Originally Posted by Dan725

Little SUV's not expensive to run though...Honda CRVs etc really have good gas miles. I'd say if you only have one car, it'd actually make even more sense for a family.

Hmm, yet another view that I am becoming more assimilated as time passes....

Originally Posted by Bob

All in, I bloody hate saabs, but might get another, because they are cheap to insure around here and the winter drive mode does kick some serious arse...but what else is worth looking at in the $10-12K mark? Don't want to go much over that because of all the extra faff of tax, registration and all that b/s. 4 door Saloon/Sedan, possibly a granny estate car.

Things going for this motor though, we've had it ages and know all about it, mechanically it is sound, just this vapour leak for inspection. Being fickle, I rather like the shade of green and the "klingon" 3 spoke rims look rather nice, compared to the standard shit looking alloys. It's got the prestige sound system, which doen't mean poo because the head unit has just died and that's $600, so after market sound if we keep it...does have a $1200 amp in there though and when it works, it's got rather nice sound. On a rolling start, it goes like shit off a stick and has a rather a nice turbo.

Cons, for the missus, it doesn't have heated seats, nor vented, the AC is really weedy and shit when it's stupidly hot out and randomly decides not to kick in for a while, works most of the time though (it's been recently recharged too)....crap cup holders and interiors....the rather nice turbo gives it way to much torque and the car feathers if you ram the power on a standing start which doesn't bother me but does scare the poo out of everyone else.

Originally Posted by N1cky

Never, had a mechanical problem with either of them and would buy another Saab tomorrow.

Also had 2 Subaru's, really hard seats numb bum problem after around 1 hour, and no heated seats in either. I didn't buy them for that though, bought them so I could overtake everyone on the country snowy lanes I used to live on and loved them both

Originally Posted by Bob

Saab's were great cars till they got bought out...was supposed to have had a all new designed 95 introduced in '01 which still hasn't happened...now owned by koenigsegg so could get good again. There are some tasty mods for the car, if I were young, single and without a baby The old 9000 CS, you could chuck the spring on the intake valve to turn the turbo from a light version to the full turbo if you stuck some solenoid somewhere and lots of silly other fun things, but the 95 got a little grown up me me thinks.

The AWD of the Suburu is pretty appealing though with the roads around here.

Oh....anyone had any recent dealings with Nissan? Altima just seemed a bit too fuddy for my liking and Maxima has a fat arse, but what are they like to maintain? Pathfinder is a lot of fun, a mate had one till it lost to a moose, but that's a bit of a monster so not even considering it.

Originally Posted by N1cky

Although no comparison I know, our Subaru was fantastic across the Pennines and Saddleworth in the snow. I am comparing 3 inches of snow to 3 feet though no doubt.

Originally Posted by Dewey

A tree fell on our Honda last year - it was a 1990 Civic wagon with 190k on the clock. Other than a replacement gearbox at 150k, and the usual brakes, tires, and exhaust, I can't think of anything else that went wrong with the car. We bought a Subaru to replace it, a 2000 Impreza wagon with 65k. The AWD was welcome during the few snow days we had this January, but it adds extra weight so the brakes will wear out a bit sooner and the mileage is poor for a compact 21mpg versus 25mpg for the Civic. My father in law has a '95 Odyssey minivan, which in its then first iteration was basically a jacked up Accord wagon - a bit wheezy with the 4cyl, so I'd second Steerpike's suggestion and look for the V6 if you decided to try an Accord.

Originally Posted by Bob

that's cool though, they do seem to handle the slush well...certainly one on our list to check out.

Just for a laugh, found at the local BMW/Merc dealers, they've got a F1 Maclaren with 6.5K on the clock going for $226K...just slightly out of our budget...I some how don't think however much I get suited and booted that they'll let me take it for a test drive though

Originally Posted by Bob

Did see a cute little Audi estate car pulling out of the Audi shop for a test drive on the way home today, no idea what model it was though, so might run in there as well.

Originally Posted by Dewey

Bob, 10-12 grand should get you a 4 year old Subaru Legacy or Outback in sedan or wagon styles, with perforated leather heated and cooled seats, heated mirrors and wipers, 6 airbags, ABS, and AWD, with from 40-60k on the clock. The Legacy was redesigned for the 05 model year. Get a GT spec for all the toys.

Originally Posted by Bob

Did see a cute little Audi estate car pulling out of the Audi shop for a test drive on the way home today, no idea what model it was though, so might run in there as well.

Originally Posted by Bob

Just for a laugh, found at the local BMW/Merc dealers, they've got a F1 Maclaren with 6.5K on the clock going for $226K...just slightly out of our budget...I some how don't think however much I get suited and booted that they'll let me take it for a test drive though

Originally Posted by Dewey

Was it the A3? Top car, like a luxury VW Golf GTI - the base 2.0T has 200hp and 207 lb-ft @ only 1800 RPM which should mean even with FWD it can handle snow with ease. Get one with the optional cold weather package for heated seats, mirrors, and washer jets. The optional 'open sky' double sunroof might be worth it so the kids in the back can gaze at the stars! You should be able to find an '06 2.0T for under 12 grand from a private seller - our local Merc dealer has a used premium outlet to offload their trade-in's and they had a lovely low mileage '06 a couple of months ago for $14k so you can knock easily two grand off that for a private sale.

Re: McLaren F1 - a true batmobile. If I had the money I'd rather fancy a nice lightly used Caterham 7 to blat around on amateur day at the racetrack.

Originally Posted by Tarkak9

...just make sure the timing belt has been replaced if getting a used one etc. Most of the time that's why they are traded in.. peeps can't be bothered to replace them. Pay attn to the maintainance records etc. Audi's are meh nowadays b/c they're made in Mex/Brazil and not quite the par as the older ones built in europe. Goes the same for Vdubs.

Originally Posted by Bob

timing belt a bit of a big one to replace on the audi as well then? When they do, 90 or 120K?

Originally Posted by Bob

timing belt a bit of a big one to replace on the audi as well then? When they do, 90 or 120K?

Originally Posted by Bob

For a nifty motor, I'd like a grunty and not so fab, TVR...