Good Car Discussion Sites?

Re: Good Car Discussion Sites?



Any particular car you want to know about?

Not really, that's part of the problem. The current crop is just so huge.

Looking for a passenger car, a truck, van, or what exactly?

My brother is an auto wholesaler who buys used cars from dealers in the D.C. region and sells them at the big auctions at Fredericksburg Va. and Manheim Pa. I help him move cars around occasionally and from time to time I get to drive pretty much everything you'd normally ever see on the road. You also get a pretty good idea of how well different companies build cars doing that sort of thing.

Compact passenger car, new or newer used, such as Honda Civic, Ford Focus, Mini-Cooper, even used BMW 3-series. Not a fan of GM cars. As far as ricers go, I prefer Honda/Acura.

Something in the $15K range.

I did find a site that is pretty useful for comparing cars. It is

nadaguides dot com

You can compare up to four cars at once.

GMs cars are pretty good these days; the company's a basket case. Don't know what's gonna happen.

The best little general purpose cars sold in America over the last 20 years are the Hondas, particularly the Accord. I'm constantly driving those with upwards of 150K miles on them and still tight as a drum. The Civics of the early 90s were underpowered; they started putting real engines in them around 97. I like the Accord better. The Accord is fast, even with the 4 clindar engine, tall friendly and responsive and has the best visibility of any car.

I'd avoid German cars at this point in time.

Why avoid German cars? Exchange rate?

I'm not sure what to do. I have a older BMW that could work as a car for my daughter next year, but it's expensive to fix, and needs some work. Plus it has no airbags. I like driving it and don't mind continuing to do so. I was thinking of getting something fairly cheap and reliable to drive for the next year and maybe work on the bimmer in the meantime. Then decide which car to give up to the kid. I hate crappy, ugly cars though, and am a lousy mechanic, so something newer/certified/unbreakable is best.

I'm somewhat surprised at the lack of responses, but I'm not sure why.

In my experience model-specific forums are the ticket and tend to be better than all-inclusive sites.

VW
cjhsa, gungasnake

I take issue with your opinon on VWs. I currenty drive a 1996 Passat TDI - a turbo diesel. Bought it new, Has 252,000 miles on it. Burns no oil. Has never been overhauled and no transmission problems. It's a 5 speed stick. Has the original clutch, but that needs to be done. Body is in real good shape. No visible rust - remarkable in a cold climate with much salt on the roads. Interior very good.
But the most impressive thing about it? It was left outdoors all winter. One night, the temperature went down to 15 below zero. That magnificent machine started up. Took three tries, but it did start. And, it still gets 45 mpg driving 80 mph.This is not my first diesel. I put 280,000 on a 1986 non-turbo Jetta TDI(diesel). I use 5-30 weight oil year round in all my cars. The temp. here ranges from below zero to the 90's,

American cars? Sure. How about a 1989 Dodge Grand Caravan six cylinder automatic. Towed a 16 ft 4-Winns boat for ten years. Then, used it as a moving van as the kids went through college. We let the teenagers use the van. It lasted for 240,000 miles. I gave it to my daughter and her husband. It fell apart within two weeks. The point is, I've driven American and foreign cars (Honda Civic, a 1965 Porsche 356SC, to name a couple) and have had good luck with them.

We bought a new 2005 Chrysler Pacifica. Bought it about a year ago and have put 40,000 miles on it. It is a real joy to point the car and have it do what you told it to do. It is amazing how flat it stays in curves. It's quiet and a great retirement car.

Amongst American cars, the ones I like best are the small Chrysler cars i.e. the Neon and Stratus. Those cars are extremely tall friendly, fast, economical, and responsive. Neons prior to 99 models had to have headgaskets replaced around 85K miles but had no other notable problems. Used Neons can be bought cheaply and it's often possible to buy one of the 96 - 98 models and immediately put the new headgasket in it and change the water pump and timing belt altogether for less than $2000 or thereabouts, and you'd be set for forever on very little money.

The automatic transmission problems common to many Chrysler models ended in 99 as I've heard it and the newer ones should have Mercedes transmissions which are basically bulletproof. Neons avoided automatic transmission problems generally by lacking the torque to really hurt the older automatic transmissions. The 5-speeds manuals have no problems.

I agree with Craven that the model specific sites see more traffic. But then you get two guys arguing about the 289 vs. the 302 for hours... Sort of like the "Mustang vs. Camaro" thread that the good Mr. CDK started here.

OK, I went and "built" a Neon. In order to get a rear deck spoiler, you have to order the $1900 "tuner" package. Plus, the $2500 cash allowance is only for buyers who finance.

This is a $13,000 car...I'm not a kid....

This is what makes the Mini Cooper so attractive. Everything is an option, with millions of combinations possible. You don't have to buy the dorky gold plated tailpipe in order to get the spoiler.

Then why would you want a rear deck spoiler on a car?

I mean, if you have to have one, there's always the Neon SRT4 for around $20K which will blow the doors off pretty much anything and still has a great deal more usable space than anything else near the same performance category and is still a more usable car.

Why? Because I like the look, at least in this case, as it's a little boring without it. I'm no fan of WRX's with the St. Louis arch in back though.

As I said, I'm looking for a new(er) car I can let my daughter (and then her sister) drive. it isn't really for me (only temporarily). If I were buying a Neon for myself then sure, I'd get the SRT4, but Neon's aren't really my style (see avatar).

Are you a AAA member, cj?
I used the CAA site to compare a whack o cars when I needed to replace my 14 year old Civic. Ended up with a 3 year old Civic based on all the comparisons I was interested in.

Yes I am, didn't occur to me. I'll give it a try! Thanks Agnes!

My pleasure.

Finding the right new to you car is always a challenge.

cjhsa, "The current crop is just so huge."

Reminded me of the time that American cars had engines that were straight 4s , straight 6s, straight 8s and V8s.
All these engines were 4-cycle and all were mounted in the front. All of these cars had rear wheel drive. All were water cooled. The European cars being imported, had all of the choices above.
But, in addition, you could get:

2 cylinder, rear engine, rear wheel drive, air cooled (Maaco)

2 cylinder, flat, opposed, front mounted, front wheel drive, air cooled? (Dyna Panhard. I believe the body was all aluminum)

3 cylinder, two cycle, front engine, front wheel drive) water cooled (but no water pump - water cooled by self-circulation) , front wheel drive. (DKW, SAAB)

4 cylinders, flat , rear mounted, flat, air cooled, rear wheel drive. (Volkswagen, Renault, etc.)

Plus, you could get a Mercedes or Peugeot diesel.