Looking for a mid-size domestic car recommendation

Argh. Yesterday's leftover crapola at today's prices.

....with all the power of a V6.

Besides, the OP asked for recommendations on a *mid-size* car, which the
Clown Victoria/Grand Marquis de Sade is not.

 

The GM is hardly leftover anything. Except for body on frame
construction, which many believe to be a plus, it
is totally new from the ground up over the past few years. It is
true he asked about mid sized cars, but he currently has a larger
than current midsize cars. The fact is most mid sized V6 cars
cost MORE to buy. Ones purchase decision should certainly
consider value for the dollar as part of that decision.


mike hunt

 

True not now, before the "merger" just a few of the Chrysler executive board
and a few others held majority shares and controlling interest. Post
merger they all sold off their stock and retired and the stock was bought
up mostly overseas. After making the mistake of buying one Chrysler and
having to replace most of the Mitsubishi parts in it I won't make the same
mistake again weather its owned my Americans or anyone else

 

Hardly. Although the Crown Vic/Grand Marquis have had a number of tweaks
over the years, it is probably the oldest automobile design still in
production in North America.

If you like the vehicle, fine, but calling it "totally new from the ground
up" would be worthy of a politician or PR flak.

John

 

The CV/GM are definitely large cars. It sounds like you've
never driven one. They are hard to beat for the money. My
mother has a Grand Marquis and it gets great mileage (pushes
30 on the highway), has plenty of room for 6, a huge trunk,
and her current GM has had zero problems in four years. This
is her second Grand Marquis. The previous was a '92 model,
and it never had a failure in almost 9 years of driving. It
is certainly not the vehicle for the person enamoured with
buzz words, or the street racer, but for the target audience
(frugal old farts who are looking for a good car at a good
price), they are hard to beat. I personally wouldn't be
caught dead owning one, but that is becasue of the image,
not the overal quality or performance of the vehicle.

Mid-sized cars to me are not Malibus - Malibus are compacts
(at least in my mind). For a mid-size domestic car, one of
the current GM products mid-size cars (Impala, Century,
etc.) is a good choice, although they also suffer from the
old guy car syndrome almost to the same extent as the CV/GM.
If you can put up with the weird styling and less than
mediocre reliability, the newer DC entries have the best wow
factor. Although I like the looks, I just can't bring myself
to buy another Chrysler product, even if they are now
Diamler-Chrysler products (seems to me things are actually
getting worse in the reliability area since Diamler took
over).

Eventually the Ford 500 might be a good choice, but it is
bland looking to me - at least in the pictures. I'd like to
see one in person and drive it.

The Accord and Camry are also bland, but worth a look. These
days they are close to being domestically produced vehicles.
I am not a fan of Toyota (almost as bad as Chryslers in my
book), but many laud Camry's as super reliable. My family
has had great luck with Hondas, but they are more expensive
for what you get.

Best advice is to try a number of different cars that appeal
to you and then research your first choice. I suggest you
don't get hung up on domestic vs import. The lines are
definitely getting blurred. If you are a union guy, it might
be worth focusing on the union vs non-unon shop. In which
case there are both domestic and "import" brands that will
fill the bill.

Ed

 

I'm a fan of the car too, but Dan is likely to come back and say
that the GM/CV twins:

* are seriously, possibly dangerously, underbraked
* are not size- or space-efficient
* are pretty darned slow for the gas they use
* do not ride or handle like a modern car of the same size

and he will be mostly right. A 300 V6 is probably superior in
all respects and can be had for similar money.

The EPA rates cars by interior space. The current Malibu has all
the space and then some, of, say, a 1979 Malibu and it isn't that
much smaller. The previous-gen Malibu was a little small but again
interior-wise it was up to the mark of the Seventies/Eighties RWD
cars of the same name.

Until the oil sludge blows your motor apart at 65K mi, of course.

 

Although they may look similar the 92 or even the 2000 models
have little in common with the 2004. The GM and the CV have been
upgraded several times over the years. There have been
improvements to just about everything,
the engine, tranny suspension as well as a new stiffer frame. Any
one who believes they do not perform or handle well would be well
advised not to try to outrun a cop chasing you in one of them
today. As to durability,
from what we see in our business, there is nothing
within 20K that can touch them.


mike hunt

 

Apparently you do not know much about the CV and GM
if that is what you believe. By design I guess you
mean RWD. RWD IS the design of the future except in
small cars. Look at Cadillacs and Chryslers newest
cars.



mike hunt

 

Hi Mike... I see you found the Chrysler group.

The old technology give away on the CV is the wheelbase. Everytime I see
one on the road (not often) I wonder where the people in the backseat put
their legs.

 

I suspect you can get a great deal on one. Don't seem to be selling at all
in my area. I test drove one and thought it was pretty decent though it
would be hard for me to consider giving GM any of my money again. The Maxx
version is interesting but they forgot to perfect the rear shade latch
before going into production. Doesn't even work in the showroom.

 

My 2 cents says; "Century, Regal, LeSabre, Park Avenue".

Or another way to look at it is this way: Go to a retirement
community and look at what the old men there drive. They've spent
their lives trying out every different combination and tend to pick
better bets than their Kia buying grand-kids.

Oh yeah. Did I mention that mid-sized GM's are really cheap on
insurance & gas as well? Just something to keep in mind when you are
doing your cost calculations. If you've any doubts look at what
Warren Buffet drove for years.

 

| On Sun, 15 Aug 2004, James C. Reeves wrote:
|
| > You can knock Chrysler off your list...Daimler owns them now (German),
| > so it is no longer considered "domestic" by most.
|
| Perhaps not by you, but you are not "most".
|
| Cars built in North America of primarily North American parts are
| considered "domestic" for legal purposes, regardless of whether the
| nameplate says "Dodge" or "Nissan" or whatever.
|

The car may be "domestic", from a legal definition, however the company that
produced it is not. A larger percentage of the profits, as a general rule,
leave the US on its way to the high wage salaries, R&D, design teams, etc. of
the host country where the HQ is location as a result.

 

| Although they may look similar the 92 or even the 2000 models
| have little in common with the 2004. The GM and the CV have been
| upgraded several times over the years. There have been
| improvements to just about everything,
| the engine, tranny suspension as well as a new stiffer frame. Any
| one who believes they do not perform or handle well would be well
| advised not to try to outrun a cop chasing you in one of them
| today. As to durability,
| from what we see in our business, there is nothing
| within 20K that can touch them.
|
|
| mike hunt
|

I agree...a couple people at work (one with a GM and one a CV) and both have
200K+ on the clock with hardly a problem. They're damn reliable vehicles, it
seems. Could be one reason law enforcement use them so much.

 

I don't see many of the new Malibu's here either...and I live a mile from a
Chevy dealer...one would think you'd at least see the ones out for a test
drive.

| I suspect you can get a great deal on one. Don't seem to be selling at all
| in my area. I test drove one and thought it was pretty decent though it
| would be hard for me to consider giving GM any of my money again. The Maxx
| version is interesting but they forgot to perfect the rear shade latch
| before going into production. Doesn't even work in the showroom.
|
|
|
|
| | >
| > | > > Hi, I am looking to buy a new mid-size domestic car
| > > (Ford/GM/Chrysler). Any recommendations. I have an old Dynasty and
| > > really like it. Am looking for something about the same size.
| >
| >
| > The new Chevy Malibu is getting very strong reviews in the press, and the
| > friend of ours who bought one is happy with it.
| >
| > John
| >
| >
|
|

 

| On 15 Aug 2004 18:20:36 -0400, steve <>
| wrote:
|
| >Hi, I am looking to buy a new mid-size domestic car
| >(Ford/GM/Chrysler). Any recommendations. I have an old Dynasty and
| >really like it. Am looking for something about the same size.
|
| My 2 cents says; "Century, Regal, LeSabre, Park Avenue".
|
| Or another way to look at it is this way: Go to a retirement
| community and look at what the old men there drive. They've spent
| their lives trying out every different combination and tend to pick
| better bets than their Kia buying grand-kids.
|
| Oh yeah. Did I mention that mid-sized GM's are really cheap on
| insurance & gas as well? Just something to keep in mind when you are
| doing your cost calculations. If you've any doubts look at what
| Warren Buffet drove for years.

Buick received some high marks on reliability recently as well. A little bland
on styling. And definitely gimmicked control systems, right down to the silly
vehicle speed-controlled radio volume control system.

 

..........and they still produce nothing that will bring me back to their
dealerships as a serious buyer.

 

:

I misinterpretted this post in my last reply and read "GM" to mean General
motors and not Grand Marquis. After re-reading it I ask you - what have you
been smokin'? "....totally new from the ground up over the past few years."? I
don't think so!!!

 

So tell us, Mike, in a Chrysler newsgroup why are you so hellbent on convincing
us of the supposed merits of the CV/GM relics when we all ready don't give a
tinker's damn???

 

in message

Jeeezzz, James.......You seem to think every modern convenience is silly or
a gimmick. Do you have a running stream with large rocks in it near your
house? I'm sure it comes in handy on laundry day.

H

 

They also forgot to finish putting the sheet metal on the back end

To me, it looks like they ran out of material, and chopped the ass-end
off.