Car Shopping It Is...

[sarah_ab]

Sunday afternoon - car started making an occassional quiet click click clicking sound

Monday morning - call the mechanic and make an apt to bring it in on thursday

Monday night - noise is constant and much much louder - think when u put a baseball card in your bicycle tires

Tuesday morning - drop car off at mechanic

Tuesday afternoon - get a call they think its a gasket or one other thing, based on the news and should be around $450, but they won't know for sure until they get into it

Wednesday afternoon - get a call and we need a whole new enging around $4000!!!

Wednesday night - car shopping online before we go out this weekend to test drive..

Not exaclty how i planned on spending my savings!

[DailyDi]

Ah, and that's why we have savings... for the thing we weren't planning on!

Good luck finding a nice car!

[fjjohn]

2 words: Honda Civic.

[I M Soaked]

Four more words. Check oil more often. Just kidding, mine did the same thing, and it had plenty of oil in it.

[sarah_ab]

yeah we get an oil change the minute our mileage hits the number on the sticker

it went in for a tune up ever year

its 11 years old and around 200,000 miles on it... it was just its time to go..

on the plus side, the credit gods have smiled upon us, so we can get a decent car... might need to be certified used... but still..

we had a ford escape, and so we would like something with similiar cargo room, and have good leg room as we are both 5' 11" ... so we are looking at a smaller suv type car....

[Ace Fox]

well I would not recomand getting another escape. you may have had great luck with yours but those things come into my shop by the dozens with electrical problems. If i were you I would look at honda's and toyota's. I know I wish i could recomend a american car but the really sad news is most of the cars actualy made in america anymore are hondas and toyotas.

[Bettypooh]

The newer CRV is a good one. A friend does deliveries with one and gets 24 city and 29 highway. Runs his about 300 miles a day and they go up for sale at 250K miles. With nothing but normal maintenance (and lots of tires) he's never had anything break or wear out- ever. Nothing, not even a light bulb. That's pretty darn good in my book His co-workers drive Civics and they're pretty darn good too

Bettypooh

[ylowrvr]

I'm a little biased but I'll post anyway. Check out Honda and Toyota. Used CRVs would be a reasonable size. At 6'-1", I can easily fit into it. Honda V-6 engines are good but there is the little thing about replacing the timing belt every 100K miles. Hope you find a good car and let us know what you get.

[sarah_ab]

yeah we've been looking at honda crv's, and toyota rav4, although from what we have researched hyundai's have had the highest consumer reviews the past few years now all around the board....

we are just going to go looking today.... we won't be buying anything until after we've taken a test drive, and then done more research.

[ylowrvr]

Sounds like a good plan. The Hyundai or even the Kia may be less expensive.

[sarah_ab]

the kias seem to start having electrical problems after 100,000 miles and we need a car that will last much longer than that

[Diaper Mike 05]

Pontiac Vibe - It's a Toyota Matrix with Pontiac badging and slightly different styling. Both cars were made in California in the now defunct NUMMI project. And leg room is no problem - I have a friend that is 6' 5" who fit in it with no problem at all.

[sarah_ab]

2012 ford escape might be the winner will know in another hour

[sarah_ab]

yep brand new 2012 ford escape!!! it came wotha wooping 23 miles on it!!!!

[Bettypooh]

Yaaaaaay Sarah

Here's a link to a forum where owners and automotive experts mingle and it's just for this model:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=175

All makes and models are covered in their base site and I've used my section a lot with very good results The experts here really know their stuff but sometimes it takes a few days to get an answer from them as they've got a lot to handle. Other members may have already asked your question or found the answer so research what's already there before you ask- the answer is probably already posted if it is a common problem Here's the main site link:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/index.php

Bettypooh

[ylowrvr]

Awesome sarah. Enjoy it.

[sarah_ab]

Thanks everyone for your help! we are very excited, we wished we could get a new ford escape but with what we could afford, knew we'd be looking at certified used anything... so we were blown away when i jokingly said on a car with a price fo 26K, "welll if you can give it to us for 19K we'll talk" and they salesman said.. "ok, lets talk" lol

[ylowrvr]

Way to go sarah. Good negotiating with them.

[Daddy R]

Very good choice Sarah, We have an 06 Escape Hybrid that now has 150k on it (with very little probs.) & last yr I purchased a 03 Mazda Tribute (which is a escape w/ Mazda badging.) that at the time had 160K now has 180K the only thing I've had to do to it was sparkplug coils. both have had to have tires but othe than that get into synthetic oil as soon as you can & the engines will run cooler & a little more efficent. Also look at tires very carefully when yours wear out, We are usinging Uniroyle Cross Countrys which have given us the best fuel econimy.

[square_duck]

yep brand new 2012 ford escape!!! it came wotha wooping 23 miles on it!!!!

I was going to suggest 2 things1) Look at the Ford focus, it's a compact but roomy. I sat in one a while ago and was impressed at the interior room, and they get great mileage :D2) Go to a rental agency that sells from their fleet, like Enterprixe and Hertz. you gat GREAT deals. sure the cars are 'used' but they do take good care of them. I Bought my 2001 Mustang in 2002 with 28,000 on it and it now has almost 200,000 and has been the B*E*S*T car I have ever owned or driven really...

[sarah_ab]

we looked at ford focus, didn't have enough cargo room, we knew if we were going to buy used we wanted certified used...

but we are totally happy with what we got!!! we went from a navy blue '01 ford escape to a brighter blue '12 ford escape.