Schmosef's new car

[jms]

The RAV4 might be a little small if you're tall. I have driven both the RAV4 and X-Trail diesel versions, and the X-Trail seems quite a bit quicker and it sure is roomier than the RAV4. What really annoyed me with the RAV4 was the air-intake on the bonnet (only diesel version), but you prob get used to it.

Have you considered the new diesel Honda CR-V with 140bhp? It sure looks great on paper.

[ZokesPro]

The RAV4 might be a little small if you're tall. I have driven both the RAV4 and X-Trail diesel versions, and the X-Trail seems quite a bit quicker and it sure is roomier than the RAV4. What really annoyed me with the RAV4 was the air-intake on the bonnet (only diesel version), but you prob get used to it.

Have you considered the new diesel Honda CR-V with 140bhp? It sure looks great on paper.

Honda make diesel vehicles now??? Since when? The only diesel vehicles available in Canada are Ford trucks, VW's, 18 Wheelers and Smart's. Diesel vehicles are pretty rare over here, especially diesel Honda's!

Wow, Honda makes diesels. You learn something new everyday.

[omegaRED]

Yep, and it seems that they make excellent diesel engines. Or so i`ve heard. Anyways, the Accord (and especially it`s diesel engine) recieved quite a praise from some journalists i know.

[DukeP]

If im not all mistaken, then Honda INVENTED the TDI diesel, in cooperation with BOSCH.

The TDI engine revolutionized the use of Diesels in "people" vehicles like standard cars and such.

Its till a bit more loud at idle speed, but other than that it pretty much acts like a gasoline engine, just with more "ooumphh".

~~DukeP~~

[Nowhere]

Ahhh...yes, I remember the Bond style commercial: some guy and luxury prostitute run away in Accord from other cars & helicopter, dissapear from their sight, park in front of some castle and hide inside. When the bad (good? who knows...) guys arrive and see the "diesel" mark on the back of the car..."That's not them", and drive away

Anyway...who doesn't make diesels these days?

[schmosef]

I would rather own a used Volvo or BMW than any of the new cars listed in this thread. Seriously.

Consider a certified pre-owned Volvo Cross-Country. It'll be $10k cheaper, and have a good warranty. And, unlike any of the vehicles discussed thus far, it'll go 300,000 miles before needing an engine overhaul. Maybe more.

I've just been burned too badly by my used Jeep.

I just don't know enough about cars to feel comfortable buying something without a comprehensive warranty.

Over the years I've had to invest way too much time and effort keeping my Jeep on the road. I just want to avoid that situation for my next car.

I'd love to get a Prius, as Brian suggested, but It wouldn't have the cargo capacity I need.

TX suggested a Pathfinder. No doubt, it's an awesome SUV. But it's too expensive for me. The base price is $34K and it goes as high as $47K. I can't justify that expense yet. Possibly my next car, I'll go for an Infinity SUV (based on a Pathfinder). We'll see how my business is doing then.

I'd love a Hybrid SUV too. Hopefully, the next time I'm car shopping there'll be more selection in that regard.

[Tjalfe]

can you not get a car through your business, and have it financed that way?.. I know my brother is doing that now, even though it is rarely used for business anymore.
As for the actual vehicle, I too have been burned by north american cars, so I agree to stay away from those.. Too bad you don't want a mini van, with the right equipment in the back ( say a mattress ) it could do wonders for your social life

[Elie]

My vote goes for the Nissan X-Trail!

[schmosef]

can you not get a car through your business, and have it financed that way?.. I know my brother is doing that now, even though it is rarely used for business anymore.

There are tax implications. Don't ask me what they are. My accountant explained them to me once. Anyway, the easiest thing is if I own the vehicle and write off my business related use. My company already pays my gas and insurance.

Too bad you don't want a mini van, with the right equipment in the back ( say a mattress ) it could do wonders for your social life

Maybe 20-30 years ago! These days, even prostitutes won't approach a "Jon" in a van.

[schmosef]

My vote goes for the Nissan X-Trail!

Any particular reason?

Any previous experience with Nissan? Do you know a good Nissan dealer?

[Gurm]

I've just been burned too badly by my used Jeep.

I just don't know enough about cars to feel comfortable buying something without a comprehensive warranty.

When I BOUGHT my BWM it was 7 years old and had 100K on the odometer. When I bought it, I immediately put in the following:

- Water pump (original ones were plastic and tended to shred)
- Fan clutch
- Thermostat

That's about $100 in parts.

- Oil every 5000 miles... 7 quarts of Mobil 1 ($30) and a filter ($5)

- Tires (price, of course, varies)

- Bulbs, wiper blades, etc.

Since then it has needed another thermostat ($25), a coolant overflow tank ($75), control arm bushings ($25 for the pair), brakes twice ($110 for the front each time, $75 for the rear the one time it needed them).

And, last week, the hood locks got stuck and needed replacing ($60 in parts).

The only thing I couldn't handle myself was that the rear differential was leaking... rebuild kit was about $75 and a couple hours labor at the local shop. Oh and that the car doesn't like Platinum +4 plugs, which made it stumble and had to be diagnosed by the dealer. (d'oh!)

So the total cost of maintenance for 4 years and another 100K miles has been...

$~500 in parts, another couple hundred in labor. Call it $750.

That's pretty cheap. And that wasn't certified pre-owned. No warranty there, just a private sale of a 7-year-old vehicle for $12,500.

I bought my Volvo while it was still under the factory warranty. (Nowadays it'd be "certified pre-owned"!) The warranty was for 5 years or 50,000 miles. It had 27K on the odometer when we bought it for $20,000. (Mind you, it was 3.5 years old at the time...) Its new-car list price was closer to $50k because it was Volvo's top of the line luxury model.

The only thing I've paid for on the Volvo that was a "major repair" was that the AC needed replacing. And that was largely due to the fact that the car had SAT for a year and a half and all the rubber bits went all brittle... a problem which was indemic in the vehicle for the first couple years we owned it.

In other repairs, I've done the brakes, tires, oil of course... Volvo engines leak oil after they reach a certain age (it's a feature!), so mine started a couple years ago. I use oil stabilizer and a slightly thicker brand of synthetic (Mobil-1 5w40 instead of 10w30) to cure that.

It needs another AC recharge now, as well as a link rod. Otherwise it's in fine mechanical shape. After 10 years. A lot of stuff went wrong while it was under warranty. I drove the SNOT out of it while I still had the luxury of the warranty.

Moral of my story? Buy a certified pre-owned Volvo for $25k. Put the remaining $5000 in the bank in case something breaks. Then, when nothing major goes wrong, spend it on the next Matrox video card.

[Elie]

Hey Schmosef...

Here is why I would buy a Nissan over the rest, so let's take the list you have posted...


Honda Element, I personally will never buy another Honda/Acura again, they are plagued with engine problems especially the 4 cylindar models, my car burns oil like mad and Hinda considers this normal, everyone I spoke to who owns a Civic or an integra or even an accord, has this problem and one would think the new models would be the same.
Honda are not at the top in terms of AWD performance and technology, if that is what you want, I would stay away from them as I am, I have to give one thing to Honda though, they're engines despite the design flaws... like oil burning...if you have to change the timing belt you must change the water pump etc... are very reliable. mine has 287,000 kms and I can still run it for a while until it craps out which should be that long now.


Kia Sportage: No offense, Korean made, you are going to experience cheap parts in the cabin, lack of horsepower or torque, yes I have been in one and it litterally sucked.



Nissan X-Trail: now here is a manufacturer that proved itself over the years, they build extremely good engines which are used across many platforms, realiablity from what I've heard is very good, and my friend whoi owns an Infinity G35 absolutly loves it.

Regarding good Nissan Dealers, well don't know, it's a matter of going out and talking to the sales reps to get a feel of how they operate etc.

Nissan (previously known as Datsun) has always had a good resord of building good cars, not every model was a hit but they are getting better and better every year and they have more AWD experience than Honda or the others you selected except for Toyota.



Hynudai Tuscon: see KIA, another cheaply built vehicle and I know that for a fact.

Mazda Tribute: didn't hear to many good reviews on this, don't know much about it, never had interest in Mazda except for the RX-8

Toyota RAV4: the RAV 4 has litterally no pickup power or torque, once you are on the highway, if you don't care about that which highly unlikely then buy it.

These days, the only thing going for Toyota is reliability and thier AWD system is very good, since day one!

Of course this is my opinion, so feel free to comment.

Regards,
Elie

[schmosef]

Thanks very much for your thoughts Ellie.

[DukeP]

Well.
Whenever I hear a story like Gurms, I cant help but wonder.

If what Gurm means is that: His BMW was cheap; then I can only wonder that much more.

I have NEVER changed ANYTHING on my Suzuki 4wd, besides gas, oil, sprinkler a pair of vipers and two lightbulbs. Original tires (im both lazy and poor) and everything else besides what the prescribed servicechecks orders (oil and airfilters, afaik).

Today its old and noisy (most of the bearings are in dire need of a change) but it works. I use it to drive to and from work, 400miles every week. Its got more than 200.000 miles behind its 20 years of existance (its an early 1986 model).

So if Gas is NOT an option, I would suggest getting a suzuky grand vitara. I think they cost around 20.000$, including some trimmings and stuff. Only get you 22mpg tho. But then, if your business pays the gass, then the rest is on your patience.


(Btw, my old suzy runs 35mpg - all hail the small 1.3litre injection engine).

~~DukeP~~

[schmosef]

When I BOUGHT my BWM it was 7 years old and had 100K on the odometer. When I bought it, I immediately put in the following:

- Water pump (original ones were plastic and tended to shred)
- Fan clutch
- Thermostat

That's about $100 in parts.

- Oil every 5000 miles... 7 quarts of Mobil 1 ($30) and a filter ($5)

- Tires (price, of course, varies)

- Bulbs, wiper blades, etc.

Since then it has needed another thermostat ($25), a coolant overflow tank ($75), control arm bushings ($25 for the pair), brakes twice ($110 for the front each time, $75 for the rear the one time it needed them).

And, last week, the hood locks got stuck and needed replacing ($60 in parts).

The only thing I couldn't handle myself was that the rear differential was leaking... rebuild kit was about $75 and a couple hours labor at the local shop. Oh and that the car doesn't like Platinum +4 plugs, which made it stumble and had to be diagnosed by the dealer. (d'oh!)

So the total cost of maintenance for 4 years and another 100K miles has been...

$~500 in parts, another couple hundred in labor. Call it $750.

That's pretty cheap. And that wasn't certified pre-owned. No warranty there, just a private sale of a 7-year-old vehicle for $12,500.

I bought my Volvo while it was still under the factory warranty. (Nowadays it'd be "certified pre-owned"!) The warranty was for 5 years or 50,000 miles. It had 27K on the odometer when we bought it for $20,000. (Mind you, it was 3.5 years old at the time...) Its new-car list price was closer to $50k because it was Volvo's top of the line luxury model.

The only thing I've paid for on the Volvo that was a "major repair" was that the AC needed replacing. And that was largely due to the fact that the car had SAT for a year and a half and all the rubber bits went all brittle... a problem which was indemic in the vehicle for the first couple years we owned it.

In other repairs, I've done the brakes, tires, oil of course... Volvo engines leak oil after they reach a certain age (it's a feature!), so mine started a couple years ago. I use oil stabilizer and a slightly thicker brand of synthetic (Mobil-1 5w40 instead of 10w30) to cure that.

It needs another AC recharge now, as well as a link rod. Otherwise it's in fine mechanical shape. After 10 years. A lot of stuff went wrong while it was under warranty. I drove the SNOT out of it while I still had the luxury of the warranty.

Moral of my story? Buy a certified pre-owned Volvo for $25k. Put the remaining $5000 in the bank in case something breaks. Then, when nothing major goes wrong, spend it on the next Matrox video card.

Whatever you intended in terms of easing my mind regarding used car maintenance, it backfired.

I'm sorry, but I've just been burned way to badly.

I'm willing to pay more upfront, get less of a vehicle in return, as long as I don't have to be on the hook for maintaining the car. I intend to get as much of an extended warranty as possible, and whenever I have the slightest problem, drop the car off, get a rental, and wait to hear when it's ready.

Besides the direct cost of out of warrany repairs that I've paid over the years, I've also lost money in terms of lost time. Significant money. And sleep, due to stress over my car and knowning that the dealers were ripping me off and lying to my face.

I'm not going to go through that this round.