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As our members know, we don't like spam or advertisers posting in group. Stasey posted a thread with that post and I deleted it. I then approached her and allowed her to post the message in this thread. In case we have writers or aspiring writers who may be interested.Terri
All right, I'm bored so I'll post a car question. :)If you were looking for a new car would you care about it's look or the gas mileage or it's engine power?
My brain is obsessed with cars right now as I'm thinking of getting a new one and I'm curious what people look for in a new vehicle.
I look for gas mileage and how I feel with the car. Ultimately though, the question should be, why are you getting the car. That should help you answer the question you posed to us. If it's for practical reasons then you're likely to be more focused on the practicalities of the car. If you're wanting to look stunning, then the look of the car. If you're going for pink-slips then I'd say engine is most important.Unless, you're hauling a lot of stuff, or intend to, then engine will be important too. There are cars out there that I just can't understand how people can drive them since they seem to have blind spots galore.
You might like that though. I don't think I can stress this enough - when you buy your car, drive it, see how it feels. Pretend it's raining or snowing: are the buttons in the right place for you. Can you adjust the seat to your liking. How many bodies fit in the boot. That sort of thing ;)
Considering my current car is a Geo Metro, I'm sure anything else will feel luxurious and speedy in comparison. :)Now reliability I've been looking at and Toyota has a good record but there cars are all 'not cool' so to speak. Still going to test drive a Prius though. The gas mileage is just too good not to at least try it.
Darcy wrote: "Pretend it's raining or snowing: are the buttons in the right place for you. Can you adjust the seat to your liking. How many bodies fit in the boot. That sort of thing ;) "Pretend it's raining??? I live on the West Coast here....there is no pretend, only rain!!
Bodies in the trunk, now I hadn't thought of that one, I'll bring my sister and see if she fits. ;)
The mileage is definitely good but I've read that the acceleration is pretty bad. The other thing that bugs me is that it doesn't come with a manual transmission but I figure I should at least try it.
Funny you ask. I am buying a car for my 20 year old TODAY. 2001 Honda Accord and Hondas have a history of running forever. Check Consumer's magazine for the best for repair and longevity. Also buying from an acquaintance which makes me feel a bit better about. I've watched them drive.
Bobby wrote: "Funny you ask. I am buying a car for my 20 year old TODAY. 2001 Honda Accord and Hondas have a history of running forever. Check Consumer's magazine for the best for repair and longevity. Also buyi..."And the bonus is that many models have the manual shift option.
Won't be the case here...Natalie has only a right leg!! Prosthetic on the left. She'll be busy enough just driving. LOL
I see those older Honda Accords everywhere. 2001 is not to bad for a used car either. I had a 1998 Pontiac Firefly when I was 20. 3 cylinders and no guts but great gas mileage.
Dawn wrote: "All right, I'm bored so I'll post a car question. :)If you were looking for a new car would you care about it's look or the gas mileage or it's engine power?
My brain is obsessed with cars right..."
Looks first for me. I want the car to look good, but I want it to have a good reliable and trustworthy name too. So I select on that first. Good brand and good looks and then I eliminate on fuel consumption comparisons, resale value and other benefits eg Blue tooth, air con (a must in my climate), auto or manual..things like that.
Danielle wrote: "I look for gas mileage and repair record of the model. Don't want things going wrong right away or when the warranty goes out."This is important to. It goes into my decision making.
Vehicle history.
Bobby wrote: "Funny you ask. I am buying a car for my 20 year old TODAY. 2001 Honda Accord and Hondas have a history of running forever. Check Consumer's magazine for the best for repair and longevity. Also buyi..."The Honda over here has a repuation for being expensive to repair (parts are expensive) and expensive servicing costs. That no doubt differs from country to country.
My hubby was just given a Ford Mondeo as his company car. It is a diesel Mondeo. A 2012 model I think. I was surprised at how nice a car it is. I don't like Fords so never look at them, but this Mondeo looks like a new model Honda Accord Euro or other Euro design. very nice.The blue tooth is awesome. being able to just click a button on the steering wheel to answer and hang up on calls is an amzing invention.
I assume all new cars have that nowadays.
*doesn't even have a mobile* I hope that by the time I can afford a car again, Bluetooth will be an option. I hate paying for things I don't need. That and aircon. I prefer 2/60 air (4/60 is better but I usually go for the smaller cars).
Looks first for Terri huh? I've always gone on mileage and cost in the past but I want a nice new car and I want something better looking. Bluetooth and air con are totally on my wish list.
Dawn wrote: "Looks first for Terri huh? I've always gone on mileage and cost in the past but I want a nice new car and I want something better looking. Bluetooth and air con are totally on my wish list."
Yep. I buy my cars like I choose my men. :D
(of course, not single, so I mean that in the past tense..:)..)
Honestly, if I was rich and mileage didn't matter I'd have a Dodge Viper but a Mini or a Fiat might be nice. As for the men thing.....still haven't found a model that I like. ;)
*snort* :) You need to start dating based on a comparison spreadsheet.
No doubt. We had friends in Texas when I was a kid and it was A/C'ed car and house and every building you went to. Just too hot there not to have it. We only get about 8 weeks of hot weather here but I'm still adding A/C to my wishlist.
Gas mileage is for sissies, it's looks all the way. Did Mad Max drive a Mini? Hell no, XB Falcon V8 with a blower baybee. Did Blade drive a minivan? Nah, Dodge Charger with NOS and a ram air hood.
I think you can see where I am going with this.
Personally I am fortunate that gas mileage is all but irrelevant, but 4-wheel drive (yes, and AC) essential.
G
Terri wrote: "*snort* :) You need to start dating based on a comparison spreadsheet."Pretty sure I just need to move somewhere with more eligible guys. As in not living in Mom's basement and working at Pizza Hut. :)
G H wrote: "Gas mileage is for sissies, it's looks all the way. Did Mad Max drive a Mini? Hell no, XB Falcon V8 with a blower baybee. Did Blade drive a minivan? Nah, Dodge Charger with NOS and a ram air hood...."
Ooooh, another who's all about the looks. :)
Dawn wrote: Ooooh, another who's all about the looks. :)Looks, yes, but more focused on style than pretty. Pretty is overrated, style takes... sensibility.
And power. Power is important. Whether it's the power to go fast, or the power to climb a frozen hill in the snow.
We all appreciate power.
G
G H wrote: "Gas mileage is for sissies, it's looks all the way. Did Mad Max drive a Mini? Hell no, XB Falcon V8 with a blower baybee. Did Blade drive a minivan? Nah, Dodge Charger with NOS and a ram air hood...."
Oh yeah, while I am not a Ford fan (I am a Holden fan) there are many cool arse Falcons of the past that always take my breath, most especially that beaut. The Mad max monster. The last of the V8 Ford Interceptors. :)
I personally would go for the Lamborghini Aventador......love that car. Though I know I would kill myself driving way too fast, it would be so much fun!!
Well..if I had the money....it would be an Aston Marton V12 Vantage.
Nice, Jeremy Clarkson likes that one too. :)
Double jeopardy for me. I have a Ford without a working A/C right now, and the heat index is 110 degrees here. For once, I'm glad to live in a small town.
That is too insanely hot not to have A/C. I personally would melt into a puddle in that kind of heat. When it hits 90 I refuse to move anywhere without A/C. Thank goodness, that's about as hot as it ever gets around here.
It was like 112 or something obscene in my town the other day. It turns the city into this gross sweltering angry mass of greasy people.
No doubt. I can't go anywhere without coming home & taking a cold shower. Thankfully, I think I'll be able to get it fixed when I get paid Friday. That crap always happens in the middle of summer. Better than no car at all, though.:)
That's true. I don't know everyone else's experience with public transit in regions that get hot in summer, but it usually takes 30 seconds of a busful of people in the summer in Arizona to turn into a kind of Lord of the Flies set in a malevolent sauna.
Nate wrote: "That's true. I don't know everyone else's experience with public transit in regions that get hot in summer, but it usually takes 30 seconds of a busful of people in the summer in Arizona to turn in..."Oh, you've been here before then. You can't really fry an egg on the pavement BUT you can fry one on the hood of a truck!
Man..I can't even imagine. I've seen how hot it's been in AZ lately.
Bobby wrote: "Nate wrote: "That's true. I don't know everyone else's experience with public transit in regions that get hot in summer, but it usually takes 30 seconds of a busful of people in the summer in Arizo..."Yes sir, I was born in Phoenix and moved to Tucson when I started high school. The heat isn't anything new to me but it doesn't stop me from complaining to you guys :)
I complain at heat too. I hate the heat and live in a hot State over here. Not desert heat, but tropical, humid heat.Thankfully it is middle of winter here and the days are lovely. I put a jumper on today for about an hour. Got hot and had to take it off again. :)
Terri wrote: "Oh yeah, while I am not a Ford fan (I am a Holden fan)"Of course you are :)
The Holden is the archetypal Aussie muscle car.
Reminds me of AMC here in the US, although still in business of course. Sadly reduced to euro bubbles and family sedans now.
Those V8's just take too much guzzleine I guess.
G
It's the humidity that gets to me -- 70% at least here now. The heat I can deal with. After my 2 bad falls several years back, [in the winter], with hospital stays, I'm dubious of winter ice now.
Jane, I have been waiting on a comment about the humudity. "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." Does your residual pain get worse when the humidity is high or it is rainy? We have humidity problems in all seasons, and it doesn't matter how hot the weather is. I hit a patch of black ice crossing the Tallahatchi River Bridge and found out a car can be a real acrobat! I think black ice is the most dangerous precipitation because it you cannot see it until you are on it. Most falls I know of have been due to black ice
Dawn wrote: "That is too insanely hot not to have A/C. I personally would melt into a puddle in that kind of heat. When it hits 90 I refuse to move anywhere without A/C. Thank goodness, that's about as hot as ..."
I live in FL. and I cannot imagine anyone not having A/C here. as I get into my senior years, I find it difficult to breathe well in very humid weather.
Linda wrote: "Jane, I have been waiting on a comment about the humudity. "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." Does your residual pain get worse when the humidity is high or it is rainy? We have humidit..."Yes, the pain does get worse. It's not unbearable, just annoying. Luckily, I have a pretty high pain threshold; so if I didn't, I'd feel it more. It's summer high humidity and all-year-round rainy weather that affect me. I live in muumuus in the summer, or other loose cotton clothing, pretty much. Since breathing can be a problem as I get older, I go out only when necessary, in the summer.
G H wrote: "Terri wrote: "Oh yeah, while I am not a Ford fan (I am a Holden fan)"Of course you are :)
The Holden is the archetypal Aussie muscle car.
Reminds me of AMC here in the US, although still in busin..."
My hubby is a Ford fan. As are all the men in his direct family.
Whereas my direct family are all Holden lovers. Loving Holden or Ford is a family tradition in Australia. :-) Passed down through generations and fought out at Bathurst.
http://www.bathurst1000.com.au/
I watched Zero dark Thirty last night.Good movie. Not as good and suspenseful as I expected, but still good. I thought that the acting was good....other than Jessica Chastain, who to me was about as intense an actor as a sheet of cardboard.
Surprising how many Aussie actors played prominent parts in the movie.
Jane, you do have a bad time with the humidity, but you know how to handle it. We were on Lake Katherine in June and the humidity was so bad that getting into the water didn't help. That was a strange phenomena(sp). How did we live without air conditioners?? I love to read about India because the characters' lives revolve around the heat. Books set in England and Russia often mention the summer heat. I wonder if heat there is like our heat since we are much closer to the tropics. I wonder too much about strange stuff, I guess. I had a bad ankle/foot sprain summer before last. I don't wear the boot anymore, but I still wear the brace. After keeping my grandchildren yesterday, never sitting or resting, my foot has swollen and is giving me fits. I have been in the aspirin bottle today. It isn't funny to have a chronic injury and the pain, but you seem to handle it. That is amazing to me.
I read some more about the breathing problems some of you have due to heat and humidity. My older son did the Ironman race close to Houston, Texas, in June. He passed out from the heat. He said, "Mama, I couldn't breathe." He was red shirted in college football because of the August training. He couldn't breathe. I am glad you all mentioned the breathing. I won't worry as much about him in his next race coming up in August in Louisville, KY.
Terri, Austrailia is where everybody around here want to go! Honeymoons, seasoned travelers, anniversaries. We love our Aussies: Nicole Kudman, the singer she married, Mel Gibson and the actor who played a role in A BEAUTIFUL MIND. I am forgetting names at a rapid pace.
Jane wrote: "I didn't realize that."The four I could see without looking up IMDB was the guy that did all the physical interrogating in the movie, Jack was it? Aussie. From my state actually and a small country town.
Then there was the Team 6 guy that popped Bin Laden. Born in New Zealand, but been in Australia since he was little. And the two Edgerton brothers, one of which, Joel (who I have always had a little thing for) played one of the Seal Team 6 team leaders.
Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction
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Ps. Thank you, Terri, for allowing me to add this post.