STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Teresa · Kate Spade

ISO a new car

rosie_the_riveter · Gucci

I have an '05 Toyota Corolla that I really like. I think it was 17 something after all the fees but that's only b/c it's got the rims (as opposed to wheel covers), and a six CD changer. Minus things like that, you could get it cheaper.

luckylily · Gucci

Yup, I bought a new Prius back in August. I absolutely love it. I'm not sure why anyone would say it is strange on the inside? If anything, it is unusually roomy for a car of that size. I find it to be really comfortable as does my husband who is a big dude. It is a really comfortable ride and I like the way it drives; it handles really well, IMO. This wasn't a consideration for me, but a lot of people are surprised that it has so much get up and go. I find there are still a lot of people who believe hybrid reduces performance, but it is similar to any other similar priced car of that size. The negative comment I might have is that there is a lot of road noise. The engine is super quiet, but you can hear every bump in and the road. I don't notice it a lot 'cause I hae the music up pretty loud.

Let me know if you have other questions. I seriously am SO GLAD I went w/ the Prius.

Kelly · Hermes

FWIW, I thought about getting a Prius for a while, but I decided against it because I was afraid of what would happen if it broke down or something. It's not like most cars where you can just walk into a junk yard and buy a new part - you'll have to order it from the manufacturer and have them help you fix it, and it will all probably end up costing you a whole lot more. My dad owns a salvage yard and sometimes fixes cars up to sell them as running vehicles. He's had a Prius sitting in the lot for about a year now. He wants to fix it up but he's never had the opportunity to buy another one yet (to get the parts to fix the original) because there just aren't that many out there yet. That might be a piddly concern for you, though, in which case I don't have much to say about it. I never got to test drive one for any real length of time.

That's why I got a diesel Jetta instead - it still gets great gas mileage, but if anything ever happens to it it will be a lot easier to find parts and take it into any body shop to get it fixed.

Edited because sometimes I hit "submit" before I actually finish writing complete sentences :)

-- Edited by ttara123 at 18:54, 2008-01-31

pollyjean23 · Marc Jacobs

I have a Toyota Matrix, and I absolutely love it. You can fit so much in it, and it is extremely comfortable. Lots of room for people and things. The vehicle itself is not high, but the seats are--easy to enter and exit. I think it would be great for someone with kids. The dash is grippy and somewhat sporty.

shopaholic · Dooney & Bourke

Hondas are really reliable and the Civic gets great mileage, plus its a great price, and its a good looking car too. i dont personally have one but my bf wants one bad.... you should go test drive all the ones you have in mind and that would be the deal breaker...hth!

NCshopper · Hermes

shopaholic wrote:

Hondas are really reliable and the Civic gets great mileage, plus its a great price, and its a good looking car too. i dont personally have one but my bf wants one bad.... you should go test drive all the ones you have in mind and that would be the deal breaker...hth!

I totally agree. I have a 97 Honda Civic and it still runs like a champ and still gets great gas mileage. It's been highly reliable, comfortable, and it wasn't that expensive when we bought it.

erin · Chanel

10th the hondas! i think my 87 got getter gas mileage than dh's 02 car!

mcmimi · Nine West

I just got a new honda civic and I LOVE it. When I went car shopping, I only looked at Toyatas and Hondas since I wanted something reliable with an excellent reputation. The civic fell in my price range, is reliable, and looks nice (IMO). It's perfect for me!

Metric · Gucci

i adore my 05 Civic as well. I get fantastic mileage. I can go almost 2 weeks between fills.
The Fit is kind of cute too but I have an inexplicable love of hatchbacks.

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

Love the Honda Civics...My '99 gets great gas mileage, and you'd be suprised at how much you can stuff in these things. I used to put my 8' surfboard in there, and before I got a bike rack I put my road bike in there. Plus I've never had anything major go wrong with. Just little tiny things like the window motor got a little tired.

Elle · Hermes

I have a Forrester - we get nearly 30 mpg in the city, it has all-wheel drive, and it's one of the only small SUVs/cars that can hold 3 carseats across the back bench

, if that's a concern for your nanny job. It also hauls an insane amount of stuff, and like hondas you can buy one with a few miles on it because they'll run until their wheels fall off. We paid $13k for ours - it's 2 years old and had less than 40k miles on it when we got it.

halleybird · Hermes

I love Corollas and Civics, but around here they're everywhere, so I probably wouldn't buy one, even though I once had a Corolla that I really loved.

My sister has a Nissan Versa that's really cute. I am normally a Toyota fan, but the crash-test ratings for the Nissan were higher, and it's really roomy inside, plus it gets great gas mileage. You can get a really nice tricked-out version for under $18k.