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Post by Goosey on Jan 16, 2011 8:25:48 GMT -5
My daughter recently rolled her Ford Escort, passing a car that was going 55, she's just fine...the car is a gonner. Very thankful for that  So here's the thing. She needs good gas miliage, was getting 28-32, and she needs it soon with a $6000 total budget. We found a very nice, no rust, new tires, bells and whistles Buick LeSabre which , is bigger than she wants, but everyone keeps saying gets good gas miliage ( fuel economy.gov has varying results there ) for $4500 She wants to travel to look at a Pontiac Sunfire, the only one we found local is $500 over budget and won't move on that, and to me the outside looks great, inside looks cheap, but it really does get good gas miliage...we are short on time, classes start like now... Any of you car guys have suggestions or opinians here? |
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Post by shakerdriver on Jan 16, 2011 9:11:48 GMT -5
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Post by shakerdriver on Jan 16, 2011 9:28:23 GMT -5
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Post by shakerdriver on Jan 16, 2011 9:34:02 GMT -5
and on a side note, unless your looking at an 04 or newer sunfire i'd steer clear of them. they were having some kinda head gasket issues up till then.
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Post by stepthrutuner on Jan 16, 2011 9:38:54 GMT -5
Insurance on the LeSabre would be less. I would check out those differences and weigh that against her predicted annual use of gasoline the price of which will will probably fall between $3.50 and $4.50 a gallon over the next two years.
The Pontiac Vibe which is the same as a Toyota Matrix is a very useful package for a college student. You might also check into a Chevorlet Prism which is the same as a Toyota Corolla. Both are recommended by Consumer's Union.
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Post by Goosey on Jan 16, 2011 15:34:48 GMT -5
Thanks guys, We heard the same for the Neons, the head gasket thing, too bad  I'll let her know that. I'll look into those other cars and see what she says. LOL, if we had our way the LeSabre would be perfect. Very clean, new tires, solid car. Visualize your kid rolling in a granny car, or a great little economy car :stars: She be a stubborn one. |
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Post by stepthrutuner on Jan 22, 2011 20:21:56 GMT -5
Goosey, how close are ya'll to finding that car?
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Post by Goosey on Jan 23, 2011 8:11:42 GMT -5
She settled with the Buick LeSabre for $4500. Not a great gas car, but very nice. She named it Gertrude.
It would have been nice to have more time to look out of town, but her classes started last monday, and she's back to work today.
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Post by stepthrutuner on Jan 23, 2011 9:03:05 GMT -5
She'll get probably 3-4 mpg less than a Nissan, etc. but if she doesn't put that many miles on a car it won't make a lot of difference. Still, it is a good car and should prove reliable and pretty much trouble free. At least her Mom has a little peace of mind. Cute name, Gertrude. Doesn't just about everybody have a Great Aunt named Gertrude? ;D
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Post by shakerdriver on Jan 23, 2011 9:59:55 GMT -5
Well I'm glad she got something reliable Goosey. My dad and step-mom have a 97 lesabre that has 347,000 miles on it and its still running trouble free and strong. And all they've had to do to it is regular maintenance, change the tranny fluid every 50,000miles and i just put a new alternator on it about a year ago. Those GM 3.8 v6's are hard to beat. I wish her the same good fortune with hers.
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Post by 90GTVert on Jan 23, 2011 10:05:18 GMT -5
347,000... wow! The 3.8 in my 97 Firebird was smoking and low on power at 120,000 miles. I guess tell your daughter to try not to drive everywhere bouncing off the speed governor. lol Even through that, it was reliable as could be till the internals just couldn't take any more abuse.
Glad she found a good car. There's something to be said for a nice comfy car at any age.
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Post by Goosey on Jan 23, 2011 20:48:58 GMT -5
LOL, she'd like the term "comfy" I hope it runs that well. 90,000 , new tires, one owner trade in. Dark grey, No rust, and some really cool fake wood trim on the inside, LOL. Yes Mom has some peace of mind. She's going to let the insurance company hook up a tracker thing to check her driving, hope to reduce her rate (they said it won't make it higher). Somehow I'm not sure how that's gonna go Really, I think she feels safer in the bigger car too. She had a pretty good scare. |
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Post by 90GTVert on Jan 23, 2011 23:12:14 GMT -5
Never heard of the insurance companies doing anything like that before. If it is just for a short period of time it wouldn't be too hard to deal with.
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Post by Goosey on Jan 24, 2011 18:14:50 GMT -5
It's a thing called a "snap shot" that plugs into the diagnostic plug of your car, send back in 6 months, up to 30% discount on full coverage. Keeps track of lane changes and fast stops etc., looking for agressive driving? Doesn't watch speed as it doesn't track geographicaly.
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Post by stepthrutuner on Jan 24, 2011 19:04:05 GMT -5
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I'll let her know that. I'll look into those other cars and see what she says. LOL, if we had our way the LeSabre would be perfect. Very clean, new tires, solid car. Visualize your kid rolling in a granny car, or a great little economy car :stars: She be a stubborn one.
