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Thread ID: 139043 2015-03-01 02:54:00 Help me choose a new(ish) car Tony (4941) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1395407 2015-03-01 21:37:00 My inclination is to go manual, but I can't really make a logical case for it. Automatic transmissions are so much more sophisticated than they used to be that the old arguments against them have pretty much disappeared. Leaving aside CVT, are there problems towing with an automatic?
All modern cars have a specified towing rate. providing this is not exceeded you should not have a problem with a clutch/band type auto. CVT is not suitable for towing due to slippage when changing ratios. An overloaded Auto Trans can have dire consequences. Some time ago I was asked to do an Insurance assessment on a Mercedes Benz V8 which had caught on fire. The car had been towing a trailer full of scoria up a steep hill, the clutches started to slip,and the oil shot out of the filler pipe onto an exhaust manifold and caught fire, this in turn burned through the fuel pipes and the whole car was written off. Only an idiot would use an expensive Mercedes Benz to do a truck's job!
mzee (3324)
1395408 2015-03-01 21:51:00 What's your budget?Good question. I probably won't want to go over $35k, although if I go for a new car it would probably be more than that. Tony (4941)
1395409 2015-03-01 22:03:00 Good question. I probably won't want to go over $35k, although if I go for a new car it would probably be more than that.

Just going to say, you could get a late model Legacy or Outback for that, easily - and have an awful lot of change left over ;)

You'd be better off going newish but second hand, so a few years old, rather than new. Car will be about half the price and almost exactly as good.
Nick G (16709)
1395410 2015-03-01 23:02:00 You'd be better off going newish but second hand, so a few years old, rather than new. Car will be about half the price and almost exactly as good.My thoughts exactly. When my wife was alive we had a Toyota Echo as a second car. That was a Signature class, and we were very happy with it. So something like that, or a demonstrator has to be a real possibility. Tony (4941)
1395411 2015-03-01 23:23:00 I know someone with a Toyota Yaris they got as a demo,nice looking but very basic inside(model dependent) these have a conventional auto box

Rear seats fold down and there is a surprising amount of room for a small car
Lawrence (2987)
1395412 2015-03-02 00:26:00 I know someone with a Toyota Yaris they got as a demo,nice looking but very basic inside(model dependent) these have a conventional auto box

Rear seats fold down and there is a surprising amount of room for a small carI agree. It is very flexible in how you can configure it, and very nippy with one or two people in it. If it wasn't for the need for load space I might have kept it rather than the Lancer after Jean died.
Tony (4941)
1395413 2015-03-02 01:24:00 You could get a new, or near-new, Impreza Hatch for high $20ks to low $30ks, be worth a look perhaps. inphinity (7274)
1395414 2015-03-02 02:43:00 You could get a new, or near-new, Impreza Hatch for high $20ks to low $30ks, be worth a look perhaps.I haven't seen an Impreza up close, but if it is a hatch I suspect it is not going to have enough load space. Also isn't it one of the most often stolen cars in Auckland? :) Tony (4941)
1395415 2015-03-02 04:52:00 Maybe a Toyota RAV4 or the similar Honda CRV or Crossover/HRV if you are wanting a bit of height. There seems to many stylish RAV4's around - big and small.

Avoid Honda Odyssey 99 - 2001/2002, for long loaded up trips, as I experienced they all seem to have transmission issues (en.wikipedia.org) (Wikipedia). They were recalled and a worldwide issue.
kahawai chaser (3545)
1395416 2015-03-02 05:30:00 Rule 1 when buying a car:
Buy Ford
prefect (6291)
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