Thinking about a New Car..

[CAFeathers]

Look into Dodge. Because of their parent company (Ferrari) they offer a LIFETIME WARRANTY. I paid around $6,000 for the warranty when I bought my Dodge Journey. ALL oil changes and scheduled maintenance's are paid for under the warranty.

 

[Rango]

Rango,
I believe Consumer Reports took it out only 8 years. My guess is that battery systems start reaching their life expectancy around 10 years.
I have an 18 year old car which I have maintained personally. (The only work I've "contracted out" was the first timing belt replacement.)
Hybrids are great! I just don't know that they would fit my lifestyle of long term car ownership.

What type of Engineer are you?

Understand... Everybody's situation is different. We have an F-150 too - Prius doesn't haul motorcycles well! LOL!!!
I lived with a 1965 Ranchero Pickup that was totaled TWICE and I put TWO engines in and had over 285K miles on it while I worked though college. I drive newer cars now OBTW - there are shops in LA and San Francisco doing battery pac upgrades, replacements and overhauls.... It's like anything else automotive, if it breaks, somebody will offer a service or parts to fix it. Sometimes I think about buying ONE old Pickup with NO electronics - Points and a Carb - that I can FIX every piece of without a code scanner! LOL!!! But that's why I have motorcycles

Software Engineer for the F/A-18 and several other Navy Weapons systems is my Day Job....(one of three, I stay busy!)

 

[David Eaton]

My wife and I are doing the new car thing as well. We have decided on the 2013 Ford Escape (Titanium Package). We test drove every make and model of crossover we could find... Which is pretty daunting these days! It's comfortable , drives and handles great, looks cool. The Kia Sorento was surprisingly nice as well... But , we both kept going back to the Ford. It is the first time we have agreed 100% on a vehicle in 16 years....kinda scary....

The ability to open and close the lift gate by moving your foot under the bumper is really cool. I don't think it's cool enough to make me buy one...but if I were in the market that's the direction I'd go.

I've got an 06 Freestyle with about 85k. Twice a year we drive from western KY to Md and it's a great travel car...that's one of my hesitations on the escape...we'd have to roof rack stuff for travel. Other than that, it's almost perfect for me.

 

[Proxmax]

get a mercedes benz! :biggrin:

 

[cjmwrx]

get a mercedes benz! :biggrin:

Bing! I have a 2008 C300 I got for 26K that had 3.7K on it when I bought it. Have driven it for 14K now with nothing other than an oil change at 13K. Has been to Vegas, Dallas, New Orleans, All over Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Most comfortable I have ever been. Decent gas mileage at 26mpg hwy.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Bing! I have a 2008 C300 I got for 26K that had 3.7K on it when I bought it. Have driven it for 14K now with nothing other than an oil change at 13K. Has been to Vegas, Dallas, New Orleans, All over Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Most comfortable I have ever been. Decent gas mileage at 26mpg hwy.

Guess I gotta ride to Experience this year!:wink:

 

[Mike Duncan]

I drive an FJ Cruiser. The thing is incredible off road and in the snow. Makes sense, I live on paved roads and we no longer get snow. It's nothing but blind spots. It has the aerodynamics of a cinder block (lots of fun driving over the Bay Bridge). Of course, there's the gas consumption - carbon footprint? More like a carbon stomp...that said, I love it. But you guys do have me gassing.

 

[JMintzer]

I have a 2 yo Hyundai Genesis that I love! Granted, it's a bit bigger than what you're looking at. Check out the Sonata or the Elantra. I went shopping with my friend's daughter (he's in FL, she now lives up here), and I was very impressed by the Elantra. The Sonata was too small for me to drive comfortably...

They all have a 10 yr/100K mile power train warranty, but I added a 10 yr/120K mile bumper to bumper warranty for $1250. Even with the warranty, taxes and tags, I paid $4K under the window sticker. Fitzgerald (the local dealer) was a pleasure to deal with...


Jamie

 

[rugerpc]

I don't need a new car at this time. I'm hoping that will last a while, because what I want the next car to be will be an iteration of this:

 

[cjmwrx]

Guess I gotta ride to Experience this year!:wink:

Works for me, I love company!

 

[John Beef]

I don't need a new car at this time. I'm hoping that will last a while, because what I want the next car to be will be an iteration of this:

Where the heck does the guitar amp go in something like this?

I love my Honda Element. I can carry the whole family, or my wife and I can go to a gig with the back seats removed with a guitar head and 4x12, a 6 space rack bass head and Ampeg 8x10, two peldalboards in cases, two basses and three guitars in cases, two equipment boxes, a keyboard in a case plus a keyboard amp, and a plastic tub of merchandise. And I get around 24MPG combined, plus being 6'6" tall, I have more headroom than any other vehicle I've ever driven. It's simply the ultimate vehicle.

 

[rugerpc]

I don't need a new car at this time. I'm hoping that will last a while, because what I want the next car to be will be an iteration of this:

Where the heck does the guitar amp go in something like this?

Take your pick:

Front trunk:

Rear trunk:

Or with the roadies in the Ferrari:

 

[John Beef]

Hmmm, I'll have to take my 4x12 to the dealership. :biggrin:

 

[RedGuitars]

Just did.

Referring to the 'thing you used to do yourself' thread... as we get older, my wife began to think that her 10 year old roadster convertible sat a little too low, didn't have enough room, etc. We traded on a high end used coupe. Got a great deal on a car we could never afford new. Got a good trade value on a semi high end used car. Worked out great.

If you're near any kind of a big city, there are a lot of these businesses, that turn high end used cars for a fraction of their original sticker prices.

We bought an '09, with 50K on it - looks like it just came off the showroom floor.

 

[Rango]

Just did.

Referring to the 'thing you used to do yourself' thread... as we get older, my wife began to think that her 10 year old roadster convertible sat a little too low, didn't have enough room, etc. We traded on a high end used coupe. Got a great deal on a car we could never afford new. Got a good trade value on a semi high end used car. Worked out great.

If you're near any kind of a big city, there are a lot of these businesses, that turn high end used cars for a fraction of their original sticker prices.

We bought an '09, with 50K on it - looks like it just came off the showroom floor.

My friends and I joke about "doctor lease turn ins", but there is a lot of value in a clean late model car. :top:

One of the guys here just went the to the "impractical" side with a new Z06 'Vette but he picked it up used with 3800 miles - no I didn't leave a zero off :biggrin: For about HALF the sticker price!

 

[dmorton67]

My acura tl went out in october with some major transmission work needed. Too many lights going on. So after 160k, I looked around and ended up with a 2013 subaru outback. I really like. The ride is comfortable and now I can haul as much equipment as I want

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Works for me, I love company!

bangin'

 

[Daniel]

I got a new VW Passat last month. So far it's been great. There is tons of legroom in the back seat, the trunk is huge and the rear seat backs fold down to let really long stuff pass through (there's a small pass-through in the center arm rest). The ride is a little soft and "floaty" over bumps but despite that it handles well for a loaded four-door sedan. Fuel mileage is right where the window sticker said it would be. I wanted the diesel but couldn't pass up the finance deal VW offered on the 5-cylinder gas model (5.5 years, 0%). And hey, it says "Fender" on the dash!

Look into Dodge. Because of their parent company (Ferrari) they offer a LIFETIME WARRANTY. I paid around $6,000 for the warranty when I bought my Dodge Journey. ALL oil changes and scheduled maintenance's are paid for under the warranty.

Come on now, Chrysler is owned by FIAT. Yes, FIAT has owned Ferrari for decades but it was never the other way round.