intrigued

Thanks everyone! Still lurking and posting occasionally. Looking to relocate to Virginia, had enough of the NYC rat race. Also, I have a decent down payment saved and ready for a 2015 mustang 5.0 if I relocate. Can't justify a car living in NYC but it would be a requirement if I moved south.

90 percent chance that the sleep is a work and lifestyle issue. Not saying that you choose to be this stressed but anytime you have 60 flights and 75th nights out of your own bed in just 6 months that's going to really screw with your body's natural rhythm. I used to go through periods of restlessness even though I was exhausted because I'd be working on a trial for 2 months on end, living in a hotel for half of it. Your body looses track of the day it is and never enters deep rem sleep because it's not sure when it needs to answer the bell to to travel, work etc. Beyond trying to eat healthy I'd recommend a solid 30 minutes of moderate exercise daily. You may already be mentally exhausted from work but if you can get your body tired out as well you'll sleep much better, and hopefully prevent any slow, on the road eating crap, weight gains. Good luck! I had 2 years like that in a row so I can relate.

I like the new Chevy SUVs but I really don't like something about the proportions of the GMCs for some reason. I can't put my finger on it...

belated thanks to everyone! I feel like I'm closing on 30 faster and faster...

My family was very turned off by their last round of GM purchases. My 2006 malibu SS - epsilon 1 - was a huge disapointment, I was a somewhat agressive driver but I wasn't driving it like I stole it or anything and I was very proactive with it's upkeep. This car was replaced my 2001 Olds Alero GLS. I wish I never got the malibu, biggest case of automotive buyers remorse I've had. Worse gas milage, only time when the drivetrain felt stronger was above 4k rpm, brakes the needed replacing constantly, unique 18 inch wheel size thatonly had 3-4 tire options all of which were crazy expensive for that they were. The car rattled and the uspension felt like it needed replacing by 50k miles and i much prefered the ride of my Alero. My parents had a 2007 Aura XR. Sick drivetrain, terrible everything else - torque streer, build quality, electrical issues, you name it. My dad was quiet glad it was a lease and he could turn it in. This car replaced his 2000 Olds Intreigue GLS. It had 90k miles on it and was all original parts accept for he batter brakes and tires (only 1 replacment of each.) We sold it to a friend's teenage driver for 4000 bucks in 2007. He just traded what's left of the car in on a new vehicle now that he's out of college. It has 170k miles on it. besides for another set brakes, tires, a new O2 sensor and brakelines the car hasn't even had a tuneup, EVER, and the drive train still runs well. It needed about $1500 of work to pass inspection and it wasn't worth it to have it to get it back to code (needed a new windshield and exhaust) but dam was that care built rock solid. While my family is willing to consider GM again we were so turned off by our experince with the 06 malibu and 07 Aura and both how they perfored and held up compared to our 2000 Intrigue and 2001 Alero that we all turned to Ford. Current Family fleet is 2012 Escape (parents) , 2012 Explorer (sister in law) and 2006 mustang (brother, who loves it but wants to get a new v6 premium to replace it once he's not paying for two houses. Currently I don't have a car but I'm finding gently used certified 2011 Mustang GTs for 25-27k, with less then 20k miles on them (most were 36-39k MSRP when new.) I have 20k saved, I'm hopeing to be able to pull the trigger by late April and make a cash purchase.

I've been all over the place. Since I've moved into NYC this is the longest I've ever been without a car of my own. Initially it wasn't so bad because I could always borrow one from my family if I took the train home on the weekend. I'm starting to feel the lack of mobility. I'm sure used cars prices are going to spike but I'm thinking about getting used 2011 5.0 Mustang GT this coming march or april. If I could get a mint, loaded 2011 GT (probably about 38k or so MSRP) with 40k or less miles on it for between 20-22k I'm sold. It would be purely for traveling on the weekends.

Hey all, checking in here in NY. I live in Astoria Queens and work in midtown Manhattan. Amazingly I made it through with power, cable and internet (fortunately I’m about 40 ft above see level.) Heading into the storm I cancelled my bi-weekly food delivery from fresh direct the weekend before in case I lost power and stocked up with only 2 days of perishables and a bunch of non perishable food and water and batteries that were thankfully not needed. The devastation in some areas on NY is amazing as well as NJ with parts of CT not far behind. Breezy Point Queens is just devastated with over 100 homes burned to the ground. Lower Manhattan is still a swamp and gas is scarce. I have several friends who have extreme water damage to their homes and I know a few people who's houses were destroyed. The numbers total over 50 people dead 50+ BILLION in damages (not sure if this figure is just NY or all areas affected by the storm) and a projected 500,000 to 1,000,000 vehicles destroyed. In NY people are fighting back and persevering, carpooling with neighbors or co workers since mass transit is still a mess, helping people charge their mobile devices, taking in friends and neighbors who don't have power etc. People aren't taking advantage of the situation and are still making it to work if at all possible. I walked 7 miles each way to work over the 59th street Bridge yesterday. The subway system which had unprecedented salt water flooding and was estimate to initially take 4-5 days minimum for a partial restoration has already resumed limited service days early (much credit goes to the MTA for their preparedness and having the foresight to close all mass transit the night before the storm to shelter all subway cars on high ground.) Power restoration for the million plus who don’t have power is well ahead of schedule and in general, as was the case post 9/11, 2003, etc, the gruff, pissed off, indifferent people of NYC pulled together to make the best of a crappy situation. All things considered if feel we weathered the storm better then anyone could hope for and it’s times like this that I am proud to be a New Yorker.

I went over my finances and I'm on undecided. I shouldn't do it right now (I'm finishing paying off a 401k loan I took out to pay off a high intrest student loan and some credit card debt.) which would be done by January, Then I'd have no problem at all buying a similarly priced lightly used 5.0. Monthly expenses on this between insurance, a parking spot and payment will be between 7-800. If i do this now I'll be eating easy mac for the rest of the year.... I'm going to see what rate I can get from the bank out of curiosity first.

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?tab=photos&paId=471562510&recnum=&listingId=97126137&paId=471562510&listingRecNum=1&criteria=prMx%3d30000%26fuelTypeId%3d31763%26sf1Dir%3dDESC%26drvTrnId%3d27103%26prMn%3d20000%26alMdId%3d21712%26mkId%3d20015%26stkTyp%3dU%26mdId%3d21712%26kwm%3dANY%26rd%3d30%26crSrtFlds%3dstkTypId-feedSegId-mkId-mdId-pseudoPrice-pseudoYear-clrId-fuelTypeId-kw-drvTrnId%26zc%3d11103%26rn%3d0%26PMmt%3d1-1-0%26stkTypId%3d28881%26clrId%3d27123%26sf2Dir%3dASC%26sf1Nm%3dprice%26yrMn%3d2011%26requestorTrackingInfo%3dRTB_SEARCH%26kw%3dGT%26sf2Nm%3dmiles%26isDealerGrouping%3dfalse%26yrMx%3d2012%26alMkId%3d20015%26rpp%3d50%26feedSegId%3d28705&tracktype=usedcc&pageNumber=&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE&certifiedOnly=false&&aff=national I want this car so bad. Milage is super low, still under warranty and it looks mint. I was in a market for this sarting early next year after I got my bonus for a down payment but this one is so perfect I might have to try and swing something.

So my family got 2 new cars which I got to sample when I went to visit recently. My parents traded in their 2010 Fusion SE on an Escape XLT (FWD and 2.5 liter 4 banger.) They loved their fusion but my dad has MS and needs something that can transport a scooter. They got the escape on clearance for 19k (25k msrp.) Its a solid little truck and they got the 17 inch chrome wheels which really look good on it. No other options besides that. You can tell the platform's a little long in the tooth, it has a solid ride but at the occasional expense of ride quality. It won't win any drag races with the 4 cylinder but it's well geared and reasonably peppy. My brother and his wife got the new explorer XLT. I was blown away by how much I liked it. It had 4wd, my Ford touch and optional 20 inch wheels. It rides like a luxury car absorbing bumps and potholes with ease. It was also remarkably quiet, vault like even. The seats were comfortable and the interior was we'll designed and attractive. Fit and finish was excellent. The 3.5 is well suited to the explorer. It's extremely smooth and provides a deceptive amount of power. I initially though it was going to be only adequate acceleration since its such a heavy CUV but I walked away impressed by the hustle the car could muster and also the seamless way it put the power to the road. My brother is waiting to see what the next Mustang will look like before he decides if he wants to buy the current model or not. Also, after I get my year end bonus I'm going to get myself a slightly used Mustang GT. I can't live without a car anymore.

Thanks everyone. I was stuckl at work for 16 hours and NONE of my friends were around so it kinda sucked but thanks for rememebering here. Hopefully I'll be posting more soom, I've been working 80 hour weeks for the last 5 weeks.

I think it's certainly possible for Lincoln to be successful without a dedicate RWD platform, it's more an issue of packaging and unique content for it's Ford siblings. I think an important indicator will be the new mkZ. It certainly looks nothing like the new Fusion. It has very competitive engines, with the best Fusion engine be a very solid base engine and nice v6 upgrade as an option. If the New mkZ can compare well to an Audi A4 Then the next mkS will be the next step. It needs to shrink and repackage enough so that it can compete with an A6. Either way I think Lincoln should get a halo car based off the next mustang. It should bring the best of everything Lincoln has to offer be available only as a seamless looking hardtop convertable and have a juiced version of the 3.5 ecoboost making about 420 hp and torque. Sell it for 60k so its a bit under priced for what it provides.

2011 was a turbulent but mostly good year for me. * Big change breaking up with the GF of many years because life was taking us in different directions. After a month or two of awkwardness we found our way to a close friendship and stay in touch. * Moved from the suburbs into NYC * Sold my Mustang. Living in the city and rarely driving it I couldn't justify the expense of keeping it. This is my first time without a car since I got my license 10 years ago. * I graduated from Iona College after 7 years of attending part time. I can't believe I'm finally done! * I had my most successful year ever professionally 2012 I'm trying to do the following * get back in shape. Over the last 14 months I've put on about 20 lbs of flab while losing maybe 10 lbs of muscle. My energy level isn't what it used to be and I'm generally lethargic. It’s time to get back in shape while I'm young enough for it to be relatively easy. * Purse a promotion to a supervisor position at the firm I work for. If I don't get it by year’s end get ready to look elsewhere. * Be financially responsible and pay all my bills on time every time. * have fun!

As alway I'll have to reserve judgment till I see this in person but the proportions don't do anything for me. It looks small and awkward. probably underpowered depending on the curb weight. So far it's my least favorite of all the domestic offerings.

I really like the side profile and the rear. From head on it's fine but the front 3/4 angle it screams Sonata. I hope that with it toned down (very slightly) the design will come together. The msot disapointing thing is that there are no powertrain details. I too am asuming the 2.0t will be the base, along with a hybrid option but the performance engine is the big question. Ford has a turbo v6 in the works that's in the 2.7-3.0 liter range. I was hopeing we'd see it revealed here.

I think they will, to an extend. I've heard it's still going to start in the low 20's (about 22000) and I'm sure there will be a lot a bang for the buck, particularly in the SE trim. The Titanium and plug in are going to be expensive. I bet we can get this car over 40 with the plug in and that the Titanim probably starts around 30 but can be optioned up to 35-36. To me this isn't bad as long as they don't package in things like adaptive crusie control and such that inflate the price for those that want a high trim for certain content but not 5000 bucks worth of tech add ons. remember back in the mid 2000s when the SRX and STS came out for Caddy? The was ver little in the way of a la carte options. Almost everything was part of one $5000 package or another so if you really wanted 1 feature sometimes you'd have to pay a ton of money to get it. As long as Ford gets the option packages right and keeps the S, SE and normal hybrid pricing competitive it should be fine, and a lot of people will pay the high transaction price for the tech anyways.

Manual trans is available only with the 1.6 turbo. Should be pretty fun with that though i wish it had the option for the 2.0 t as well.

^^^ Bold prediction... Those sedans will be ranked in the following order... 1 - Fusion - Most expensive looking, most engine options, fuel economy, AW, most inovative 2 - Altima - This could easily fall back quite a bit. Reason it's this high is for the intriguing 2.5 supercharged 250 hp hybrid. Very unique. 3 - Malibu - Love the looks. B+ interior. Eco model too expensive for what it is. Very solid entry, needs a real hybrid. 4 - Passat - More resonably priced, handsome, interesting engine options. 5 - Optima/Sonata - Excellent on paper. Average-a bit above average in real life. Still strong entries overall 6 - Accord - This is the one that's most likley to rise if Honda suprises us. I predict it'll be too big, bland and still have a 5 speed. 7 - Camry - Tired looking. Little difference between 2012 and 2006 generation. Boring as all hell This is of course total conjecture as I'll need to see them all in person, read reviews and drive them as well bt this is how I think thing's will shake out. Dodge needs to redo the Avenger. If they make it a big brother to the impressive looking Dart that would be a good place to start. The biggest mystery cars here are the Altima and Accord. The Altima's supercharded 2.5 liter hybrid sounds really cool. They can keep a simple 2 engine lineup, base 2.5 and performance/ fuel economy 2.5 superchanrged hybrid that can justify it's price premium for great gasmilage and fun to drive factor. Of course the car could be ass ugly or unrefined etc. The Accord is getting new DI 2.4 and 3.5 liter motors that are competitive but not ground breaking. I've heard nothing new about new transmissions though. Honda is just so stale and stuck in it's ways that I don't see them jumping to the front in terms of inovation and performance.

I like the dart quite a bit. I think the drive trains in particular are cool and likely will be a strength. The styling is among the best of the segment, expressive while keeping the family design cues and most importantly refined. I also think that this could help Doge since the Avenger is a mediocre care at best and this could fill a pretty unique size slot. One of the Alero's most appeal aspects back in the day was that it rode the line right between compact and midsize. Indeed I think it was classified as a compact by volume (barley) but was most often compared against midsized cars. If this is a better executed (in terms of refinement) version of that formula, especially with the rising prices of the D-class segment this could be a break away hit steeling more sales for the midsized segment then the compact class.

They can increase production. The fusion is going to be built at the flat rock MI plant as well as in Mexico now. I can't wait to see that road test for the 2.0 ecoboost AWD titanium. The Audi A4 AWD automatic weighs a bit over 3700 lbs to the Fusion 2.0 AWD's estimaed weight of 3600. The Audi 2.0 makes 8 more ftlbs of torque then the ecboost but gives up 26 hp to the ford motor. If the new fusion could drive like an A4 or God forbid maybe even a bit better at 70 percent of the price that would be awesome. I do hope that they add a SHO / GT / ST or other performance model. If I was Ford I'd do one of 2 things. Jack up the 2.0 T to 300 hp and 300 ftlbs as we've seen hapen for the performance version of the Evoque or drop in the new 2.7 ecoboost v6 that we've heard is coming to Lincoln. Ford's MPG is going through the rough and they're finding ways to do while mainting their cars performance aspects. One of my favorite things to brag about with the new Mustangs is actually their fuel economy. Everyone knows that the Mustang is fast and is a gerat drivers car but even the new 650 hp GT500 gets good enough fuel economy to avoid the gas guzzler tax. I'm hopefull for another banner year full of profit and growth for Ford.

Ford sold about 250,000 Fusions this past year. 300,000 next year? 350,000? The fact that the hybrid comes close to the prius is awsome as well as the Energi version which is effectivley a better chevy volt, at least a according to the paper specs.

What happened to NOS? I remember him being here not that long ago. The board certainly has slown considerably the last 2 years or so.

ecoboost or v6?

Following up on our recent thread regarding cars you've bought since you've been on Cheers & Gears lets look ahead to cars you'd like to (realistically buy) You can include you're family as well. I currenty don't have a car since I live in Queens but if I can justify it or if i move to an area where it makes more sense to have a car I desperatley want a 2013 Mustang GT. If I get a big promotion I'm hoping for in the next year I might just go ahead and do it regardless of the logic involved. I'd get a GT premium manual with the track and brembo pack, manual and navagation. My parents love their 2010 fusion but they might consider trading it in on an escape 2.0 T in the next few years. My dad has MS and they could use a small CUV to help transport his stuff. My brother's hopeing to get 2 new cars during August clearance this coming year. He wants to replace his 2006 Mustang V6 pony package with a 2013 V6 premium His family has gotten larger and with 3 growing kids they're going to replace the 2006 Saturn Vue with an Explorer. He's not sure if it will be with a Ecoboost 4 or the standard though. Anyone have future car plans?

FOG, what bugs does your 4S have? I've had no problems with my phone and admit Siri is not perfect but she is a vast improvment on any other voice recognition software I've sued in the past.