First day in 8 years with no VW.

Sort of down. Had to buy a new car but could not even get close to
swinging enough $$$ for a new Golf. Had an A3 Gold for 8 years,
nearly 150k miles. But it was old and after putting 2 grand in
repairs, another 1.5 grand showed up. I was tired of putting money
into a car with no end in sight. So I had to buy a new car on the
cheap. I hate used cars so never buy them. I had not really
followed VW's prices recently so was taken aback at how much the Golf
costs. I sure would buy one again if I had the $$$. So I got what I
could, a (UGH) Chevy Aveo hatchback. I never got to drive an A1 Golf,
but I imagine it was similar to this car. Light as heck. Tiny, fits
nearly anywhere. Amazing fuel milage. Maybe it doesnt handle as well
as an A1. And it only costs 10 grand. Decent warranty. I'll see how
it holds up. Not expecting much. I just wish VW had a cheaper car.
They used to be the people's car.

Its hard not driving a VW anymore. and I hate Chevy's.

Be glad you got a new car at all. I don't know how anybody can afford them.
How come you didn't shop around and buy a good used VW from somebody like I
did?
Fred



"rat" > wrote in message ...
> Sort of down. Had to buy a new car but could not even get close to
> swinging enough $$$ for a new Golf. Had an A3 Gold for 8 years,
> nearly 150k miles. But it was old and after putting 2 grand in
> repairs, another 1.5 grand showed up. I was tired of putting money
> into a car with no end in sight. So I had to buy a new car on the
> cheap. I hate used cars so never buy them. I had not really
> followed VW's prices recently so was taken aback at how much the Golf
> costs. I sure would buy one again if I had the $$$. So I got what I
> could, a (UGH) Chevy Aveo hatchback. I never got to drive an A1 Golf,
> but I imagine it was similar to this car. Light as heck. Tiny, fits
> nearly anywhere. Amazing fuel milage. Maybe it doesnt handle as well
> as an A1. And it only costs 10 grand. Decent warranty. I'll see how
> it holds up. Not expecting much. I just wish VW had a cheaper car.
> They used to be the people's car.
>
> Its hard not driving a VW anymore. and I hate Chevy's.
>
>

Be glad you got a new car at all. I don't know how anybody can afford them.
How come you didn't shop around and buy a good used VW from somebody like I
did?
Fred



"rat" > wrote in message ...
> Sort of down. Had to buy a new car but could not even get close to
> swinging enough $$$ for a new Golf. Had an A3 Gold for 8 years,
> nearly 150k miles. But it was old and after putting 2 grand in
> repairs, another 1.5 grand showed up. I was tired of putting money
> into a car with no end in sight. So I had to buy a new car on the
> cheap. I hate used cars so never buy them. I had not really
> followed VW's prices recently so was taken aback at how much the Golf
> costs. I sure would buy one again if I had the $$$. So I got what I
> could, a (UGH) Chevy Aveo hatchback. I never got to drive an A1 Golf,
> but I imagine it was similar to this car. Light as heck. Tiny, fits
> nearly anywhere. Amazing fuel milage. Maybe it doesnt handle as well
> as an A1. And it only costs 10 grand. Decent warranty. I'll see how
> it holds up. Not expecting much. I just wish VW had a cheaper car.
> They used to be the people's car.
>
> Its hard not driving a VW anymore. and I hate Chevy's.
>
>

"Fred Fartalot" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> Be glad you got a new car at all. I don't know how anybody can afford
> them.
> How come you didn't shop around and buy a good used VW from somebody like
> I did?

Probably because he said:
"I hate used cars so never buy them."

There was a time that I'd agree but after we bought two used cars (late
model, low miles) and two years later they're doing well, I'm a convert. We
bought a '00 BMW 328Ci in summer of '02 with 18K miles on it and a '00 VW
Eurovan in spring of '02 with 25K miles on it and each has been relatively
trouble-free since then, yet we got good deals on them and didn't pay that
several-thousand "new car tax" (aka: depreciation) for the privilege of
driving it off the lot.

"Fred Fartalot" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> Be glad you got a new car at all. I don't know how anybody can afford
> them.
> How come you didn't shop around and buy a good used VW from somebody like
> I did?

Probably because he said:
"I hate used cars so never buy them."

There was a time that I'd agree but after we bought two used cars (late
model, low miles) and two years later they're doing well, I'm a convert. We
bought a '00 BMW 328Ci in summer of '02 with 18K miles on it and a '00 VW
Eurovan in spring of '02 with 25K miles on it and each has been relatively
trouble-free since then, yet we got good deals on them and didn't pay that
several-thousand "new car tax" (aka: depreciation) for the privilege of
driving it off the lot.

"rat" > wrote in message ...
>So I got what I could, a (UGH) Chevy Aveo hatchback. I never got to drive
>an A1 Golf, but I imagine it was similar to this car. Light as heck.
>Tiny, fits nearly anywhere. Amazing fuel milage. Maybe it doesnt handle
>as well as an A1.

It's hard for a small light car to handle *bad*, since the automaker would
have to make it overly squishy deliberately. If there's anything bad about
its handling, I'll bet it probably just has skinny tires. Wider rims and
tires would help that. Otherwise I'm sure it handles fine.

>And it only costs 10 grand.

For that price, the Aveo would be in my top three to search for. Plus I
kinda like the small-Euro-car styling (even though it isn't from a Euro
manufacturer). I sat in one at last year's auto show and for the price it's
not bad at all. Roomy/airy interior and I believe it's a 16V engine right?
Should have decent pep.

>Decent warranty.

An important consideration when price is concerned and it sounds like your
#1 criteria is cost (purchase and maintenance), so I think you did well.

>I just wish VW had a cheaper car.

Me too. VW needs a model here like the Polo or the old Fox (but newer of
course than the old Fox was...such as its successor...the Gol/Pointer). But
VWoA continues to ignore that part of the market. I heard a year or so ago
that the Brazilian-made Polo sedan was of interest to VWoA, but lately I've
heard nothing new.

>Its hard not driving a VW anymore. and I hate Chevy's.

If it's any consolation, the only thing Chevy about your Aveo is the bowtie
badge. The car is a rebadged Daewoo.

"rat" > wrote in message ...
>So I got what I could, a (UGH) Chevy Aveo hatchback. I never got to drive
>an A1 Golf, but I imagine it was similar to this car. Light as heck.
>Tiny, fits nearly anywhere. Amazing fuel milage. Maybe it doesnt handle
>as well as an A1.

It's hard for a small light car to handle *bad*, since the automaker would
have to make it overly squishy deliberately. If there's anything bad about
its handling, I'll bet it probably just has skinny tires. Wider rims and
tires would help that. Otherwise I'm sure it handles fine.

>And it only costs 10 grand.

For that price, the Aveo would be in my top three to search for. Plus I
kinda like the small-Euro-car styling (even though it isn't from a Euro
manufacturer). I sat in one at last year's auto show and for the price it's
not bad at all. Roomy/airy interior and I believe it's a 16V engine right?
Should have decent pep.

>Decent warranty.

An important consideration when price is concerned and it sounds like your
#1 criteria is cost (purchase and maintenance), so I think you did well.

>I just wish VW had a cheaper car.

Me too. VW needs a model here like the Polo or the old Fox (but newer of
course than the old Fox was...such as its successor...the Gol/Pointer). But
VWoA continues to ignore that part of the market. I heard a year or so ago
that the Brazilian-made Polo sedan was of interest to VWoA, but lately I've
heard nothing new.

>Its hard not driving a VW anymore. and I hate Chevy's.

If it's any consolation, the only thing Chevy about your Aveo is the bowtie
badge. The car is a rebadged Daewoo.

It's still a better looking car then the Toyota Echo, especially the
diminuative hatchback version (Canada only car... US gets the Scion brand...
which Canada should also get, since we buy more smaller cars over
midsize/larger ones).

$10k is a difficult range to get a good car in, especially used... they all
tend to be higher Kms, old enough to have no more warranty, and right on the
verge of hitting that point in age where every car needs some major parts
replacement... There's almost no point to buy a used car that is going to
need another 5 grand to get it running perfectly again... Most $10k cars my
friends have bought seem to need brakes, timing belt, exhaust, some minor
things, usually new shocks, definately tires - and in the case of one
friend... a new transaxel after only 6 months <ouch>.

One poster said he lucked in with late model low kms used cars... well the
thing is these would still go for around $20+k around here - easily.... Sure
you save money in depreciation but they will need replacement parts sooner,
and the insurance may be higher due to it being a more valuable car.

Save your pennies, move up the corporate ladder, hope the Aveo doesn't
depreciate like crazy... and maybe in a few years you'll be able to get a
Golf/Jetta V
"rat" > wrote in message ...
> Sort of down. Had to buy a new car but could not even get close to
> swinging enough $$$ for a new Golf. Had an A3 Gold for 8 years,
> nearly 150k miles. But it was old and after putting 2 grand in
> repairs, another 1.5 grand showed up. I was tired of putting money
> into a car with no end in sight. So I had to buy a new car on the
> cheap. I hate used cars so never buy them. I had not really
> followed VW's prices recently so was taken aback at how much the Golf
> costs. I sure would buy one again if I had the $$$. So I got what I
> could, a (UGH) Chevy Aveo hatchback. I never got to drive an A1 Golf,
> but I imagine it was similar to this car. Light as heck. Tiny, fits
> nearly anywhere. Amazing fuel milage. Maybe it doesnt handle as well
> as an A1. And it only costs 10 grand. Decent warranty. I'll see how
> it holds up. Not expecting much. I just wish VW had a cheaper car.
> They used to be the people's car.
>
> Its hard not driving a VW anymore. and I hate Chevy's.
>
>

It's still a better looking car then the Toyota Echo, especially the
diminuative hatchback version (Canada only car... US gets the Scion brand...
which Canada should also get, since we buy more smaller cars over
midsize/larger ones).

$10k is a difficult range to get a good car in, especially used... they all
tend to be higher Kms, old enough to have no more warranty, and right on the
verge of hitting that point in age where every car needs some major parts
replacement... There's almost no point to buy a used car that is going to
need another 5 grand to get it running perfectly again... Most $10k cars my
friends have bought seem to need brakes, timing belt, exhaust, some minor
things, usually new shocks, definately tires - and in the case of one
friend... a new transaxel after only 6 months <ouch>.

One poster said he lucked in with late model low kms used cars... well the
thing is these would still go for around $20+k around here - easily.... Sure
you save money in depreciation but they will need replacement parts sooner,
and the insurance may be higher due to it being a more valuable car.

Save your pennies, move up the corporate ladder, hope the Aveo doesn't
depreciate like crazy... and maybe in a few years you'll be able to get a
Golf/Jetta V
"rat" > wrote in message ...
> Sort of down. Had to buy a new car but could not even get close to
> swinging enough $$$ for a new Golf. Had an A3 Gold for 8 years,
> nearly 150k miles. But it was old and after putting 2 grand in
> repairs, another 1.5 grand showed up. I was tired of putting money
> into a car with no end in sight. So I had to buy a new car on the
> cheap. I hate used cars so never buy them. I had not really
> followed VW's prices recently so was taken aback at how much the Golf
> costs. I sure would buy one again if I had the $$$. So I got what I
> could, a (UGH) Chevy Aveo hatchback. I never got to drive an A1 Golf,
> but I imagine it was similar to this car. Light as heck. Tiny, fits
> nearly anywhere. Amazing fuel milage. Maybe it doesnt handle as well
> as an A1. And it only costs 10 grand. Decent warranty. I'll see how
> it holds up. Not expecting much. I just wish VW had a cheaper car.
> They used to be the people's car.
>
> Its hard not driving a VW anymore. and I hate Chevy's.
>
>

On Sun, 12 Dec 2004 15:26:04 -0800, "Matt B." >
wrote:


>If it's any consolation, the only thing Chevy about your Aveo is the bowtie
>badge. The car is a rebadged Daewoo.
>
>

Yeah I know that. I really want to take a chisel and remove that
Chevy bowtie! have to control that urge!!!

So far its ok for its price. I tried to find a cheap Golf GL but
they hardly exist. Only 2 in the entire Northern Illinois area.
99.9% of the Golf's here are GLS's. Too far out of my price range at
this moment.

If this Daewoo lasts 4 years I'd be happy.