So.... how are the driving lessons going?

[akdiver 3]

Ak, is the trail featured in the video indicative of the road conditions where you live?

Pretty close - esp. during spring breakup (:

I think consumer reports is right for looking at the whole of the car and practicality of the car. And a category of "SUV" is sufficiently small to characterize those types of vehicles. Because if we break them up any further then each car will have its own category or "purpose" it will make the rating system even more worthless.

Therefore, a Ferrari should rate very poorly because it is very expensive to buy, very expensive to maintain and lacks room for more than 2 passengers. What an awful awful car that must be. The fact that the vehicle is not designed or marketed as an economical soccer mom transporter doesn't matter.

[Turboguy 6]

There were only a few cars she liked. Beetles, Hyundai Tiberon's Toyota Celicas and yesterday she added Cougars to the list so we got a Red Cougar.

A 6-cyl sports car for a new driver? You guys are crazy.

Well probably, but with the current price of gasoline it is hard to find or afford anything that falls into the class of 4 cylinder economy vehicles (you know the stripped down pieces of junk they normally can't give away) If you are lucky enough to find an economical vehicle and you ask them for a discount they look at you like you are nuts even though the price is sky high. The two cougars we looked at they nearly begged us to take them and my offer was nearly 20% below asking price. She does love her cougar and it does seem to get good mileage.

Want to try an experiment. Go on the website of the Smart ForTwo car and look at the prices. You will see base prices for this tiny two seater car with 45 GPM starting at $12,???,00 Now go on eBay and see if the prices you see for used ones don't hit in the $ 19,000-28,000 range.

[Neonred 3,950]

Ak, is the trail featured in the video indicative of the road conditions where you live?

Pretty close - esp. during spring breakup (:

I think consumer reports is right for looking at the whole of the car and practicality of the car. And a category of "SUV" is sufficiently small to characterize those types of vehicles. Because if we break them up any further then each car will have its own category or "purpose" it will make the rating system even more worthless.

Therefore, a Ferrari should rate very poorly because it is very expensive to buy, very expensive to maintain and lacks room for more than 2 passengers. What an awful awful car that must be. The fact that the vehicle is not designed or marketed as an economical soccer mom transporter doesn't matter.

I think a Ferrari is a lot like my Russian wife.....

Great to look at

It's a wild ride

So damn expensive to maintain

Edited July 3, 2008 by Neonred

[Ban Hammer 14,606]

Ak, is the trail featured in the video indicative of the road conditions where you live?

Pretty close - esp. during spring breakup (:

I think consumer reports is right for looking at the whole of the car and practicality of the car. And a category of "SUV" is sufficiently small to characterize those types of vehicles. Because if we break them up any further then each car will have its own category or "purpose" it will make the rating system even more worthless.

Therefore, a Ferrari should rate very poorly because it is very expensive to buy, very expensive to maintain and lacks room for more than 2 passengers. What an awful awful car that must be. The fact that the vehicle is not designed or marketed as an economical soccer mom transporter doesn't matter.

I think a Ferrari is a lot like my Russian wife.....

Great to look at

It's a wild ride

So damn expensive to maintain

[Satellite 1]

Want to try an experiment. Go on the website of the Smart ForTwo car and look at the prices. You will see base prices for this tiny two seater car with 45 GPM starting at $12,???,00 Now go on eBay and see if the prices you see for used ones don't hit in the $ 19,000-28,000 range.

Try another experiment:

Go to http://craigslist.org/

Then go to sales.

Then type any combination of:

"Salvage Civic"

"Salvage Echo"

"Salvage Carolla"

"Salvage Golf"

All very fuel economical cars, all well below prices you would pay at a dealership or Ebay.

[Blues Fairy 0]

Well probably, but with the current price of gasoline it is hard to find or afford anything that falls into the class of 4 cylinder economy vehicles (you know the stripped down pieces of junk they normally can't give away) She does love her cougar and it does seem to get good mileage.

The primary concern should be the safety of the driver. An inexperienced driver in a light responsive car with a powerful engine can wreak havoc, even if she tries to drive extra carefully.

[akdiver 3]

The primary concern should be the safety of the driver.

If this were true, the person would not drive at all.

[Turboguy 6]

Want to try an experiment. Go on the website of the Smart ForTwo car and look at the prices. You will see base prices for this tiny two seater car with 45 GPM starting at $12,???,00 Now go on eBay and see if the prices you see for used ones don't hit in the $ 19,000-28,000 range.

Try another experiment:

Go to http://craigslist.org/

Then go to sales.

Then type any combination of:

"Salvage Civic"

"Salvage Echo"

"Salvage Carolla"

"Salvage Golf"

All very fuel economical cars, all well below prices you would pay at a dealership or Ebay.

Yes, but you will also get less when you sell it. We actually looked at a pretty nice Echo at a local dealership that had an R (salvage) title. We saw the car on Sunday and went back on Tuesday ready to buy it but it was already sold. I will agree there are some good values.

I had a pickup with an R (salvage) title one time. Bought it with 46,000 miles, sold it with over 400,000 miles. It did make it harder to resell or trade with that title. Everyone worries about what was really wrong with it. Still you are right, you can find some economical cars

[slim 1,533]

Want to try an experiment. Go on the website of the Smart ForTwo car and look at the prices. You will see base prices for this tiny two seater car with 45 GPM starting at $12,???,00 Now go on eBay and see if the prices you see for used ones don't hit in the $ 19,000-28,000 range.

Try another experiment:

Go to http://craigslist.org/

Then go to sales.

Then type any combination of:

"Salvage Civic"

"Salvage Echo"

"Salvage Carolla"

"Salvage Golf"

All very fuel economical cars, all well below prices you would pay at a dealership or Ebay.

Yes, but you will also get less when you sell it. We actually looked at a pretty nice Echo at a local dealership that had an R (salvage) title. We saw the car on Sunday and went back on Tuesday ready to buy it but it was already sold. I will agree there are some good values.

I had a pickup with an R (salvage) title one time. Bought it with 46,000 miles, sold it with over 400,000 miles. It did make it harder to resell or trade with that title. Everyone worries about what was really wrong with it. Still you are right, you can find some economical cars

So the mileage had nothing to do with it?

[visaveteran 0]

Forget more cars. Think like the common Russians...take the bus...the metro...use the feet. Feeling generous...buy her a bicycle.

[slim 1,533]

Forget more cars. Think like the common Russians...take the bus...the metro...use the feet. Feeling generous...buy her a bicycle.

Your "common" Russian wife isn't so common once she's here. Trust me on that one.

[Ban Hammer 14,606]

Forget more cars. Think like the common Russians...take the bus...the metro...use the feet. Feeling generous...buy her a bicycle.

Your "common" Russian wife isn't so common once she's here. Trust me on that one.

[akdiver 3]

Forget more cars. Think like the common Russians...take the bus...the metro...use the feet. Feeling generous...buy her a bicycle.

How naive. Tell you what - you come up here and use the bus, the metro (let me know if you find one), bicycle or feet for the winter and see how well you do.

[slim 1,533]

Forget more cars. Think like the common Russians...take the bus...the metro...use the feet. Feeling generous...buy her a bicycle.

How naive. Tell you what - you come up here and use the bus, the metro (let me know if you find one), bicycle or feet for the winter and see how well you do.

I just wanna see this guy explain to his "common" Russian wife that she can't drive a car here because she should take public trans. I'd pay money to see the look on her face when he tells her how he "generously" bought her a bike to ride around.

[visaveteran 0]

I see one has to be careful what they post on the Russian forum. I hear swords being drawn.

My intent was to make a joke with an element of truth to it. Don't think it's naive to look at public transportation where it's available, walking to the restaurant and giving old Nelly Belle a rest in the garage, or getting good exercise and transportation at the same time on a nice mountain bike.

My comment was offered to those living in the "lower 48" and I exempt the 1% who live in the Arctic Circle from buses, trains, trolleys, subways and walking. Just keep loving that jeep as Alaska is one of the places they make sense to drive.

My wife will drive in the America and join the combustion engine club, but we'll share a car for awhile. She has already requested I buy her a bike so there will be no "funny looks." Sorry to disappoint. Bike riding is big in my area so she'll be in good company.