Help SF find a car.

SnowFire · October 31, 2003, 21:32

Okay, here's the deal. Now that I'm employed and all, both myself as well of my parents need a car to drive to work. Now, our family does own 3 cars, but one car is a '66 Ford Falcon registered as an antique (far less car insurance bills that way!). Unfortunately, the law also mandates that you can't drive registered antiques more than X hours per week or so, and also, my father doesn't want to overuse it either. Keep it in good condition and all. So. I need a car. The problem is, I really couldn't care less about cars. I don't want to spend 10 hours paging through Consumer Reports trying to figure out what's good, what's bad, what matters, etc. So, I was wondering if there are any car experts out there to speed up the process to maybe 3 hours with Consumer Reports, and 7 hours playing games (this is a gaming website, right?).

Priorities:
#1- Safety. Not just "does the car blow up." I want a well-designed car that will not kill me, because I am a bad driver. Not bad as in reckless (I'm very safe, I stay at the speed limit and all), just bad as in absent-minded. And inattentiveness has caused a few close calls before. I don't want to pay with my life if I screw up worse in the future.
#2- Long-term economy. I want a car that is cheap to maintain, that gets good gas mileage, that doesn't need its oil changed excessively, etc.
#3- Price. Kinda self-explanatory. The cheaper the better.
#4- Color. Does it come in green?

So basically, I think I'm looking for something like a Honda Civic. Except cheaper and better, if possible. Anybody have any suggestions? Price ranges to go along with those suggestions? "Features" I shouldn't forget to ask for? Other things I don't know about the car market that you've learned through harsh experience?

JohnT · October 31, 2003, 22:03

Quote:

#1- Safety. Not just "does the car blow up." I want a well-designed car that will not kill me, because I am a bad driver. Not bad as in reckless (I'm very safe, I stay at the speed limit and all), just bad as in absent-minded. And inattentiveness has caused a few close calls before. I don't want to pay with my life if I screw up worse in the future.
#2- Long-term economy. I want a car that is cheap to maintain, that gets good gas mileage, that doesn't need its oil changed excessively, etc.
#3- Price. Kinda self-explanatory. The cheaper the better.
#4- Color. Does it come in green?

#1 and #2 kind of cancel each other out - the more steel you have wrapped around you (weight), the safer your car is. I never felt safer than tooling around in my 1984 Pontiac Parissiene, often the largest car in the parking lot by far.

Looks like you want a used Volvo, imho. What's your budget - that's the most important thing.

ixnay · October 31, 2003, 22:10

Quote:

Originally posted by SnowFire
Okay, here's the deal. Now that I'm employed and all, both myself as well of my parents need a car to drive to work. Now, our family does own 3 cars, but one car is a '66 Ford Falcon registered as an antique (far less car insurance bills that way!). Unfortunately, the law also mandates that you can't drive registered antiques more than X hours per week or so, and also, my father doesn't want to overuse it either. Keep it in good condition and all. So. I need a car. The problem is, I really couldn't care less about cars. I don't want to spend 10 hours paging through Consumer Reports trying to figure out what's good, what's bad, what matters, etc. So, I was wondering if there are any car experts out there to speed up the process to maybe 3 hours with Consumer Reports, and 7 hours playing games (this is a gaming website, right?).

Oh hey, another Falcon owner.

I've got a '67 Falcon at home:

Urban Ranger · November 1, 2003, 00:43

Quote:

Originally posted by SnowFire
#1- Safety. Not just "does the car blow up." I want a well-designed car that will not kill me, because I am a bad driver. Not bad as in reckless (I'm very safe, I stay at the speed limit and all), just bad as in absent-minded. And inattentiveness has caused a few close calls before. I don't want to pay with my life if I screw up worse in the future.
#2- Long-term economy. I want a car that is cheap to maintain, that gets good gas mileage, that doesn't need its oil changed excessively, etc.
#3- Price. Kinda self-explanatory. The cheaper the better.
#4- Color. Does it come in green?

I say #1 and #3 cancel each other out, because you are looking for a car with radars and stuff in all directions and a computer to keep you from crashing. That sounds like an expensive car to me.

Ignoring that, this is a nice car.

SnowFire · November 1, 2003, 02:38

JohnT: Interesting. I'll look into Volvos.

Ixnay: That's a Falcon alright. Ours is beige.

UR: Well, my budget is in flux. Myself, I don't really have money to pay for it, but my parents will help out, to a flexible extent. No doubt if I keep it cheap, they'll be more willing to help should I need it in the future.

cia · November 1, 2003, 02:42

Volvo or old Mercedes in good condition are the way for you.

Urban Ranger · November 1, 2003, 02:45

If I were you, I wouldn't be too worried about tank-grade steel plating. Side-collisions are the deadliest, and most cars probably don't have enough there to make that much of a difference.

cia · November 1, 2003, 03:03

That;s true Urban Ranger. Side panel bar reinforcement and airbags is the only solution for that currently. Much better than hitting the side glass with your head as I did in the last accident.

Shi Huangdi · November 1, 2003, 03:18

Toyota Corrola.

Bugs ****ing Bunny · November 1, 2003, 05:41

Try a Nissan (I've no idea what the models are called in the US). I've owned a couple- they're usually cheaper than Hondas, have all the usual kit, are solidly built and just about bulletproof mechanically-speaking.

If you don't want Japanese, VW derivatives are excellent- Seats and Skodas.

Bugs ****ing Bunny · November 1, 2003, 05:44

Quote:

Originally posted by JohnT

#1 and #2 kind of cancel each other out - the more steel you have wrapped around you (weight), the safer your car is. I never felt safer than tooling around in my 1984 Pontiac Parissiene, often the largest car in the parking lot by far.

Actually that's a fallacy. Big cars take longer to stop, and are more likely to get involved in accidents to start with. Also the dimensions of the car are no guarantee that they've got effective crumple zones or safe internal fittings.

In crash testing, a lot of big cars get embarrassed by smaller models.

JohnT · November 1, 2003, 07:25

Well, it all depends upon the car, that's true. OTOH, if I had to make the choice of getting in an accident between my Dads old 1978 Lincoln Continental and my current '99 Dodge Stratus, well, I'd take my chances being in the Lincoln.

Skanky Burns · November 1, 2003, 14:40

Remember that car colour factors into other people's ability to see your car. Despite the fact that these things are the size of small cars (note: find a better metaphor), people sometimes don't see some cars when driving as easily as others. Red or yellow cars are way less likely to be involved in accidents than a green car.