National Quilting Day 2009

I'm not familiar with any of those, Pat, but good luck choosing the right one! :)

Pat, I bought a 2009 Camry XLE last March and I love it. Plenty of room in the back seat and lots of trunk space, too. I especially love the gas mileage. I had a GMC Envoy before the Camry which I really liked but I was making frequent trips home to Pensacola and at the time gas was costing us mega $$$$. The Camry is great to drive and I haven't had a minutes trouble with it. Good luck with your new car purchase!!

SInce you keep cars a long time you might want to think about the repair cost involved with the Hybrids. Expect those to be high. I am a big Toyota fan. They have always served us well. DD drove our Camry for years after we did then sold it to a guy in the neighborhood. We still see it occasionally. Last Ford we bought was not a bad vehicle but boy the service with the local dealer was bad. Like sewing machines if you only have one dealer and they stink that isn't a good choice. I like your priority of taking the sewing machine to test for fit. Smart thinking. Taria

Pat, do you really 'need' a 'new' car? If you do, then you do - but you surely could save yourself some major big bucks by buying one that has been kindly used. Twenty years ago, I did indeed want a new car. It was, by golly, my turn. That beautiful car is still in the family and is doing well. It only has 2 doors and that is a major nuisance for me. Since then, we've bought a car that was a mistake for somebody else and just right for me And our bank account. Just something to think about. Polly

I just heard one of the consumer experts on the radio this weekend talking about buying cars. He said, for the first time ever, now is the right time to purchase a new rather than used car. The dealers are closing right & left & the auto makers are really struggling, so they are offering unheard of deals. DH bought a new truck in January - even though his was only a few years old. The deals are unbelievable & it just didn't make sense not to buy now, even thought it wasn't something he had planned to do. Plus - they gave him a fabulous deal on his old truck. And the dealer shut his doors the following week - we knew that before we went in, but we had been to most of the dealers in our area & they were sold out of their trucks - because the deals are so good. But, it's not just trucks they are dealing on - they are really digging down deep on cars as well.

One thing this consumer expert did say is to try not to take a "manufacturer's rebate" - ask the dealer to discount the car/truck. If you get the rebate, you have to pay taxes on the price, before the rebate.

Just my 2 cents:)

Pauline Northern California

I like my Scion XB. The driver's seat height is adjustable, and the front doors are big, so it is easy in and out of vehicle. It seems to sit a little lower to the ground that I was expecting [coming from a Mazda Tribute] but it rides nice. Plenty of room in front and second seats also. My sewing machine/s are east to get in and out either second doors or back - no lifting up and out.

Whoo-hoo! this week I will turn 800 miles on him - took more than 3 months to do that ;)

And, Scion is a division of Toyota.

G> Still shopping, Sandy. I drove 2009 Camry, Altima, Malibu, Fusion, and a

Well, Pauline, you are so smart! I do hope Pat's paying attention. I got a rebate on my 'new' car way back long ago and figure that cost me about $180 in taxes. Could have bought a heap of FQs with that. whine. moan. sigh. Polly

"Pauline" I just heard one of the consumer experts on the radio this weekend talking

I thought that was really good advice too. We will be in the market for a new car soon and I'll certainly remember to ask the dealer to discount the rebate amount rather than taking the check. I'd probably already have a new car but I can't seem to decide what I want! I've had a van since

I bought a Buick Enclave a year ago January & I absolutely LOVE my car/SUV. Considering the size of the Enclave, the gas mileage isn't bad. I can take

Pauline Northern California

I miss my tC!!!! the back went up like a hatch-back. i now have a Hyundai Elantra (as i had to trade in my gorgeous tC for two cars..one for the DD) but my Elantra is an 08 and hers is a 04. got great deals on both. Just turned 10,000 on mine..i got it last june.

but i sure do miss my tC....toyota is a great company to work with. and Scion is awesome. my son has an xB too. 2005. wont get rid of it. {{{{{{sigh}}}}}

amy in CNY

We have a Nissan Versa -- probably smaller than what you are looking for, but it fits our needs. We love having a hatchback again; we had a Ford Fiesta back in the '80's and could haul quite a bit of stuff even though it was a small car. DH uses a walker and it is really handy for getting that in and out. I also like it for shopping, as it is easy to load & unload bags in the hatch. This is our 4th Nissan; they have been good, reliable cars for us. Before that, we had a couple Toyotas and a Ford Escort. The first 2 Nissans were Sentras, the third one was an Altima.

Someone else commented about the importance of a dealer you can work with. I'll second that. We bought them all from the same dealer; we think we've been treated fairly there, for the most part. When we bought the first one, the local Honda dealer didn't even seem interested in talking to us, because we wanted a basic small car; they also had a reputation for not doing too much for Honda owners who had bought their car from another dealer; we've never gone back there. The Toyota dealer didn't have what we were looking for & would consider another Toyota in the future. The Nissan dealer seemed to recognize that we were both involved in the decision & we've been happy with all the cars we bought there.

Julia > Pat >

Polly: We have not ruled out late model pre-owned cars. We had to start some where, so those cars I mentioned were our starting point. It is a buyers market now.We will probably go with a new car, although several months ago we were thinking more of the used cars. Today I received several thank you notes and cards from the salesmen who showed the cars. DH is impressed that I now get 'fan mail.' ;) LOL PAT

We're needing to get a new (to us or brand new) car too. I've been surfing the net and looking at prices. Yes, the new cars (with better mileage) are so cheap now. Being concerned about having a large enough car to handle the quilting stuff is critical. Specifically, enough room to take my chair.

We'll keep looking before we decide.

We love our XB, Ginger. Two years and not a single complaint, except that it's a bit noisy at higher speeds.

Sunny

snipped-for-privacy@newsfe20.iad...

I always take my chair along to retreats and workshops. My chair is an adjustable "secretary" chair, without arms. I usually put it in the back seat -- turn it upside down so the top of the chair seat is on the car seat, the back of the chair goes down between the seats (where your legs would go if you were sitting there. Then I can put the seat belt around the bottom of the chair to keep it in place. We have a small car

-- a Nissan Versa hatchback -- and I never have any trouble getting all my stuff in. I've always gone alone, but would have room for another quilter (assuming she didn't insist on taking half her stash, too).

Julia > We're needing to get a new (to us or brand new) car too. I've been surfing

That is how I put my chair in too. I was in heaven this last retreat. We've taken the third seat of the mommy van out. Plenty of room for chair too.

On the way back I had to do the seat thing because I'd visited a local thrift store there and got an entertainment center. But, all fit in well.

Contrary to intuitive thought, mommy vans don't have a large carrying capacity. That is why you often see a carrier on the top of them. When we went on family vacations with the five of us, we had to strategically place everything. There was always something in the third seat too. This having kids grow up and get their own car is revolutionizing for us!