New Car Recommendations

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by Eddie Bronze

I can only speak to the brand I drive, Mitsubishi, and it's a fine tuned machine. Had it one and half years from brand new and not one single reason to take it to the shop for anything other than regular maintenance. Their warranty is the longest you'll get. I have the GS Eclipse, gets around 27mpg. I think their Lancer gets about the same, but is a much more roomy car. Maybe not the best options for fuel but definitely worth putting on your list.

I guess you're lucky, friend of mine has an Eclipse (last gen.) and had nothing but problems with it and the dealership's response to his warranty claims from day 1.

[Eddie Bronze]

Am I lucky or was he unlucky?

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by Eddie Bronze

Am I lucky or was he unlucky?

I haven't many good things regarding Mitsubishi Motor Company in Calgary, although I might not be listening too well.

Mostly things regarding the dealership.

[llama64]

I'm partial to the Mazda3's. They straddle the line between quality and affordability better then most American cars and have nicer interiors them most of the non-European cars.

I don't think I'd ever consider a Volkswagon. Too many people I know have had really stupid and expensive problems with them.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Incinerator

freddie beat me to it , as for a redneck like me, I'm ditchin' Honda and getting a Hummer H2 as my next car

always thought the Hummer driver as more of a "small-dicked ######bag" than a redneck, but thats just me....

[Table 5]

Speaking of hybrids, I heard an interesting fact from the founder of Zipcar, who was in our office yesterday. She mentioned that if the next time every one was due to buy a car, and they got a hybrid, it would take 10 years to decrease our energy consumption by 5%. However, if people shared 1 out of every 10 trips with whatever car they had today, that same decrease could be seen in a week....

Meaning, if more people out there carpooled and shared their trips, the significance of reduction could be much more efficient much faster that by using a hybrid.

[MaDMaN_26]

I would actually seriously consider buying one of these if the Canadian Government would get behind and legalize a Canadian companies forward thinking product...

http://www.zenncars.com/index.html

Apparently it’s only road worthy in America and other countries...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M88k6Ipp3c - Rick Mercer on Zenn.

[slopestylerails]

Originally Posted by Slava

Well my car is about to give up the ghost! I'm not a "car guy" so I need some recommendations.

Here is what I'm after:

- Good gas mileage...maybe a hybrid?
- Car that is nice looking for business: ie. Not too flashy, and not too cheap (if I can say that without offending anyone!)

I like the VWs and Subaru...but I'm really open to options, and don't know a ton about performance and specs.

Thanks!

I just bought an 08 Subaru Impreza sport hatch. I absolutely love the car. Gets OK mileage but the standard features are incredible. Heated seats, power everything, 6 stack mp3 cd player, 4 wheel disc brakes, all wheel drive ( and not that crap that Fraud or anybody other than Subaru or Audi have) and traction control.

I have been to Revelstoke and Golden with it already and driven through some white out slippery conditions, and this car hugs the road. No way could I have found a car with all these features that is as nice to drive as this is for the price I paid.

Take a look at www.subaru.ca and look at the impreza 2.5i sport.

[redforever]

How interesting for this thread to come up. Within the past hour, I sent this off to my children, telling them production is limited, I was not fussy, any color would do))

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/landi...=393&GT1=10864

We had a 1970 Dodge Challenger, 340 4 barrel, air vents in hood, wide racing wheels, PURPLE, yeah, PURPLE, black interior, 5 speed stick shift. It was a thing of beauty.

I was teaching at the time, Junior High. At one point, the students were mad at the teachers, they had wanted more dances through out the school year, but there was a shortage of chaperones, so the request was not able to be filled. So they egged all the teachers' cars in the parking lot.

EXCEPT mine))

Actually at that point in time, I was only around 6 or 7 years older than most of my students, they must have thought I was a free spirit or something.

My husband is in the oil patch and he became more conservative in his thinking and actions and decided purple was not vogue and so it became a beautiful British racing green, the finish was pearlized, so it was almost as if you were looking in a mirror.

Then 5 years later, we had our first child. Course, Mr. Conservative did not think that car was appropriate for a family (so what if he was right!!!) so he sold it, only had around 57000 miles on it.

And Mr. Conservative came home with an ugly blue putt putt Volvo, no power steering, no power brakes, how I hated it!!!

And when I saw that ugly car, I said, there goes my youth((

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteEbola

All new Accord or Civic. Best cars available in the Canadian market. I have owned nothing but Honda's, never had any problems. Quality of a Toyota, with out the premium price.

Honda stopped making the accord hybrid. The new accord V6 has the cylinder shut offs though. When you are travelling at a constant speed it turns off 3 of the cylinders.

If you buy a civic hybrid you get $2k back from the gov't too. Bought mine 10 months too early.

Don't forget when you buy a hybrid you have to drive like you have a hybrid too. The only way you can get their gas mileage they advertised is if you don't speed and your starts have to be as slow as sunday grandma drivers. hehe

I use more gas on the highway in the hybrid then I do in the TSX. Not really a highway vehicle if you drive faster then 115kph.

[WinColumn]

Well, I drive an '02 VW Jetta. Too many problems. I love the car and the way it drives, but I would not recommend the car to anyone.

Off the top of my head, if I were to get a car I would consider: Honda Accord/Civic (solid cars, efficient), Nissan Altima (great looks), Mazda 3/6 (Good customer satisfaction and value).

On hybrids, you won't make up the cost difference. Get a fuel efficient 4 cylinder car instead and take advantage of the gov't rebate. I think the Civic qualifies this year. After all you gotta balance your finances and your love for the environment, right Also, it takes a lot of chemicals and energy to produce the batteries used in a hybrids. If you look beyond simply carbon emissions, it may ultimately be worse for the earth.

[Dodsdomd]

Originally Posted by Fobulous

I would definitely check out the 4 cylinder Nissan Altima. Have heard some great things about the car and is good on mileage with a 4 cylinder engine.

I love my Altima. Great on gas yet still tons of power for a 4 cylinder. I really like the look and it has lots of interior space.

[jam26]

Originally Posted by WinColumn

Also, it takes a lot of chemicals and energy to produce the batteries used in a hybrids. If you look beyond simply carbon emissions, it may ultimately be worse for the earth.

That's just it, if you do a well-to-wheel analysis, you find that hybrids are no better for the environment when you consider all factors, such as energy to produce, battery disposal, etc.

If the environment is a concern, believe it or not the diesel we use today is very clean. It's no more than 15 ppm sulfur now compared to the 500 ppm standard of a couple years ago. A clean-diesel vehicle may be your best choice for the environment and also for the pocket book. It limits your options though.

[TheyCallMeBruce]

My family and I have had many Nissans, and I can say none of the cars we've owned ever gave us a day of trouble. But I highly doubt you'd want to get what I have...premium fuel sucks lol.

Oh, I drive a Altima 3.5SE

[metallicat]

I bought a Nissan Sentra last year. Great gas mileage.

[Slava]

Thanks for all of the recommendations and such. I tried my best to get a hybrid...but simply couldn't justify it. Its a strange situation. In reality the vehicle is a mere $1000 more (after the government rebates, about $3000 before). You might think that someone commited to the environment would shell out $1000...and you're right. I had no problem with that. On a lease that $1000 should work out to about $20/month...so the issue would not be the money for me.

The funny thing is that the car companies themselves are limiting the sales. The lease rate is somewhere between 4.9% and 8.4% depending on where you look...whereas it is a mere 1.5% for the vehicle that I ended up getting. The difference works out to virtually double your monthly payment, depending on the features and such that you select.

Honestly, I found this very disheartening. I was more than willing to spend the extra money to do the right thing. That being said, its the same as any ethical investment...you want to do the right thing, but its not a charity. If the money doesn't make some sense then it is just not worth it!

[octothorp]

Definitely give some thought to the new generation of clean diesels: fuel efficiency is about the same as hybrids, and you get better performance; pollutants are actually a bit lower. There's the VWs of course, and Honda is rolling out a clean diesel sometime later this year.

[Deelow]

Honda has some impressive finance programs on right now. 0.9% on Pilot, Ridgeline, Accord, odyssey, fit.
1.5% on Civiv
I can't ever recall Honday going so low with interest. Might be a good time to buy with them?

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Slava

Thanks for all of the recommendations and such. I tried my best to get a hybrid...but simply couldn't justify it. Its a strange situation. In reality the vehicle is a mere $1000 more (after the government rebates, about $3000 before). You might think that someone commited to the environment would shell out $1000...and you're right. I had no problem with that. On a lease that $1000 should work out to about $20/month...so the issue would not be the money for me.

The funny thing is that the car companies themselves are limiting the sales. The lease rate is somewhere between 4.9% and 8.4% depending on where you look...whereas it is a mere 1.5% for the vehicle that I ended up getting. The difference works out to virtually double your monthly payment, depending on the features and such that you select.

Honestly, I found this very disheartening. I was more than willing to spend the extra money to do the right thing. That being said, its the same as any ethical investment...you want to do the right thing, but its not a charity. If the money doesn't make some sense then it is just not worth it!

You were right to skip the hybrid.. In real world testing they get negligably better gas mileage than a regular 4 cyclinder especially in the city. Those cars are designed to get great gas mileage while driving on the EPA treadmill..
http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/
The best one is the oldest.. The honda insight..

They are so bad in some cases that they have had their mileage ratings re-forecasted
http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretran.../05/hybrid_mpg

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Deelow

Honda has some impressive finance programs on right now. 0.9% on Pilot, Ridgeline, Accord, odyssey, fit.
1.5% on Civiv
I can't ever recall Honday going so low with interest. Might be a good time to buy with them?

This is what I went with actually. For a full, full load Civic you are getting almost the same mileage as the Hybrid, and saving a fairly significant amount of money. The Hybrid is not as feature laden as the gas vehicle either.