I bought a 350Z (used) in 2003 and it was a dream to drive but cost way too much to maintain. Plus I couldn’t drive it in winter so needed a beater for that. Only kept the car for a couple years. Now I drive a new Elantra after not having a car for many years in between.
Try another dealer. I had a similar experience when I first looked at BMW’s. Sales people at the local dealership wouldn’t even give me the time of day, I actually had to walk over to the “receptionist” to ask for help after looking at a bunch of cars on the lot and in the showroom. She asked if I had an appointment and when I said no she said that she had to check to see if she could find someone to help me but I really should make an appointment and come back later. I told her not to bother and went to another dealer 25 miles away. They couldn’t have been nicer and I bought a car that day.
Dealerships seem to be realy hit or miss, I think it depends on the sales manager and the attitudes of the lead sales people.
Does anybody here have a Hyundai Sonata? I’m curious because I stumbled across one this weekend that has most of the options I’d want and a decent price. I know most BSDs wouldn’t be caught dead in a Hyundai but I know there are lots of car cheapskates here too.
^A few years ago, Hyundai and Kia were junk. Get into one and risk getting laughed at.
Now, they might be the best cars on the road. Unfortuneatetly, they don’t have the BSD status that Mercedes and BMW do.
^ We had a Sonata as a rental car last month and I didn’t drive it, but it seemed quite nice as a passenger so I test drove one this weekend and liked it. I found a 2011 with the turbo engine for $16k. I seem to be slowly moving to the “car mainly as a utility” viewpoint, especially since all I do is drive myself around the city.
No experience with the Sonata, but my BIL drives a 2012 or 13 Genesis and it’s a really nice car. I think having his name first on the firm’s shingle is status enough for him.
I have a 2004 Mazda Tribute which (at the the time) was a shared platform with the Ford Escape.
Recently, I drove a Ford Escape for a week, while the wife’s Explorer was in the shop. I thought it was a really smooth ride. If I was only driving myself around, that’s what I’d get. Unfortunately, if you have kids or other passengers in the back, it gets really crowded real quick.
My next car will probably a Ford Edge.
The Ford Escape is a reliability nightmare. Owned three within 18 months… why? Because the first two completely died (engine/transmission issues) and Ford had to replace them. Like the full vehicle. What a mess.
Then my father buys one (stupid). Full electrical replacement, fire hazard recall. Then gas line recall, fire harzard again. It’s been in the shop for a full month out of the year he’s owned it.
Sorry but most of Ford’s stuff these days is garbage. They make all sorts of fancy sounding stuff, but it’s poorly made. Unless you’re driving an F-150 (and even then I’d go Tundra).
I now drive a 4Runner, and while it’s not the best on gas (it’s a full frame SUV), it’s indestructible and I have zero reliability concerns. Wife drives a Rav4 and she’s nearly at 160,000km without anything more than routine maintenance. You’d never see that with a Ford. I’ll be going Toyoto or Lexus with my next vehicle purchases.
My parents are on their second Ford Escape and have no complaints. Both were on the shared Mazda platform and they put well over 200k miles on the first one.
How old? I think the Escape issues are kind a of 2007ish and newer problem. I’ve heard people with good reliability stories before that. No positive reviews after that.
My Tribute is a 2004 and has 155k on it. I had to replace the steering column a year ago, but have had no major repairs other than that.
If I don’t stick with Ford, Toyota will probably be my next choice.
Your in Texas, go F-150.
Anecdotal cases are not so useful in predicting car reliability. Let’s say some model has terrible reliability and 10% of the cars blow up. 90% of the people will still have no issues. With respect to Ford Escape: the 2013 model year has some engine related problems and Ford has issued like eight recalls. New models tend to have some rough spots here and there, but this is definitely a bit worse than average. Pre 2013, the car was worse and tended towards significant transmission problems. geo: did you own a 2006-2012 model?
In general, though, Ford cars have improved significantly over the past 10 years. One major reason is that they are now importing designs from their European unit. Before that, Ford truly made pieces of crap in the US.
Hell no! I had to drive Daddy-In-Law’s F-150 to my folk’s house over T-day. Reminded me of all the reasons that I DON’T want a pickup truck.
I agree. I was just stating I had a real negative personal experience (x 4). At some point you’ve got to call it quits on a brand.
And whlie Ford may be increasing in reliability, the Japanese and now recently the Korean makers are definitely in the lead. If you want something reliable, Toyota is probably your best bet.
That said, I’m not a fan of Toyota’s car line up. I’m not buying a Corolla and a Camry is too old man for me at this point in my life. Which is unfortunate as I’d like to get a reasonably priced car to complement my SUV. I may be driven towards Lexus as a result, which is good for Toyota I presume, but I don’t really have the appetite to spend $50k on a car I may use 6 months of the year (winter here sucks). If only they made a nice to drive mid-line vehicle. My wife drove a Corolla when we first met and driving that thing was awful, a completely souless vehicle.
not a Sonata but I have an Elantra which has most of the same features but is smaller. Great car thus far (only 3 months old). I’d say Hyundai has caught up to Toyota in terms of reliability but still doesn’t have the recognition. To counter this, Hyundai puts a lot of features into its cars that Toyota doesn’t. Plus their warranty is really good.
My ex had a Corolla too. A very boring car and its only redeemable quality was good gas mileage. I had a newer Corolla last year as a rental for a week and it was simply a POS. There are better cars for roughly the same amount of money (like the Sonata I’m considering). I have a Jeep right now but I’m considering going down in value to get something less expensive to operate and will hurt less on depreciation (I bought mine at below blue book value, so I can get out now before the value drops). American car values fall like crazy.
We’re largely in the same boat. My operating costs are pretty high with the 4Runner and it’s overkill most days, hence why I’m considering a second vehicle. I could probably pay for the second car out of gas savings alone just commuting. Unfortunately up here I make full use of the 4Runner a few weeks of the year when I’m the only one able to get around town (or out to the ski hills), so I’d need to keep a capable vehicle. 
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