Looking for a new car...

[stateofbeasley]

Fusion ftw!

Malibu = Hyundai Sonata = Toyota Camry = junk (in terms of driving dynamics)

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: stateofbeasley
Fusion ftw!

Malibu = Hyundai Sonata = Toyota Camry = junk (in terms of driving dynamics)

Have you actually driven all these models to offer an informed opinion or just blowing smoke out your ass??.

 

[thecritic]

I don't care for the Malibu's driving position, but then again it's a YMMV when it comes to driving positions.

My biggest gripe about the Malibu is the transmission software that is clearly calibrated for maximum fuel economy. It shifts to a higher at the earliest possible time and stays there and refuses to downshift unless you push the accelerator down more than halfway. This is quite annoying for some drivers, such as myself.

 

[brblx]

that's most cars, nowadays. just push the gas harder.

far more annoying are the hybrids that require you to floor the gas just to kick the engine on- i'm looking at you, toyota. i'm surprised they havn't been sued over that yet, i could easily see someone being t-boned while casually rolling through an intersection with the gas mashed, waiting the multiple seconds it seems to take for the gas engine to decide to kick on.

 

[mb]

Haven't driven either but I much prefer the looks of the Fusion, and Ford seems to be in a better position now than GM.

 

[Engineer]

Not been in either but would take the Malibu or any other US built car (regardless of brand) over the Fusion. Not buying a Mexican made car. It does look really nice however. Too bad it's not made here.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: brblx

Originally posted by: Ktulu

It's not your fault that in the past American cars were sub par but i would say people like you are to blame for perpetuating the myth that American cars still suck. As far as resale value goes not all American cars have horrible resale value. Unfortunately it's going to take a while to fix the damage that decades of fleet sales and bad workmanship has caused.

personally i think people need to quit perpetuating the myth that american cars have stopped sucking.

in many respects GM has either not improved or gotten worse. even disregarding stupid engineering decisions- things like jamming the fusebox in a half inch from the serpentine built, mounting the ECM to a flimsy battery cover, whatever. shit like that makes me want to smack their engineers. but my biggest problem is that they still feel like they're contracting for the government- they're using the 'lowest bidder' policy and then some. everything that can be cheaped out on, is. seats worse than the cheapest econo cars, sheetmetal with razorblade edges, et al. and they don't even try to hide it. what's that, a faux leather-wrapped wheel? no, it's a big hunk of hard plastic that they didn't even bother to try and make seem appealing to look at or comfortable in your hands.


and i still wouldn't piss on a chrysler if it was on fire. no reason to even get into that one, there's just simply nothing appealing coming from that company.

So tired of this. Agreed on Chrysler, the only decent product they make is their trucks, but they are outdated now compared to Ford/Gm/Toyota.

As far as the rest .. Ford/GM. It's just like anything else, you really have to judge model by model, there are winners and losers, and fits for different wants/needs in all categories. You can't lump all of the Japanese together or all of the Germans together, you can't even lump an entire large brand like Honda or Toyota together. Some of their products are excellent, some are borderline terribad.

This whole US > or < * has got to stop as a flat statement, because neither is even remotely close to the truth. You have to get more granular with the assessment of a particular model or range to make a worthwhile objective judgment.

 

[lastig21]

Was the $20k pricetag your budget, or simply what you could buy the car for? What is your budget, and will this car need to have room for a family?

For the Ford/GM Discounts, I like:
Ford Taurus
Ford Fusion
Buick LaCrosse
Cadillac CTS

I haven't driven any of these cars, and they would not be my first choices if I was looking. I don't get any discounts though, so am not limited to specific makes.