Time to buy a new car....suggestions??

[~sudsshane]

What opinions/suggestions does anyone have on a new car for moi?
I am beyond confused and since the people here are such an informed,intelligent bunch. I thought I would ask.

My heart is telling me to go American, Chevy/Ford, but my partner is insisting I buy import.

These are the vehicles I am considering so far:

Import:
BMW X5 -SUV
Saab -SUV
Volvo-SUV

Domestic:
Jeep Grand Cherokee V6
Mercury Mariner Hybrid SUV

 

[brisnat81]

What about

A Toyota Highlander
or the Lexus GX or RX?

At least with the Highlander its still made in the USA, even if the company is from OS.

 

[hooverwheelaway]

Mazda!

If you're looking for an SUV, this is one that I've seen on the road... They've really caught my eye - I think it's a sexy SUV.
Mazda CX-7... (see link).

I really do love Mazdas. My father had a 1994 Mazda Protege, which my sister got a few years back... then Joe got it about a year and a half ago. With 150,000 miles on it, it was still running strong.

I've had a 2000 Protege for about 4 years now, and I love it.

Back in August, we traded Joe's Protege for a new 2007 Mazda 3 - and we love it!

Problems with Mazdas are few and far between - only routine maintenance, and little things here and there. They're great cars... and they are a brand under the Ford umbrella, if that makes it any more American.

~Fred

http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/displayPage.action?pageParameter=modelsMain&vehicleCode=CX7

 

[nurdlinger]

FWIW

I'm a big proponent of "form follows function". Since 1980 I have driven an assortment of VW Vanagons and Ford Windstar vans. I find the minivan format to have lots of interior room, be comfortable for trans-continental trips, and get reasonable gas mileage. (you can't drive it like it's a sports car) Style for me is not important, nor is the association with "soccer moms".

Recently my Windstar got totaled in a collision, and now I have a Honda Odyssey minivan. It is the equal of the Ford in many ways, and excells in some others. I haven't owned it for a month yet, nor driven a thousand miles, so my opinions are still forming. However, it seems a very well made, comfortable, and roomy van. (worthy successor to the Ford)

I don't know how much help this will be to you since all your choices seem to be SUVs. If you go four-wheeling, tow trailers, etc. these provide what you need. If, however, you are leaning that way for the upright, comfortable driving position and commanding view these vehicles possess, then I can suggest to you that others do as well.

 

[~sudsshane]

Thanks Fred~

I think your right, that is a very nice looking SUV..!

 

[appnut]

All 3 of those imports you mention have extr3emely expensive maintenance needs.

 

[zipdang]

extremely expensive maintenance needs

Bob's right about that. We have a 2003 BMW and a 2004 Saab (both are wagons), and even small repairs can be costly. Just replacing the front brakes on the Saab was over $500, and the self-levelling headlight assembly on the BMW was over $1,000 (but fortunately covered under warranty). In their defense, though, I'm not sure if any car is "cheap" to fix nowadays.

 

[petek]

I would keep my eye open for a nice 70ish Mercury Colony Park or Ford Country Squire LOL

 

[selectomatic]

I'm with you, petek.

I can't stand SUVs, but a huge Colony Park with the faux-wood paneling would be great. Just be sure to stock up on Pledge!

-kevin

 

[~sudsshane]

petek~

Think I will pass on that..

David, doesn't BMW have "free maintenence program" though? I never keep a car longer than 3 years and I average about 10-12k miles a year.

 

[jmirawm]

jeep grand cherokee V6

I have a 2000 yr model with 115,000 miles on it....only have had regularly scheduled maintenance. There was a problem with brake rotors - but supposed to be getting reimbursed through a class action law suit. other than that I have absolutely loved the grand cherokee.

 

[zipdang]

Shane, BMW does have a fairly comprehensive maintenance program. It even covers friction items that other manufacturers don't warranty, like brakes and wiper blades. The Saab warranty isn't as comprehensive (it doesn't cover friction items), but does include the first three years of oil changes and inspections.

 

[ironrite]

Hybrids

Unless there has been a change, do check how the AC works on the hybrid Mariner. Nice car, however when I was looking at them, the AC would shut off at a stop light, as it needs the gas engine to run the compressor. You could bypass that little feature by setting the AC to MAX mode, but that kind of defeats the benefit of saving gas. Plus for Las Vegas, it would run on MAX for most of the Summer here. Not sure if this would apply to other hybrids.

Oh and on my 2003 Mountaineer, the transmission needed a full rebuild at 30,000 miles, thank goodness for warranties.

 

[alexb1186]

On your list I'd go for the Mariner, mostly because it can take regular and Chrysler products scare the crap out of me.

Fred, I have had my eye on Mazdas and would love to have a Mazda6 wagon. The CX-7 although ok looking requires premium and what kind of gas a car needs is usually on top of my list.

 

[volvoguy87]

Honda.

I own a 1987 Volvo 240 with about 145,000 miles, but the new Volvos ain't what they used to be. I also own a 2002 Saab 9-3 which just passed 70,000 miles. I will never buy a Saab of any type again. The repairs and breakdowns for the last 3 years have been frightful. The dealer service for the Saab has been dreadful, and the bills for 2007 for the Saab have passed $4,000.00 for the warranty company.
I would look into the Honda Element. It is an ugly cube on wheels, but they drive very nicely, come in 2wd or 4wd, with an automatic or a stick-shift, and are so easy to load. They hold so much, and are so easy to clean. I think the Element is one of the best thought out vehicles on the road. A friend's Element held my Maytag DE308, so it fits all my needs. I would get rid of my Saab and get an Element in a heartbeat. I will never get rid of my Volvo, however.

Test drive the Element, you may be pleasntly supprised,
Dave

 

[hoover1060]

my choices were originally:

Honda Accord V6
Mazda 6
Nissan Altima

Please note the absence of Mercury Milan...

I can say I have driven a few Accords, and this Milan is every bit as nice and "together" as an Accord

 

[pturo]

Pardon me for being green, but what do you need an SUV for in Florida? The 4 wheel drive for mountains and all the snow to get to work? There isn't a hill for 400 miles and no snow till you get to Pennsylvania. Get a golf cart, or at least a Prius. I just cant belive the bohemouth vehicles there are in Florida, and can't understand the mentality of big gas guzzling vehicles down there, and I have a place there. Vermont has smaller vehicles. I just don't get it.

 

[~sudsshane]

Pturo~

None of the vehicles I am considering are "bohemouth" as you put it.
An SUV is more practical for me considering my partner has a sedan and we have 3 dogs. There are several SUV's I am considering that are very fuel efficient Also, you are correct, 4WD is not a feature I am looking for. 2WD is fine with me.

 

[sudsmaster]

If I had 3 dogs and a need for some cargo hauling, 2 wd, and also wanted good mileage and reliability, I'd be looking at a Scion XB. The 2008 models are more powerful and roomy than the previous version, which was in itself quite successful.

Another option is the Honda Element.

 

[~sudsshane]

Scion XB, Honda Element~

Those are good choices I had not thought of Rich..Thanks for your input.

 

[pturo]

Sudshane,no disrespect, but do try to get a fuel efficent vehicle if SUV is the choice, it is less we support the middle east arabs oil and the US oil companies who think they have a stranglehold on this nation, and better for our air quality. Have you changed out your lightbulbs to the efficent ones yet? Don't get me started on green. Thanks for the feed back, I have dogs, they fit in the back of the Saturn Station wagon just fine. Phil

 

[~sudsshane]

Hi Phil~

no disrespect taken..I too try and do my best to go green whenever I can. I will most definately get a fuel efficient SUV since that is of concern to me, if not a hybrid. As for the light bulbs, no I haven't gotten around to that yet,but will be doing it in the very near future.
Another pet peeve of mine are people who choose plastic bags at the Supermarket. It takes up to 1000 yrs for them to biodegrade into the landfills! I am there at Publix or Whole Foods Market with my canvas bags, (usually 4 of them) in tow.
If one is going to choose plastic bags at Supermarkets,at least always remember to bring them back and recycle them.

 

[tolivac]

If you want a fuel efficient SUV-How'bout the Toyota Highlander Hybrid?I have one and I am pleased with it.I am not normally a "Green" type person,but at the prices of gas its a good alternative.I know a fellow worker here at the site that has a Honda element-he is pleased with it.Its less expensive than the Highlander.Don't know the Hondas fuel specs.YeS,I do use Compact Flourescents-not for energy saving-but BETTER light than incandescents.

 

[sudsmaster]

Personally I think the plastic bag issue is somewhat moot in face of all the plastic water bottles that don't get recycled. Some plastics can be made to biodegrade rather readily, also, and perhaps those will start making an appearance in groceries. I think it's a draw between the energy/eco friendliness of plastic vs. paper grocery bags, as each takes a lot of resources to produce. However obviously the paper can be composted no problem. In my town, I can put the plastic grocery bags in the rcycle bin where presumably they will be put into a recycling stream to produce more plastic items of some sort. I also like to use the plastic bags to deliver back yard garden veggies/fruits to friends coworkers and neighbors.

The Ford Escape Hybrid seems to get fairly decent mileage, so I'd probably look at that one as well.

 

[tolivac]

I HATE plastic grocery sacks-they don't stand upright as paper ones do-and dump their contents all over the back of your car-at least with paper bags those hold the groceries better.No chasing apples from under the seats!Better than bags-were the stores that had a pile of boxes in the front you could use instead of bags to carry your things.these were even bettter!And you could leave the boxes in the car for the next shopping trip!The bad part of plastics is that they are not as easy to recycle as beleived-esp if the market is weak.This happens.Metals are the easiest to recycle.

 

[hydralique]

My two cents . . .

As far as I’m concerned, the first rule of car buying is to buy what you enjoy driving. If you don’t like to drive it now, you probably never will. If efficiency and safety matter a lot to you, though, you might think carefully about SUVs. The two main determinants of mileage in a car are weight and aerodynamic drag. Weight matters most at low speeds and drag matters most at high speeds, which is why a large sedan with reasonable aerodynamics can sometimes get pretty good mileage on the highway but rarely in town. SUVs have a double whammy here, in that they tend to be very heavy due to having chassis designed to cope with off-road conditions, and have poor aerodynamics because of excessive ground clearance and large frontal areas. The result is that they rarely get good mileage in any circumstance compared to cars of the same size.

Safety is negatively affected by the high ground clearance because it raises the center of gravity, and this reduces stability in emergency situations. One of my best friends is a high level accident investigator who is accepted as an expert witness in court regarding vehicle dynamics. According to him, newer SUVs are better than older ones, but they still have a significantly greater tendency to turn over in accidents. That results in much higher rates of head and spinal injuries, because there is pretty much no crush space in a roof, unlike the rest of a car body, and of course once you’re upside down it’s likely to be your head that takes a direct hit.

The Scion Xb and Honda Element are good suggestions. If you don’t mind spending the extra money then a BMW or Mercedes wagon might be very nice. I work frequently with a landscape designer who has a large dog that often spends the day with him both at his office and when he checks his projects. After having two Range Rovers he got a Mercedes E-class wagon. He really loves it because it is smooth, comfortable, handles well, and holds the dog. I should add that this is his second identical wagon, because the first one had an electrical glitch which caused the engine to die with no warning. M-B replaced that car with the current one, which seems to be fine.

A few other thoughts: there was some mention of Mazda. My sister has had a Mazda truck (made in New Jersey of all places) for the past three years. It has been very reliable, and the servicing is cheap, way less than my Volkswagen. VWs are usually OK to drive and well finished, but actual build quality can vary a lot and so can dealer service. My warranty was pretty good, and that turned out to be a very good thing when the turbo blew and took the engine with it. BMW does have a very nice service program - the cars are expensive but at least once you’ve paid the premium price you get treated like a premium customer. At the other extreme, I’d avoid Chrysler in general and Jeep in particular. From 1992-2002 there was a Jeep/Eagle product in my family, and while the warranty was quite decent parts availability was a complete crapshoot. Parts would be on backorder for months, even those under warranty, the dealer’s parts manuals were just plain inaccurate, and in one case they refused to ship a small part (O-rings to install a new water pump) via second day air even though I volunteered to pay for the shipping (“Chrysler doesn’t do that except in special circumstances”).

Happy hunting!

 

[maytagbear]

I don't drive any more,

but if I did, I would seriously look at Subaru.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[irishwashguy]

Hey there Shane!!

I would never, and I do mean never buy American Cars, they unreliable, plus a good majority of them are built in Mexico anyway. BMW are really nice, they are kind of spendy to maintain although, the BMW dealer that I went to was really clean, professional, and they do the matinence for the first 50k, even oil changes. Plus I am sure that you would look so good in one.Compared with a Ford Focus, or a Taurus, , there is no contest----and Mercry, well, I thought that they were Grandma cars,yes, all of them,Plus they are really not built for longevity.i have watched many people i know go though problems with them, Steer clear.. I have had four Hondas--- one 79 Prelude, 88 Civic, 92 Civic and currenty 03 Civic. When it was time to get rid of them, they were at, and this is usually 240k and still going strong. My 92 was bought from the auto aution for 300 bucks, had 69k and drove it five years and sold it for 1000.The 88 was total in a rear end colision. Enough about me, they are great, especially now that they have the hybrids out, they are Fabulous. I drove the Accord Hybrid before I bought my 03, and was very temped, although for me a bit steep for me. They are very reliable. I just did my front brakes, it was not 500. i just change the oil, wash it, and do the regular maintenence, no problems to speak of. Listen to your partner, he is just looking out for you.
PS: My Aunt Betty bought a Brand new Jeep Grand Cherokie----at 500 miles, the trans went out. Although it was covered under the waranty, they were not very happy with it.As i said, I am not a big dometic car person, I never owned one..............Getting into Honda and driving away now.....................

 

[rexaircollector]

Suds

How about considering the Nissan Murano? My partner & I pondered several before the final decision was made on his vehicle in 2004. Considerations were, cargo space, fuel economy (we get 24 mpg), handling, cost of repairs and reliability. Naturally, style also had a hand in our choice and after 3 years and 41,000 miles, there have been no trips to the Nissan Service Department other than for scheduled maintenance. We have replaced the tires but are still on the original set of brakes. We have all the bells and whistles (leather, chromed wheels,leveling headlights, sunroof, Sirius radio & navigation system) and nothing has failed us. The CVT transmission is great too! That is far from what our experience was with our Jeep Grand Cherokee(s). We had a 1998 that had so many problems, Chrysler replaced the vehicle after a year and many hours of grueling discussions. The 2000 replacement was not much better as it had frequent stays at the service department for issues with the transmission and brakes. We got so frustrated with it and decided rather than go through round 2 with Chrysler, it got dumped for the Murano.

We have been very happy with Nissan. I drive a 2006 350-Z and love it. Don't get me started with Mercedes as I had an E-Class before the Z and would NEVER own another. Very tempormental, expensive to repair(mechanics hourly rate $125 per hour) and service ($100 for an oil change!!). OUTRAGEOUS. I discovered my sunroof leaked after a heavy rainstorm, which caused a myriad of other electrical problems. The headlights began flashing on and off as if it were an emergency vehicle, which resulted in many obscene finger jestures from other motorists on my way to the service department. The car was in the shop for a week getting all the issues rectified. Affordability is not even a matter of contention but we could not justify wasting money on something that depreciates. We like to enjoy and drive our vehicles, not loaner/rental cars while ours are in the shop. Yeah, Mercedes does provide free loaner cars...but coupled with the repair bills, adding rental car fees would be even harder to swallow.

Attached a pic...not ours but the same color

Robb Castaldo

 

[48bencix]

Hybrid

I agree with hyralique on all points. SUV's have an aura of safety, but the roll over stats certainly contradict that.

I used to love cars, and still subscribe to Motor Trend. But at this point I don't really care that much. They are almost all way overpriced, considering that basically it is an engine/transmission, body, seats and some glass. Add in the safety features and there is only about $10,000 worth of stuff in any of them.

But at this point I would put gas economy very high on the list. While there will be blips both up and down the trend will be constantly up. If there is any, and I mean any sort of further disruption in the production or transportation of oil, the upward trend will probably shock all of us.

So, I would definetly look into hybrids. Have you actually sat in a Toyota Prius, they are pretty roomy. Honda Civic Hybrid is really nice. These would both make great daily drivers. If you need to haul on a daily basis, something larger would be nice. Toyota will eventually have Prius wagons, etc. But for now those two get great mileage. I really think that less than 40 mpg will be a grave mistake.

You might check out the Scions also, although they are not Hybrid drive.

Martin