plusone

I've rented a couple over the last month thanks to having my car in the shop.

2006 Nissan Sentra - decent power for what it is, comfortable enough for 400 mile days, good mileage, terrible torque steer.

2006 Nissan Altima - good power for the V6, hated the gated shifter, not intuitive at all, totally not comfortable, noisy, and there was NO key cylinder for the trunk. Seriously?

I'm curious Homeslice. You're pretty critical of most of the cars you review, and that's fine, I agree with your comments on the ones I've driven. But, I'm curious, what is your personal car? I just want to know what stands up to the *Homeslice test* for a long term test car. :lol:

I drive a 15 year old Ford Probe GT that I picked up from a coworker 5 years ago for $2,000. Money isn't the problem, I could buy almost any car I wanted, but I don't feel the need since I don't use a car very often. In the 5 years I've owned this beater I've only put 30K miles on it.

No, but being cheap is!

2009 Pontiac G6 GT - Excellent fuel economy, superior powertrain and transmission shifiting. Good overall build quality and looks are good for a midsize car. Car is smooth and quiet and a good choice for long distance cruises.

2008 Malibu 3.6 VVT a/6speed automatic - Exceptional build quality, superior power for a V-6 while retaining over 30mpg. 6 speed transmisison shifts well, but sometimes can bang if you play with the throttle alot. Ride is super smooth, steering is sharp and the interior looks German. I'd buy this car..oh wait I own one. LOL

The last G6 I drove had horrible wind noise......I couldn't figure it out.

That's one area where my car blows away nearly all others :rockwoot:

Finally sold mine a few months ago. Despite some age related faults I thought it was great car. 95 I picked up in 99.

Should have kept it as a beater. Few cars today have as big a hatch.

Um, a GOLD ford focus??? Well, that's what I got stuck with this time. On the plus side, the headlights and taillights look good.

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This car has a little more power than the old Focus, but the steering isn't as firm or precise, and the shocks allow more body motion, so if you want handling, get a used Focus SVT and save $10K. The seats were mushy, mouse-fur crap with very little bolstering. The center part of the dash had the same faux-aluminum silver plastic that became played out 6-7 years ago. There were too many buttons, which could have easily been replaced by 3-4 dials like the previous car I posted. The tachometer digits were bent around the dial, which I thought was immature and hard to read.

Verdict: Just another example of a formerly good small car that has now become upsized, softer and heavier, to meet the demands of ficticious consumers whose opinions they probably didn't even ask. If you're in the market for a car in this class, get a Rabbit or Mazda 3 instead.

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'09 Volvo S60

High quality interior - everything fit together like it was made out of the same piece of high-grade plastic. Leather seats were plush enough to be comfortable but not so plush as to be annoying.

Power was great - it leapt ahead when the accelerator was pressed lightly and shifted at particularly decent times.

Handling... Meh. Definitely tuned for driving in a parking lot vs highway. I found it annoying to think of going to the right and ending up changing lanes without having made my hands actually move the wheel.

Got a Hyundai Sonata this time. Engine was much better than the Elantra, fairly smooth and decent torque, although it didn't have any high-rpm rush. Handling sucked ass, due to a too-soft suspension. Decent ride quality though.

http://i44.tinypic.com/1jkva0.jpg

The interior was non-offensive but very generic. Radio controls were ugly. Seats sucked ass, mouse fur with no side support at all.

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The climate controls were simple and easy to understand, unlike most cars...........But I preferred the ones on the Elantra because the re-circ button is integrated into the fan speed dial.

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Elantra......

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