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H2Guru, good thoughts. I'm actually talking with a friend that is getting to this point and now he's looking at a Fit. He flies R/C airplanes like me and the Fit is like a barn inside.

The point of this question is to stir up some thoughts and your's is an excellent one.

I've had a car for 41 years and I think he's going to follow my plan after reading this thread.
 
I would convince myself it is better NOT to buy one last new car, and instead buy a decent used car that is much bigger than the Civic...I'd buy an 04 Gramp Marquis (I think this was the last year the leather seats were heated, also, the last year the front seats had side air impact bags) that has 50,000-75,000 miles on it for about 10,000.00. Take the 6000-7000.00 I saved from not buying a new Civic (don't they cost 6-7K?), and save it for odd and end repairs, and for the extra fuel the 4.6l V-8 will burn (at 15K miles a year, and 20 mpg, vs. 35 mpg, if gas averaged 4.00 per gallon, the Gramp M. would burn 3000.00 of fuel per year, vs. 1700.00 of fuel in the Civic).

In the meantime, you'd be more comfortable, safer, pay less taxes, and pay less insurance on the Gramp M. Depreciation has already ravaged the Gramp M (one of the worst cars to hold it's value compared to retail), so, if you decided to sell it in a year, you would only lose about 1000-2000 on it. If you drove a new Civic for a year, you'd lose more than 2000.
 
Originally Posted By: BarkerMan
H2Guru, good thoughts. I'm actually talking with a friend that is getting to this point and now he's looking at a Fit. He flies R/C airplanes like me and the Fit is like a barn inside.

The point of this question is to stir up some thoughts and your's is an excellent one.

I've had a car for 41 years and I think he's going to follow my plan after reading this thread.

the fit is a car that has been out in Europe for a long time as the jazz and has an incredible reputation like most hondas. I have found that the cheaper and most simple honda and toyotas such as civics and corollas seem to last the longest. So I would bet the fit and yaris will be excellent cars plus they have been out long enough to get all the bugs worked out.
 
Our friend has driven them all and he likes the Fit. The GM is a good idea but he does not like a big car that as he puts it drives like a sack of potatoes. He did nix the Civic because of the lack of ease of entry as you suggested, but the Fit solves that problem. We have a mutual friend that has an 84 Civic which has about the same dimensions especially the head room and a big rear hatch with 4 doors. That Civic wagon has lasted for almost 400k miles in the hands of the original owner and has not been replaced because of the lack of a good replacement. The Fit is finally that car. I have driven the Fit and it's really fun to drive. I know that if I had to replace my 67 510 wagon the Fit would be the one. I would be tempted to look at the Element but for the life of my I can understand why it's not a little lower to the ground. Maybe small cars that are really useful and fun to drive will be the norm soon. You are also right about vehicles like the Rav4 being a good buy because they really are a utility vehicle.
 
Change the engine oil and filter as dictated by the OLM with conventional oil.

Rotate the tires at every other oil change.

Replace the cabin and engine air filter at least every other year.

Replace the brake fluid every two years.

Replace the serpentine belt every five to seven years or 100k, whichever comes first. Do the same for the coolant.
 
Originally Posted By: rangerdood
You've never seen someone drive a '68?

I see a lot of late 60s trucks around here. There are not many, but there are a few. Saw a '61-'66 Ford F-100 on the interstate today. Also saw a '67-'72 Chevy C-10 today. The cars seem less common, but they are there too.
 
Went to the funeral last summer of a friend that retired in 61 and lived to be 98. He bought a new 61 Falcon station wagon and almost drove it to his own funeral. It was the "big six" with an automatic and he did almost everything at first and as he got older I helped out. Oil changes then were more often but access was easy and it was no problem with a set of ramps. I also rebuilt the engine for him and there was little to do except freshen it up and do a valve job. He, like me, used Chevron Delo 30w. The concept of keeping a car can work if you know what you're doing.
 
If it's not already too late, I would recommend test driving the SX4. The ease of entering and exiting this iAWD hatchback, will make a great first impression. For the non-DIY'er, many Suzuki dealerships are offering "free lifetime OC's" with a new car purchase. The SX4 comes with a 7yr./100,000 mile, fully transferable warranty. It also uses a timing chain. For the same price or even less $$ than the basic Civic, you can have all the bells and whistles with the SX4. 6 airbags, power everything, Smartpass Keyless entry, steering wheel mounted cruise and audio controls, ESP, TCS, TPMS, 4-wheel disc brakes w/ABS, 6 disc-9 speaker stereo w/sub woofer, etc.,...
If going with a manual transmission, the '08 model has a higher 5th gear ratio than the '07.
I'm not a salesperson, just the only person posting here, who has the SX4. Would really like to see someone else here, representing.
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I would feel safe going the 90 or 100k on timing belts, have done that and never broken one, more concerned about the idlers,tensioners and waterpump which shold all be changed witht he timing belt. Even Gates recommends that they will all go that far and they would love to sell you more, rest of recommendations are good
 
My 70-ish year old parents drive a Honda Fit. They have no issues entering, nor exiting the car. I would not buy anything except a Honda or Toyota...imagine buying a low quality Suzuki and at say 80 years of age having to deal with that mess! I would consult ConsumerReports and other like publications....the elderly need reliability more then any of us.
 
Originally Posted By: lovcom
My 70-ish year old parents drive a Honda Fit. They have no issues entering, nor exiting the car. I would not buy anything except a Honda or Toyota...imagine buying a low quality Suzuki and at say 80 years of age having to deal with that mess! I would consult ConsumerReports and other like publications....the elderly need reliability more then any of us.

I would never think of recommending an unreliable car, for anyone. Especially not for someone like my own 80-ish Grandparents.
Here's a write-up, about the Consumer Reports issue(s), regarding the SX4... Cosumer Reports - Suzuki SX4
I would recommend checking recent automotive recalls for whatever car you're thinking of buying.
 
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I would not buy a Honda, and especially not a Civic. I would buy a pickup. Probably a Ranger. Manual everything (I seem to have bad luck with power options breaking), only options I'd get would be A/C and crusie.
 
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