So let's talk about cars.

[sombrio]

I've been happy with my older cars for a long time, but my wife is itching for a new car. She's sick of the old Acura, and while I love that car, I can't blame her. She wants something late-model (probably no older than about 2008) and, for lack of a better word, just "nice." She's not a big car girl, it doesn't have to be sporty or fun to drive, but it has to be a generally nice car that most people would be happy to drive. Something more like a new Toyota Camry than the Spitfire.

We can get decent financing through our credit union. I think they had about a 3.25% APR. I don't know much about financing but it seemed.... OK. We would probably try to finance about $8-12k, pay around 3-5k cash, and hopefully get either a new(ish) economy subcompact or a late-model used car. Last night we checked out (just looking online) a 2016 Hyundai Sonata (?) -- economy subcompact that actually looked pretty nice -- and a Chevy Sonic which I wasn't particularly enthused about.

Probably would be a compact-ish car or a smallish SUV. I do not think a pickup or a sports car would suit our needs, though I would be happy for any suggestions on a wider view of things.

The other option would be to try to get something like our Hondas but used--maybe something like a 2007-2010, or perhaps even later model, Accord, or Camry.

What do you guys think? If you could spend, say, $15,000 on a new-ish car to be a reliable, comfortable commuter car, what would you recommend?

[the_edge]

Do you guys care about buying a new-ish car that just so happens to be a previous generation model?

[sombrio]

[the_edge]

[tut]

Short answer: a nice car for people who don't care about cars -> Hyundai. They're usually really nice cars, nothing special, not particularly fun to drive, but economical and nice.

[sombrio]

[the_edge]

[Turbojett]

American cars are doing much better on reliability nowadays. It's just that hardly anybody's taking notice.

[thewalrus]

[Arthur Dent]

You could buy a fleet of Triumph Spitfires - at least one would functional enough for her to drive

[Honor]

Sombrio and ROD playing nice. We really are in the future now

[the_edge]

[sombrio]

LOL!

Don't send me any more viruses and we're cool.

I was just thinking, I remember ranting at Les over... something... back in the day. I don't remember what it was about, though. I think I basically quoted Eminem--"you're broke as fuck, you suck, you're a fucking joke"--and Wally said he thought the language was harsh but he didn't disagree with the overall sentiment. That's about as much as I can recall. But there must have been something to it. I was wondering if it was actually over politics and if it was that I was conservative and he was liberal. It'd be a hoot if we basically switched positions (though I still think Trumpism has none of the integrity or intellectual honesty of actual conservatism).

Anyway, we settled on a 2014 Hyundai Veloster. It's a fun little car! I'll post pictures when I'm able. It's a sporty hatchback. 1.6L direct injection engine with 138 hp and a 6-speed manual. We didn't get the turbo version but it's got plenty of zip and also gets 35 mpg on the highway! Between the Triumph and the Hyundai, we now span five decades of car design.

Shout out to my wonderful wife Chrystal who I am so proud of for wanting two things, a backup camera and a manual transmission.

[thewalrus]

[tut]

the missus had a quick look at a veloster the other day, and the only thing that put her off was the fuel economy.... but they're great looking cars!

[the_edge]

Velosters are cool, good going Sombrio

[ryguy79]

I remember when I cared about cars. Now they are just an expense that eats into my bike budget.

[tut]

[thewalrus]