A must read for choosing a new car
 

Seems like a total "DO NOT BUY AMERICAN" article to me.

The only american made car mentioned was the Aveo.

Also, whats with the Versa having the lowest rated TCO when who knows how the thing is going to hold up, its only been on the market a year or two.... they gave it the best rated 5 year total cost of ownership... JOKE.

The Aveo is American badged, but not American made. It's a badge-engineered Daewoo Kalos, entirely made (and presumably engineered) in Korea. Everyone knows it's an underachiever, though I suspect that it could be an effective choice for some individuals.

The other cars from the article:
Suzuki SX4 Crossover - I'm not surprised. They don't deal in enough volume to be able to deliver a good value.
Mitsubishi Lancer - I don't know enough to comment.
Ford Focus - I don't understand why it has a high TCO.
Scion tC - Not a surprise, its price includes the Toyota tax (that's what I call the premium price you pay for the reputation). With a lower purchase price, longer warranty, and lower repair price it would be extremely competitive. The bargain-priced Kia Forte seems to be targeting the tC and may do well if people have enough confidence in Kia.

The entire article is about IntelliChoice's TCO ratings. I've never heard of them. Does anyone know what criteria they use?

I tried looking them up but all i got was a poorly designed website that looked like it was taken straight from the late 90's. I waded through the tangled web of pages long enough to get a headache, but still haven't found their formula for the TCO.

As an ex-Focus owner, Im not sure how it would cost more than anything else to own. Even the air filter was supposed to last well over 100K miles before needing replacing... :eek:

The worst rental car I ever had was a Mitsubishi Lancer. Although it looked decent, after driving the car I quickly realized it was very poorly designed. I was glad I only had to endure that car for one day.

good info at least in concept. this is just another reason NOT to buy new. buying used allows for longer, more accurate reviews. of course, some new cars have that "this year's model is unchanged" badge, so...

Yeah, I know... And Jay, what year was the lancer, and I assume that was not the evo? I love the evo's to death, thats my reason for asking. They are fast and AWD, enough reason for me...

one thing about buying new is that if you can keep the car until it isn't worth keeping, you've probably got your moneys worth out of it. (not worth keeping = junkyard time)

a friend of mine at work bought a brand new GMC jimmy. I think he told me he had it ordered it. he is the only ever owner and drives it daily to work and back. I don't know the mileage but this year makes 23 years he has had it. he seriously considered the cash-for-clunkers thing for it but he put about $1000 into it not too long before they started talking about the C4C thing. he still currently drives it and has no plans of getting rid of it.

he has truly gotten his money out of that vehicle. my wife's element had 13 miles on it when we got it. I hope to keep it until it dies. it is a 2004 and has a little over 130k on it. after she is done with it, it will become my beater.

as for the lancer evo...I'd rather have the volvo S60-R. AWD with a 0-6 at 4.6 seconds. (that's just my opinion)

I rented the Lancer in 2003 I think. I was looking for the cheapest car as I was only driving it one day. When I do a multiple day rental I go for the Grand Marquis. I think it cost me like $25/day (maybe even less). It wasn't a bad looking car, and it was a 4 door. I was upset because I found out it was such a cheap car it didn't have a cruise control. Who ever heard of a rental that didn't have cruise? Anyway when I picked up the car in Orlando it reeked of this awful cherry air freshener. I got the car going about 75 MPH on I-4 and decided to roll down the windows to blow the cherry stink out of the car. (Surprisingly it did have power windows) Anyway, going 75 MPH with all 4 windows down, there was this awful harmonic vibration that resonated throughout the entire vehicle. I rolled the windows up, and it stopped, but then the car reeked of cigarette smoke. So much for my "nonsmoking" car reservation. That Lancer was my second worst rental experience ever. (My worst was a Ford F150 pickup that had 13 miles on it when I picked it up. Truck left me on the side of the road before it even had 100 miles on it.)

The Lancer and Evo are two entirely unrelated cars, except for the Mitsubishi badge. The Lancer is an econobox FWD cheapie. The Evo is every bit the challenge to the S60-R Volvo, also with AWD and a 300 HP turbocharged power plant.