List your priorities and compare them to what manufacterers are doing right now, and see if the shoe fits....

For me....

1.) Quality, how well it will hold up
2.) Safety
3.) Resale value
4.) Looks/overall image of the car (overlooked this for the Toyota )
5.) Reliability, both short & long term
6.) Customer support

 

1.) Looks
2.) Safety
3.) Mileage
4.) Performance
5.) Added safety features such as ONSTAR
6.) Reliability
7.) comfort
8.) Fun Factor
9.) classyness (as in could I take my customers for rides in it and feel good about it)
10.) Resale

 

For what kind of car? A purely A-B car or a fun car?

1. Price (anyone who didn't actually put this at the top either has eleventy billion dollars in the bank, or forgot).
2. Driving experience (A through C weighted equally)
A. competence in everyday situations
B. performance handling
C. power
3. Ride experience (decreasing importance)
A. seating comfort
B. sound system
C. ride harshness
D. interior materials selection
4. Styling
5. Mileage
6. Misc. options (eg. OnStar or other stupid crap I wouldn't care about)

I didn't include safety because it really does not enter into the equation. Unless I have heard of a model bursting into flames, then safety would not be a concern. resale value is, in my opinion, probably one of the most useless things to think about unless you were buying strictly an appliance or if you could not think of anything else to break a "tie" between two models. Cars are horrible investments, and there is no reason to sacrifice any part of the driving experience over several years in order lose a few less dollars when it comes time to sell the vehicle.

 

1. Utility -- I gotta fit three car seats in the back seat.
2. Looks -- I can't buy a "grandpa" car yet.
3. Performance -- if you think stuffing a little 4-banger in there is gonna do it... forget it. I drive 80 miles a day so it has to have a good trade off between power and fuel economy.

As far a sprice obviously it has to be within my pirce range.

 

WTF are you doing on an enthusiast site then? Shouldn't you be shopping for Maytags or something?

This is what I call the 'fraidy cat' school of automotive shopping. People that would rather buy a boring, soulless, eunich of a car for fear that if they don't -- oh my god! -- they might have to face getting a repair done someday! Or refusing to buy a car without 8 eight airbags because after all, statistics show that a crash severe enough to trigger an airbag happens once every 135 years of driving. Can't take a chance there!

What a sad way to decide on the second largest purchase most of us make in our lifetimes. Too afraid to buy something fun and enjoyable.


My rankings would be:

1) What does it do to my pulse? Does my heart start beating a little faster every time I see it or start it up? This generally entails possessing a blend of a appealing styling, straight-line acceleration, and enjoyable handling characteristics. But there's no set order or ratio. I'd give up some of the acceleration of my Z28 for the looks of the Sky or the handling of a CTS. As long as there's something to make me look forward to pulling it out of the garage.

2) Price. This isn't #1 because I have a fairly broad range I can live with. No, I won't be buying a Ford GT, but most mass-produced cars are accessible and it doesn't much matter if it's a $25k car or a $60k car as long as it turns my crank.

3) Image. Call me vain or snobbish, but I'm not sure I could ever drive a Hyundai no matter how well it performed or looked. Let's face it, many of our purchases in everyday life are chosen more to reflect a desired image rather than any instrinsic product value, be it Nike shoes or Coca-cola soft drinks. It's all about how we want others to see us, and a car is the big kahuna of image purchases.

4) Fuel econmy. Again I have a broad range here and anything over 20mpg is fine. But I couldn't live with an H2 with the amount of driving I do, even if the cost difference is mostly psychological.

 

1) price

2) performance/safety -- one group because i consider good brakes, handling, and automotive crash tests all to fall into the same "safety" group -- the first two will keep me from getting into trouble while the third will keep me alive during trouble.

3) looks (includes image, will not buy a Kia even if it was faster)



i don't really care all too much about resale value, hell i baught an f-body.

 

1. Acceleration!
2. Handling (I'm mostly worried about body roll in cornering.)
3. Braking (Performance as well as brake rotors that don't warp.)
4. Build Quality (Paint quality and panel gaps are important to me.)
5. Seating Comfort (I'm still waiting for GM product with comfortable seats.)
6. Cargo Space/Flexibility (Oddly enough, I actually like the huge hatchback in my Camaro.)
7. Ground Clearance (Yes, even on a car!)
8. NVH (I'm sick of all the strange underhood noises that come out of domestics.)
9. Ride Quality (If it "floats" like a Buick, I wouldn't buy it.)
10. Fuel Economy (Anything above the single digits is fine with me.)

 

Uhm, if you bought a V8 F body, I wouldn't complain much at all about resale value. My car has lost $4,000 in NADA value between March 2001 and now. I've put 17k on the car. I'm not complaining. To lose $1,000 a year in value? Yeah...that's terrible.

Anyhoot...

1) Performance
2) Style
3) Comfort
4) Reliability
5) Price

Price I only rank so low because so long as it's under $30k, I can pretty much afford whatever the hell I feel like. So within reason, I can afford what I like. Style is important, as is comfort...with performance first. Using that theory, I should want a GTO over a new MC SS...but the Monte has the FWD I need for snow, and is a little more bold than the GTO. Also, over $30k is I guess where price does take over!

And with reliability being in my top 5 needs, I love my GM cars I've never spent more than $350 repairing one, and yet I've owned them as old as 12 years old and as high as 130k!

 

For an everyday (non weekend toy) car within my price range:

1) Fun to drive (manual transmission is a must have)
2) Styling and overall quality feel
3) Fuel Economy (needs to have good economy for its performance level)
4) Performance numbers

Secondary factors of marginal importance

5) Resale (doesn't usually matter much since I keep cars a long time)
6) Quality - only a concern if the car has really poor quality. Most cars today are pretty good.

 

Quality is definitely NOT #1 !

This is an enthusiast website...looks, power and performance are what matter.

 

For a everyday driving to work car :

1) Interior design . I drive 5-600 miles a week . I kinda gotta love the interior

2) Exterior design . Gotta be able to enjoy looking at what I bought since I about live in car

3) Handling and overall performance

4) Quality and how solid or well built it feels . Spend as much time in a car as me and this suddenly matters ALOT .

No car is good investment , so resale of no concern . If Im buying a car with the intent to sell it within a few years , I lease like I just did with my 05 Cobalt SS

 

I primarily just look to make sure it does the 1/4 mile faster than any of my friends. I just don't understand what makes the other 98% of the people in the world care about things like comfort, utility, practicality, build quality, reliability/dependability, low cost of maintenance, low depreciation, etc, etc. I mean sheesh. Any sane person should know that the faster your car, the bigger your ***** must be, and the size of your ***** is ALL that should matter in any man's life.

 

1) Performance
2) Looks
3) Interior
4) Amenities
5) Gas Mileage

 

For a daily -

1. price
2. reliablity
3. "snow" factor (ie - 4x4 or awd)
4. comfort (leather, sunroof, lumbar, seat support, driving position, etc)
5. exterior looks
6. cost to insure
7. number of people it holds

Hence why I like SUVs for daily driving

For a project -

1. exterior looks
2. price
3. aftermarket part prices and availability
4. ease of modification installs

And why I like thirdgens (And Typhoons ) for projects

 

Oh and you forgot it has to be LOUD -- as in scare kids three blocks away loud. Loud enough that everyone in whole neighborhood knows I'm coming. Except for the cops, that is. When I get my noise violation ticket I wanna go on the internet and trash cops. I don't understand why I have to pay a fine just to let people I'm overcompensating?