What is wrong with me.

[andrewg]

You are retired? Why not just bag the new car idea at this point in your life?

When you feel the need to drive a fun car (without all the expense and paying for "gizmos" you don't want)...why not just rent one while on a vacation? Save the money for travel and seeing/doing things you enjoy. A car a a huge expense.

The older I get....the less I'll have a need to drive a new car. Just not going to be high on my priority list after I retire.

 

[BearZDefect]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
This is a neverending story. Twenty years from now, we'll be saying that we'd gladly buy a brand new 2015 GTI because you could still drive it instead of a brand new 2035 GTI that drives you.

LOL!

I'd much rather have a teleporter

 

[Lapham3]

Reminds me of how I felt when shopping for a car in the mid 70's=all the new add-on type emissions just arrived-uninteresting styling and stupid looking 5 mph bumpers. Told my wife to decide, I didn't see anything I wanted. She bought an impractical MG...that she still has! I quit buying new in the late 80's and look for 'the right one' used, but good. Maybe something from the past carefully bought would work for you.

 

[marc1]

Originally Posted By: CT8
I am in the market for a new vehicle. My 96 Toyota runs fine and low miles but it is 17 years old. I don't enjoy playing car mechanic for free when I used to br my occupation for almost life. All the cars have airbags. Don't care for them
The tv screens I learned to hate then when GM put then in the 80s or 90.s Riveras "Glass cockpits are distracting' I like gauges " real ones"
Automatics. I prefer a manual.
Theft systems ,one more thing that will fail and leave you stranded.
Key fob door unlockers. I prefer a key.
No key on the passenger door. Don't need one with a door unlocker. I like to unlock the passenger door with a key.
BLA,BLA, BLA,
Yeah I am getting old and cranky but I have the $$$ for a new car, Cash and there are none that makes me want to write the check. The Challenger! The Hellcat almost gets me excited about a car. It is really nice but it is loaded with all the [censored] I loath.
Same thing with the pick ups I have Looked at.


I have a 1968 GTO for sale for you then. It is a real Ram Air 1 car (very rare, look it up), minimal options, 4 speed transmission. It is carbureted of course and has points for the ignition. Turn key car, was driven to the West coast for a car show (over 1800 miles round trip). It gets about 18MPG Imperial on the highway if you drive nice. Needs nothing and if it does maintenance type parts (shocks, filters, plugs etc.) are cheap. $20k USD, delivery available to your location for a fee.

 

[Kira]

Hello, You got it fellas. It's a never ending story involving corrupted businesses which "market" glitz and bling to idiots.

Determine what you need to do with your vehicle and shop around for something used which can do the job, is in good repair, is relatively easy to service or get serviced, has a quality track record.

Life is made up of compromises. In reality the choices we have to make are all too frequently those from undesirable pools.

We're all in the same boat. So ask questions, give us parameters, make a decision (or not) and stop wishing for something which doesn't exist.

Saab made great, basic, economical cars. GM bought Saab. GMSaab stopped offering non-turbocharged cars.
Hey, car companies make more money selling expensive cars. What are you, a hippie Commie or something?
Now Saab is gone. Our consolation? The Malibu Max was built on the Saab 9-5 Epsilon chassis.
You deal with dog's dirt when you deal with car companies.
Good luck with your search. Kira

 

[fdcg27]

Saab make great, basic economical cars?
This must be a maker in another dimension from the one I'm in.
Old-school Saabs had their appeal, but there was nothing basic about doing any serious work with a car that had the engine mounted backwards.
The first time I actually looked under the expansive hood of one, I thought "surely not".
Saabs were more noted for their quirkiness than their reliability, and they weren't cheap to buy.
GM at least gave Saab a modern platform and modern engines and gave up plenty of money in trying to keep the Saab car brand alive.

 

[ron17571]

Look around for someone who totally rebuilds the kind of vehicle you like. I saw a site where someone did Toyota land cruisers.Look in Hemmings at rebuilt nice older cars.

 

[MCompact]

I do have to say I prefer my older BMWs to just about anything else in the garage- although the MS3 is hard to beat from the standpoint of performance coupled with decent fuel economy.

That said, I could easily see myself driving a 1973 tii(with upgraded A/C) as a daily driver. And I do drive the ti more often than not. And I look for just about any reason NOT to take my wife's 3er(E90 non sport+slushbox= deadly dull).

 

[Nate1979]

You guys sound like a bunch of old people fantasizing about the good ole' days

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
I would buy a brand new MKI or MKII VW Golf GTI if they still made them.

This is a neverending story. Twenty years from now, we'll be saying that we'd gladly buy a brand new 2015 GTI because you could still drive it instead of a brand new 2035 GTI that drives you.


Cept, that the 2015 Golf GTI while a nice cruiser, is expensive,
complicated, and bloated to pig status, so the 2035 will be the size of some SUV. LOL

Sorry but neither of those years you mention are really
genuine GTIs. They are pretenders, the only thing that even
comes close to the original is possibly the Polo GTI on offer around the rest of the world but of course VWoA won't offer it in the USA because they are incompetent idiots.


Oh, on while on the subject of SAAB if you were around in the
late 70s to mid 80s you could by a basic non turbo stick SAAB
99 or 900 for a very reasonable price that was in line with a Honda Accord price at the time. Not expensive cars at all during that time period unless you opted for the turbo versions and even they were reasonably priced compared to other sub premium vehicles of the day, my parents owned two basic 900s and they were very nice to drive if not sporty, economical, not troublesome at all, and AMAZING in snowy and icy weather.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: Nate1979
You guys sound like a bunch of old people fantasizing about the good ole' days

Not in every case; I inherited my father's 1973 Bronco V8. There's a lot of nostalgia about those "Bobtails" and I just don't see it; terrible handling, braking, HVAC- there is no way I'd take one over my 1999 TJ. The Jeep just annihilates in every category.

Conversely, I absolutely love my 1975 2002. I'd drive it year-round if it had A/C- and even then I drive it when the heat/humidity isn't too extreme. The ride/handling balance is spot-on, it cruises at 80 with no drama, and the controls telegraph what the car is doing- rather than the artificially weighted electric steering and piped-in/simulated engine sounds of today's cars.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: Nate1979
You guys sound like a bunch of old people fantasizing about the good ole' days

That's because many of us are.
Many of us do mourn the passing of simple, lightweight cars.

 

[JDW]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: Nate1979
You guys sound like a bunch of old people fantasizing about the good ole' days

That's because many of us are.
Many of us do mourn the passing of simple, lightweight cars.


That and other things that "pampers" will ever understand .

 

[morepwr]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: Nate1979
You guys sound like a bunch of old people fantasizing about the good ole' days

That's because many of us are.
Many of us do mourn the passing of simple, lightweight cars.


Bingo!

 

[mcrn]

Basic Tacoma...IT does not even have key fobs that some how take away from the driving enjoyment......I do not even think it has intermediate wipers! You can get a stick and its a truck that has nothing to it.

 

[hattaresguy]

Walk down to your local Toyota dealer and buy a stripped new Tacoma, I think the base ones still come with crank windows. Which suck in a truck BTW.

 

[andrewg]

Originally Posted By: Nate1979
You guys sound like a bunch of old people fantasizing about the good ole' days

What qualifies as "old people"? Over 40? Over 70?

Just try to remember that older folks sometimes have something of value to say.

I'm assuming your comment was meant to be taken as a mild poke.....but one thing that isn't all that mild is that far too often our older citizens aren't given the respect and dignity that they deserve.

If the under 30 crowd had all the answers....things wouldn't be so messed up.

As for cars? Simple and lighter is often FAR more fun to drive. Complexities and high-tech gadgetry doesn't always mean better.

 

[andrewg]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Walk down to your local Toyota dealer and buy a stripped new Tacoma, I think the base ones still come with crank windows. Which suck in a truck BTW.


Unless I'm missing something....I don't think so. The most basic Tacoma doesn't even come with a single cab anymore (2015). They ALL have A/C, power windows/locks, ABS, Stability Control, and TPMS.

Not exactly stripped down.

 

[jimbrewer]

Don't like the poor visibility in today's cars. I know a lot of it is safety mandated by roll over standards, but a lot of it is self inflicted, too. There's a toddler-sized blind spot behind my standard cab f-150 that's about 30 feet long. It scares the excrement out of me. A high price to pay to raise the side of the box six or eight inches, if you ask me.

The silly frou frou doesn't bother me. Perfectly happy to unlock my own doors for $800.

 

[Cujet]

I actually find modern cars easier to deal with. If you purchase quality, it will last a good long time.

It's nice to think that things were better years ago, but that's not the case. Quality has improved markedly over the last 20 years.