New car suggestions

[HonestAbe]

Wow - Mazda CX7 huh? who owns Mazda? hmmm...Ford and it's based on the same platform as the escape. So you're saying one is good and one isnt because of the logo on the front? Also you might want to go a step further and instead of saying that the bennies of a full vs. a part hybrid depends a lot more upon how you drive. Sounds like she's going to be doing a lot of stop and go in town so since the energy is gained from braking action a hybrid for a lot of in town driving is a good deal. but highway driving isnt going to give you much regardless with a hybrid.

IMO she probably knows what she wants and is just looking for confirmation that she's making a good choice. But regardless of what she chooses someone is going to disagree. You drive foreign than I have a problem with that because that means Japanese and 10-20 years ago japanese was better but american companies make good cars now. They learned from their mistakes. But hey - what does the guy with the 10 year old ford with 80K miles on it thats never had a problem know. I guess that blue oval makes it unreliable. And if she chooses the blue oval or the bowtie she'll get slammed for buying and unreliable car. It's a no win.

Forget the Escape. The vehicle is on an ancient and outdated platform. It was great in 2000. We are almost in 2007.

Look at the Hyundai Santa Fe, best value truck out there. Mazda CX-7 is another great choice. Dodge is coming out with a new small truck, the Nitro, which looks great. Volkswagen is coming out with a minivan next year, if you can wait.

I have no idea what your budget is, but if you can afford a $400-$500 a month lease, check out the Mercedes-Benz R-Class. The lease deals on the vehicle (which they call a "sport tourer" but is essentially a minivan with swing-out doors and a more wagon-like body) are amazing.



It is unfortunate you buy into all the media hype about hybrids. They do save fuel, but they are not the only way to save fuel. GM and Chrysler's cylinder cut-off technology saves fuel. DaimlerChrysler's BluTec diesel technology saves fuel. Honda's natural gas-powered engines save fuel.

What do you get with a hybrid? A vehicle with such a complicated electrical and motor system that the money you saved in fuel will be wiped out when it comes to fixing the engine out of warranty. And very few consumers realize there is a difference between a full-hybrid and a half-hybrid. The Toyota Prius is a full-hybrid. Pretty much everything else - Escape, Mariner, RX 400h, etc - is a half-hybrid, which only takes advantage of the hybrid technology during certain driving conditions (parked at a light, traffic, stop/go in the city), which reduces the fuel benefits.

In the end, consumers have the right to buy whatever they want, 10MPG or 40.

 

[musicotb]

OK, I am sorry that I overestimated the power of a hybrid. Heck, I refer to what a car is by the color, not make & model. I don't claim to know a ton about cars, but I do know that getting a fuel/energy efficient ANYTHING if you can afford it over a gas guzzler is the best thing to do... agree? Oh well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Hope you find a great car OP!!!!!

 

[Disneyjosh229]

Wow - Mazda CX7 huh? who owns Mazda? hmmm...Ford and it's based on the same platform as the escape. So you're saying one is good and one isnt because of the logo on the front? Also you might want to go a step further and instead of saying that the bennies of a full vs. a part hybrid depends a lot more upon how you drive. Sounds like she's going to be doing a lot of stop and go in town so since the energy is gained from braking action a hybrid for a lot of in town driving is a good deal. but highway driving isnt going to give you much regardless with a hybrid.

IMO she probably knows what she wants and is just looking for confirmation that she's making a good choice. But regardless of what she chooses someone is going to disagree. You drive foreign than I have a problem with that because that means Japanese and 10-20 years ago japanese was better but american companies make good cars now. They learned from their mistakes. But hey - what does the guy with the 10 year old ford with 80K miles on it thats never had a problem know. I guess that blue oval makes it unreliable. And if she chooses the blue oval or the bowtie she'll get slammed for buying and unreliable car. It's a no win.

THANK YOU !!!

ALL BOW TO ABE!!

I also support American Cars, i own a 1996 Buick Roadmaster, rolling with 210,000 miles original motor and trans, nothing but normal scheduled maintanince. Ive got a problem with people buying cars from a country that around 60 years ago, killed thousands and thousands of american soldiers and caused bilions of dollars of damage and economic strain. But hey, people seem to forget that stuff when they run down to the Toyota dealership and spend 40k on a new ride. Reliable or not, its the principle....I just can't see doing something like that....

 

[robinb]

We just bought a car 3 weeks ago and we had the Ford Supplier's Discount through my husband's work. I really, really, really wanted to buy the Ford Escape Hybrid ... but we couldn't. It was very, very noisy on the highway. It seemed to have very little sound proofing. It's twin, the Mercury Mariner had a bit more sound proofing but it was thousands of $$ more.

We ended up with the Mazda 5 Space Wagon on the Mazda S-Plan though Ford. It looks like a large Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe. It seats 6, 4 in first and second row captain's chairs and the other two in the "backity-back" which can be folded down. The downside is that car doesn't have a lot of space when the "backity-back" seat is up (enough for grocery bags), but it didn't matter to us since there are only 3 of us. When the "backity-back" seat is down, it has the same space as the Escape. I have a manual transmission and it gets 22 MPG in the city and 25-27 MPG on the highway depending on how fast I drive . The automatic gets about 1 MPG less.

ETA: I also looked at the Honda CR-V (boring!), the Toyota RAV-4 (yawn, plus geared very low), Honda Pilot (too big of a car for us), Hyundai Santa Fe (the 2006 is a nice car) and the Hyundai Tucson (also nice, but small like the CR-V and RAV-4), the Volvo V50 (wayyyy to small), the Saab 9-3 Sport Combi (also wayyy too small). While I really liked some of the cars I drove but everytime I compared them to the Mazda the Mazda was always equal or a little better. The price of the Mazda (less than $20K) made the deal for us.

 

[mamacatnv]

Personally, I don't like SUV's and I have a teenager who at the time I bought was about 6' and didn't fit into the back seat of our Toyota Camry or our Honda Accord.

I bought the Honda Odyssey with him in mind. Now 2.5 years later, teen is now 6' 4" 240#'s and I have never doubted my decision. I love my Odyssey, decent gas mileage, very comfortable, fits DS along with his buddies and is reliable.

DS now drives the Honda Accord, DH drives a Civic and I the Odyssey. The Odyssey is the family vehicle.

We are a Honda family, in our 21 years together we have always owned at least 1, most of the time we had 2.

 

[MAH4546]

Wow - Mazda CX7 huh? who owns Mazda? hmmm...Ford and it's based on the same platform as the escape. So you're saying one is good and one isnt because of the logo on the front?

Before you want to go off on how I "hate" American cars (which I don't), learn your facts.

The Tribute (and the Marineer and the Maverick) is built on the Escape platform. They were great when they were introduced. The platform is far too outdated. Ford Motor Company owns 33.4% of Mazda, which is enough for controlling interest in Japan, but gives Mazda a lot of freedom (unlike Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Aston Martin, which are 100% Ford). They do their engineering and product planning in-house, seperate from Ford.

Mazda CX-7 is built in Japan. It is Mazda-engineered on it's own platform. It shares nothing with any other product, Ford or Mazda.

The new Mazda CX-9 is built on a Ford platform, CD3. It is the same one used on the new Edge and MKX.

Although isn't it funny how Ford's recent hits, like the Fusion and European-market Focus, come from Mazda-engineered platforms?

 

[ChrisFL]

THANK YOU !!!

ALL BOW TO ABE!!

I also support American Cars, i own a 1996 Buick Roadmaster, rolling with 210,000 miles original motor and trans, nothing but normal scheduled maintanince. Ive got a problem with people buying cars from a country that around 60 years ago, killed thousands and thousands of american soldiers and caused bilions of dollars of damage and economic strain. But hey, people seem to forget that stuff when they run down to the Toyota dealership and spend 40k on a new ride. Reliable or not, its the principle....I just can't see doing something like that....

Save the speech, Im sure 90% of Toyota's employees weren't even ALIVE during WWII, and why have peace if some people refuse to forgive the past of what OTHERS did? It's been over for 60 years and some people can't get past it? Japan did...we dropped 2 of the most incredibly leathal devices in the history of mankind on their tiny islands killing and maiming thousands of civilians, but we were supposedly better than them?

sorry to go off topic a bit, people with backward thinking tend to irritate me.

 

[RC Fan]

THANK YOU !!!

ALL BOW TO ABE!!

I also support American Cars, i own a 1996 Buick Roadmaster, rolling with 210,000 miles original motor and trans, nothing but normal scheduled maintanince. Ive got a problem with people buying cars from a country that around 60 years ago, killed thousands and thousands of american soldiers and caused bilions of dollars of damage and economic strain. But hey, people seem to forget that stuff when they run down to the Toyota dealership and spend 40k on a new ride. Reliable or not, its the principle....I just can't see doing something like that....

Any chance we can put the racism aside and get back to giving the OP factual, practical advice?

 

[poppinspal]

I will say I have a Toyota and I absolutely love it. When I bought my car I was just looking for something in my price range that would last me long enough to make it work it. (It's the first one I've actually owned. I got it when I left college.) So I ended up buying a Toyota Corolla and I will be honest it's been worth every penny I spent. The only things I've had to do to it were the routine things. I will also say I was stopped on an off ramp waiting to merge into traffic when I was hit from behind by a car going full speed. The car(and myself) suffered no damage. I can say I feel completely safe in my car. Plus I know I'll be able to drive it for a good number of years.

Now my car is probably too small for you but Toyota has some great cars that had they been in my price range at the time I definitely would have considered.

I'm definitely not saying Toyota is the only brand to buy but I wanted to share that I've had a good experience with them. Not to mention if I could have the car I really wanted right now I'd be buying Dodge not Toyota.

 

[puffkin]

I think People on these boards toot their horns for the Toyotas and Hondas and look down on anyone who dares to drive a Ford or Chevy.....there are good and bad about all car brands. With the wide variety of tastes and budgets, I HATE blanket statements like Toyotas and Hondas are the best and Fords are outdated and horrible....

Also, I hope people realize that the OP is from the Detroit area, so she may be a little more sensitive to certain car brands due to the prominence of the Big 3 car makers in her local economy. I just think that is an important point to consider when giving an opinion to the OP.

Oh, and on an aside...I drive a '03 Ford Escape and a '06 Toyota Corolla and am extremely happy with both cars so far and would highly recommend either...so I am not anti-domestic cars or anti-foreign cars

 

[robinb]

Here's a picture of the Mazda 5:

And the interior ...

Room for groceries:

Can you tell that I like my Zoom-Zoom?

 

[parrothead365]

Chrysler Pacifica..handles great. carries a ton, and is the perfect size...not to big not too small. Built solid as a tank.

 

[Disneyjosh229]

Any chance we can put the racism aside and get back to giving the OP factual, practical advice?

Ok, so after bringing up a FACTUAL event that DID happen, killed thousands of americans and did billions of dollars of damage on the economy, im a racist. I get it, anyone that refuses to forget the "past" is a racist....Alright

 

[golfgal]

THANK YOU !!!

ALL BOW TO ABE!!

I also support American Cars, i own a 1996 Buick Roadmaster, rolling with 210,000 miles original motor and trans, nothing but normal scheduled maintanince. Ive got a problem with people buying cars from a country that around 60 years ago, killed thousands and thousands of american soldiers and caused bilions of dollars of damage and economic strain. But hey, people seem to forget that stuff when they run down to the Toyota dealership and spend 40k on a new ride. Reliable or not, its the principle....I just can't see doing something like that....

Do the words Hiroshima and Nagasaki mean anything to you???

 

[Disneyjosh229]

Do the words Hiroshima and Nagasaki mean anything to you???

Pearl Harbor Anyone?

 

[ChrisFL]

I guess we should never buy British goods either since a couple hundred years ago they tried to keep us from starting our own country and had 2 wars about it. It doesnt' matter how long ago it was, right?

 

[RC Fan]

Thanks, I will add the Ford Escape to my list. Anyone familiar with the Mazda CX-7?

I've read a couple of reviews on this car, and they were favorable. It's a sharp looking car, isn't it? I wouldn't mind one myself, but with AWD the price is getting up around $30,000, and I am hoping to stay in the low 20's.

 

[cosine4]

Personally, I drive nothing but "unreliable" Chevy's. We have had quite a few and never had much more than scheduled maitenance.

'89 Silverado had 280,000 miles when sold (still running good)
'89 Berretta had 140,000 miles when sold (still running good)
'94 Silverado had 170,000 miles when sold (still running good)
'97 Malibu had 90,000 miles when sold (still running good)
'00 Venture had 85,000 miles when sold (still running good)
'06 Equinox (still own, roomy and fun to drive)
'06 Cobalt (still own, functional and great on gas)

You can think you have a better car than me because you drive a Honda or Toyota, I don't care. If you like your car and it suits your needs, that is all that matters.

Also, if you are buying a Honda or Toyota because you think that cars that are made in Japan are better, you may want to do a little research. You will find that most Honda's and Toyota's that are sold in the US are made in the US. Some of them are also engineered in the US as well.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Holy crap I have seen it all on this board. We have lept from talking about cars to Japanese racism. THE PAST IS THE PAST. Japan is a great ally. For goodness sakes people.

I have driven both Japanese and American cars. I have always been happy with whatever I was driving (minus the Neon and its crappy AC). I just traded in a Toyota for a Cadillac. I buy what I like, not what people tell me I should buy based on whatever priciples. Of course thid does not apply to Korean vehicles.

As for the OP, the Mazda small SUV or wagon look like good choices.

 

[ChrisFL]

Also, if you are buying a Honda or Toyota because you think that cars that are made in Japan are better, you may want to do a little research. You will find that most Honda's and Toyota's that are sold in the US are made in the US. Some of them are also engineered in the US as well.

But the process of building, the companies that contribute parts and the labor (non-union workers) are all very similar or the same setups they have in Japan.

Just-in-time manufacturing and Kaizen philosophy are both Toyota's practices in building cars everywhere and it makes for a much more efficient set up.