davis_square | Best cars for Davis-area roads?

Best cars for Davis-area roads?

My car is approaching end-of-life, and I'm wondering if there's a car made that actually feels comfortable to drive on the roads around here. I'm getting a -very- harsh ride on the roads in and out of Davis and its a little embarassing when picking somebody up to visit. Trying to avoid that with the next car.

The OB-Davis content: We all drive on the same unevenly patched roads in and out of Davis, so when somebody says they can drive Mass Ave or Boston Ave and not feel a thing, that's a strong recommendation.

Threaded | Flat

I'm a huge Toyota fan, so I'm going to go ahead and make that recommendation. I drive a Solara which I have nothing but wonderful things to say about. The ride on these cars is one of their more impressive qualities, along with the power they have under the hood. I won't promise you won't feel the bumps, but you certainly won't be worried about the wheels coming off or anything.

I don't think the ride really has much to do with the car at this point. The roads around here are shit, no matter what you drive.
I have a new Civic and I love it. Its comfortable AND it fits into some spots that big gas-guzzlers can't get into. Also, Hondas last forever.
Subarus are also fantastic. I'm not sure how comfortable of a ride it would be, but considering the fact that some of them are made to go off-road the harsh roads around here might not do as much damage to them. The only problem is they're kind of on the expensive side.

Get some sort of grannymobile, like a Mercury or a Cadillac, since elders don't like the way potholes makes their bones creak. Or something really high-end for people who don't want to have to pay attention to the plebs around them, like a Lexus or a Mercedes-Benz, since not being aware of the road is part of the package (look for cars that do things like parallel park for you, those are likely to have the qualities you seek).

If you're driving a car that gets poor gas mileage (Combined MPG rating of 18 MPG or less) don't forget that you can get a $4500 rebate if you buy a new car with better fuel economy. Also, a lot of dealers are offering to match the rebate $. Program: http://www.cars.gov/ Check MPG rating here: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/CarsSearchIntro.shtml

Yeah, I have to recommend toyota as well, I have about 5 friends with toyotas and I myself have a camry. You will probably want an automatic unless you drive rather sparsely. Also a smaller car will obviously be easier to park, so a corolla or a yaris wouldn't be bad unless you want more space.

That said, if I had it to do over again I would at least look at the deals on a new Ford. Ford is actually in really good shape compared to GM/Chrysler and are putting out their best product in years, but you could probably get an insane deal on a new one right now. 0% financing plus the Brand New factor might be enough to offset the probably drop in resale value and reliability vs. a toyota.

What you need is a car with good shocks. If you really don't want to feel the road at all, get one of those gas-guzzling limo type "Big American Cars". It's like driving on a cloud: you will feel nothing, and hear nothing. They're likely to be cheap, now, since the economy has the US manufacturers wanting to ditch them in favor of small, gas efficient cars.

You just have to consider the tradeoff: Rotten Gas Mileage versus feeling the road. Personally I don't have a problem with feeling the road, and would prefer to know if my tire just went in that bottomless pothole. Also, it's sorta fun to try to miss them. But if you prefer to drive in a straight line, and danged with the potholes, you will also have to spend lots of time in the repair shop (even with a new car) because your wheels will never be in alignment, and it's likely various components of your car will bend and/or break.

Oh, and brush up on your parallel parking skills, because with a larger car you either have to be very good at it or else park elsewhere and take a bus into Davis (as of this weekend, when you won't be able to easily park on streets anymore without a permit).

When it comes to car suspension, ride comfort and safety/handling are pretty much mutually exclusive. One achieves comfort on bumps primarily by equipping cars with softer shock absorbers and springs. The softer the spring, the longer (in milliseconds) it takes the wheel to return to full contact with the road after it has gone over a bump. The softer the shock, the more the car will roll when cornering. Cars that roll a lot when cornering will not be able to switch as rapidly from a hard turn in one direction to a hard turn in the other direction (e.g. when you have to swerve hard to avoid something on the road, and then have to swerve again to avoid going *off* the road).

Additionally, one thing that can make an expensive car (like a BMW or a Porsche) *feel* more expensive than a cheap car (like a Hyundai or Toyota) is how many things in the passenger compartment are held together with plastic clips instead of steel screws. This was probably the most annoying difference between my Dodge Neon and my Dad's BMW 540. When both cars were exactly the same age (about 5 years old with about 65,000 miles) my car was full of rattles and his still pretty much sounded like it did when it was brand new. I think that this, more than anything else, makes the biggest different to how "smooth" the ride feels.

My friend's got a late-1990's Camry LX or something. It's probably what eventually became the Solara. She's always going back and forth on Rt. 9 in Framingham and it doesn't bother her.

I second the comment about Hondas lasting forever. Mine is an older Honda. The engines and suspensions are tuned to be a little sportier and less cushy than the Toyotas which is what's in play here. Though it would have to be a Camry or larger; not a Corolla.

I'd like to hear from folks who own a small sporty car, like a Subaru WRX or BMW 3-series. I'd expect a luxury marque would be cushier than a sport-tuned Honda. But when I see those with the Z-rated tires on what pass as roads around here, it gives me hemhorroids just looking at it.

The Subaru wagon/SUVs ( Outback, Forrester ) can't be bad, because I see yuppie families driving them all the time on our bad roads. But besides the "image" problem, how is the handling on those things? Every time I see one turning at a corner, they take it like somebody's circumcising a baby in the back seat.

What about SUVs/light trucks? Mileage isn't that bad, and hybrid models are available. Do they feel bumps? And is the suspension built to "take a beating"?

If parking wasnt an issue I've been wondering about Lincoln Town Cars, Cadillacs. Even a 1990s-vintage Mercedes S-class can be had for say the price of a new Corolla, and those things are heavily overengineered.

As far as the roads, is it just me and my old car or are the roads much worse than ten years ago? It used to be that the worst road was 99 in Charlestown, except for a few streets around the produce markets in Chelsea. But nowadays every road is like 99 was then, 99 now is like a truck route in Chelsea, and I don't want to think about what Chelsea's like now.

I would recommend a car with side mirrors that can be folded in. Folding in the mirrors prevents Sudden Mirror Explosion when parked on a narrow street. Unfortunately, this rules out most Toyotas.

I'm surprised no one has piped in with ZOMG why do you want to buy a car, the T is SO easy to use, and you can always bike!!!!!!

I'm going to recommend against getting a Scion XB. I love my XB, it's tiny and wonderful and can be parked anywhere, but er, suspension, yeah, no...

I have a three-year-old Ford Focus that does decently in most places. Major exception is going into Medford Square via Rt 38 and going under Rt 16, but those potholes are going to break someone's axle someday.

And I hear you on the reverse commute - I work in Newton Lower Falls and live near Medford Square. And the buses from Medford Square to Davis run rather infrequently.

toyota camry's are pretty good on these roads, but corollas are not.

If your old car has beat-up shocks, almost anything new will be better. Your best bet, IMHO, is to test drive a few other cars. Just walk in and say "my car has a terrible ride I want something with decent shocks. I'm not going to buy today, but I want to test a few out this week and then come back next month and buy something."

Obviously avoid anything over-sporty, because sporty to some is jarring to others. But nobody knows your reaction like you do.

Be prepared for them to sell you on the fact that the sales tax will go up on 8/1. Tell them that being rushed into a purchase you regret is no bargain at all.

All I can say is, I have a MINI, and it's kindof a rough ride. But any sporty suspension is going to be harsh on our crappy streets.

Threaded | Flat

no subject

no subject

no subject

CARS rebate

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Foldy mirrors

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject