I have my wife AND kids on my side. They LOVE manuals and dislike automatics and insist we always buy standards! :shades:
As was my 1988 BMW M6...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
The boys (21 and 18) both prefer stick, and my wife drove a stick for many years before getting lazy (her words, not mine!) and preferring an automatic.
Other automatic cars I've driven do exhibit irritating behavior when going uphill with the cruise control activated. The worst was a Chevy Malibu (which was otherwise surprisingly decent to drive), which hunted very badly, straying +-5 MPH from the set speed.
I'd rather not deal with a stick shift on a daily driver, but would want one if it were predominately a weekend/road trip car.
Anyone else wrestling with their CCBA demons this week? Michaell buy another Saturn yet? Anyone hear from Jolie; we just passed a holiday, y'know. :P
25 NX 450h+ / 24 Sienna Plat AWD / 23 Civic Type-R / 21 Boxster GTS 4.0
Plan du jour is to trade the L300 in for a small, economical car. Lease it, and get cash back for the trade difference -- I should clear a minimum of $5K.
But, 3 more payments! 3 more payments!
Was at the Honda dealer yesterday getting the Pilot its first oil change. Didn't even walk through the lot, I sat in the waiting room. This is VERY odd for me, I usually prowl the lot while I'm waiting. I still adore my Pilot, can't think of anything else I'd rather drive. Even after nearly 2 months (6 more days) and 3600 miles, I still grin when I slide behind the wheel. :P
Wrestling, we are having a full blown cage match. I have been looking at Mazda3s and Honda Civics. The old rule of thumb on not buying used Hondas because of the prices is definitely true. It seems to be true for Mazda 3's also. I have received some great prices on 08 3's , much better than 07 Civics.
Now I need my Escape to roll off a cliff so I can get a decent price for it.
ugh. fuggedaboudit. I keep browsing the papers and pondering, but so far my common sense keeps winning out and I can't justify breaking my Accord lease early for the amount of money it will cost me. Its almost the same amount it would cost me to keep driving it another 18 months. Yet, I keep browsing. I can't figure it out.
'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
Tell me about it! If logic followed I'm not in the market for four or five years, yet remarkably I'm always glancing at the Auto Shopper or some such thing. I had the Accord detailed but the only result is it looks like a nice, new 00 Accord with dings and 137K on it....
Yeah, but doesn't that make the car worth $10K or something crazy like that?
'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 might be in the market.
On my way to lunch, a car full of HS kids tried to make a left in front of me. I t-boned him on the right front fender. His car ('93 Subaru Legacy) had to be towed and will probably be totalled; I was able to drive off.
Whole front end of my car is gone.
Am now in a Ford Fusion rental while my car gets an estimate. Initial damage amount - without doing any disassembly - was $2300.
Sigh.
Need to find out if Colorado accepts diminished value claims.
25 NX 450h+ / 24 Sienna Plat AWD / 23 Civic Type-R / 21 Boxster GTS 4.0
As noted, it was full of HS kids. I closed my eyes just before impact because I was sure I was going to hit them on the doors.
Nobody was hurt, thank God. Just a bit of an adrenaline rush for all involved.
I popped mine doing about 5-10 MPH.. other car doing maybe 10 MPH..
Both Hondas... Mine was more head-on... the other car got it at an angle on the front corner... No deployment on the other car..
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It also depends on the year of the vehicle as some of the older air bags will deploy at lower speeds then the newer ones.
Yeah, if this had happened while driving the wifes' '08 VUE, you wouldn't be hearing about any of this as I would have committed suicide first!
Thinking about it, I probably wasn't going very fast when I hit them .. 10-15MPH I figure.
Impact wasn't too bad and I didn't spin the other car out - he was still pointed in the general direction he was headed in.
I'll probably know more about the estimate on t damage on my car on Monday. All of this will be billed to his policy - fortunately, we both use State Farm.
My rental Fusion I have (4-cyl, automatic) is a bland car. Of course, what do you expect from Enterprise?
Yeah.. from 10 MPH to ZERO in about 2 feet...lol
'98 CR-V... which is how I ended up with an '02 CR-V..
michaell.. sorry to hear about it.. Hope it's totaled..
regards,
kyfdx
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Here's the deal--I'm actually great. Last year I traded my 2002 Intrigue for a Toyota Camry Hybrid. My Intrigue was almost paid off, had about 45k but was deteriorating rapidly. It kept dying (literally...like everything, engine, electronics, power steering, etc) at high speeds. Dealer had a hard time figuring out the problem. It was still under the 5/60k Oldsmobile warranty. After $4k of warranty work, they think they fixed it...but I just didn't trust it.
Plus, I live in Northern VA, and we bought a condo quite a ways from where I work on Capitol Hill. In VA, hybrids get HOV lane access...so I starting thinking about it and was able to convince all involved that it made sense to buy a hybrid.
So last June, I purchased a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid--at that time standard with an awesome 6 disc system, bluetooth, etc--basically XLE level--and an optional sunroof. Got a great deal for $1k under MSRP at Fitzgerald (only dealer anywhere that was under MSRP for a car in very high demand), a $2600 federal rebate, and $7300 for my Intrigue. All in all, it made a lot of sense.
I LOVE my car. I don't want to drive anything else...but I've already put 27k on it. At this rate, it will have 100k in 4 years.
So I try to use my wife's car for family outings on the weekends. We have a 7 month old, and we find ourselves lacking space at time. Its her car that's causing our demons to emerge.
She's got a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx. It, too, has only 27k. We owe about $5k on it, and it was appraised for $9500 at CarMax. Its settled down some now, but we had quite a few problems with it. Its had its rotors resurfaced 7 times, and is on its third set. Also new pads. Some plastic trim pieces in the cabin have fallen off. In short, its not a very well made car.
Now, we only paid $16k for it NEW--and that was with an option package that added curtain airbags and a few creature comforts. But, well...we just aren't feeling it for this thing anymore. I know the mileage is low, but...the rear seat room is great, cargo area is so-so, driving dynamics kind of suck.
We want a crossover. I'm done with GM...(long story even besides my Trig and the Maxx), so that's out and we REALLY can't afford the Lamda twins anyway. We found ourselves at some dealers last weekend looking at some crossovers--Veracruz, Highlander, CX-9, Taurus X and Pacifica. Oddly, my wife liked the Pacifica the best. Found a totally tricked out '07 with dvd, heated seats, bluetooth, backup camera...for $28k off a $35k MSRP. Pretty damn tempting. EXCEPT--I have a reliabilty concerns for a Chrysler product. I liked the CX-9 the best...but its pricey. The Highlander just plain seems overpriced. The Veracruz is nice, but cargo area is pretty tight, and to actually get one with what we want is too expensive, and bluetooth is not even available.
So I suppose there's nothing out there for us. For the first time, I've kicked around the idea of a lease, since my wife drives low miles...but even that Pacfica is $480 a month with nothing down, and I can't see putting like $4k down and still pay $360 a month and not own anything.
Today, I noticed some great lease deals on an Outback. Doesn't get us a crossover, but deft. an upgrade over what she's got. But on the "good deal" model, of course, no auto climate, and very few other creature comforts.
So I guess we're not doing anything...but man, the itch is bad!
As for not being a CCBA, the 4.3-liter V6 in my grandfather's 1996 Chevrolet S-10 recently started making an internal bearing noise (at ~130,000 miles). After being quoted (in his words) a very attractive price on a brand new Colorado, he decided to put a remanufactured engine in the S-10. Chacun à son goût!
The wife also likes the Tribeca...there's a couple of old 07s lying around with a lot off MSRP..yeah, I know, old engie, premium fuel....
mfletou1, I was done with GM since I bought my new 1981 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Brougham Diesel! That car was a disaster! It ran OK for the first year then everything started falling apart. The alignment was off from day one and the dealer just rotated the tires to fix the problem... the motor used more oil than the Exxon Valdez... truck struts broke, front passenger side leaned, dash air controls burned out.. etc, etc. I had to have it towed 2 or 3 times in 3 years of ownership.
GM NEVER AGAIN!!! The only American car that I purchased since 1981 were two Jeep Grand Cherokee's.. ;\'96 and '99... they were just average reliability wise.
Everything I have now is made across the pond except for the motorhome.
Mark156
I guess tho, there's an advantage there in owning a car or cars that are not rare or expensive or new......
I was one of the fools who bought a FS Chevy P/U with that same 350 Olds Diesel V8. I paid a big premium over what I could have gotten the truck with a gas 6 cyl., or V8.
Ironically, the stupid Olds Diesel engine blowing up, & subsequent engine trouble, was the only problem I had with the truck in 4 years--it was built like a Brick Outhouse otherwise......
Of course one should look at this as a sign from the car gods. It might even be encouraging to those Volvo voices you've been hearing....