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Have you ever seen or know about a car you didn’t care for but we’re impressed with when you drove it for yourself?
For me this was my wife’s car she had when we met in 2004. She had a 1996 Mazda Protege LX. To me they were very dul, boring, cramped, and underpowered cars so I never gave them a second thought. Never even bother to consider one. Heck, I once had a 1994 Cavalier with 120 hp standard engine and this one wa s less than 90 hp in base engine. 120 ho was closer to the optional engine in the sporty EX model. Her back pain got so bad on one trip that I had to drive her car for her. I was surprised by how quick it felt from a dead stop and even more impressed by how well it cornered. The interior materials felt very well made nearly ten years later. Makes me wonder how sporty the EX drove with the same engine as the Miata, sport tuned suspension, and wider tires.
Actually my current car, a 2000 Chevy Malibu impressed me. It was already 9 years old when I bought it. And I wasn't considering a Malibu this old, I just couldn't afford something newer. But it's been very reliable and gets about 34 MPG with the V6.
The only thing I don't care for are the seats. It has the base seats and they don't look as comfortable as the LS seats, and the rear ones don't fold like they do.
The interior quality is very nice. The door panels all have fabric padding on the upper insert and from the armrest up is soft touch vinyl. The entire dashboard except for the glove box door and a glossy carbon fiber like trim is soft touch as well. I don't see this on newer cars. They all use that very hard textured plastic in this class of a car.
It has pretty good acceleration too with the V6 and handles pretty well. I prefer driving it to a truck.
Actually my current car, a 2000 Chevy Malibu impressed me. It was already 9 years old when I bought it. And I wasn't considering a Malibu this old, I just couldn't afford something newer. But it's been very reliable and gets about 34 MPG with the V6.
The only thing I don't care for are the seats. It has the base seats and they don't look as comfortable as the LS seats, and the rear ones don't fold like they do.
The interior quality is very nice. The door panels all have fabric padding on the upper insert and from the armrest up is soft touch vinyl. The entire dashboard except for the glove box door and a glossy carbon fiber like trim is soft touch as well. I don't see this on newer cars. They all use that very hard textured plastic in this class of a car.
It has pretty good acceleration too with the V6 and handles pretty well. I prefer driving it to a truck.
I had a 2003 Malibu. Still had factory warranty when I bought it. Not long after the warranty expired I had leaking intake gasket ($700), AC control didn’t always work and replacing the unit didn’t help as the problem always returned ($400), anti-theft system stopped recognizing my keys ($400), and warped brake rotors. Agree on the engine performance, smooth ride and handling, and bit uncomfortable seats. The seats got worse for me because of an old broken tailbone injury. Had to use a cushion that relieved pressure off my tailbone just to drive the car. My 2015 Elantra has similar acceleration, similar interior space, more comfortable seats, and better gas mileage. I hope all those problems I had are permanently corrected in your case.
Reviewers are mostly a bunch of lazy parrots who just repeat what they've heard.
Knowing this, I don't trust this "consensus" and drive the cars myself.
My own experiences have often contradicted what I've read.
Earlier this year, my wife bought a 1996 Lincoln Mark VII to fill in while her van was being repaired (I took too long, and so did the shop when I gave up, and then the specialty shop they sent it to took too long too).
I was not a fan of this car, but I only drove it once for about 5 miles. Yesterday, I drove it for 2 hours. I am a fan now. It is a pretty decent car and there is a lot I like about it. (Except no sunroof. Who buys a car with no sunroof? Why do they even make such cars?).
Earlier this year, my wife bought a 1996 Lincoln Mark VII to fill in while her van was being repaired (I took too long, and so did the shop when I gave up, and then the specialty shop they sent it to took too long too).
I was not a fan of this car, but I only drove it once for about 5 miles. Yesterday, I drove it for 2 hours. I am a fan now. It is a pretty decent car and there is a lot I like about it. (Except no sunroof. Who buys a car with no sunroof? Why do they even make such cars?).
Yes, the Mark VIII is not bad. It has 260hp dohc 4.6, four wheel air ride, fully independant suspension. My stepdad had one for a while. I'd rather have the tbird though. No sun roofs or moon roofs, adds wieght, looks like crap, prone to leaking in older cars.
I drove a Chevy HHR recently that surprised me. Judging by the looks, I assumed they were noisy, crude, and underpowered. I actually thought it drove nicely and was quiet on the highway, the power wasn’t too bad either.
Some guy I worked for had some kind of special edition S10 pickup that absolutely hauled butt, but it was so dirty (like sitting in an ashtray/porta-potty) that I could hardly enjoy it.
Had to drive an old Ford pickup at a job once, probably a late 390 or early 460, that was so fast off the line (pulling an IR air compressor) that it was truly scary. I once blew away a Corvette off a light!
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