[nonhuman]

We're starting to look into getting a car. It would be a daily-driver, mostly for commuting, and we'd probably be putting 50-80 miles on it per day in the Boston area. We probably wouldn't really have this car for all that long and would likely be trading up for a nicer, new car within 5 years.

I suppose our main concerns would be price and cost of ownership. The more efficient the better to save on gas, the better built the better to save on maintenance. With those guidelines in mind I'd tend to lean towards a used Civic or something. Although one other thing we'd like is a larger passanger/cargo capacity for taking trips. We often drive down to New Haven, or the Cape for long weekends and the like, and it would be nice to drive down to Jersey to visit my family, or out to the Adirondacks where my grandmother has a cabin so something a little more rugged might be nice. I'm a big fan of Subarus in terms of all-around versatile cars, but it's been a while since I really paid attention to what's going on in cars so I'm open to just about anything. But the priority is that it minimizes the costs and hassles of a daily commute.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what make/model/year would be a good fit for us? Any general advice?

[olePigeon]

Not a Saturn.

[design219]

Love my Camery. You should look at one. There are lots of used ones out there.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by design219 

Love my Camery. You should look at one. There are lots of used ones out there.

Not sure why I didn't think of that. I like Toyotas... Thanks.

[olePigeon]

Hondas are supposed to be pretty reliable.

[Peter]

Suv?

[brassplayersrock²]

try out a pontiac vibe. i've seen a lot of them around Boston lately, great cargo area, plenty of leg and head room. great gas millage. this isn't because i own one, it's because it fits into what you're looking for

alex

[Big Mac]

I know Rob's answer: A 1987 Honda Civic.

[highstakes]

Honda Civic SI

[Railroader]

I suggest a Volvo wagon or Pontiac/Toyota Matrix/Vibe. Both are fun to drive, reliable, and have plenty of room.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Peter 

Suv?

The sad thing is that I'd probably get banned for saying what you did.

[brassplayersrock²]

^ probably, and I'm on the same boat

[nonhuman]

One other possibility: we've got a '68 Volvo P1800 that's sitting around in Illinois. It would need a ton of work to get running again (probably just need to gut it and re-do everything). I imagine it's probably a little more than we want to spend right now, so that's probably something to save for a future project...

[design219]

Originally Posted by nonhuman 

One other possibility: we've got a '68 Volvo P1800 that's sitting around in Illinois.

That's a sweet car!

I just sold my last Volvo, which was a '67 122s that shares a lot with the p1800 under the skin. It was a wonderful old car. I sunk a lot into restoration, but I got back about all of what I put in and seven years of enjoyment.

[G4ME]

saturn

but in all serious

veggie/diesel VW rabbit truck is most likly going to be mine

[Peter]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

The sad thing is that I'd probably get banned for saying what you did.

nah you wouldn't

[jebjeb]

You guys really need to embrace diesels more in the US. You could pick up something civic sized or smaller that would get you 65 mpg plus. Better than a Prius.

Top 10 fuel efficient cars

[brassplayersrock²]

Originally Posted by Peter 

nah you wouldn't

what about me? would I get banned?

btw jeb, there ARE women in the US as well

[Peter]

no you wouldn't.
SUV is a type of car, how is it insulting?
baffling.

[G4ME]

Originally Posted by jebjeb 

You guys really need to embrace diesels more in the US. You could pick up something civic sized or smaller that would get you 65 mpg plus. Better than a Prius.

Top 10 fuel efficient cars

yeah bub don't worry about that whole imperial gallon US gallon thing, units don't really mean crap.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

I suggest a Volvo wagon or Pontiac/Toyota Matrix/Vibe. Both are fun to drive, reliable, and have plenty of room.

No. Not a Volvo. Absolutely not. Trust me.

[G4ME]

no no don't listen to him, trust me

[mdc]

If you like Toyotas and want a small around town car you might look at the Scions. xA and xB are nice. I used to have an xA and my wife drives an xB. The xB has a lot of cargo space.
You're looking at around $15,000 brand new and they get around 28 - 32mpg.

I enjoyed driving my xA. It was a fun small car to drive. I sold it because of a job change and the chance for a convertible which is what I've always wanted. I didn't sell it because of anything against the car.

[iMOTOR]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

No. Not a Volvo. Absolutely not. Trust me.

Because?

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by iMOTOR 

Because?

Expensive parts, hard to work on, sucky build quality.

[iMOTOR]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Expensive parts, hard to work on, sucky build quality.

And who would have told you that?




Their parts are expensive, but no more that a similar part from Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Porsche, etc.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by iMOTOR 

And who would have told you that?




Their parts are expensive, but no more that a similar part from Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Porsche, etc.

Ummm. Me. I have one. 850 and S40.

[Velocity211]

Originally Posted by brassplayersrock 

try out a pontiac vibe. i've seen a lot of them around Boston lately, great cargo area, plenty of leg and head room. great gas millage. this isn't because i own one, it's because it fits into what you're looking for

alex

Well if you're looking at the vibe, get the Matrix instead. Basically a twin of the vibe but with the reliability of a toyota. Too bad it's being discontinued for 2008.

[brassplayersrock²]

the pontiac vibes use a toyota engine (at least mine does) just so you know

alex

btw. i personally don't like the look of the matrix. also, the cargo area in the back isn't as big as the vibes I believe

[design219]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Expensive parts, hard to work on, sucky build quality.

I'll disagree on this point. I've owned 4 Volvo's (a 240, 740, 760 and a 122s) and they were wonderful cars. Especially the build quality. I can't say about the newest models as I've switched to Toyota because we don't have a Volvo dealership anywhere close.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by mdc 

If you like Toyotas and want a small around town car you might look at the Scions. xA and xB are nice. I used to have an xA and my wife drives an xB. The xB has a lot of cargo space.
You're looking at around $15,000 brand new and they get around 28 - 32mpg.

I enjoyed driving my xA. It was a fun small car to drive. I sold it because of a job change and the chance for a convertible which is what I've always wanted. I didn't sell it because of anything against the car.

I've driven both the xA and the xB and didn't really like them. The physical layout of the car just made things more difficult than they had to be, and visibility was pretty horrible (obviously that varies by driver...).

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by jebjeb 

You guys really need to embrace diesels more in the US. You could pick up something civic sized or smaller that would get you 65 mpg plus. Better than a Prius.

Top 10 fuel efficient cars

I'd be very happy to get a diesel. My only concern there is 1) selection (is there a diesel car available in the US that will fit our needs) and 2) availability (are there enough gas stations near me that sell diesel).

But, assuming those weren't issues, I would probably choose diesel over gasoline.

Which reminds me, are there any good cars out there with GDI?

[iMOTOR]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Ummm. Me. I have one. 850 and S40.

Are you trying to say they're hard for you to work on? Hard for a mechanic to work on?
What aspect do you feel is sucky?

Be specific.

[mduell]

Mid-late 90s Subaru wagon.

I have one (I live in East Boston, work in Lynn) and it's great. Plenty of room for stuff, AWD for the snow and ice, decent mileage (26 highway/19 city), cheap parts.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by brassplayersrock 

the pontiac vibes use a toyota engine (at least mine does) just so you know

alex

btw. i personally don't like the look of the matrix. also, the cargo area in the back isn't as big as the vibes I believe

The Matrix is also lighter, is shorter (with the same ground clearance), has a lower MSRP, and I'd bet it holds its value better.

[indigoimac]

I dunno, you seem to be looking for a pretty standard import, Camry/Accord or Civic, or Vibe/Matrix, all will probably suit you fine.

[centerchannel68]

If you're going to go used, shoot for a 90+ Honda Accord Wagon. The 90+ accords have fuel injection, and they're really comfy on the highway. They run forever too. Just keep the rear wheel wells clean to avoid rust. Our 92 Accord has 153k on it, runs fine, but the rear wheel arches are rusting out pretty badly. I'll fix it this summer.

[centerchannel68]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

I know Rob's answer: A 1987 Honda Civic.

It's not a bad choice. But I'd go for the older accords, personally. A bit bigger, a bit more refined, a bit more comfortable, and still smaller than today's civic. Plus they're CHEAP. You can score a good 88-96 accord for under 3 grand, and if it needs any work, it'll be really cheap. The best part? If you pay $3,000 for a used honda accord, drive it for 4 years and put a crapload of miles on it, then sell it, it'll probably still get you $2500, if you properly maintain the thing. Honda resale value= UNBEATABLE.*

*:Except priuses.

[centerchannel68]

Originally Posted by nonhuman 

One other possibility: we've got a '68 Volvo P1800 that's sitting around in Illinois. It would need a ton of work to get running again (probably just need to gut it and re-do everything). I imagine it's probably a little more than we want to spend right now, so that's probably something to save for a future project...

Oh man, fix that puppy! Those things can really really rack up miles! Everytime I see one for sale it has well over 200k. Plus they look sweet!

[centerchannel68]

Originally Posted by G4ME 

no no don't listen to him, trust me

Reliability on the newer ones are a lot different from the oldies you roll in, man. Not ripping on your ride, I respect the older volvos. They're dead reliable. But the newer ones have had issues.

[ghporter]

Honda Civic, late model or new. They don't get coolness points for styling (I like the way they look), but they last and last. Just pay attention to the normal upkeep like changing oil regularly, and you might drive the same Honda 10 years from now. As a matter of fact, the only reason I sold my last Honda (at 9 years old) was that it had a Freon AC and it was starting to "have trouble." So I bought a new Civic, which I expect to keep for quite a while. It'll be 5 in a couple of months, and it's still great.

[OldManMac]

Originally Posted by centerchannel68 

Honda resale value= UNBEATABLE.*

*:Except priuses.

When did Honda start making the Prius?

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by KarlG 

When did Honda start making the Prius?

Yeah, that's got me puzzled too. Honda makes cars like the Insight and a couple of hybrid models like the Hybrid Civic and Hybrid Accord, but Toyota would be shocked to hear that Honda makes the Prius!

[Peter]

surely he means except for Priuses (sp?) as in, Hondas AND the Prius has exceptional resale value...

[centerchannel68]

Originally Posted by KarlG 

When did Honda start making the Prius?

They didn't. I said honda resale value= unbeatable, EXCEPT PRIUSES, since the 1st gen Priuses were selling USED for higher than the price that they cost NEW, which is rather unheard of. That's pretty much the best resale value ever. Hence, honda's resale is generally unbeatable, if you ignore the Prius's resale value.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by iMOTOR 

Are you trying to say they're hard for you to work on? Hard for a mechanic to work on?
What aspect do you feel is sucky?

Be specific.

Okay.
1) Working on: They are hard for a regular person like me who can't afford a mechanic to work on. Mixed metric and non tools are required. Changing the oil is pretty easy, easier than on our Xterra. But other than that, they are a pain. Parts come from England, so you pay for expensive shipping, and expensive parts. If you need something in a hurry, forget about it. There are some great mechanics for Volvos, but they charge an arm and a leg for anything.
2) Build quality: Expect horrible rattles. The S-40 isn't as bad as the 850, but it's still horrible. Dash parts don't fit together as well as they do in other cars (think Saturn-like quality). But the leather seats are very durable (think kid proof). Some parts are not manufactured up to high standards like the CV joints. Volvo's standard joints last about 2 years (although dry Colorado climate has something to do with that).

Edit: I agree with a early 90's Honda Accord wagon. We have a friend who has one. It's a great car. Just look out for rust in the rear quarter panels.

[brassplayersrock²]

Originally Posted by KarlG 

When did this thread get derailed?

fixed

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by centerchannel68 

Oh man, fix that puppy! Those things can really really rack up miles! Everytime I see one for sale it has well over 200k. Plus they look sweet!

I'm definitely planning to fix it up. I'm just not sure if it's practical right now. It's been sitting outside in Illinois for maybe 3.5 to 4 years. So it's got a ton of rust damage to the body work, plus the interior is probably going to need to be completely re-done. I'm hoping that just 4 years won't have done too much damage to the engine and transmission, but they'll obviously need some work too. (The plus side of all this is that we know people in Illinois who would almost definitely be able and willing to do the work for cheap.)

At this point, the real issue is that we're not really going to want to drive it during the winter, but we don't have a garage here and it'll be way more expensive to get storage for it in Boston than in Illinois. So the question is whether we can afford to 1) fix it up, 2) store it in Boston, and 3) get a beater for the winter. So what I'm thinking is that we just get something cheap to use here, and get it fixed up in Illinois and store it there until we're making a little more money and can afford to either store it here in Boston or move to a place with a garage.

[brassplayersrock²]

so any closer to choosing which car you're going to get nonhuman?

[Dakarʒ]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

The sad thing is that I'd probably get banned for saying what you did.

Let's find out.

I may or may not report it as offensive.