Do you notice foreign car drivers more? (small car, tailgating, hybrid)

[OhEdo]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

I would love to not drive. Did that for years. Worked at home for a few years too. It was wonderful. However I now live 27 miles from work. I work odd hours (usually 8:30 - 7:00, but sometimes 7-7, or 6am-10pm), plus I have to drive other places during the day, so carpooling is almost impossible. Moving closer is not an option. I have 5 children in school, live in a historic home that we are restoring, and have no where else that I would like to live (well maybe Grosse Pointe, but that is not much shorter of a commute all said and done).

I also have a convertable roadster (JEnsen Healy) that I love to drive on weekends (if I ever find a mechanic to rebuild the head for me). Do you have any favorite roads? So far the raod from Ann Arbor to Hell is my favorite. Most roads seem straight and flat around here. I found seom nice stretches near Irish Hills. A few decent roads around some of the lakes in North Oakland County, but those roads are all too busy and have too many intersections. In my youth, the roads at Kensington Metropark were great fun to drive when the park was closed after work.

I am not looking to play rocket ship pilot, but I do enjoy a curvy hilly road in any kind of roadster or sportscar.

I do understand that the realities of life are hard on someone like you with few fuel-saving options. But as part of my grand cut-dependence-on-oil plan, that's where the light rail line from Grosse Isle to the Ren Cen would come in! Plus instead of inefficient corn-based ethanol, we would use sugar cane based ethanol, not to mention fast food fry grease diesel. And eventually, flux capacitors that turn garbage into nuclear fuel!
But getting back to reality, the only decent driving road I've found thus far is M-25/29 curving around Lake St. Clair, but I will check out your suggestions as well; thanks. And I wish you luck finding a mechanic for the Jensen Healey!

[nycjefftrain]

Originally Posted by GRRAZO

haha that is a funny episode and yes I have heard the same thing...have you ever seen Top Gear? It is a british car show that claims the same thing that these cars are worse off for they environment because of the batteries which are very damaging to throw away when they are done and along with being the most hideous looking car I think I have ever seen...I also heard that they dont get the claimed 50 MPG...I heard its more like 35....I could be wrong...and yes I am biased and hate toyota although they operate very sufficiently...a model that American companies should copy although they still would have to make up for the unions and health costs that others dont have to worry about...allright enough of my ranting

Funny you should say this. Toyota copied the "Ford" way for years. Now they are ahead. When the Taurus came out, they tinkered with it and tinkered with it until they came up with this car....maybe you've heard of it...it's called the Camry!!

Also, a stupid joke for all of you. There were 2 engineers that worked on the Aztec. They just met yesterday. hahahaha...I know...I know....

[theboysmom]

Originally Posted by OhEdo

How about this for a precious holier-than-thou post: Instead of or in addition to buying a Prius or Civic, how about not driving it in the first place?

Ah! Good point. *sigh* I could never do that. I try do my little part at home to leave a smaller footprint. We don't use plastic bottles for our water (we use klean kanteens, they're great). No plastic containers or bags for storage. No paper towels. I make our household cleaners instead of using chemicals, using natural things. We conserve water in a few different ways (using grey water to water plants and such). BUT we both drive regular gas cars. Oh well, one step at a time. We can't all be Ed Begley Jr.

[kcam213]

I agree with ColdJensen!


I have a 2006 Honda Civic.

Base price was NOT 12,500. My top of the line was $21,000. I wanted a roomier car, with luxury amnenities and great gas mileage. Domestic makers do not have ANYTHING to match. If you want small gas sipping car, you had to go with a under powered Focus, a packed like sardines Cavalier, or nothing from Dodge/chrysler... they did not make a small car that year. (as my husband who works for Dodge said... teh dummies stopped making the Neon without a replacement model for year 2006).

Oh and BTW, NONE OF THEM COULD MATCH THE 36 - 39 MPG that I get with my Civic. Now if you are looking for luxury... try smooth ride (many people call my car a little cadillac), Navigator, sun roof, voice activated controls, AC, 2 tier dash, satellite radio, just everything was well made, fit and finish was A+. Now I did pay top dollar for a "little car". but it doesn't drive like one, isn't cramped like one, and has luxuries of a much more expensive car.

Car of the year 2006. Made Toyota hold releasing thier new Corolla because they KNEW Civic would blow them out of the water.

Everytime someone asks about my car which looks really sharp, I tell them, don't listen to me, go to Honda and test drive the car... all 4 of them promptly bought a Civic.

When GM, Ford, and Dodge stopped spending their money internationally by outsourcing to foreign companies... then talk to me about where to spend MY money.

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

The malibu seemed comparable in size, comfort and finish inside. The Prius is slightly more high tech. The malibu LTZ is much nicer but costs $8k more than a prius.

A Civic costs $12,500? I did not know that they were so cheap.

My friends who have prius's (Priae?) get about 55 mpg on average for combined driving. A company that I work with regularly just bought them for all their employees and they all seem to get about the same combined milage.

I looked at the Focus and the Chevy Cobalt. Both were too small inside and obviously cheaply made. Their actual combined mileage was not very exciting. The Prius at least appears to be better quality and has more room. I could not find anything comparable at Ford. The Malibu seemed the closest at Chevy. Maybe I should just wait for a swatch car.

I may just look for a honda Insight. They are tiny, but 70-80 mpg would be awfully nice. I might have to do yoga to get into one though.

As far as I can discern the Prius is the only well made, economical car that is suitable for a large person commuting daily that is available. I will have to look at the Civic. I always hated the Corolla/Prisim, maybe they improved them recently.

[Yac]

This thread is getting moved to the Automotive forum
Yac.

[southernnaturelover]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Have you ever seen an Aztec? That is the ugliest vehicle ever made. The VW thing is close, but it is so ugly that it is cool. The Aztec is just plain ugly.

My cousin has a gold Aztec. I like the inside and it does have a good ride, but the outside IS ugly. I never liked the Rendezvous either.

[trlhiker]

Originally Posted by nycjefftrain

Funny you should say this. Toyota copied the "Ford" way for years. Now they are ahead. When the Taurus came out, they tinkered with it and tinkered with it until they came up with this car....maybe you've heard of it...it's called the Camry!!

Also, a stupid joke for all of you. There were 2 engineers that worked on the Aztec. They just met yesterday. hahahaha...I know...I know....

review your car history, the Camry came out in 1983, the Taurus in 1986. So who copied who?

[trlhiker]

Originally Posted by Dexterguy

I would like to give my $0.02 on the Toyota Prius, one it is the ugliest car that I have ever seen and I would never ever pay that much money for a car like that. Two, for all you enviromentalists out there this car does the EXACT oppisite from saving the earth. Toyota strips tones of copper from northern Canada every single year to make this "earth saving" car. I believe in climate change and global warming, and trust me this car is just as bad or worse for this reason of stripping Canada's natural land and wild life.

Not true, this rumor has been busted many time over.

By the way, here on the southeast coast, you see more "imports" than domestic on the road.

[OhEdo]

Originally Posted by theboysmom

Ah! Good point. *sigh* I could never do that. I try do my little part at home to leave a smaller footprint. We don't use plastic bottles for our water (we use klean kanteens, they're great). No plastic containers or bags for storage. No paper towels. I make our household cleaners instead of using chemicals, using natural things. We conserve water in a few different ways (using grey water to water plants and such). BUT we both drive regular gas cars. Oh well, one step at a time. We can't all be Ed Begley Jr.

Good for you, theboysmom. There's no shame in living your lifestyle - if the rest of us tried half as hard, we could probably cut CO2 by 25% in one year. But as others have pointed out, you don't necessarily have to drive a hybrid to be green. Diesels, while slightly higher in NOx emissions, emit a lot less CO2. And the diesels that will be sold here in coming years will be well within EPA NOx standards. You could get a car like a Honda Fit with very efficient (30+ MPG highway) engines and yet have plenty of room for child seats and baby stroller stowage.

[Plains10]

Originally Posted by trlhiker

review your car history, the Camry came out in 1983, the Taurus in 1986. So who copied who?

I drove a 1984 Camry many years ago.
Back then they were about the size of a Corolla