Car Suggestions

Please no flame wars over cars or makers.

Ellen has been driving a 1989 Buick Reatta, which was my mothers. It is begiining to go south and has a lousy trade in value, and a high "parts" value.

We nned suggestions. We have been looking at certain cars and none seem to turn her on, Robin suggested a VW, but for as much as she loves hers, all of the ones she has had were and are problem-matic.

I looked at the Lincoln MK something but the dealer suggested an "undressed Lincoln". a Mercury Milan.

She needs something that is good on ice and in the snow.

BG

Reply to
Bill Glass
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Consider what they buy in Colorado when I was out there... Subaru and Saab. An ex-coworker recently bought a Subaru Tribeca for his wife and they both are very happy with it. I've had thoughts of trading in my Toyota Tundra for a Honda Pilot, 35+ mpg and everyone I know who has one recommends it... don't know how it handles in snow or ice but in SC I don't have to worry about it more than once week every two or three years.

Lee

Reply to
Lee Aanderud

What VW does she currently have? IME the large, upscale ones are problematic but I have had nothing but good luck with the A-chassis (Golf, Jetta, Scirocco) models, and I've owned at least one example of three of the five generations (and I've had several A1s and A2s.) I'd stay away from automatics, however. The 1.8T (now 2.0T) engine is a torque monster, and the turbodiesel is no slouch and gives excellent fuel economy (may not be available in NY however.)

Honestly, very few new cars do it for me, either. I liked the Lincoln LS, but it's old now (do they even still make it?) and it was only offered with a stick in the six-cylinder version AFAIR. It is RWD but I remember it being all right in snow. (drove it up in northern Michigan.) Most of the other new or newish cars I like are all tiny little sports cars. I know nothing about the Milan, sadly, I have only seen a few and have never driven one.

I hear the Impala is going to be based on the next-gen Holden Monaro chassis, but not until the '99 model year. I can't recommend the current Impala, the Malibu is way better but has that rental-car feel.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

SAAB is no longer SAAB (one model is a Subaru, actually!) but Subaru is a good choice that I didn't think of. A WRX is fun but perhaps a little more car than Ellen is looking for :) Don't know if it's still true, but it used to be that Subarus were a little heavier and more ruggedly built than other Japanese cars.

nate

Lee Aanderud wrote:

Reply to
Nate Nagel

She has the Piss Ant or Pissant. First one leaked like the Titanic, this one has had module problems.

Reply to
Bill Glass

Sadly, that sounds about right. The B-chassis (Passat) doesn't have near as good a reputation as the smaller cars.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Hi Bill,

My wife loves her 2006 Lexus RX400H -- that's the hybrid model of their SUV. It's great in snow and ice (and would be even better if we put Bridgestone Blizzak tires on in winter). Yeah, it's pricey, but it has given us no problems and it's super comfortable on long drives.

As an aside, we put Blizzak tires on two of her previous cars -- both Honda CR-Vs. Those tires made driving in snow absolutely BORING! I couldn't make it slip and slide at all.

Kindest regards,

Alan Mende Hummelstown, PA

Reply to
alanmende

How about an all wheel drive Ford Fusion or Mercury Milan?

Jeff DeWitt

Reply to
Jeff DeWitt

I have gone thru some of the Edmunds reviews, and I never found a site that is so biased against anything Ford.

Some of the reviews on the Focus and Milan are not about the car itself but based soley on will they "capture" the "youth" market. At 63 I am beyond the "youth" market.

The Lexus looks good, but .................. not poliutically correct to drive a car that leases for more than her peers make >> Please no flame wars over cars or makers.

Reply to
Bill Glass

Bill, I don't know about you but I don't give a flip about the "youth market". I have my own somewhat odd tastes and like some vehicles that are designed for folks decades younger than me and others that those kids wouldn't want to be seen anywhere near.

I actually rather like the Honda Element (although I'm sorry they did away with the different colored fenders) and the goofy little Toyota Yaris has something very oddly appealing about it. I'd NEVER buy one but I kind of like it's funky, ugly looks.

Jeff DeWitt

Reply to
Jeff DeWitt

My Mother in law that lives with us (68) just bought a one year old Ford Fusion(Mercury Milan and whatever the Lincoln version is). It is a four cylinder which at first she wanted a V6 but got a good deal from a friend in the business. She can drive to San Diego from Tucson on one tank of gas and on some flat driving will get as high as 37 mpg. She had a 90 Tbird since new and it have 155,000 on it when she upgraded. It never had any problems other than is had a repaint about

6 years ago. It is quiet, runs and drives nice. As far as snow, don't have that to report to you but with the FWD I would guess it is just as good as any of the other cars.
Reply to
bob m

Bill,

At the risk of annoying the many ford haters in the group, the best car bargain out there is the Mercury Grand Marquis, which is a damned nice car.

With AT, AC, PW, and V8 that gets about 25MPG, you're looking at under $20K in my area.

The Ford Taurus is a very good car, and Ford had the good sense to bring it back for '08.

Dave Miller

Reply to
So. Ga. Cruiser

Bill,

All wheel drive Subaru.

Bo

Reply to
64daytonaht

OK, I do lock work for the local Ford guy and we were talking gas milage etc one day.. go find the BIG Lincoln.. or the top of the line Mercury.. the service guy I was talking to said he has seen some get close to

30mpg on the highway, all the time. plus a GOOD ride, etc..

--Shiva--

Reply to
me

Buy what you like, and put 4 snow tires on it if weather conditions are your concern...

Reply to
jbreen

My wife has a 2001 Jetta. A great car. It is the Wolfsburg edition so it came with the performance package including the 1.8 Turbo. Quick, handles great and gets a steady 33 miles per gallon. Down side is as Bill mentioned we have had it in the dealership many, many times. Lately it has been doing just fine (60k on it now), probably becuase they have fixed and/or replaced everything.

The Ford Fusion line (Mercury and Lincoln have their own versions) has all wheel drive as an option. So that might be a little better in bad weather.

To me I would agree that the Subaru is an excellent choice. It has a good reputation and all models have all wheel drive (I believe that is correct). So anything from their hot rod WRX to there wagons should be pretty good in foul weather.

Volvo now also has all wheel option on some of its models. I doubt their gas mileage is as good as the Subaru, but the safety of the car is beyond comparison from what I have read.

Lots of choices out there.... Joe Roberts

Reply to
itraseecab

Reply to
John Poulos

re: the Lincoln MKZ......a good car with high safety ratings and the best "initial satisfaction" according to JDPowers.....but.....it irks me: Mazda introduces a car in Japan that gets good reviews, then decides to also make them in Illinois.....the Mazda 6......the car magazines love it, so Ford decides to ship a set of tools to Mexico and build more there.....the Ford Fusion. While they're at it, they make a Mercury version (Milan) and a Lincoln version (the Zephyr). Rushed into production, there's hardly any difference between a Zephyr and a Fusion except the leather and some trim on the dash......and the price. So, given another year, they give it its own dash and some other tweaks and rename it the MKZ....and raise the price. (sort of sounds like the J-car Cad Cimaron).....a good car, but how much money do you think they're making on a Mazda design made in Mexico?

, I'm looking, too. The Fusion-Milan-MK6 is tempting, but small inside. The former Five-Hundred, now Taurus is absolutely huge inside and has a cavernous trunk.....because it's tall.....(around 61 inches tall, or about like a 56 Packard.....and has "chair high" seats like our Studes). The "experts" panned the Five-Hundred because with the 3.0 engine, it took 8 seconds to do 0-60. The Taurus has a 3.5 engine and is about a second faster.......a couple more tweaks such as more sound-proofing. But the Five-Hundred was built to be the Crown Vic/Grand Marquis replacement, so it's pretty nice. So.....I'm looking for a leftover Five Hundred....will check out the ones coming off lease now with low mileage.....and if need be will go Taurus (I guess it will be a couple years more before there will be a Lincoln version.......and yes, the car is tall and roomie since the body structure is that of the Volvo 80).

Reply to
Itsfrom Click

And, all the Hyundai SUVs offer all-wheel drive. Another item in favor of the Subarus, though, is- the Outback models have as good or better ground clearance as many truck-based SUVs. Believe me, this can be important in eight inches (or more) snow. I like the Subaru drivetrain layout too. The engine is fore and aft instead of transverse. This makes their rear wheel drive just like rear drive cars (a center driveshaft going directly back to a center differential). In my simple mind this make for a much simpler driveline. Paul Johnson

Reply to
Paul Johnson

We've currently got a 1989 Corolla - the body is starting to fall apart, but the engine won't quit. It has close to

250000k on the clock - we've done regular maintenance, but nothing to the engine. Hugely great on gas (over 40mpg on the highway), quick, and with snows, no problem. (We do get snow on the west coast which even transit gets stranded in)

I recently did the car shopping thing, and decided on a Toyota Camry - huge inside, comfy to drive, great mileage, and really important for me - a huge trunk. Their customer service is great too, which, after my experiences with other dealers in the past (Ford and Mazda) that's really high on my list.

A client of mine has the same in a Lexus, but the hybrid version, and he can't say enough about it.

Judy

Bill Glass wrote:

Reply to
Judy Sauer

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