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justine wrote:

How about a van or a truck?

some of the minivans might make the milage cut, but dunno of any truck that will handle a 6+footer in the backseat.
unless you put a lazyboy in the bed

"Domestic" and "foreign" no longer has any real meaning in today's world. Almost all of the Hondas in the US are assembled in the US (some of which are exported to Japan). You should approach this with little concern for the supposed domestic nature of the manufacturer's badge--is Daimler-Chrysler an American or German company?-- and just get the best value regardless.

A Passat from VW would be perfect.  It gets 30+ MPG on the highway, but doesn't sacrifice a sporty driving style.  It's also pretty large, with plenty of legroom, with a special influence on the passengers that is not there in other cars.

Take it for a test drive, and see what you think of it.  My mom was really impressed, but eventually got a prius for fuel economy.  Otherwise she would have probably gotton a passat.
http://www.vw.com

Of course, I'm german, so there might be a little bias

Oh, and look what I found: click.

Last edited by Fried Chicken (2006-04-18 9:32 pm)

D'Eyncourt wrote:

"Domestic" and "foreign" no longer has any real meaning in today's world. Almost all of the Hondas in the US are assembled in the US (some of which are exported to Japan). You should approach this with little concern for the supposed domestic nature of the manufacturer's badge--is Daimler-Chrysler an American or German company?-- and just get the best value regardless.

Let's not forget that "domestic" brands assemble as many of their vehicles outside of the US as "import" brands do.  There really is no such thing any longer.  We live in a global economy.

The "domestics," by the way, will cost you the most in terms of total cost of ownership.  As a Mac user, you should be familiar with the concept.

Camry's are pretty big.  Since back seat room is an issue for you, it will be very important that you sit there and try it out, preferably while your parents have adjusted the front seats to where they'll be.  If the Camry isn't big enough, try the Avalon.

The Honda Accord would be another good option.  I like my Mazda, so I'd also suggest checking out the Mazda6.  Another contender I'd look at is the Hyundai Sonata.

If fuel economy is an issue, the Accord has a hybrid version, as does the 2007 Camry (not sure if it's available for sale yet).

I'm not sure I'd recommend a VW, reliability on them in recent years has been sub-par.

I'm 6'4", and a Corolla generally seats me comfortably in the backseat. I believe Camrys are bigger, so that should be plenty big.

::checks chevy website::

I know EPA number mean essentially nothing, but the base model Impala is rated at 31 MPG highway.

Thrica wrote:

I'm 6'4", and a Corolla generally seats me comfortably in the backseat. I believe Camrys are bigger, so that should be plenty big.

You're kidding. I'm 6' 1", and on the previous-generation Corollas, my head hits the ceiling. On the newer ones, it's not much better. It's amazing to me that a car as big as the current Corolla feels so much smaller on the inside than my much smaller Golf.

Fried Chicken wrote:

Test driving cars is a lot of fun, and having like 10 dealers give you so much attention is fun too.

This is, of course, from a person to young to drive. Test driving cars is stressful as hell, and ten salesman going after you like a chicken thrown in the shark tank is a nightmare. When I was car shopping, I got to the point that I was yelling "leave me alone, or I'm out of here!" just to get them away from me. Salesman are there to get you to spend more money than you would otherwise, and TC1, don't deny that.

TheConfuzed1 wrote:

As far as height is concerned, it depends on whether you have long legs, or a long torso.  If it's a long torso that you have, good luck.

I'm 6' 1", as I said, with a 30" inseam. I'm all torso, and Japanese cars are simply not designed with a person like me in mind. I don't mind it in a sporty car (you're usually sitting low enough to compensate), but in a midsize (is the Corolla considered a midsize now? Seems too big to be a compact), it's not going to cut it for me. I can quite comfortably "sit behind myself" in my Golf, and I have plenty of headroom front and rear.

mo' ron wrote:

KeilwerthSX90 wrote:

Salesman are there to get you to spend more money than you would otherwise, and TC1, don't deny that.

That's only one of their goals.

They do help people too.

To add to that, if the job doesn't pay well, they won't be there to offer their service to you in the future.  If you appreciate their service, and you would like to continue doing business with them in the future, they deserve to be fairly compensated.

TheConfuzed1 wrote:

D'Eyncourt wrote:

"Domestic" and "foreign" no longer has any real meaning in today's world. Almost all of the Hondas in the US are assembled in the US (some of which are exported to Japan). You should approach this with little concern for the supposed domestic nature of the manufacturer's badge--is Daimler-Chrysler an American or German company?-- and just get the best value regardless.

Let's not forget that "domestic" brands assemble as many of their vehicles outside of the US as "import" brands do.  There really is no such thing any longer.  We live in a global economy.
[snip]

Sure, but I don't know of any particular models now which were like the infamous Ford Festivas (Tempos?) of around 1990 which had most of their parts made in Brazil and which were assembled in Mexico. I think that the domestic manufacturers are making this sort of info a bit more difficult to ferret out.