Thinking of trading in the 350Z...

Blitzkrieg said:
GM = Shite quality to the nth degree.
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North American cars have improved substantially in the last number of years. While not up to Japanese levels the easily top European autos.
 
Sxotty said:
Digi, I can attest that if you drive the STi or the regular WRX you will love it, but it screams give me a ticket, so does your Z though. The legacy looks much more sedate, but will still be pretty darn fast. I am glad to hear you like manuals.
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Well, another reason I sort of won't mind seeing the Z go is that I have already had my license suspended again... :rolleyes: (I had my license suspended from 1985-1996 previously, DUI charge)

It's only for an outstanding $100 ticket though this time, so no biggy and I can get it back easily as soon as I get the time to jump thru all the hoops, but I don't want a car that screams "COP BAIT!!!!" so much this time. :???:

nelg said:
North American cars have improved substantially in the last number of years. While not up to Japanese levels the easily top European autos.
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We promised ourselves that this time we would at least stop in at a GM/Chevy dealer and give them a chance to sell us something, but most of the vehicles we like there don't come in manual. (That's a big problem with most american made cars anymore, manual is a biatch to find)

But with all their financial troubles lately we figure they should be rather desperate to sell cars so we could probably find a good deal, we'll see.

I really like the Mazda Speed6. The touring model has all the options I want, (leather, power heated seats & mirrors, moonroof), and is still in our pricerange. It looks nice without being really flashy, and it looks like it's fun to drive and very safe. :)
 
Ford vehicles are more reliable than GMCs though, last I checked GMCs (I mean chevy, gm, cadallic, etc..) had the highest rate of defects of any manufacturer still. Ford was actually getting quite close to Japanese Manufacturer levels.

BTW ford own 33.4% of mazda, so you are kinda buying an american brand :p
 
Sxotty said:
Ford vehicles are more reliable than GMCs though, last I checked GMCs (I mean chevy, gm, cadallic, etc..) had the highest rate of defects of any manufacturer still. Ford was actually getting quite close to Japanese Manufacturer levels.

BTW ford own 33.4% of mazda, so you are kinda buying an american brand :p
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Oh, then we can scratch Mazda off the list. Me and my wife both hate Fords with a passion based on our experiences.
 
My wife just got up a few minutes ago and after inhaling her first cup-o-joe I asked where she was at on the car thing. Right now for her it's either an Xterra or a 4Runner.

I'm off to compare, and I've been informed that we're doing a family shopping trip to Jewel since pub burgers are on sale 10 for $10. Limit 1, so if we bring the whole family we can get 40... ;)
 
For what its worth, I owned a '93 mazda Mx6. I loved to drive the car, but its reliability was the pits. It left me stranded twice with blown bits on the pully system.

I know some folks that have new Mazda's at work and they're not the happiest of campers. Though I know some folks that are happy. You get more car for your money at mazda for a reason, is what I say.

Same for Subaru, but I think the reason is (on the cars other than the new Outback and Legacy) the interior is cheap. For the new Outback and Legacy, I think its because they've got an image problem.

And yes, I find the Legacy Sedan more attractive than the wagon, but I can still beat 95% of the cars on the road to 60. ;)
 
Well, we're probably gonna hold off on buying it for a week or two and wait for some of the end-o-the-year specials.

We'll see what develops, knowing my wife after saying that she'll go out and buy one this afternoon. :rolleyes:
 
If you can live with an automatic transmission the new Saturn View is nice. It has a Honda V6 and is pretty quick.
desktop2_800.jpg
 
Ford reaching Jap levels of quality? Maybe mitsubishi quality levels(more like misti diesel quality levels rofl), but certainly not anywhere near Toyota or Honda.
Ford and GM based cars still have the highest rate of breakdowns and defects in my country, above all other brands including the euros.

Digi dont write off Mazda quite yet. Even though Ford owns a large chunk and they used the same platform for many cars. Mazda started using its own for the Mazda6, Mazda3 etc series. So even tho Fords ownership of them is higher than ever, Mazdas management, design, style, direction, everything seems to be more independent of Ford than ever. Mazda have gotten alot better since they seemed to go solo. Russ is right on quality, though I still have heard it has improved over since going solo, tho still not Honda/Toyota levels.

The Mitsubishi Airtrek could be for you too.
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.co.nz/products/airtrek/
The 2.0 AWD turbo model is damn quick and has good handling.
 
digitalwanderer said:
Oh, then we can scratch Mazda off the list. Me and my wife both hate Fords with a passion based on our experiences.
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So.... if someone were to offer you, say, an Aston Martin DB9 you'd say "no"?
 
The new Mazdas are great cars. I think if you get the regular scheduled maintenance on them, they'd last a long time. Toyota seems to have quality problems now more than before with lots of recalls, though they're still up there.
 
The Mazdas are nice cars, but not very strong. A friend of mine had a last generation one, and after a hailstorm the roof was dented. And I think the US hailstorms are more serious than the ones over here.

That might have been an exception, but I think Russ is right.
 
DiGuru said:
The Mazdas are nice cars, but not very strong. A friend of mine had a last generation one, and after a hailstorm the roof was dented. And I think the US hailstorms are more serious than the ones over here.

That might have been an exception, but I think Russ is right.
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In the US hailstorms will shred a convertible top so I think the only cars that will survive that kind of abuse are military grade Hummers.
 
PC-Engine said:
I think the only cars that will survive that kind of abuse are military grade Hummers.
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Ugh, my wife was actually considering one of those behemoths....but I did something weird and put my foot down and nixxed it.

I don't want a vehicle that takes up an entire parking space, it just is un-neccessary and IMHO total overkill for just silly reasons.

Hummers are nice for what they're intended, but day to day commuting in an urban environment is NOT what they were intended for. :???:
 
Right now I'm leaning towards the Xterra or trying to talk my wife into an Altima SE-R. I know the Altima isn't all-wheel drive, but I loved our '93 and think it would make a great car for us. :)
 
There aren't very many Subarus on the road around here, but they get the "most satisfactory / most durable" award by the public here most of the years, with Toyota often coming second. The most popular cars (status, brand and / or sales) aren't even in the top 5 most of the time.

Interesting, isn't it? Marketing and looks do seem to work as advertized. ;-)
 
DiGuru said:
The Mazdas are nice cars, but not very strong. A friend of mine had a last generation one, and after a hailstorm the roof was dented. And I think the US hailstorms are more serious than the ones over here.

That might have been an exception, but I think Russ is right.
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umm what car WONT get dinged up in a hailstorm? My benz has several dings on the trunk lid and a few on the roof (bloody wind blew the hail in even though it was covered). Of course, getting it fixed is kind of an issue because every body shop immediately tripples the price of anything when they see that star.
 
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