Car Advice - 41-year-old city dweller who's never owned a car!

Wrong accent.

Ya gotta admit, if anyone asks for advice on anything, they are sure to get a lot of discussion. It appears I missed a lot of good places to eat.

The air is much cleaner now. When I was a kid we used to go camping in the mountains above LA a few times every summer, and coming back down into the city from above is when you really saw just how bad the smog was. Just a big bowl of brown muck. On a beautiful day in the winter we could see Mt. Baldy covered in snow so clearly (a good 50 miles or so), but during the summer we didnā€™t see it for months. Or much else. Now it is still a bit smoggy on hot summer days, but not much worse than many other cities. And nothing like then, not ever.

MG McAnic, I always wanted to be a comedian. Donā€™t enourage me. My wife will get mad.

I personally think a lot of the suggestions here are good. The Prius is pretty mainstream now and getting one serviced shouldnā€™t be a big issue. If you want to go the other way, the Mazda Skyactive system uses basic simple GOOD design for mileage. Being that I own a Geo Metro, I can appreciate something simple getting good mileage over complex systems. The Geo Metro is about like working on a VW bug!

I definitely suggest something new with a warranty if you have never owned a car and donā€™t know much about them. The Geo Metro needs a little work every now and then being a 1994 so I suggest something newer for you.

@cwatkin Doesnā€™t ā€œSkyactiveā€ mean direct fuel injection . . . ?

Your Metro is simple . . . direct fuel injection is not simple

As for Skyactive . . .

Good design, yes

Common nowadays, yes

Simple, no

If Iā€™m wrong about Skyactive, please correct me

Youā€™re basically right about Skyactiv. Hereā€™s a link to what it is.

Personally, Iā€™d prefer to wait another ten years until direct injection has either proven itself with empirical evidence or had its bugs worked out. Since the manufacturers are all doing everything possible to squeak by the ever-more-stringent CAFE requirements, I realize I may not have a choice on my next car. They might all be direct injection in the coming years. All the more reason to hang on to my current car forever.

From what I understand, direct injection has its advantages, but also has disadvantages which canā€™t currently be avoided

Such as having to remove carbon buildup periodically. Some designs are more susceptible than others, supposedly

Apparently, there is absolutely no substitute to having it removed at a shop, with professional level equipment

Nothing to pour in the gas tank to remove the deposits and/or prevent them in the first place

Iā€™d say in the next few years, almost every new car will be hybrid, turbocharged, direct injection, etc., or more than one of the above

And letā€™s not even get into transmissions. The difference between automatic and manual is becoming quite blurred, to say the least . . .

I agree you wonā€™t be able to avoid direct injection. Pretty much every manufacturer is changing over to it as they introduce new models. CAFE requirements for upcoming years make it too compelling as it it can be added without having to make even bigger changes, unlike turbocharging. If there are problems in a decade they will be affecting almost every car made.

Went to the auto show. Like Subbie but not the CVT transmissions. Like Mazda but not the skyactive stuff. etc etc. So guess Acura may still be top of the list and canā€™t get the wife to look at Buicks. Noticed one of the Mazda dealers now has a lifetime warranty. Donā€™t know details but that might help with the skyactive risks. Of course local Buick dealer has a lifetime powertrain warranty too. Canā€™t remember which one has that flat engine design like a Corvair. Maybe Mazda. I really donā€™t like new technology and prefer stuff that is already proven and reliable.

Toyota still has regular FI and no CVTs or turbos in most cases.

For sure. Given the conditions of the roads and how fast people drive in and around a Boston, there is a good reason why compact SUVs are still popular there.

Why drag up a 3 year old thread with 72 posts on it?

1 Like

From what I can tell, the advertisement somehow exhumed it. Iā€™ve seen this happen before on more than one occasion.

It was revived by Dagosa 5 hours ago and above his post is says ( 3 years later ).

That was in 2015. The first 2018 date I see is attached to the advertisement.

My screen indicates that he resurrected the thread a mere 5 hours ago, and prior to that resurrection, everything dated back to March, 2015.

What did @Julie_E buy? Iā€™m on the edge of my seat!

Post 71 of 78 (71/78) by Dagosa, preceded by the comment ā€œ3 years laterā€, was posted in 2015. Thereā€™s a light scroll bar between the comment and the date that shows you which date each comment was posted.

The first 2018 post is by the advertisement.

Clearly, your screen and my screen display vastly different information.
Would anyone else like to log-in regarding this issue?
:thinking: