How much car can you afford?

[regfootball]

Ok, so revisiting this thread...

Finally got a job, start on July 1. Not making quite as much as I posted earlier, but still a pretty good amount and have great benefits and I get 5 weeks vacation a year.

But, the LSS leaked brake fluid all over the place and is now in the shop. I'll find out what exactly is wrong with it today.

Depending on the severity of the LSS repair, I may be forced to get something sooner than I wanted to.

I've got your choice, a nice smoking oval taurus or nice smoking oval sable (pre2000), take your pick, $1593, your neighbors will be able to smell you burning crude a block away........!!!!!!

j/k......another Oldsmobile to replace your LSS?

[SAmadei]

Come on guys... its a brake fluid leak on an LSS. You can replace the entire brake system for a few hundred bucks. I'm sure its something minor.

Nothing GM sells today will give you the comfort and style the LSS has. Just fix the LSS. $15K will buy 85K miles worth of gas for the LSS.

[Croc]

Come on guys... its a brake fluid leak on an LSS. You can replace the entire brake system for a few hundred bucks. I'm sure its something minor.

Nothing GM sells today will give you the comfort and style the LSS has. Just fix the LSS. $15K will buy 85K miles worth of gas for the LSS.

To be fair, he has indicated that he wants a new car (or new for him), and so therefore... Frankly, that's his business and not mine. I will say, though, I got a kick out of the first line of your second paragraph; yes, just like nothing Nieman Marcus sells today will give you the comfort and style of what Vanilla Ice wore in the late 1980s.

[SAmadei]

Nothing GM sells today will give you the comfort and style the LSS has. Just fix the LSS. $15K will buy 85K miles worth of gas for the LSS.

To be fair, he has indicated that he wants a new car (or new for him), and so therefore... Frankly, that's his business and not mine.

Well, unless it was in another thread, the line "forced to get something sooner than I wanted to" doesn't sound like one is sold on getting a new car right now.

I will say, though, I got a kick out of the first line of your second paragraph; yes, just like nothing Nieman Marcus sells today will give you the comfort and style of what Vanilla Ice wore in the late 1980s.

If you added more hyperbole to that sentence, it would burst like a ripe zit.

The LSS is far from Vanilla Ice's style. In fact, style-wise, it has held up pretty well. And nothing GM offers, short of the ZL1 or the ZR1 is going to find itself being compared to anything Nieman Marcus sells.

In any case, style is subjective. What car $15K (after end of year price cuts) car is the size of the LSS? Space is an important component of comfort. The only thing that comes close is the Lucerne... but that ain't selling for $15K as a leftover... IF they are even still making them. Impala and Malibu do not come close to H-bodies for comfort.

Yes, its his business if he wants to buy a new car. I'm just offering my opinion that its cheaper to fix the LSS than to buy a Daewoo with a chrome bit in its mouth that is a leftover because nobody else wanted it. ;-)

[Satty]

I'd take a Cruze over an LSS in a heartbeat. You may not be able to get 5 fat Americans in a Cruze, but 10 airbags, AM/FM/XM/CD/AUX, keyless entry, Stabilitrack, TPMS, 36mpg, 5/100k powertrain warranty.......

Edited June 28, 2011 by Satty

[frogger]

I don't find big understeering cars comfortable to drive at all, its disconcerting to me the lack of feel and float. I'd rather drive a Fiesta, Fiat 500 sport etc

[Croc]

I'd take a Cruze over an LSS in a heartbeat. You may not be able to get 5 fat Americans in a Cruze, but 10 airbags, AM/FM/XM/CD/AUX, keyless entry, Stabilitrack, TPMS, 36mpg, 5/100k powertrain warranty.......

Agreed.

I don't find big understeering cars comfortable to drive at all, its disconcerting to me the lack of feel and float. I'd rather drive a Fiesta, Fiat 500 sport etc

Agreed.

I mean, I AM an Oldsmobile fan...but the last Eighty-Eight/LSS was just bland, bland, bland...certainly not very attractive/stylish, not a luxurious interior...I just have a very hard time seeing a young, freshly graduated 20-something being super-stoked to be driving a car that is so old and..."mature." Especially with the gas mileage.

Right now, if I got a new car, the three at the top of my list would be the Verano, Regal or Cruze Eco...and the decision would be based entirely on content/$$$ and mpg.

[Northstar]

The dealer recommended not fixing the LSS. They said one of the hoses that is connected to the ABS module is what ruptured, and that it's several hundred dollars to fix. Additionally, the brakes themselves are bad, and there are 6 hoses connected to the ABS module, all of which are quite rusted and could also rupture at any time.

So first of all the car is in pretty bad shape. It's no surprise that it's rusted quite a bit underneath considering it has never been regularly garaged since 2004. So besides the first 9 years of its life, the last 7 years it has sat outside in Illinois winters (not terrible, but still considerable snow, and thus salting the roads). Second of all, if just the one line is replaced (cheapest way to make it be driveable), the chances that one of the 5 other lines bursts and I rear end someone or can't stop at a red light, etc., is pretty scary and not at all safe. And fixing all of the lines would cost way more than the car is worth.

So, I pretty much have no choice but to find something.

Either I find something and drive the TB EXT (which does not sound like much fun), or my parents get something new. They have $4k in GM card credits they are willing to use on a car for either them or me.

I could buy a Cruze Eco with their GM credits and putting $4k cash down in addition to the credits for about $250 a month for 60 months. It's a stick, and with my somewhat crude shifting I was able to achieve 30mpg on a city-only test drive. I'm sure with some practice and smoother shifting it would improve. So my gas bill would be quite low. Right now I think that is the direction I want to go. Having the $4k of GM card credits lowers the price considerably and really makes it difficult to find a better deal on a used car that still has warranty left. Plus the mileage is great.

I'm not sure what I would have to pay my parents for the Trailblazer, if anything. But the Cruze gets at least double the mpg (the Trailblazer, driven by my mom who is a very conservative driver, gets 13 if she's lucky), so I'd probably save $100 on gas a month and the net cost of the Cruze would only be about $150 a month more than the TB.

[Croc]

Get the Cruze Eco--it sounds like it fits your needs well. My only suggestion is to see what you can do to postpone the new purchase until the 2012s come out so you don't have to spend as much on a new 2011.

Edited June 29, 2011 by Croc

[SAmadei]

How much you want for the LSS?

[Blake Noble]

(On the subject of a TB:) Trailblazers were pathetic on gas. My aunt traded hers in on a 2010 Tahoe and the Tahoe is getting about 17 mpg whereas the Trailblazer got 11.

Forget the TB, long story short.

[Drew Dowdell]

If you're not wanting to row your own, definitely wait for the 2012 Cruze Eco.

[Northstar]

How much you want for the LSS?

How much do you want to pay? The scrap yard is paying us ~$400 for it, but we haven't taken them the keys or title yet.

It's in really rough shape. Radio display is broke, molding on the passenger door fell off, no passenger side window, front fenders are in bad shape, dent in trunk.

Trust me, you don't want the car.

I've decided that I'm going to wait a while and save some money, and in the meantime play musical cars with my brother and parents.

[SAmadei]

How much you want for the LSS?

How much do you want to pay? The scrap yard is paying us ~$400 for it, but we haven't taken them the keys or title yet.

Oh, next to nothing.

Take the scrap price... its too far for me for that price.

It's in really rough shape. Radio display is broke, molding on the passenger door fell off, no passenger side window, front fenders are in bad shape, dent in trunk.

Trust me, you don't want the car.

You'd be surprised. I figured if you were selling cheap enough I'd drive it for a bit then use it for parts.

I'd rather drive a large car that was rolled on the freeway than a tiny new car.

[regfootball]

the thing about the Cruze Eco is its a real car, fun to drive, feels well made. Gas savings are a plus.

But even an LS is a good Cruze, you just can't get Cruze......control with it.

I know you are thinking buy......I actually have seen new Regals advertised at under 23k now.......and of course Malibus and Impalas are very reasonably priced as well if you want to get something larger. I myself am curious at how well a Regal might lease right now.