beigest non-beige car I've ever seen.

The Dude wrote:check out the Forte, not tiny but a good size

heard that

We almost considered it, but there wasn't quite enough leg room after my daughter's car seat was in the back. I would love it otherwise

i can parallel park my hatchback golf pretty easily. might be a tad bigger than what you're going for though

Polar Bear Phan wrote:I'm looking at smaller hatchbacks as possible replacements (e.g. Versa, Fit, Spark).

The Spark is considerably smaller than the other two you mention, FWIW. You might check out the Toyota Yaris. It's bigger than the Spark but smaller than the Versa or Fit.

Why is it you're looking for a small car particularly? Gas mileage? Maneuverability in the city? Cost?

My wife and I went looking at cars like that a year ago because we wanted something with good mileage - our Mazda5, while good on gas compared to full-size minivans, only gets about 25 if we're lucky. We looked at the Versa, Fit, Yaris... and ended up with a used Prius. It's a bit bigger than the others so if small size in and of itself is important to you, it might not be the best option, but you can't beat the mileage. And the reliability record of Prii is outstanding, I would not hesitate to buy used.

BigEd76 wrote:Thought I'd move this post here (WORK?!) since a bunch of BSG pals got cars this year. Dude's 2015 beats my 2014 which beats jerz's....um....

'72 Pinto

I love my 2010 Prius, FWIW. Have 2 more months of payments on it.

My wife drives a 2006 Hyundai Entourage which is their since-discontinued minivan. We have not had any MAJOR issues with it and have been generally happy but it is getting to the end of it's life. I think we are going to try to go with a CR-V or some other small SUV type product. My wife needs to be able to lug around a bunch of weights, kettle bells and other kinds of fitness equipment as well as our kids and their crap. We don't want another minivan, though.

Yesterday, when I went out for lunch, the market I walked by was having a plug-in car expo so I test drove a Nissan Leaf. It was pretty sweet. The BMW version was nicer. I just looked at the Tesla from an appropriate distance.

Buddy of mine is 14 months into a Leaf. His 5 year TCO had that way ahead of a conventional car. So far his figures are proving out.

if you have maybe 10 minutes, check that out. It's amazing. And only $435K.

Phan In Phlorida wrote:

BigEd76 wrote:Thought I'd move this post here (WORK?!) since a bunch of BSG pals got cars this year. Dude's 2015 beats my 2014 which beats jerz's....um....

'72 Pinto

I had a '72 Pinto. 1100 bucks in 1977. I didn't care if it blew up because I was tough back then.

smitty wrote:

Phan In Phlorida wrote:

BigEd76 wrote:Thought I'd move this post here (WORK?!) since a bunch of BSG pals got cars this year. Dude's 2015 beats my 2014 which beats jerz's....um....

'72 Pinto

I had a '72 Pinto. 1100 bucks in 1977. I didn't care if it blew up because I was tough back then.

The guitarist in my band back then had a early-mid 70s Pinto in which I carpooled daily to the studio.

OMG!! that was over 25 years ago!

Just got back from picking up the new car. Man, it is sweet. Since I'm coming from a 15 year old car, i'm loving the things like bluetooth and steering wheel controls.

I really want to get a new Toyota Tundra with a crew cab but the missus isn't buying the request. Shite

chevy is now pushing built-in 4G LTE wifi in their vehicles. Not sure how I feel about that. The implementation has to easily upgradable, since wireless technology will probably take 3 or 4 steps forward in the lifespan of a car. Hmmm, but it's a chevy, so maybe not.

I don't get the point of having built on LTE in your car. If you have any modern smartphone you can turn it into a hotspot, at no additional charge. Putting a reciever in the truck means you've gotta have a separate data plan or charge for accessing your existing data plan when you could just use your phone for no additional charge.

Here's an argument for getting as close as you can afford to "dream car" with your next vehicle: Self-driving cars are coming. It will open the door for all but those in rural areas to get off the ownership model -- as we did with movies and music -- and move to a "streaming" model of dialing up a car only when you need it. Owned cars are idle 22 hours a day. In a shared/leasing model, you just order a car when you want it, it drives to you, it drives you to your destination, and it's off to the next user.

And it's coming fast. They will be on the road in less than 5 years and dominating urban areas in 10.

You will no longer be a driver.

If you enjoy motoring, get your dream car soon. I will.

Bill McNeal wrote:I don't get the point of having built on LTE in your car. If you have any modern smartphone you can turn it into a hotspot, at no additional charge. Putting a reciever in the truck means you've gotta have a separate data plan or charge for accessing your existing data plan when you could just use your phone for no additional charge.

verizon charges extra for mobile hotspot. But I don't get the built-in LTE either. I have a verizon mifi devices that serves as my car wifi. When 5G comes out, I just get the new mifi from verizon. I guess I think that's along the lines of the GPS model in cars. In many cars you have to replace your whole frickin' dashboard if you want to upgrade your GPS system.

My car will have "built-in" wifi as soon as jamie makes me that mounting cradle on his 3d printer

i can put something together for you, seriously. i've been granted access to the 3D printer fo rpersonal use

TomatoPie wrote:Here's an argument for getting as close as you can afford to "dream car" with your next vehicle: Self-driving cars are coming. It will open the door for all but those in rural areas to get off the ownership model -- as we did with movies and music -- and move to a "streaming" model of dialing up a car only when you need it. Owned cars are idle 22 hours a day. In a shared/leasing model, you just order a car when you want it, it drives to you, it drives you to your destination, and it's off to the next user.

And it's coming fast. They will be on the road in less than 5 years and dominating urban areas in 10.

You will no longer be a driver.

If you enjoy motoring, get your dream car soon. I will.

I doubt that strictly self-driving cars will be the norm that soon. You'll probably be able to buy traditional drivers' cars (that may or may not have a self-driving mode) for a long time to come.