Sixty8panther

18-19 mpg in a unibody "truck" with a built in ladder frame is not horrible. Granted it's all the more reason to buy the Banana Boat off XP and get 13-16. CPO CTS around here is $25-27K, and it's very hard to get financed on a used car with not-so stellar credit. I would need like $1500 down and if I had $1500 cash in hand I'd already be driving that Diesel Benz from Tewksbury or I'd have bought the Banana Boat ('77 Caddy Coupe deVille) back from XP & have Julie drive that for the time being and then get her a car before snow hits so I could use the Caddy for a winter beater.

"Win the Super Bowl and drive off in a Hyundai" The stigmata is still there...

The Wrangler? 1. The new Wrangler is uuuuuugly, even though the four door looks better than the two door. 2. Ride is too harsh for a practical family vehicle. 3. I'm not going to buy a cloth top truck for my pregnant wife. 4. The hardtop 4 door is not going to be anywhere near $21K unless it's a 4x2. I'm not buying a 2wd Jeep & spending $22K & most importantly 5. Julie hates Jeep Wranglers, her ex had one & she hated every minute of it. ----- Anywho.... I wish I could get a quick loan for $2000 and buy Julie some RWD car that would suit her needs and not repulse me, she's one of those women convinced that a Crown Vic. or Caprice Classic is H-U-G-E and she would hit things with it.... but she loves BMWs that we can not afford right now. Balthazar: Mercedes Benz cars up here that I notice rusting quickly are the 1960s and 1970s ones. The 1983 I looked at with 240K on it had no more rust than the average vehicle fom that era and much less than the average Honda or Toyota. Even the MBs that are VERY rusty and have severe rot through are still a lot safer than the average Japanese car with rust on the rockers & rear 1/4s... the Mercedes sheetmetal is MUCH thicker than the Pepsi-can thick sheetmetal that Hondas & Toyotas are made of. Given the choice I'll take a German car over a Japanese one anyday. The 535xi & even the 3-series are a little out of my price range. and the 1-series, even if it was available already, is quite ugly.

My B-59 has a burgundy/rust colored plate from 1959 with white letters. It's got great patina on it, it's registered under the "Year of Manufacture" code. That plate was on the back of my ex's grandmother's 1959 Plymouth when new.

WMJ: Almost bought the EXACT car with 30K less for $500 but then I backed off when I noticed a rotted strut tower.

Ohh.... and please take more pics. of the Rusty Jones paperwork! He's the official mascott of TIGHT WHIPS! (seriously)

Hmmm... very cool. Damnit I want a G-body coupe. My first car was supposed to be a 1986 tt-blue Cutty 2dr.

Oh and a base FWD Torrent is almost $24K. I don't think so.... The particular Grand Vitara I looked at is $21,500 with the 5-speed manual & I can get a super low price & maximum discount along with the rebate since I'd be buying to off my own employer. Again, just an idea.

This thead is just a sort of brainstorming session for me. I have not even decided to look into it officially just yet. Too many deadly sins. Rear the first post. I'll keep B-pillars out of this one for the sake of the real world. Here's a few reasons why the Torrent would not work for me: (so let's not go suggesting it to Julie) - Transverse (sideways) mounted motor... - FWD based drivetrain - Not so great in the styling dept. styling - That dreaded, hideous FWD overhang (it's like a fanny-pack) - No manual trans.

Silly.

Yup... always that carrot on a string. I hate working 70 hours a week & still wondering if I will have enough to pay my bills. #$%& that.

LOL I glanced at a CLK430 the other day as we passed by a highline used car store and Julie said without missing a beat "yes, yes... no B-post!"

Awsome! Pro-street, drag car, full-caged 1st gen. Camaro.... with a trailer.

Yup.... Grand Vitara is it. The XL7 is gross, it does not offer a manual trans & more importantly it has a transverse motor with FWD & F-AWD. DF: Still staying at the Condo... not to get too into the details of all of that but I think we'll be moving to southern N.H. As far as Julies' set of wheels have you seen her Taurus? She can't afford to NOT replace that POS. Last thing that I want is to have my pregnant wife spend an hour on the side of the road in a snowstorm. Now if the money situation was different I would buy her something for a grand or two cash but I'm thinking since I might be able to finance with $0/down and get a 100K mile warranty in a vehicle that does not make me want to projectile vomit it might not be a horrible way to go... It's an IDEA, I'm still hoping for some 180K mile 1980s Diesel Benz to pop up localy and MAYBE I'd be able to get financed on it. Now it seems completely crazy that I'd be looking at a Japanese made NEW car but show me ONE car for $21K that I can find with those specs: RWD, truly capable 4x4, manual transmission & baby/kid friendly 4-door, not to mention the Suzuki warranty. Gotta tell you the Equinox is not my cup of tea, the Cobalt sedan looks like @$$ and the HHR is still FWD & Julie hates the styling... what else is out there?

Outlook with a Malibu nose... boring.

Why not sell a R/R car here? The NEW Beelte is NOT a car worthy of the name, this is a step in the right direction. I REALLY like this. REAR drive REAR engined cars is what I grew up with. (Skodas)

Wow... a city car I would buy!!!

It's unibody but does have a substantial frame stamped into the undercarrige. Yup... 2007 MY

So Julie needs a replacement for the Taurus... like yesterday. She's so damn picky it's been driving me bananas. I can't afford a new BMW or a Cadillac so we're thinking something new with a warranty but still under $24K. I might have found a winner, see if you can guess what it is....? - It is & isn't a GM product - RWD (with rear-biased 4-wheel drive optional) - Motor is longitudinally mounted - 5-speed manual available (I'm hoping I can convince her to go manual) - Timing Chain driven valvetrain - 24 valve V6 - 4-wheel independant suspension - Liquid-filled engine mounts

The low pay, long hours & lack of respect (along with other annoyances) have pretty much made my moind up for me. As soon as I have a backup plan I'm outta here. The last straw was getting transfered to the Import division. I'm a loudmouth & let people know I'm a GM fan and that's why I have only ever sold GM product, past few days a few people did not show up at our Mitsubishi/Suzuki/Hyundai showroom and two salespeople quit today so they want me to sell the imports. Sooooo.... I do not know what the hell tha's all about. That's the ey right there....

Today I drove a used 2007 Camry 4-banger we have at wor, fresh trade in, 11K miles. Pretty damn dull. Not to mention a chessy interior and gross styling. "Lipstick on a pig"

I love wacky threads like this.

Sounds like a good plan to me... the first post not the GTA idea.

All of you guys have made excellent points. Here's a few of my nominations: Honda Ridgeline Honda Element Honda Del Sol Toyota Echo Toyota Previa (remember that deathtrap? easily the least safe car of the mid-1990s) Toyota Sequoia Toyota FJ Cruiser Hyundai Scoop Hyundai Excell Kia Anything Mitsubishi Anything (w/ the possible exception of the Montero & Diamante) Suzuki X90

Why? I'm sure it had it's problems but name ONE direct competitor..... I STRONGLY disagree!!! Not horrible cars, just cars from horrible era. Anything "california emissions" from 1974-1980s sucked! Again I disagree...