Car Shopping: Anything Good?

I know... the light gray cloth backseat in my car is trashed, there’s like a 2’ in diameter stain of juice and dairy products that’ll never come out.

Yeah, but those have been there since before Paco :p


I hate leather seats, hot in the summer and cold in the winter, but I’m almost positive I’ll be getting them.

Nah, bro. Heated seats in the winter. They even have seats that cool you now. AC up your butt, Jobu!
 
I need a new whip, something for me and Paco.

I don’t wanna go crazy money wise (I still need guitars), I’m 6’2”, it needs to fit a car seat and a little gear, would like it to fit in a medium sized garage, and have a comfortable ride. I don’t care about too much power as I’m never in a hurry to get anywhere.

I’ve kinda fallen in love with the Buick Regal TourX wagon, but wanna know if I’m missing something else out there.

What’re you guys driving? What would you be looking at if you were me? What’s the PRS Standard 24 of the car world?

I drive Mrs. matonanjin's hand-me-downs. I am on the 3rd MDX Acura she has handed off to me and they are great. We both love them. Lot's of room. As you know, I'm a lot shorter than 6'2" but I know there would be plenty of room for you. My 6'2" son has borrowed and had plenty of room. They are unbelievably comfortable. And LOTS of room for gear. I don't know what "don’t wanna go crazy money wise" means. Maybe they are the PRS 10-top of the car world? And as comfortable as they are that's how dependable they are. The one I'm driving is about ready to turn over 300,000 miles with no major repairs.
 
Ah, but the box is where the gear goes. My wife's mostly worried about how we're going to get her massive friggin Ampeg 8x10 to shows!
Put wheels on it and make it a towable trailer.

If she has an ampeg 8x10 then it NEEDS to go.

As far as recommendations, I drive a 1 ton 15 passenger van so I'll sit this one out!

My son drives a 2001 grand am

Wife drives 2019 Nissan Rogue
 
I haven’t driven a GM car in years, but my wife was pushing for an Encore because her dad has the Enclave and it seems nice for the price. I looked at the Encore but it’s tiny, and then that’s where I saw the TourX.

I personally don’t mind the Soul’s looks but my wife is really against any of the “box” vehicles. She says it’ll throw her into a spiral of depression if we get one. :rolleyes:

I have a 2016 Encore. It's fine for me. Solid, if not speedy. Nice interior, nice big tires and wheels to make a great ride. Good electronics that are pretty much the same as everyone else's. Back up cam, sensors, it all works well. I'm a little guy however, at 5"8 so it fits. I chose it for styling as much as amenities. It's sharper and crisper than the Kia Sportage, and much prettier than the baby moose look of the Hyundai Tucson. It's GM in tag only. It's actually an Opel Mokka with a Buick badge. It's been super reliable and strong.
 
3rd honda here, 2nd crv. Great for family, safe reliable, kid proof

Bit boring, but not a car guy
 
The attitude of the dealer service department makes all of the difference. Where ever you buy, ask to see the shop. A service writer who listens and recognizes that you are the customer is worth their weight in gold.
 
The Jeeps and other Chrysler products we’ve had for the past 15 years never needed anything beyond the oil and fluid changes, and routine maintenance recommended in the manual. None needed a single unscheduled service. Two of them went 9 years, but I usually only keep a car for 3-4 years. I got my kids Jeeps and they didn’t have problems, either. So maybe we were lucky, or maybe not. One family isn’t exactly a scientific sampling.

My daughter has had one of those gigantic 3-rows-of-seats GMC SUVs for a few years, and hasn’t had problems. I realize that doesn’t mean a thing except to her, but it’s nice to know. She’s always on the move with her little ones plus car pools, her business, and what have you.

Our BMWs were all great, and that’s what I bought for 25 years, but they did need a lot more maintenance and the occasional repair, though I’ll admit that I drove them harder.

Before that, had a few Corvettes, and they were ultra-reliable. Also Alfas - surprisingly reliable.

I had terrible luck with the new Honda I bought my middle daughter as her first car. It was tinny. The bottom of the dashboard literally fell off onto her leg at one point, and the thing saw the shop a lot. I felt it wasn’t a very solid car, and kind of felt badly about buying it for her once I realized it was a less-than-stellar buy. Fortunately, that car was replaced with a Jeep when she went off to college, and the Jeep lasted her through college and quite a few years afterward without issues. She bought another Chrysler product for her next car, so I think she was happy with the Jeep.

With small kids, the nice thing about leather seats is that a damp cloth or at most, leather cleaner, cleans them right up. The leather also holds up well to things like kiddie car seats, guitar cases, and other nicknacks of life.

You had reliable Alfas? You must be blessed.
I mean, look at these screen grabs:

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And I know sunroofs are stupid but...

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This looks rad, and it’s Subaru/Honda $$$
Certainly looks nice! How many skunk traps will it hold?
 
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You had reliable Alfas?

I had two Alfas, both were reliable daily drivers that even got me through Michigan winters with no problems.

The first was a metallic blue1976 Alfetta GT with a tan interior - a very pretty car that handled extremely well due to the engine being in front and the transmission in the rear, so the weight distribution was about 50/50 - that got traded in on a silver1978 Spyder with a maroon interior, because for some reason I decided I needed a convertible.

I’d had some previous familiarity with Alfas; one of my college roommates at Michigan was a Vietnam vet who’d bought an Alfa Spyder when he got discharged and went back to school, and it ran great. His was cream with a maroon interior. Gorgeous car.

Later, my brother had a ‘60s boat tail Spyder that he’d bought used in the early ‘70s, and he restored it to new condition with only paint, a set of Bilsteins, and new Pirellis. It was a great car that ran reliably. I was truly impressed with how well it was made. The engine was all aluminum with four sodium-cooled valves per cylinder, a feature of Alfas at the time, but they didn’t stint on body or trim materials.

More surprising, his car had lived in Michigan for years, and at that time most cars got clapped out with rust from road salt after only a few seasons. Not the Alfas that I knew.

I figured if his older one ran well and looked good, and my old roommate Bill’s did the same, I’d be OK. And I was. The GT was a very advanced car for its day, probably more advanced than the Spyder, which was an older design. But both were pretty cool and I was a confirmed Alfisti.

Those four were the only Alfas I had any experience with, but they were all 100% reliable.

My Alfas also were responsible for meeting and hanging out a little with J. Geils, an Italian car enthusiast who participated in a car show I got involved with. Though at that time, his weapon of choice was a 408 Ferrari, something I couldn’t even dream of owning. Still. I was stoked; a day with an actual rock star!
 
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I know... the light gray cloth backseat in my car is trashed, there’s like a 2’ in diameter stain of juice and dairy products that’ll never come out.

I hate leather seats, hot in the summer and cold in the winter, but I’m almost positive I’ll be getting them.
Back in December of ‘88 I bought a brand new Ford Taurus SHO. The Mrs. and I had walked away from a scary as F crash that left my ‘86 Mustang GT with a large oak tree thru it, so the Taurus seemed a little more appropriate for starting a family. The next year we had our first son and 18 months later, our next. The Taurus was a fantastic family car. The secret was getting leather interior. It took every ounce of abuse with no complaints.

Many many years later, I was yanking the back seat out to pull out the subs, but the seat was stuck. Grabbed and pulled as hard as I could and something gave way...a baby bottle with formula had fallen between the back and the seat cushion, leaked out and hermetically sealed the two together. We never knew. No smell, no mess, no nothing. Now, with little kids, I don’t recommend leather suede seats for the same reason.
 
Back in December of ‘88 I bought a brand new Ford Taurus SHO. The Mrs. and I had walked away from a scary as F crash that left my ‘86 Mustang GT with a large oak tree thru it, so the Taurus seemed a little more appropriate for starting a family. The next year we had our first son and 18 months later, our next. The Taurus was a fantastic family car. The secret was getting leather interior. It took every ounce of abuse with no complaints.

Many many years later, I was yanking the back seat out to pull out the subs, but the seat was stuck. Grabbed and pulled as hard as I could and something gave way...a baby bottle with formula had fallen between the back and the seat cushion, leaked out and hermetically sealed the two together. We never knew. No smell, no mess, no nothing. Now, with little kids, I don’t recommend leather suede seats for the same reason.

Ha! We were searching for a sippy cup that had gone missing for at least a year until we removed the seat from my car.

I may never eat cheese again.
 
I had a Kia Soul, until Bambi destroyed it (easy to remember, May 31st...for those that have executed a deer, it's a pretty scary experience)...I Absolutely Loved both My Kias, a Sorano (Mini-van) and Soul...both great cars.
However...Recently went back to a Honda (CRV) . A used 2016...love it! I used to work with a lot of guys that have great (expensive), new cars...The car bug just never stung me.
Now, guitars, amps, and pedals...Hah!!!!!! That's a different story!!!
 
TBH I’m not much of a car guy.

Same. As long as I can my gear and the band PA in the back of my Honda.

Mrs A is the petrol head, in her Astra Turbo that tops out at 134 mph!

We just got a Kia Telluride and it’s a Honda Pilot-killer. All the gizmos, solid and reliable, and sharp as hell.

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Haha, we call that the Sportage!

We had a Mazda CX 5 when we visited Florida. Nice car, with a few toys on board.
 
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There are two Acura RDX’s in my garage. I would not say they excel at anything, but they are good to very good at everything. Not to big on the outside, but big enough on the inside for your purpose.
 
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