A car buying story-part three-makes and models

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Generally, I wasn't too happy with the variety of models in Canada. When it comes to family cars, the choices are quite simple - you go for a mini van or, as of lately, for an SUV. No big deal. But I thought that mini van is a waste of money if you have only two kids and don't run a repair business. SUV has a fun, all-terrain drift to it, but it too is a waste if you don't use it. What I was looking for is a smaller multi-purpose, single-volume vehicle, and there aren't many of them here. Domestic makes are better in that respect than imports. I almost got to think that the selection is such that it forces you to either buy a big car or two cars.

I'm mostly saying this because I've seen plenty of such versatile models in Europe. For example, you can find a new Civic in 5 door trim -- diesel!

Or a highly unusual, but apparently very versatile and practical Fiat Doblo (a wide spacious crossover) that looks somewhat like Honda Element, only it's a bit smaller and proportionally wider.

Wagons and generally single volume vehicles are very popular in Europe. Half of Fiat's fleet are such cars. And of course, the diesel option -- everybody has it. I was really sorry I did not find a suitable one here.

Anyhow, that is what it is. This is my overview of different models I've looked at:

Honda Accord

I drove Accord '89 for years, and I can testify to its quality. The engine was just great, even with 230,000 km on it. Every year when I need to perform Air-Care, all I'm thinking is: "Is it going to be slightly better or slightly worse than last year?" In the first couple of years I used to drive a bit before the air-care to warm up the engine, but later abandoned that practice -- it was simply unnecessary. Anyhow, Accord was my first thought, and always a backup plan: "if I don't find anything I like, I'll just buy Accord".

And the latest Accord (model 2003) was in all aspects a very good choice. Good space, good quality, safety, fuel economy, pretty much everything. It wasn't that sleek and pretty as I would hope, but that's really not big a deal. Also, it did not have the perfect safety scores (in couple of tests it had 4 out of 5) -- and I was kind of expecting perfection from my favourite make. In the end, the current model was just about to be replaced, the 2008 is completely redesigned, and I was expecting major improvements with the new model. So the current model seemed somewhat an outdated choice.

Honda Civic

Haven't really thought of Civic before -- to me it was a city car for singles or a first family car that you replace quickly. However, the new Civic (model from 2006) made a strong impression on me.

Pros: A lot of new features, some quite advanced. Top safety: impact-absorbing body, all 6 airbags, ABS, sensors, and all of that in the base version. Excellent fuel economy -- just slightly worse than Corolla (which is top in that respect). Although a smaller car, it grew over time. The passenger space is very good even for a taller person. I even tried moving the driver seat all the way back and then sitting behind it, and it was ok. It's quite wide inside -- it's no minivan, so don't expect wonders, but perfectly acceptable.

Also, the options are created reasonably, so all I had to add was AC -- it had everything else. The design is sleek, the interior very pleasant, and very enjoyable for a driver. Driving a Civic (manual transmission) is just a beautiful experience.

Cons: The only flaw I found was small trunk space. Trunk is smaller than most of the cars I've looked at. Corolla has 40L bigger trunk which is not negligible especially in smaller cars. The shape of the trunk is good which means you can put in different robust pieces, but the total volume is simply small.

Honda CR-V

A completely new model (2007), bigger than before, and very nicely designed. I generally did not shoot for SUVs, but if I decided to get one, CRV would have been a serious candidate. The only flaw for me was that it doesn't come with manual transmission.

Honda Hybrid

I have also considered hybrid cars, but gave up generally for one reason: the batteries occupy a good part of the trunk space, and that was already an issue with non-hybrid models. And with the price, I decided to pass on those nice modern things this time.

Toyota Corolla

Towards Corolla, I had similar feeling as to the pre-2006 Civic -- seems as a city, young/small family car, only even more than Civic. For my current situation, I was seriously considering it. What I didn't like was the way it was sold: the base model did not have ABS, only front airbags, and generally some other nice safety features were missing. Now the options are managed in such a way that if you add those things, you also get plenty of those that you don't need (e.g. sunroof), and it's not that affordable anymore.

On the other hand it had a lot to offer: good space for a smaller car, the best fuel economy, proven quality.

But I gave up on it mainly because of the lack of safety features.

Toyota Matrix

Similar to Corolla, with very similar and annoying option structure. I mean, it goes up to $28,000 if I add features I want (ABS, Airbags, AC, ...). That is because you also get leather seats, sunroof, and some other options.

Now Matrix was conceptually exactly what I wanted -- a single-volume, not too big, but practical, multipurpose car. But it has been built on Corolla chassis, and to me it had a certain "incomplete" feeling to it. And almost some cheapness as well.

Toyota Camry

I did not like it very much. I mean, it seems to be a great car -- it's big, spacious, amazingly soft and comfortable. It's a bit heavy which you can feel on acceleration, but again, it's a bigger car, so it's no surprise. Generally, Camry is starting to look and feel as a regular 6 cylinder large American car, which is perhaps exactly what they are trying to do. I did not like that much -- I like cars such as Accord better; it's sleeker, more dynamic, a bit harder on the road, more sporty.

Anyhow, except for the fact that I did not need a big limousine-like car, I have nothing really against it.

Nissan

Nissan is an excellent car that simply did not flare any particular interest with me. This is of course just a personal taste. Altima is in particular very nice, well made and affordable car. Sentra is less so -- I found it below similar sized cars. Maxima is a great full sized car -- but similar to Toyota Camry it was a bit larger sedan that I'd go for.

Hyundai

Now this is a puzzle. Sonata has a beautiful and very elegant style. It looks fairly high-end by appearance. And it has excellent features and plenty of them. For example, a latest trend -- Shiftronic transmission or CVT (Continuous Variable Transmission) that pairs the best attributes of manual and automatic mechanisms. I've heard that the fuel economy with CVT is almost as good as in the manual one; actually Volvo claims that in one of their models, on a highway, CVT performs even better than manual. But to me, driving a car with CVT was not that impressive experience.

Hyundai obviously has a lot of latest features for a highly affordable price. And although it does look good, you can still tell that it's an affordable car. When Hyundai entered the American market it was known as the worst car -- people say it would last you for about a year. But in the past 5 years they have made such a good progress, that in some independent ratings (Such as Consumer Report's) they rate better in some aspects than Honda or Toyota.

All in all, I did not spend much time on it, although I've considered both Sonata and their SUV Tucson as an option.

Mazda

I was looking mainly at Mazda 3 Sport. By the way, the name is completely misleading -- for a long time I did not even consider it because I simply thought it's a sport edition not suitable for a family. But when I did looked at it, I was surprised to learn that it actually isn't -- the term "sport" apparently came up only because "hatchback" was too "boring". Silly -- I don't think they really thought this one through well.

Anyhow, I learned it has almost all I needed, and on test drive it felt really good. The dealer told me they sell mostly manual versions because it's a performance car. I doubt this is really true, but it is true that the car is pretty sporty -- very responsive, fairly strong, and in general a pleasure to drive. Nevertheless, it has good space inside, and generally is suitable for a family.

But the trunk was small, i.e. narrow. The width of the trunk is virtually the same as the width of the trunk door. This I simply don't understand -- seems as if they purposely did not use all the available space.

In addition, its crash ratings (from the tests) were not the best. And as a smaller flaw the seat covers felt a bit unpleasant.

But it is generally a very good car and I was considering it very seriously

Mazda 5 also caught my attention because it was a bigger family car, yet not a mini van. I was comparing it to Matrix. However, it looked to me that the goal with an unusual "crossover" design was not really achieved (or completed), at least to my personal taste. The third row is too small for anyone except kids to use for any longer drive. With the third row up, the trunk is too small. Although not a mini van it is still fairly heavy and "lazy" on the road.

It's generally a very interesting vehicle, worth looking at.

Subaru

Ah, Subaru...

Subaru was the most pleasant discovery for me. I didn't know much at all about this make, only a few vague facts. But after I learned a bit about it I figured that this make is simply excellent. And they have recently been gaining more and more popularity. Then I went to US for a weekend and saw that there are as many Subarus (mostly Outbacks) on the road there as there are Honda Civics in Canada. Every other person owns it!

So I explored the models a bit and figured that Forester and Outback are most appealing. Forester as a smaller and cheaper option and Outback as a bigger and more expensive. Impreza was too small and a bit too much sporty -- it's a performance car used for racing. Legacy, built on the same chassis as Outback and very similar as well was ok, but Outback simply looks better.

I took Forester on a test drive -- although it has older look, and is boxier, jeep-like, I liked it somewhat better than Outback. Actually this comparison is a bit like comparing apples and oranges -- both look very nice and are conceptually different in exterior design. Perhaps I liked Forester a bit better exactly because it looks like a small SUV. It drives just beautifully. It's not really an SUV, because it's smaller and lower than, say CR-V, but it does feel like one because you sit higher above the road than, say, in a sedan. This gives you an excellent visibility of the road in front of you. The space was good, but not too good -- in particular the shoulder and hip room is comparable to even Corolla and Civic. So two car seats and an adult can fit in the back, but it wouldn't be too comfortable on a longer, hour%u2019s long trip. Other dimensions including the trunk size are just fine.

An interesting little side feature of the Boxer engine (horizontally opposed pistons): When you turn the ignition on, Forester "shakes" just a wee bit, just as if you were sitting in a truck. This is not too noticeable, but it gives you a bit of a nice feeling of strength.

Security with Subaru vehicles is the one of the strongest points. Their cars have straight 5 on all tests (front impact, side impact and rear impact). This is not accidental -- they have systematically developed this quality. They've been known in the past to put a lot of effort in security, so much that even they admitted they did it on account of the style. Thus, even the Forester that does not have the curtain airbags at all, protects rear passenger better than some vehicles that have the curtain airbags. However, I found that lack of those airbags was too serious flaw for me -- as I mentioned, my first priority was safety and I did not want to compromise in that respect even a bit. Outback on the other hand has all 6 airbags, but it's also considerably more expensive.

Another security feature resulting from the engine design, i.e. the Boxer style, is that it has very low center of gravity, lower than ordinary engines. For this reason, the risk of rollover with Forester is comparable to a sedan, rather than any SUV.

Subaru vehicles are not true gas-savers. Specifications claim they spend 10.7L/100km. I drove Outback for 24 hours, and it spent 12L/100km. This is understandable; you'll never get the fuel economy from the spec, especially with brand new car. However, compared to Corolla's 7.1 or Civic 7.8, it is almost 50% more.

I didn't choose Subaru for a couple of reasons, although I was so close to buying one. Forester does not have curtain airbags, and new Forester model is planned for 2009. Outback is not cheap -- with taxes and PDI and the rest of the fees it comes up to $38,000. Buying Outback in US would cost me somewhat above $30,000. Forester would be somewhat below $30,000. So, I'd have to pay good money, and wouldn't be happy with either lack of airbags or not the best fuel economy. But I think my next car might easily be a Subaru.

Volvo

No need to say it's a great make, and one of my personal favourites. However, affordable or close to affordable Volvo's (such as S40, V50) are small, and larger ones (S70, XC70) are expensive. If it wasn't for the price I think I wouldn't even analyze it -- I'd just go and buy it.

Volkswagen

I know VW was always a good car -- when I was a kid half of my hometown was driving VW. I know features of Golf models from Golf I to Golf IV. And I drove it a bit too. But my main interest in VW was that I was looking for a diesel car. I was disappointed to find that VW dealers in Canada do not sell plenty of diesel models. There is TDI (here and now it means Jetta TDI) -- that's it.

Then I also discovered that City Golf and City Jetta are amazingly affordable -- they are cheaper than Civic and Corolla. And they are good cars! I almost decided to go for one of them!!

But Golf is small for a Canadian family, in particular, the trunk is too narrow -- I can't even put the kid's stroller in straight, but have to incline it a bit. I started wondering how did the half of my hometown raise kids with a Golf? (And the other half of the town drove smaller cars.) But those were different times...

City Jetta is better in that respect, but not too much. It is an old Jetta model, first designed several years ago. It's still the same with all the small improvements made over the years, but nothing major.

Major redesign of Jetta went into the Jetta model (without "City") that is some 8 grand more expensive and looks more like a Passsat (actually so much so that on the road I have trouble telling Jetta from Passat). Jetta is an excellent car, has excellent security features, lots of space (very, very comfortable inside). And there is diesel (TDI) option.

Generally, an excellent option -- only a summary of all features and price decided against it, and not by far at all.

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Michael Thornessen is a typical car buyer that has recently spent some substantial time and effort researching the auto market. Michael writes for Cheap Gasoline dot biz. See this article at http://cheapgasoline.biz/page.cfm/id/10132

A history of buying cars-part 4-dealers

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You know, while researching the cars, I read a lot about dealing with car dealers. People generally have a negative attitude towards them and the whole car buying experience, and you can find tons of information on how to avoid their scams, how to lower the price, how to negotiate with them, what to tell them, etc, etc. An excellent website to inform yourself on all aspects of car buying is Car Buying Tips: (http://www.carbuyingtips.com/). Now with all the great info and details I learned from various sources, I still thought that generally the prevailing attitude is not realistic. I mean, you almost get a feeling that if you pay anything more than a factory price, you made a bad deal. You can certainly succeed in lowering the price apparently to a large extent, but it is the fact that the dealers have to make money too. Ok, sometimes just selling the car, e.g. to meet their projected numbers, is beneficial to them, and they might give away even the whole of their profit for that sake. But come on, I can consider such situation just a crazy luck, not my goal! Anyway, I think that the current craze about "beating" those prices down to the floor is just as unrealistic and aggressive as the dealer's craze to take as much money from you as possible.

However, after this buying experience, I lost pretty much any respect and sympathy for the dealers. And I will always advise anyone never to become one. Of course some of them were great examples of normal and pleasant behaviour, but unfortunately I must say that most of them have taken the activity of deceit and aggressiveness to such extent that for an honest and well meaning man the idea of going to a dealership must be repugnant. I very quickly got such a strong feeling of insecurity about everything I was told by them. I think everything was a lie, smaller or bigger. A lot of what I've heard I don't believe, and none of it I trust.

Here are some of the examples, more or less funny, from my recent experience:

Systematic approach

I enter a dealership, with the intention of exploring a car that really caught my attention simply by offering all of the basic features I wanted. So I wanted to see it, test drive it, and ask a couple of questions. So I ask the dealer: "I've read that the crash test scores for this model are not that good, most are graded 3 out of 5. Now, I know that there are different tests, and you can't judge simply by the grade. Do you know more details about those tests and the scores? What is tested exactly, and how did they score the cars?"

The answer was: "Yes, yes I know, the scores are not the best possible. I know. But you know -- what do they mean really? (And I'm thinking -- yes, that is exactly what I asked) You see, a grade of 3 is really not that bad. It's almost like 4. What is the difference? Almost nothing let me tell you. And also, all of that means something only in most severe crashes!!"

Well, no kidding!! What a thorough explanation. Now I understand and my worries are gone. And what a relief. So, if a car is simply parked on a lot, I shouldn't worry that it will suddenly open the hood and hit me right in the face!

Bonding

A question occurred to me about a car, and I decided to drop by a dealership to ask. My visit was about 10 minutes long -- of course we exchanged numbers, I got the brochure and usual stuff. Tomorrow morning, my cell phone rings, I answer and I get this:

- "Hey Michael, Jord here from the dealership." - "Hey Jord, how are you, what's up?" (I thought he might have just gotten some good used car) - "Nothing, nothing...just wanted to see how are you."

Huh... If this doesn't sound as a start of a beautiful friendship I don't know what does!

Then he goes on: - "So have you made a decision on which car you want?" - "No, not really, not yet. I told you I'll need some time, and I'm not rushing really." - "Ok, tell me, what's blocking it? Can I help?"

Man, of course you can! Go do something else instead of asking me questions...

Landing on all four whatever happens

I wasn't sure about a size of a trunk of one of the models, so on my visit to the dealerships I brought couple of boxes and a cart that I use often to see how they fit into the trunk. Now this was one of the smaller cars, so I wasn't sure about the trunk size. And I tell the dealer what I'd like to do and he says no problem. So I take out the stuff and he laughs:

- "C'mooon, how can you doubt it -- that will fit without a problem. Don't worry!!" - "Wait, wait, let me try, I know what I'm talking about."

And then I try, and he tries, but it doesn't go so easy -- the cart is a bit long and the boxes a bit high. Separately they go in no problem, but together, not that easy. Finally, he laughs again and remarks:

- "And you really thought ALL OF THAT will fit into this trunk??!!"

Wha...??

Get all the money you can

I receive a long talk describing how I should buy the replacement insurance. And the more expensive one ("better" in the jargon), which covers you for a longer time and gives you the value of the new car, rather the amount that you paid. Ok, that is a fine product. Now I also get a long description on how I should absolutely buy a VIN engraving package where they engrave the VIN on all windshields so that the thieves are less likely to steal it (they can't sell the windshields for parts). It's about $300. Well, I gave both of these things a good thought, but tomorrow I realized a simple thing: Why do I need two protections? If I get the replacement insurance, and if they are going to give me a new car if mine is stolen, why would I then protect it even more?? Damn, I should also probably buy two cars in case one is stolen after all.

And on top of that, I found on the internet that the engraving kit, very simple to use and apply, can be bought for mere $20.

Get all the money you can -- again

This one is well-known, and usually titled as a "dealer scam", but I decided I put it here anyways just as another example.

So I finally decide to buy the car and I arrive to the dealership at around 6:00pm. I expect the process to last about an hour. However, little thing here and there and I end up at the dealership for four hours. I think ok, nobody's fault, there are simply a lot of things to do and a lot of people to involve -- the dealer, finance guy, insurance girl, then the finance guy again, then the manager because there was an error, etc. So, I get the contract with all the figures there, and everything looks fine: all the figures match almost perfectly to mine that I calculated before. Except one thing -- $900 of loan life insurance. So I ask:

- "Why is it there? Is that mandatory?" - "Well, we made such an application to Company's Finance." - "Ok, but is it mandatory?" - "We could reapply and see what happens -- if you have life insurance elsewhere."

Now, you see, I am not too easy to confuse, but it was late and I didn't want to repeat the whole process again, so I'm thinking: "Ok, I'm going to think about it tomorrow." And I let it by. Now good thing was that I had the contract with me (I had to take it home for my wife to sign), so I wasn't too worried.

Anyhow, in the morning I realize that not only it is not mandatory to have the insurance and that I definitely do not need life insurance elsewhere, but another application without it will certainly go through. And, at that point I sincerely doubted that they need to make another application at all. So I get really angry and I go there and I get the exact same answer again. So I say:

- "Let's apply again; I am sure the application will go trough. I simply don't want it and I never wanted it and I never asked for it. And if it doesn't we'll see then what we do."

And she does the paperwork, and seeing me irritated, remarks: "Don't worry I'm sure it will go trough." Of course it will -- and it does.

Get on customer's side -- even if you overdo it

One of the dealers was affirming every little thing I said. It got funny and a bit annoying:

He thought that the features I wanted are absolutely the only important features in the car.

He was also in computer business just a few years ago.

The funniest was when we discussed payment options. He told me that leasing is a better option if I want to change the car every couple of years. So I say:

- "You know, I am more the other type of buyer, at least so far. I drive one car for years before I buy a new one, so I probably won't go with the lease." - "I understand, I completely understand. You know, the worst part of the auto business for me is that you simply have to change the car every 1-2 years. I hate that. If I wasn't selling cars, I would do the same as you."

Well, this really made me feel like home. C'mon guys, we just met and will probably never see each other again; don't do these things.

Advertise what you have

This one was not really on the negative side, it was just funny. I went to Subaru and dealers there were actually very cool. They were very cooperative, and without the aggressive edge. And they never called me to push or ask whether I've made a decision. They also have a great program where you can take the car for 24hr test drive. I had really a good experience with them.

Anyhow, I told this dealer that I know that their cars use specific technology in their engine that is different from all other cars, and that repairs can be expensive. And he says:

- "Yeah, it's so called Boxer engine where pistons are opposed horizontally instead of vertically. But we are not the only ones to use it... Porsche uses it -- you know Porsche Boxster. ... And some smaller planes."

Well, that much for the affordable repairs...

Then he also added that it's an old technology that has been well perfected so far and that I shouldn't worry really, which was a bit more reassuring.

Always fish for customer's weak spots -- even in the dark Honda was giving rebate and they advertised it everywhere: that was very important sales pitch. Now I come to a dealership, and one of the first things the guy tells me is: "You know, I'll tell you one thing: we will give you a good rebate, and it's Honda's rebate but most of the dealers won't even mention it."

He made it as if he is letting me know a secret, and not only that it isn't, but it's all over radio, their website, everywhere. But I might have been uninformed and careless and would think that I'm getting a special deal.

Lie like there's no tomorrow and hope you don't get caught

I was quite close to buying a car so I called some dealerships inquiring whether they have a certain model and the color on the lot. I told them I don't want the car to be brought from some other dealership. I want to see the car and get the one I saw. This is because I don't want to get into whole new set of issues and questions. For example, one dealer told me that they charge extra delivery fee if they bring the car from other dealership, which is by the way ridiculous and perhaps deserves story on its own. It can also happen that the car that arrives is different in some detail than what you wanted, and you already signed the papers. Etc.

So I made sure they know what I want, and then came to one of the dealerships. We chat a bit and then I say:

- "So let me see the car." - "Oh, I was afraid you were gonna ask me that. I really don't know exactly where the car is."

I laugh: "But I told you I want to see the car before I buy it."

- "Oh, don't worry -- it's here, I'm just not sure where." - "Ok, I'll go outside and look for it." - "But our lots are really big." - "I don't mind, I have the time." - "But they are not really all here -- we have two lots a few blocks away."

I just don't like arguing that much -- in cases like these I give up and simply walk away.

A good guy

The positive highlight was a young dealer for which I could quickly tell that he is not (yet) turned his abilities into a deceitful routine -- he even gets confused a bit when I ask him a stupid question. To me that is the normal reaction. And when I asked him what he drives, he said: "an old Volvo, you know it's a really good car." I am really sorry that cars he was selling were not suitable for me -- I would have been very happy to buy one from him. And I didn't even feel like negotiating with him at all.

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Michael Thornessen is a typical car buyer that has recently spent some substantial time and effort researching the auto market. Michael writes for Cheap Gasoline dot biz. See this article at http://cheapgasoline.biz/page.cfm/id/10133

A machine for the purchase of history-part I-why and what?

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My recent decision to buy a car was not really a voluntary one. I had a small accident in which my almost 20 years old Honda Accord was promptly written off. With such an old car even a small bend and broken headlight is already too expensive to repair, so the insurance decided they better give me $1,500, which was actually a good deal. But it left me without a car.

So shopping for car was in order. This was certainly an undertaking given that I haven't been following up on cars at all for about 8 years since I bought Honda Accord. I like driving, and do like good cars, I even like fixing the cars to some extent, but I'm no real enthusiast. I don't read articles on cars; I don't buy auto magazines or go to auto shows. I also usually do not start a conversation about latest models and features. Similar to a presidential candidate who is seriously "on top of things" only during the campaign -- once elected, the interests and priorities change a bit.

Anyhow, I knew I had to do some extensive research in order to be happy about what I'm about to buy. So I did that, and the amount of new information I've gathered was even larger than I expected. You know, today's cars are completely different things than those from 15 or more years ago. Features that did not even exist before became my main focus and motivation.

I spent several days online, just reading whatever I could find. And good thing is that all the car makers have very comprehensive websites where you can find all the information you need including the prices. It actually turned out that the prices I got off of these websites matched perfectly what I got in the dealerships -- and that is with all the additions like taxes, AC fee, delivery fee, pre-delivery inspection fee (PDI) and such.

I also read other sources, mostly looking for experience of other people. There are a lot of good resources on the Internet, just do a search and you'll find whatever you're looking for -- there is so much out there. Some of them I found useful are:

Car Buying Tips: http://www.carbuyingtips.com An excellent website with the world of information about every aspect of car buying process. It will save you some headaches too.

Edmunds: http://www.edmunds.com Sort of a "traditional" auto portal. Also covers all aspects of the topic -- from prices to safety. And, I've heard dealers refer to this site.

MSN Autos: http://autos.msn.com Another general auto portal. I used it a lot when I was comparing specific features of different models -- it has a handy comparison little tool.

Automotive.com: http://www.automotive.com Automobile: http://www.automobilemag.com These two are also general portals, and I used them mostly to find specifications of older models including my Accord '89 for comparison with the new models.

After a few days I arrived to a set of features that I'd like to have:

New car

Or almost a new car. Before I had time to maintain and work on a car myself, but now, with the family and two small kids, I don't even have the time to think about the car, let alone do some work. And even having a good mechanic is not sufficient. With an old car, there is no mechanic that can guarantee anything -- you have to simply accept that you'll have unexpected problems. Before I was able to take that responsibility, but now, with a family and no time, I can't. So I needed not only a problem-free car, but also a concern-free car.

Make

I drove domestic, Japanese and German cars before, and thought I'm going to go with Japanese once more. I thought that would give me better probability of a hassle-free car for a good price. I did question this decision during the research, but in the end I stuck to it.

Safety

With the recent car accident I wanted safety above all. Even in a small accident like the one I had, you get to experience very strongly how utterly unprotected we all are on the road. You absolutely don't need a lot to get killed or injured. And nobody really has to make any mistake, let alone big mistake. One small, almost negligible thing happens, and there you are in a blaze of events ending with a crash.

The guy in front of me stopped short and I was fraction of a moment late to react and kicked him a bit. Not too much -- his car didn't suffer almost any damage except some scratches and dirt on the bumper. But then I started thinking "what if..." thoughts. It was fairly steep downhill, and if it were raining...! If there was a motorcycle in front of me instead of a mini van... If I was going faster and for some reason in a spur of the moment decided to avoid him by switching to other lane (full of cars)... If all of those things happened together... Even now when I think of those things, my stomach aches.

And then later while researching crash tests scores I watched official crash tests videos on the internet. Boy, I would recommend everyone to see at least one or two of those videos -- you'll get much more realistic picture about driving in a car. There are two organizations that perform crash tests and on their websites you'll find the safety information for many models:

National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA): http://www.safercar.gov

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS): http://www.iihs.org

The information on these websites is very educative and complete. It contains the descriptions of the tests, the results for many models and the video clips. You can also find a lot of general info accumulated in the years of research in this area. For example -- what is the impact in front, side or rear crashes, how does impact differ for front and rear passengers, how to protect your children, the implications of increasing number of large vehicles (SUVs in particular) on the road (you better buy a bigger car yourself), etc.

The tests videos can also be found (even more of them) by doing a search on the web. A lot of them are posted on YouTube.

So I figured I wanted air bags -- not only front ones, but also side and particularly curtain ones that protect rear seat passengers. The side and curtain airbags are not mandatory and they are not standard equipment. Some of the models do not have them even as an option.

ABS (Anti-lock Brake System) was also a must -- I hate sudden stops, and if it's raining or snowing, ABS can help a lot.

Other safety features like active stability control, traction control, active head restraints, car body designed to absorb the impact were also very desirable.

In the end AWD (All Wheel Drive) was something to consider as well.

Space

This was a tricky one. I had controversial requirements. Most of the time we need a small city car -- going to work, driving small kids to school, shopping, etc. Only sometimes we'll go for a longer vacation trip when we need larger trunk. Only sometimes we'll have parents, relatives or friends visiting when we need at least enough space in the back for two car seats and one or more adults. Only sometimes I'll need to carry a piece of smaller furniture or such. So should I buy a minivan if 95% of the time it will practically be empty? Or should I buy a small car and not be able even to go for a picnic? This question is actually even now, after I bought the car, still unresolved. Time will show how well I did on this.

Convenience

I did not need or even want things like sun roof, leather seats, body coloured and heated mirrors, spoilers and such. Even power this or that wasn't important to me although I've learned that these days a number of even basic models include power options to a good extent. So I figured, I'll accept it if I have to, what can I do.

Fuel Economy

Very important. Gas prices are going up and the oil wars are going on -- need say no more. And over the years that you own a car it adds up. It is actually an excellent idea to calculate the total cost of the car over a number of years (including gas, insurance and other maintenance costs) and use that figure when making the decision. So I wanted the best fuel economy possible -- another controversial requirement.

I was actually hoping I'll find a good diesel car, but in Canada there aren't many of those since we have pretty high emissions standards so some of the good diesel cars do not qualify. And that is too bad. I rented small VW Polo a few months ago in Europe, and drove 900 km with 1.5 tanks!! By specs it spends 4L/100km!! That's a money saver. And it actually produces such a nice feeling of independence -- you drive and drive and drive, and then drive some more, and the tank is still full. So sweet!!

With all these requirements I set off to dealerships one nice weekend. I figured I'll just go to an auto mall, and browse. I figured later this was really not the best way to approach things. After a whole day of looking at cars and test driving them, you get pretty tired and they all look the same at the end of the day. And after doing that for two whole days I got sick of cars and didn't want to buy one at all! But on the other hand I did collect a lot of information, and got the first impressions about driving them. Then I let that settle for a while and in the meantime explored options of buying a used car, buying one down-south in US, or in a dealership far away from the city where I could get a better price. Then, of course, I also needed to figure out the best way to pay for the car. Boy, this all takes time. It's a full-time project. But in the end I had my options laid out and made a decision.

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Michael Thornessen is a typical car buyer that has recently spent some substantial time and effort researching the auto market. Michael writes for Cheap Gasoline dot biz. See this article at http://cheapgasoline.biz/page.cfm/id/10130