Weird Question: Cars/GPS systems in Seattle (rental car, rental)

[RunTheDistance476]

So I am moving to Seattle in several months for a new job. I have financing available and I am looking to purchase a new vehicle within a week when I get there. Two issues/questions:

1. I can see myself going into the mountains many times a month, so I want a car that has good mileage for the city/mountains and one that has a transmission that can handle the mountains (shifting gears).

2. I want a GPS system (car factory or other) that has the best, most descriptive traffic maps (in order to try and avoid traffic as much as possible, even if that means driving on back roads...anything not to just be sitting there).

I have been looking at a Nissan Juke w/nav:

Turbo-direct injected engine (eco mode too, to save on gas in the city).

I think this car will give me plenty of power for the mountains/terrain of Seattle and it has a CVT (continuously variable transmission), which I heard is great for the mountainous region as it technically is not in a set gear (no hard shifts).

As far as GPS systems: help me please!

[Ira500]

I have a basic Garmin GPS system with lifetime traffic and updated maps. It has saved my butt so many times. It tells you the best route to take based on the current traffic. I used to be able to find my way around without a device. Now, if I've somehow left the GPS in the house, I practically can't go four blocks without getting lost.

[homesinseattle]

Welcome to Seattle! I hope the transition is smooth.

The "unofficial" car of the Puget Sound area is the Subaru. I went out to mine the other day, stood in front of it for three minutes, clicking on my non-functioning remote. Someone finally honked at me (took a while because it is considered rude in Seattle to do that), I realized that there were two other cars (including mine) down the row that looked exactly the same.
I second the Garmin comment, I couldn't do my work without it. I love the graphics, I have even programmed the voice to be that of a soothing British woman.

[RunTheDistance476]

I think I will pass on the Subaru...I dont think it is my style.

What Garmin model do you guys have?

[SitoUK]

I like the Garmin UI and maps best as well. Although lately I am finding myself more and more using Google Maps on my smartphone. The turn-by-turn instructions are surprisingly good and it's just a more seamless user experience if you're looking for points of interest on the map. You can save maps locally on your phone, so you don't need data coverage but it seems you need data coverage to initiate a new route (presumably at that point Maps has to contact the server) but I am in the process of finding out if there's a way around that...

I had the Juke once as a rental car and while it's comfortable and fun to drive it has very little space for the size of the car, there is virtually no space in the trunk. If you like to go out camping and doing outdoor things you usually carry some sort of equipment and I would not recommend the Juke for that.

I don't own a car but if I'd get one I'd probably go for the Suzuki SX4. It's small but intelligently designed, so still has good space, especially if you flip down the rear seats. Certainly better than the Juke in that respect. It's available as a 4WD which is great if you plan to go into the mountains a lot, especially in winter but fuel economy is still good. It's also cheap :-)

[RunTheDistance476]

As far as the size of the Juke goes, I am a pretty small guy (5' 8" ish, 175lbs) so I'd be hard pressed to find a car that would make me cramped. I don't have a family (nor do I have a desire for one), so it would be just my girlfriend and I most of the time. I understand the equipment concern...I think I could try and fit everything in or on top (though, I usually dont camp, I would just go for day trips).

I am trying to decide if I would want to buy a car with the nav already in it or get my own. I dont really know any pros/cons that are legitimate either way. Id rather just have it installed, i guess, so I dont have to pay extra and so it is out of the way and already integrated.

Since you had a juke, how did it handle Seattle? is it an easy car to pass in with blind spots/acceleration. I think with the power mode on, its suppose to be pretty great acceleration-wise. What did you think?

EDIT***

I looked up the Suzuki SX4 (I like the look of the crossover) but it says that it only produces 148-150hp. Is that really enough for the mountains to keep your car from "struggling" a little bit?"

[Ira500]

My Garmin is the Nubian 1350. Old and reliable.

[RunTheDistance476]

Originally Posted by Ira500

My Garmin is the Nubian 1350. Old and reliable.

So does it literally have you drive down side streets in order to avoid a bunch of crap? I dont see how every Seattle area resident can be without one then!

[Drover]

Maybe it's better in Seattle, but my experience with traffic data on GPS units is that they only provide data on expressways/freeways and a small handful of secondary highways. It does not provide data for most major arterial streets. Consequently, whenever it tries to re-route me around traffic, it ends up routing me right into surface traffic that's no better, and often worse than, the expressway backups it just tried to route me around. Any more, all I use GPS-based traffic data for is to tell me how long it's going to take to get to or home from work.

If you have a smartphone, there's a free app called Waze that provides GPS routing data and far, far more extensive traffic data than standalone GPS units. The traffic info they provide is based a combination of real-time data from other Waze users currently on the road and historic travel time data collected from users on every street/road that Waze users have traveled on previously. From this data they can calculate the fastest route to your destination, and even re-calculate mid-course if traffic conditions change. I haven't used it yet (don't have a smartphone yet) but Waze users almost universally note that traffic avoidance is much, much better on Waze than GPS units.

[SitoUK]

Originally Posted by wlw2009

Since you had a juke, how did it handle Seattle? is it an easy car to pass in with blind spots/acceleration. I think with the power mode on, its suppose to be pretty great acceleration-wise. What did you think?

I looked up the Suzuki SX4 (I like the look of the crossover) but it says that it only produces 148-150hp. Is that really enough for the mountains to keep your car from "struggling" a little bit?"

Ok, I am European and I think therefore my expectations of a car are slightly different to you guys over here. A car as small as the SX4 with 150bhp would be considered a 'pocket rocket' in Europe and I am sure would have enough power for anything you want to do. There are actually some impressive videos of the SX4 on youtube showing people going properly offroad with it. It's a cross-over and thus not designed for this stuff but as these videos show it's clearly possible. The thing is that even if you have to go down a rocky forest road to get to your trailhead you still do about 98% of our trip on tarmac road which is why I think a crossover is a very good choice in the Northwest, as in the city it just handles like any normal car. I've never actually taken an SX4 to the mountains but I have taken the Impreza many times. I think it has 170bhp but is heavier than the SX4, never ever had any problems with this car but then I don't haul any boats or trailers etc...

I had the Juke on a visit to Germany and it was a 6-speed manual version with a Diesel-engine which was indeed very nice and quick but I don't think this version is available in the US. I am a relaxed driver and must say any car I have ever driven has given me enough acceleration for city driving, certainly did not have any feeling of being underpowered with the Juke, not even on the German Autobahn.