New Used Car

[David Root]

Allyn, I had a '95 XJ Jag for 10 years, +1 on reliability. Only replacement I did was a rear wheel bearing at 100K.

It spent its last 5 years in Tucson, where the paint got fried from sitting at the airport parking lot while I was traveling on business. Metallic paint, Ice Blue, beautiful color, but susceptible to UV damage from such gross abuse. The solid colors might stand up better though.

[stretch2011]

Well I'm a Ford guy, and my whole family are Ford guys but here is The scoop.

My uncle owns a transmission shop, been doing it for 30years. Dad has worked for him for the last 20years. Chevy and gmc keep him in business. Yes they get Ford's in there too, in most cases the exploder I mean explorer. The new Ford's and chevy's (2009+) have those nice new fancy transmissions, with the entire computer under the oil pan. So when your tranny goes it costs you $4000+ because you have to replace the computer. Chevy trannies have been falling like flies, so far the Ford's are holding up fairly well.

They don't work on foreign cars so I have no input there.

[Phil_S]

Ford vs. Chevy...it makes one wonder about so-called engineers and if they were doing any thinking at all. I thought part of the job was to make a worthy design, not just a design that works. I honestly don't buy into the argument that they have to shave cost all the time. Anything that breaks under warranty has to be absorbed by the manufacturer. A really good engineer should be able to think his way around or through a problem and meet the budget target.

[martin manning]

Got your flame-proof suit on?

[vibratoking]

... A really good engineer should be able to think his way around or through a problem and meet the budget target.

Funny Martin.

That statement is true in theory, but often impossible in practice. Engineer says "I can design it for x dollars and in y time." Management says "great do it for 1/4 of that. If you fail on either of those we will stop issuing you a pay check." Bye bye quality. This is a classic situation. Wait it gets even better. After the product hits the market and fails, everyone blames the engineer...which is what you just did.

[Reeltarded]

L

O

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[jon]

I've always had great luck with my VW jettas. I've had basic ones and well equipped ones. My last went 155K and still had 40% pad life on the front breaks. Full disclosure I do mostly highway driving.

[davidjon_99]

I've always had great luck with my VW jettas. I've had basic ones and well equipped ones. My last went 155K and still had 40% pad life on the front breaks. Full disclosure I do mostly highway driving.

We just had to drop $4000 into my wife's 2007 Jetta that only has 55,000 miles. Automatic transmission problem and A/C went out. Living in the sauna also known as Houston you have to have something that blows cold air when you're driving in the summer. My wife loves the car and repairing it was cheaper than buying another one. But at 55K miles you shouldn't have to fix two major things.

With a wife and four adult kids I've owned and worked on a multitude of cars and I've had good models from Ford, GM, Dodge, Honda, Toyota, Fiat, Mazda, etc. And I've had bad models from each of those manufacturers also.

What I'd suggest is that you find a car you like and, as mentioned earlier, look at Consumer Reports regarding reliability and owner satisfaction. There are a lot of nice cars that fit your specs.

[jon]

Just a disclaimer, I've never had an automatic equipped VW. In my opinion these are drivers cars and all drivers cars should have a manual gearbox. JMO

[davidjon_99]

Just a disclaimer, I've never had an automatic equipped VW. In my opinion these are drivers cars and all drivers cars should have a manual gearbox. JMO

I agree, however the boss (my wife) wanted an automatic. It's her car and she does love it.

I didn't do adequate homework before buying the car. Seems VW has (or at least had) automatic transmission issues with several models.

[Structo]

Just a disclaimer, I've never had an automatic equipped VW. In my opinion these are drivers cars and all drivers cars should have a manual gearbox. JMO

Yeah, I had manuals for years.
But, I'll tell ya sitting on the I-5 parking lot at commute times takes the fun
out of the manual real quick.
Inching forward riding that clutch for an hour.

I had a new 87 VW Golf with a stick and that was a terrible car as far as maintenance goes.
It was great when it was new but things started failing.
It even leaked water when it rained hard.
Finally the oil pump failed and that was that.

So after years of that crap I welcomed an automatic trans.
They have improved them tremendously and the MPG doesn't suffer
and may be higher than a manual trans car.
Computer controlled everything which is scary if you have trouble with it
and have to have something repaired.

Then there is the CVT that seems to be the way car mfrs are going.

I'm opposed to them, but to be honest I haven't ridden in or driven a CVT car yet.

[davidjon_99]

Then there is the CVT that seems to be the way car mfrs are going.

I'm opposed to them, but to be honest I haven't ridden in or driven a CVT car yet.

We rented a Nissan Altima in Colorado a couple of years ago and it had a cvt. It sounded like it had seen better days. It whined pretty loudly. But I'm sure being a rental car it probably hadn't been treated that great. I didn't like it. It really didn't seem to have a lot of oomph when trying to pass other cars.

My wife's Jetta has a 6 speed automatic and I like it better than my SUV's 4 speed. But I like both those much better than a cvt. I'm sure it's a personal thing though. Others might love the fact that you don't feel the car shift. I'd suggest you try it out and see what you think. As for their reliability, well I've rented a ton of cars and that's the only one that whined so badly. That's just one experience with a, most likely, abused car though.

[LeeMo]

I owned an 08 Altima. I bought it with hail damage and drove it until I pushed all of the dents out. (Look up paintless dent repair. That's what I do for a living) The cvt reminded me of a go-kart. There was no decernable shift. My wife is manager of a used car store. They sell a lot of Altimas with 100k-180k on the clock. They also fix a lot of those transmissions. I got a letter from Nissan extending the warranty to 100k after I sold it. So, they admit that it has issues.

LeeMo

[Teleguy61]

Toyotas are a little easier to work on I think.
Hondas may be a little better engineered.
All my friends in northern VT will drive nothing but Subarus.
They bring you home.

[Structo]

Yeah I looked at Suburus.

They hold their value well and reflect that in the used car market.

Never really liked the opposed four cylinder motors.
Something about gravity and oil and wear....

I know they are reliable but they're not for me.

Anybody have Mazda experience?
The Mazda 6 looks good.
They seem to sell for quite a bit used.

The Mazda 3 is also looks good but probably too small for us.

The thing about Hondas is everybody has owned one making them very popular.
That popularity also fuels the replacement parts business meaning cheaper priced parts for the DIY market.