i am having a running conversation with my siblings. It started by my oldest asking if the whole US is nuts. It seems we all have many more cars than we need. I know my husband does. (1960 Buick which will rot away like his vette did ) I bought an AWD Vibe for the AWD. Then decided I didn't need it if my hubby would lend me his old Volvo. Can't get out of our driveway some days with icy snow w/o awd. so sold mine. i needed another car after a tree fell on my other Vibe. Anyway I got a manual Toyota Matrix (same thing as a vibe) for the gas mileage--2009. I have my 1996 Truck to haul hay and stuff. My daughter complained about the waste of hubby's Buick but I said he was entitled cuz he let me have horses which are also a waste.
We used to have 2 awd vehicles v Judy had a Rav-4 and I had a highlander Both were bought new at dealership When Judy stopped driving got rid of her car. Only 1 now 2117 Ford awd
Wife used to have a mini van. which I always hated, but it had it's use when we had kids at home. The mini van fell apart, so I bought her a Toyota Camry, which she was skeptical of at first, but has grown to really love for its ease of handling and gas mileage. I had an old Mazda that I bought to commute to work, and sold that when it had 387,000 miles on it with little trouble. I bought a truck from my son that is my "hauling stuff" vehicle--trash, building supplies, etc. I used to haul feed and hay with it, but we no longer have livestock. The truck is also the vehicle we use when the going gets tough--deep snow, flooded roads, etc. and it has always come through. Truck does look great, but it always works.
My 2005 GMC Canyon pickup is paid for and is a necessity for hauling trash, firewood, etc., so I hang onto it. About 10 years ago I got a 1990 Volvo to use as my beater commuter. It was just 2,000 miles shy of turning 200,000 when I hit a deer. Due to its low value I had minimum insurance on it. Perhaps I should have paid out-of-pocket to get it fixed, but it sat for a while as I procrastinated, then went to the junk yard. In early 2019 I looked for a low mileage used vehicle and discovered that they are not cheap. After calculating the payment based upon used car loan rates, I realized that for a slightly higher monthly payment (at low dealer financing) I could buy a new car. I've never had a nice passenger car (nearly every vehicle I've ever had I paid around $500 cash for, driven for a few years, then exchanged for the next beater), so I bought a new Mazda CX-5 CUV (Crossover Utility Vehicle), which is as much a sedan as it is an SUV. I got it because: -I wanted something nice to tote elderly church members around to our various events -The CX-5 drives like a sports car -The CX-5 has a Heads Up Display, meaning gauges and other stuff are projected onto the windshield I've been very happy with it.
I’m driving a 2019 Subaru Impreza base model sedan that I bought new in 2018. I had been buying new every 4 years or so because of the warranty expiring, but this one I plan to keep for a while. My 3 previous vehicles were SUV but they were big and handled like a truck. I’m appreciating the sedan feeling behind the wheel being stretched out and laid back and the handling of a smaller vehicle. My only concern for a sedan was carrying a sizable object but so far, so good. The rear seat backs fold like an SUV so I have been able to fit six foot length lumber. It will probably take 8 ft. if I fold the passenger seat back in front.
Our hehicles are older models and hubby keeps them going. We use mechanics but they seem to break as much as they fix. Last one ruined thread in spark plug hole which hubby had to drill it out,etc,, dealership kept coming up with more things to fix. Hubby has worked on autos most of his life. I like my 1995 E350 Club Wagon Van since we were taking trips and hauling grandkids to beach,, mountains, camping and other places, we kept 6 or so all summer break. I get over 400 miles to a tank so I can go to Cartersville Ga. and still have 1/4 tank of gas. It also has a toilet so no stopping or using public restrooms. Hubby has a 1986 Nissan Pathfinder King Cab he really likes. We don't travel in his truck, its a backup.
Don he is my only mechanic since the spark plug thing, he won't let anyone work on our autos. He is a very good car tech. A real handy man. He can fix almost anything except me. Guess who got lost 'again'.
We decided to change to one car in Feb 2020 due to increasing costs Hubby had a Holden Rodeo, we kept for towing the caravan ( it was a real fuel,guzzler) We sold the caravan and traded both cars in on a brand new Nissan Qashqai it’s nice to drive and it’s much easier to get in and out of of ,I was getting to the stage I was pushing myself up to,get out by putting my hand in the back part of the seat of the Toyota cause I suffer from bursitis in-the hip and although it rarely bothers me I still notice it if I put stain on my hip getting out of a lowish car
My van is harder to enter and exit now too. I ask him to put some running boards on it to give me another step up and down. Lucky we still have a set in his parts junk yard. I always disliked that area, but now I'm liking it more and may love it once he gets the running boards out. I 'talked' him into getting rid of lots of used parts one night,lol anything to shut me up.
I have to comment on this. One Friday evening I was eating at the local Italian place and was at the entrance when a yellow Firebird (small sports car) pulled up to the curb. "That's nice," I thought to myself, "some local teenagers are having a night out." (There's not much to do around here.) I turned my back to walk in as the passenger door opened, and behind me I heard the unmistakable grunt of someone of our generation trying to crawl out of the thing. I guess I was wrong about the teenagers...
The basic Nissan was sorta the colour of your Mazda ……when I say basic it came as no extra cost of you chose the blue. hubby wanted the Gun metal so that was a extra $800 @John Brunner
That's a classy color. I was not aware that Nissan offers it. Mazda has a similar color (Machine Gray), as well as an award-winning 3 layer red (Soul Crystal Red Metallic.) They were each an extra $600, but there were reports of the red paint not being real durable. Trying to repair the chips was impossible due to the complex 3 layer factory process...no paint shop could duplicate it. Of course, those reports could have been a function of the color's popularity and the disproportionate number of them on the road, but pictures of the worst instances made me hesitant. When I was in the process of shopping, I had some stuff come up that caused me to defer the purchase for 6 months. Due to the reported red paint fragility issue, I took that time to walk around parking lots as I was out shopping, looking at older Mazdas to see how their different colors held up over time. I also looked at all red cars in general. After a while, I could never tell which shade or hue was the real "red." I still can't. Some looked muted. Others looked downright orange in comparison. The experience turned me off to red cars in general...I still don't like the color. So I bought the light blue. And during those 6 months, Mazda started offering the turbo in the CX-5, so it all worked out well. edit to add: The primary downside to Mazdas is they don't have a lot of dealerships here in the states. When I last looked in 2019, Mazda owned 1.6% of all U.S. car sales. GM was on top at 16.7%.