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Post by Cole D on Jan 2, 2019 21:12:23 GMT -5
That does sound like a good deal. We were in the same boat we really liked the Escape but could not locate the exact one we wanted and whenever we did it was AWD and around $28,000 after wheeling and dealing when we were looking to spend around $20k total. I couldn't justify almost $10k more for a little hatchback trunk and it to be a little higher especially when we want to buy a house in the future. The EcoSport apparently is not living up to what people want. I think its too small or probably when you get to the midgrade one its probably priced close to a base or lesser package Escape. I know a friend of mines grandmom got around $10k off a new Taurus a few years back because they said no one bought them they'd come in looking at it and leave with a Fusion or Edge. I don't get why.. Most dealers if they stocked Taurus's you could get one a package higher for the price of a lower trimmed Fusion with the incentives and all. Haha the heated steering wheel reminds me of my mechanic who is a lifelong Chevy Man's son is a Chrysler/Mopar guy.. So he buys a new RAM 1500 and trades in his 3500 dually. He then goes back the next day and buys his wife a brand new Dodge Charger. He goes to show his dad who flips that he bought two Dodges and also he looks and it has heated/cooled cup holders.. He said he went on a tirade asking how do you expect me to fix those in a few years?! Were definitely going the minivan route for my wife next time when her Elantra dies or we need space when we have kids. The space and cost advantage is definitely there, plus my wifes in love with the Toyota Sienna but that a few years away. It is true that cheap gas effects mileage. We have Wawa Convenience stores which I think Florida got a few now. Their gas is terrible for mileage. I usually get one or two miles less to the gallon with theres so it could be comparable there. My best friends sister is some sort of engineer and in College she did this big thesis thing about gasoline quality and mileage and its truly amazing the difference when she explained all these stats for me. Ultimately Sunoco is the best was her conclusion for local gas stations. Hmm I hadn't heard that about the Taurus. One dealer here only had one Taurus, an SEL. The dealer I bought from I think had two new Taurus and they were both SE, I think. I think right now you can get one for about $18k which isn't bad for a full size car. Another dealer had an SE and a Limited. Although I never see SHO models around. I knew I wanted a used Taurus Limited and it took about two months before one showed up here, hence why I went there to drive it last week. I knew I didn't want one with 55k miles but I wanted to drive one before I went out of town to locate one or bring one here. One thing I like better with the Fusion is the console storage. There's an open bin at the front, which is great for your phone, then the under armrest storage. With the Taurus you have just the armrest storage, and then two covered compartments, one which is the cup holders and then the other is another cupholder and a square holder big enough for maybe an iPod or flip phone. No open storage spot. The glove box is also smaller than the Fusion's and no shelf. My old car had under armrest storage and then that whole armrest flipped up and there was CD storage below. I have just the small console compartment to put CDs in the Taurus so not much room. The center console is blocked off at the front in the Taurus and just seems like a lot of wasted space under the center stack that they could have opened up and put to use. There's another flap compartment under the A/C controls but it's just a panel with a power outlet and the parking and rear sunshade buttons. It's also a little picky but the ambient lighting was a bit disappointing. I was under the impression that all doors had the lights on the handle and map pocket, but it's just the front ones. Also the front footwells have them but in back the lights are actually under the center console itself and under the front seats themselves. I think on the Fusion they ARE under the seats though. Not a big deal though. The cupholder compartments and armrest compartment light up nicely, so up front it's well lit. On the Charger even the SE I rented had ambient lights and all 4 door handles have them plus front and rear cupholders too. But I don't think the footwells are lighted if I remember. I keep my ambient lights on Ice Blue so far. They can also be dimmed but the other colors like blue, orange, green, red, purple are noticeably dimmer than Ice Blue even on full brightness. The 2007-2012 was probably my favorite gen of Escape. When the 2013s came out it seemed they were trying to make it more like a crossover, but still they seem to be great vehicles too. |
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Post by Cole D on Jan 2, 2019 22:37:15 GMT -5
Right now I'd have to wait to see how Indian build quality holds up and how reliability is before considering one myself. The Escapes are nice, but I found the seats in the 2014 Titanium I tested to be a little too flat for my liking. Also, the steering wheel has little "nubs" on it where you're supposed to put your thumbs, but I like a traditional, flat, rounded steering wheel. My one aunt has a 2006 first-generation Escape V6, and it has everything except for leather and heated seats. I really like it, as it's got that boxy SUV look to it, and it's plenty powerful for its size. My favorite was the 2nd gen Escape with the 2008-2012. The 2013s looked really odd to me at first, but they have grown on me. I noticed something similar with the steering wheel in my Taurus. There are those little numbs but I tend to hold the wheel at the top, the woodgrain part. Otherwise its easier to hold the bottom. |
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Post by fancollector12 on Jan 3, 2019 3:23:41 GMT -5
Right now I'd have to wait to see how Indian build quality holds up and how reliability is before considering one myself. The Escapes are nice, but I found the seats in the 2014 Titanium I tested to be a little too flat for my liking. Also, the steering wheel has little "nubs" on it where you're supposed to put your thumbs, but I like a traditional, flat, rounded steering wheel. My one aunt has a 2006 first-generation Escape V6, and it has everything except for leather and heated seats. I really like it, as it's got that boxy SUV look to it, and it's plenty powerful for its size. My favorite was the 2nd gen Escape with the 2008-2012. The 2013s looked really odd to me at first, but they have grown on me. I noticed something similar with the steering wheel in my Taurus. There are those little numbs but I tend to hold the wheel at the top, the woodgrain part. Otherwise its easier to hold the bottom. The 2018 Explorer Limited I drove didn't have the nubs as far as I remember. I think it uses the same steering wheel as the Taurus. I also drove an older (2014) Explorer Limited back in 2014, and it also didn't have the nubs. I too like the 2nd gen Escapes. I like the 1st gen ones as well (even the 3rd and current gen ones are alright), but the 2nd gen ones were the first to offer Ford SYNC, so they were very innovative for their time being that most cars only had basic Bluetooth for calls only, and very mediocre systems at that... Ford SYNC was a great system, still is today.  |
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Post by Cole D on Jan 5, 2019 9:39:32 GMT -5
My favorite was the 2nd gen Escape with the 2008-2012. The 2013s looked really odd to me at first, but they have grown on me. I noticed something similar with the steering wheel in my Taurus. There are those little numbs but I tend to hold the wheel at the top, the woodgrain part. Otherwise its easier to hold the bottom. The 2018 Explorer Limited I drove didn't have the nubs as far as I remember. I think it uses the same steering wheel as the Taurus. I also drove an older (2014) Explorer Limited back in 2014, and it also didn't have the nubs. I too like the 2nd gen Escapes. I like the 1st gen ones as well (even the 3rd and current gen ones are alright), but the 2nd gen ones were the first to offer Ford SYNC, so they were very innovative for their time being that most cars only had basic Bluetooth for calls only, and very mediocre systems at that... Ford SYNC was a great system, still is today. Yeah I thought that was cool on the 2008 Focus too which was the first year to offer Sync and ambient lighting. On my Taurus, it has Sync 3, and it seems to work well. I especially like how the Bluetooth can also text, and stream music from Pandora, and you can change the tracks from the touchscreen or steering wheel. On the logo on the console though, it just says "SYNC" and not "Microsoft SYNC" like they used to. I think you're right it doesn't have those nubs it was just the stitching that stuck out on the sides. Also I think the Explorer has the same seats as the Taurus, which I find very comfortable. My old car just had manual seats with forward/back and recline. But the Taurus can go up down or tilt too, and has air bladders for the lumbar. Although I did try the active motion massage for a bit and it does help some as a massage. But it's slower than I thought it would be. I also like how the head restraints can tilt forward, my old car they just went up/down but didn't lock. |
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Post by fancollector12 on Jan 6, 2019 3:41:16 GMT -5
So there's a VW Jetta for sale at the dealership I work at for right around $8k (I could get it for less with an employee discount). It's a 2012 automatic (DSG, or Dual Sequential Gearbox, I think) model with 115k miles, but from what I've been told, the 2.5L gas I5 is a VERY reliable engine. It's a 2.5 SE trim, so it's the midlevel trim (has satellite radio, a touchscreen radio, alloy wheels, "V-Tex" (what VW calls leatherette/vinyl) seats that are heated up front, a sunroof, etc.) It doesn't have the best stock sound system in the world, but I could put new speakers (and even a new head unit/radio with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay if I want, although all I care about is Bluetooth Audio (A2DP streaming audio) and satellite radio, so the stock unit will do fine). I *may* get it after I sell my old Saab convertible, two Jeeps, and my Chevy pickup, if it's still available. I want leather and a good stereo system at least, if nothing else. Still considering everything out there though. |
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Post by Parkman on Jan 6, 2019 9:56:25 GMT -5
Personally I'd stay away from any VW's. Every mechanic I know has said up until the mid 2000's they were very reliable then when they tried to become the #1 automaker in the world they started cheapening out and having serious quality issues all across the board. I've known a few people who bought VW's new and as soon as they got out of warranty and one or two repairs occurred they'd trade them in usually for some other type of import (Honda, Subaru, Scion, Kia). The only loyal VW people I know buy the Gulf's/GTI's but they all say its expensive to maintain for a non luxury vehicle.. My two cents  |
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Post by Cole D on Jan 6, 2019 10:06:36 GMT -5
The dealership where I bought my car had a VW Jetta, I don't remember the year, maybe 2012, but it only had 49,000 and the price was like $9,999 or something. Which didn't seem like a bad deal because it was loaded. But I didn't look much into it because of all the issues I've heard lately with VW and of course it had no warranty and couldn't be certified through Ford.
I knew a lady that had an older Jetta with the diesel (2004 or so?) and it got great mileage but the interior parts were always falling apart. And was expensive to fix.
One of my friends had a 2007 GTI coupe. Fun car but from what I understand it too had a lot of problems and costly to fix. Ended up trading that for a Ford Focus hatchback.
I generally stay away from brands like VW, Volvo, Audi, etc. The Japanese brands like Subaru, Lexus, Infiniti, Acura will probably be more reliable and not as costly to fix if you want something different than the average American or Japanese brand.
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Post by fancollector12 on Jan 7, 2019 3:23:46 GMT -5
Well, first, the car I was thinking about has sold. One of the guys I talked to is a VW mechanic and he said the 2.5's are some of the most reliable engines VW has made in recent years. I drove a 2016 Jetta with the new 1.4T engine, and while it was slow off the line due to turbo lag (which disappeared once I got it up to speed), it got 40 MPG on the highway and was easy to drive (I felt very comfortable in it)... it had cloth seats but everything else I liked about it. Right now I'm looking at pretty much anything slightly newer with leather (even leatherette) seats under $10k. With an under $10k budget it's kind of difficult to find a slightly newer car with leather/leatherette seats but I'm not giving up. |
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Post by philippe1995 on Jan 22, 2019 10:34:20 GMT -5
here is my 1991 BMW 318i. Bought by my Grand-pa back then. Now my car since the last 4 years. Since I got it, I have been storing it for the winter.  |
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Post by fancollector12 on Jan 24, 2019 3:40:56 GMT -5
here is my 1991 BMW 318i. Bought by my Grand-pa back then. Now my car since the last 4 years. Since I got it, I have been storing it for the winter. That's a cute little E30 you have there... is it by chance a manual or an automatic? |
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Post by becausecanadia on Jan 25, 2019 3:35:44 GMT -5
It really needs a 5.3
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Post by fancollector12 on Jan 25, 2019 3:50:26 GMT -5
LS swap? No thanks...  |
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Post by philippe1995 on Jan 25, 2019 8:29:48 GMT -5
oh please! ahahah I like cars in stock condition when this old. The bimmer 1.8 runs like a charm and has decent performance matched with the 5 speed manual for its age! wouldn't change it for anything |
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Post by philippe1995 on Jan 25, 2019 8:33:04 GMT -5
That's a cute little E30 you have there... is it by chance a manual or an automatic? It's a manual, thank god! this car runs almost like new! I put some money in it to keep it in good condition because I would like to keep it for a while. Only got 220000 km (136700 miles) on the odometer! I would love to keep it for another ten years. |
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Post by becausecanadia on Jan 28, 2019 13:50:47 GMT -5
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