I know I've been MIA recently but I've been really busy with work and life, and I haven't had the chance to get on here as much as I used to. But... I wanted to announce that I traded in my HHR this past Friday for a 2007 Civic EX w/ Nav. I'm not going to get into any comparisons but I will say that although I do miss the HHR, I am also greatly enjoying my new Civic. :thumb:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ChrisB2005AF/CIMG4724.jpg

Sorry to hear it but enjoy the new ride!!

Sorry to hear about the HHR but the Civic will be a great car for you!

:smile: Enjoy your new ride! The Civic is a great car. I had a new '80 Civic, and a new '85 Civic and they were great, even back then!:steering:

BTW - in case anyone is wondering, the HHR stickered for $20k, I paid $19k, and got $11.5k as a trade after 16 months. You do the math.

BTW - in case anyone is wondering, the HHR stickered for $20k, I paid $19k, and got $11.5k as a trade after 16 months. You do the math.

:barf: <---Honda

So, that Civic must be pretty nice if you're willing to take $7500 up the kiester for it. Did YOU do the math?

Bummer about the trade in...but I am sure you will love your civic! Congrats!

BTW - in case anyone is wondering, the HHR stickered for $20k, I paid $19k, and got $11.5k as a trade after 16 months. You do the math.

If there's one downfall about the HHR, it's the resale value :(

I'm sure the Honda handles a bit better out of the gate. My HHR was much more road worthy AFTER the antisway bar was installed. I feel the HHR can let anyone down on handling without the antisway bar. Chevy should install them from the factory as it makes the car so much more drivable.

I can understand the migration from the HHR on the grounds of handling alone. Still, I've never owned a Honda or Toyota, but have driven some. They seem nice enough.
Too bad about the math loss. Resale value on so many used cars is in the gutter. Still, Hondas and Toyotas hold value better because of American perceptions/misconceptions that they are somehow that much better................:roll:

Good luck with the new ride If it makes you smile, that is cool.:thumb: I'm sure it won't tun any heads, but hey, that's not what your getting it for.:smile:

:barf: <---Honda

So, that Civic must be pretty nice if you're willing to take $7500 up the kiester for it. Did YOU do the math?

:cool: You've sure got a good point there! Makes holding on to the HHR for several years a good idea, unless you're really having some "Major" problems with it.:eek: That's our plan anyway!:thumb:

:barf: <---Honda

So, that Civic must be pretty nice if you're willing to take $7500 up the kiester for it. Did YOU do the math?

Yeah... it is really nice, and I have done the math (they made me in the finance office:mad:). The Civic feels more solid, sporty, and I LOVE Honda/Acura's Navigation systems.

On a side note, the Blue Book on my particular HHR was $11,8xx. CarMax offered me $10,500 without even looking at it, and Honda offered me $11,500 without even negotiating, so I got pretty close to KBB with minimal hassle. :cool:

As long as you're happy, and obviously you are, then you've done the right thing.
But I wouldn't trade my HHR for a Civic even if they gave me $7500 extra than my HHR is worth.

g.
I wouldn't trade my HHR for a Civic even if they gave me $7500 extra than my HHR is worth.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

I`am 110% with you on that 2 Grandfather`s,1 Uncle ,my Father and myself now with 28 years working for GM.That name as well as the rest of the asian car makers are never brought up with anything but negativety.

My Dad was such a GM man that when I was 17 I wanted this 66 T-Bird and he said where are you going to park it.I said in the driveway and he said you aren`t parking any Ford in my driveway.So I setteled for a 70 Pontiac Le Mans and had a parking spot.

Tough trading a 1 year old car...almost no matter what kind and make it is you are going to take a bath. If I decide to trade my Matrix if I get an HHR I'll be in the hole a bit (not 7500!) but that is due to the high miles (62k) If I had normal miles on it I'd probably be up about 3 grand on a trade in.


Enjoy the Civic, it is a great car and will last you forever with routine maintenance. In the end it is what makes you happy, not someone else.


Goose

The trade-in value on HHRs is really ridiculous. Just because they were inexpensive to start with doesn't mean they should depreciate so quickly. I guess this will just convince people to keep their HHRs. I plan to, unless I find a serious problem the dealer can't fix.

CarMax offered me $10,500 without even looking at it

Which CarMax buyer made you an offer without even looking at it? I'm just wondering because I used to work for them and that's a big no-no. They can get in pretty big trouble for pulling something like that. As in getting-fired-and-escorted-out-the-door-by-the-senior-buyer trouble.

As far as the value is concerned, an HHR is a lot lizard on the used market. Civics last a week, at most, whether or not they have decent mileage and good options. You can have a loaded HHR 2LT priced 5k off blue book and it'll take a month or two to sell it. Supply and demand.

I really hope you paid off the negative equity with cash because there's no way the value of even a Civic is going to be worth that much.

Congrats on your new ride.
Sorry to hear about the lost of your HHR, may be the next owner will keep for a while longer.
Congrats again!

Which CarMax buyer made you an offer without even looking at it? I'm just wondering because I used to work for them and that's a big no-no. They can get in pretty big trouble for pulling something like that. As in getting-fired-and-escorted-out-the-door-by-the-senior-buyer trouble.

As far as the value is concerned, an HHR is a lot lizard on the used market. Civics last a week, at most, whether or not they have decent mileage and good options. You can have a loaded HHR 2LT priced 5k off blue book and it'll take a month or two to sell it. Supply and demand.

I really hope you paid off the negative equity with cash because there's no way the value of even a Civic is going to be worth that much.

CarMax Nissan of White Marsh. And I ended up having $4500 in negative equity; I wrote a check to help lessen that blow. It will be paid off in two years anyway.

Congrats on your new ride.
Sorry to hear about the lost of your HHR, may be the next owner will keep for a while longer.
Congrats again!

Thanks! I left one of our cards in the operator's manual. Hopefully they'll check us out! I'd like to see where it ends up. I'll have to run a CarFax on it in a few weeks and see if it's sold yet...

Well up until this year I would have said, Honda Civic=BORING! But the new Civic's look fantastic...for a sedan...If you got the coupe it's even more studly. But let's not forget hey are two different vehicle classes...a Sedan vs. a MPV (yeah that's what the door sticker classifies it as, tho my AAA insurance calls it a Sport Truck) and not even comparable in category terms. PerryHallHHR must've NOT needed the HHR benefits any longer. And you know what they say about apples and oranges. BTW it's pretty common knowledge that ALL vehicles depreciate dramatically after 24 hrs. off the lot. In fact in the 3 hours of the mysteriously convoluted experience of buying my PE HHR I was told something to that effect...but I don't remember much after the first hour.

Wilson

Have to agree with crafty, about the Lot Lizard, and the reason I see, is the retail price of the used HHR's. Most are the same if not more than the new ones. At least that's what I've seen here. I haven't checked to see what is being given for trade in. I'm sure it's not near what they are asking. An 06 LS with 25,000 miles for $16,000? It's still sitting there after 3 months.....wonder why?

Have to agree with crafty, about the Lot Lizard, and the reason I see, is the retail price of the used HHR's. Most are the same if not more than the new ones. At least that's what I've seen here. I haven't checked to see what is being given for trade in. I'm sure it's not near what they are asking. An 06 LS with 25,000 miles for $16,000? It's still sitting there after 3 months.....wonder why?


X2

There is an 06 Orange LS with zero options other than automatic up here with over 30K on the clock and they are listing it for 16 grand :eek: And yep..haven't even seen it moved in like 3 months

I usually put about 35K a year on my car.....I used Galves which will give you a truer trade in value for your vehicle in most cases than KBB or Edmunds etc.....I was totally blown away that my 05 Matrix with 62K on it was worth more than an 06 LT with 35K on it (was just doing a comparison if I had bought an HHR and was gonna trade) I think the trade on the Matrix was 8500 and on a one year old HHR it was something like 7600 :eek: I almost fell over..the # was quite a bit less than what KBB listed.....

Crafty...maybe you know..is Galves a more realistic number that dealers value their trade ins by? I'm sure a dealer can assign any number to a trade but just wondered if the Galves was an industry standard.

I had one dealer offer me 10k on the trade and another 8300 so there is a pretty wide range I guess


Goose

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o299/GERAH7/SMILEYS%20AND%20MINIATURES/car2.gif

Enjoy the new ride!

Its sickening that that there are so many idiot Americans that believe the Japanese propaganda bull$&!t. Any American that believes in it should be truley ashamed.

Its sickening that that there are so many idiot Americans that believe the Japanese propaganda bull$&!t. Any American that believes in it should be truley ashamed.

Why the hate?:confused:

Its sickening that that there are so many idiot Americans that believe the Japanese propaganda bull$&!t. Any American that believes in it should be truley ashamed.

It's sickening that there are so many idiot Americans that say things like this without ever having driven a late model Japanese product. :roll:

And for the record, I never said I bought the Civic for any foreign manufacturer reasons. ;)

It's sickening that there are so many idiot Americans that say things like this without ever having driven a late model Japanese product. :roll:
:thumb: :bow:

Because its people like these that are working toward turning this country into the United States of Japan or China take your pick because as our trade gaps keep widening this is where our country is headed and its very sad to me. I'm not just picking on Toyota because again thanks to people who believe that their products are sooooo superior to our own. That there are so many Toyota products built in the States that people truly believe that they are doing America some sort of favor by buying a Toyota while much of the profits are headed direct to Japan rather than real American companies who are forced to build many of their cars out of the country because of costs. All because people THINK that forgein products are so great.

I say go drive a civic, a corolla, a focus, and a cobalt and tell me which you would choose if all 4 were made by the same company. I have a 2001 Focus and that's only because it could be had with 0% Financing.

Does anyone know where I can get a bumper sticker thats says "I'd rather push my domestic product that drive a forigen one" ;)

Intelligent people can agree to disagree.

Intelligent people can agree to disagree.

Agreed! and choose a vehicle that is right for them!

Very true this is America after all (for now) and people are still free to make their own choices.

Yeow - thank goodness America is still home of the free - Free to choose what we wanna drive. Perhaps not the choice some of us would make - but, to each their own... Mom always said if you don't have something NICE to say.... Good luck & enjoy your new ride Perry...

Now, when it's time to trade in (private party sale?) my HHR - I must say that it will be for a new Camaro Convertible... I think my dealership still has me as 1st on the list for their first convert! :nuts:

The SSR will never leave my stable though...

http://www.chevyhhr.net/gallery/files/1/5/4/6/CSburnout.jpg

I have driven many late model Japanese, Korean, German cars they are ok cars. When we bought our HHR I was finally able to sell my Wifes 2003 Corrola that she had when we met. I was so happy to get rid of it. Tranny problems A/c problems, Struts all bad at 40,000. Was not a good car I guess it never left her stranded but then again my 89 Suburban with 300,000 miles as never left us stranded either or my 1977 GMC sierra. Or the 1995 Buick lesabre with 200,000 miles on the 3.8L that still got 30mpg on the highway or better. So in my experience Japanese cars are no better than American cars. Nor is there any true evidence that they are. But Americans today seem unable to think for themselves and just go for what some magazine says is the best car as that magazine is raking in advertisment dollars from the Japs. Congrats on the purchase of your so called superior product.

Congratulations on the new ride! The Ontario-built Civic is still the gold standard for compact cars (although the Cobalt does offer a viable – if a tad bit more boring – alternative).

While I call the Civic “the gold standard” it’s not because it says Honda on the front. It is simply that Honda has become very good at building that type of car. I don’t think any automaker has the market cornered on every vehicle type. One look at any top-ten list shows that even the most jaded publication lists cars from all sorts of origins. How many award have Corvettes, Silverados, and Tahoes won? I’ll just leave it at that!

In any case, enjoy your Civic. It’ll give you many years and have good resale at the end. I considered one as well, but I needed the cargo room and (albeit small) towing capacity. Hopefully the new owner enjoys this forum as well!

Its sickening that that there are so many idiot Americans that believe the Japanese propaganda bull$&!t. Any American that believes in it should be truley ashamed.

uuhhhh..have you driven a japanese car lately?

Because its people like these that are working toward turning this country into the United States of Japan or China take your pick because as our trade gaps keep widening this is where our country is headed and its very sad to me. I'm not just picking on Toyota because again thanks to people who believe that their products are sooooo superior to our own. That there are so many Toyota products built in the States that people truly believe that they are doing America some sort of favor by buying a Toyota while much of the profits are headed direct to Japan rather than real American companies who are forced to build many of their cars out of the country because of costs. All because people THINK that forgein products are so great.


maybe if american car manufacturers would stop making the interior of their cars look so crappy people would come back to purchasing them. I've owned everything from fast cars to trucks to 4 cylinder cars to vans and I can honestly say I like imports better because they have nicer interior designs.

You're making comparisons between a 4-cylinder toyota and v6 to v8 american cars? Dont seem like a good comparison to me. A lot of v6 japanese cars can out-compete american v6's with both performance and interior design. Oh and at $3+ a gallon of gas, who's going to want to buy a gas guzzlin' american SUV and spend ridiculous amounts of money on gas?

Good point about the interiors.

GM has gotten a lot better in recent years. When the new Grand Prix came up I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the interior shots. I think if you look at most of the General’s line-up you’ll find cars that are at least competitive. Just not in all segments.

The Civic, Rabbit, and Mazda3 interiors all put the Cobalt’s into a lower class. I just don’t think that GM has put enough effort into its small cars. You look at the 2008 CTS, the Tahoe, or the Acadia and you can see that GM can make good-looking cars with very nice interiors. They just don’t put forth the same effort with their compacts. I’m just glad the interior on the HHR is as nice as it is.

you are so correct about the small car comparisons kris. That new mazdaspeed 3 has such a great interior and a 260hp engine I just cant wait to do another trade in and drive one of those bad boys.

maybe if american car manufacturers would stop making the interior of their cars look so crappy people would come back to purchasing them. I've owned everything from fast cars to trucks to 4 cylinder cars to vans and I can honestly say I like imports better because they have nicer interior designs.

You're making comparisons between a 4-cylinder toyota and v6 to v8 american cars? Dont seem like a good comparison to me. A lot of v6 japanese cars can out-compete american v6's with both performance and interior design. Oh and at $3+ a gallon of gas, who's going to want to buy a tank of an american SUV and spend ridiculous amounts of money on gas?

Uhhh have you aven driven any late model Domestic cars because from what I've seen there are many new domestic interiors that far outclass many Japanese products. Lets take the new tundra for example The new Silverado interior is luxury all the way around even the work truck interior is far nicer and more upscale that the tundra. As far as gas prices go lets take a look at a Silverado and a Tundra again you tell me which one gets worse mileage. Toyota is every bit as much at fault for burning the world petroleum rescources as the domestics are unless you are saying that every one who drives a toyota is driving a Prius. And Perry to your credit I'll be the first to admit that the interior in the new Civics is pretty fricken cool. But my point is that me, being a hillbilly hick up here in Montana would just like to think that Americans would care more about their country that to give their money away to another country when they have a choice not to it just doesn't make sence to me. I don't want to be the bad guy here I just get pretty fired up about this subject.

X2
I usually put about 35K a year on my car.....I used Galves which will give you a truer trade in value for your vehicle in most cases than KBB or Edmunds etc.....I was totally blown away that my 05 Matrix with 62K on it was worth more than an 06 LT with 35K on it (was just doing a comparison if I had bought an HHR and was gonna trade) I think the trade on the Matrix was 8500 and on a one year old HHR it was something like 7600 :eek: I almost fell over..the # was quite a bit less than what KBB listed.....

Crafty...maybe you know..is Galves a more realistic number that dealers value their trade ins by? I'm sure a dealer can assign any number to a trade but just wondered if the Galves was an industry standard.

I had one dealer offer me 10k on the trade and another 8300 so there is a pretty wide range I guess


Goose

Honestly, it really depends more on how the cars are doing in the local auctions for your area. I've never used Galves, but KBB, Edmunds, and NADA all look at the top dollar for a similar car in the region. If you're in the midwest, that's from Chicago down to Houston. Cars are going to have wildly different values between those two metro areas and it's really a seasonal thing, too, which most websites are about 60 days off from anyway.

If you really want to trade, CarMax really does use the local auction reports in real time to help determine the value of the car. But they run a very low margin on the cars and kick 90% out to auction, so they don't dicker much from the auction value when it comes to appraisals. That's why they say they give you their best price the first time--they can't afford to do better! A local dealer may be willing to give you more for the car and simply make it up via ADP, doc fees, prep fees, freight charges, undercoating, etc. KMX doesn't offer that stuff, other than the $150 doc fee, so they can't make it up on the back end.

On the new Civic, though, I was thinking that it looks an awful lot like a '99 Saturn coupe. Seems like the Japanese are rehashing a lot of the jellybean shapes from the '90s, although since they've recruited a lot of former GM and Ford engineers, it's not surprising.

have you aven driven any late model Domestic cars because from what I've seen there are many new domestic interiors that far outclass many Japanese products

Lets keep it in the 4 and 6 cylinder class.

name them...


Lets take the new tundra for example The new Silverado interior

I thought you were comparing domestic and import cars?



dont blame the consumers for trying to get the best for their money. Instead of accusing people of being "unamerican" you should look deeper into the american businesses flooding our market with cheap stuff. They are the culprits. I know you've purchased from Walmart before...

Since you like comparing trucks so much go check out the Nissan Titan and tell me how that compares to your Silverado. And by the way imports are not known for their trucks but they do cover almost everything else in the market.

Boy this thread went to hell fast.

BTW, I'll take a Silverado over any import truck on the market. Period. :lol:

Hell I'll take a Ram over most import trucks......:D

"Gone to hell" is a bit strong. I mean, nobody has compared GM with Lada yet! :lol:

The Silverado is one heck of a truck. I'd go for the GMC as I like the syling a little bit more...

As much as I hate imports and when an American chooses to buy an import over a domestic it's PerryHallHHR's choice to make. It's not my decision to live with so if he's happy cool. I'll bash imports and the market but not an individual buyer. It makes me a little sad inside but I'll live. :lol:

Lets keep it in the 4 and 6 cylinder class.

name them...



I thought you were comparing domestic and import cars?



dont blame the consumers for trying to get the best for their money. Instead of accusing people of being "unamerican" you should look deeper into the american businesses flooding our market with cheap stuff. They are the culprits. I know you've purchased from Walmart before...

Since you like comparing trucks so much go check out the Nissan Titan and tell me how that compares to your Silverado. And by the way imports are not known for their trucks but they do cover almost everything else in the market.

Again consumers only think they are getting more for their money because some magazine told them they are which is the only thing that predicts resale values is how much people want to pay and because people THINK their imports are better they over pay for them its that simple.

Now onto interiors
Toyota Camry http://us.autos1.yimg.com/img.autos.yahoo.com/ag/toyota_camryhybrid_4doorsedan_2007_interior_19_346 x270.jpg

Saturn Aura http://www.automobilemag.com/auto_shows/naias_2005/0501_445+Saturn_Aura_Concept+Interior_View_Steerin g_Wheel.jpg

And I know its not out yet but

2008 Chevy Malibu http://images.motortrend.com/features/auto_news/112_0702_17z+2008_chevrolet_malibu+interior.jpg

Honda accord http://us.autos1.yimg.com/img.autos.yahoo.com/ag/honda_accordhybrid_5spdat_2007_interior_19_346x270 .jpg

None of them are bad but I know which ones look better to me.

None of them are bad but I know which ones look better to me.

Exactly! Its all about a person's choice. Just because you prefer the styling of a domestic with old school radios and one with the least user tech gadgets installed doesnt make you more of an "american" than those who say "i think imports are better".

Honda Accord 2.4EX w/nav, leather - $23800 3.0L V-6 244 HP (26 city, 34 hwy)
Saturn Aura w/leather (no nav) - $23400 3.6L V-6 252 HP (20 city, 28 hwy)
Toyota Camry XLE w/nav, leather and everything else thrown at it - $30200 3.5L V-6 268 HP (22 city, 31 hwy)
2007 Chevrolet Malibu LTZ 4dr Sedan with everything including front plate brackets (no nav) - $23500 3.5L V-6 217 HP (22 city , 32 hwy)


For the sake of making fair comparisons I decided to look up a 2007 Malibu instead of the 2008. I'm pretty sure Toyota and Honda will be coming out with better styling for the 2008 versions of their sedans.

For giggles I added this car into the mix.

2007 Nissan Altima 3.5 SL 4dr Sedan w/ leather and tech package - $29000 3.5L V-6 270 HP (20 city, 29 hwy)


http://www.nissanusa.com/img/vehicles/vdp_features/altima/alt_int_pfa_main.jpg




Now back to our regular scheduled thread.

Honestly, it really depends more on how the cars are doing in the local auctions for your area. I've never used Galves, but KBB, Edmunds, and NADA all look at the top dollar for a similar car in the region. If you're in the midwest, that's from Chicago down to Houston. Cars are going to have wildly different values between those two metro areas and it's really a seasonal thing, too, which most websites are about 60 days off from anyway.

If you really want to trade, CarMax really does use the local auction reports in real time to help determine the value of the car. But they run a very low margin on the cars and kick 90% out to auction, so they don't dicker much from the auction value when it comes to appraisals. That's why they say they give you their best price the first time--they can't afford to do better! A local dealer may be willing to give you more for the car and simply make it up via ADP, doc fees, prep fees, freight charges, undercoating, etc. KMX doesn't offer that stuff, other than the $150 doc fee, so they can't make it up on the back end.

On the new Civic, though, I was thinking that it looks an awful lot like a '99 Saturn coupe. Seems like the Japanese are rehashing a lot of the jellybean shapes from the '90s, although since they've recruited a lot of former GM and Ford engineers, it's not surprising.

I knew the Civic sedan reminded me of something... and from a particular angle in the front, it looks a little like the 2003-2004 Saturn ION (before it's nose job).

Again consumers only think they are getting more for their money because some magazine told them they are which is the only thing that predicts resale values is how much people want to pay and because people THINK their imports are better they over pay for them its that simple.

Now onto interiors
Toyota Camry

Saturn Aura http://www.automobilemag.com/auto_shows/naias_2005/0501_445+Saturn_Aura_Concept+Interior_View_Steerin g_Wheel.jpg

And I know its not out yet but

2008 Chevy Malibu http://images.motortrend.com/features/auto_news/112_0702_17z+2008_chevrolet_malibu+interior.jpg

Honda accord http://us.autos1.yimg.com/img.autos.yahoo.com/ag/honda_accordhybrid_5spdat_2007_interior_19_346x270 .jpg

None of them are bad but I know which ones look better to me.

I test drove the Camry as well before buying (because 1. I hate the outdated Corolla; and 2. I actually really dig the new Camry's style), but I came to the conclusion that it was bigger than what I really wanted, and I was able to get a Civic EX w/ Nav and Moonroof for LESS than what I could have gotten a Camry LE without Nav OR Moonroof for. Plus, the customer service was better at the Honda dealership too.

As far as MPG goes, my HHR 2.2 auto was rated at 23/30, and my Civic is rated at 30/40. I've driven about 250 miles since I picked it up, and am down to about a quarter tank. I was getting about 24 MPG average on the HHR in almost 90% highway driving, so even in my break-in period with the Civic, I'm still doing - at worst - the same.

I still really like the HHR as a car, and mine served me well for the year and half that I had it, but it was time for me to move on.

.... I don't want to be the bad guy here I just get pretty fired up about this subject.

You have said your peace..... time to relax and back to enjoying the forum!

dont blame the consumers for trying to get the best for their money. Instead of accusing people of being "unamerican" you should look deeper into the american businesses flooding our market with cheap stuff. They are the culprits. I know you've purchased from Walmart before...

Since you like comparing trucks so much go check out the Nissan Titan and tell me how that compares to your Silverado. And by the way imports are not known for their trucks but they do cover almost everything else in the market.

Um, yeah, when I hear people whining about losing their white collar jobs, the housing market drying up, and the dollar collapsing to the euro and yen, you're damn right I'm going to ask them "What's in YOUR driveway?" CapitalOne-style.

There is no comparison between the Titan and the Silverado. The Titan, like the Ram, is an outdated design that hasn't had a very good history in its short lifespan. In fact, it's actually the first full-size truck that's actually had a worse service and reliability record than the Dodge Ram. I'm sure once Nissan and Toyota have a few years to figure out how to make luxury car transmissions strong enough for stump pulling they'll have a good truck, but for now at least the Big 3 still own that market. It's the only thing keeping them going.

I currently buy american but I did own a nissan 200 sx in the 90's. It was a great car, very reliable. I've also had good luck with all my fords, a 73 maverick (first car) I got it used with over 200k miles on it in the mid 80's, I put about 73k on it before the trans went. Almost 300k on a 73 ford, not bad, only thing I replaced on it was the heater coil (core?) and water pump.
Had a festiva that had 189k miles on it, sold it still running. 2 ford zx2's one has over 200k and was still riding around last summer, the one I just traded in had 105k - no problems, just wanted a bigger car so I got the HHR.
My husband also sticks with fords -Ranger, Bronco, Explorer and now F150.
He was a mechanic so he's pretty good with keeping up with maintenance.

I think it all comes down to personal preference and researching the models you are looking at. However on foreign vs. domestic, when you see all the local layoffs (Chevy/GM/Ford) it makes you think. I for one will stick with domestics as long as the reliability is there in the model I'm looking at. I have the 3 yr / 36k on the hhr so after the water leak is fixed I'm hoping that is it.

Um, yeah, when I hear people 1) whining about losing their white collar jobs, 2) the housing market drying up, 3) and the dollar collapsing to the euro and yen, you're damn right I'm going to ask them "What's in YOUR driveway?" CapitalOne-style.


1) With big business nowadays, you are not guaranteed job security no matter who you work for.

2) The housing market is drying up because investors who bought up the homes looking for a quick profit (which drove home prices up) are now moving their money somewhere else, over flooding the market with many available homes causing prices to go down which in turn affects new home owners' equity who purchased at peak.

3) My opinion, big business moving their facilities outside of the U.S. to save money, taking the jobs with them, and selling products/services back to U.S. citizens and residents is party to blame for the dollar being down. How does it make sense to take away jobs from the same people that buy your products/services from you?


So with all this going on in the U.S. and the world, do you really think it can make a difference if people buy American made vehicles? Wait...GM is an American company, HHRs are made in Mexico...hmmm.