Cars - What do the rest of you drive?

[spectastic]

Pretty much any state where it gets cold enough for water to freeze on roads, potholes are a major problem. You should see the Missouri roads right now. There are more shredded tires on the highways than roadkill. 

I grew up in Iowa, and we seldom had that problem, even in small towns - from what I remember anyway. But the damage is caused by oscillation between freezing and thawing temperatures, so I guess it would occur more frequently in the not-so-freezing-cold states. it's kind of funny because I worked on a research project in college on a polymer in the asphalt additives that basically acts as a plasticizer to make it able to stretch more. still waiting on the peer review... these roads are getting old, so it's about time to let the technologies catch up.

[confusedkate]

that's the first time I've heard of polar vortex causing potholes. I guess another good reason to stay out of the north.

You've clearly never been to Chicago. Because in my town alone there were two roads that completely crumbled from potholes after the vortex this winter. They were undrivable and closed down. Not to mention the hundreds of other potholes on the roads that haven't crumbled.

And as for the tire thing--I'm a really good driver and my family has nice cars with great tires. But when you live in a place where it is literally impossible to avoid potholes you will INEVITABLY get flat tires. During college when I lived in the city I had at least 3 flats in 4 years from potholes.

[Nautiloid]

I grew up in Iowa, and we seldom had that problem, even in small towns - from what I remember anyway. But the damage is caused by oscillation between freezing and thawing temperatures, so I guess it would occur more frequently in the not-so-freezing-cold states. it's kind of funny because I worked on a research project in college on a polymer in the asphalt additives that basically acts as a plasticizer to make it able to stretch more. still waiting on the peer review... these roads are getting old, so it's about time to let the technologies catch up.

 

I'm actually pretty happy to say that Iowa seems to do a much better job than Missouri at filling potholes quickly. I believe that Iowa City is currently in the process of filling 3500 potholes reported by its residents. Missouri only fills theirs if the road has become impassable or there's surplus money available. Still, I've heard Missouri roads can't compare to the poor condition of Kansas roads which could more aptly be described as gravel than paved (a complaint from a friend of mine).   

[EngineerGrad]

I bought a new Mazda 3 last august and I love it. I paid it all in cash and it costed me around 15k. It was on sale because it is a stick shift -- which I prefer. It was a no brainer and i love having a new car. My old car was a piece of shit and i had only terrible experiences with it.

[wildviolet]

I've been driving a Honda Odyssey forever! It was great for moving my stuff cross-country. I don't like the bulkiness of it--sometimes it's hard to park. Otherwise, it's been a fine vehicle. I would love to trade it in for a smaller, more gas-efficient car, but the best thing about my car is that it's paid off and with luck will last me through the rest of grad school. I don't have to drive very much now, but it's nice to have a car for weekend trips or when it's too hot or cold to walk to class.

 

Several of my friends have bought cars in grad school, though--new ones! They have spouses or other ways of affording new car payments, I guess.

 

For some reason, people here seem to get into all sorts of minor and major car accidents. I've lucked out in that area of my life--never been in an accident or even having to deal with major car troubles, and I've been driving since I was 16.

[Amelorn]

I intend to work on getting a motorcycle within 6-8 weeks of my arrival.  The climate suits year-round use, and the fun, lower purchase price/registration/insurance/fuel costs make it a slam-dunk.  

[spectastic]

I intend to work on getting a motorcycle within 6-8 weeks of my arrival.  The climate suits year-round use, and the fun, lower purchase price/registration/insurance/fuel costs make it a slam-dunk.  

exactomundo. with one caveat of a higher probability of death lol. But i'm inclined to believe that as long as you keep an eye open, it should be fine. big city traffic is something to be weary of though, with so many cars that a motorcycle can seem invisible. 

 

 

 

but to follow up on using an bike pump to inflate a car tire, I did 180 reps, and brought the pressure from around 20 to ~35 (need to replace that tire)... overshot it because my crappy walmart pump has a bad gauge. it took about 3 minutes, so there you go..

[rising_star]

spectastic, the sidewall damage was caused by something that flew into my tire, I think. I can't really say for sure but it was pretty severe. I've also had some issues with dry rot in tires, which makes them more susceptible to blowing out. The dry rot came from living in the desert SW and it's fairly common there, especially if you don't drive your car multiple times per week. When I lived in the southwest, I usually only drove once a week, sometimes less (when gas was well over $3.50/gallon, I was buying $20-25 of gas per month). So yea, there are things that can go wrong with tires besides the potholes.

 

I'm sad/glad others knew what I meant about the roads and the polar vortex. My friend's accident was while the whole thing was ongoing so it's no surprise the road hadn't been patched yet. I hope others have better luck than my friend did!

[maelia8]

My parents have a Nissan Versa and a Toyota Corolla, respectively, and although I don't have my own car, I have spent a lot of time driving those two and I love them Cheap, great gas mileage, and the cars live FOREVER (my dad's Corolla still functions perfectly, has been to the shop once in 15 years, and is now over 20 years old). 

[juilletmercredi]

I'm glad someone started this thread because I have to purchase a car in the next month or so.  I'm also planning to get a newish cheap fuel-efficient car, either a compact or subcompact.  I've been eyeing hatchbacks because of the storage capacity.  Been checking out the Nissan Versa and Versa Note, Nissan Sentra, the Honda Fit, and some used Honda Civics.  I've also seen some relatively inexpensive Priuses.  I'm looking to stay below around $16K.  I'm graduating soon, though, and this is for my postdoc years.

 

I was looking at Corollas, but then my husband made a joke about Corollas that I can't get out of my head, lol.

[bhr]

I'm glad someone started this thread because I have to purchase a car in the next month or so.  I'm also planning to get a newish cheap fuel-efficient car, either a compact or subcompact.  I've been eyeing hatchbacks because of the storage capacity.  Been checking out the Nissan Versa and Versa Note, Nissan Sentra, the Honda Fit, and some used Honda Civics.  I've also seen some relatively inexpensive Priuses.  I'm looking to stay below around $16K.  I'm graduating soon, though, and this is for my postdoc years.

 

I was looking at Corollas, but then my husband made a joke about Corollas that I can't get out of my head, lol.

In a past life, before going back to school, I sold cars for a while, and I'll pass on my opinion.

 

The Fit is a fantastic car for the price. My sister got hers about 3 years ago, and it's been the perfect vehicle for her (she wanted a Corolla at one point, I pushed her to the hatchback). The five-door has fold-down rear seats, which is great for someone who will likely be transitioning a few times in coming years, and great for long trips as well. The gas mileage is great, there's enough room for her 6'3 hubby to sit comfortably in the front, and even I (I'm a big fellow) can sit in the front or rear comfortably. She paid about 19k, but she got the model year just after it came out, with the sport package.

 

My mother has a Prius C, and while the gas savings are great, the vehicle is just a little too small to be more than a commuter car for most people. Four can fit comfortably, but the trunk's smaller than the Fit and the ride isn't as smooth. Those will run you about 21k with the basic upgrades.

 

Also look at the Kia Rio and Hyundai Accent HBs. The Kia starts under 14k, they both get something like 33-36 combined mpg, and the 10 or 7/100k mile warranties are great if you want to have fixed cost of ownership for a while. I've driven both (my dad has the accent hb) and I prefer the Accent, but both are smooth rides with enough pep for long highway hauls.

 

I know people in this thread have really pushed buying beaters, but, if finances allow, I'm a big believer in buying new in this price range. You get a set payment, cost certainty (dealer warranties are a great thing) and the modern hatchbacks have fantastic gas mileage savings.

 

 For a five-year note, you'll be paying about $17-18/month per $1k financed with decent credit. At six years, drop that to $15-16/month

[RunnerGrad]

My husband and I have two cars.  One of the cars is now parked (we just have fire and theft insurance on it) but for a while we needed two cars for our daily commutes (in opposite directions).  He was driving our 1999 Honda Civic, that was paid off a long time ago and is still running great with regular maintenance.  It is now the car that is parked.  Our other car (that I was driving, and that is now the car we use) is a Honda 2010 Fit Sport.  It was the last of its year's models on the dealer's lot, so we received a really great deal on it.  We wanted something small but roomy, and very reliable.  We drove from Alberta to Ontario, with our two cats and all of the belongings I would need for a year at univeristy (while my husband was deployed to Afghanistan) in it.  It's a great little car.  I can even fit my bike in the back when I need to transport it to triathlons. 

 

We are keeping the '99 Civic, and just parking it for now, because we will need two cars again when I start the internship portion of my master's next summer.  The plan is to have it until I'm finished with my grad program, and then once I'm working we'll buy a new car, likely another Honda.

 

We haven't had any major problems with our Hondas.  We find that they are great, reliable cars, that last forever, and have good resale value as well.

Edited June 24, 2014 by RunnerGrad

[Lifesaver]

 

Several of my friends have bought cars in grad school, though--new ones! They have spouses or other ways of affording new car payments, I guess.

 

As I said above, I bought two new cars in grad school. I don't have a spouse paying my bills, nor am I supported by my parents or any other outside source. Interest rates are much lower on new cars than used cars, and since I have good credit, I qualified for a 1.9% interest loan. I priced out new and used cars, and spending a whopping $10 less a month on a 3-4 year old vehicle (Jeeps hold their value) didn't make any sense to me. I wouldn't have much of a warranty and I could have inherited someone's neglect/issues.

[gellert]

I just bought my mom's old 1997 Lexus SE2000.  It's ancient, but hey, a car's a car, and she wasn't going to be able to offload it on anyone but me, so I got it for fairly cheap, too.  100k+ miles.  

Edited June 24, 2014 by gellert

[TakeruK]

I'm glad someone started this thread because I have to purchase a car in the next month or so.  I'm also planning to get a newish cheap fuel-efficient car, either a compact or subcompact.  I've been eyeing hatchbacks because of the storage capacity.  Been checking out the Nissan Versa and Versa Note, Nissan Sentra, the Honda Fit, and some used Honda Civics.  I've also seen some relatively inexpensive Priuses.  I'm looking to stay below around $16K.  I'm graduating soon, though, and this is for my postdoc years.

 

I was looking at Corollas, but then my husband made a joke about Corollas that I can't get out of my head, lol.

 

We started out the same way too when we were first looking. We checked out the exact same cars and in the end, if we had closed the deal on an automatic transmission car of that size, it would have been around $15k to $16k after all the fees. We were hoping to spend more in the $14k range, but it did not seem possible unless we wanted to go for a manual tranmission (or we were really bad at negotiating!). 

 

In the end, we went with a slightly used Honda Civic, because the extra $1500 or so is totally worth a bigger car that can actually fit 4 people comfortably. It was a lot easier picking up our parents from the airport with all their luggage, for example, than the previous year where we rented a subcompact car (mostly to try it out)--the Chevy Spark is super cute but doesn't really make for comfortable seating! 

 

Ultimately, we ended up deciding to pay $1.5k more now for a car that we could "grow into" (i.e. when our family grows and needs more space) instead of getting a "Honda Fit" sized car that we might grow out of in 5 ish years. 

[bhr]

We started out the same way too when we were first looking. We checked out the exact same cars and in the end, if we had closed the deal on an automatic transmission car of that size, it would have been around $15k to $16k after all the fees. We were hoping to spend more in the $14k range, but it did not seem possible unless we wanted to go for a manual tranmission (or we were really bad at negotiating!). 

 

In the end, we went with a slightly used Honda Civic, because the extra $1500 or so is totally worth a bigger car that can actually fit 4 people comfortably. It was a lot easier picking up our parents from the airport with all their luggage, for example, than the previous year where we rented a subcompact car (mostly to try it out)--the Chevy Spark is super cute but doesn't really make for comfortable seating! 

 

Ultimately, we ended up deciding to pay $1.5k more now for a car that we could "grow into" (i.e. when our family grows and needs more space) instead of getting a "Honda Fit" sized car that we might grow out of in 5 ish years. 

FYI: The Fit has more passenger room, more rear seat leg room, more rear seat should room and more cargo room. The Civic is slightly wider for hip room in the rear (4") but the Fit wins almost every other measure.

[Amogh]

why come you no ride motorcycles anymore?

I am looking to get a motorcycle here too. I haven't cos I started off in an MS program and was broke till I converted to the PhD program recently. However, the car seems so much more sensible a decision because of the weather around where I live (frozen at least 5 months a year). But OMG riding again! ( goes off to a corner to drool about riding on the open road again)...

Salvage bikes...

Hmmm... It's a little hard to say mate. Bikes are much easier to work on that cars in my opinion but having said that, a poorly welded part is also putting your life on the risk more than in a car to some extent. Rebored engines are a pain in the ass because if the rebore wasn't done well or the pistons sealed properly etc you could have a block that will seize up. If you know your way around tools, or have a friend who knows bikes, you could get a salvaged bike and save a ton of money. There seem to be a ton of bikes with clean titles on CL however so might want to just consider one of those.

[RunnerGrad]

FYI: The Fit has more passenger room, more rear seat leg room, more rear seat should room and more cargo room. The Civic is slightly wider for hip room in the rear (4") but the Fit wins almost every other measure.

 

Agreed.  Our Fit has much more room than our Civic.  I can fit my bike in the back of our Fit, but not our Civic.  We can fit all three of our cats in the back seat of the Fit and all our luggage required for a cross-country trip in the back of the Fit.  Can't do that with the Civic.  We like both our Fit and our Civic, but the Fit is definitely a lot roomier than the Civic!

[Amogh]

That's a lot of responses.

 

From what I can make out the common themes here appear to be:

• Most people seem to be buying new cars
  This surprised me. I expected to hear a lot more stories of how people either bought lemons or diamonds on craigslist.
• Japanese cars seem to be very popular (not surprising)
  • reliable
  • good fuel efficiency
• More people seem to be buying on loan than cash (again not surprising if buying a new car).
• Sedans and SUVs seem to be the most popular.

I'm really drawn to luxury sport cars like the Acura TL, BMW M3, Infiniti G35, etc used of course. Anyone walked this path before and have anything to contribute?

 

Also, we haven't touched on any American cars, other than one person talking about his/her Jeep. Buick has been getting the most reliable car title from JD Power Auto Surveys for the last 3-4 years beating the likes of Nissan and Acura. That has to mean something I guess?

 

Does anyone drive a pickup? Any thoughts on that? I'm sick of getting into standard cars and not being able to sit straight in the passenger's seat (the driver's seat generally has height adjustment, although the sun visor is just plain useless to me in just about all of them). I hear fuel efficiency is a major concern in this category.

[rising_star]

If you're going to look at luxury sports cars, you may want to look at gently used ones that are 1-2 years old. I know BMW has a certified pre-owned program, for example. Keep in mind that if you go the luxury sports car route, your insurance costs will be higher and you'll need to purchase only premium fuel, which is something to consider when doing your budget. Personally, I've never liked Acuras because they are too similar to the cheaper Hondas, imo, and built on the same platforms. I haven't test driven one in a few years. BMWs and Mercedes-Benz vehicles handle supremely and have all these odd features that are surprisingly cool when you experience them. There are some of each in my family and I'm always amazed at how even though they're larger than my compact car, they are surprisingly easy to park in a parking lot because of their excellent turning radius.

 

RunnerGrad, if you're comparing an older Civic to a modern Fit, then of course the size is different. The size of the Civic has changed over the years though, making it increasingly larger. The 1990 Civic has a wheelbase of 98.4 inches (per Edmunds) and the 2010 Civic's wheelbase is 104.3 inches (again, per Edmunds). If you compare the specs, you'll see that there's more interior room in the Civics sold now than there was in the past.

[bhr]

The problem with used cars is that cash for clunkers, even a few years out, really messed up the used car market. So many older cars came off the market that used car prices shot up, and still remain high compared to where they were before. Saving a few grand by going 2 years older isn't worth it to most people, especially when you are talking about still needing a 5-6 year loan and wanting that long term warranty.

 

Rising_Star, you are comparing the old and new Civic, but I was comparing the current model Civic to the current model Fit. The Fit wins almost every interior measure except for rear hip (important if you want to fit five), but they are essentially the same size car. The Fit easily takes a car seat, btw.

 

As to Amogh, you're probably in the wrong space if you want to know about buying a 50k+ car as a grad student, as most that I know simply couldn't afford something like that without parental help. Check out Edmunds and Jalopnik. That said, if I was to pay that much for a new vehicle (which I wouldn't, even when I was making good money), I would just get the SRT Jeep Cherokee, but that's just me.

[Amogh]

bhr and rising_star, 50k for a car? No sir, you've got me wrong I'm afraid. I'm looking at ooooold cars for like 8k. Tons of them on CL from 2002 to 2006! Lol.

[spectastic]

I am looking to get a motorcycle here too. I haven't cos I started off in an MS program and was broke till I converted to the PhD program recently. However, the car seems so much more sensible a decision because of the weather around where I live (frozen at least 5 months a year). But OMG riding again! ( goes off to a corner to drool about riding on the open road again)...

Salvage bikes...

Hmmm... It's a little hard to say mate. Bikes are much easier to work on that cars in my opinion but having said that, a poorly welded part is also putting your life on the risk more than in a car to some extent. Rebored engines are a pain in the ass because if the rebore wasn't done well or the pistons sealed properly etc you could have a block that will seize up. If you know your way around tools, or have a friend who knows bikes, you could get a salvaged bike and save a ton of money. There seem to be a ton of bikes with clean titles on CL however so might want to just consider one of those.

I was referring more to bikes with salvage titles, not wrecked bikes. I will never have time to restore a bike unless it's for hobby. I already have enough tools from dicking around with my car, and I don't like to pile it up even more. I will never buy a bike with a bad engine, because that likely means the frame was damaged. The salvage bikes that I've seen all had to have their forks replaced. The frame was supposedly not damaged, but I'm not going to risk it. I test rode a bike yesterday. the guy said the title was lost, but I'm 80% positive he wrecked it without telling me. it handled like shit. I was scared to take my hand off the handlebars to check the front suspension stability because I felt like I was going to crash if I did. yea... not putting my life at risk save a few hundred bucks.

[TakeruK]

So I looked up the specs for the 2015 Honda Fit and the 2014 Honda Civic and here's a side by side comparison of some interior dimensions. (http://automobiles.honda.com/fit/specifications.aspx vs http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-sedan/specifications.aspx)

 

(first number is rear dimension, second is front)

                         2015 Fit     | 2014 Civic

Headroom:                37.5-39.5 in | 37.1-39.0 in

Legroom:                 39.3-41.4 in | 36.2-42.0 in 

Shoulder room:           52.6-54.8 in | 53.3-56.6 in

Hiproom:                 45.1-51.5 in | 50.5-51.4 in

Cargo volume, seat up:   16.6 cubic ft | 12.5 cubic ft

Cargo volume, seat down: 52.7 cubic ft | none listed

Passenger volume:        95.7 cubic ft | 94.6 cubic ft

 

So I was really surprised to see that these numbers are basically comparable (Civic wins in hiproom as noted above but I think Fit wins overall by a small margin). I had always thought of the Fit as a "smaller car" and I think this probably biased my judgement when I saw a real model of it. 

 

Anyways, I take back what I said about the Civic being bigger than the Fit! Thanks for people that pointed this out

Edited June 25, 2014 by TakeruK

[Between Fields]

I traded my 2010 Mitsubishi Galant for a 2013 Ford Fiesta after I got my MA. It's lowered my payment by $40 and the gas mileage is at least 25% better. It's also got a pretty ginormous trunk, for a compact, with rear seats that fold down. I was able to pack my entire office into it, when I had to clean it out in June. I got a really good deal on the Titanium trim package, because it's slightly used and it was part of a hail sale, so I'm a happy camper. Ironically, the Mitsubishi I had was built in the town I'm moving to, but the Fiesta was made in Mexico.