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Buying a new car

sirkickyass

sirkickyass

Moderator Emeritus
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I have a LONG list of vehicles I'm considering. They run the gamut from very cheap to relatively expensive and from traditional sedans to impractical two seaters.

Obviously this is early in the process.

Let me know if you have any experience with any of these vehicles that would be relevant to any purchasing decision. Thanks in advance for any info.

Hyundai Elantra

Kia Forte Koup

Subaru Legacy 2.5i Premium

Hyundai Genesis Coupe

Volkswagen Jetta TDI Clean Diesel

Buick Regal CXL

Hyundai Sonata Hybrid

Mazda MX-5 Miata hardtop convertible.

Chevrolet Camaro Coupe 2LT

Acura TSX

Nissan Maxima

Audi A4

Also, let me know if I'm totally missing the boat on some sweet car I should be trying out.
 
I drive an Elantra right now. I've had it for over a year now and I've never had any problems with it at all. I took it for an oil change just a couple weeks ago and every seemed good then. It's not exactly the biggest car but it does have good gas mileage. I recommend it.
 
Shad said:
I drive an Elantra right now. I've had it for over a year now and I've never had any problems with it at all. I took it for an oil change just a couple weeks ago and every seemed good then. It's not exactly the biggest car but it does have good gas mileage. I recommend it.
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Thanks. Pos rep given.
 
Get a 1965 Mustang that's been restored. Not only do you look cool you'll be sticking it in the eye of of the enviro-weenies that... oh wait, nevermind. Get a Prius.
 
If you go with a Subaru legacy go for the GT. Not too big a hit on MPG and a lot more fun to drive.

I've been a lifelong Toyota fan starting with an '82 Corolla hatch back, then a '91 Corolla, '92 small pickup, '99 Camry, '01 Corolla, '03 Camry. Not a single one ever had any major work needed below 100k. The pickup developed a leak between the coolant and engine oil at 110k. I continued to drive it anyway. The leak got worse and I simply changed the oil every few weeks, then every week, then every few days, then every time before I had to drive across town. Finally asked my dad for help and we suspected a bad head gasket, which we replaced. Turned out there were some plastic timing chain dampers (kept the timing chain from wobbling around) that broke and allowed the timing chain to rub the side of the timing chain cover which eventually led to a hole into the coolant line. After it was all put back together, after a few months of serious abuse, it ran like a champ. My sister took over the '91 Corolla from my parents. One day while driving it started riding rough and we pulled into a gas station. I checked her oil and there wasn't any, as indicated by the dip-stick anyway. I told her she needed to change the oil every once in a while. She told me she didn't have time for stuff like that. We put a few quarts in and on our way we went. She drove the car at least five more years.

Can't go wrong with a Toyota.

I just lost a 2006 Subaru Forester XT. My wife rolled it off the side of Spanish Fork Canyon.
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My wife, son and mother-in-law were inside. Fortunately my wife and son walked away, unfortunately so did my mother-in-law.

I used the insurance money and my wife's feelings of guilt over the accident to get this:
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I love Subaru's AWD and turbo charged engines. They're a lot of fun and seem reliable as well, not to mention not terrible on gas.

Good luck!

EDIT: Just want to say that the hood scoop on Subaru's is a functional feature that feeds air to a top-mounted inter-cooler that cools the air going into the turbo. I don't know of any other auto-maker who actually uses the hood scoop for anything more than looks. Mustang, hood scoop is blanked off by a piece of plastic. Toyota Tacoma TRD sport, hood scoop goes nowhere. I'm a function over form type, so fake performance features really bug me and I'd be embarrassed if my car had one.
 
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We had a Subaru Outback and could not get the ****ing "check engine" light to stop coming on. When it first happened, we took it in and had a thorough $$$ checkout, tune-up, etc and no real problem was found. It got to the point where we ignored it, and then the wolf really showed up. I have talked to others who have also had the warning light come on, and some who had no problems.

We currently own two Hyundais and really like them. My wife has a Tucson. I have a Sonata that was purchased out of desperation, but I have no regrets. They've been good cars. Knock on wood.
 
Shad said:
I drive an Elantra right now. I've had it for over a year now and I've never had any problems with it at all. I took it for an oil change just a couple weeks ago and every seemed good then. It's not exactly the biggest car but it does have good gas mileage. I recommend it.
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If you want absolutely nothing nice then go this route. The steering wheel feels like sandpaper and the seats might as well be the light weight racing type. Also, don't leave your keys in your pocket when it's snowing or you'll end up shoveling out your trunk. On the plus side, one package comes with an ipod port and heated mirrors, and you can pass out in the backseat after getting blown out of a poker tournament.

I purchased mine not liking it but as a tool and not for leisure. They have great Consumer Report reviews and mine gets the job done. Good gas mileage but not excellent. I'm up to 35 or so, which took 7 or 8k to move up from 30 - 32 during break in. If you want a tool then buy one. If you want more then don't even stop at the dealership.
 
I read Car & Driver and the Hyundai Genesis Coupe has gotten nothing but fantastic reviews recently. It would be on my short list of cars to test drive.
 
Thanks all, those who made helpful comments received positive rep. Duck gets negative rep for bringing unhelpful comments (I'm trying to use this as an actual incentive system, we'll see).

EDIT: It says I've given out too much rep in the last 24 hours after I got partway down. I will return and give out more when my rep refreshes.

Surely said:
My brother had a Jetta and he swears he will never buy a Volkswagen again. He just bought a Hyundai and loves it so far.
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What was his problem with the Volkswagen?

Marcus said:
Get a 1965 Mustang that's been restored. Not only do you look cool you'll be sticking it in the eye of of the enviro-weenies that... oh wait, nevermind. Get a Prius.
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As you'll note from the (lengthy) list I'm all over the map on fuel economy, and the Prius is not on the list. I even test-drove a Nissan 370z, but I hated it because of the blind spots.

Seriously, I had a friend who had a 1966 Mustang and it was totally impractical because it was constantly in the shop. Totally sworn off the classic car route.

Duck Rodgers said:
Don't you want to buy the same car as your girlfriend? That's what all the cool couples do.
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Actually I've got real mixed feelings about getting any two-seater at all. There's a big part of me that thinks at least one of us needs to be able to haul a third person. In practical reality, she's probably beaten me in the race to have the fun car.

Gameface said:
If you go with a Subaru legacy go for the GT. Not too big a hit on MPG and a lot more fun to drive.
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Drove a manual for years. I've decided I'm too lazy to do it again.


YB85 said:
We had a Subaru Outback and could not get the ****ing "check engine" light to stop coming on. When it first happened, we took it in and had a thorough $$$ checkout, tune-up, etc and no real problem was found. It got to the point where we ignored it, and then the wolf really showed up. I have talked to others who have also had the warning light come on, and some who had no problems.
Click to expand...

Were the friends you talked to having problems just on the Outback or did that run across several Subaru models?

We currently own two Hyundais and really like them. My wife has a Tucson. I have a Sonata that was purchased out of desperation, but I have no regrets. They've been good cars. Knock on wood.
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If you were purchasing in a less desperate state would you still buy a Sonata or would you have done something else?

franklin said:
If you want absolutely nothing nice then go this route.
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I'm well aware the Elantra is the cheap car on my list. There's at least a possibility that I will cheapo out at the end.
 
My family has now owned 3 Toyota cars. 2 corollas and 1 camry.

One of them is a 86 Corolla that still doesn't give us many problems. It looks like crap but it doesn't cost anything (other than new brakes, wipers, and tires every now and again).

I personally drive a Camry from... I think it's 2000... And it still runs perfectly.

Hyundai is good, but when I test drove the Elantras they felt too light and cheap to me. I liked the Camry much more.

I haven't heard very good things about kia... When I was shopping I read something about their water pumps in some of their models being defective... Of course, maybe they've fixed that problem by now!

Suburarus, I'd stay away from. Again, read bad things about some of their models when I was shopping... All the Subs I test drove felt too light, cheaply built pieces of plastic. I believe both Sub and Ford have had problems with the check engine light... My previous Accord had this problem. It was annoying since it wouldn't pass emissions and inspections with it on.

I liked test driving the Acuras. They felt solid and had a lot of cool lil add-ons. If I remember right, aren't they basically a step above Toyota?

If you're looking for consumer reviews, (even new cars generally have some reviews... Problems/Good experiences are shared) I suggest checking out:

msn.com

Click under their cars section and you'll find a ton of good info.

Hope that helps!
 
I'd stick to Hyundai. Which is wierd becasue I really wanted Nissan Maxima or an Audi A4, There good looking , great gas milage, comforable, plus there always having some kind of killer deal. Like a 10 year warranty or we right in stone what we will give you on your trade in value in 2years. next time I buy a car Im going to Hyundai.

And my brother is a sales rep and he a had Jetta and yes it got great gas milage but his client always laughed at him becasue he drove a girls car. So he traded it in for a Lexus is 250
 
The Thriller said:
I personally drive a Camry from... I think it's 2000... And it still runs perfectly.
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This is the car I'm replacing. The whole reason I'm getting a new one is that a friend needs reliable transportation so I'm giving him my Camry. Hums like a dream. It appears that Toyota has lost some of its quality mojo from earlier in the decade unfortunately.
 
Sirkickyass said:
What was his problem with the Volkswagen?
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It had check engine light issues and check tire pressure lights that would go on and off randomly. The final nail I think was how fast the value dropped on it. He bought it new (never a good idea in my book) and the value dropped like Carlos Boozer answering the door in the dark.
 
My sister had a Jetta and it was the worse car she's ever had. The check engine light would come on all the time also and had multiple problems with the gas tank doing weird things. She got rid of it and has a Camry now. She's had it for over 3 years now and has never had a problem with it too.
 
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