Looking for a married mobile...

[ccage]

Heh... My Jeep Grand Cherokee is rated as a STATION WAGON by my insurance company... Nice & cheap.

One cool thing about the Grand Cherokee is that you can park it in "compact car only" spots. I always found that kinda funny...

Chuck

[channelmaniac]

Yup...

I drive it hard... 18mpg in the city, 21 on the highway. Not too bad for an inline 6.

It really has a small footprint for being an SUV.

RJ

[Jiggerachi]

Whats the gas mileage on the civic. If the rising cost of gas is an issue you can use my P5 as a frame of reference. With mostly city driving we get about 26mpg and highway only yields 30mpg. I drive the P5 as hard as I drove my miata, which was pretty dman hard. YMMV

The civic is about the same, due mostly to how I drive it.

Just got off the phone with Geico...the Element would be cheaper surprisingly, than the civic, & the mazda is about the same.

So I guess now it comes down to how much of a deal either one can give us. If neither is worth it, then we'll keep the civic.

[BigDmiata]

Whats the gas mileage on the civic. If the rising cost of gas is an issue you can use my P5 as a frame of reference. With mostly city driving we get about 26mpg and highway only yields 30mpg. I drive the P5 as hard as I drove my miata, which was pretty dman hard. YMMV

The civic is about the same, due mostly to how I drive it.

Just got off the phone with Geico...the Element would be cheaper surprisingly, than the civic, & the mazda is about the same.

So I guess now it comes down to how much of a deal either one can give us. If neither is worth it, then we'll keep the civic.

Sounds like a plan.

[ccage]

A friend of mine's daughter has had an Element since they came out and she loves it, BTW.

Chuck

[channelmaniac]

Just got off the phone with Geico...the Element would be cheaper surprisingly, than the civic, & the mazda is about the same.

That's not too much of a surprise if you think about how many Civic owners are young & inexperienced drivers... with high accident rates as a percentage of population.

[tailchaser]

A friend of mine's daughter has had an Element since they came out and she loves it, BTW.

Chuck

Careful using "Honda Element" and "came out" in close proximity...

[altiain]

Civic insurance tends to be higher than other econocars because thye get stolen at a much higher rate, thanks to the "Fast & Furious" crowd. My '95 Civic LX sedan was more expensive to insure than my '99 Miata.

I really dig the P5 - I'm thinking if gas prices don't get lower when the time comes to buy another daily driver later this year, I may pick one up. and save some money. There are plenty about with decent mileage for less than $10k - for something that is going to primarily be a commuter (and occasional large object hauler), you really can't beat 'em. They're fun to drive (relatively speaking - more fun than the Gen 7 Civics, imho), chepa to own, well built, and will hold a good amount of stuff. I know four people who own one (including Dallas, marcucci, and Billy Howell, for those of you who know him), and they've all had good things to say about them.

That being said, I'm not a big fan of rolling negative equity into a car loan. I've owne over a dozen different vehicles, and I've never yet sold or traded one in for less than I owed on it. If you're going to have to roll negative equity into whatever you want to buy, I'd suggest you ride out the depreciation curve for another year or two until you can get on top.

[ccage]

Showing my ignorance: What's a P5?

Chuck

[altiain]

Showing my ignorance: What's a P5?

Chuck

A 2002-2003 Mazda Protege5:

[Jiggerachi]

Well, we test drove a P5 last night, & while I liked the looks, it was sloooow...even slower than my civic, no pick up at all, & it was a 5 spd. I would think that higher HP & much higher torque it would have a nice pull at least, but damn. I think something was broken/clogged because it really felt like flooring a Kia. But, the handling / steering response was excellent, enough to make me forget about the sluggish engine.

It was a good little car, but not enough of what we need to warrant all the pain in the ass to buy it.

So its either the Element or bust.

[Mathews2004]

One thought on the Element. If you are going to be loading and unloading kids, the rear suicide doors are a pain. If you are in a parking lot and open the front, then the rear, you create a trap. Makes it difficult.

[Jiggerachi]

^good point, never thought of that...

[BigDmiata]

Well, we test drove a P5 last night, & while I liked the looks, it was sloooow...even slower than my civic, no pick up at all, & it was a 5 spd. I would think that higher HP & much higher torque it would have a nice pull at least, but damn. I think something was broken/clogged because it really felt like flooring a Kia. But, the handling / steering response was excellent, enough to make me forget about the sluggish engine.

It was a good little car, but not enough of what we need to warrant all the pain in the ass to buy it.

So its either the Element or bust.

WOW, thats a suprise to me....my P5 may not have the power to weight ratio of a miata, but its definetly not a slug. There has to be something wrong with that particular car.

[MadMerv]

I'm almost 37 and I still don't want a Minivan! :P

Dude, you're old!!!

Oh my gosh...what does that make me??????

[MadMerv]

...weenieboy.

[MadMerv]

Scion XB...now that's a BOX.....but cute!

[altiain]

Scion XB...now that's a BOX.....but cute!

I only ever see old people driving those things. Now I see why. :P

[Jiggerachi]

^I'd almost rather drive a minivan than a Scion XB.

[Titus]

I'm almost 37 and I still don't want a Minivan! :P

Dude, you're old!!!

Oh my gosh...what does that make me??????