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New car decisions.

80sKid said:
TGUNNER,

If you are inclined to look at American cars at all...

As some others have said, the Mercury Milan is pretty solid. It's brother the Ford Fusion likewise. (They are both based on the Mazda6, but tweaked for US tastes by Ford engineers.)

Just as good as those is GM's Chevy Malibu, which I have been quite impressed with. And with all the pricing promotions and car sales desperation going on right now, you could probably get a brand new one at your price point. Although with taxes, reg, etc., you'd probably well exceed your $15k target.

The previous generation of the Malibu was OK, but it wouldn't be a top choice for me. This latest edition, however, is a demonstration of GM doing some of their finest work.
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Oh yes, I already know. If were to be a GM sedan, I would get the Saturn Aura. It is built on the same frame as the Malibu and Pontiac G6. The difference is the interior trim, and the availability of a sunroof. I'm a sucker for wood trim. :D

I do plan to test drive the Aura, Mazda3, maybe the Mazda6, the Volvo S40, and the Mercury Milan. When? I can't say, but soon.
 
80sKid said:
.......The previous generation of the Malibu was OK, but it wouldn't be a top choice for me. This latest edition, however, is a demonstration of GM doing some of their finest work.
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Have you driven the 04-08 Malibu? I had an 04 and it was a great car. It handled great, had a smooth ride, fantastic brakes, really good pickup, and 30mpg on the highway. Mine was black with factory aluminum rims so it didn't look like a rental or grandma's car like the tan ones tend to do.
 
80sKid said:
Glass is an area in which cars have not gotten any better of the years, IMO. I imagine it's because the automakers are trimming costs there, like so many other places.

When my mother was shopping for her Honda CR-V (current generation), I was noticing that all the cars on the dealer's lot (early on in first year of production for a new design) had some visual distortion in the windshield ("waviness"). Thankfully, the black one she wanted was the one that was the best in this regard. But it is still distorted a little bit and it's a minor annoyance when I drive her car.
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A friend of mine was a sales manager at a volkswagen dealership. He said that since they started assembling in eastern block countries, this was a serious problem with the VW SUV. Many of them leaked.
 
Carmine said:
Windshields are not tempered glass, they are laminate glass. If a windshield cracks from an edge, (barring a stone, etc.) It's often because the steel frame surrounding the windshield has "flexed" and overstressed the glass. If it were appearing commonly on any one type of car, I would say it was a body engineering defect.
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Yep. There is a lot of discussion on this on the internet. It is especially b ad with the honda element.

On a related note, all cars with a relatively verticle windshields will be more prone to rock damage. Heck, at the right firing angle, some windshields (like my Chrysler 300m) will deflect a 9mm bullet, thanks partly to the angle of the windshield itself.
 
Carmine said:
Plenty of manufactures require "special" fluids for their hydraulic systems.
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I was shocked when I took my 300m in to a local oil change place and they wanted to replace my tranny fluid, they KNEW that it needed special fluid. They actually had an additive specifically for Chrysler transmissions. It included marketing brochures full of graphs showing viscosity, grabbyness , and/or stuff like that over time.

It is not the "secret" it was in the 90's.

Wow! I just went to the allpar site on trfansmissions. It's changed and is MUCH better:
http://www.allpar.com/fix/trans.html
 
Goodwill_HiFi said:
Have you driven the 04-08 Malibu? I had an 04 and it was a great car. It handled great, had a smooth ride, fantastic brakes, really good pickup, and 30mpg on the highway. Mine was black with factory aluminum rims so it didn't look like a rental or grandma's car like the tan ones tend to do.
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Yes, I have. As I said, I found it OK, just wasn't highly impressed. A lot of the interior materials don't feel very good, the seats were not great and there was quite a bit of interior noise.
 
80sKid said:
Yes, I have. As I said, I found it OK, just wasn't highly impressed. A lot of the interior materials don't feel very good, the seats were not great and there was quite a bit of interior noise.
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The year the Chrysler 300C came out, my German car salesman buddy tried one out. He was actually impressed with the interior. He sat in the new Cadillac and was dissapointed, severely, in the interior. Plastic was the most common word.

Thing is, plastic is ok, it just should not LOOK cheap and "plastic". Plastic is a wonderful material.
 
80sKid said:
Yes, I have. As I said, I found it OK, just wasn't highly impressed. A lot of the interior materials don't feel very good, the seats were not great and there was quite a bit of interior noise.
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The interior seemed a little bland, but not bad...... I don't recall any noise. Do you mean road noise, or squeaks and rattles?

The driver seat felt like it was pushing my head forward, but I think I finally tilted the seat back further to get rid of that sensation.

I wish I still had it...... 1 deer + 1 car@ 70mph = 0 car
 
Well gentlemen, I've gone to two more dealers. At the Mazda dealer, I saw a nice Mazda 3 with a tan interior. However, the salesmen told me that their insurance wouldn't allow me to drive the car as I was under 21. With plenty of time still, me and my friend decided to go the Saturn dealer. Here, I got behind the wheel of a beautiful 2008 Aura XR.

As an aside, I was talking about my experiences at the Mazda dealer with the Saturn salesmen, and he told me that the salesmen was lying about insurance; he just didn't think I was serious about getting a car. I'm not sure if this is true or not though.

Anyway, the Aura XR was very well made, with all electronic gauges and controls. It had a lot of power! It felt like an even median between my Buick, and my mom's BMW. At one point I even found myself doing 80mph on a 65mph road! It was a very effortless drive. As of right now, the XR is at the top of my list. The hardest part will be finding a used one with a tan interior and sunroof. I have scoured the internet and found just one like this in Texas. :(

What's next? Probably Mazda (in NJ!), and Volvo.
 
Great to hear an update! I love car shopping. Until I run into a butthead salesman that is.

Which does sound like that Mazda dealer you encountered. If the other Mazda dealer isn't convenient, I'd suggest going back on a day that Mr. Butthead isn't working and see if you get a different reception. If you still get a hassle, ask them if they want you to bring your Mommy and a note from your Daddy? 8-)

I test drove plenty of cars at dealers before I was 21, so I am skeptical of the insurance excuse. There are lots of "kids" under the drinking age who are shopping for cars at dealers nowadays and I doubt this dealer would allow themselves to lose those potential customers by choosing an insurance policy with an age restriction.
 
Yesterday brought the test drive of the Mazda3 here in NJ. The salesmen here was very nice; there was no mess in the way of the test drive. So the car.... it was 2009 leftover. It had a sunroof and tan interior with a nice blue body. Overall ther build quality and design of the car was excellent. Handling and ride both slow and fast was excellent. The trouble though? Its acceleration reminded me too much of the Lancer - a small, non-turbo'd 4cyl struggling to get up to speed. Unlike the Lancer though, it does deserve a second test on the highway should I come back to it. For the time being however, I don't think that any standard 4cyl is going to satisfy me. My last planned encounter with a 4cyl will be a used Subaru Legacy. I really like that cars fir and finish.

I guess that I've grown too accustomed to my Buick's 3.8L V6, and the BMW's 300hp twin-turbo 6cyl. No worries though, there are a good many 6cyl's that I can afford, I think.
 
If you do not mind something a bit older, look for a nice Volvo 960 with its in-line 6 cyl engine. These were the totl for the last rwd Volvos and seem easy to locate in really find condition with low mileage conrary to so mny Volvos that have unusally high mileage. They tend to have a higher depreciation than say the equiv 940 that is the same body but less luxurious and a 4-cyl engine. I have both a 940 and 960 and it is like night and day.

A really nice late model 960 will set you back only about $3k in near mint condition with less than 80k on the clock and the engine will easily go for 500k with normal maintenance. The engine is the same as their 5-cyl. They literally just cut a cylinder off. While bth the 940 and 960 are very good cruisers, the added goodies and power kicks up the experience of driving to a new high as it responds well to minor mods such as a change in tires. Parts are readily available though some are only available from Volvo and from them the price can be somewhat steep. Look for a 96 or 07 The 95 is the same but there was an issue with the glue holding the leather to th door sills, a new formula that was more green but deteriorates over time resulting in leather pucker. No special light bulb issues though new enough where replacing a lense requires the replacement of the whole assembly, something almost all cars now require.
 
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