##Replace My Car
It’s the last few days of 2016, and instead of getting my car repaired after it got crashed into, the insurance company has decided instead to write the car off. My plan is, instead of spending the little money that they gave me on a used car, I’ll get myself something new. Or at least, new-ish.
Now, understandably, there’s a few things I’m looking for in my car.
It has to be practical. There’s a reason my '05 hatchback was a favorite car, despite being my first car. It had back seats with leg room, it had respectable power, and I could move a big-screen TV in the back of it with the hatch closed.
Given the choice of body style, I like the look of a sedan best. I have no problems with a wagon or a hatch, but everything else being equal, I’ll go for the sedan. If you’re asking what I’d want as second place, definitely the wagon. Nothing against the hatch, but practicality is great, and when I was younger, my dream car was actually a station wagon, so…
I’m looking for a compact or midsize car. Keep in mind I live in America, where everything’s just a little bigger. Pretty much, a safe bet would be to keep the wheel-base under, say… 2.9 meters or so. I’ll allow some leeway on that if the car’s good enough, but I don’t want a barge.
That said, I have vehicles I can’t stand. Notably, crossovers. I’m not overly fond of SUV’s, either, because they’re just too damn big and drink the gas too much.
Which brings me to another point: I need fuel efficiency. I was pleased with the Hyundai’s efficiency, but I always wanted more.
Power is barely important to me. Sure, I used to joke about wanting to put a turbo on my car, or that it needed an engine swap, but the nearly-140 horsepower engine was good enough for what the car was. What matters more is power delivery. I’m proud to be one of a dying breed, the elusive Americans who can drive a manual gearbox. I don’t want to have to give that up unless you can present me with a much better solution and can manage to convince me that it’s worth giving up driving stick.
That said… I wouldn’t mind a little bit more power. Just a little bit, though.
Ah, and now the budget. I’m really only willing to spend at the most $24,000 (at 50% markup) on the car. I’ll admit, I’m a bit cheap, but… Okay, fine, I’m really cheap. But I’ve figured that with my budget, that’s really all I can spare for a new car.
Now, I don’t currently have a car to drive, so the only reasonable way for me to get to dealerships is by taxi. That’s going to get expensive, so I’d prefer having advertisements first. I’m not going to spend $20 to get to a dealership only to find out the car’s not what I wanted in the first place.
Okay, so now, to actually collect this into a reasonable set of rules to work with.
Model Year: Anything, as long as it’s sensible. I understand, some of you want to use a design from a few years back that’s been face-lifted. That’s fine by me.
Trim Year: 2016 or 2017. Note that choosing the newer year will not affect my perception on your car, nor will choosing the older year affect my decision. This is based around having had my car damaged in December, so both 2016 and 2017 were on the lot at the same time.
Budget: $24,000 @ 50% markup. We don’t want car companies going out of business just for the sake of me buying some random car.
Be sensible. The last thing I want is to pull up to my mechanic and find out it’s going to cost me more than the car’s worth to fix the fully-active suspension system. This car also needs to last me quite a long time, so if it’s unreliable, you might as well go back to the drawing board.
Fuel Type: Regular Unleaded is preferred, but I’ll allow the use of Premium Unleaded.
Read between the lines! I’ve given a lot of information up there. Also, if in doubt, ask questions.
Just like the Car Shopping Round, I’m expecting some advertisements. Doesn’t have to be fancy, but I need the name of the company, the name of the car, an image of the car, and the price, as a minimum. If I don’t receive an ad for the car, your car will not be reviewed. Just make a post with it down below.
And, for those who prefer it this way, the TL;DR rules:
Model Year: Your Choice
Trim Year: 2016 or 2017
Budget: $24,000 @ 50% markup
Fuel Type: Regular Unleaded or Premium Unleaded
Ad Required
Design Sensibly
Naming:
Model: RMC - username
Trim: Car Name
Engine: RMC - username
Variant: Engine Name
Disallowed Mods:
Barth Bodies
CaptainD00M fixtures
