I am often asked what are my favorite new cars, what are the worst cars I've driven, and what kind of gas mileage all the different cars get. Since I've been lax on the blogging board lately, I thought I would answer some of these questions today. A few of these will still be topics of future posts and a few of them I have already posted on. Of course, as I'm sitting here trying to think of the different cars, it becomes difficult to narrow them down. As a result, this isn't an all inclusive or definite list but just a few of the vehicles that have made a real impression.....
Car that has most impressed me recently : 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
Car that has least impressed me recently: 2007 Toyota Corolla
My favorite styling on a current model car: 2008 Pontiac G-8 & 2009 Ford Mustang
Favorite all-around driver: 2008 Ford Edge & 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
Best fun feeling from a car: 2007 Pontiac Gran Prix GXP,2008 Buick LaCrosse Super, & 2008 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport....there is STILL nothing like a performance V-8!
As far as gas mileage, as you can probably figure out if you've read my reviews, for the most part, cars in the same categories get about the same gas mileage. Giant suv's average 15, Average suv's seem to average about 18, compact suv's average about 20, average cars average about 25, compacts average about 32, and trucks average about 16. Occasionally, there is a standout from these #'s but it is rare. Highway mileage, even on large cars, is usually pretty impressive these days and city mileage on most of the vehicles just isn't up where we need it. The only vehicles that seem to get what one would consider GOOD city mileage are the hybrids. However, beware that if you are primarily a highway driver of long distance, such as myself, a hybrid is not worth the difference to you. This is because the gas engine in the vehicle runs all of the time at highway speeds. Don't rule out a large car for road trips just because you think the 8 cylinders are going to suck gas...I have consistently achieved 24/25 mpg on the road with all of the recent V-8 cars I have driven and they are by far more comfortable than smaller cars. In fact, if you recall, even the Expedition EL averaged 17mpg on a trip for me...not too bad for city/highway mix.
Most of the cars today seem to be fairly well put together but I will say that each manufacturer seems to have some good and some bad so you just have to try them out and get a feel for each model. Occasionally, I'll take a well-known brand that I expect to really be impressed with and wind up feeling like it's a clunker. On the other hand, some of the less popular brands sometimes surprise me and put out something that really has a quality feel to it. Many of the manufacturers today try to make their different models unique by placing things like window controls, door lock controls, mirror controls etc....in odd and unusual places. I can't stand this and it drives me nuts. It may be neat to them but for this old-fashioned guy, things were sure nice when you could get in any car and the location of certain items was pretty much universal! As usual, I miss the good ole' days! Back then, we also didn't have to worry about this gas mileage mess as much...we could actually drive what we wanted to just because it's what we wanted and liked. Those were the days!
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