Help choosing new ride..

[ballstothewall 10+ year member]

On the topic of mileage and insurance. When my brother was looking for cars he discovered the Cadillac was quite a bit cheaper than the Monte and it gets 24mph on the highway with tons of pwer and rids a lot better too.

 

[Lil_KB 10+ year member]

Let's see: your criteria is good mileage, has to look good, reliable, lots of power, lots of room? And you are male and not that old. So can you afford the insurance on anything you buy? I mean more than just liability insurance? Assuming yes, you have few choices that will fill your criteria.
Power and mileage probably are not going to happen if you want "at least a V6". Of course, if you feel that 18-24 mpg is good mileage, then yes, it could happen with the right car. Also depends on your definition of "power".

Of the three cars you listed, I would say the Monte Carlo is your best candidate. Don't buy the Charger. Chyrsler is going under, that is certain. When that happens, good luck finding OEM parts for your car. And a Charger will get very poor mileage and the styling of the interior is out of the 1970's. Their truck division might get purchased by Nissan, but outside of that, you can kiss the company good bye.

The Tahoe could possibly fit your needs if you can put up with the mileage. It would probably be the least expensive to insure. If I were you with that criteria I would look at Honda/Accura, Nissan or VW.

Not asking for lots of power, i'm not gonna be street racing down I-10, i just want a little get-up there for when i need it.

Yes, I can afford the insurance.

As for the mileage, my truck only gets 15-16, so I'll be more than satisfied with 18-24 mpg.

I'm leaning towards the Monte Carlo, but I'm not sure if I'd like the FWD. Never drove a car with it before...

Sorry for not being more specific about everything.

 

[intence 10+ year member]

charger (srt8)

 

[Krazed4Bass 10+ year member]

I recommend going lower on price, you can DO it.

If you want to put a bad *** system in it, look for a car with: an easy to change alternator, a big trunk (I think the Monte Carlo has a good size trunk), and has good resonance to it (Cadillac is the symbol for a car that is quality).

Sounds like you should get a car, definitely a V6 unless the model and year you like only offers V8.

 

[Krazed4Bass 10+ year member]

On the topic of mileage and insurance. When my brother was looking for cars he discovered the Cadillac was quite a bit cheaper than the Monte and it gets 24mph on the highway with tons of pwer and rids a lot better too.

Only 24 miles per hour on the highway huh.

I know a lot of cars that go faster than that.

J/K

I know (24 mpg)

 

[Ken448 10+ year member]

keep in mind gas prices arent going to drop, they WILL be back up as soon a spring hits.

 

[Lil_KB 10+ year member]

I recommend going lower on price, you can DO it.
If you want to put a bad *** system in it, look for a car with: an easy to change alternator, a big trunk (I think the Monte Carlo has a good size trunk), and has good resonance to it (Cadillac is the symbol for a car that is quality).

Sounds like you should get a car, definitely a V6 unless the model and year you like only offers V8.

I'm not worried about a system, if i get a car I'll just put a nice front stage in it with an in-dash screen...don't want any bass.

 

[Lil_KB 10+ year member]

keep in mind gas prices arent going to drop, they WILL be back up as soon a spring hits.

Yeah, slowly going back up over here already.

 

[99grandprixGT 5,000+ posts]

06+ monte SS

 

[Lil_KB 10+ year member]

06+ monte SS

i wish...cheapest 06 ss around here is going for 16k...bit too much.

 

[99grandprixGT 5,000+ posts]

i wish...cheapest 06 ss around here is going for 16k...bit too much.

ya. either way the LT or LTZ are not to bad with the 3.5 or 3.9 engine and they look pretty good too with some nice 19 or 20s

 

[Hintzyboy 5,000+ posts]

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=256770969&dealer_id=54862932&car_year=2002&rdm=1231880915170&model=MAX&num_records=25&systime=&make2=&highlightFirstMakeModel=&start_year=2002&keywordsfyc=&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&keywordsrep=&engine=6+Cylinder&certified=&body_code=0&fuel=&awsp=false&search_type=both&distance=0&marketZipError=false&search_lang=en&showZipError=n&make=NISSAN&keywords_display=&color=&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&min_price=&drive=&default_sort=priceASC&seller_type=b&max_mileage=100000&style_flag=1&sort_type=priceASC&address=54481&feature4=leather+seats&advanced=y&end_year=2010&doors=&transmission=&max_price=14000&cardist=754

Always loved that generation of Maxima. I almost bought one before I got my Mazda3

Might want to consider the Mazda6 too.

 

[Hintzyboy 5,000+ posts]

Or you could roll like the Yakuza

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=256788975&dealer_id=55051705&car_year=2002&rdm=1231881240436&model=LS430&num_records=25&systime=&make2=&highlightFirstMakeModel=&start_year=2000&keywordsfyc=&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&keywordsrep=&engine=&certified=&body_code=0&fuel=&awsp=false&search_type=both&distance=0&marketZipError=false&search_lang=en&showZipError=n&make=LEXUS&keywords_display=&color=&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&min_price=&drive=&default_sort=priceASC&seller_type=b&max_mileage=100000&style_flag=1&sort_type=priceASC&address=54481&feature4=leather+seats&advanced=y&end_year=2010&doors=&transmission=&max_price=14000&cardist=459

 

[Lil_KB 10+ year member]

ya. either way the LT or LTZ are not to bad with the 3.5 or 3.9 engine and they look pretty good too with some nice 19 or 20s

yup, this is the one i'm looking at.

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=ascending&sortfield=PRICE+ascending%2cPRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-_9_|D-_93_|N-N|R-75|I-1%2c7|P-PRICE+ascending%2cPRICE+descending|Q-ascending|Z-70788&aff=national&paId=293503676&recnum=7&leadExists=true

seems like a pretty good deal since it has the 3.9 and barely any mileage. that pinstriping is hideous though.

 

[99grandprixGT 5,000+ posts]

ya that looks good except for the pinstripe.