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Looking for car input from the collective braintrust


Fonzie

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So y'all know about my family getting hit by a drunk driver 3 weeks ago. Insurance company of the other party finally accepted responsibility last week. They want to total.... Ours wants to fix. No real clear choice for us, so we've been looking at replacement vehicles in case we decide to go that route.

Know we've got some mechanics on here. Also looking for input from anybody that may have owned anything I throw in here as a buying possibility for us, as I value most of you guys' opinions ;)

Wife drives a lot for work.... She's put about 50k miles on in last 2 years, & the Pacifica was hers. Looking primarily in the $10-15K range, as she may end up with negative equity if they keep lowballin' her offers. Also, mostly at '04-06's. Probably only have week or two left w/ rental, if that, so we need to get the ball rollin'....

Honda Pilot.... Decent mileage, seats 8, but hard finding low mile one in our price

Honda CRV.... Seats less, but still a little roomy, & still a Honda to drive the snot out of

2000 Mercedes S class 430v w/ 110k miles.... Ordinarily wouldn't be crazy about taking a loan on a 10 y/o car with that many miles.... But looks in pristine shape, & after all.... It's a Mercedes. Should be able to drive the snot out of it as well, without worrying about miles, right??

'08 Dodge Nitro.... Seems like it gets solid mileage, sharp, 4wd, ~45k miles

Experiences/firsthand feedback? :dunno:

Edited by Fonzie
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Do you NEED a family hauler? I mean, you have more than one vehicle right?

In your situation with family and whatnot + the wife putting mileage on vehicles. I'd inventory a huge ass SUV for the famdamily and get the wife a little cavalier or something with high MPG to put the mileage on.

Unless you have some sorta reputation to uphold and need "baller status"

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Do you NEED a family hauler? I mean, you have more than one vehicle right?

In your situation with family and whatnot + the wife putting mileage on vehicles. I'd inventory a huge ass SUV for the famdamily and get the wife a little cavalier or something with high MPG to put the mileage on.

Unless you have some sorta reputation to uphold and need "baller status"

Already have a full size '00 GMC van Justin. When she got the Pacifica 2 years ago, she was intent on having another vehicle all 6 of us could fit into, just in case needed. She keeps waffling on that now, hence why the Pilot is the only one I've posted so far with seating more than 5.

We tend to drive our vehicles 'til the wheels fall off. My van was due to be replaced in couple years when Pac was paid off.... But now obviously, we'd be starting a new loan term if we decide to replace rather than repair

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Man, don't do this to me. Give me some real choices.

Dodge, I don't know that I recommendit, even though I really like my Dodge. Mine IS 12 years old though.

Mercedes, I don't think you'd be very happy with the maintenance and repair costs, unless you have someone in mind that can take care of you without ass-raping you (unless you're REALLY into ass-raping). I don't know that the reliability is all that much better, from what I've seen.

Now we get to the part I hate. The Honda's. Let me start by saying, I DO NOT like Honda cars and "trucks". However, they hold their value, and are pretty darned reliable. The Pilot has the tried and true 3.5 in it, keep up on the routine maintenance and it will last forever. Regular oil changes, filters, timing belt on time, etc... and you'll be good to go. I just feel that they're a bit under-powered for my liking. The same engine is used in the Odyssey, and I think the same, and they lack the comfort of the Chrysler minivans, but that's not what you're looking for.

Now we get to the CR-V. They're ok on power, even better on fuel mileage, same type of maintenance requirements of any other Honda. It IS a smaller vehicle.

I like Sam's idea, since I prefer GM products. Buy one from them and they may get the government paid back sooner! :lol: (I really am a Chevy guy!)

You could also go with Justin's idea. Buy something that get's great mileage for the wife, then a baller SUV for "the family" (aka...you.) and everyone is happy! Myself, I've become too practical when it comes to cages, and we're going to be looking into getting a mucking finivan (thanks to Max Power for that one!) to haul everyone around, and I'm thinking about getting rid of my Camaro. Since I got onto 2 wheels, cages don't matter so much to me!

Anyway, just my 2 cents... and then some!

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Already have a full size '00 GMC van Justin. When she got the Pacifica 2 years ago, she was intent on having another vehicle all 6 of us could fit into, just in case needed. She keeps waffling on that now, hence why the Pilot is the only one I've posted so far with seating more than 5.

We tend to drive our vehicles 'til the wheels fall off. My van was due to be replaced in couple years when Pac was paid off.... But now obviously, we'd be starting a new loan term if we decide to replace rather than repair

Aren't you down to 5 now? One of them can haul his own ass around now, right? :lol:

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Aren't you down to 5 now? One of them can haul his own ass around now, right? :lol:

lol.gif He's gotta get a J.O.B first before we help him with a C.A.R :D

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lol.gif He's gotta get a J.O.B first before we help him with a C.A.R :D

Make sure it's a P.O.S. as most of us born before 1980 had to drive some pretty crappy cars for our first car or 4. It will make him appreciate the nice cars later in life! :D

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Man, don't do this to me. Give me some real choices.

These are just the initial ones I'm throwing out there that we've looked at online the last few days

I like Sam's idea, since I prefer GM products. Buy one from them and they may get the government paid back sooner! :lol: (I really am a Chevy guy!)

Don't want to jinx myself, but our current van has been velly, velly good to us. Florida 3 times, Pittsburgh, Upper Pennisula.... 4.3 Vortech keeps on tickin' along.... No rust on body

GM cars we've had however, have been another story. $$ pits that have needed complete top end rebuilds between 100-125k miles, + many other repairs. Not sure I'll ever buy another GM car :nono:

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Fonzie - you dont know me from Adam, but on any used car purchase the first thing to do is get a hold of a Consumer Reports book with the used car section in it. (Its available online too, but I think it requires a fee. - find a friend that has it.) --It has "frequency of repair" data for all the major manufacturers. The sections are broken down into various areas - engine/brakes/electrically/body etc. - Its very good for indications of reliabilty.

Myself I buy used Hondas - generally grab 'em at around 100k miles and run 'em to 200k miles. Very reliable cars.

Good luck

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Make sure it's a P.O.S. as most of us born before 1980 had to drive some pretty crappy cars for our first car or 4. It will make him appreciate the nice cars later in life! :D

Barry O spent all the freshly printed $$ that didn't got to bailing GM out, buying up all the P.O.S that were out there. Slim pickin's for us 'po folk now ;)

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Don't get me started on that one... One of his "finer" moments... :nono:

I won't.... Can't give Justin any reason to try turning this into a rhetoric thread

Cars people.... Cars

Chop chop!

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I won't.... Can't give Justin any reason to try turning this into a rhetoric thread

Cars people.... Cars

Chop chop!

Funny thing, when I went back to the "home" page here, the pics had 2 that were from that asshat, and the third was a copper 02 squixxer 750, FML...

:lol:

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Stay away from the s class Benz. I'm sure it looks nice, and all, but you will spend an ungodly amount of money just maintaining it. +1 on checking into a Lexus if you want to go upscale. An LS of that vintage should fit your budget, and have the same amenities, and lower maintenance costs.

I don't like suv's, but id pick the pilot over a cr-v any day.

Beyond that, what's wrong with another pacifica? I've always kinda liked the look of them, and it seems it did a great job protecting your family, you get Mercedes derived engineering, and Chrysler maintenance costs and resale value, which makes finding a used one in your budget an easy endeavor.

Dodge. Nitro? Jeep liberty with body by tonka. Skip.

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Myself I buy used Hondas - generally grab 'em at around 100k miles and run 'em to 200k miles. Very reliable cars.

Good luck

:plus1: I would buy a nice used Honda Accord or Civic Sedan. They are fairly cheap, reliable, and easy to work on. Just sold my 1991 Accord with 240k on it last year. Would have kept it but it was rusting to pieces...damn Ohio winters. :mad: Wife talked me into a newer mini-van, it is nice but I hate having a big car payment again and it drinks gas like my old F-150. If I could do it over, I would do exactly what mello dude does.

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Pilot! If its all wheel drive! The wifes friend has one an last winter she didnt want to drive home one morning after we got a ton of snow. We picked her up an the wife drove it following me in the jeep. It surprised me at how great it was in the snow an riding behind the jeep at 60mph hitting huge drifts. Plus a honda is just getting broke in at 100k.

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:plus1: I would buy a nice used Honda Accord or Civic Sedan. They are fairly cheap, reliable, and easy to work on. Just sold my 1991 Accord with 240k on it last year. I could do it over, I would do exactly what mello dude does.

I'm super cheap on cars, I just hate shelling out big money for them. You know the classic line of finding a car driven by the little old lady only on Sundays? - thats what I go after. My most recent find is a 1990 Accord - 95K miles :p. Even the body is pretty damn good on it. Paid 2000 bucks.

--- heh heh, saves more money for motorcycles and stuff. :grin:

Edited by mello dude
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