If you were considering a new vehicle purchase...

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AutopiaAdmin

Autopia Forums
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To continue the topic originated in the following thread:

http://www.detailcity.org/forums/of...ready-repay-govt-loan-sees-chance-profit.html

If you were in the market for a new car today, which brands and models would you consider both foreign and domestic? You can also mentions what options and features important to you when looking at a new car, what you currently drive and why you prefer certain brands. I'll start.

I currently drive a 2008 Honda Civic EX Coupe manual. What I like most about this car is the reliability, fuel economy, smooth shifting, high revving and sensible sportiness. My car is also famous, being used in Autogeek's marketing campaign for the Foam Cannon HP.

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What I don't like about it is the back seat is essentially a waste of space. I'm 6'1 and while I have plenty of room as a driver, I can barely get in the back to detail it. There is enough room in the back for small children but even if you have children, there are better choices such as an Accord or Camry sedan because kids grow up. Other than that, this is a great car, highly recommended.

I'm not currently in the market for a new vehicle, this is just a what if scenario. There's a part of me that wants to drive the Honda for 10-15 years and be one of those Honda owners with 200,000-300,000 miles on the clock but there's another side that wants the versatility of a truck and also 4 doors and a bigger back seat. This would come in handy for my weekend fishing trips.

I usually plan a purchase on what I need rather than what I want and I don't really need a full size truck so a mid size truck would make more sense. I've narrowed down my wishlist to the Toyota Tacoma and the Nissan Frontier. They are more appealling to me than the domestic choices like the Chevy Colorado, Ford Ranger and Dodge Dakota. Maybe it's because in the past I have owned 2 Chevy S-10s and a Dodge Dakota and all had quirks and issues that the dealers were not able to fix. With my love of Hondas, I don't think I would ever be able to fall in love with the Ridgeline. I'm sure it is a nice truck but it certainly has a unique look that doesn't appeal to me.

There you have it, if you were in the market for a new vehicle, what would you be in the market for?
 
My next vehical is going to be a Chevy cargo van because my lease is almost up and I'm sick of the huge overhead of having a shop right now. Although I'm a Ford man for life, my years in the commercial truck and van dealership convinced me the Chevy vans seem to last a little longer. I would also love to have a new Duramax diesle but I don't see that happening lol.
I have a 79 F150 2wd I've been restoring and beefing up for the past yew years. Its a daily driver but only gets 7mpg. I don't make many long distance trips in it needless to say.
 
I'm really liking the new Honda CrossTour (Accord station wagon) for a family sled/grocery getter. A little pricey, but very nice.

Despite current events, I don't think you can beat the Tacoma. I just drove a 2010 2WD PreRunner. Impressive!

Unfortunately, I need a 3/4 ton truck right now for towing capacity.
 
What people want and what they need is often different, example is me owning 7 vehicles.
Do I need 7 vehicles NO but do I want them ????? well apparently I do I have them.
Some may say it is crazy but I paid for them I pay taxes on all of them insure all of them so I'm sure the state and county will not complain they get a lot of money in taxes.

What I drive depends on what I intend on doing.
As to brand I currently own Ford/GM/Chrysler products.
The most reliable for me has been Ford I have not been without at least one of them for over 40 years and everyone of them has been good.

Things change in the auto industry some keep hammering GM quality but the new Malibu is every bit as good as a Toyota or Honda

I know that is not what a lot of people think but their is perception and then their is reality and the two are often much different.

The Accord is like driving a sofa if you enjoy driving instead of just wanting something to move you from point A to B a new Fusion is a much better choice.

People tend to buy what has given them good service in the past and if they get a bad one it is hard to get then back.
All you need to do is read what they post, they will not even consider a brand because 30 years ago their parents had a bad one.

In the auto industry things are constantly changing what was best last year may not be this year.
 
While I would go in with some pre-gathered knowledge (internet and magazine research) I'd probably get my short list down and go drive and evaluate things for myself.

When I was looking to go full size, I considered Chevrolet, Toyota, and Ford in that order. The only thing I excluded was the Dodge Ram. After driving them all, I was set on a particular Z71, but dealing with the dealership was like pulling teeth. I could only imagine what it would have been like had I ever needed some type of warranty service. So I went with the Tundra, where I know I can get service and the treatment at the dealership is very friendly. Must be all those Japanese salesmen they have there....

Things I don't like about the Tundra: The engine is loud (i.e. injector noise/piston slap), the gas mileage is pretty bad if I am heavy footed (I knew that going in), there are some nagging cosmetic issues, the paint is paper thin. It's definitely not the perfect truck, but I am pretty happy with it. But I've been given somewhere around 200,000+ miles of pretty much trouble free ownership out of 4 Tacomas over a few year span. And I wasn't always easy on them. That's as close to the perfect truck as I've ever owned. So I am hoping the Tundra can do the same.

In short, I consider reviews, test drives, styling, brand performance and resale value, past reliability (personal), and probably some other factors I am leaving out.

Prior to me buying Toyotas, I owned a 1972 Chevrolet pickup that had been in my family since new. It had 150,000+ on it and I drove it like hell from 16 to about 20. I had one major issue with it (the gears on the timing chain sprocket broke, an dI had to rebuild the top part of the motor). I also inherited an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme from my grandparents that was in MINT condition as well. Never had a problem out of it in two years of driving and it had over 100K on it too.
 
I'm currently extremely happy with my vehicles (97' 3.2TL, 08' IS350 & 96' Prelude VTEC), so I'm not really in the market for a vehicle. However, my wife (proud owner of the previous three generations of Honda Sofas......er, I mean Accords:lmfao) drives about 26-27k miles a year and will probably get the next vehicle. Since she drives so much, we want our next car to be a diesel. Looking at the current products out there, the only car that fits our criteria is the VW Jetta TDI. We would probably get the wagon for it's utility. If Subaru came out with an Outback diesel like they have rumored, that would become the first choice.

Up until the latest generation, I've owned the last four generations of Accords. Trust me, they're not sofas. They're some of the most fun vehicles with four doors. If anything, the Camry is the sofa.

I have to admit, the Fusion and Malibu are some sharp looking vehicles. Definitely better looking than the current Camry and Accord.

To Black Bart: You seem pretty sure of yourself that domestic vehicles are every bit the equal of their foreign counterparts. I just want to know, have you ever owned a foreign brand? Most of the people here (and in the other current "I love/hate domestic/import threads), including myself, who like imports better have owned both domestic and import vehicles and have determined that the imports are better overall in quality and reliability.

Sure, a lot of our parents had bad experiences with domestic vehicles, but the real problem is that we also had bad experiences with domestic vehicles. How many times are you supposed to get duped before saying "ENOUGH!"? From what you're saying, it sounds like you can never get duped enough as long as you're getting duped by an American company.
 
Well, let's put it this way. I live in a GM town, have family that worked for GM, and have only been around GM vehicles all my life (aside from detailing other brands for various customers, that is).

As such, I'll be going GM. I already have my Full-Size truck, and it will be sticking around for a long, long time. For a toy, I've got my eye on a Buick Regal GS with the manual transmission once they come out.

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I'll play :)

I also already have my truck ('08 Ford F-150 FX2) so another truck won't be in this mix.

Mrs. Clean's ride is an 03.5 VW NB Turbo S (factory chipped version of the Turbo 180 hp vs 150 hp for the "standard" turbo) and a special front and rear fascias and interior.
Likes: handling, styling, paint, front seat support, nice fuel economy/performance ratio
Dislikes: spotty dealer support, pricey maintenance/repairs, requires premium fuel

Our third vehicle is a '96 Volvo 850 GLT (@ 180k miles)
Likes: handling, styling (still "classic" looking 14 years later - I use classic cautiously because it was a departure from earlier Vovlo styling), paint, seating (these were some of the most supportive/comfortable seats we've enjoyed), excellent dealer support
Dislikes: pricey repairs

This scenario will be to replace the VW.

The top two contenders would be:
1) VW GTI
Likes: (based on reviews) Top notch handling, reasonably good fuel economy, reasonable pricing (starting MSRP in the mid $20s) FUN, FUN, FUN - Toss up between the 6spd and the auto tranny
1a) Ford Mustang
Likes: Plain and simple, back in the day muscle car nostalgia
2) Honda Element
Likes: Yeah, it's boxy, but a look that might grow on you. Primarily like the easy care interior, the flexibility of the interior and it's ability to be either a people or "stuff" hauler.

Those are three that immediately come to mind, but usually during the vetting process there will be half a dozen or so contenders that will move onto and off of the short list.
 
GearHead_1 said:
For the win. Bring it over once you get it and will stick a huffer under the hood. That will better help you define fun. :bigups
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LOL, you don't know Mrs. Clean! If any performance mods were added, it would be in the form of a "governor". She prefers to lead rather than follow. :eek: :D I'm afraid our daughter inherited those same genes. Her first car was a 5spd stick. She could really fly through those gears.
 
My next 'new' vehicle will be an old vehicle. I've got my eye on an '04 M3 convertible. Either that or potentially a year old A5 AWD convertible. I'm not entirely sure yet. I am really leaning toward the M though. I've always liked that car.

Then again, if Chevy produces a convertible Camaro like the ones I saw chopped at SEMA last year, I think I may just lose it and get one of those. That looked so freakin sexy I couldn't believe it! The Challenger looked awesome in a convertible too, but I've got more of a desire for a nice SS Camaro than the Challenger. I've already got all the practical vehicles I need, so my next car is going to have to be an impractical one. What gets more impractical than a rear wheel drive convertible in Utah? lol The M3 or Camaro would fit the bill nicely.
 
Jngrbrdman said:
Then again, if Chevy produces a convertible Camaro like the ones I saw chopped at SEMA last year, I think I may just lose it and get one of those. That looked so freakin sexy I couldn't believe it! The Challenger looked awesome in a convertible too, but I've got more of a desire for a nice SS Camaro than the Challenger. I've already got all the practical vehicles I need, so my next car is going to have to be an impractical one. What gets more impractical than a rear wheel drive convertible in Utah? lol The M3 or Camaro would fit the bill nicely.
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If? What is this if? They're real:

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That's a production car. :bigups
 
black bart said:
video speaks for it self.

YouTube - Ford F150 vs Chevy vs Toyota - Bed Bounce



YouTube - Ford F150 vs Toyota Tundra - Frame Strength
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Haha... I laugh about every time I see that video posted somewhere. I found the true story on that somewhere - like on an F-150 forumn somewhere. It's a Ford sales training video or something o the sort. Can't deny it though, you know, since I am driving on a road like that every day (sarcasm off). What they don't show you is the Tundra outrunning, outbraking and out-towing the F-150. There's also another video of a wet slope where a 2WD Tundra makes it up the hill and the F-150 4X4 doesn't.

And BTW, I think the technical term is harmonic resonance and is pretty prevalent on a lot of open/ C-channel frames. It's especially noticeable when you put it on a "loaded" video. Fully boxed frames do have advantages, as do C-channel frames just like rigidity and flexibility.

Just so I don't get beat over the head with an American flag for this post, I'll say that the F-150 is definitely a very refined truck. It's probably got the best interior styling and material makeup of the three big trucks I seriously considered. But then again, I though these types of videos and reviews weren't worth anything, right?

And just so it doesn't seem like I am all that much of a homer for the Tundra,the bed bounce issue is real and a few folks have complained about it in real-world situations (concrete freeways at higher speeds - like CA).
 
JaredPointer said:
... What they don't show you is the Tundra outrunning, outbraking and out-towing the F-150. There's also another video of a wet slope where a 2WD Tundra makes it up the hill and the F-150 4X4 doesn't.

...

Just so I don't get beat over the head with an American flag for this post, ...
Click to expand...

:bonk: Take that you...you...you...hard head! Dissin' mah Ford for yo Toyota!!! Dems fightn' words!!! :rant:











;)
 
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