car shopping

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mranum

mranum

Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2009
Messages
191
Location
Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Well its time for car shopping, sooner than we wanted. The Mrs hit a deer on the way to work the other day and totaled the Taurus. At least she was ok though.

Question is, what car to buy?? Don't care much about brands since they all seem to make some that can turn out to be piles of junk. We want to stay in a mid sized 4 door sedan that gets at least 19 mpg city. Need to be able to seat 4 adults decently. Reliability and longevity are a must since we generally run them a long time. More than likely going to a used one as well.

Suggestions? Any models to stay away from? Anyone have any opinions on the Dodge Stratus? Maybe a Gran Prix?

I haven't looked at cars for 7 years so am sort of out of the loop on lemons and such.

Thanks in advance!
 
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I'll tell you what NOT to buy, a chevy HHR. Owned mine for 2 years and have had constant issues with brakes and the front end. Not happy with this POS.
 
Toyota Camery! My son is stll driving the 1995 model that I bought new in 1994.
It's got over 330K miles. And no it hasn't been rebuilt,just plenty of good maintainence. We now have late model Avalon, which is a full size car. It delivers 17-19mpg in town with 31 on the interstate. Lots of muscle and a six speed transmission We love it.
Besides the company could use the business.
 
Take a hard look at Subaru's. My Ex has a forester and she loves it. I have an Impreza outback that is 13 years old with 150,000 on it and it still runs like a top. All wheel drive is a welcome addition in snowy New England where I live. If you are looking for a 4 door sedan look for a Legacy or a Legacy outback but beware that the outback has a little less rear seat room. If you want a little bigger than a sedan I would look at the forester because it is really roomy and the extra space in the back sure comes in handy.
 
witz1976 said:
I'll tell you what NOT to buy, a chevy HHR. Owned mine for 2 years and have had constant issues with brakes and the front end. Not happy with this POS.
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Tell it like it is, thats what I like to hear. When we first got the Taurus we had a lot of issues for the first year or two, glad we had a warranty. From 50,000 miles to 130,000 its been really pretty good.

I've always had this "no import" state of mind for a long time but not so much anymore. Seems like 1/2 of the big 3's parts come from overseas anyway. I'm finding myself wanting to look at Kia's too now but don't know much about them accept for their warranty.

Well its off to work now.
 
The Dodge Stratus is a nice car for the price they usually ask for them. If I were a car guy, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one. I'm on my 5th Chrysler product (3 Dodge trucks and 2 jeeps, not including the 70 Gladiator :biggrin:) and had very few issues, the worst being a bad set of tires on the 2wd Dakota I had (broke loose too easily if more than 3 drops of water hit the road.)
 
Regardless of whether you want new or used, I'll give you this advice passed along to me by an insurance adjuster friend.

Use nada.com to look at "real pricing". The Kelly Blue Book is for dealers - the nada pricing guide is the "real folks".

2nd piece of advice he gave me was to do a google search for "xxx review" - where xxx is the car model. I read reviews on several cars that helped me decide NOT to purchase a particular car.

He was dead on with his advice when I bought my son a college graduation gift used SUV last month.
 
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I gave up on cars. I like SUV's. I have an 05 Honda CRV (realtime 4 wheel drive). My better half wanted a Pilot so I took over the CRV payments. I wouldnt have looked at one in the past but having taken this one over I dont know if I would ever go back to a car. 24-28mpg only have 72k on it but I plan on getting another 100k. I can hope anyway.
The Pilot is like driving in a caddy. Quiet, smooth, comfy. It also gets about 18-20mpg. Really nice to also have the v-6 also. The CRV only has a 4.
I was a fan of Honda before I took over the CRV. I had a Honda F4 bike in 1999. Besides Honda has had the least issues of the biggest 5-7 car manufacturers.
JMO
 
We have a VW Jetta Diesel and really like it plenty of power for a 100 hp 4 cyl and gets 45-50 mpg on the highway. Oil changes are a little pricey, takes a special blend of oil for the injection pump.
 
Gin N' Tonic said:
Take a hard look at Subaru's. My Ex has a forester and she loves it. I have an Impreza outback that is 13 years old with 150,000 on it and it still runs like a top. All wheel drive is a welcome addition in snowy New England where I live. If you are looking for a 4 door sedan look for a Legacy or a Legacy outback but beware that the outback has a little less rear seat room. If you want a little bigger than a sedan I would look at the forester because it is really roomy and the extra space in the back sure comes in handy.
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+1 for Subaru Legacy
 
Replacement car

I like the Subaru, too, but they;re pricey. Like one other commenter, I drive a Ford Escape and I like it a lot. I've done nothing to it for 60K miles but change the oil.
 
One more opinion

Whatever you buy make sure you get a CarFax report on it. Some dealers will try to pawn another report, which may be ok, but I prefer to see CarFax. I prefer to stay away from cars that come through auction houses and try to buy from an individual who can provide maintenance records. In buying a used car I think it is more important to know how the vehicle has been maintained than what brand it has. Would much rather have an economy car that has been well maintained than a luxury vehicle that they only changed the oil once a year.
 
The main factor I look at is repair costs. I paid $4k for the new truck, if the engine dies on it (165k miles) it will cost me about a grand to replace, half that to rebuild. The value of the truck is listed as $7k retail.


Compare that to buying a used Jag. The same $4k car will cost you nearly as much to replace the engine if needed down the road.

Honda's are great cars, but the Jeeps cost about half as much to repair similar damage.

All these are factors that should be considered.
 
Are you looking for new or used and do you have a price range to stay in?
I'd say take a look at the camry or accord, those always seem to be reliable cars. I've also had 2 Saturns, a 96 SL2 that I had for over 10 years and a 2003 L300 that I have right now. The 96 was sold when we moved from Arkansas because I didn't have room left to tow it and I didn't want to pay to have it shipped. It had over 180,000 miles on it and was still running great. They were/are both great cars and I didn't/haven't had much trouble out of them. The L300 I have had about 2 years now. It replaced a Camry that I totaled.
If you want something that will be hard to total, I've also got a 1950 Chrysler New Yorker. That thing is built like a tank!!
 
Gin N' Tonic said:
Take a hard look at Subaru's. My Ex has a forester and she loves it. I have an Impreza outback that is 13 years old with 150,000 on it and it still runs like a top. All wheel drive is a welcome addition in snowy New England where I live. If you are looking for a 4 door sedan look for a Legacy or a Legacy outback but beware that the outback has a little less rear seat room. If you want a little bigger than a sedan I would look at the forester because it is really roomy and the extra space in the back sure comes in handy.
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+1.

I would add that any Honda recommendations are good and bad. They are good cars, but you are paying for the H on the front and with less options than most others.
 
My next automobile purchase will definitely be a FORD. The quality seems to be about the same from manufacturer to manufacturer. I am proud that FORD didn't ask for my tax dollars to bail out their employees pension plan. I don't have a pension plan, yet my hard earned tax dollars go to GM and Chrysler because they are broke and these pension funds were robbed while paying ridiculous salaries to upper management that ruined these companies.

A Ford purchase is just my way of saying "thank you" for managing their own problems without Government funding. THAT USED TO BE THE AMERICAN WAY.
 
snowman56 said:
Dodge 3500 turbo diesel 24 mpg seats four
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Sounds like one of my work trucks sitting here in the yard. '98 Dodge 3500 dually extended cab. A tweaked out pump and injectors, 5spd with a 2 spd auxiliary making it a fully functional 10 spd. At 400hp and 900+lbs of torque shes a pullin machine.:biggrin:
 
Thanks for all the opinions guys it means a lot. As far as a price range, lets just say if we can keep a payment in the $150 per month range with $3400 down(what we got paid for the Taurus). So I would say in the used market that would be around $10,000 or so as a guess without running any numbers.

Things have been too tight lately to warrant getting any more pricey than that.
 
My wife's 1998 Subaru Forester has about 130K on it and it has been a very reliable car. Down time with it has been due to fender-benders, not mechanical issues. We've taken it all over the country. We live in the snowy mountains of PA and we appreciate the AWD. I am thinking of trading for a newer one and Subaru would be way up on my list.

Two years ago I bought a Toyota Tacoma. I like it although I have a few issues, biggest of which is that I am a big person and it is not easy getting into. Otherwise I have no qualms about a Toyota.

Good luck with shopping for a car. I look at that with the same enthusiasm as going to the dentist. It helps if you have a dealership with whom you feel comfortable.
 
My wife loves Honda. She's driven one since '96. She loves the service at the dealer and the reliability of the product. I love Subaru. Turbo STI is my flavor of choice. I have driven Ford, Dodge, Toyota and Mazda. Would never buy another Chrysler product ever. Toyota and Mazda had good autos but crappy dealer service. Would not hesitate to buy Ford truck. Good luck in your search.
 
My quick 2¢ worth.. straight up, I'm a GM fan. Have had better luck with GM cars than
any Ford or Chrysler, my current car is an '03 Buick Regal with the 3800 V6.
coming up on 150K and still running strong. I drive hard, and she has been a tough girl.
I'm in the market to trade in a year or so, will probably look at another Buick.
I recently looked at a few 98-2000 model Caddys. They were around 120K and frankly about wore out. The engines had had major overhauls or replacements and I got away as quick as I could.
We had a Lesabre it was a good car, lost in flood 2 years ago. Wife doesn't miss it though..
it was too "old people" for her. She now has a Chevy Impala and it's been a good car. I'm trusting it on vacation in a couple weeks.
There's good and bad in every brand, but you couldn't give me a Chrysler product
if I had to drive it everyday. Not looking for any fights, just where I stand.
I have an Uncle and cousin who drive nothing but Toyota and they swear by them, and have years of good service to back them up.
I test drove a couple Toyota Camrys and frankly got frustrated trying to get the wipers and lights on. Sound silly? probably; but it turned me off to their vehicles.

My mechanic says Ford Taurus is good and most Buicks. He was not impressed with VW.
 
+1 more for the ford escape/merc mariner.

We've only had ours a year now, so I can't judge long term reliability yet, but our Mariner is the best riding vehicle i've ever owned.... The 2nd would probably have been our Taurus - but right now I have NO plans of getting rid of this thing.. 4 adults VERY comfortable, good gas mileage, plus the storage space. Just don't get the 4wd unless you need it. We got the front wheel drive for the reduced maintenance, etc.
 
My wife and i have been in Nissan's since 1982 and have had nothing but good luck out of the 4 we have bought( we drive them till they fall apart, then get a new one) . Her first was a sentra that had Datsun and Nissan emblems on the back cause that was when they were changing to nissan. 18 years later we bought another Sentra(2000) and it has been trouble free too. I just got rid of my 1992 nissan pickup with over 400,000 miles on it with one transmision replace. My daughter would have still been driving it if she hadnt run into the back of an escalade. My frontier is 5 years old with 150,000 miles on it and no problems yet. My daughter bought a Chevy Aveo hatchback new and it is a piece of junk. Its a 2007 with about 45,000 miles and all four ABS brake sensors have been replaced. The radiator 6 months ago just started leaking in the middle of the radiator for no reason. Chevy did replace it under warranty since it just failed, no rocks or debris caused it. The engine warning light comes on constantly and thens goes off and the door indicator shows a door is open when all the doors are closed. Also the interior lights dont work and it blows a fuse for the interior light circuit. Also had to replace the drive belt idler assembly about a week ago and the guys at the 2 auto parts stores i went to to find one both said they couldnt believ it was broke as new as it was. Just from my experince you cant go wrong with a Nissan My 2 cents.
 
man! it looks like you got all the names of the cars that are in the market. Good Luck. I wouldn't buy american made cars, if they were so good then, then they wouldn't screw up that we had to bailed them out.
 
phillywood said:
man! it looks like you got all the names of the cars that are in the market. Good Luck. I wouldn't buy american made cars, if they were so good then, then they wouldn't screw up that we had to bailed them out.
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Without trying to get too political, I know what your saying. If I end up buying new GM and Chrysler are on the bottom of my list just because. But, its going to be the wifes car so......shes almost got to figure it out on her own to a certain extent otherwise I'll be hearing about it forever every time something happens to it.:rolleyes: Just need the payments so we can still keep food on the table and bill collectors off our backs if you know what I mean.:tongue:
 
Hello.

Today, gasoline cost is very important for all and especially for us here in Sweden. Just checked and 95 octane gasoline costs $ 5 per gallon. I drive a Grand Cherokee ZJ-1997 and it is quite thirsty, but it does not matter because I love it. Long live American cars! :usflag:

Sincerely / Urban
 
I know that Toyota has recently had issues but they flatout run. My dad is a Mechanic by trade and the any day of the week my dad will say get a honda or toyota. The reason is that the he rarely has to do major repairs on them, it is because they are built well and they last inside and out. The Dodge Status is a poorly made car mechanically in most cases, Most mechanics also love the Ford taurus (most models) because they are sure to bring them money. My brother had a 91 Toyota forerunner that when he sold it it had 210,000,

Customer Service responses a few years ago when almost every car manufacturer had Sludging problems in the engines

Toyota- "We will replace the part or the entire engine no questions asked"
My Brother got his entire engine replaced on his 91 Forerunner free

Ford- We will replace the parts if it is under warrantee

Dodge- We don't have a sludging porblem that is your problem you get to fix it.

You be the Judge I prefer a company that stands behind the customer
 
I can't recommend a car really...I just look at it as transportation and recommend that any car be paid with cash only. Drive it till it dies, pay cash for another used one then kill that too. There is no reason the car needs to look like crap at the same time. You just keep fixing it with cash until something really major starts to go then you take it to the dump and get your $200 cheque.
 
MDEdwards said:
Toyota Camery! My son is stll driving the 1995 model that I bought new in 1994.
It's got over 330K miles. And no it hasn't been rebuilt,just plenty of good maintainence. We now have late model Avalon, which is a full size car. It delivers 17-19mpg in town with 31 on the interstate. Lots of muscle and a six speed transmission We love it.
Besides the company could use the business.
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I'll second the Toyota... mine is a 1996 Avalon that I bought used about 8 years ago... I'm at 245K + on it and still running strong... plenty of room in front and back.. I don't know my in-town mileage.. we live in the country, on normal around driving about 21-22 mpg, but on the freeway on long trips, usually get 28-31 mpg,
 
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