Split topic: Selecting a car
t-fal wrote: ooh i was really peeved about the brooklyn surcharge when i had to rent a car to go to an interview on longuyland. then i got the job, and now i'm even more peeved about the insurance rate that i'll have to pay each month on the car i'm getting!I should buy a car soon. Do you have any thoughts about what kind you're going to get? A "city car" (looks bad but drives reliably) or something more?
I've been thinking about a Prius because I'm so guilt-ridden about the fact that I'll be increasing my driving.
Comments
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i picked a new jetta because of the crazy anti-theft ignition shutdown system that comes with it, its safety features were much better than the hondas i was also looking at, and the fact that my mom found a really good deal up in syracuse from the place where she got her passat. it gets pretty decent gas mileage too.
oh yeah... and i love how it handles. -
Medusa wrote: [quote=t-fal]ooh i was really peeved about the brooklyn surcharge when i had to rent a car to go to an interview on longuyland. then i got the job, and now i'm even more peeved about the insurance rate that i'll have to pay each month on the car i'm getting!
I should buy a car soon. Do you have any thoughts about what kind you're going to get? A "city car" (looks bad but drives reliably) or something more?
I've been thinking about a Prius because I'm so guilt-ridden about the fact that I'll be increasing my driving.
The Mini would be the perfect city car if it weren't so expensive. I've been looking into this because I'm also thinking of getting a car soon and I think the Scion XA is almost as small as the Mini for about half the price. It's basically a souped-up Toyota Echo (same engine and chassis, as with the XB). Decent mileage like most Toyotas. The Prius is also appealing, but it's much more expensive for not that much better mileage and it'll be harder to park (it's longer). -
Carnivore wrote:
yeah, but that mini has a bmw engine....phrwoar!
The Mini would be the perfect city car if it weren't so expensive. I've been looking into this because I'm also thinking of getting a car soon and I think the Scion XA is almost as small as the Mini for about half the price. It's basically a souped-up Toyota Echo (same engine and chassis, as with the XB). Decent mileage like most Toyotas. The Prius is also appealing, but it's much more expensive for not that much better mileage and it'll be harder to park (it's longer). -
Carnivore wrote: [quote=Medusa][quote=t-fal]ooh i was really peeved about the brooklyn surcharge when i had to rent a car to go to an interview on longuyland. then i got the job, and now i'm even more peeved about the insurance rate that i'll have to pay each month on the car i'm getting!
I should buy a car soon. Do you have any thoughts about what kind you're going to get? A "city car" (looks bad but drives reliably) or something more?
I've been thinking about a Prius because I'm so guilt-ridden about the fact that I'll be increasing my driving.
The Mini would be the perfect city car if it weren't so expensive. I've been looking into this because I'm also thinking of getting a car soon and I think the Scion XA is almost as small as the Mini for about half the price. It's basically a souped-up Toyota Echo (same engine and chassis, as with the XB). Decent mileage like most Toyotas. The Prius is also appealing, but it's much more expensive for not that much better mileage and it'll be harder to park (it's longer).
I've got a kid. Makes me want 4 doors. Also makes me slightly hysterical about safety issues. I'll look into Scions though. I don't know anything about them. Thanks for the tip. As for Volkswagons, I don't think my spouse will go for it--it's still a Nazi company for him. -
the mini is mad hot...
and i'm a big fan of the volvo s40 (european but not german!!!). it's got 4 doors and, of course, it's a volvo- how much more safe can you get? but it's kinda spendy...
in something a little more reasonable, flexible, but still fun- mazda 3 hatchback... -
i bought a toyota camry last year and i love it. it's roomy, cute, reliable, and it gets amazing safety ratings from consumer reports. plus you can get good lease deals. on a side note, a former colleague of mine has a volvo s60 and it's reatlly great but i was surprised by how squished the back seat is -- not good if you had a kid, say.
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What's with anti-german sentiment on this board. If it's not anti-conservative opulent developers, now we're dwelling in the past.
Get over it -
Probably wouldn't go with a Camry, Accord or Civic. Your insurance will be through the roof... I would suggest talking to your insurance agent before you choose.
Check out this article...
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/296080p-253457c.html
Good luck! -
Anonymous wrote: What's with anti-german sentiment on this board. If it's not anti-conservative opulent developers, now we're dwelling in the past.
Talk about attacking a straw man! One person reports on their spouse's dislike of Volkswagens, and now we're anti-German! As it happens, I majored in German, speak the language fluently, and have lived there. In fact, I got to know my pal Jamie, who has been posting here, partly through our mutual love of Germany, and you will find us enjoying Bier und Kaesespaeztle at Loreley not infrequently. Other people on this board have close associations which I will leave it to them to report themselves if they care to do so. For someone who apparently spends a lot of time on this board, you really haven't gotten to know us!
Get over it
(/teutophilic digression) -
Don't care to.
And just because you speak the language does not automatically make you a connoisseur, but I'll be more than happy to name a street after you -
I bought a Honda CRV a year ago and I think that it is a great city car. It has really good safety ratings and although it is categorized as an SUV it get good mileage about 20 miles per gallon.
Also, you should invest the money and subscribe to Consumer Reports online and check out their car ratings. They give more weight to substance than appearance. -
Let me make up for my OTness above by posting something potentially useful. My father is looking to sell his 1992 Taurus (which is in immaculate condition for its age and basically hasn't been driven in the past five years, because he moved from the suburbs of Philly to Center City). The blue book value is $1700 and I think he could get that much for it given its condition. It's light blue. The only downside is that it's in Philly.
We considered taking it ourselves, but we really just don't need a car. PM me if you're interested. -
EmilyM wrote: [quote=Anonymous]What's with anti-german sentiment on this board. If it's not anti-conservative opulent developers, now we're dwelling in the past.
Talk about attacking a straw man! One person reports on their spouse's dislike of Volkswagens, and now we're anti-German! As it happens, I majored in German, speak the language fluently, and have lived there. In fact, I got to know my pal Jamie, who has been posting here, partly through our mutual love of Germany, and you will find us enjoying Bier und Kaesespaeztle at Loreley not infrequently. Other people on this board have close associations which I will leave it to them to report themselves if they care to do so. For someone who apparently spends a lot of time on this board, you really haven't gotten to know us!
Get over it
(/teutophilic digression)
The person didn't just report on a dislike of VWs, the person did so on the basis of an ethnic slur! Whether you know/like the person or not, how can an admin on this board embrace ethnic bigotry? I *am* German and find the casual attitude to characterize Germans as Nazis extremely offensive! If you really like German culture so much you would appreciate that to a German being called "Nazi" is extremely hurtful and offensive and not *at all* characteristic of the current German soul, which is by and large extremely progressive. Let's not try to cover up here: a person called a group of Germans who were likely all born post WWII Nazis, and that just isn't cool. I expect better from Daily Heights! -
Fair point. I certainly don't advocate holding people responsible for things their grandparents did and I do realize how noxious this is to Germans born after the war. However, I assumed that the person (who was reporting her spouse's opinion anyway) meant that the company profited during World War II, not that the current staff are Nazis, and that that is the basis for not wanting to buy from the company in the current day. I know a number of people who say they won't buy Volkswagen and this is the rationale ususally given. There are other companies that Americans (especially Jewish Americans) might boycott for the same reason, but Volkswagen is the primary one that sells consumer products and therefore attracts the most attention. I think the point was clumsily stated, but it is a fairly common opinion here in the States, hence the lack of elaboration.
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Saying that VW is "still a Nazi company" seems irrational to me, but I don't see any evidence of ethnic slurs or bigotry in this thread.
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bacchus wrote: The person didn't just report on a dislike of VWs, the person did so on the basis of an ethnic slur! Whether you know/like the person or not, how can an admin on this board embrace ethnic bigotry? I *am* German and find the casual attitude to characterize Germans as Nazis extremely offensive! If you really like German culture so much you would appreciate that to a German being called "Nazi" is extremely hurtful and offensive and not *at all* characteristic of the current German soul, which is by and large extremely progressive. Let's not try to cover up here: a person called a group of Germans who were likely all born post WWII Nazis, and that just isn't cool. I expect better from Daily Heights!
Medusa did not use an ethnic slur. She did not even call any individual a Nazi (although, let's face it- it's a name they picked themselves, unlike any other "slur"). What she did was refer to Volkswagen as a Nazi company, which is demonstrably true. The company was quite literally created by Hitler, making "the people's car" for the Third Reich, and ultimately creating much of the war materiele that killed so many Americans. Furthermore, most of their labor force at the time was composed of slaves. Read this excerpt from Small Wonder: The Amazing Story of the Volkswagen. (Nelson, Walter Henry. c. 1965, Little, Brown and Company, Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 65-10899)Pages 77:
So while I agree that it's unfair to call most present day Germans Nazis, to denounce someone for calling Volkswagen a Nazi company is to ignore history.
On Ascension Thursday, May 26, 1938, Adolf Hitler laid the cornerstone of the Volkswagen factory near Fallersleben, Lower Saxony. [...] ...Ferdinand Porsche was conspicuous in mufti, wearing a trench coat and no hat. [...] Porsche commuted between his Bureau in Stutgart and his job in Wolfsburg, overseeing the construction of his plant. [...] Nazi Germany honored its leading designer [Porsche] in 1938 with its own equivalent of the Nobel Prize. [...] Orders from Berlin forced the factory to devote part of its capacity to building other war equipment, instead of concentrating on automobiles. Yet another factor may have been a human one. Today [1965] the factory is manned by free men; in World War II, two thirds of its workers were slaves. [...] The labor force increased more than 600 percent, from 2732 in 1939 to 17,365 in 1994; the vast majority were foreign prisoners. Some were Russian and Polish prisoners of war; most were forced laborers from France, Belgium and Holland, and a few were court-martialled German soldiers sentenced to work at the plant. While treatment of the prisoners at Wolfsburg appears to have been better than elsewhere in Nazi Germany, it is a fact that many of those who arrived there were half-starved. ...Porsche designed a succession of tanks and other military vehicles , for which he was lavishly honored by the Third Reich.
Check out this link as well:
http://mondediplo.com/1998/01/11volkswag -
I refuse to support VW, because for me, it's still a British company.
"The Volkswagen company owes its postwar existence largely to one man, British army officer Major Ivan Hirst (1916–2000). Post-war, he was ordered to take control of the heavily bombed factory, which the Americans had captured. He persuaded the British military to order 20,000 of the cars, and by 1946 the factory was producing 1,000 cars a month."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VW_Beetle -
dailyheights wrote: I refuse to support VW, because for me, it's still a British company.
The Volkswagen Beetle prototype was developed in the 1930s, long before the Nazi regime was defeated. The problem with wikipedia is that anyone can change it at any time (I can go change the entry right now so it won't say what you said it did if someone checks it), making a ripe target for revisionist history. For scientific things and uncontroversal things, this feature is a strength, but not for things where people have clear agendas.
"The Volkswagen company owes its postwar existence largely to one man, British army officer Major Ivan Hirst (1916–2000). Post-war, he was ordered to take control of the heavily bombed factory, which the Americans had captured. He persuaded the British military to order 20,000 of the cars, and by 1946 the factory was producing 1,000 cars a month."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VW_Beetle
It might be more accurate to say that the British rehabilitated the Nazi company. -
Carnivore wrote: [quote=dailyheights]I refuse to support VW, because for me, it's still a British company.
The Volkswagen Beetle prototype was developed in the 1930s, long before the Nazi regime was defeated. The problem with wikipedia is that anyone can change it at any time (I can go change the entry right now so it won't say what you said it did if someone checks it), making a ripe target for revisionist history. For scientific things and uncontroversal things, this feature is a strength, but not for things where people have clear agendas.
"The Volkswagen company owes its postwar existence largely to one man, British army officer Major Ivan Hirst (1916–2000). Post-war, he was ordered to take control of the heavily bombed factory, which the Americans had captured. He persuaded the British military to order 20,000 of the cars, and by 1946 the factory was producing 1,000 cars a month."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VW_Beetle
It might be more accurate to say that the British rehabilitated the Nazi company.
VW is no longer a Nazi company and the workers aren't Nazis.
I think pressing the subject further would start digging into issues and ideas that no bulletin board discussion would solve and would therefore not be productive.
HOWEVER, in light of Germany's progressive and humane opposition to the fiasco in Iraq, let me suggest anyone tempted to call a German a Nazi simply replace this with "evil doer"! That's something I can accept. Bring it on! -
bacchus wrote: VW is no longer a Nazi company and the workers aren't Nazis.
Remember that a corporation is a legal "person". Unlike the individuals who work at that company, the company itself is the same one that committed its evil acts in association with the Nazi regime.
I think pressing the subject further would start digging into issues and ideas that no bulletin board discussion would solve and would therefore not be productive.
HOWEVER, in light of Germany's progressive and humane opposition to the fiasco in Iraq, let me suggest anyone tempted to call a German a Nazi simply replace this with "evil doer"! That's something I can accept. Bring it on!
So while I agree that the German people have learned from the evil excesses of their ancestors (and have even tried to use that knowledge to temper the excesses of our current war-hungry administration), the company will always be a Nazi company, albeit one that has clearly reformed itself. -
Thanks, Carnivore for clarifying things for me while I was having computer problems. I'd like to make clear (as I believe Carnivore and EmilyM have already done) that I made a statement about my spouse and his reaction to the idea of buying a car made by Volkswagen. Maybe you'll think he's an overly emotionally-influenced consumer, but even after all these years he's still not OK with plunking down big bucks to a company that used his ancestors' slave labor for production -- yes, Nazi-supported slave labor. He doesn't go out and punch Volkswagens or the people who drive them or anything. He's really very mild. But he's got a right to decide where he puts his priorities and his money. This does not make him (or me) anti-German.
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Speaking of punching Volkswagons, everyone knows Punch Buggy (and its cousin Slug Bug), right? I wonder, if you drive a Beetle, what percentage of people you see are in the process of hitting each other over seeing your car first? Because, if the ratio was high enough, I think that would be a good incentive to get one...
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I just like hitting hitting people, screw VW.
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Punch buggy I know but I dont know about slug bug is that the same as a punch buggy
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stacey wrote: Punch buggy I know but I dont know about slug bug is that the same as a punch buggy
Exactly the same, only west coast I believe. -
We always punched the car roof, not each other.
Needless to say, I was an only child (during the "punch buggy" phase of my life, anyway). -
ah didn't mean to stir up a debate here. ooops. open laptop, insert foot.
question regarding punchbugs however, do they count when its a regularly encountered punchbug? like that green one always on sterling? because i say yes. my boyfriend says no. christ on a bike, i'm still playing the punchbug game after 30. and looking for rules clarifications. -
Since in my case, adopting such protocols as not including given cars just got me punched the fuck down by my peers who felt no need to constrain themselves by such rules that would inhibit their ability to beat my ass, I would say no, your boyfriend is wrong. Hit him. Hit him hard. Hit him for daveb and all those pasty-faced skinny bastards, nursing their bruises for trying to play fair. :P
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regularly-encountered bugs count. i would say the only time one wouldn't count is if you, say, OWNED one.
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I think every bug is game. I had a 2000 Silver Beetle and it was a trip seeing EVERYONE in the rearview beating each other senseless....
Almost makes me want to get another......
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