Which car is best to buy now?

[Ren]

As a 30-year car enthusiast, the brands I would pick purely for long-term reliabilty are Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus. Mazda, Subaru, and Nissan/Infiniti all take second place to Honda and Toyota, although I’ve owned 3 Mazdas and have been very happy with them. The most noticeable difference is that with a Mazda or Nissan, things will start to feel “off” after 70-80k miles. Niggling little problems will appear – an LED display gets wonky, a gear grinds sometimes, etc. A Toyota will feel, sound, and drive EXACTLY the way it did when you drove it off the lot. This is coming from someone who had to lemon law a Toyota truck (on average they are great).

If my life depended on a car lasting 200k miles and having very few problems getting there, I’d buy a Toyota, one that isn’t the first year for the model. If my life depended on pure performance and impressing friends with the fit and finish, I’d buy German. If you put a gun to my head, I wouldn’t buy American. I rent them periodically, and they are always astoundingly bad ergonomically and in materials quality.

The maintenance costs of an older car may not equal the cost of a new car, but there’s a lot to be said for peace of mind.

[poorgradstudent]

You can still get great deals on Toyotas right now thanks to the beating they took from the recalls.

[poorgradstudent]

You can still get great deals on Toyotas right now thanks to the beating they took from the recalls.

[poorgradstudent]

You can still get great deals on Toyotas right now thanks to the beating they took from the recalls.

[poorgradstudent]

You can still get great deals on Toyotas right now thanks to the beating they took from the recalls.

[poorgradstudent]

You can still get great deals on Toyotas right now thanks to the beating they took from the recalls.

[briansd1]

[quote=Ren]As a 30-year car enthusiast, the brands I would pick purely for long-term reliabilty are Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus. Mazda, Subaru, and Nissan/Infiniti all take second place to Honda and Toyota, although I’ve owned 3 Mazdas and have been very happy with them. The most noticeable difference is that with a Mazda or Nissan, things will start to feel “off” after 70-80k miles. Niggling little problems will appear – an LED display gets wonky, a gear grinds sometimes, etc. A Toyota will feel, sound, and drive EXACTLY the way it did when you drove it off the lot. This is coming from someone who had to lemon law a Toyota truck (on average they are great).

If my life depended on a car lasting 200k miles and having very few problems getting there, I’d buy a Toyota, one that isn’t the first year for the model. If my life depended on pure performance and impressing friends with the fit and finish, I’d buy German. If you put a gun to my head, I wouldn’t buy American. I rent them periodically, and they are always astoundingly bad ergonomically and in materials quality.

The maintenance costs of an older car may not equal the cost of a new car, but there’s a lot to be said for peace of mind.[/quote]

That’s exactly the way I feel.

BTW, I think that a Japanese car made in Japan is superior to a Japanese car made in USA. Something in the plastics made in USA, the headliner coverings on US made cars always fall apart after some years.

[briansd1]

[quote=Ren]As a 30-year car enthusiast, the brands I would pick purely for long-term reliabilty are Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus. Mazda, Subaru, and Nissan/Infiniti all take second place to Honda and Toyota, although I’ve owned 3 Mazdas and have been very happy with them. The most noticeable difference is that with a Mazda or Nissan, things will start to feel “off” after 70-80k miles. Niggling little problems will appear – an LED display gets wonky, a gear grinds sometimes, etc. A Toyota will feel, sound, and drive EXACTLY the way it did when you drove it off the lot. This is coming from someone who had to lemon law a Toyota truck (on average they are great).

If my life depended on a car lasting 200k miles and having very few problems getting there, I’d buy a Toyota, one that isn’t the first year for the model. If my life depended on pure performance and impressing friends with the fit and finish, I’d buy German. If you put a gun to my head, I wouldn’t buy American. I rent them periodically, and they are always astoundingly bad ergonomically and in materials quality.

The maintenance costs of an older car may not equal the cost of a new car, but there’s a lot to be said for peace of mind.[/quote]

That’s exactly the way I feel.

BTW, I think that a Japanese car made in Japan is superior to a Japanese car made in USA. Something in the plastics made in USA, the headliner coverings on US made cars always fall apart after some years.

[briansd1]

[quote=Ren]As a 30-year car enthusiast, the brands I would pick purely for long-term reliabilty are Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus. Mazda, Subaru, and Nissan/Infiniti all take second place to Honda and Toyota, although I’ve owned 3 Mazdas and have been very happy with them. The most noticeable difference is that with a Mazda or Nissan, things will start to feel “off” after 70-80k miles. Niggling little problems will appear – an LED display gets wonky, a gear grinds sometimes, etc. A Toyota will feel, sound, and drive EXACTLY the way it did when you drove it off the lot. This is coming from someone who had to lemon law a Toyota truck (on average they are great).

If my life depended on a car lasting 200k miles and having very few problems getting there, I’d buy a Toyota, one that isn’t the first year for the model. If my life depended on pure performance and impressing friends with the fit and finish, I’d buy German. If you put a gun to my head, I wouldn’t buy American. I rent them periodically, and they are always astoundingly bad ergonomically and in materials quality.

The maintenance costs of an older car may not equal the cost of a new car, but there’s a lot to be said for peace of mind.[/quote]

That’s exactly the way I feel.

BTW, I think that a Japanese car made in Japan is superior to a Japanese car made in USA. Something in the plastics made in USA, the headliner coverings on US made cars always fall apart after some years.

[briansd1]

[quote=Ren]As a 30-year car enthusiast, the brands I would pick purely for long-term reliabilty are Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus. Mazda, Subaru, and Nissan/Infiniti all take second place to Honda and Toyota, although I’ve owned 3 Mazdas and have been very happy with them. The most noticeable difference is that with a Mazda or Nissan, things will start to feel “off” after 70-80k miles. Niggling little problems will appear – an LED display gets wonky, a gear grinds sometimes, etc. A Toyota will feel, sound, and drive EXACTLY the way it did when you drove it off the lot. This is coming from someone who had to lemon law a Toyota truck (on average they are great).

If my life depended on a car lasting 200k miles and having very few problems getting there, I’d buy a Toyota, one that isn’t the first year for the model. If my life depended on pure performance and impressing friends with the fit and finish, I’d buy German. If you put a gun to my head, I wouldn’t buy American. I rent them periodically, and they are always astoundingly bad ergonomically and in materials quality.

The maintenance costs of an older car may not equal the cost of a new car, but there’s a lot to be said for peace of mind.[/quote]

That’s exactly the way I feel.

BTW, I think that a Japanese car made in Japan is superior to a Japanese car made in USA. Something in the plastics made in USA, the headliner coverings on US made cars always fall apart after some years.

[briansd1]

[quote=Ren]As a 30-year car enthusiast, the brands I would pick purely for long-term reliabilty are Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus. Mazda, Subaru, and Nissan/Infiniti all take second place to Honda and Toyota, although I’ve owned 3 Mazdas and have been very happy with them. The most noticeable difference is that with a Mazda or Nissan, things will start to feel “off” after 70-80k miles. Niggling little problems will appear – an LED display gets wonky, a gear grinds sometimes, etc. A Toyota will feel, sound, and drive EXACTLY the way it did when you drove it off the lot. This is coming from someone who had to lemon law a Toyota truck (on average they are great).

If my life depended on a car lasting 200k miles and having very few problems getting there, I’d buy a Toyota, one that isn’t the first year for the model. If my life depended on pure performance and impressing friends with the fit and finish, I’d buy German. If you put a gun to my head, I wouldn’t buy American. I rent them periodically, and they are always astoundingly bad ergonomically and in materials quality.

The maintenance costs of an older car may not equal the cost of a new car, but there’s a lot to be said for peace of mind.[/quote]

That’s exactly the way I feel.

BTW, I think that a Japanese car made in Japan is superior to a Japanese car made in USA. Something in the plastics made in USA, the headliner coverings on US made cars always fall apart after some years.

[GH]

I own a 2004 Toyota Camry (V6) with 140K miles. To be honest I drive it hard and have had problems with the Rack and Pinion steering – $2200 out of warranty. Apart from that it still runs and looks like a new car. I do intend to buy a new car next year (CASH!!)
Perhaps a 4Runner V8 from last year?

[GH]

I own a 2004 Toyota Camry (V6) with 140K miles. To be honest I drive it hard and have had problems with the Rack and Pinion steering – $2200 out of warranty. Apart from that it still runs and looks like a new car. I do intend to buy a new car next year (CASH!!)
Perhaps a 4Runner V8 from last year?

[GH]

I own a 2004 Toyota Camry (V6) with 140K miles. To be honest I drive it hard and have had problems with the Rack and Pinion steering – $2200 out of warranty. Apart from that it still runs and looks like a new car. I do intend to buy a new car next year (CASH!!)
Perhaps a 4Runner V8 from last year?

[GH]

I own a 2004 Toyota Camry (V6) with 140K miles. To be honest I drive it hard and have had problems with the Rack and Pinion steering – $2200 out of warranty. Apart from that it still runs and looks like a new car. I do intend to buy a new car next year (CASH!!)
Perhaps a 4Runner V8 from last year?

[Author]

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