Car shopping..

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » February 20, 2003, 3:00 pm

I'm gonna be in the market for a new car very soonish. I've pretty much narrowed my choices down to a Saturn Ion 3 or a Toyota Matrix.

Anyone here own one of these cars or knows someone who owns one that can give me impressions of either of these cars?

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » February 20, 2003, 3:04 pm

Fuck SUV's!

Ohh wait

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » February 20, 2003, 3:07 pm

ROFL! What the hell are you talking about?

Neither of those are SUV's...

The Ion

The Matrix

Post by **Sylvus** » February 20, 2003, 3:11 pm

I don't know that I had heard of either of those cars before this thread, but I think the Saturn looks better than the Matrix.

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » February 20, 2003, 3:14 pm

sar·casm
(click to hear the word) (särkzm)
n.
A cutting, often ironic remark intended to wound.
A form of wit that is marked by the use of sarcastic language and is intended to make its victim the butt of contempt or ridicule.
The use of sarcasm. See Synonyms at wit1.

Metanis · Post by **Metanis** » February 20, 2003, 3:18 pm

Saturn

kurzweil · Post by **kurzweil** » February 20, 2003, 3:21 pm

if you absolutely must have AC plugs in your car, the matrix has them ...

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » February 20, 2003, 3:30 pm

Seriously, buy a used honda accord and sell it in four years. Basically, I purchased a used '92 accord in 1996 for 12k and sold it for 9.5k in 1999. All that time, I had a terrific car that I didn't have to settle on.

Vezot · Post by **Vezot** » February 20, 2003, 3:37 pm

I say the Matrix, good fuel economy and looks cool. im getting one when i turn 16 =)
(P.S.: Make sure you get it in hot pink so everyone in the 'hood knows youre big pimpin)

Narmgarf · Post by **Narmgarf** » February 20, 2003, 3:43 pm

Bah...I like SUV's

Just bought an Xterra about a week ago...Fiance finally talked me into replacing my '92 explorer and the Xterra was the only thing in our price range that you could get a manual transmission in with 4wd with a decent sized engine.

In regards to your actual question...I'd go for the Matrix. I'm not a big fan of Saturn and the resale value on Toyotas is awesome.

Narmgarf

Vaemas · Post by **Vaemas** » February 20, 2003, 3:56 pm

Buy used and I'd recommend a Honda as well. Had my '93 Accord since '97 and racked up almost 100k miles on it since then (about to hit 190k). Runs great and takes very little money in the long run.

While I'd love to do the "new car thing" its cheaper to buy a decent used car that holds its value pretty well. But that's just my opinion.

Kaelina · Post by **Kaelina** » February 20, 2003, 4:19 pm

One of my coworkers drives a Matrix... he complains that it's severely underpowered. If that doesn't bother you, then you may like it. Personally I don't care for vehicles that perform as if they are powered by a hamster wheel. =p

I looked at the Ion a couple months ago, the coupe version (due out around March-ish?) looks pretty nice. The interior irked me a bit though, as some of the more important gauges are placed off to the right and angled towards the driver. It was given decent reviews overall, and is supposed to be a lot of car for the money.

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » February 20, 2003, 4:41 pm

kurzweil wrote:if you absolutely must have AC plugs in your car, the matrix has them ...

LIke I said in another thread, if you truly need electrical outlets in your car, you can always buy something called a power inverter. It converts DC to AC and has standard electrical outlets, all you have to do is connect it to your electrical system....

I drive a sunfire which is a little car so I decided not to permanently mount it, I just bought a set of jumper cables and sniped the ends off one side, then I put those snipped ends into the power inverter and used the big clips on the other end to connect to my car battery like if I was going to jump my car. Because I only use it when I'm camping etc....and I wanted to be able to loan it to friends for when they camp, anyone can Identify a battery and see red to red and black to black.

Worked fine for me...... run you about $200 for a decent one.

Kluden · Post by **Kluden** » February 20, 2003, 4:44 pm

Neither, take advantage of Mitsubishi's insane "deals". Buy a Lancer...since that seems to be the market you are in.

Corona · Post by **Corona** » February 20, 2003, 5:04 pm

I dislike both cars. The Saturn because it has poor resale value, and it feels like you pay too much for what you ultimately get. The Matrix because it looks like it has jowls. And both cars are new models this year, right? I never have liked the idea of buying a first year model; I prefer to wait and see if they'll work the bugs out, or improve the car in the following years.

But if you absolutely had to choose one of the two, I'd say the Matrix, since it has more potential for resale just by being a Toyota.

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » February 20, 2003, 5:39 pm

get a mitsubishi eclipse.

Gurugurumaki · Post by **Gurugurumaki** » February 20, 2003, 5:40 pm

With neon rights on the bottom, and the BIG tair fin, then yoos wirl be regit~

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » February 20, 2003, 5:53 pm

Sadly the Eclipse is a bit out of my price range =)

Gurugurumaki · Post by **Gurugurumaki** » February 20, 2003, 5:59 pm

Animaror-PM Aranuir, he runs a great chop shop~

Post by **Xouqoa** » February 20, 2003, 6:02 pm

I was always partial to these.

Gurugurumaki · Post by **Gurugurumaki** » February 20, 2003, 6:04 pm

Wheres the picks of the chick ins the trunk Xou

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » February 20, 2003, 6:07 pm

Don't buy the Saturn, because I hate their commercials.

Corona · Post by **Corona** » February 20, 2003, 6:16 pm

Xou, did you end up getting that sweet ass car? If you mentioned it in that thread before I missed it. How'd it end up going?

Post by **Xouqoa** » February 20, 2003, 6:22 pm

Corona wrote:Xou, did you end up getting that sweet ass car? If you mentioned it in that thread before I missed it. How'd it end up going?

Yep, that's what the pictures are of... sitting in my driveway. I signed the dotted line on Tuesday. It's sweet, I love it.

Oh yeah Rask, Eclipse might be a little more affordable than you think, too. I'd check their website. The base GT model is like $18,000 I think.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » February 21, 2003, 11:02 am

Thanks for the feedback all.

If the 2 mesage boards I asked feedback on (this one and another I frequent), the Accord was the one most recommended, but of the 2 that I posted up the Saturn was the one ppl seemed to prefer.

My fillance and I will probably be going around dealerships this weekend taking an up close look at the offerings.

Post by **Xouqoa** » February 21, 2003, 11:59 am

New Accord Coupe is really nice, I went and looked at those but didn't get a chance to drive one.

Deward · Post by **Deward** » February 21, 2003, 12:05 pm

I would definitely buy used. I bought a car a couple years old that was about 7k cheaper than buying the exact same model new. You really do lose 30% of a cars value the minute you drive it off the lot. I will never buy new. Also go to http://www.kbb.com and get teh blue book value of any car you are interested in first. I talked the dealer down under this value on both of my last purchases. Dealers also like to inflate their prices like a jewelry store. Displayed price is always negotiable.

One other thing to watch out for. Don't let them make you sign a "temporary" agreement. My wife looked at a truck and they talked her into signing a Maybe letter where if she decided she didn't want it then she didn't have to take it after thinking on it over the weekend. In some cases they can charge you up to 10% of the selling price for the vehicle if you decide to decline it. Luckily they forgot to fill in that part of the contract she signed.

Deward