Buying a new car; any suggestions?

[Thundrchez]

Don't be whuppin up on Pontiac, now. I've had a 97 Pontiac Firebird Formula for just over 4 years now. I drive the sumbitch hard, and yeee-haaaa is it fun! The only things I've changed on it are the Gas, Tires, and Oil. Perhaps it should be called a GTO.

The Aztec may be a bit far out there as far as design, but that is no reason to slam the whole company.

[cjolley]

SComp,
That's the only thing I've noticed.
And when I drove an FWD all the time I got used to it.
My Lexus has a pretty neat traction control system.
It fiddles with the throttle and each break caliper to keep traction maximised.
I works better than I expected, but, not as well as FWD on snow & ice.
The strange part is that you can't burn rubber at all unless you turn the system off
Chuck

PS I just wondered if GURM had other disslikes about FWD.



[This message has been edited by cjolley (edited 14 May 2001).]

[agallag]

The Aztec isn't the only reason I don't like pontiacs. I have many others. I also don't like most other american cars (with a few exceptions), and even some japanese and german cars, so I'm an equal opportunity diskliker

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Andrew
Carpe Cerevisi

[SCompRacer]

GTO....LOL, Thundrchez.

All you have to do is a search on Yahoo and you'll find the car you love will be despised by another.

[agallag]

There's lots of reasons to dislike FWD. Mostly in performance driving situations. You just can't control a tail-out slide in a FWD the way you can in a RWD. Unless of course you learn to balance your throttle, brakes, steering, and handbrake perfectly (you'll notice that uses up all your limbs, so there's nothing left to shift with). It's just so much more natural in a RWD.

If your tires have never so much as chirped, you're fine with FWD, and it's probably much safer for you. Those of us who know a little more about how to handle a car at the limits, RWD is the only way to go.

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Andrew
Carpe Cerevisi

[Indiana]

I'd go for a BMW or a Benz as well. They might be more expensive when buying them, but we have two quite old BMW (318i - 12 years, 325i - 16 years) and an old Mercedes 500SE (15 years) and they all still run great and didn't give many problems through their lifetime up to now.

We just won't give them away cause they're much more worth than what you'd get when you try to sell them....

P.S.:

O.K., this one starts at $36000, US$ and it's not exactly a "family-car", either...

[This message has been edited by Indiana (edited 14 May 2001).]

[DuRaNgO]

Jeep Jeepster



19" wheels, 275hp,TRUE 4x4, Two switches on the console raise or lower the vehicle.

[Alec]

In my country 80% of the cars are FWD, 19% are 4WD and the rest is RWD... RWD are a thing of the past here, but are fun to drive.

I like Volvos very much, but they´re a little bit expensive.

[The Rock]

I truly wish I could afford the BMW. Looked into it, but I can't grab that right now. Maybe after my promotion goes through and I get $10,000 added to my salary. But that being said, I LOVE most beamers, except the convertibles, which I won't touch (hey man, Im Canadian, where its winter 10 months outta the year). If I had any patience at all, I'd wait a year and get the Passat (I'm dying to play with that tiptronic transmission). But cars like that are outta my range right now since this will be my first vehicle, and insurance costs quite a bit. I'd be afraid to get an insurance quote on a BMW. Thanks for all the sugesstions folks. Keep em coming. What about an Audi? (haven't really looked into those, but I've seen some nice ones).

Bart

[Ali]

I would also say Volvo. Ive had 3 and they have all been great cars.

About FWD vs RWD. It takes a different style to drive FWD hard, but once you have it sorted, they are better in all situations that RWD.

My 1440cc 104HP Mini Cooper S will beat the crap out of my fathers 330HP 7.25L Jensen Interseper3 in everything except top speed. Acceleration, hill climbs, Grasscarners, snow runs. He has a LSD, and I dont. He also has 335 tyres, and I have 165s. It all comes down to driving ability.

Im not sure what cars are popular over in Canada, but for the equivalent price of CAN$30K you could get a new Land Rover Freelander with the V6 and steptronic transmission. Not quite a sports car, but much more usefull.

I quite like the Peugots 306 series myself. Starting to date a little, but they should be way under your price range.

I saw a sexy Audi hatch the other day. Dont know what it was, but it was a quadro, and looked very sweet. Could be worth looking into.

Good luck

Ali

[Gurm]

You CAN (this is very important) afford the BMW. Mine cost me $12k (USD) last summer, and the only maintenance I've done on it is preventative (sunk another couple grand into replacing stuff that wasn't broken yet).

And a mid-90's Bimmer is worth more than any comparably priced new car.

- Gurm

P.S. Front Wheel Drive, like anti-lock brakes and power oversteer, is designed to keep idiots from hurting themselves. It's an impediment to experienced drivers, and it is marketed in such a way that it encourages people to drive recklessly.

P.P.S. My Bimmer and Volvo handle better in the snow than ANY FWD VEHICLE I've ever driven or ridden in.

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Listen up, you primitive screwheads! See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! Etc. etc.

[cjolley]

I agree. (partly)
My 1993 Lexus GS300 with 90,000 miles on it was $13,000.
You can afford one.
Remeber that people who buy these cars new
1, can't afford not to take care of them
2, Probably get much of the first services free
3, realy can't afford not to take care of them.

Let them eat the initial deprecation.
Cars like we are talking about will last longer bought used than most cars will last bought new.
And they are more fun and comforatble.
Chuck

PS Did I mention that you can get complete service records for the car you are thinking about from the dealer on this type of car?



[This message has been edited by cjolley (edited 15 May 2001).]

[cbman]

BMW's Suck... My friend got into a small minor rollover and it didn't work again... Stupid Thing...

On a serious note... I can't afford a car yet... but I really like SAAB's... anyone own/had one...?

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"Wouldn't it simplify things if Hettar, Mandorallen, and I go pick a fight with them? Five dead Murgos aren't going to follow anybody."
"I don't know if that would set to well with the Tolnedran legionnaires who police the fair," Silk drawled. "Policemen seem to worry about unexplained bodies. It upsets their sense of neatness."

From Book Two of the Belgariad, David Eddings

[Gurm]

Saabs are nice, but... weird.

All the controls are in odd places, as though the designers went through and said "NOBODY puts <control x> in <location y>, so let's put ours there!".

But they are well designed, for the most part. They do have a definite lifespan though - about 7 years it seems before major problems set in. If you look in the used papers you will see lots of EXACTLY 7-year old Saabs going for little cash. Hmm...

As for FWD being "better in all situations" than RWD, I would challenge you to a few laps on a difficult track and we'd see. There's a reason that Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini have never and will never make FWD vehicles (BMW's side interests such as Rover and Mini/Cooper notwithstanding).

FWD is an American marketing concept. The idea is to get the weight of the car over the driving wheels. Well, in the Volvo it IS over the driving wheels. We have 45/55 weight distribution, 55 to the rear.

FWD is better for inexperienced drivers with mediocre tires in light snow. That is its only benefit. Downsides are:

- Decreased turning radius (SEVERLY decreased).
- Decreased handling.
- Mushy roadfeel due to dampening on the drive wheels.
- Increased maintenance cost due to complexity of mechanisms behind the steering wheels.
- Easy to send the rear end out since all the weight is in the front of the car... and impossible to get the rear end back once it is out.

I could go on, but I think everyone gets the picture.

- Gurm

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Listen up, you primitive screwheads! See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! Etc. etc.

[Alec]

OOOpppppsss! Correction: All BMW´s are RWD, and all Mercedes except A-series... so, RWD cars are about 10% of the market here... sorry.