what car should I get????!?!?!

ruffboy

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i'd say don't throw money away on a new car, buy a classic mobile and put the money you've saved into rebuilding it into a completely reliable beast that actually will INCREASE in value as you own it, leaving you in a position after a few years to actually have more cash for the next car. not only that but obviously having bought it outright, no payments, and think how much more awesome your life would be, how much less stress, without a fricken car payment every month (and lower insurance oftentimes).

get a killer old VW Bug (not the wussy new versions), you can trick that thing out huge for a couple thousand dollars, have a ride that will turn everyone's head, you can fix with a standard screwdriver if you need to, gets good gas mileage and again, be worth more when you sell it than when you bought it.

i break out in a rash when i think of sticker prices and the instant depreciation the minute you drive it off the lot

that being said, that mazda3 five door is sweet...
 

transformer_99

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my price range is totally weak. I have money.. i just hate spending it :)

$ 23 and 29K, those aren't exactly weak purchases. I'd get the 6 of the two for personal preference. Then again, a quality pre-owned and you could really wind up with far more vehicle.

"http://www.nissanusa.com/altima/sedan/price_options.html"
"http://www.nissanusa.com/maxima/"

Smaller trucks with an extended cab might be fun to get into:

"http://www.nissanusa.com/frontier/"
 

BlackCock85

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If you consider yourself to be a dull and boring person, get a Honda or Toyota.


Oh Don't even start with that, Honda & Toyotas are great reliable cars, I'm sick of this Toyota is boring bullsh*t! You may not like a certain car company, but you don't need to bring them down by saying they're dull or whatev.
 

Ethyl

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Oh Don't even start with that, Honda & Toyotas are great reliable cars, I'm sick of this Toyota is boring bullsh*t! You may not like a certain car company, but you don't need to bring them down by saying they're dull or whatev.

They're both great cars, too. I had a Honda Civic SI that I loved until it was stolen last year and I purchased my Mazda3 after that. Lesson learned: DON'T purchase an SI unless you have a garage or access to off-street parking. They're one of the most sought after cars for parts in the states. I'm sure mine was evenly distributed soon after they stripped it bare. Fuckers.
 

B_NineInchCock_160IQ

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Oh Don't even start with that, Honda & Toyotas are great reliable cars, I'm sick of this Toyota is boring bullsh*t! You may not like a certain car company, but you don't need to bring them down by saying they're dull or whatev.

So if we don't like a certain make of car we should keep it to ourselves because... why exactly? Not to hurt Toyota's feeling? Maybe so as not to damage their market share? They're only the most successful car company in the world right now.

and their cars are dull and boring. So are pretty much any cars that sell well. Reliable isn't exciting.
 

dong20

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... Reliable isn't exciting.

I know, I had years of excitement spending hours on icy winter days scrabbling round old British cars (which at the time weren't actually that old).

There are of course notable exceptions to these sweeping generalisations:

British & American cars - Poorly designed heaps of cheap tin and plastic cobbled together, mostly badly from lowest bid materials.

German and Scandinavian cars - Reliable, well designed and with high build quality.

Italian cars (excl Fiat) - Exciting but about as reliable as Chernobyl (inc Fiat).

Japanese and Asian cars generally - Reliable as gravity but about as exciting as chewing cardboard.

I have owned cars from all the above categories except American which was a friends, so I am speaking from experience..:smile:
 

BlackCock85

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Meh I can see where this is going and I dont feel like doing this so continue to put down the "boring" cars. I never said you couldn't dislike a car but calling it boring and such has nothing to do with anything. You like your fast sports cars and what not, fine but no need to put down other cars that others may like. If Toyota was trying to make sports cars that came out boring thats different as Toyota isnt trying to make fun cars so why put the cars down. Plus if I want fun I'd get a Lexus....and those are not boring, yet Toyotas. But like I said I'm really not in the mood to get into one of these arguments again, so whatev.
 

dong20

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Plus if I want fun I'd get a Lexus....and those are not boring, yet Toyotas. But like I said I'm really not in the mood to get into one of these arguments again, so whatev.

Hmmm..... I have a new Lexus (well actually it's now almost 1 yo) and while it's reliable, refined and generally very enjoyable to drive I'm not sure I'd call it 'fun'.

My immediately prior car was a BMW which was nowhere near as well made but more 'fun' to drive for sure. I still miss the Audi though, it was only an A4 but I really liked it. But you're right, each to his/her own.:smile:
 

Ethyl

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Where you live should also be a factor in what kind of car you drive. If I still lived in West Virginia, i'd probably own a BMW or something that corners like it's on rails, given the mountainous region. However, I live in Delaware and there's nothing remotely interesting about driving around here so a sensible car such as a Honda or Toyota would suffice.
 

Lex

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I own 2 SUVs as it snows here and I do not like getting stuck and we need to be able to haul around the kids, their friends and all their junk. Honda Pilot and Toyota RAV4 here (still also own my 1994 Acura Integra).

I will take reliable and conservatively styled over daring, bold and broken-down anyday.
 

Rikter8

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Screw that foreign car crap where you have to wait weeks for parts, and pay for specialty repair shops that "only" work on this or that.

My ex-buddy bought a Toyota 4Runner. He's still getting screwed by the dealer, since no other repair shops want to touch a "Toyota", and parts have to be ordered in, at dealer cost, since many parts are proprietary and have to be purchased from the dealer.

Broaden your horizons, and free up your pocket book. (Seriously)
1990 Pontiac Bonneville. They are fast, can rip ass of a mazda miata in the corners, 4 doors for getting groceries, and if it's got the LN3 3800, They'll run for 300K plus miles. Count on 30mpg if its in tune and running strong.
AND, you can get parts at your local auto parts shop super cheap, and work on it yourself.
Plus...It's super fun to have a 4 door sedan beat the shit out of a new foreign sports car :) :) Element of suprise. They're hot off the light, and pull hard all the way to 100mph.
Oh...and the other thing. Cheap insurance, but run Midgrade or premium fuel for best performance.

(Little did people know that the 90 bonnie had performance bushing suspention, engine mount provisions for a series 2 3800, stainless steel exhaust, coated underbody for long life, and torque that loves to eat up transaxles if not cooled)

C
 

starter

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i don't know why but i really like hatch back car's so go wiht the first i'd say for practicality
 

350Z

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Its kind of funny that the back end of a 70k Lexus LS looks the same as a 20k Camy. In my book, that seems to be a problem.

Maybe because I am orginally from Detroit that I am biased by saying this but really, I would not want to be caught dead in a Honda or Toyota. Reliablility is not the 1st thing I look at when searching for a car.


I was a fan of Nissans till I had to replace the trans of my 03 350z at 19k. No abuse either. The dealer was trying to stiff me on the replacement saying it was abused. BS!
 

Blocko

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German and Scandinavian cars - Reliable, well designed and with high build quality.


They are mechicanically reliable, but their electronic senors are suspect!

Yeah, I had a 98 V6 VW passat for a while, was a good ride until the ABS resender electronics went. Still, I'm driving an Audi now and haven't had a single problem since new (apart from someone getting overzealous with the sun roof shutters :rolleyes:).
 

transformer_99

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Where you live should also be a factor in what kind of car you drive. If I still lived in West Virginia, i'd probably own a BMW or something that corners like it's on rails, given the mountainous region. However, I live in Delaware and there's nothing remotely interesting about driving around here so a sensible car such as a Honda or Toyota would suffice.

BMW handling superiority is a myth. For years Car & Driver has pushed BMW as a winner over the competition, often times with road tests and performance figures that don't back their ultimate conclusions. Tests like how many g's the car pulls on a skidpad, lap times, slalom course times and speeds, acceleration rates at certain speeds in 20 mph increments (ie 30-50, 50-70 mph), even braking distances from certain speeds.

I'm a numbers man, the numbers don't lie, if a Mazda pulls equivalent g forces on a skidpad, turns in a faster lap time, goes thru a slalom quicker in terms of both time and terminal speeds, how can a BMW outhandle or beat the competition. Same goes with braking, if the Mazda requires fewer feet than the BMW to stop from the same speed, how can a BMW be superior ? The Mazdaspeed3 is lighter, it is more nimble, it has more hp and torque, thus slightly better power to weight ratio, it simply can't be 2nd best to the BMW based on the data reported.
 

Ethyl

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BMW handling superiority is a myth. For years Car & Driver has pushed BMW as a winner over the competition, often times with road tests and performance figures that don't back their ultimate conclusions. Tests like how many g's the car pulls on a skidpad, lap times, slalom course times and speeds, acceleration rates at certain speeds in 20 mph increments (ie 30-50, 50-70 mph), even braking distances from certain speeds.

I'm a numbers man, the numbers don't lie, if a Mazda pulls equivalent g forces on a skidpad, turns in a faster lap time, goes thru a slalom quicker in terms of both time and terminal speeds, how can a BMW outhandle or beat the competition. Same goes with braking, if the Mazda requires fewer feet than the BMW to stop from the same speed, how can a BMW be superior ? The Mazdaspeed3 is lighter, it is more nimble, it has more hp and torque, thus slightly better power to weight ratio, it simply can't be 2nd best to the BMW based on the data reported.

That's all fine and dandy but have you ever behind the wheel of both? I have. I test drove last year's 300 series for fun and the rear suspension components are on the subframe rather than the body. Makes for very precise handling and perfect for hugging the curves on mountains. The agility on that car was absolutely unreal. I love my Mazda but it's not quite the same. You'd have to drive both to know the difference.

Forget the Mazda, buy one of these (the new A5):

Audi UK > Home

Funny, the original owner of my Mazda sold it to me because he got a fantastic deal on his dream car - the A4.
 

dong20

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BMW handling superiority is a myth. For years Car & Driver has pushed BMW as a winner over the competition, often times with road tests and performance figures that don't back their ultimate conclusions. Tests like how many g's the car pulls on a skidpad, lap times, slalom course times and speeds, acceleration rates at certain speeds in 20 mph increments (ie 30-50, 50-70 mph), even braking distances from certain speeds.

I'm a numbers man, the numbers don't lie....

In part maybe but numbers only tell you part of the story. Car A and Car B may be capable of generating comparable G etc, but the levels of controlability and stabilty and thus confidence on those limits may feel utterly different.

For example, an '06 Infiniti M45 (basically a Nissan Gloria) a car with better power/weight ratio of 11.32 lbs/HP than an '06 BMW330i (13.4 lbs/HP), shorter 60-0 braking distance of 114ft (BMW 120ft) better lateral g of .90 (BMW .89). Well, it may be better on paper but on the road which do you think would handle better? They're in a different league.

I'm not a BMW fan as such, I've only ever had one but, but having driven other cars which may 'handle' as well, 'by the numbers' as you say as my Beemer I don't recall one that did so which such aplomb. That's the difference.

...The Mazdaspeed3 is lighter, it is more nimble, it has more hp and torque, thus slightly better power to weight ratio, it simply can't be 2nd best to the BMW based on the data reported.

Hmmm, well nimble is rather subjective. Given a choice....well, it's not a difficult one.
 

dong20

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That's all fine and dandy but have you ever behind the wheel of both? I have. I test drove last year's 300 series for fun and the rear suspension components are on the subframe rather than the body. Makes for very precise handling and perfect for hugging the curves on mountains. The agility on that car was absolutely unreal. I love my Mazda but it's not quite the same. You'd have to drive both to know the difference.

I agree, see above :smile:

Funny, the original owner of my Mazda sold it to me because he got a fantastic deal on his dream car - the A4.

They're (the A5) not out here till Summer, probably about £35k. Am tempted, I know it probably won't handle as well as the 3 series coupe but in these days of gargantuan speed humps, 10 speed cameras/mile and advancing age I bet it'd be as close as make no difference.

I miss my A4 and the Lexus is great but, I mean,.....look at it.:smile: