Your favourite cars (affordable!)

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

They really should pay me shouldn't they?

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I'd think so!

Off to a party in a TAXI ! Good grief. I miss the old days in my old beater.

Originally Posted by Duchess15

I stay away from american made cars. They are cheap in quality and you get what you paid for. They are also more often in the shop. IMO that is. I just traded in my Toyota Corolla for a Mazda 3. I had so many problems, one after another that I just didn't want to deal with it anymore. I now hate Toyota with a passion. I love my Mazda 3. Mazda has a Mazda 3 hatchback. It's also the top car in it's class and drives like a sports car without paying the price of one...not sure who else makes hatchbacks..

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Originally Posted by Arlyn

One of the best cars I have ever owned was a Mazda, paid $20 for the car, spent $400 fixing the suspension (it had suffered a mild front end collision), and never had a single problem with it.
But that was many years ago.
It was a 1981 Mazda GLC (also sold in the US as the Ford Fiesta).

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Very very surprised about this one and it just goes to show you that different folks have had very different experiences. My Mazda 3 - POS!!! It's a 2006 and I've had it in the shop for the brakes 4 times already and have had other things that needed to be fixed as well. Some of the reports out there say that Mazda had a problem with a certain type of braking system - I would have figured they would have fixed it by now. Put it this way - they wanted to put on new brake pads and calipers at 15K miles and told me it wasn't covered under warrantee!! . All it took was for me to announce to the waiting room at Mazda that my Toyota went to almost 60K miles before needing brakes and maybe I should go buy another one of those. So - they supposedly "fixed" them, but they're still not right and I need new brake pads now again - at 20K! (and no - I dont' ride the brakes. As I said my toyota went almost 60K, my Plymouth about 50K and it hasn't been just the brakes with this car - it's other things too)
For me - Toyota or Nissan. Nothin beats them. Toyotas go forever and so do Nissans. My X had a Nissan 300Z turbo. Turbos didn't die on it till it hit 250K!!! Awesome! You just can't get that with some of these other cars.

Originally Posted by lisasha3

Very very surprised about this one and it just goes to show you that different folks have had very different experiences. My Mazda 3 - POS!!! It's a 2006 and I've had it in the shop for the brakes 4 times already and have had other things that needed to be fixed as well. Some of the reports out there say that Mazda had a problem with a certain type of braking system - I would have figured they would have fixed it by now. Put it this way - they wanted to put on new brake pads and calipers at 15K miles and told me it wasn't covered under warrantee!!

. All it took was for me to announce to the waiting room at Mazda that my Toyota went to almost 60K miles before needing brakes and maybe I should go buy another one of those. So - they supposedly "fixed" them, but they're still not right and I need new brake pads now again - at 20K! (and no - I dont' ride the brakes. As I said my toyota went almost 60K, my Plymouth about 50K and it hasn't been just the brakes with this car - it's other things too)
For me - Toyota or Nissan. Nothin beats them. Toyotas go forever and so do Nissans. My X had a Nissan 300Z turbo. Turbos didn't die on it till it hit 250K!!! Awesome! You just can't get that with some of these other cars.

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Alot of it has to do with experience. I started having problems with it after the first week. It started out with a lot of rattling in my front door panels. I could hold it and it would stop...etc. My engine NEVER would start like it should. It sounded like it was having a hard time catching. It was almost 2 years old when I traded it in and I remember one time that it stalled out so bad, I had to turn car off and turn it back on to start it. It was getting worse! I got in an accident, not my fault, had to have passenger side fixed. The body shop messed up my speakers, tried to say it was a bad speaker, had it replaced, messed up my WHOLE sound system. Never was the same. Could NOT even play certain songs anymore. Then my molding started to fade on ONE side! They buffed it out...it started to do it again a few months later. I was so tired of it. I was at the service place about 20 times in less than 2 years!! I think Toyota has cheap quality and they charge you high prices for crappy cars...IMO and experience.

The funny thing is my first car was a USED Hyundai Elantra (1997). I loved that car! I NEVER had any car problems with it until it got over 100,00 miles, but you know they aren't even suppose to last that long. I traded it in for the Corolla and I still liked that one better. lol Sometimes name brand don't mean a thing. It's all about luck. Because you can still get a lemon with the best of the brands.

My family has 2 gas-electrics...I drive either the Highlander or the Civic. They also have a non-hybrid mini-van, which sort of frightens me to drive.

But I love the hybrids and Ian and I are buying the Highlander off of them...which I am excited about! It gets a little over 30mpg whereas the Civic gets over 40.

Red Porsch (haha but that's WAY too expensive for me!) A girl can dream though

I had a escort for 11yrs biggest issue it finally died...


I wanted a hybrid but I too cant afford one ....

I love the suburus but they were just out of budget ...

I got a PT Cruiser and I LOVE IT ..... mileage is decent but the practicality is AWESOME... I can get six five by three boxes in it with just folding down the back seat ... the seats will remove and the front passanger folds ..... OHH and for those with issues getting in out out a car ... the seat is a no bend down or pull up .... I just wish I could have known how great it was and bought the GT

My last 2 cars have been Hyundai Elantras. The only reason I traded in the first one was because at 141,000 miles, things were starting to sound funny

But I'll be the first to admit, although I like the Elantra sedans, the hatchback version is ugggggly.

Originally Posted by lisasha3

All it took was for me to announce to the waiting room at Mazda that my Toyota went to almost 60K miles before needing brakes and maybe I should go buy another one of those.

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Originally Posted by sharky

I can get six five by three boxes in it with just folding down the back seat ...

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I love that! I like the PT Cruiser and may have bought one if I had not been put into a Liberty rental after my wreck. The Liberty handled so well with a broken arm, I went ahead and got one. I always want cargo space.

Originally Posted by SwampWitch

Toyotas are fantastic cars. Did you know that the people who build them also have the say on how they are built, and they help design improvements and troublshoot problems? It makes a lot of sense, and the company is doing extremely well.

We've had a Toyota for over four years now, and have not had one single problem with it. They are well-designed and trouble-free cars. Ours still looks like new, inside and out.

Cheers, from
SwampWitch

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Yup Toyotas rock!

Originally Posted by Phat Locani

I love that!

I like the PT Cruiser and may have bought one if I had not been put into a Liberty rental after my wreck. The Liberty handled so well with a broken arm, I went ahead and got one. I always want cargo space.

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PT Cruisers are the ugliest things on the road IMO No offence to anyone who has one or likes them though My own car is pretty ugly too

I currently have a dodge stratus coupe manufactured by mitsubishi and I would totally buy another one but I believe the last model year they made them was either 2003 or 2004. I'm currently looking at the upcoming 2008 Nissan Altima Coupe. Its the first model year for the car but I guess all the major components of it have been used in other types of models so its not a huge risk.. htough I'll prob wait til 2009 or 2010 just to make sure. Man that sounds so futuristic, 2010!! Dang I'm getting old..

Well this is mine - Vauxhall Vectra (Opel Saturn/Aura in the US - I think!!)

Huge enough to carry the kids and all their junk, fuel economical, a good turn of speed - and pretty enough to show off as well!!

I love my Honda Civic.

My husband has an 05 Hyundai Elantra hatchback. It's a practical little car. I like it. It was much more affordable than the other hatchbacks he looked at.

Okay I am going to plug an American built car. I don't have anything against imports, drove a 1978 Toyota Corolla Station-wagon from 1982 to 2000, over 3 million miles. Rebuilt the engine once and put bearings in the transmission, everything else is still original. But my new car is a 2000 Ford Focus ZX3 (2door hatchback) and I love it. It is heavy enough to corner well and rides smooth. Roomy enough to fit me at 5 feet tall and DH at 6 feet tall. With the rear seat down there is lots of cargo room (enough for 2 50 lb shepherds). We bought it brand new for $13,000 and it has been in the shop once when mice chewed on the wiring while we had it parked in the barn. It gets 30 - 35 mpg and has lots of power (first week on the open freeway found myself doing 110 mph with power to spare). It has the standard transmission and shifts really smooth.

Originally Posted by Godiva

My husband has an 05 Hyundai Elantra hatchback. It's a practical little car. I like it. It was much more affordable than the other hatchbacks he looked at.

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It was much more affordable for a reason

We have 3 VW Diesel cars - 2 Passats and a Jetta. I travel 100 KM round trip each day to work and I fill my car with fuel approximately twice per month. I drive the Jetta and I absolutely love it.

I've seen a lot of these cars on the road here in Los Angeles, and they're not half bad to look at. I would want the larger coupe if it were for me, but you said hatchback.

I've heard good things about these from people, the least of which is their affordability. I would do more research though.

Scion

No laughing.

I like to be able to haul a piece of furniture if the mood strikes. I also occasionally need to haul multiple animals to the vet. I bought a Scion XB about a year and a half ago, and I love the thing.

Good points.

You can comfortably seat 5 people.
With the rear seat down you can haul a ton of stuff.
They are very reasonably priced and come with lots of standard equipment.
Good gas mileage. I'd say about 33 the way I drive.
The are uhm,....unique looking.
Looks to hold a good resale value.
No dickering...the price is the price.

I put some nice rims and a black bug shield on mine,(its silver) and I actually like the way it looks. Before that I had a Honda Civic, Celica GT and Honda CRX. I liked them all, but as far as being functional, the XB has them beat hands down.

A couple things I forgot to mention...

If ease of getting in or out of a car is important to you, you'll really like an XB. We also have a Toyota Tundra and sometimes it's a pain to climb up into. And you can haul a fairly good sized dog around. I just use a cargo mat with the rear seats down. My dog is probably about 70-75 pounds. (golden retriever mix)