Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

2. Except on pricing. I bet that you could get a killer deal on a Saab, probably a ridiculous deal if you could find an X type lazing around a dealer's lot, and probably not nearly as good of a deal on an Audi. That's based on the fact that Saab is a GM product, Jaguar was a Ford and is not making the X type any more, and Audi is going to be killed by the strong Euro.

The Saab probably will have the biggest trunk of all of them.

Which models were you considering?

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

I can't help but wonder why Lexus, Infiniti and BMW aren't on the list. I wouldn't by a Saab or a Jag under he best of circumstances. Audi I could do, but I think you do just about as well with a VW (some of which I like).

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

I want to buy slightly used. I'm not opposed to any of those brands, but the Infiniti that I like is ugly with 4 doors, the Lexi seem to be out of my price range, and well, I don't know... I haven't looked at BMWs. But I will now.

I'd love to wait to get one of the new VW diesels that are coming out, but they don't seem to be in dealers yet, and I have to buy a car in the next 4 weeks or so.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

What do you want in a car? What do you need it to do?

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

Can you do a longer-term rental to bridge you until the car you want is available?

I'd have to say I'm not a fan of the new BMW 3-series sedans. the styling a step back from the previous generation.

If I were choosing, I'd go audi or saab. I really like the older jaguar styling, but the new ones (not the expensive XK(?) series) look like a rebadged ford taurus. The A6 when I drove it a couple of years ago seemed really nice, good performance, nice interior. The A4 struck me as a little small, but otherwise fun to drive (didn't try the smallest engine one though). I'm not wild about saabs, but maybe AdL will check in here. They seem to have their fans.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

Vacuum the floor, I believe.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

Okay, you're good at this, so here's what I want.

4 doors
reasonably good gas mileage
reasonably attractive
reasonably fun to drive
Not hugely expensive (I'd prefer to spend less then 20k, if it all possible)

My fiance will be working from home, so he's getting an SUV (we need one. We have 4 big dogs). So I have a little latitude in what I buy.

I've owned a Saab 9-3 and an Audi A-6. I had good experiences with both. The Jags strike me as ridiculously sexy, and I found a 2005 with 7500 miles for about 19k.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

I am currently driving my mom's car while she is away for the summer. She'll be back in time for Rosh Hashana, so I have until whenver that is (end of September, this year, I believe).

What I really want is a 1973 Karman Ghia that'll run like a brand new Lexus. Yes, I know this is unpossible and also unpractical.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

Audi TT?

eta: with a trailer. Along these lines.

http://i21.ebayimg.com/01/i/000/ea/76/395f_1.JPG

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

Great, now I have a better sense of what to look for.

Here are some thoughts. For $20,000, to get a BMW 3 series or bigger, an Audi A4 or bigger, or a Mercedes C class or bigger, you're going to get something with 40,000 miles or more, on the average. (This is based on a quick search that I did on cars.com.) I'd recommend that you stay away from cars with that many miles, unless you really are interested in driving something with that brand.

Other good options would be:

1) Used Audi A3 (there's one near you for sale with ~19,000 miles for just under $20,000;

2) Used Jag S-Type 3.0 (21k mi., $20k);

3) New Chevy Malibu (based on assumption that you could get a big discount) (or used, if you can find an '08 or later);

4) New Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan (based on assumption that you could get a big discount);

5) Used Nissan Altima;

6) New/used Mazda 3;

7) Used Mazda 6;

8) Used Cadillac CTS (actually saw a listing at Carmax for $21k and 13k miles);

9) Used Nissan Maxima; or

10) Used Saab 9-3.

Overall, keep in mind a couple of basic points. When looking at a used car:

A) Lower miles generally is better than higher. I'd suggest keeping the number of miles under 30,000, if possible.

B) The higher the purchase price when new, the less you'll get for the same price when used compared to something that sold for less when new (except for some brands that suffer a lot of depreciation).

C) Bigger and heavier probably means lower fuel economy than smaller and lighter.

Also, which model Jag did you find? The X type?

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

I know the feeling. I'm looking for a Fiat 124 that runs like a Corolla -- or at all -- and seats six.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...4_sp_v_sst.jpg

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

Most of those are really ugly, and so out of the question. I'm also (in case you didn't know) a little bit of a snob... so that rules out a bunch of the others.

The local Audi dealer has about 15 A4s (2005s) with less than 25,00 miles for 20k-22k. The local Saab dealer has about the same number of 9-3s with the same amount of miles for under 20k.

Here's the Jag. http://www.autonation.com/index.cfm?...ntorytype=Used

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

So much for my attempt to shop local. Those sound like good deals. The Jag sounds great, at under 7,500 miles. Make sure that you run a Carfax report on it, just to make sure that it's as good of a deal as it seems. I think that's probably the best choice for you - it has the label, it is different, I like how it looks, and with that low mileage, it will be like new.

If you compare the Saabs versus Audis, you probably could get more for your money. You'll also get a bigger trunk and likely more room (across) in the backseat, if you ever put three people back there. Or, you know, need to spread out there, for any reason.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

Question: Why do you prefer the Jag S-Type to the X-Type?

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

I hadn't seen any listings for the X type, over the S type. But beyond that, the S type is bigger and fancier, and most car snobs would consider it to be more of a true Jaguar. The X type was a revised Ford Mondeo (what had been sold here for a few years as the Ford Contour). To my eye, though, it looks like a baby XJ sedan. The S type, by contrast, was not a revised Ford platform, if I recall correctly. It also has the look of Jag sedans from the 60s.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

Actually, I disagree.

I am very leary of buying a really new used car. Normally people keep a good car for a while. Typically, 3 years or so. They get rid of cars quickly if the cars have been wrecked or are lemons. So when I see a 2007 for sale with 7k miles I am leary.

My 4runner had the door knocked off and that never showed up on Car fax. Neither did the fact that the GEICO body shop robbed parts out of my car.

Other things to watch:

Car titles issued in multiple states. lost titles. Also rollbacks that don't show up on carfax. If you buy a car with 47k miles drive it to 90k and say you lost the title, if you rolled the car back to 30k that would show up as a roll back but if you rolled it back to 48k it wouldn't.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

Fair point. I guess you never know if a new car would need something crazy like a new engine. But, on the other hand, it might be that the car was just a loaner, or that the people decided that they didn't like it or needed something else. My mother in law has bought a couple of er, Lexi, that way, and has had great results.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

OTOH I have had good luck with loaners and rentals.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

They are usually leased or fleet vehicle. Which is less than desirable too, but doesn't necessarily mean it is a lemon.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

I actually assumed, based on where I live, that the prior lessee had departed God's Waiting Room for well, God.

Carfax shows that car clean.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

If you test it out, make sure that it can go over 35mph. And that the blinker shuts off.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

Fleet vehicle with 7k miles?

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

That's possible.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

Not in actual response to this post, but generally to the thread, I saw on the local news today that SAAB is lowest in reliability according to the latest JD Power. Which makes me sad because they are both cute and cheap and they are (were?) in the running for my next vehicle, whenever I may need one. Which hopefully will not be soon.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

I always assumed the one Jag at every Hertz location spent a lot of its lifepan in the covered area of the car lot, as a way of showing the work-a-day stiffs like me that swells also rent at Hertz. I further assumed that it was standing by for the day the desk ran out of Ford Five Hundreds and when the pimp convention was in town. So 7,000 miles didn't seem out of the question -- pimps don't drive to the Keys. That's tourist shit.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

I leased a Saab as my first car after law school. I LOVED IT. Only had one major mechanical issue, and whenever you take the car to the Saab dealer, they give you a Saab to drive around in.

I wish I did not need a new vehicle. I miss my Jeep.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

IMHO Saab really blew it in terms of brand identity. The could have taken over the AWD luxury sport sedan market in the late '90s, and focused their US marketing efforts on the upper Midwest and Northeast. They could have become "Volvo for driving enthusiasts," "Subaru for the badge-conscious" and "Price-sensitive Audi Quattro" all rolled into one.

Going head-to-head with a 3-series with nothing to distinguish you but characteristic quirkiness is marketplace suicide. GM has mismanaged this badge.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

I assumed it merely meant that Ford was having as much difficult selling Jags as it was all of its other cars that it sent to Hertz to keep the sales figures up.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

My first car was a Saab. I cried when my father had the engine replaced as a "present" to me. I had hoped that the thrown-rod-in-the-middle-of-a-highway incident meant that I never had to see it again.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

GM has mismanaged every badge.

Re: So, when your car is totalled
 

Except the glorious Oldsmobile badge.

Great line from Sarah Connor Chronicles
 

John, if you're gonna be a hero, you gotta learn how to drive stick.

Re: Great line from Sarah Connor Chronicles
 

I have consistently refused to date any woman who could not drive stick. Along with the other items on my "must have" list, it has served me well. FBetties, consider yourselves admonished.

Re: Great line from Sarah Connor Chronicles
 

Translation: mother bathed me twice a week until I was eleven.

Re: Great line from Sarah Connor Chronicles
 

I taught my wife. Now she says that she won't go back to an automatic.

Re: Great line from Sarah Connor Chronicles
 

Translation: My wife says "suck it, NFH."

Re: Great line from Sarah Connor Chronicles
 

I used to feel that way, until I moved to LA and had to deal with traffic.

I am capable of driving a stick. If I am driving a sports car, I want a stick.

But most of the time, I am perfectly happy to drive an automatic.

AoN, I still haven't bought a new car.

Re: Great line from Sarah Connor Chronicles
 

If I had another car to use for non-commuting time, I probably would get used to having an automatic for commuting. But I don't really mind a stick shift in traffic, and for nine months of the year, my commute is all traffic, unless I leave the office late. As I only have one car that I drive, I'd rather have a stick shift full time than give it up. I've had an automatic at times as my only car, and I hated it.

Why still no new car?

Re: Great line from Sarah Connor Chronicles
 

Lazy, mostly.

And I really like driving my mom's Lexus and I keep hoping she'll just give it to me.

Re: Great line from Sarah Connor Chronicles
 

Where are you? Does your traffic mean taking three green/yellow/red cycles just to make it through a light?

Because that kills me. Stuck in traffic that lets you move two or three car lengths forward for each light cycle, and continuing that for an hour, is physically painful with a manual. Happily I usually only got stuck in traffic like that for about 20 or 30 min at a time because I live relatively close to work and generally refuse to drive more than 5 miles in any direction unless it's a weekend or after 8 pm or so.

The new car is a hybrid and doesn't come in stick (I don't think any hybrids do) so it's a moot point for me. I always had stick until that car.

Obviously, I feel defensive. But LA traffic really is different (in a bad way) from anywhere else I've lived. I have to go down to Redondo for dinner in a few weeks on a Tuesday and I am dreading it.