The so called American cars - that are made in Mexico? Not so great. Read consumer reports on them. Friends don't let friends drive Fords. Or Chevys.

I have an 06 Camry that has never ever had a problem. Another to consider...Honda. ANY Honda. They're excellent cars.

Last Chevy product I owned was a 99 Malibu. I had that car for 2 years and it was in the shop MONTHLY. Got rid of it, bought my 2003 Camry had that 3 years then upgraded to 2006 Camry. I will never go back to Chevy or Ford or Chrysler. Ever.

And my Camry was made in the US in Kentucky!

I have had a great experience with my Ford Escape. I think the key is to have it serviced by the dealer every 5K miles, as I do. I will for sure buy another one when the time comes. I have the service warranty plan, so I never pay a penny for any service - even brakes. Kind of nice.

My wife has a Toyota Prius, and she likes it. However, it seems like we now spend hundreds of dollars on something or other every 5K miles we bring it in for service. I think it's a plot by Toyota service to make money. However, you can never be sure, and the last thing I want is for her to be stranded. So, I fix what they tell me to fix. But, I am not happy with Toyota.

Hondas may be good cars, but I won't get one for one specific reason: My wife and I both have a difficult time getting out of Hondas. Not sure if it's the seats or smaller door openings, but it can be a challenge that we do not experience in any other car.

(02-21-2013 11:52 AM)HuskieFootball Addict Wrote:  The so called American cars - that are made in Mexico? Not so great. Read consumer reports on them. Friends don't let friends drive Fords. Or Chevys.

I have an 06 Camry that has never ever had a problem. Another to consider...Honda. ANY Honda. They're excellent cars.

Last Chevy product I owned was a 99 Malibu. I had that car for 2 years and it was in the shop MONTHLY. Got rid of it, bought my 2003 Camry had that 3 years then upgraded to 2006 Camry. I will never go back to Chevy or Ford or Chrysler. Ever.

And my Camry was made in the US in Kentucky!

Statistics show that ford and gm are nearly as reliable as the average Japanese car... Maybe not the top but close. Toyota, IMO, makes uninspired cars. None other cars are even interesting to me, personally. :). My fiancée and I liked the Mazda CX5.....she like small SUVs.

Have a feeling my next car with be a Chevy Cruze or Ford Focus. I'd like a Fusion or an Avenger, but have a feeling those will be both out of my price range and not good enough on MPG.

(02-21-2013 12:11 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  I have had a great experience with my Ford Escape. I think the key is to have it serviced by the dealer every 5K miles, as I do. I will for sure buy another one when the time comes. I have the service warranty plan, so I never pay a penny for any service - even brakes. Kind of nice.

My wife has a Toyota Prius, and she likes it. However, it seems like we now spend hundreds of dollars on something or other every 5K miles we bring it in for service. I think it's a plot by Toyota service to make money. However, you can never be sure, and the last thing I want is for her to be stranded. So, I fix what they tell me to fix. But, I am not happy with Toyota.

Hondas may be good cars, but I won't get one for one specific reason: My wife and I both have a difficult time getting out of Hondas. Not sure if it's the seats or smaller door openings, but it can be a challenge that we do not experience in any other car.

That's strange you say that about the Toyota service. We have a 2007 Toyota Sienna. It's not a bad car, but the service on it has been very expensive lately. They just said to fix a few issues was going to cost close to $3000. I took it to a family friend and we had it repaired for under $800. It only has 67k miles so I took it in to see how much we could get for a trade-in, and they said only $7000. Because we had been hit twice that needed repairs and it's on our carfax. We are going to keep it for a few more years cause it's not worth the trade-in.
I have a 2010 chevy malibu and it has almost 50k already. No problems and I really like the car. Going to buy a new or almost new Buick Regal, Verrano, Encore or Ford Escape this summer and give the malibu to one of the kids.

I would shop for a Honda product first.

I love my Acura, although it is starting to signs of wear as it approaches 180K miles. Soon, it will be time for the 10 month periodic wallet purge known as scheduled maintenance.

But, hey! All cars cost money. Tits and tires.

I like my 2002 Sonata, have had few problems though I did have to replace an oxygen sensor which went bad before the car hit 50K (and made the car fail emissions). Would like a car with better gas mileage though. The 6-cylinder Sonata doesn't do it, especially after getting 26-33 mpg in a Saturn.

I usually don't like Honda/Toyota styling, too bland. But I haven't looked at the latest models.

(02-22-2013 10:08 AM)Huskie_Jon Wrote:  I love my Acura, although it is starting to signs of wear as it approaches 180K miles.

I have a 1997 Acura 2.2CL with 178,000+ miles.

It it rusting at the rear wheel wells and beneath the hood at the front grill, the seats are ripping, the heater blower motor moans like a whore in heat until it warms up, one of the fuel injectors runs lean so the check engine light is always on, the ABS sensor is broke so only have regular brakes not anti-lock brakes, who knows if the airbags would still deploy in an accident, and the transmission shifts rough from 3rd to 4th when it is really cold.

And for a while it was infested with cockroaches.

I love it. Insurance is $30 a quarter. It gets high 20's MPG, and it was paid off last century. Still runs like a champ. Tracks straight ahead and pulls like a new car. But this may it's final winter.

I almost replaced it with a 2012 Acura TSX Sport Wagon in the fall, but to my bank account's eternal thanks, the front air damn would scrape the slope into my garage when we took it home on the test drive.....

(02-22-2013 02:50 PM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  

(02-22-2013 10:08 AM)Huskie_Jon Wrote:  I love my Acura, although it is starting to signs of wear as it approaches 180K miles.

I have a 1997 Acura 2.2CL with 178,000+ miles.

It it rusting at the rear wheel wells and beneath the hood at the front grill, the seats are ripping, the heater blower motor moans like a whore in heat until it warms up, one of the fuel injectors runs lean so the check engine light is always on, the ABS sensor is broke so only have regular brakes not anti-lock brakes, who knows if the airbags would still deploy in an accident, and the transmission shifts rough from 3rd to 4th when it is really cold.

And for a while it was infested with cockroaches.

I love it. Insurance is $30 a quarter. It gets high 20's MPG, and it was paid off last century. Still runs like a champ. Tracks straight ahead and pulls like a new car. But this may it's final winter.

I almost replaced it with a 2012 Acura TSX Sport Wagon in the fall, but to my bank account's eternal thanks, the front air damn would scrape the slope into my garage when we took it home on the test drive.....

Sounds like my home. The old rusted trailer ain't what she used to be.

Dont wanna spend more than $20k. will buy used one or two yr old car. mazda6 and Altima lead the way

Of all the cars I have owned Fords gave me the mos trouble. Had a 2002 Dodge Durango that was excellent, no issues. Sold it at 135K miles. I currently drive a 2003 Toyota Avalon 201K and not one issue in that time.

What are the opinions on aftermarket rust proofing? Have not purchased a new care in a decade and from my research I see a 50/50 split on this issue.

(02-23-2013 08:42 AM)BobL Wrote:  What are the opinions on aftermarket rust proofing? Have not purchased a new care in a decade and from my research I see a 50/50 split on this issue.

Pretty sure its a scam.

(02-23-2013 08:42 AM)BobL Wrote:  What are the opinions on aftermarket rust proofing? Have not purchased a new care in a decade and from my research I see a 50/50 split on this issue.

My grandpa used to coat the underside of his cars with motor oil to stop the tinworm. Probably not an option these days....

Honda/Acura

I had a 1997 Mazda Protege and had that car for 7 years with no problems except for regular maintenance. Of course, that was back when Mazda had more Japanese-made parts in them. I have no idea if the newer Mazda's are any good. I've only heard bad things about the Mazda RX-8.

Now, i have a 2006 Honda Accord with 50k miles on it. Haven't been able to drive it enough or put enough miles on it to actually make it have any mechanical issues but i hope its like most Honda's and lasts me well into the 200k mile range.

Even though my Accord has barely any mileage on it and is paid off i've been looking at other cars, such as the Lexus IS-series. The new Cadillac ATS has caught my eye too. I've always wanted one of the mid-size SUVs, namely the RAV4 and CRV.

I really like Volkswagen and Audi but they are notorious for having issues. I had a Jetta and that car had so many issues, especially with the electronics.

(03-14-2013 03:44 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  I had a 1997 Mazda Protege and had that car for 7 years with no problems except for regular maintenance. Of course, that was back when Mazda had more Japanese-made parts in them. I have no idea if the newer Mazda's are any good. I've only heard bad things about the Mazda RX-8.

Now, i have a 2006 Honda Accord with 50k miles on it. Haven't been able to drive it enough or put enough miles on it to actually make it have any mechanical issues but i hope its like most Honda's and lasts me well into the 200k mile range.

Even though my Accord has barely any mileage on it and is paid off i've been looking at other cars, such as the Lexus IS-series. The new Cadillac ATS has caught my eye too. I've always wanted one of the mid-size SUVs, namely the RAV4 and CRV.

I really like Volkswagen and Audi but they are notorious for having issues. I had a Jetta and that car had so many issues, especially with the electronics.

A guy who worked with me had an RX-8. He never said he had any problems with it. He recently sold it because he moved to Chile.