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Car Minded

The Best Cars for Your Money

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What's the better buy: Charger or Camry?
What's the better buy: Charger or Camry?

If car buying was strictly a numbers game, deciding which car to buy would be much easier. Factors like purchase price, maintenance costs, resale value, performance numbers, and fuel economy would determine our car choices.

Most of us have a little thing called emotion fueling our car purchases, though, and the smartest choice might be eclipsed by our obsession with a certain model’s curvy exterior.

For those looking for the smartest car buys financially, the good folks at U.S. News and World Report Automotive have assembled a list of cars that are best buys over the long haul. The full list, along with their methodology, is here (Toyota/Lexus dominate, with eight of the 14 winners).

The best buys aren’t always best sellers or popular, though, so I’m comparing some of U.S. News’ choices with the Owner Favorites in the same categories on CarGurus.com and with the overall best sellers in each category.

Midsize sedan

Crossover

Hatchback/subcompact

Convertible/sports car

  • U.S. News & World Report Best Buy: Mazda Miata
  • CarGurus.com Owner Favorite: Ford Mustang
  • Best seller: Pontiac G6 (I didn’t believe it either, but you can double-check yourself here.)

Minivan

Full-size pickup

This is proof that sometimes the best buy is just plain boring. Putting the tag of “best buy” on a car is a pretty objective thing, because the guy looking for performance and fun is going to think a Dodge Charger is a heck of a better buy than a Toyota Camry!

What cars do you think were left off the “best buys” list?

-tgriffith

Three Superminis You Can’t Buy Here

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SEAT Ibiza Reference 2009dsc00007I love little cars. They generally are much more fun to drive, handle like go-karts, and get great mileage. They populate the entire world… except here in the U.S.A. We do get a few, but not much in the way of real choice, and the ones that end up on our shores are boxy, ugly, under-performing, or all three.

In Mexico I saw what they call superminis everywhere. Some of them, like this SEAT Ibiza (above, right), are really sharp and bigger inside than they look. SEAT (“say-at”) is a Spanish carmaker now owned by Volkswagen AG, like so much else—Porsche may be next—in the auto world. The Ibiza Reference, shown here, comes with a variety of engines, weighing in from 70-105 hp, gas or diesel. Higher-powered, sportier models are available, and they look to be popular in southern Mexico. Tell SEAT to bring us its cars here. They probably won’t, but you can complain about how little choice we have.

2007 Ford KaAnother sharp small car is the Ford Ka, built in Poland, Brazil, Argentina, and maybe someday in the U.S. An older version (probably 2007) is shown here, which is better looking than the new Ka that may come to these shores, according to Alan Mulally. (No, he didn’t say the older one was better looking.) Then it will have the Fiesta to compete with, so don’t hold your breath. If Ford did commit to a full lineup of small cars in the U.S., it could give Fiat/Chrysler and the Asians a real run for their money in 2011. The company’s global reach is surprising. More photos of the new Ka are here.

2009 VW CrossFoxI asked the owner of this VW CrossFox (right) if I could take pix of his car. “Seguramente” [certainly], he said, and I realized I could get by in Spanish with phrases like this and “Si, como no?” for almost everything. One of VW’s line of “city cars,” the Fox series launched a few years ago in Brazil and has spread through Latin America in many iterations. The CrossFox is not much of an off-roader, but is great for Mexican pavement (and the lack thereof), taking the country’s many speed bumps with aplomb. Ask VW why we can’t have this car.

What other foreign-made minis and superminis do you think should be made available to U.S. buyers?

—jgoods

No More Cars Allowed at the “Crossroads of the World”

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Times Square before the traffic ban
Times Square before the traffic ban

New York City has banned traffic on Broadway in the famous Times Square area.

Broadway though Times Square has always been a notoriously traffic-clogged avenue, making life as a pedestrian in the area downright dangerous. Now, rather than a source of drivers’ rage, Times Square is a pedestrian’s playground.

New York’s Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan says,

It’s good for traffic, it’s good for business and we think it’ll be a great deal of fun.

I agree. In fact, in the name of great fun, I think we should consider banning traffic in other areas, such as:

The Las Vegas Strip

It already takes just as long to drive as it takes to walk, so why not divert traffic and allow tourists full reign to bring the party to the street?

Waikiki Beach

Oh sure, tourists in rented Mustang convertibles might not like being banned from cruising Kalakaua Avenue, but making it safer for drunk tourists to stumble from hotel bars across the street to the beach is good for everyone!

Beverly Hills and Hollywood

I just want to see the reaction of SoCal socialites no longer allowed to drive their Range Rovers to Rodeo Drive. Making them take the bus would be great entertainment. I wonder if they’d still bring their Chihuahuas?

Where else should traffic be banned in order to become more pedestrian friendly?

-tgriffith

How to Fix the Car-Buying Experience


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woman-car-keys
Like many of you, I’m a completely car-obsessed nut job.

I love almost everything about cars: I love driving them. I love reading about them. I love writing about them. I love criticizing them and praising them. Heck, I even love smelling them (2004 models and newer only, please).

Buying cars is perhaps the only thing that I don’t like, even though I’ve done it now 13 times in 12 years.

Last weekend I again began the process of car shopping to replace my wife’s 2002 Honda CR-V. Last night we finished the process and happily brought home a 2004 Lexus RX 330 with only 28,000 miles on the odometer. The days in between were a mix of delight, excitement, frustration, and torture. But I have a way to fix the process.

First, though, this Lexus is the first car my wife picked out herself, test drove herself, and took delivery of herself. Being the car nut that I am, I ALWAYS decided what cars we had and when we bought them. This time I was the casual observer – the friend who came along for advice, support, and negotiation know-how.

My wife is quite delighted that I hadn’t even driven an RX 330 before she did, which is a miracle, considering how many cars I’ve tested.

Lexus was the first brand we looked at and the last, with Mazda, Nissan, car-in-cartChevy, Volkswagen, Ford, and Cadillac in between. Negotiations started and stalled, we walked onto dealership lots and off them. It was during one of those walk-offs that a stroke of brilliance hit so hard I was nearly ready to go start my own dealership and change the way America buys cars. And it’s so simple it’s almost silly!

I want dealerships to negotiate whatever price they want for the trade-in vehicles they acquire. But, when a shopper comes in to look at that vehicle, the dealer has to show them what they paid for it and include a set mark-up that’s not negotiable, say 15 percent. The shopper then knows exactly what the car costs, the salesman knows exactly what his commission will be, and the dealership knows exactly how much profit it will make. It’d be like buying from Saturn, only better.  

Would you rather buy a car at a no-negotiation price, or do you like the back-and-forth experience?

-tgriffith

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“Fast and Furious”: A sneak peek behind the scenes!

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“The Fast and the Furious” recently made my list of Best Movies Ever About Cars.

The next movie in the series is “Fast and Furious” (essentially the same movie, but with the word “the” removed). Will it be good enough to make the next list of best movie cars? That’s still to be determined.

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Fast and Furious

What I do know is that the special effects behind the movie are just as stunning as the action in the movie is sure to be.

As your special inside connection to the movie world of Los Angeles, I want to share a couple of pictures from the production of “Fast and Furious.”

What do you think – will the new movie be good enough to make my next list about great movie cars?  

-tgriffith