Cars

[Sania Marsh]

We are having hard time choosing which car to buy.
Looking for safe and comfortable car.
If you own RAV4 or CR-V or know these cars or any other cars that you would want to buy or like, please post suggestions.
We are looking for something within $30.000
It doesn't have to be SUV, but must have autmatic transmission and 4 doors.
Thank you

[Don Kiddick]

How about a Canyonero ?

[peter wooster]

Originally posted by Rita Moore:
We are having hard time choosing which car to buy.
Looking for safe and comfortable car.
If you own RAV4 or CR-V or know these cars or any other cars that you would want to buy or like, please post suggestions.
We are looking for something within $30.000
It doesn't have to be SUV, but must have autmatic transmission and 4 doors.
Thank you

SUV's are passe, they are now the typical car of the 50 something suburbanite whose kids have left home and they traded the minivan for something a little sportier, but couldn't quite justify a sports car. (the poeple who used to drive Oldsmobile station wagons)

As far as comparisons between Toyota and Honda, both have good reputations. Toyotas are less sporty, but more reliable. I drive a 1999 V6 Camry sedan, its boring, but fast, reliable and comfortable. It carries 4 people easily and plenty of luggage. It has more room, and more power than the Rav4. The Highlander is the Camry SUV, but its probably over your budget, and burns a lot of gas.

[fred rosenberger]

How about a Canyonero

It's a squirrel-squashing, deer-smaking driving MACHINE!!!

[peter wooster]

Originally posted by Jesse Torres:

I also have a 1999 Toyota Camry. During Labor Day Weekend, I took it on a long 1,200 mile trip to Texas. I cruised at 70 � 80 MPH with the AC on and encountered no problems. Yes it is a boring car; however, it is reliability at its best.

I actually have 2 Camry's, both bought used, the other is a 92, and its still going strong with about 150,000 miles on it, including lots of city driving. One thing I like about the Camry is the "boring" aspect, as a ex sports car owner, its really nice to drive along with nobody paying you any attention, especially cops, and getting where you are going with no surprises.

[Ray Marsh]

When I bought my last car, I researched in on Consumer Report's website. It was well worth the subscription cost.

[peter wooster]

Originally posted by Jesse Torres:

I couldn't agree with you anymore. It is an excellent boring everyday car. I also bought my 99 Camry used in 2002 with 22K miles. When I do buy another car, I am going to purchase another Camry.

What do you think of the 2002 - present body style? My favorite is the bodystyle from 1992 - 1996.

I agree, the 92-96 was the most luxurious and best looking, our 92 is actually a much nicer car than either the 99 or my parents 2002. The newer models have a better engine though, more power and better milage due to variable valve timing, like Honda's VTec.

[Sania Marsh]

Originally posted by Jesse Torres:


It looks as if you have narrowed your selection to either Honda or Toyota. Is this a correct conjecture?

In fact, we have looked at some other cars, like Acura TCX, Nissan Altima and more. Some of them have to be pre-ordered, which is not very good - months to wait. Others, we just can't pick from.
We had 2 Toyota's - Camry and Corolla, they are both good. Corolla is not very comfortable and powerfull, that's why we were thinking of Camry or RAV4(in Toyota). We have never owned an SUV. I got excited by the speciousness and 4 weel drive. But since I never had it, I can't really tell if that is going to make much difference. I thought it would be good when it is slippery outside due to ice an snow. I don't need much space, but sometimes when I buy a new rug or something, it is nice to be able to fit it in the car.
The only thing I didn't like about Camry is that it is too plain (boring as you say). I like those cute-shaped cars like Mini or Beetle (by the way, I hate Hummer), but we can compensate it by some nice color and interier.
I trust Toyota very much, other brands I know nothing about, that's probably why I asked the question, because I thought maybe Toyota is not as good as I think it is.. but seems like most of you prefer Toyota.
Probably I'll go with Camry..

[Damien Howard]

We have had experience with transmission problems on our Acura (honda) as well. But that was after 100,000 miles and I still prefer honda to toyota. But I would also suggest looking at Nissan. I would stick with a sedan though. SUVs are environmentally unfriendly and are more likely to roll over in an accident. I own a 98 Altima which I absolutely love. I drove her 3000 miles cross country averaging 85-90 mph packed full of my belongings and had no problems. But regardless of whther you choose Honda, Toyota or Nissan I don't think you can go wrong.

[Helen Thomas]

All the cars recommended are considered tin cans on wheels here.

Audi
VW Golf (make sure it's manufactured in Germany)
The Sports Coupe versions of the above
Kia
Skoda is doing well
The SmartCar

[Sania Marsh]

Originally posted by Helen Thomas:
All the cars recommended are considered tin cans on wheels here.

Maybe because I said that we are not willing to spend more than 30K?

[Helen Thomas]

The sports Coupe was about �18000. The others apart from the Audi less : the SmartCar is roughly �7000 - one with a back seat included is around �10,000.

Some of these cars are going cheap. The VW Sports was �15,000 10 years ago.
I guess the oil companies will continue to make killer profits year after year.
[ October 27, 2004: Message edited by: Helen Thomas ]

[Stan James]

I'm a Subaru fan. Since you mentioned little SUVs I thought all wheel drive might be important to you. Subaru had a nice niche for small, low-cost AWD cars, but they're getting bigger and more expensive all the time so there are more alternatives at the same price. Oh, and faster! I like the "car based" AWD choices because you get full automobile safety regs, rather than the more relaxed regulations for trucks. You carry fewer tons of steel to and from work so you're less of a hazard to others and burn a little less gas.

[Alan Wanwierd]

At the end of the day buying a car is a very personal thing and you need to find a car you are comfortable with. Everyone has different criteria when buying a car and how you rate:

comfort,
aethetics,
performance,
reliability,
resale value,
gizmo features,
fuel economy,
maintainance costs,
initial cost,

etc etc - will influence your decision. Asking other people for their opinion is likely to be fruitless, since all you will get is the opinions of people who dont have the same mix of the above parameters..

A few people I spoke to thought I was mad for buying a Land Rover discovery recently - quoting instances of people who had build quality problems. But for me the most important thing influencing my decision was driver comfort[I have the worlds worst bad back and was feeling totaly crippled after sitting in a Toyota Corolla for 30 minutes], and after trying a whole host of other vehicles (large sedans & SUVs) the Disco had by far the most flexible and comfortable driving position.. and the TD5 had fuel economy no worse than my beat up old Corolla!

2 years on I havent had any of the mechanical porblems that people promised I would have and I LOVE the car! (add to that the fact that I can be proud to drive something English [designed , if not owned]that has bit more character than the whole host of Japanese clone vehicles that our roads are plagued with!!

What am I saying? - Dont ask people which car *you* should prefer - go and drive them and find out for yourself!!!

[Warren Dew]

peter wooster:

SUV's are passe, they are now the typical car of the 50 something suburbanite whose kids have left home and they traded the minivan for something a little sportier, but couldn't quite justify a sports car. (the poeple who used to drive Oldsmobile station wagons)

Not true - some soccer moms buy them too!

My wife is extremely pleased with her Volkswagon Jetta 1.8 turbo. We considered that and a BMW 325i; they had similar performance and a similar level of quality (much nicer than the other cars we looked at). The BMW had about 3 inches more rear seat leg room and cost about $10,000 more; the Jetta was in the low $20k range.

If you really want to spend closer to $30k, you could look at the VW Passat, but at that point, you might as well go a little over $30k and buy the BMW.

[Kripal Singh]

Larger then accord or camry .
fuel economy of 20/28

3.5 Liter V6 Engine with 265 HP and 255 lb-ft of torque

4-speed automatic transmission with manual shift mode

brand new still under 30K
















Nissan Maxima

[Alan Wanwierd]

Originally posted by Jesse Torres:


Rita isn�t asking which car she should prefer. Instead she is asking for suggestions and advice.

Second, what do you mean by our roads being plagued by Japanese clone cars?

Are you aware that Land Rover is owned by Ford? http://www.ford.com/en/default.htm

Yes of course I'm aware that LandRover was bought by FOrd - which is why I said "designed - if not owned". :roll:

roads plagued by Japanese clone cars - I dont have exact stats but here in Australia the roads are dominated by Japanese cars - Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Nissan... Now whilst all the above make perfectly decent cars and have good reliability records. They are all somewhat the samey... (yes yes I know - Mazda are a BIT more cool... and Toyota are a BIT more reliable.. Honda a BIT more classy)

Now - given that I was in the market for an SUV, 90% of the mid-size family SUV market in Australia (Excluding the big MOFO Landcruisers or the little 'AWD' pretenders) Is held by 2 models - Mitsubishi Pajero and Toyota Prado (may have different names in US and UK)... They are good cars, but I prefer to stand out from the crowd (a little) and drive the disco....

...and my advice to Rita is not to take advice!! but to go out and test drive - its the only way to find out what you like...

[Warren Dew]

Originally posted by Rita Moore:

speciousness

Finally ... someone comes up with a valid reason to buy an SUV!

[John Smith]

In your price range, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, and Nissan Altima are the most sensible choices: all well-rounded, reliable, and comfortable cars.

[peter wooster]

Originally posted by Helen Thomas:
All the cars recommended are considered tin cans on wheels here.

Audi
VW Golf (make sure it's manufactured in Germany)
The Sports Coupe versions of the above
Kia
Skoda is doing well
The SmartCar

Where is here, I have experience with European cars.

I have owned the following:
- Austin 1000 - British, so bad that I traded it for a 35mm camera.
- VW Golf - German, built in Germany, a bit better, but still nasty.
- BMW 320i - German, overrated and overpriced, but it impressed the girls.
- Alfa Romeo Spider - Italian, sexy, unreliable, but tons of fun
- 1966 Buick Wildcat - American dinosaur, huge, gas guzzler, very fast in a straight line
- 92 Camry - Japanese - very reliable, still on the road
- 99 Camry - Japanese - not as good as the 92, but still great.

From my experience the Camry blows the doors off BMW's that cost 50% more. Its got a nice 3.0L dual overhead cam V6, it's fast, its reliable and it doesn't attract attention. If you want to pay 3 times as much you can get a real Bimmer, the new 6 series looks very nice, but its still built by GM, just like that old Buick.

[Alan Wanwierd]

Originally posted by Jesse Torres:

If you had to take a guess, what percentage of vehicles are Japanese in Australia? Include SUVs, Sedans, coupes, pick-ups, and so on and so forth.

Extremely rough guessing (and no doubt very wide of the mark) total breakdown I'd say something like this:

Japanese: 65%
American (Ford/Holden[GM]): 20%
Korean (Hyundai/Daiwhoo): 10%
European (Peugeout/Renault/BMW/Merc): 5%

but in certain markets the split is very different i.e. SUVs would be more like:
Japanese: 87%
LandRover: 7%
Korean(Hyundai): 3%
American: 2% (No holden SUV available, and Ford Explorers are just not liked)
European: < 1% (Only really BMW that make anything)

Interestingly enough - Taxis:
American: 100% (All Holden or Ford)


Anything there surprise you Jesse?

[Warren Dew]

peter wooster:

I have owned the following:
- Austin 1000 - British, so bad that I traded it for a 35mm camera.
- VW Golf - German, built in Germany, a bit better, but still nasty.
- BMW 320i - German, overrated and overpriced, but it impressed the girls.
- Alfa Romeo Spider - Italian, sexy, unreliable, but tons of fun
- 1966 Buick Wildcat - American dinosaur, huge, gas guzzler, very fast in a straight line
- 92 Camry - Japanese - very reliable, still on the road
- 99 Camry - Japanese - not as good as the 92, but still great.

From my experience the Camry blows the doors off BMW's that cost 50% more.

Of course, you've got to give those pre-1966 BMWs a lot of credit just for lasting 30 years to get their doors blown off!

[Helen Thomas]

I can be proud to drive something English [designed , if not owned]

Who owns it now - I know Ford. It's probably the only vehicle I'd buy from them.

Where is here U.K.

[Helen Thomas]

Would anyone try one of these before splashing out on a car ?

At �5000 it's the price of a small car like SmartCar (designed by Mercedes, engine of a Porsche I believe).

[Sania Marsh]

Originally posted by John Smith:
In your price range, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, and Nissan Altima are the most sensible choices: all well-rounded, reliable, and comfortable cars.

How about Acura TSX?

[Sania Marsh]

Originally posted by Damien Howard:
We have had experience with transmission problems on our Acura (honda) as well. But that was after 100,000 miles and I still prefer honda to toyota. But I would also suggest looking at Nissan. I would stick with a sedan though. SUVs are environmentally unfriendly and are more likely to roll over in an accident. I own a 98 Altima which I absolutely love. I drove her 3000 miles cross country averaging 85-90 mph packed full of my belongings and had no problems. But regardless of whther you choose Honda, Toyota or Nissan I don't think you can go wrong.

So why do you prefer Honda over Toyota?
You said Honda's transmission is overall worse than toyota
Then what's better in Honda?

[Damien Howard]

I don't know if toyota's transmissions are any better. I just don't really like Toyota for no good reason at all. Kind of like how some people like american cars even though they are crap. I'm referring to in US, I hear some of the US cars made in europe aren't bad.

I like Honda for nostalga reasons I guess. It is first car I remember my parents owning. And we have had several hondas, only one of which had a transmission problem. We have had 2 Mazdas. The pre-ford mazda was good. The post-ford mazda is crap. My nissan so far has been fantastic, but it only has 72500 miles so far. Hopefully it lasts. BMW has been pretty good. Mercedes had tons of problems and my father has sworn off them ever since. Plus their service was terrible.

I think best deal would be the altima assuming you are purchasing in the US
MY friend has a toyota that is running well over 100k miles, but it doesn't have the power of the altima. All the hondas save the one with the bad transmission have gone for several 100k miles. By the way the one with the bad transmission was an 86 Acura Legend, the first model year acura existed.

[Sania Marsh]

Going with blue Camry
Thank you all.

[Sania Marsh]

Originally posted by Jesse Torres:


Which Camry? V4 LE, V6 SE, or V6 XLE?

Not sure yet, more likely V6 SE, any suggestions?

[Sania Marsh]

Originally posted by Jesse Torres:


The V6 SE looks very nice. However, the V6 XLE in Lunar Mist Metallic looks very nice. Also, the XLE interior looks extremely luxurious yet sporty. Look at interior and exterior images.

It's so strange that on the web stie the price is one, dealers sell it for much more.. It that fair? We called 3 dealerships around, they all ask in average $28000 for SE. It's price includng the taxes and some oter documentation stuff minus all add-ons, but it is still too much in comparison to what web site says.

We ususally get the basic luxury features - like power windows, keyless entry, abs, ... But, if they will have XLE in nice color and it will realy look 2-3K better, probably we'll go for it.

[Kishore Dandu]

Originally posted by Rita Moore:


So why do you prefer Honda over Toyota?
You said Honda's transmission is overall worse than toyota
Then what's better in Honda?

As a Toyota owner and some one looking and searching for a new car I have following comments about Toyota.

The number of optional packages adds lot of complexity to the buying pattern of Toyota( a 2004 Toyota Sienna XLE has 17 different packages u can choose from; where as comparable Honda Odyssey XE has 3 options). I can see that as a difference maker for some.

Toyota may be 5% more reliable, but I don't see anything wrong going with Honda. Hondas tend to be a little lesser priced for the comparable models.

[Sania Marsh]

Jesse,
thank you so much
It is turning out their prices are at least $2K more than what they should be asking for..

[Kuldeep Vaishnav]

Yes,I just bought 2004 Camry LE V6 and I must tell you that power and room is unmatched.I have already put 4K in approx. 2 months and I am just feeling like keep on driving around even without any reason... ..As ppl. say over the time you may find it little bit boring but then you can always go for small changes every 2 years..like glass change,leather seats etc etc...I think these cars are the most reliable vehicles available in the market at this time...they have come up with some slick design too (e.g siena).....
[ October 29, 2004: Message edited by: Kuldeep Vaishnav ]

[Kripal Singh]

before you make the final decision try it once on http://www.carsdirect.com/
the starting price for 2005 Toyota Camry 4dr Sedan SE V6 (A5) (SET) is 22,079

Originally posted by Rita Moore:
Jesse,
thank you so much
It is turning out their prices are at least $2K more than what they should be asking for..

[ November 01, 2004: Message edited by: Kripal Singh ]