Results of Weekend Shopping for a New Car For My Mother

She bought a four cylinder front wheel drive Toyota Highlander! Come
on, this is not a Excursion, it is a Camry wagon (more or less). The
EPA rates it 20 city, 27 Highway, 22 Combined.....not as good os the
Camry, but about the same as an Avalon and a lot better than any
mid-sized SUV.

Have you actually been in a Highlander?

Ed

Ed

 

Why is all this gooble de gook stuff posted in this newsgroup anyhoo ?

 

"maybe"?? Most likely.
She likely would not "feel safe" in a small car,and wanted "to sit up
high".

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

 

I hear ya - I have a 4 cyl, 5-speed stick, FWD '06 Saturn Vue and they
(NY State and Saturn) classify it as a SUV. After I bought it and had
it in for it's 1st and last dealer service they let me know my "truck"
was ready. At the counter I told the guy "my '99 F150 is a truck - and
that's a small truck as it is when talking about trucks - This is not a
truck" .....he smiled and said that he knows, but they make him call it
that and he'd get in trouble if he didn't. (BTW - Gotta say that the
VUE has 95K on it and not one prob...Still won't buy another
though...they won't be around anyway by the time I'm ready to look)

I agree with you though - I have my SUV (and I hesitate calling it that)
because they don't make wagons anymore I guess...These are the Ford
Country Squires, Plymouth Fury's and Impala/Caprice wagons of today...I
have 2 kids and soccer/karate/etc practices to play chauffeur with and
it gets 30mpg in the summer and 27 winter. Some people are getting
conditioned to automatically see someone buying an SUV or say "why do
you need that?" and scorn you without knowing that it gets better
mileage than the car they're driving...Sad state of affairs in this
country...People are sheep doing what they're told, feeling the way
they're told they're supposed to feel based on spoon fed crap instead of
using their own noggin: SUV = BAD - CAR = GOOD. Get what you
need...Need the room but not 4WD or a 6 cyl...

Sorry for the ramblings...

 

It's okay, I was sad to see the only car mentioned in the bible be
discontinued (God drove Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden in his Fury).

 

yea, the Fury was the last wagon my family owned when I was a kid and it
went before it's time...It was the first new car my family bought
(replaced a Rambler Wagon) and it got wrecked in a snowstorm accident
when a lady lost it on a highway and came down the hill sideways and got
the front end in her passenger seat. As a kid, I thought the headlight
covers opening/closing and top of the fender amber turn signal
indicators were the coolest things! lol After the Fury, the gas prices
went nuts and it was a pick-up truck when we needed to haul stuff and a
Chevette when we needed to haul butt...

 

Small cars can be hard to get in and out of as joints age.
My parents hate lifts in my civic. And I find it hard when
sitiff after sporting events.

 

One thing that makes it much easier, for front seat passengers anyway
are two door cars with larger doors. 4 door small cars can be a pain. I
remember a 2 door Rabbit I had, which was much easier to get in and out
of than a 4 door Rabbit with much smaller doors.

 

I've never shopped for a CR-V, I'm happy with the Accord basic
configurations and you can mostly get them as-is.

Mostly, I wanted to suggest that after you've looked at all the
vehicles, shop via the Internet. It's a good way to get closer to
what you want with minimal sales floor gamesmanship, and often
better prices, too.

J.

 

Imagine, people in a free country, spending their own money to buy the
vehicle they believe is the best for their them. From what we see going
on among all the Socialists and the Environuts running our government in
Washington today, that may soon change. LOL

 

Have you lost much weight since then?

 

<GROAN!> GO SIT IN THE CORNER!!!

 

I know nothing about Highlanders except that I've seen pictures of
them. Sounds like you got her what she needed.

 

That's what it's marketed as. Two or 4WD, but around here they run 5-1 in
favor of AWD.

 

On the Toyota webpage it is in the SUV section, but they don't have a
crossover section.

At the dealers we looked at they had plenty of 2WD or AWD (seemed to
be more 2WD than AWD). My Mother lives in a relatively flat area, it
snows no more than a few days a year, and she has no need to go on bad
dirt roads. Her Freestyle was AWD, but I don't think she knew or cared
and I saw no reason to pay extra for AWD for the new Highlander. If
things are bad enough that 4WD is required, she still has my Dad's '99
4WD Ranger available.

Ed

 

Having the Ranger, why does she need to have TWO vehicles?

 

Hey Mike. You still haven't answered my question about whether the
socialist government should have let GM go without a bailout. And
speaking of communists, what do you thin about the Chinese buying
Hummer? I think they are suckers just like the people who bought them
one at a time.

 

OK, maybe I understated just a tad.....

 

It's not her Ranger. It's her husband's. Apparently, she needs her own car.

Jeff

 

My brother has 7 vehicles. I have know people with many more.