wife needs a newer car

[VetteOwner]

Originally Posted by psyshack

jwxr7

A friend of mine was thinking about selling her mint Civic HX. I called her today about it. Thinking maybe about buying it of turning somebody on to it. She decided to go a head and ship it on over to Germany. Im kind of glad she will be keeping it. Its like brand new.

GM cars and trucks are the only ones that have ever left me on the side of the road with a useless car or truck to show for it.

did you ever do any maintaince to them? any car will die on the road if you dont do the needed basic stuff.

[n0rt0npr0]

VetteOwner,

Exactly. Refreshing to see such comments.
BTW, cool Chevette ya got there...

[VetteOwner]

hehe thanks. just rolled over to 60K miles and only being 27 years old... got new tires on it so im good to 100K miles before tire warrantys up.

[BumblingB]

That reliability rating is probably from the regular automatic (second "gear"?) which I would not worry about. fully variable is the CVT. I had one and was absolutely scared to death of it going out. The $1800 for a used one for sure is not a CVT. Back when I had my '03 Civic hybrid I did checking on them, used was non-existent at the time so all that was available was NEW - $6k!!!!! Needless to say I babied that tranny and finally I couldn't stand it anymore and had to get rid of the car. Just the thought that it "might" go out even with my meticulous maintenance I still had that sliver of a thought it may die which drove me mad.

Originally Posted by jwxr7

I'm liking the looks of the 2003-2005 civic fully variable gear ratio auto. It is labled "lean burn" too.
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calcu...umn=1&id=20705
I'm having a hard time identifying one when browsing autotrader.com. Is there a way to tell from the vin #? They are probably pretty rare though.

I forgot they make accord hybrids too .

[unstable bob]

Originally Posted by psyshack

I wouldn't put my worse enemy in GM junk. As a matter fact. My wife wont drive anything GM. As much as I like the idea of Volt. GM will screw it up. As far as Im concerned GM hasn't made a good car or truck since 1969. We bought a brand new Delta 88 Royal once. What a piece of crap. The damn windshield trim blew off the car driving it home from the dealer and the dash lights burnt out for the climate control system before we could even get the junk home.

I would rather have a Korean car than GM junk.....

Well, I've been driving nothing but American cars since I started driving 25 years ago, and I've never seen a reason to even think about switching to an import, especially one from Korea. I'd rather spend my money so it stays HERE in MY country.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Jeje, that's a bit naive. The Cavalier, and nearly everything else, is made in Mexico, and only a few GM cars are made in America IIRC. The Corvette, XLR, and a couple SUVs AFAIK. At least the Sonata is built in America and happens to be one of the most reliable cars on the road.

[cfg83]

omgwtfbyobbq -

Originally Posted by omgwtfbyobbq

Jeje, that's a bit naive. The Cavalier, and nearly everything else, is made in Mexico, and only a few GM cars are made in America IIRC. The Corvette, XLR, and a couple SUVs AFAIK. At least the Sonata is built in America and happens to be one of the most reliable cars on the road.

That's one reason why I got a Saturn. USA/UAW built. Maybe not anymore (*sigh*).

That's another reason I like the Pontiac Vibe (for however longer it stays in production). Toyota Corolla/Matrix drive train, but at least UAW built in Fremont California.

If I got a Honda, I would *try* to make sure it is at least assembled in the USA.

CarloSW2

[cfg83]

theclencher -

Originally Posted by theclencher

I go for the best product no matter where it's from. If our boys made it, great. If they opt not to (ie. abandoning efficient vehicle market segments in favor of conspicuous consumption segments) and someone from somewhere else gets the job done, then they get the reward.

That's another reason I'm not eager to get a new car. I'm hoping for a new version of my car to come out of Detroit. I'm *not* even asking for the best product. I'd be happy with an upper-middle of the pack runner.

CarloSW2

[unstable bob]

I'm not even going to get into it with anyone here about "what was built where, and where does the profit go?". I'm here to try and learn how to get the most mpgs outa my car. But just for the record, I know my car was built in Lordstown, Ohio, and the engine was built at Chevy's legendary engine facility in Towanda, NY. So, I don't consider myself "naive," I consider myself well researched.

[jwxr7]

We looked at some new civics saturday, we both liked them. Epa sticker said 30 city- 40 mpg highway . They have a 5 speed auto and were around $18k on the sticker. I hope the 5spd trans doesn't have the problems the 4spds did.

We also looked at some chevy hhrs, a friend has a 2.4 auto and says she is getting mid 30s mpg. They can be had new for $15-18k for lesser equipped models. My wife seems to really like the styling. It is assembled in Mexico , the civic in ohio . I think the civic even lists a slightly higher % parts from US than the chevy.