April 13, 2007

The Golf Once Was…but Now It Is NOT




The Golf has always been a great car for me. It has done such great things as:
1. Fit more boxes of “stuff” inside, when I was helping Ted move, than Ted’s Toyota Tacoma did in the bed.
2. Got me from Roseville to Orange County in less than six hours, on one tank of gas.
3. Ran all time AC for almost 8 years.

The list really could go on but that’s not the point of this entry. The Golf once was a great vehicle with many features that were perfect for me, but now it is not. I believe there are more short comings to the Golf that there are good things. It is not performing the way it used to. Such great feats it accomplished before, now are but a memory. In its “old age” the VW Golf is really feeling its 8 years of service.

To contradict the above 3 items of greatness, it can’t:
1. Hold the car seat for my son, while accommodating a front seat passenger.
2. Go 3000 miles without needing me to add oil. (used to go 5K)
3. All-Time-AC just cost me almost $400.oo to fix.

HERE’S MY POINT…We need a new vehicle, designed for a family.

I’m not into the whole minivan thing but money is TIGHT! Email your suggestions. We would, of course, like to go the SUV route.
Here is a list of SUVs that we are thinking about (not in any particular order.) Also, the links take you to stories on the new models of these SUVs, (all from Edmunds.com for unbiased info); we are not necessarily looking at new.

Ford Expedition
Chevy Tahoe
Toyota Sequoia
Toyota 4-Runner
Honda Pilot

As far as Minivans go, I don’t like any of them. Listed below are the minivans I consider “the best of the worst.” Again, there is no order to these, except the first.

VW Microbus (Concept) – I would buy this. More Pics of the Microbus
Honda Odyssey
Nissan Quest

SO, check the links for all of these vehicles. Send me your ideas as to which purchase would be the best financially, economically, practically, etc.
Send your emails to jamesguhn at gmail.com.

2 comments:

  1. Like you, James, I am partial to the VW. I am on my second Jetta's 7th year, and I prefer to drive her over our more classy Dodge Ram. She's comfortable and reliable. Anyway, personally, I lean toward a truck w/ extended cab (four door preferred) and shell over an SUV. LOVE the "microbus" concept, though. What I ultimately hope to own, however, is a Suburu Outback. Wagon or sedan, the fact that you can have all-wheel-drive in a "smaller" car that holds lots of stuff and looks good, is hard to find anywhere else. They're not cheap, though. I hope you find exactly what you're looking for. Might I recommend Carmax?

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  2. Annie, I've never been a fan of the Subaru family of vehicles, although AWD is nice. I agree about a 4-door truck being very useful. I think having the truck bed is very handy and I like the height; no bending over to deal with car seats, etc.

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