OT: Time for a new car
- Thread starter wartknight
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As the owner of a '98 Maxima, I can say they are well worth a look. Good power, comfortable, and realiable. We looked at the Accords and Camry's 5 years ago and liked the Maxima better. Car is now over 120k and no problems. Just changed the spark plugs (old ones extremely clean btw but originals) and now its ready to go for another 120k. We bought in '02 with about 60k and I thought it drove far better than a newer '01 Taurus with 15k. Really no comparisons.
Buy an Accord. You may pay a little more, but the resale value, and refinement are night and day better.
FYI: A Toyota Camry and Honda Accord have more domestic content than a Ford Mustang. The whole American vs Foreign debate is long over. It is a global economy.
FYI: A Toyota Camry and Honda Accord have more domestic content than a Ford Mustang. The whole American vs Foreign debate is long over. It is a global economy.
Agreed... be careful of program cars. About 70% of them are former rental cars from Avis, Hertz, etc. I know I don't take care of my rentals as if I had owned them. Also, a program car could be a "Buy Back" which is a lemon that a dealer has purchased back from the owner.
The only program car's I'd look at would be lease return, or demo's. If the dealer can't tell you the history of the car, run away.
Also, I second those saying avoid american car's and get a little older accord or camry for the same money.
They are renaming the Ford Five Hundred to the Ford Taurus. My guess is the Five Hundred was marketed towards the older crowd and they didn't think that the older crowd might be more comfortable with a familiar name.
Well still isn't stopping me from buying GM. That's all my family has ever bought and had a grandfather that worked for GM and they've been pretty good cars for all our family. Best car we've probably ever had was a 91 Pontiac Bonneville. We ran that thing over 260k miles before selling it and the engine was still running as good as ever and the car didn't have a spec of rust. Was my HS and college car before we finally retired in 2003 after buying it new in fall of 1990 I believe. My parents are on their second Buick LeSabre and both have been great cars for them.
And the biggest advantage for me is as long as grandma is still alive I get GM employee pricing because of the former GM employee family discount program. I'm saving nearly $2500 on the car I just ordered through the dealer this morning with that discount on top of about another $1500 in rebates and also saved another $2000 by ordering exactly what I wanted instead of buying the fully loaded one on the lot.
I'm getting one of those new small block 5.3L V8 engines as well that goes into 4 cyclinder mode when the added power is not needed. Took one for a test drive this past weekend and was very impressed. Definately has the power of a V8 but you can't even tell when it goes into 4 cyclinder mode. In fact it went to 4 cyclinder mode even driving in town. It idles in 8 then once you get up to speed it switches over then back to 8 again when you need the acceleration, all seemless so you can't even sense it happening. From the reviews I've reade on it the 27 mpg highway rating has been pretty accurate too because of the active fuel managment technology which is not bad for a V8 motor really.
Maaybe they could have renamed the Five Hundred the 300 after the Spartan movie. BE A SPARTAN, BUY A FORD.
Sounds like you had pretty good luck with that Taurus. My friends got a 2000 a couple months back for 7k. There are plenty of Tauri out there. They aren't my thing, but if you're comfortable with them they're a good car for the money they fetch. I'm partial to the Grand Prix. I have a '97 with 158,000 miles. I get 30+ on the highway and with the supercharger there is always power on tap. They are also very common and pretty cheap.
That's because her Ford was built in Mexico. Why not talk about all the Fords, GMs, and Chryslers that are built in the states?
I can tell you where all the parts are coming from if you would like to know. I call upon these assembly plants and thier suppliers on a daily basis for my job.
It's no different there than any other plant, including foreign cars made in the US.
In the price range you're looking in go for another Ford Taurus or a Chevy Impala. Both are good sized four doors and you can find them with relatively low miles in that price range. You'll get nearly 30 mpg with both of them on the highway. Most of the Japanese stuff is going to cost more due to percieved reliablity advantages.
I've driven both of them and prefer the Impala, but I have family members who drive the Taurus's and get nearly 200,000 miles out of them. A brother has a Ford Ranger pickup with the 3.0 litre engine and he has about 275,000 miles on it right now and it still doesn't burn any oil. I drive my Chevys to 170,000 miles and other then some brake issues without any major repairs.
I was a Ford guy for 20 years until I had a bad experience with a Taurus which sent my into the arms of Toyota, and I will never go back. I would go with either a Toyota or a Honda. You could get a decent late model Camry-I have never shopped on line but I think most dealerships have their invertory and prices on the web.
Or you could get an Orange VW bug like the president of Wartburg drives. I assume from your handle you are a Wartburg alum
No one else has mentioned it, so how about a Subaru Outback? Our 2000 Outback wagon was built in Indiana, we have 88K miles on it with no problems and it's a great all weather vehicle. 23 to 25 mpg in town and 27 on the highway with all wheel drive.
I have a '00 Maxima. Had to put a new set of tires on, and new brakes...Other than that, everything is original.
