do you know what car ian mackaye drives?

he drives a buick.

last i heard, through the nerd-grapevine, ian had an old accord.

i drove american cars forever - my dad is a staunch american buyer. if i could get one of those pieces of shit to last past 120k miles, and not continually crap out, i'd keep buying americans.

as it is, i plan on buying hondas and subarus for the rest of my life. my wife and i have a great little 93 impreza that's around 180k right now, and a 2000 civic at 85k which drives like its brand new.

i've spent a good amount of time in honda elements, and when our impreza goes, eventually, the element is at the top of the list. small (length) car with lots of useful space. the suicide doors take a bit of getting used to in parking situations, but i can cope with that.

i hope that more manufacturers produce hybrids - i'd buy one if i could afford it.

volvos are cool, but i, in my stupid frugality, could never justify spending that much on a car.

my next car will be two cars, since no one car can do all the things I want and be fuel efficient at the same time.

Thus:

#1) 1998-2001 Ford Econoline Cargo Van - White please. For hauling stuff, including motorcycles to the track, furniture, lumber, bicycles, etc. If I need to haul more stuff, i'll hook a trailer up to it.

#2) Honda Civic Sedan or Mazda 3 - for everyday commuting, errands, ferrying large and small people around. Hybrids are overratted, and extremely over complicated. Give me a plain old small high revving gas engine any day.

Sorted.
Total cash outlay approx $25k. Less than an Accord or Camry with all the gizmos.

Sly Bug wrote:Do you all own Asian cars?!

French/Italian cars aside, the old domestic/import distinction is almost meaningless anymore--they're mostly multinational corporations that make the stuff wherever they can get the work done well enough for cheap enough without devaluing the perceived worth of the product.

Toyota, Honda, and Subaru are so far ahead of everyone else, it's not even funny. From finish to efficiency to features to styling to value.

All of Detroit has its head up its ass. Anything better than the Japanese stuff is considerably more expensive.

The new Civics are supposed to be great, BTW.

We just bought a 2005 Subaru Outback and we love it. The fuel efficiency, however, is not amazing. That is my only caveat. Otherwise, I'm a big Subaru fan all of a sudden, after driving Hondas exclusively for 10+ years.

tmidgett wrote:I like my Forester a lot, but if I was getting a new car, I'd probably get either an Accord or Camry hybrid.

i too would strongly consider the camry hybrid if i were shopping for a new car and had the money to buy a car like that.

After driving a 1990 Miami Blue Ford Festiva for the last 12 years, I finally bought a new car. I ended up getting a Honda fit. As my only real concerns were the ability to fit a drumset and another person inside simultaneously and really good gas mileage it seemed perfect. I love it so far. I am used to lawnmower speed acceleration so the small engine does not really bother me. Plus, it is pretty damn cheap, like me. Hopefully it will last for at least 12 years. Then I will no doubt be commuting in a personal spacecraft.

Jon

We have a Mazda6 wagon. If Honda or Toyota made a wagon we would have bought that instead, but so far the Mazda has been good to us.

Here is a picture of me driving past a fence.

Save yourself 35 grand and get an 80s Trooper.

Toyota reliability ain't what it used to be. It's not a good sign when Ford is the only car manufacturer recalling more cars than Toyota.

tmidgett wrote:

Sly Bug wrote:Do you all own Asian cars?!

French/Italian cars aside, the old domestic/import distinction is almost meaningless anymore--they're mostly multinational corporations that make the stuff wherever they can get the work done well enough for cheap enough without devaluing the perceived worth of the product.

Toyota, Honda, and Subaru are so far ahead of everyone else, it's not even funny. From finish to efficiency to features to styling to value.

All of Detroit has its head up its ass. Anything better than the Japanese stuff is considerably more expensive.

The new Civics are supposed to be great, BTW.

I don't know the US market very well.

Here are the marketshares of the French car market for the first seven months of 2006:

PSA Peugeot Citroën: 30.49%
Renault: 24.44%
Volkswagen group: 11.38%
Ford group: 5.80%
Toyota + Lexus: 4.69%
Etc...

The French cars still represent 55% of the market.
Nowadays, Toyota sell a lot of Yaris (small car, made in France BTW) and I don't understand why. When Peugeot launched the new 207, we had a one day training and we could try the competitors' cars (Toyota Yaris, Renault Clio, Volkswagen Polo, Fiat Punto, Citroën C3...). I can tell you the Toyota Yaris general quality was far below the others.
The cheapest Toyota Yaris costs 11 650 euros.
The cheapest 207 is 12.750 euros but has more equipment.
There is a real difference for those 1100 euros.

Peugeot 207 and Renault Clio have the best perceived worth these days in France. When I face customers who hesitate between buying a Peugeot or a Japanese car, I invite them to try our car and to try the competitor's. 9 times out of 10, I sell them the Peugeot after they've tried both cars.

The Japanese constructors offer a 3 year warranty. It's a good way to attract customers but I wouldn't say their cars are better.[/url]