Los Automobiles Nuevos

[stationary_jew]

I've been talking about getting a new car for a while, both of my longevity goals for Bucephalus (100,000 miles travelled or availability of hybrid sedans). That he failed inspection on Saturday (because his windshield crack, though stable since September, is longer than Memphis allows) has finally spurred me to action.

Comments

[rabidlemur]

Getting Diesel is easy - most stations have just one pump, but i've found very, very few that don't have any at all. And of course, on long drives, diesel is pretty easy to score.

The Accord Hybrid was intentionally designed to have as much power as a V-6 for better milage, so while it gets okay milage for a v-6 class car, it's not really noteworthy. It's had problems selling well, since it costs more than an Accord and the milage sucks for a hybrid.

I'm a total VW whore, it's by far the best car I've ever had. The new jettas are basically a trimmed-down Audi A4, which is why the safety ratings shot up so much:) That, and the fact you can run biodiesel when available, and on long drives will have full power for the full range of the car(hybrids aren't as efficient on long highway driving, not enough braking to recharge the batteries) AND VW Diesels are about as long-last as mercedes, which is, like, forever, makes them attractive.

[stationary_jew]

I had yet to look up whether the Jetta was capable of biodiesel; it's certainly a plus.

[elisel]

To be fair, in my experience the 'not as efficient on long highway driving' for my hybrid is 47 MPG instead of 52. Where I do horribly is in Oxford, with all the uphill climbs from stopsigns. But as the Prius is already out, I can't swear by what other hybrids are like.

[shadowstitch]

IIRC, the Accord is sort of the bigger brother to the Civic -- a little bigger and nicer all around. My mom has an Accord, and I like driving it a lot more than my sister's Civic sedan. Oh yeah, the local dealership loves our family. :P

I wish Ford would stop dragging their feet about the Focus hybrid -- I really like my car, and I'd like to get into alternate fuel technology sooner than later. It would be nice to see it in more cars, if not a jump to hydrogen/electric/fuel cells entirely.

[rabidlemur]

Heck, i'd be happy if we could get the euro model Focus, esp. the 5 door with turbo diesel. Ford builds great cars, they just don't sell them here:)

[stationary_jew]

Yeah... I didn't even bother stopping at the Ford dealership, because I know what shit their American cars are.

[troutqueen]

Sadly, I get a discount with Ford (4% above dealer invoice), and in a new car purchase, they are still my last choice. Been burned by them too many times. Although you could talk me into a mustang if it could fit a carseat in the back :)

I also like the VWs - also some Mazdas, and I like the Hondas, but I'm not a fan of the Civic or Accord. They drive nice, but the Civic has no head room (and I'm short!), and the Accords feel stodgy.

[freakengine]

For what it's worth, I don't think I will ever buy a car that isn't a Honda. I have owned three of them, so far, and have had only one problem the whole time. I had an oxygen sensor go bad and it cost less than $100 to replace it.

I have owned 2 Civics and now drive and Accord. The reason for the many car changes is that I totalled the first one and someone rear-ended me in the second one, totaling it out. In both accidents, I walked away without a scratch.

As for milage, the Civic is awesome for a non-hybrid: anywhere from 33 to 40 mpg over all, depending on driving style. As you may know, I am not a small guy, and the Civic has excellent leg, head and elbow room. I could take a nap in the Civic without feeling cramped.

As for diesel, I drove my dad's Mercedes sedan turbo diesel for a while in high school and vowed I would never purchase a diesel again. They are sluggish to an extreme and smell funny.

[stationary_jew]

So that's one vote for "Civic is too low-cielinged for short women" and one for "Civic is plenty big enough for big men". Clearly I need to give the Civic hybrid a test drive (which I would've done already, but ran out of time on Saturday).

The Jetta diesel was anything but sluggish.

[rabidlemur]

as a note, my uncle, a retired Naval Aviator, went from an RX-7, to the Infiniti version of the Nissan 350z, to a diesel Jetta.

It's his favorite all-around car of those three(the RX-7 is still the winner in tight handling, but not so much the drive 500 miles today kinda car). But he was hella inpressed with the performance.

[star_keeper]

Oh, car hunting. Good luck with it, hon.

Just a heads up, though. While diesel is easy to get a lot of people are more sensitive to the fumes. Gives a lot of people nasty headaches. You might want to see if you're one of them first!

[stationary_jew]

How does one check on things like that? Find a schoolbus to stand behind?

Is it a major problem when talking about the car one is in? I don't park in a garage and don't plan on routing the exhaust into the cabin in any situation where a headache is going to be a major concern.

[freakengine]

Like I said, I found diesel to be stinky. I seriously doubt that the Mercedes I drove had a bad exhaust system, but driving with the window down, I could smell the noxious fumes.

[stationary_jew]

I don't do that much, so not a major problem, but I'll try to check it on my next test drive.