Need help with car decision

Ya, no clue on insurance. Red is too flashy for me in more ways than just the ticket thing. I prefer to be more subtle with my vehicle. I drive my Miata because I love my car... fun to drive.. not to show it off to others.

EDIT: I still come to my car after nearly 7 years of owning it and think how lucky I am to drive such a cool looking, fun-driving car.

insurance will not be based on color in any way.

Quote:

Originally posted by Junior61205

Yeah Ive heard that, but I really dont think they should base the insurance rates on color, thats just stupid

Yeah, my faith to america is gone if that's true.

In Finland the insurance and tax goes with engine size, year, original price and how rare it is. So it comes MUCH cheaper to drive with 80's Toyota than a new car. Yeah, I know it's fucked up.

Quote:

Originally posted by VeraLynn

Ya, no clue on insurance. Red is too flashy for me in more ways than just the ticket thing. I prefer to be more subtle with my vehicle. I drive my Miata because I love my car... fun to drive.. not to show it off to others.

EDIT: I still come to my car after nearly 7 years of owning it and think how lucky I am to drive such a cool looking, fun-driving car.

Yeah I just got tired of my truck, want a car now for a change and I've always liked those two cars, so im in a predicament there, ill probably get the grand am though because it gets 25 mpg in city and 33 on highway, right now with my truck im getting 18 in city and 22 on highway, its ridiculous

same way here Ascaris, except rarety doesn't have much to do with it, except putting antique plates on them etc....

Finland is probably the only country to tax hybrid cars more than regular car. Hybrid car has 2 engines, so they give you double tax! In other european country you can have tax reliefs because it's more nature friendly. Awesome.

Quote:

Originally posted by Ascaris

Finland is probably the only country to tax hybrid cars more than regular car. Hybrid car has 2 engines, so they give you double tax! In other european country you can have tax reliefs because it's more nature friendly. Awesome.

I haven't seen too many hybrid cars here in the U.S, dont know about anyone else though

Eeek! I wouldn't buy either of those with that much mileage on them.

The stratus is a complete POS, dodge/chryslers in those years are notorious for having transmission failures, and if you're going to buy a 4-cylinder car, why not go with an import?

Honestly your best bet in terms of cost, reliability and fuel economy would be a used honda/toyota. They can be had for a very reasonable price and will last you a lot longer than either of those two.

A quick opinion from a mechanic.

Grand AM....Junk...I have not seen too many of them hold up and be worth anything past 100,000 mi. All types of problems... a good note...since it's the 4 banger you wont have the intake leak all the 3.x cars have with coolant... The bad news...get the coolant flushed to the GREEN ASAP...seen way too many GM's cooling systems clogged from dex cool....

Stratus....Junk also....I have not seen many Chrysler's hold up ever....They seem to have more problems than any other car company...trans issues, electrical issues, hell even engine issuses.... A good note....the car is not yours yet.... A bad note...on the V6 models, the flex pipe is also part of the catalytic converters, when the flex pipe goes and it will, the pipe is very expensive and sometimes impossible to find.

overall i would recommend a toyota or honda...I have seen them in the shop the least for problems....mostly they come in for maint. maybe an alternator or something simple like a battery...but very rare to get anything more...if so then the owners really beat on the car and don't take car of it at all....

As far as insurance...I do not know...it really depends on ur company...i think they may cost more, just because they stand out more to cops...but a fact...i do not know.

the stick...see if the clutcch has been replaced...if it hasn't...run fast and run hard....anything else?

Quote:

Originally posted by Junior61205

I haven't seen too many hybrid cars here in the U.S, dont know about anyone else though

I thought San Fransisco has lots of hybrid cars. I've seen the south park episode about smugs.

we have the hybrids, flex fuel..ethanol etc...

Quote:

Originally posted by ozracn2

A quick opinion from a mechanic.

Grand AM....Junk...I have not seen too many of them hold up and be worth anything past 100,000 mi. All types of problems... a good note...since it's the 4 banger you wont have the intake leak all the 3.x cars have with coolant... The bad news...get the coolant flushed to the GREEN ASAP...seen way too many GM's cooling systems clogged from dex cool....

Stratus....Junk also....I have not seen many Chrysler's hold up ever....They seem to have more problems than any other car company...trans issues, electrical issues, hell even engine issuses.... A good note....the car is not yours yet.... A bad note...on the V6 models, the flex pipe is also part of the catalytic converters, when the flex pipe goes and it will, the pipe is very expensive and sometimes impossible to find.

overall i would recommend a toyota or honda...I have seen them in the shop the least for problems....mostly they come in for maint. maybe an alternator or something simple like a battery...but very rare to get anything more...if so then the owners really beat on the car and don't take car of it at all....

As far as insurance...I do not know...it really depends on ur company...i think they may cost more, just because they stand out more to cops...but a fact...i do not know.

the stick...see if the clutcch has been replaced...if it hasn't...run fast and run hard....anything else?

I would go imported, but parts cost too much rather than american made parts, and I dont feel like paying alot of money for parts. My friend has a camry and he said parts for him is expensive.

Quote:

Originally posted by VeraLynn

[reply=J0hnnyb0y]
Burn the chevy. Give the dodge to someone you hate. Then go buy a vw or honda. lol

VW? I know a few people who have gotten VWs.. at least the newer ones seem to have a LOT of electrical issues. More than once I've heard of VWs that have windows that randomly go down on them - even when the car is parked - particularly when it rains.

I have no plans to ever buy a VW unless I hear much better things about them.

Honda for sure.//
[/reply]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ascaris

[reply=Junior61205]
I haven't seen too many hybrid cars here in the U.S, dont know about anyone else though

I thought San Fransisco has lots of hybrid cars. I've seen the south park episode about smugs.
[/reply]

Yeah I dont know about California I live on the east coast.

Quote:

Originally posted by Junior61205

Yeah I just got tired of my truck, want a car now for a change and I've always liked those two cars, so im in a predicament there, ill probably get the grand am though because it gets 25 mpg in city and 33 on highway, right now with my truck im getting 18 in city and 22 on highway, its ridiculous

My Miata gets 32 MPG highway, sometimes more, depends on how much long-term highway driving I do.

Quote:

Originally posted by Ascaris

Buy that 2.2 liter version. It probably makes less pollution and prevents the global warming.

Oil prices are falling---SUV's are cheap right now!

Quote:

Originally posted by franklin

[reply=Ascaris]
Buy that 2.2 liter version. It probably makes less pollution and prevents the global warming.

Oil prices are falling---SUV's are cheap right now!
[/reply]


You couldn't pay me enough to buy a big SUV.


Well, maybe you could, but it would have to be a lot.

Quote:

Originally posted by Junior61205

I would go imported, but parts cost too much rather than american made parts, and I dont feel like paying alot of money for parts. My friend has a camry and he said parts for him is expensive.

Complete BS. The internet is your friend, any parts you need can be found for a VERY reasonable price. Especially if you get something like a civic.

I love my dodge ram 1500 slt, it's a 98 with just over 100k miles on it, no major work has ever been done to it, I keep the oil changed every 3-3.5k miles, and have a mechanic either at work or next door to where I work give it a once over once a year to check for any unusual wear & tear.. I've only had to have it towed once and that was due to the catalytic converter getting stopped up. Once we fixed that issue it's been as good as new.

As to which is the better deal have you checked out the price on kelly blue book or some other site? www.kbb.com

You could check insurance online as well with esurance or some other site...

Quote:

Originally posted by franklin

[reply=Ascaris]
Buy that 2.2 liter version. It probably makes less pollution and prevents the global warming.

Oil prices are falling---SUV's are cheap right now!
[/reply]

I hate that way of thinking. Those suv's take something like 30 liters/100km. Everyone should have honda, they're powerful and less polluting.