Difference: NewCar2002 (1 vs. 2)

Revision 221 Apr 2002 - TobyCabot

Line: 1 to 1
 The Passat wagon ("tooey's cah") is dead. It needs between $900 and $3000 of work, and the dealer can't tell us how much until they go in and take a look. Time for a new car.

We've had the Passat since 1995, and it's been an OK car. It is great to drive - good power and it handles beautifully. On the downside it hasn't really been reliable.

Line: 11 to 11
 
  • mid-sized (i.e. no less room than the current wagon, but not a Buick Roadmaster)
  • V6 (want 150+ HP, don't want a turbo 4, V8 is overkill)
Changed:
<
<
  • Auto (stop giggling)
>
>
  • Auto transmission (stop giggling)
 
  • Budget: $25000, but the closer to $20000 the better.
Deleted:
<
<
Not a very long list.
 Possible replacements:

Line: 25 to 23
 
Changed:
<
<
From this it looks as if the lead dogs are the Saturn and the Taurus, or perhaps a used Volvo.
>
>
Not a very long list. It runs out that many of the wagons are either upscale (MB, BMW, SAAB, Audi) or very low-end (Focus, Hyundai, etc). It looks as if the lead dogs are the Saturn and the Taurus, or perhaps a used Volvo.

2002-04-20 - we drove the Saturn at the local dealership. It's true that Saturn is a relatively painless place to look for a new car, the only issue I had was the time it took: more than two hours. The funny thing is, Vicky and I are so busy that we really didn't mind sitting around waiting for the salesperson to do this or that, it gave us an opportunity to talk like adults. But don't go there if you're in a hurry. Anyway, the car seems very nice, and the price seems reasonable. The interior feels cheesier than the passat but the motor is strong (if noisy) and the ride is very good - not spongy but not harsh either. Many, many safety features. One last interesting feature: 0% financing with $0 down.

Revision 114 Jan 2002 - TobyCabot

Line: 1 to 1
Added:
>
>
The Passat wagon ("tooey's cah") is dead. It needs between $900 and $3000 of work, and the dealer can't tell us how much until they go in and take a look. Time for a new car.

We've had the Passat since 1995, and it's been an OK car. It is great to drive - good power and it handles beautifully. On the downside it hasn't really been reliable.

According to http://www.kbb.com/, it's worth about $4000 for a tradein (in "fair" condition) so it's probably not worth spending $900 on it at this point (much less $3000).

Here's the plan: I don't want to deal with the hassle of selling it, so I think that I'll donate it to charity and take the tax writeoff, then buy a new (probably used) station wagon. I don't dig SUV's, and I don't think that we need a minivan. The good news is that there appear to be many station wagons on the market, where 5 years ago there were very few.

Requirements for the new car:

  • mid-sized (i.e. no less room than the current wagon, but not a Buick Roadmaster)
  • V6 (want 150+ HP, don't want a turbo 4, V8 is overkill)
  • Auto (stop giggling)
  • Budget: $25000, but the closer to $20000 the better.

Not a very long list.

Possible replacements:

From this it looks as if the lead dogs are the Saturn and the Taurus, or perhaps a used Volvo.

View topic | History: r4 < r3 < r2 < r1 | More topic actions...
Copyright © 2008-2024 by the contributing authors. All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors.
Ideas, requests, problems regarding The Caboteria? Send feedback