70 Mage

[[JiF]Stepovich]

You sure you weren't texting Mike?

Glad you're all okay!

Go with the Camry, great car.

[[JiF]Melon Farmer]

At least you weren't injured, thank God. My two cents--->My son is a master mechanic and told me that right now he'd buy a Ford over anything else.

[[JiF]Mike]

At least you weren't injured, thank God. My two cents--->My son is a master mechanic and told me that right now he'd buy a Ford over anything else.

Good to know cause we have pretty much decided on the Ford Fusion SEL. I tested an incredible Ford Fusion Sport last night which had a 260hp V6, navigation, leather, and just about every other bell and whistle they offer. It was an amazing car.... but the sticker was $33,000, which is quite a bit over our price range. They did not have an SEL on the lot to try, so they of course let me drive the Sport...I fell in love but just too much car and too much money! I'm hoping the SEL will be more in our price range cause it has some of the features we want. They did find one at another dealer they are gonna work up some numbers on for us. It's grey metallic silver with a black leather interior...bet it looks nice! All their leasing programs ended yesterday and new ones start today. So he'll call us with the new program pricing.

It's an interesting process shopping for a new car. The salesman last night seemed to be the first one that actually understood what position we were in, the rest were trying to get us to sign a deal that day! Even when we told them we couldn't until we knew for sure the car was totaled. It's pretty much a guarantee that we will be getting a new car, I would think they would recognize that and be more accommodating to our timing.

We test drove a Camry and liked the car a lot, but it just felt like an old person car to us. Sorry to say it lol. We want something younger. I will say the lease payment was crazy low on the sport edition we were interested in, at $189/mo we are very tempted cause it is a nice car. It's not out of the running by any means, but only because the lease terms were so good. We still need to look at the Hyundai Sonata and the Honda Accord. I'll be happy when this process is over!

[[JiF]Stepovich]

At least you weren't injured, thank God. My two cents--->My son is a master mechanic and told me that right now he'd buy a Ford over anything else.

We test drove a Camry and liked the car a lot, but it just felt like an old person car to us. Sorry to say it lol. We want something younger. I will say the lease payment was crazy low on the sport edition we were interested in, at $189/mo we are very tempted cause it is a nice car. It's not out of the running by any means, but only because the lease terms were so good. We still need to look at the Hyundai Sonata and the Honda Accord. I'll be happy when this process is over!

DOH!
Thanks a lot Mike!
...well, I can't be totally insulted as we haven't bought one yet, but it's one of our choices.
We're looking at the Prius too, need the gas mileage for our huge commute.

[[JiF]corn]

In 2008 i bought a KIA rio LX (5spd) and get 30 mpg regardless of how i drive.
The two reasons i bought it was price at 11k and mpg.
It is a little cramped for me at 6'0" 245 lbs +/- but, i deal with it at 260 a month for 4 years.
I'm not sure, but someone told me Hyundai and Kia were basically the same company.

[Sir Die-a-lot]

Have you considered the Volkswagen Jetta ? Roomy, best handling of its class and well equiped base model.

[[JiF]Mike]

lol...Sorry Step! We did really like the car in general. Nice ride, plenty of room, but we thought it was rather plain inside for our taste. We like lots of gadgets and gizmos!! We looked at the sport edition and the outside was younger and..well 'sportier' ... but the inside didn't change that much. We want the car to look good on the outside... but since we spend our time inside we are more interested in what the interior has to offer.

I've decided not to look at the VW's. I had to draw a line somewhere and that's where I drew it lol. My main concern with VW is everyone I have talked to about them said they liked them, but they are quite expensive to repair. The parts cost a lot for some reason. Another reason I like the Ford Fusion, is it's American and I'd really like to buy American this time round if I can. Still, I'm going to look at some others. We were even gonna look at the Chevy Malibu cause we saw some pictures and really liked the look...but then we looked at Consumer Reports and decided to pass on it. lol

This is similar to what the interior of the one I test drove last night looked like. The navigation was incredible..touch screen, with voice activation..so nice! The navigation part of it was really only a small part of the system overall. The touch screen was really nice for controlling the radio to climate control. It's an expensive feature that typically only comes in the V6 models...we really want the 4-cylinder for better fuel economy.


The one we end up with will look very similar to this...such a nice looking car.



**Anxiously awaiting to hear from the insurance company.**

[[JiF]KellysHero]

You'll do well with a Ford. They have focused on quality although I did have a few issues with my '06 Mustang GT. In the 3 years and 21k miles I put on it, I did have 3 things fixed under warranty. First was the rear clutch pack in the rear differential making a weird noise within a few hundred miles put on the car. There was a TSB (technical service bulletin) out by Ford as they had a bad batch of parts when it was manufactured, and it was fixed. There was also a TSB on the fuel pump, and within two years or so my check engine light came on and that was also fixed. Finally the brake fluid sensor went bad and I had it repaired under warranty one day before the 3 year/36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty ran out. The leather seat wore a bit on the edge, but I think it had more to do with the way I got in and out of it. I have a spot like it in my truck as well.

I'd still buy another Ford though, and the 2011 Mustang GT's are going to have a 5.0L V8 with 412HP and 390 ft lbs of torque! Mmmmm!!! Plus Ford didn't take any bailout money and knows how to run their company properly with good vehicles. A good sign if you ask, and should be rewarded.

Toyota has had some quality issues the last few years. Some of that stemmed from lots of growth (new employees) and their plants running at full capacity. But I have a soft spot for them, my 1998 Tacoma 4x4 is still running great with 217k miles on it!

[[JiF]Djsmg]

Glad to hear that everyone ended up being ok in that Mike. Good job passing on the Malibu (was my last car, would never get another one) have you thought about going Dodge? You would have to pass on a 4 cylinder (with a Charger) but would still have a decent looking wide long stable ride.

I've got 63,000 miles on my '07 with no problems as of yet.

[[JiF]Lonewolf]

Well I have owned 3 Fords in my life the 1st was a 1 ton truck and it was the biggest piece of crap built the 2nd was a 67 Boss 302 and had it a whole 2 hours and traded it for a Trans-Am and the 3rd is my current Explorer and I can't wait to unload this piece of crap. The Explorer has a broken axle bearing holder in the front housing and Ford knows there is a problem with them breaking but they wont fix it and I'm not going to pay $5k to get it fixed. Just as soon as I can unload it I'm getting another Dodge truck which is built for my rugged abuse ass and I can also afford to fix what breaks on it.

I have been a MOPAR fan for to long as I have been in some hairy wrecks in them and never got a scratch but was in a wreck with a friend several years ago in a Ford Crown Vic and it done me in for the longest time. I figured when I got rear ended in my Jeep a few years ago by a Ford Taurus and it totaled the Ford and they had to cut the driver out and all it did was scratch my back bumper I was basically sold to never own a Ford card. I wish I had pictures of the wreck but we didn't have the camera with us.

There is people that is set on one specific brand or type which is fine but around here 75% of the vehicles owned are MOPAR. I have seen to many people hurt in Toyota's, Fords, Nissan's and countless others. I have never looked to buy a vehicle for the toys in it just as long as it gets me to point A and back I'm happy.

[[JiF]Mike]

I can't wait to get a new truck! lol I have a 97 GMC and absolutely love it, but can't afford another truck and a car at the same time. I don't wanna get a second truck cause I want something that gets good gas mileage. We tried a Hyundai Sonata Limited tonight and my wife loved...I mean loved it. However... they weren't really interested in talking about a lease, they wanted us to buy an older 08 or 09 sonata. They wouldn't even give us an idea of what a lease payment would be other than to say around $400/mo which is out of our range. The Ford Fusion will probably be in our range, and if not that, then a Camry it may be simply because the lease terms are so great.

We didn't get a lot of toys in the Civic, but this time around we want a few more things. We basically tell them we want a moonroof, power windows and locks, and climate control. All the other stuff is nice but not required, problem we are having is that climate control seems to be a top of the line feature on most vehicles so brings us into the top tier versions. The Fusion has it in their mid-range version.

oh... and an 09 prior lease Sonata could be purchased for around $330/mo ........for 72 months!!! I nearly busted out laughing....72 month loan...wth!!! lol

-- Thu Jan 07, 2010 11:46 am --

Quick 3 minute video about something Ford is adding to their vehicles.

[[JiF]Mike]

Just talked with the Total Loss Adjuster...and wouldn't ya know she has no record of my claim being a total loss. So either the car was not deemed totaled, or no one has looked at it yet.... She said to call back the claim person I initially talked to. So I called him back and he was quiet for a few minutes and then said he would have to get back to me cause he needed to do some research...whatever that means. I was really hoping to know something before this weekend, but looks like I won't... So tired of this whole process already.... no one seems to know anything.

[Sir Die-a-lot]

They might not total it and file it under ''heavily damaged'' and force it back on the road, depending on the amount or the repairs estimated.

[[JiF]Lt Gav]

Sounds to me like insurance companies are the same the whole world over.
When my wife was rear ended by someone not paying attention we had a hell of a time getting a payout (having to deal with a call centre in India did not expedite the claim)
Then the other parties company started trying to nit pick with anything ranging from amount of damage done (in spite of us having 2 independent quotes from repair companies) to the type of junction where the accident happened.
In the end I found the firm threat to take the company to the industry watchdog if they didn't cough up the money seemed to do the trick.

[[JiF]Mike]

Just talked to the insurance company again and the appraiser has not looked at the car yet. He has 'assured' us that he will look at it today. That does not however mean I will hear something tomorrow...but I'm hopeful.

In the meantime I've got some dealerships fighting for my money. lol I've got pricing on a Toyota Camry XLE with all the bells and whistles down to $275/mo with $0 down! Unfortunately a similarly equipped Ford Fusion is in the over $400/mo range which is just too much for our budget to handle, even if we really really like it.

I can't imagine they would try to repair this, the motor has to be knocked off it's mounts and in who knows what condition, the air bags deployed, the engine compartment in general has to be a disaster and the whole front end would need to be replaced.... the parts may not cost as much as the car, but I'm sure it would be very labor intensive pushing the cost to at or over what it's worth. Better to salvage the parts and sell em I would think. I'm hoping they don't wanna try to fix it though.... it'll never be the same.

Sorry about all the updates, but I'm kinda using this as a bit of a log to keep track of when things happen.