New car for wife., so many cars, so little money..... Options

[CrashTestDummy]

The budget is in the mid to upper $30's, but I'm cheap, so the lower the better. We started out looking at a 2013 Honda Cross Tour, (around $13,500), but it sold. I started looking around a bit, and realized with the deal they're offering, we could get a new one easily enough. That Sonata has been tough, but we would like to start traveling a bit and wouldn't mind a newer car. She will definitely want something with enough room for a baby seat, (grandkids!), and I would like something with a little grunt, and good looks. The Equinox looks nice but a 1.4 liter turbo doesn't sound like enough engine to me.

$30K?!? That's TWO retired Tahoe PPVs or Caprice 9C1s. One to drive, and one for spares. Great trucks, both of them (yes, the Caprice is very 'truck-like' with it's equipment). Only issue with the Caprice is the fact that it's now orphaned. We have one of each, both bought after retirement at ~80K miles on the clock each, and both have been dead-nuts reliable.

But I'm sure you're looking for something with a warranty.

[UMI Performance]

Another one to look at the Buicks, the newer Lacrosse and Regal is really nice. And I like them because you can get AWD. I'm not sure if that's a concern or not but we get snow and ice in PA and needed a family style car, but with comfort and luxury. I found a really nice Lacrosse local, 3.6L AWD and it was a premium so leather and goodies. I like it for the lady because it looks classy, feels classy, plenty of pep, good on fuel and AWD so I don't have to worry about her as much.

But now we have tinted the windows and I just got her wheels for it (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/icon_lol.gif)

[trackbird]

Another one to look at the Buicks, the newer Lacrosse and Regal is really nice. And I like them because you can get AWD. I'm not sure if that's a concern or not but we get snow and ice in PA and needed a family style car, but with comfort and luxury. I found a really nice Lacrosse local, 3.6L AWD and it was a premium so leather and goodies. I like it for the lady because it looks classy, feels classy, plenty of pep, good on fuel and AWD so I don't have to worry about her as much.

But now we have tinted the windows and I just got her wheels for it (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/icon_lol.gif)

(Chanting)

LS SWAP! LS SWAP! LS SWAP!

We drove a LaCrosse because my wife wanted an Impala and it wasn't available in AWD unless you bought the Buick. It was a nice car and a pretty well equipped package. When her car died, we sorta forgot to look at those again and wound up with an AWD SUV. That's a fun car, and fairly quick too.

[CrashTestDummy]

Some of those Buick models have available nice brake packages. I know one (LaCrosse, Regal?) has availability of the same Bimbo brakes used on the SS and CTS-V. 310 HP, AWD and nice brakes in a 4-door. What's not to love?

[slowTA]

To jump on the Buick bandwagon, we just picked up 2011 turbo Regal with a manual transmission. I'm still not sure why you have to pick between a manual trans and AWD... is it really that hard to give us both?

It has a nice ride, the 220 turbocharged horses are fun, and it shifts great. The downside so far just seem to be with the age of this one with 100k miles. Lots of previous owner scratches and other signs of a rough life. Including 4 bent wheels, that were only noticeable over 60ish.

Finding parts will prove to be a bit of a challenge, rockauto shows some annoying repair stuff as out of stock... power steering pressure line, turbo rebuild kit, flywheel, and some other off the wall things.

Also, you won't find much performance suspension stuff (but basic replacements are ok). So that can keep your wallet happy, I guess.

[UMI Performance]

Some of those Buick models have available nice brake packages. I know one (LaCrosse, Regal?) has availability of the same Bimbo brakes used on the SS and CTS-V. 310 HP, AWD and nice brakes in a 4-door. What's not to love?

I'm starting to hate LS Swaps.... seems like all we do anymore haha.

[79T/A]

The Regal GS is a fun little car and you can get it in AWD, but not with a manual trans. I’m sure the wife would prefer an auto for commuting, anway.

[CrashTestDummy]

Some of those Buick models have available nice brake packages. I know one (LaCrosse, Regal?) has availability of the same Bimbo brakes used on the SS and CTS-V. 310 HP, AWD and nice brakes in a 4-door. What's not to love?

I'm starting to hate LS Swaps.... seems like all we do anymore haha.

Heh, indeed. EVEN when the car originally came with a LS*!!

[rpoz-29]

I've held off looking for the last couple of weeks. Christmas, New Years, a house full of people, a cold, and now crappy cold weather, and snow. I plan to resume my search sometime next week. I do like the Buicks, but have been out of the market so long, I don't know what car comes with what features. And that's where you guys came in!

This post has been edited by rpoz-29: Jan 4 2018, 02:39 PM

[GCrites80s]

^It's hard to think about cars when your pipes are frozen. Ask me how I know.

[CrashTestDummy]

^It's hard to think about cars when your pipes are frozen. Ask me how I know.

That sucks, and I do know!! It's also sucky to have to try to fix them in just-above-freezing weather with all that water/ice around!!

[rpoz-29]

I understand about the frozen pipes. I helped my nephew fix a burst pipe in his house just yesterday. I was the site plumber when I retired from DuPont's Spruance plant in 2014. For whatever reason, they could never remember that water froze at 32 degrees f. I made a TON of money in overtime because of it. The funniest incident was a very young, very new manager who called about a plugged pipe. It was a drain from a modular office area rest room, and exposed to the weather for about 30 feet. I told him I'd fix it the next morning. I get a call that morning that water was "everywhere over here, it's even coming out of the toilet"! When I got there he told me he had left the water running in a sink so it wouldn't freeze. I told him the drain was still frozen so it had no where to go. "Why is it coming out of the toilet and not the sink then"? "Because the sink it higher than the toilet and they use the same drain", I said. He almost had tears in his eyes..."Please fix it and don't tell anyone.." I did, and never mentioned it.

[GCrites80s]

Luckily, mine didn't burst this time. But I remember one time down at the farm when my dad started heating up the copper pipes with a propane torch. He wasn't really a mechanically inclined person and didn't heat the pipes evenly enough or whatever and he made a real mess in the basement. That made me nervous about just going in with a heat gun so I just generally added a lot of heat to my plumbing access (my house is on a slab). It took longer (2 days) but this way nothing blew.

[rpoz-29]

So, after the snow that will not go away.......what do you guys think of Subarus? I'm actually serious......

[CrashTestDummy]

Luckily, mine didn't burst this time. But I remember one time down at the farm when my dad started heating up the copper pipes with a propane torch. He wasn't really a mechanically inclined person and didn't heat the pipes evenly enough or whatever and he made a real mess in the basement. That made me nervous about just going in with a heat gun so I just generally added a lot of heat to my plumbing access (my house is on a slab). It took longer (2 days) but this way nothing blew.

He must've kept the flame on a joint a bit too long. Copper should take a pretty good hit of propane before melting through. But yeah, move it back and forth, and you should be good. We have slab homes here, too, and most of the time, the main supply line goes into the house near the base of the wall, sometimes leaving a pretty good run of pipe exposed to the atmosphere. The last house we lived in I enjoyed dragging a hair dryer outside in sub-freezing weather to thaw the supply. That's even after wrapping it well.

One winter, when we got temps in the teens, and nothing above freezing for a week, I came home one afternoon to see water running out the garage. One of the pipes that ran up the garage wall into the attic space (over the unheated garage) had frozen and split. Luckily, I caught it early, and had a friend with a portable band saw, so we were able to replace the split pipe in pretty short order.

[landstuhltaylor]

So, after the snow that will not go away.......what do you guys think of Subarus? I'm actually serious......

Winter tires are much cheaper and infinitely more reliable.

[mikedamageinc]

With the snow, I'll reiterate my bit with the Infiniti. I took the wife's M37x out and plowed thru like a champ, just like the G35x did before. I usually end up only taking out my Land Cruiser because it's armored and I want to keep her car nice but it does great in any weather. Just look for the "x" models. It's awd system is similar to that of the GTR, only difference is that GTR has computer controlled LSD's.

The used prices are pretty good and personally i would love to get another 2006 G35, after that they started getting heavier and more add on crap, and earlier than 2005 had less power, smaller brakes and ugly interior. They are so responsive and can get up and go. They also come in a manual with a little more power than the auto though i never had the chance to drive one I'm sure they're much better.

This post has been edited by mikedamageinc: Jan 8 2018, 07:40 PM

[79T/A]

So, after the snow that will not go away.......what do you guys think of Subarus? I'm actually serious......

A buddy of mine sells Subarus. The amount of them I’ve seen in the service center getting complete engine replacements blows my mind. I used to be a big Subaru fan because their old stuff was rock solid. The newer stuff - run far, far away.

[rpoz-29]

I've been reading around the internet, and it looks like they got the head gasket/engine issues straight around 2015. Never the less it's a concern, and I had not heard of it until your post. I remember the Toyota head gasket fiasco a few years back, and they had a mess on their hands. Thanks.

[CrashTestDummy]

Wow, they still had head gasket issues all the way into 2015?!? I remember back in the '80's and '90's where the common joke was that a tune up on a Subaru included a torque wrench so you could do a torque check on the head bolts.

Haven't heard of that many engine issues with the autocrossed Subarus, just transmission and transfer case replacements. Although I think a friend has had an engine replaced in his 2015/16 XTi, but he usually wrings the most out of cars he autocrosses. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)