Hola. Please help me buy a car.

[synergy]

Originally Posted by brett701

I thought painting a vehicle was like $5000?
Also, why do you say drive it for 2 years? Is there some sort of maintenance expected then? I know nothing of maintenance except for changing oil.

Im sorry but trying to be "economic" and talking about buying a car and painting it dont mix.

And you could substitute any car name for altima and any car name for yaris in explaining how much money he will save. Point is its not the Nissan altimas fault hes in the situation hes in its the lease terms. And a toyota yaris or ANY other car thats not under those lease terms would fix it.

Its all a sliding scale Brett. A yaris is going to be more economical than that vibe and the vibe will be more economical than the saab. But at the end of the day do you want to get out of work and see a yaris or the saab for your drive home?

And I dont even know if the yaris would be much better than the 1.8L vibe with a 6spd manual. That car used to be at 2200rpm in 6th at 65. If the yaris is a 4 speed auto thats tough for a highway commute. Plus I can tell you when you hit 6200 rpm and it switches to the high lift camlobes and you rev it to 8300 it makes you feel good :P

[synergy]

Originally Posted by brett701

I am testing out the insight tomorrow at 11 am. I called the owner of it. "Slav" he is out of town, but his male friend "vova" has been borrowing the car.

I don't know what to look for when purchasing a used car. I'd like for it to be inspected by someone before deciding to purchase a used car that has been rebuilt.

I would go check it out in person drive it. Pop the hood look around the driver side front to see if you see anything misplaced. If you like it negotiate with him and let him know that if you do come to terms before purchase you want to have an inspection done. I would bring it to a honda dealer or maybe a place that specializes in hybrids.

Autotech Hybrid Auto Center | Hybrid Repair Lake Saint Louis MO | Hybrid Maintenance O'Fallon MO | Hybrid Service 63367 | Toyota Prius Repair 63366 | Ford Fusion Repair Lake Saint Louis MO

How far are they looks like they specialize in hybrids. Explain that your interested in purchasing a hybrid but wanted to bring it to specialist before buying. They should be able to look at it for a reasonable fee and make sure the battery isn't completely shot.

[brett701]

Originally Posted by synergy

Im sorry but trying to be "economic" and talking about buying a car and painting it dont mix.

And you could substitute any car name for altima and any car name for yaris in explaining how much money he will save. Point is its not the Nissan altimas fault hes in the situation hes in its the lease terms. And a toyota yaris or ANY other car thats not under those lease terms would fix it.

Its all a sliding scale Brett. A yaris is going to be more economical than that vibe and the vibe will be more economical than the saab. But at the end of the day do you want to get out of work and see a yaris or the saab for your drive home?

And I dont even know if the yaris would be much better than the 1.8L vibe with a 6spd manual. That car used to be at 2200rpm in 6th at 65. If the yaris is a 4 speed auto thats tough for a highway commute. Plus I can tell you when you hit 6200 rpm and it switches to the high lift camlobes and you rev it to 8300 it makes you feel good :P

I think I want the insight the most out of all of the cars.

I don't think the vibe will be good gas mileage.

2004 Pontiac Vibe Mileage

ctrl+f for GT

[brett701]

Originally Posted by synergy

I would go check it out in person drive it. Pop the hood look around the driver side front to see if you see anything misplaced. If you like it negotiate with him and let him know that if you do come to terms before purchase you want to have an inspection done. I would bring it to a honda dealer or maybe a place that specializes in hybrids.

Autotech Hybrid Auto Center | Hybrid Repair Lake Saint Louis MO | Hybrid Maintenance O'Fallon MO | Hybrid Service 63367 | Toyota Prius Repair 63366 | Ford Fusion Repair Lake Saint Louis MO

How far are they looks like they specialize in hybrids. Explain that your interested in purchasing a hybrid but wanted to bring it to specialist before buying. They should be able to look at it for a reasonable fee and make sure the battery isn't completely shot.

I am concerned that the misalignment is going to affect the longevity of the car as well as the miles per gallon.

Ensure your wheels are aligned correctly

Make sure the wheels on your car are aligned by a specialist who knows how to use his equipment. Insist on a written report of the appropriate toe in/out and camber for front and rear wheels and compare with the manufacturer's recommendations. This improves fuel consumption with reduce rolling resistance, improves handling and braking, and will extend the life of the tyres considerably saving further dollars. Inspect tyres regularly to see if tyres are wearing unevenly which would indicate the car requires another alignment. Bad impacts with kerbs or pot holes can affect alignment.

[synergy]

How do you figure that the vibe will get bad mileage?

Your looking at fuelly at a bunch of automatics and people not driving correctly.

It has a 1.8L from the corolla its going to get better than 30 unless your going 120 constantly.

[brett701]

Originally Posted by synergy

How do you figure that the vibe will get bad mileage?

Your looking at fuelly at a bunch of automatics and people not driving correctly.

It has a 1.8L from the corolla its going to get better than 30 unless your going 120 constantly.

One user has a GT.


Vibe GT (Pontiac Vibe) | Fuelly

[synergy]

Originally Posted by brett701

One user has a GT.


Vibe GT (Pontiac Vibe) | Fuelly

Look at his recent mileage....

47 24/10/2014 234.60 10.83 21.66 3.459
46 19/10/2014 256.80 11.64 22.06 3.559
45 11/10/2014 258.60 11.80 21.91 3.869
44 05/10/2014 247.20 11.87 20.82 3.739
43 02/10/2014 214.10 10.82 19.78 3.759
42 26/09/2014 243.30 10.46 23.25 3.759
41 18/09/2014 217.50 11.39 19.10 3.799
40 13/09/2014 219.80 10.78 20.39 3.839
39 08/09/2014 227.10 11.74 19.35 3.829

You seriously think nothing is abnormal about this? Hes been averaging about 21mpg lately.

26 01/06/2014 254.70 9.72 26.21 4.159
25 22/05/2014 296.20 11.94 24.80 4.159
24 09/05/2014 274.40 11.40 24.08 4.259
23 26/04/2014 303.50 11.20 27.10 4.399
22 17/04/2014 236.60 9.58 24.70 4.399
21 02/04/2014 277.00 11.18 24.79 4.159
20 23/03/2014 292.30 11.57 25.27 4.159
19 11/03/2014 281.50 10.26 27.42 4.089
18 02/03/2014 298.10 11.81 25.23 4.059

Thats what he used to get... 25-27 and I still think thats messed up. Somethings wrong with that guys car. Theres no way a 1.8L in a 3000lbs hatchback would get 19 mpg under anything besides stop and go jackrabbit conditions.

[brett701]

Originally Posted by synergy

Look at his recent mileage....

47 24/10/2014 234.60 10.83 21.66 3.459
46 19/10/2014 256.80 11.64 22.06 3.559
45 11/10/2014 258.60 11.80 21.91 3.869
44 05/10/2014 247.20 11.87 20.82 3.739
43 02/10/2014 214.10 10.82 19.78 3.759
42 26/09/2014 243.30 10.46 23.25 3.759
41 18/09/2014 217.50 11.39 19.10 3.799
40 13/09/2014 219.80 10.78 20.39 3.839
39 08/09/2014 227.10 11.74 19.35 3.829

You seriously think nothing is abnormal about this? Hes been averaging about 21mpg lately.

26 01/06/2014 254.70 9.72 26.21 4.159
25 22/05/2014 296.20 11.94 24.80 4.159
24 09/05/2014 274.40 11.40 24.08 4.259
23 26/04/2014 303.50 11.20 27.10 4.399
22 17/04/2014 236.60 9.58 24.70 4.399
21 02/04/2014 277.00 11.18 24.79 4.159
20 23/03/2014 292.30 11.57 25.27 4.159
19 11/03/2014 281.50 10.26 27.42 4.089
18 02/03/2014 298.10 11.81 25.23 4.059

Thats what he used to get... 25-27 and I still think thats messed up. Somethings wrong with that guys car. Theres no way a 1.8L in a 3000lbs hatchback would get 19 mpg under anything besides stop and go jackrabbit conditions.

Going back to my main focus is saving money.

Low up front cost, low maintenance, high mpg.

Those are the 3 things to balance.

If this car can get over 30mpg it is a great purchase. WHich it seems it can if this is the GT version. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.d...rue&details=on


What type of maintenance will be needed for this car & what do you project costs to be?

[synergy]

Originally Posted by brett701

Going back to my main focus is saving money.

Low up front cost, low maintenance, high mpg.

Those are the 3 things to balance.

If this car can get over 30mpg it is a great purchase.

What type of maintenance will be needed for this car & what do you project costs to be?

Well as with the saab being a car company that is gone but mostly made by someone else the Pontiac is made by toyota. They made it in california where tesla currently builds their cars with the toyota matrix and corolla. The engine is part of the zz family which is used by many cars.
Toyota ZZ engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Almost all drivetrain parts are toyota and can be purchased at a toyota dealer. As far as reliability goes my mom has had hers since 120k and it now is at 240k the only issues is rust on the rear hatch (from New england snow sitting on top and slowly melting) and I changed spark plugs at 150k along with air filter tranny fluid and belts. Thats about it.

The first Japanese versions were rev limited to 8600 rpm with a peak of 190 hp. Consequently, it is impossible to "over-rev" the engine with the throttle alone; a downshift from a higher gear must be involved. A typical "over-rev" can damage the oil pump, commonly disintegrating the lobe ring, resulting in damage similar to the picture at right. The oil pump is the Achilles heel of the 2ZZ, though incidents are rare and usually occur due to fault of the driver. Even the briefest period of oil starvation is usually fatal to this engine design.

Id say with the way you drive it you will have no issues. I beat the piss out of it and it never gave me any issues. I think they are built really well. Just change the oil.

[synergy]

But I still think the Insight would be a better bet as long as its in good shape and you can negotiate....

It is recent in build 2010 so it shouldnt need much in way of maint. Its also going to give you 40mpg and should hold its value from here on out pretty well.
Especially sinces its a 2nd year model. Thats also nice because hopefully they got the kinks out of it in the 1st years.