Rolled the Focus.....

i think a freestyle/taurus x would be a good car for you. good mpg, big and heavy, and awd.

the thing that may take some getting used to would be the "gearless transmission" but, then again you used to have an audi...did it have a cvt?
and they are very comfortable!

 

No the Audi's only put the CVT into their 2-wheel drive A4's for awhile, IIRC....

Never driven a CVT. We'll see how it 'goes'......

Got the offer on the Focus. Not quite as much as I had hoped. Got to flex my negotiation skills. Homework to do.......

 

Did you buy it? When i went to look "it's no longer available"???

 

No - haven't settled with the insurance yet.
Guess I'll have to keep looking.....

Went to a local Toyota dealer yesterday to test-drive a Mazda6 that they have. Was running errands so didn't have a lot of time. No saleaman came out after me looking at the car for 7 mins or so, so I left......

 

Man, I'm getting old. Cars I have never seen and......a gearless tranny???

 

No real news right now. We're in 'negotiations' with the insurance company. Did a bit of market market research.....I'm better at their game than they are......

In a real connundrum as far as what vehicle to buy. I'd really like an older 'collector' wagon, but since I need something for business driving, that's not really practical right now. So far, the only type of vehicle I've found that I can afford, with reasonable mileage, is............a minivan.

Not sure if I'm going to go in that direction. A minivan actually would be practical to have for my biz, allowing me to set up a sort of mobile 'office' in the second seat area.

 

Yeah....sad as it may be, KK....the van would suit your purpose perfectly. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. When the van starts making you big bucks you can get your wagon.

 

Also kind of stumbled upon this........



http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.j...ear=2011&address=97478&seller_type=b&make=ISU

Loved the look of these when they first came out.......
We used to own an Isuzu Rodeo and like it a lot. These were built off the Rodeo platform, IIRC. Has the larger 3.5 Trooper engine, though.

 

I forgot all about those. Isuzu hasn't been around for what 5/6 years? I though the Axxioms were nice looking but were expensive when new.

 

just my opinion....
it and the vehicross are the 2 ugliest trucks to hit our roadways

 

Yeah, but, Ian.....tell us how you really feel.

 

Looks like the Axiom is out. Read up on them - really bad gas mileage, and apparently a problematic transmission that goes belly-up starting around 70k.

Test-drove that Mazda6 wagon today. Drove OK, and it only has 68k on the clock. Sorry thing is, looks like it was abused. Bad curb rash on 2 or 3 alloys, front grill panel is pushed back under the lip of the hood a bit, and some of the interior stuff is a bit wonky. Probably could get it for a good price though....

I want to check out the Mazda5 and maybe find a Mazda MPV ES (2003 - 2005)

 

The Mazda5 is a nice little wagon, have a few friends with them (of course they are all slammed and very modified lol) but all seem to hold up well.

Sorry to read about the Focus, I have flipped more than one car, definitely not fun.

 

My son has a mazda6, and hasn't had any problems!