I think I may have found my car...

[DrSquirley]

No, Stephanie, a thousand times no. A Cavalier is basically a crappy little ho-hum car, and the asking price is way over the top.

Get consumer's reports and read up on the car. You could get a Mazda or a Toyota and have a smoother running, more reliable car with probably better gas mileage.

Research the Volkswagen Jetta or Golf with the TDI diesel low emissions engine. They will get - with manual tranny - 45-49 mpg.

Bottom line: There are better cars than the outdated Cavalier.

Ted

^^ Exactly

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Research the Volkswagen Jetta or Golf with the TDI diesel low emissions engine. They will get - with manual tranny - 45-49 mpg.

Bottom line: There are better cars than the outdated Cavalier.

Now, where's the smiley with the wagging finger? 🙄

But you're right, Ted. I wish I had waited a few more months and had bought a Jetta TDI. I've always admired VWs; that frame is built to protect you like you really matter and are a living human being, not some dummy in some test that is just trying to meet some numbers in a chart. The steering is a whole different ballgame, and handling those curves ... grrrrr.

 

[tedwhite]

Richard: I thought I was the only guy around who had owned and driven the hell out of 3 cylinder, two-stroke Saabs. A better snow car has yet to be made. But Steph should stay away from the newer Saabs. And, of course, finding one of the older ones would be a career in itself.

I have a motorcycle, and it gets 65mpg. But in Steph's area - Des Moines - it would be useless in winter.

There's a Toyota Tercel in town here driven by an old guy that has 400,000 miles on the odometer. Engine's never been touched. If I were in the market for a Toyota, I'd probably get a later nineties Corolla. Shouldn't cost much.

Ted

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

But Steph should stay away from the newer Saabs. And, of course, finding one of the older ones would be a career in itself.

There are lots of those here in Nova Scandinavia (aka Minnesota), perhaps she should look at the Star Tribune ( http://www.startribune.com/ ) classifieds. If she needs help coming up here/picking it up, etc., I'd be glad to assist.

 

[JoeFriday]

Richard: I thought I was the only guy around who had owned and driven the hell out of 3 cylinder, two-stroke Saabs. A better snow car has yet to be made. But Steph should stay away from the newer Saabs. And, of course, finding one of the older ones would be a career in itself.

I beg to differ.. my Audi A4 Quattro will plow through 10 inches of fresh powder without flinching.. we had a snow storm back in February where nearly every one of my coworkers was stranded at the office.. I offered a ride home to a coworker who lived near me.. she said she couldn't get her car to move 6 inches in the parking lot and looked at me like I was crazy for saying I could get her home.. I insisted it was no problem, so we hopped in my car and took off without a single slip.. got her home in 20 minutes.. slowed down only by all the tow trucks pulling at least 20 other cars out of the ditch

of course, it helps to have Nokian snow tires, too 🙂

 

[DrSquirley]

I beg to differ.. my Audi A4 Quattro will plow through 10 inches of fresh powder without flinching.. we had a snow storm back in February where nearly every one of my coworkers was stranded at the office.. I offered a ride home to a coworker who lived near me.. she said she couldn't get her car to move 6 inches in the parking lot and looked at me like I was crazy for saying I could get her home.. I insisted it was no problem, so we hopped in my car and took off without a single slip.. got her home in 20 minutes.. slowed down only by all the tow trucks pulling at least 20 other cars out of the ditch

of course, it helps to have Nokian snow tires, too 🙂

I went from saabs to audis, and i have to say my 90quattro with summer tires handled just as well as my c900 did with winter tires in the snow. with snow tires the quattro is simply a monster.

 

[MelanieC]

I've never driven anything but Hondas. They don't break down. They don't need major repairs. I have never been stuck on the side of any road. They are fun to drive. They are plentiful.

If I were you I'd look for a used Civic or Integra. If I could have more than one car, I'd still have my 1996 Integra with 120,000 miles on it (no major problems or repairs ever). At the time we traded it in the Blue Book value was something like $1500-$2000. Reliable, cute, fast, fun to drive, and practically free for what it was.

Now I drive a Honda Element. Orange. Much more practical (I am often hauling dogs around with me), not as much fun to drive, but reliable as hell. Hondas rule.

 

[Pherdinand]

Does it have a back seat?

 

[planetjoe]

Hondas rule.

Hear, hear. In fact, my Civic has been so reliable that sometimes I forget to take it in for service. Of course, I hope I don't forget too often. At 75k miles, I guess my Civic is still a baby, anyhow.

Lots of good advice here, Stephanie - basically, a reliable compact car is a Pacific Rim product, not one born and bred in Detroit. Now, if you were looking for something larger and less fuel-efficient, I'm sure that GM could help you. Good luck.


Cheers,
--joe.

 

[Nando]

I would recommend an early Ford Focus from around 2000 or 2001. You can probably picked one up for a bit over $2000 USD.

The Focus has an incredible chassis and clearly the best in its class. The excellent chassis makes the car handle like its on rails and it is also the one of the safest in its class. Ford has since used this chassis for the basis of the new European Focus and C-Max (both not available here), the Mazda3, Mazda5 and the Volvo S40, V50, and new C70. Its so good, in fact, that Ford has decided to make a stretched version for the upcoming European Mondeo instead of using the excellent chasis from the Mazda6 like they did with the Fusion, Milan and Zephyr. To tell you the truth, I think the latest North American Focus is not as well built as the old one. The old one was very close to the European Focus but the new is is nowhere close. Instead of introducing a new Ford Focus like they did in Europe, Ford decided to go with a facelift and new engine options in N. America along with further cost-cutting schemes. This is mostly evident in the cheap materials used in the interior. The old Focus is better in terms of quality.

Early cars have some quality issues dealing with Ford's changes to the initial European Focus to suit production in Mexico. There were lots of recalls on the earlier cars to address these issues. Despite the number of recalls, the car is quite reliable. The Zetec engine has proved very reliable since its introduction in 1993 under the hood of the Ford Mondeo. Its a relatively efficient engine, very robust and can be made to become a very high performance engine if you wish. You can find a Focus with an SE motor for less but I'd recommend the Zetec.

The MTX-75 manual transaxle is very good. You shouldn't be discouraged if you only know how to drive an automatic. If all someone used was a point and shoot camera, should that discourage them from using a manual rangefinder? Its not hard to learn and you will save money on the purchase of the car and on gas. As in the case with most small cars, an automatic really turns the car into a dog in terms of performance and makes the car much less fuel efficient. The problem is that a manual-equipped Focus is rather hard to find in the N. America.

The Focus has one of the largest aftermarket following in the world. When it comes to C-class vehicles (what N. American would call compacts), only the Honda Civic and the VW Golf have a larger aftermarket yet the aftermarket for the Focus has been the fastest growing of the three.

Servicing for a Focus is also an advantage. There is a Ford dealer in almost every town in North America. If you are unhappy with a certain dealer, its likely that there is another one that you can go to close by. Parts for the Focus are very inexpensive compared to parts for import cars. What Ford doesn't provide, you can probably find in the aftermarket. The Focus has a fanatical following and there is a large number of owner clubs from every corner of the globe that will be of help.

There are also four body styles to choose from. There is a sporty three-door hatch, a very practical 5-door hatch, a more traditional 4-door sedan and a very versatile wagon. I wished that the Focus wagon was available when I was in university. There is enough room in the back for most things, with the rear seats down it almost has as much room as a compact pick-up truck. Yet the car is economical and very sporty.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Hear, hear. In fact, my Civic has been so reliable that sometimes I forget to take it in for service. Of course, I hope I don't forget too often. At 75k miles, I guess my Civic is still a baby, anyhow.

Lots of good advice here, Stephanie - basically, a reliable compact car is a Pacific Rim product, not one born and bred in Detroit. Now, if you were looking for something larger and less fuel-efficient, I'm sure that GM could help you. Good luck.

Very true. My gf has a Honda Civic, too. I'm amazed at how well put-together it is. All Honda owners are happy with them, and from what I can tell is, as owners are loyal to Honda, Honda is loyal to its customers and its employees. That cannot be said, unfortunately, about other car makers, which leave employees and loyal customers in the street, which is why they don't get as much repeat business. Repairs? I think I saw that car in the shop once, and it was for getting new break pads.

 

[GeneW]

Misunderstood the title. A friend of mine DID lose his car (VW van) for over a week in the 60's. Then one evening when the munchies hit, we all walked over to Baskin-Robbins for a treat and he suddenly looked elated. "There it is!" he shouted. I guess he'd been enjoying a little mind expansion last time he'd visited the ice-cream store and had forgotten he had his car with him as he left.

Gene

 

[drmatthes]

Still hooked on my 1993 VW Golf II (Rabbit in your place, I guess) which my father gave to me as a present about four weeks before he died (another sentimental reason why I can't come to think of a new car). - 162.000 km and almost never let me down (ok, not to speak of this little animal called a marten that loves to bite isolation rubber and broke my lambda probe so I got stuck on the highway on a hot summer day near Hamburg in 1998 - also not to speak of the severe motor damage caused by lack of cooling fluid last November - that was my fault).

Good advice might be to really buy second hand, five previous owners in the papers don't count for reliability.

Good advice not to buy a white car, either - always dusty and everyone can see it.

Guess what my car's color might be?

Currently dreaming about a Dodge (150 HP) or a VW Eos, one of those cross-breeds between a Coupé and a Cabrio...

And five more ancient lenses for my Contax II!

Jesko

 

[SteveM(PA)]

I beg to differ.. my Audi A4 Quattro will plow through 10 inches of fresh powder without flinching.. we had a snow storm back in February where nearly every one of my coworkers was stranded at the office.. I offered a ride home to a coworker who lived near me.. she said she couldn't get her car to move 6 inches in the parking lot and looked at me like I was crazy for saying I could get her home.. I insisted it was no problem, so we hopped in my car and took off without a single slip.. got her home in 20 minutes.. slowed down only by all the tow trucks pulling at least 20 other cars out of the ditch

of course, it helps to have Nokian snow tires, too 🙂

I heart my Nokian WR All Weather Plus's 🙂

 

[MelanieC]

Misunderstood the title.

When I was living in Philadelphia the city moved my car for street cleaning and neglected to put it on the move record, so when I called the cops they told me to report it stolen. I kept wandering the neighborhood (this is when I lived in West Philly) in bigger and bigger radii and finally found it where they had left it a few dozen blocks away. If I hadn't found it when I did I have no doubt it would actually eventually have been stolen.

One of the drawbacks to the smaller Hondas is that they are popular theft targets due to the whole tuner car thing, but I put a basic Viper alarm in my Integra and never had any problems. Do not install the fancy Viper that has the talking alarm, though -- I can't be the only person who enjoys dancing around cars with the talking Viper just to make it talk.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Steer clear of the VW's, too. European cars are too
expensive to maintain for a poor college student.
Stick with a Japanese or good American car...

"Excelsior, you fathead!"
-Chris-

 

[Trius]

<snip> of course, it helps to have Nokian snow tires, too 🙂

Damn straight. I have Haakapelitta 2s on my CR-V. When we have a winter with little snow (like 05-06), I'm really bummed. I can't wait until they wear out and I can buy Haakapelitta 6es ... or 10s, or whatever they're up to. My father-in-law has used Haaks for years, and he was an Adirondack guide and member of the ski patrol in Swain, NY. Any questions? 😀

 

[Al Patterson]

I'd second the SL2 recommendation. Not a sexy car, but I had it 6 years and all it nedded was oil, until it died. It had over 100k miles on it, and needed more work t6han it was worth. Just check that the timing chain is seated properly, and you'll be fine.

And, the worst car I ever owned was Buick Skyhawk, which was a Cavalier with different name plate. That one went through 2 timing belts, a water pump, and leaked like a sieve from the sun roof. It's a wonder I even bought a Saturn after how bad the Buick was...

And, a saturn with a standard gets over 30 MPG on the highway, even at 75...

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I'm actually trying to budget for two things: a two-wheeled scooter for in-town driving and my car for out of town. I'll look like a hipster, but it's better than paying so freaking much for gas just to drive around town, plus something like a Vespa would be good for trips out to the lake to take photographs. 😉

Oh, and yes, I know I couldn't afford a Vespa. There are other branded scooters that don't cost near that much. Another thing about motorscooters is that they're allowed for on-campus transportation...which means I won't need a bicycle.

 

[MelanieC]

I'd get a decent bike for in-town (Iowa is pretty flat) to save $$ myself. Check out Craigslist and limit your budget to <$50 and you should come up with a decent commuter bike. A friend of mine just got a nice Nishiki hybrid in good condition for under $50 this way.

Me, I've got a Trek Singletrack (miraculously small enough for me) that I adopted when someone moved out of my building and abandoned it. Swapped the tires off my old Nishiki mountain bike, and I'm good to go.

If San Francisco were flatter I'd bike all over the place.