Schmosef's new car

[DukeP]

Then get an asian car.

Preferrably a japaneze.

I have had 3 Suzuki's and the reason I dont have more than one now is:

1) My first true love, a small but fantastic Suzuki swift 1.0 GA died at the inspection. Too much rust in the bottom. Personally I think I was unlucky and the guy who inspected the car had a bad day... It was 16 years of age.

2) My second Suzuki swift 1.3 GL still lives, but my ex got it. Its 15 years of age and in MUCH better shape than my ex...


~~DUkeP~~

[Gurm]

If that's the way you feel, you can't have what you want.

You want a car that:

1. Is "new", or has an uber-warranty.
2. Is "rugged", can tote stuff around without breaking.
3. Looks "sexy".
4. Is within your price range.

Such a vehicle does not exist. If it did, everyone would own one.

You have to sacrifice something on that list. With almost every vehicle you've listed, the sacrificial lamb is #2. None of them are rugged. Drive over a bump too hard and they fall apart. Put several hundred pounds in the back, and prepare for a trip to the dealership.

Some SPECIFIC thoughts:

Kia: RUN- do not walk, RUN away from Kia. Not only is the Sportage WEE (tiny, small, puny, little) but all Kias are cheaply built. A guy I knew bought a brand new Kia. A month or two later, he showed it off to me. I drove it and said "your rear strut mounts are loose". He said "damn!" and took it back to the dealership. They refused to fix the problem. REFUSED. Said it wasn't an issue, it was normal, gave him a bunch of B.S. - to this day I don't know if they were bad or just loose, but it's a QUICK FIX. It takes all of 20 minutes for an armchair mechanic to do it. Their professionals ... 5 minutes. And it's a $20 part. But they wouldn't fix it - on a BRAND NEW CAR.

I have another friend who owns a brand new Kia. He prefers his USED Hyundai. The Kia is THAT crappy. I'm sure I'll run across some perfectly happy Kia owners now and then, but for the most part Kia is garbage.

Rav4: The Rav4 is a Corolla with a lift kit. Sadly, its ground clearance is ... well, it doesn't HAVE any. The Rav4 is a joke car. Don't buy one. You'll be very sorry.

Honda Element: Again, a joke car. Much like the Scion. It's cheap for a REASON. Just say no.

X-Trail: What's an "X-Trail"? Is that the Canadian XTerra? (Note: looked it up, looks like a similar vehicle!) Finally, a decent vehicle on the list. The back seat is ... err ... cramped. Yeah, that's a nice way to put it. Cramped as in my 5'5" wife had no legroom, had to angle herself in the back seat. But the XTerra has a ton of cargo space. And is actually relatively rough-n-tumble. Can actually be taken off road. The X-Trail looks a wee bit smaller in the rear area, maybe the rear seat is actually human sized. At any rate, this one gets my vote out of the lot.

[Elie]

I totally agree with Gurms post above!!!!

[Gurm]

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.

Ok, that's fine. Perhaps you've missed out on the little point that I left out of the previous posting - at no time has either one of these vehicles been undriveable. Not ONCE. They've both been on the road, full time, in continuous operation since purchased. All repairs were done on a "when I had time to do them" basis, not on a "Dear God it broke down" basis.

You're not a weekend mechanic - that's cool, I never chose to be one but I'm too poor not to be. My point was that NOTHING has kept either of these cars from running. That's the difference.

Here's another anecdote. I used to drive a Ford Escort. One day, all the coolant suddenly exited the car onto the ground below. I limped it home by pouring water into the radiator repeatedly. Took it to the garage. Verdict: head gasket. Repair: Don't - just get another car. Ouch! Fast forward to the year 1998. Now I drove a Volvo 960. So we're driving to Florida from Boston, and around NYC I notice that the car idles rough. Runs great on the highway, but idles rough. So, when I get back (driving both ways) I take it in. Verdict? Head gasket.

Moral of the above story? The Volvo blew its head gasket, and went 3000 miles with a rough idle. The Ford blew its head gasket, and was scrapped. Now, bear in mind that the Ford Escape that you're considering... is an Escort on stilts.

So don't sign up for maintenance like I did. I bought a 10-year-old car with 100K on the odometer. But a 2-year-old certified preowned with a 50K warranty... well, that's another story. I told you in the last thread about the Kia dealer that refused to even address a faulty strut mount? The Volvo dealership, when my 960 was under warranty, loaned me a car every time, or toted me to work and back in their Volvo limo. They did such nitpicky repairs as re-insulating the doors because we felt a draft, and replacing a speaker that sounded crackly. Try to get Hyundai to replace a speaker with one month left on the warranty.

---------------------

And another note... the 100K warranties? They're a joke. That's the powertrain. Y'know, the driveshaft, engine block, and transaxle. The stuff made of steel that never breaks. Volvo has offered a 100K powertrain warranty for the last 15 years or longer. Their "bumper to bumper" is 3 years, 36,000 miles like everyone else's. Oh, and for these imports, "bumper to bumper" means "stuff that mechanically goes wrong and is mostly our fault". Don't think about asking them to replace your stereo, or fix the moon roof. You're on your own for that stuff. But they'll throw in free oil changes (mind you, they'll stick you with dino juice when your owner's manual calls for synthetic, but hey it's "free"!).

[Gurm]

A couple of points. I will be getting a 4WD/AWD version of any vehicle. I need an SUV because: a) I need the cargo room for moving computer equipment; b) a station wagon or mini van would kill my social life.

A mini van would kill your social life, but the Honda Element which looks like a Panel van made of rubber... that's sexy?

As for wagons, I can guarantee you that some of them would make you look FAR sexier than all the cars on your list put together. How about:



Yes, that's a fvcking JAGUAR. Probably out of your price range, but it'd get you more head than any faux-SUV with rubberized accents.

Or this?



That's the Dodge Magnum. It's in your price range, and has a HEMI under the hood. But you don't like Chrysler. Fair enough.

[Mehen]

get a Touareg!!!!!!!

[Brian Ellis]

Well, my Honda CR-V is now 7 years old and, up to now, I haven't paid a brass cent on it, other than Honda-importer servicing and tyres. It consumes practically no oil (just before an 8000 km service, the level is down about 5 mm on the dipstick). I say up to now, because it's just had its mandatory serviceability test (MOT test) and the lambda oxygen sensor is out of kilter and requires replacement at £170. Anyway £28/year is not a bad track record.

Yesterday, an idiot girl rear-ended me in a Daewoo. Her car was in a sorry state, with the bonnet (hood) totally pushed back through the windscreen, the radiator/fan pushed back against the engine, front bumper (fender) hanging off, one light cluster smashed. The most careful examination of my car revealed a purely cosmetic scratch on the rear bumper, where her number plate scraped on it. I'll grant you the tyre of the spare wheel took 99% of the shock, but there is no damage to the wheel or its mountings, and the rear door is not distorted. Cost to the Honda: £0, cost to the Daewoo:£500 minimum.

[Nowhere]

Brian, your car is part of the problem, it should have controlled-deformation (just mechanically translating from PL...how you call it?) zones there
Well...seriously, although that's in the "kidding" style...it should...



Hmm...and I wonder more and more about this presumable positive impact that owning a SUV has on social live...and don't get it :/

They're...not nice after all. Yeah, I know it's subjective...but if the social thing is true than my type of aesthetic sense is not wildly represented in population :/
When I use Google Image Search looking for photos of cars by their names (coupe, sedan, hatchback, mpv, station wagon) in most cases I'll say something around "good" (adding "quite" or "very" here and there), not rarelly great, sometimes acceptable or bad...but the situatuon is opposite in case of SUVs. Now, don't get me wrong...what I've said means that there are ones which look nice to me...but too many of them (for me) is christmass-tree style... Why?

Anyway...it's the only thing I can discuss here, looks


edit: hmm...I could try to recommend something for real after all

Grand Scenic? Not 4WD of course (the RX4 version of new Scenic hasn't surfaced yet...probably would be too small to since based on normal Scenic)
Uhmm...VW Touareg? (Touran probably not...)

[Brian Ellis]

Brian, your car is prt of the problem, it should have controlled-deformation (just mechanically translating from PL...how you call it?) zones there
Wel...serious, although that's in the "kidding" style...it should...

It does, it's called a tyre! :-)

Of course, it does, but as the tyre took most of the shock, they didn't come into play.

[Fluff]

How about a Landrover defender?

http://www.landrover.com/gb/en/Vehicles/Defender/Defender_overview.htm

You can get 9 people inside

That would do wonders for your social life.

[KvHagedorn]

It's a tire. Tyre is a city in Lebanon.

[Brian Ellis]

It's a tire. Tyre is a city in Lebanon.

Don't talk bloody wet. The Oxford English Dictionary states:

II. 2. A continuous circular band of iron or steel placed round the wheel of a vehicle (esp. a locomotive) to strengthen it. L18.

3. A rubber covering, usu. inflated, placed round a wheel to form a soft contact with the road. L19.
balloon tyre: see BALLOON noun. flat tyre: see FLAT adjective. pneumatic tyre: see PNEUMATIC adjective 1. side-wall tyre: see SIDE-WALL 2. spare tyre: see SPARE adjective. tubular tyre: see TUBULAR adjective 1.

4. transf. Any circle or roll of soft cushiony material; spec. a roll of fat round a part of the body, a spare tyre. M20.

B. Hines She crumpled her sweater into a tyre and eased her head through the hole. M. Gee Wendy had grown huge; blubber-armed, tyres on her throat.

Comb.: tyre-cement: for fixing or repairing rubber tyres; tyre chain: fastened to a tyre to prevent skidding on snow or ice; tyre gauge a portable device for measuring the air pressure in a tyre; tyre-iron N. Amer. a steel lever for removing tyres from wheel-rims.

[Mehen]

of course a VW Touareg, too bad they are way out of price range from those other ones

[schmosef]

car hunt update

I managed to test drive an Element and an X-Trail today.

I liked them both, a lot.

The Element seemed to have more cargo room/height. The X-Trail seemed more fun to drive, with better sight lines. It felt a little more upscale too. The Element was quieter though. The X-Trail seemed to have a tiny flutter in the engine. I'd have to test drive it again to see if what I felt is endemic of the line or if something was out of tune on that particular car.

The Element, with tax, etc., is about $36K.

The X-Trail all in, is about $40K. It’s got a lot more bells and whistles though.

I'll have to keep renting a Camry for a few more weeks if I'm going to be blowing my original $30K budget. I have close to another $30K coming in next month. I wasn't planning on spending it though.

Decisions... decisions...

[schmosef]

Don't talk bloody wet. The Oxford English Dictionary states:

II. 2. A continuous circular band of iron or steel placed round the wheel of a vehicle (esp. a locomotive) to strengthen it. L18.

3. A rubber covering, usu. inflated, placed round a wheel to form a soft contact with the road. L19.
balloon tyre: see BALLOON noun. flat tyre: see FLAT adjective. pneumatic tyre: see PNEUMATIC adjective 1. side-wall tyre: see SIDE-WALL 2. spare tyre: see SPARE adjective. tubular tyre: see TUBULAR adjective 1.

4. transf. Any circle or roll of soft cushiony material; spec. a roll of fat round a part of the body, a spare tyre. M20.

B. Hines She crumpled her sweater into a tyre and eased her head through the hole. M. Gee Wendy had grown huge; blubber-armed, tyres on her throat.

Comb.: tyre-cement: for fixing or repairing rubber tyres; tyre chain: fastened to a tyre to prevent skidding on snow or ice; tyre gauge a portable device for measuring the air pressure in a tyre; tyre-iron N. Amer. a steel lever for removing tyres from wheel-rims.

That's really interesting Brian.

I remember watching a "news magazine" TV show a few years ago that was reporting on the costs of repairing various cars hit from various angles at 5 miles/hour. The CRV, when hit from the back with very little force, caused the rear mounted spare tire to push into the rear window and smash it. If I recall correctly the entire rear liftgate had to be replaced. A costly repair.

I certainly hope that you were not injured.