Can anyone recommend me a wagon?

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #100 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 07:19 am »

Quote

We need to move away from gas or diesel entirely, toward a fully electric car. Then we can dump our oil needs, and plug into the grid. Of course, said grid can be nuclear powered.

When I hear "electric cars"....I think...prepare for blackouts.

It's bad enough in the summer when all the air conditioners get switched on....out goes the power in some cities...

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #101 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 07:36 am »

Quote from: Lyndon on 25 Feb 2010, 01:44 am

Eddie Murphy said when he was a boy his family couldn't afford fireworks at Halloween, so they'd have to drive around and rear end a few Pintos.

macrojack · « **Reply #102 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 01:22 pm »

Last year at this time I was shopping for an ultra reliable small wagon that would provide 30 or better mpg and carry the stuff I transported on my courier route. I concluded that my sub $10K budget ruled out Euro cars because the cars that fit my price limitations all had too many miles to meet my comfort level in terms of major repair risk. The Matrix I bought was well equipped, had only 54K miles and cost me $8500. Knowing it was a Corolla under everything was the clincher. Mazdas are rare in my part of the world but I was attracted to that idea. Ford Focus was tempting because of reviews and the fact that a friend has one that he loves. Honda Fit was too new to "fit" my budget and had significantly less cargo space.
I was interested in Subaru because they are a nice tight car and there are a million of high miles units cruising the Colorado highways and byways. That says durable to me. On the other hand, they couldn't reach my mpg requirement and that would add to my overhead. I had also heard that Subaru parts are insanely expensive.
Most Japanese and American manufacturers stopped making station wagons in the mid 1990s because of the popularity of SUVs. Now they have started up again but only certain models have been around long enough to have drifted back to you budget zone. Matrix/Vibe and Focus are the leading candidates in my opinion. Of these, Matrix was the resale leader. Maybe not now that Toyota has been condemned by the press. That might play into your hands as a buyer.

doug s. · « **Reply #103 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 06:16 pm »

Quote from: drphoto on 25 Feb 2010, 05:17 am

As far as someone who talked about performance (Tyson?) I don't care about fast. Fun to me is something that tracks like it's on rails. I'd rather flog a sporting car, around on a twisty country road at 30-40 mph than go 120 on the freeway. Hell, my T&C van is fast enough.....

you should test drive a gen-1 scion xb, seriously. if you are wanting something that tracks on rails and loves to be flogged, the gen-1 xb has your name on it. and, that's stock; i imagine those that are lowered with +1/+2/+3-sized wheels/low-profile tires, are even more amazing. my other rides are:

hotted up alfa gtv6 3.0,
de tomaso pantera,
hotted up buell s2,
ducati darmah

i like wehicles that handle well...

doug s.,

baldrick · « **Reply #104 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 06:23 pm »

On rails? Really? How would this one handle?

The only question I have is "WHY?"

Lyndon · « **Reply #105 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 06:40 pm »

Macrojack,
I wonder about the avenues I have available to locate possible cars. In Salt Lake, the newspaper classifieds are dead, due to the internet. Now it is the electronic classifieds with the local TV station and Craigslist. There is also some online national websites. I joined the local Subaru Forum to see what they had, but again, the vehicles they are selling were usually hard used Subbies, as they were moving on to another one. I even offered a finders fee for someone more knowledgeable than I to locate one. No response.
Back last summer for that Cash for Clunkers, I tried really hard on this: no Mazda 3 Hatchbacks in a
tri-state area, as well as Pontiac Vibes or Matrix models. Also, Honda was discontinuing the Element, and they wanted over the top list price for the ones remaining, and this was true of Subaru for their wagons as well.
Yes, someone just posted the Scion Xb, the first edition. I think it was Doug that was the person who posted about this much earlier. You want the first version, with the stronger Corolla engine. The newer version has a much weaker engine, maybe the one used in the Yaris. I tried looking for this, and hard to find around here.
Lyndon

macrojack · « **Reply #106 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 06:56 pm »

Here's a nice looking Vibe if you're willing to travel:

http://westslope.craigslist.org/cto/1597765892.html

When I was looking, there were several to choose from around here. Nowadays, not so many.
From where you're located, you could consider Denver to Las Vegas but this Pagosa car looks pretty good.

srb · « **Reply #107 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 07:05 pm »

Can anyone say "rollover"?

Steve

werd · « **Reply #108 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 07:21 pm »

Use to play with these all the time. Station wagon always won....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aBxw-EJiLQ

doug s. · « **Reply #109 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 07:25 pm »

Quote from: Lyndon on 25 Feb 2010, 06:40 pm

Macrojack,
I wonder about the avenues I have available to locate possible cars. In Salt Lake, the newspaper classifieds are dead, due to the internet. Now it is the electronic classifieds with the local TV station and Craigslist. There is also some online national websites. I joined the local Subaru Forum to see what they had, but again, the vehicles they are selling were usually hard used Subbies, as they were moving on to another one. I even offered a finders fee for someone more knowledgeable than I to locate one. No response.
Back last summer for that Cash for Clunkers, I tried really hard on this: no Mazda 3 Hatchbacks in a
tri-state area, as well as Pontiac Vibes or Matrix models. Also, Honda was discontinuing the Element, and they wanted over the top list price for the ones remaining, and this was true of Subaru for their wagons as well.
Yes, someone just posted the Scion Xb, the first edition. I think it was Doug that was the person who posted about this much earlier. You want the first version, with the stronger Corolla engine. The newer version has a much weaker engine, maybe the one used in the Yaris. I tried looking for this, and hard to find around here.
Lyndon

actually, the gen-1 scion has a much smaller engine than the gen-2 - only 1.5l vs 2.4l for the gen-2. but, the gen-1 weighs <2.5k lbs, the gen-2 weighs >3.2k lbs. agile vs pig - you decide.

me, i much prefer agile, even w/much smaller ("weaker"?) engine. 31mpg city vs 28mpg highway for the pig wersion.

doug s.

doug s. · « **Reply #110 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 07:29 pm »

Quote from: baldrick on 25 Feb 2010, 06:23 pm

On rails? Really? How would this one handle?

The only question I have is "WHY?"

that reminds me of a '72 corwette someone used to own in ann arbor, when i was in college there in the mid-late 70's; done up exactly like this scion - a "lol" ride if i ever saw one!

stock, or lowered w/aftermarket suspension, the handling is amazing.

doug s.

drphoto · « **Reply #111 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 07:57 pm »

A bit off thread, but one of the funniest things I've ever seen was a guy w/ an early 80's Monte Carlo apparently wanted the 'lowrider' look, but couldn't afford those little custom wheels, so he had four temporary spares! No kidding. Wish I'd had a camera that day.

doug s. · « **Reply #112 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 08:43 pm »

Quote from: drphoto on 25 Feb 2010, 07:57 pm

A bit off thread, but one of the funniest things I've ever seen was a guy w/ an early 80's Monte Carlo apparently wanted the 'lowrider' look, but couldn't afford those little custom wheels, so he had four temporary spares! No kidding. Wish I'd had a camera that day.

there was a guy in oregon that had one of those mid 70's 494ci caddy eldorado's conwerted into an el-camino-type pick-up thing; loaded w/thick padded winyl - what a funny looking thing that was!

doug s.

thunderbrick · « **Reply #113 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 12:24 am »

Or a local BMW 320 with the back half sawed off and replaced with a wood floor. Made a great farm vehicle.

thunderbrick · « **Reply #114 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 04:16 am »

Quote from: Tyson on 24 Feb 2010, 08:44 pm

We need to move away from gas or diesel entirely, toward a fully electric car.

Here's one! Raced from Dallas area to Calgary Canada

There was an electric car club that showed up at the race start with a bunch of cars fully converted to DC operation.

honesthoff · « **Reply #115 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 04:33 am »

A guy named Clark from Chicago may make you a pretty good deal on this one.

mort · « **Reply #116 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 04:44 am »

Parts of this topic are reminding me of a past thread Topic: Electric or Compressed Air Cars Will Be MainStream SOON. Mabey its time to rehash it?
I dont know any plans for an electric wagon but it seems a good chassis for a battery bank.

srb · « **Reply #117 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 05:00 am »

I think too much fuss is made of economy, safety, handling, performance and functionality, and more focus should be on the stereo system!

Steve

Lyndon · « **Reply #118 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 05:37 am »

SRB:
Now if that fellow can just get that Muntz 8-track working!

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #119 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 06:30 am »

Well ... he's got the bass covered.

Oh, and the top - are those piezo tweeters?