Looking for a new car

[PATR8]

Nope no mass transit, and no definate location, I will be touring different units all over the state.

Maybe cheap is the way to go, If I could find a diesel VW I would probably be all over it

 

[eddyramrod]

Personal view: I did my biggest ever commute for 18 months in 2006/7, 27 miles going (4am) and anybody's guess coming home, any time between 3pm and 7pm! I had to cross two big towns (by UK standards) plus the space in between. Many times I would skirt the town I was leaving in the afternoon by taking the motorway (think freeway) which made the trip longer, but generally less stressed. My chariot of choice was a <span style="font-weight: bold">1987 Volvo 740 GLE auto station wagon</span>. 2.3 litres and fuel injected, so no shortage of power, and even with nearly 200,000 on the clock it would still happily cruise at... well I'd rather not say, but fortunately I didn't overtake any copcars! At 4am in the depths of winter it started every time (and those heated seats were bliss...) and took me to work smoothly and effortlessly, and in the summer I could wind back the sunroof for fresh air. If I took a chance on going through the town to get home, rather than round it, the Volvo was an excellent defensive weapon. It's usually the biggest and toughest thing on a British road, so in the fight for traffic lanes, who's going to argue? I'd have another, like a shot. It's absolutely the perfect tool for such work. I had two American autos during this period, both early-90s FWD V6s, and while they ate the journey I always felt the Volvo was ideal. Although it was nice to ride through Preston at 4.30am in the summer with the leBaron's roof down!

If my experience helps you at all, then my job is done.

 

[PATR8]

I was looking at the C30 and the S40. I really like the C 30 but even used they fall outside what I was looking to pay and the warranty is not close to matching the others. I have become familiar with Volvo's, maybe I need to look at some cheaper used ones

 

[KSIS]

Think about the winter driving in that Crossfire. I would look towards the Honda or Nissan line. Buy now sell later for the same price.

 

[PATR8]

I do have my truck for the winter driving. I have eliminated the Mustang and Kia for price reasons, the Crossfire is now $13,900 and is still in the running.

I am looking at a s40 (1.9 liter turbo auto ) 68,000 miles $6800
Saab 93 (2 liter turbo) 68,000 miles $6,800
V70 2.4 liter 78,000 $5,995

I am not familiar with Saabs at all, everyone selling them seems to think they are good for a million miles at least, opinions?

 

[philman]

The only problems I have heard about with the 4 cylinder engines happen when the owner neglects regular maintenance and uses the wrong oil or coolant. I like the 9-5 better than the 9-3 (more room inside).

 

[PATR8]

Well I think I have sat and looked it over and studied it 10 different ways and after talking to my son since he will be inheriting the car after my tour, we have gone thru each car and came up with the following

Crossfire: Two seats, no room inside. As he points out it would kill his insurance and when he goes back to school he would have no where to put stuff

Mustang: see the insurance and cost

Kia Forte Koup: amazingly, the insurance is more than the mustang

so it comes to the Saab or Volvo.

I found a nice V70 R, as he points out, lots of room.

SO we are on a mission over the next 30 days to find a V70 under 8000 asn under 80,000 miles (I really want the R version)

 

[drooartz]

Sounds like a well reasoned decision. Good luck on your hunt.

 

[texas_bugeye]

I drive 200 to 300 aleast a week I drive a 07 VW Jetta Wolfsburg I cant recomend it enough comfortable ok millage and fun as heck to drive.
I rented every car you can imagine for about 6 months prior to buying the little white wolf nothing compares to it for the dollar. 2.5l so it will get up and go and so nice on the twistys.the seats are firm some say to firm but I like the support and they just hit correct for long hauls not much back seat but a massive trunk is the payback. not a boring box to drive has good road feel and the torque steer is non existant.The germans must have put alot of thought in to its setup its relly good. Try one out.

 

[PATR8]

my daughter has a Jetta (Penelope). I like it enough but my son is destine to inherit this ride to replace his Volvo 240 and he would not have any of that. I was looking at diesel Jetta/Golfs but they are very high priced for high milage cars

 

[TRDejaVu]

The only problems I have heard about with the 4 cylinder engines happen when the owner neglects regular maintenance and uses the wrong oil or coolant. I like the 9-5 better than the 9-3 (more room inside).

+1 on the 9-5; my Aero is awesome. I agree on the oil issue. Pre 2004 cars are prone to sludge issues (like a lot of modern cars). On these it is due to the PCV setup that was fixed in 04.

 

[PATR8]

Well we have eliminated the Crossfire, the ride would have killed my back in the year I had to drive it. The engine and drive line were sweet, the clutch was.... different. I drove it for two days and there is so limited interior room the seats do not even recline enough for me to enjoy.

We looked at the 2011 Mustang V6 but have found a very sweet 2008 with 7000 miles on for 13000 (asking, probably drop a few hundred)

We are looking at a Saab 9-5 Areo as suggested, I found one with 30,000 on the clock for 16000. It offers the best milage. I very muck like the looks and I really like the ride of the 9-3 so if it close to that..

The Volvo is out, we decided as much as they make sense, he wants to have a little sportier car if he has to pay insurance on it