sundance-communications.com Forums Member Forums Phone Booth Buying a New Car

The other night I was coming home from a meeting. Because the meeting was in Queens and I live in Brooklyn I took the car as opposed to the subway (which is my preferred mode of transportation in NYC).

I stopped at a light and it felt like someone rear ended me. Only there was no car there. Pre-Halloween ghost cars? Nope. The transmission.

So now I'm looking for a new car. I was hoping that my 1995 Sable would hold out till the Chevy Volt came out (99.9% of my driving is under 40 miles round trip), but no such luck. The Sable has been excellent and has cost me practically nothing to maintain, but there's no way I'm putting $1,000 into this old heap, as fond as I am of it. It's being donated to Charity.

My first thought was for a Prius. My buddy has one, loves it and gets great gas mileage. But....

It's not made in America and I think in these times we ought to try to buy whatever little there still is that's made here.

Good gas mileage is important, but did I mention that my 15 year old Sable only has 75,000 miles on it? Hard miles, but still, is it worth spending big bucks on a hybrid where I may not ever recoup the difference? Or because so much of my driving is stop-and-go, will I see a bigger savings?

I really don't know.

So this weekend I'll be looking at the Chevy Malibu, the Mercury Sable, the Saturn Aura and... the Toyota Prius.

Any suggestions? Anyone have any experience with any of them? Are there other cars you'd recommend?

TIA,

Sam

Sam, if you're really hell-bent on the "Made in the USA" thing, do some research 1st.

Where are the parts made? "Made the in USA" could also mean "Assembled in the USA" (Made elsewhere).

Can you live without a car until your preferred model is available?

Good luck on that, even though I agree with you.

Dave -

Being an IBEW member (USA & Canada) I take "Made in America" to be "Made in North America". I would settle for assembled.

I've thought about doing without a car (I've got a bike), but while I only drive about 20-100 miles a week on average, I wouldn't want to walk (or bike) them.

I know the wife wouldn't.

I always thought that I would turn 55, the kids would be out of the house and I would sell the house AND the car and move to Manhattan where I could spend my last 5 years working with a 15 minute commute and be nearer the theaters, the restaurants, the museums and all the other culture that we love so much; the things that make it worthwhile to live in NYC.

Unfortunately 55 has come and gone and while my house is worth more than 10 times what I paid for it, I still can't afford a two bedroom in a decent neighborhood in Manhattan.

In Brooklyn, I'm going to need a car.

Sam

Sam the Saturn's are nice cars, no hassle pricing, and with the amount you drive it will last you a long while. My mother in law has had hers since 1993, no real trouble at all just basic maintenance. I personally love Honda, buy um, drive um and change the oil, great resale as well. It may not be 100% American made but the quality is hard to beat for the price.

I had been toying with the idea of getting a new car or SUV myself. Decided to put another $600 into the 98 Jeep and keep it going. I would spent that much in two payments (more like 1 and a half) of a new vehicle. At 140,000 miles the Jeep is probably halfway thru it's life (like me). Still servicable with a little help. The "getting a more efficient car to save on the expense of fuel" has some merit. But you are not driving nearly enough to make that arguement work. I think one of the biggest considerations is if you have to borrow the money to buy a new one, and what kind of interest rate will you get. That adds up. Still, hard to resist a shiny new car with 0 miles on it. As far a car goes, the one I most considered was Mazda, 3 or 6 series. Not sure where that falls in the confusing "how much is this one made in America" debate. Ford owns Mazda right? So that's something.

Sam
I was hung up on a Prius @ 49 mpg and the dealer told me a 6 month wait at list + pricing.

The rebates were so good @ Jeep we swung into a Jeep liberty saved 8k that pays for quit a bit of gas,Lifetime power train warranty and option
for bumper to bumper lifetime warranty.

Combined with low interest from from credit union


Made in Ohio

:toast:


Sam,
I'm going to 2nd Anthony's Saturn suggestion too... I’ve been highly impressed with that line from General Motors from the day they came out. Very reliable, reasonably priced (no haggle to boot if buying new,) and good gas mileages.

My wife bought a Toyota Matrix for us to use when going on long trips, etc. to keep the mileage down on our regular vehicles. It's a great car, sort of a hybrid car/SUV. My first thought was that it would be a piece of junk, but it's actually a very comfortable and versatile car. The price isn't bad either, but I have no idea where it was made or assembled, but it has my vote.

isnt the toyota matrix still built by nummi cami? in ontario for both GM and toyota?

Sam I know a lot of the "foreign" cars are made in the US by US workers and have to have a certain percentage of US made parts to be able to claim "made in the USA".

I found this on the internet about the VIN numbers. The first 2 numbers or letters are the country code as to where they were made.
1A-10 US
2A-10 Canada
4A-40 US
5A-50 US
Here\'s the link

From the link but easy to miss::
Note that the sort sequence for characters in the VIN is A to Z, then 1 to 9, and finally 0, with the letters "I", "O" and "Q" not normally used.