Car buying advice needed

"Ivan Vegvary" > wrote in message
...
> Looking for a new car with the following requirements (most important
> first).
>
> 1. Back lift gate. (wagon or small SUV)
>
> 2. Has to be quiet with very little road noise.
>
> 3. Soft cushy drive.
>
> 4. 26 plus highway mpg.
>
>
>
> I've tried the Subaru Forester and Outback. Tried all the different
> Hyundai models. Tried most of the GMC products.
>
>
>
> I guess what I am up against is that the whole world loves the new "sport
> suspensions" whereby your rear-end feels every saw cut and expansion joint
> in the pavement. The stupid looking 'low profile' tires don't help
> either.
>
>
>
> At my age this is probably the last car I will ever purchase and I would
> like to get it right. BTW don't mind buying a model that is 2-3 years
> old.
>
>
>
> All group advice appreciated.
>
>
>
> Ivan Vegvary
>
>
Head to your local library and read the latest edition of "Car and Driver",
it has an article on eight small SUV's with specs and performance data and
their rankings of the eight. Good Info

On Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:43:33 -0800 (PST), Kruse >
wrote:

>On Jan 16, 4:15*pm, Ashton Crusher > wrote:
>
>>
>> If you want the most vehicle for the least money head on down to your
>> Chrysler dealer and look for a new 2009 PT cruiser. *Last I checked it
>> has a lifetime power train warranty (2010 models don't),
>
>Before the Chrysler lifetime warranty gets pushed, make sure you tell
>the buyer to read the fine print. I've seen more than one person run
>away from that program once they read all the stipulations of it and
>all the hoops they have to jump through for it to apply.
>Also, I'm still trying to determine the definition what the word
>"lifetime" here means. If I were buying a Chrysler product, that word
>could mean very little. At any time Fiat could say we don't have that
>word in our Italian language and when opinion polls drop from any
>political administration, they could flip-flip overnight.


I've read it. All you need to do is follow the maint schedule AND
when it's 5 years old, +- a couple months, you need to take it in for
an inspection. With some of the money I saved on the PT I bought an
extended warranty (warrantydirect.com) that goes 10 years/101000 miles
and will cover anything the original non-powertrain 3/36 warranty
doesn't cover. For an extra $50 I also bought an extra rider that
will cover anything the manufacturer would have covered should the
manufacturer go out of business. With ALL costs included I paid less
then $14000 out the door for a nice vehicle that is completely
warranted (less $100 deductible per visit) for the next decade/101000.
My experience with these extended warranties is that I get about 80%
of the cost back in repairs during the warranty. So the remaining few
hundred, which comes to maybe $75 a year buys total piece of mind and
I don't personally have fix anything, unlike on my other 3 vehicles
that are long out of warranty.

On Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:53:03 -0700, Ashton Crusher > wrote:
>On Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:43:33 -0800 (PST), Kruse >
>wrote:

>>On Jan 16, 4:15?pm, Ashton Crusher > wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> If you want the most vehicle for the least money head on down to your
>>> Chrysler dealer and look for a new 2009 PT cruiser. ?Last I checked it
>>> has a lifetime power train warranty (2010 models don't),
>>
>>Before the Chrysler lifetime warranty gets pushed, make sure you tell
>>the buyer to read the fine print. I've seen more than one person run
>>away from that program once they read all the stipulations of it and
>>all the hoops they have to jump through for it to apply.
>>Also, I'm still trying to determine the definition what the word
>>"lifetime" here means. If I were buying a Chrysler product, that word
>>could mean very little. At any time Fiat could say we don't have that
>>word in our Italian language and when opinion polls drop from any
>>political administration, they could flip-flip overnight.


>I've read it. All you need to do is follow the maint schedule AND
>when it's 5 years old, +- a couple months, you need to take it in for
>an inspection. With some of the money I saved on the PT I bought an
>extended warranty (warrantydirect.com) that goes 10 years/101000 miles
>and will cover anything the original non-powertrain 3/36 warranty
>doesn't cover. For an extra $50 I also bought an extra rider that
>will cover anything the manufacturer would have covered should the
>manufacturer go out of business. With ALL costs included I paid less
>then $14000 out the door for a nice vehicle that is completely
>warranted (less $100 deductible per visit) for the next decade/101000.
>My experience with these extended warranties is that I get about 80%
>of the cost back in repairs during the warranty. So the remaining few
>hundred, which comes to maybe $75 a year buys total piece of mind and
>I don't personally have fix anything, unlike on my other 3 vehicles
>that are long out of warranty.

Any vehicle where you have to rely on a warranty isn't worth owning.

On Jan 17, 2:53*pm, Ashton Crusher > wrote:
*With some of the money I saved on the PT I bought an
> extended warranty (warrantydirect.com) that goes 10 years/101000 miles
> and will cover anything the original non-powertrain 3/36 warranty
> doesn't cover.

You bought an aftermarket third-party warranty?
LOL.
About 99.9% of these go under the minute their expenses exceed income.
Good luck.

On Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:29:51 -0800 (PST), Kruse >
wrote:

>On Jan 17, 2:53*pm, Ashton Crusher > wrote:
> *With some of the money I saved on the PT I bought an
>> extended warranty (warrantydirect.com) that goes 10 years/101000 miles
>> and will cover anything the original non-powertrain 3/36 warranty
>> doesn't cover.
>
>You bought an aftermarket third-party warranty?
>LOL.
>About 99.9% of these go under the minute their expenses exceed income.
>Good luck.

Warranty has been around a long time, probably 15 years or more. I
think they have pretty much figured out how to make the business work.
I do agree that there are a lot of shady ones and the funny thing is,
they usually charge more then warrantydirect does. But I suspect they
have much higher commissions for their high power sales staff so they
have less money actually going into the reserve fund, if any.