Another <OT> post *we're getting a new car! :)

its 12 litres to a 100 km - better than all my caravans.... its smaller .. thinner... not as wide or long.... weighs less and fixes it's own emmisions (to a certain extent)

also - i do not think mazie to be a bane on the earth - like humans can be

edit - i also live in a house with no driveway - and no parking out front - so charging presents it's own unique difficulty.

Conservative gov also cut all rebates on emmision friendly vehicles - would have got up to 8k rebate under previous standing lib program = gone. poof. go harper! (literally)

edit - icing on the cake is - ontario govt helped bail out USA - GM = part owners -  so they also removed incentives EXCEPT for the volt (basically)

the ...55k CDN volt...

right

take my van PLEASE

i never want to see one of these things again

at LEAST i will not be in the HIVE of caravans anymore - that even Pixar made me feel stupid about!

actually you re right - the cnet review was wonky as they were grading the car for geek factor - which are all extras i didnt buy - like 30 gig hard drive and dvd for kids - gps - bluetooth -  sat radio...yadda  ($$)  *USB input: "add $400)  seriously.

i just like the vehicle specs vs - trades offs on size / energy/ emmision / comfort / look =  the result.

..and i - think - im happy with the result.  (i studied all kinds of stuff to pick this car btw)

well the hybrids have this little gottcha called battery life... like the iphone and my regular wireless phones.  it really bugs me to have to replace batteries (ya i know - you have too) ... but the old phones worked in a blackout... i dunno.  but ya - after _____ time = new 7k battery.

the nissan Leaf looks pretty good - but its again all electric - no driveway.

ps - it really is Matrix / Yaris size - except for the front hood - that ...contains the engine and the stuff to stop the engine from polluting (or tries too)

edit: anyway - its not another frikin Caravan! 

edit 2: im also 6ft - and rather large... this car will probably last from 45 to 55 (ak)

i dont want to crouch at that age 

..and LAST - ive never had a "nice" car... ive always been -" no prob - we've got the van" guy.

Im going to try to keep this one - NOT a moving van. 

excellent advice - thanks - ill make sure to bring that up  ....and the rim thing

seriously - thanks  (the ol "ultimate" trick - should have known better )

ps i cant bring myself to call it Mitsu yet ...

thanks again - this will really help me tomorrow

the 1999 caravan had 10k on it when bought. it now has 146k - after 10 yrs -

minus newfoundland trip - and nova scotia/new york trip - we dont drive that much either

@Phreaks - you were right. the guy is giving me a list of all maintenace times and pricing - for monday

*it's basically a go

and last - re: SUV size

Toyota Matrix

Width    69

Height    61

Length    173

Outlander

Width   71

Height  67

Length  183

Difference

Width   2 inches

Height  6 inches

Length  10 inches

but the 10 inches is mainly front hood - and the head room (6 in = no crouching) was important to me

* couple more pics - http://www.channel9.ca/car/ 

* going from 16" tires to 18" would be 2500 ! more ... i like the tires - but not that much

in the comparison shot - they look almost identical - except you can see seat height is higher in outlander

or... up!

price was also a factor - we checked out ford honda toyota suzuki kia et all..  many were nice

ps - it was also the only CUV (crossover) or SUV to win the india emmisions standard for 2010. That was important to tory.
*we dont have that here - but ill take any eco-award i can get to not crouch getting in !

edit: there should be an award for "Way better for environment than my last car" or something

*i do realise it is still a gas eating car.  i know.   its the best we could do - to be better - but still happy

*need to make sure i can Drive (@) 55

PS - Car Tip

If you live where there is snow sometimes - always buy silver cars - they match the salt and slush - and in the nice months - theres nothing on the car - and they reflect the sun.

no...  not for 2k more ...

Ive never had a cd player though - let alone one with 6 disc... in a car... the stereo sounded amazing as is. 

"thats the way it was and i liked it!"

signed on the dotted line today. had to drive 2 hours - sign my name - and drive back 2 hours.

anyway - we get it tomorrow! at around 6.

* i got a really good deal. list 23 - offer 20 cash w/new tires -  ended up at 20,500 - w/new tires free

Still waiting on insurance write off quote on caravan - hopefully its 2 to 3k = would be 18-ish  (cdn)

 (new 2009 outlander LS would = 32k +tax @ 13%)

* i know eh? all of a sudden that 36k/km doesnt sound too bad.

Car tip 2:   never buy a new vehicle - as you lose aprox 5k driving it off the lot. try to find mint 1 yr old - low miles.

*i found this out the hard way after accident where i was parked - (not my fault at all)  but insurance went with book - not new value.

This happened on the 2nd caravan - and then i had to repay the tax again on the difference to replace it - or basically - 5k to replace on top of settlement - tax on 22k - NOT the 5k

*in Canada they call this " No Fault Insurance"  =  everyone gets scr__d  equally.

so we got the car and are very happy with it

the only weird thing is - it looks like a big honkin SUV - and after finding that India Bharath stage 4 2010 thing - we were quite relieved to find out this vehicle is actually a "PZEV" = partial zero emissions vehicle

http://www.greencar.com/articles/mitsubishis-pzev-outlander.php

and

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/zevprog/factsheets/driveclean.pdf 

(pzev is at about 80% on the good side of chart)

so all in all...  happy we are not as evil as we look

edit: other neat stuff:

- never had a key lob before - if its in your pocket - you just walk up to car and put your hand on door - it unlocks - you get in and start keyless ... key.   ..and the car goes on

- all caravans had plastic steering wheels etc - this has leather wheel and shift ..nice change

- back 4 seats change config - to make bed... pretty cool