[tplyons]

Hi guys,

My name is Tim, I'm a college senior from New Jersey and I love my 1987 GMC Caballero (El Camino) but frankly the 175,000 miles on the odometer means it's time to start shopping for a replacement car.

I spent four months driving for Enterprise Rent-A-Car to pay the bills, and to get an idea of what's nice and what's not. I've pretty much narrowed it down to an 8th gen. Impala (probably LTZ or SS) or an HHR (2LT or SS)

I prefer a stick, so the HHR has the advantage there, and I love the HHR styling, but the power and the class of the Impala are very inviting. I love driving both cars, but the Impala is much more comfortable in the long run, and it's looking like I'll be going that road.

Sorry for the rambling, I'm going to be getting a new car as soon as I have my Harley paid off. It'll be a Chevy, it's just a matter of what model. I'm still loving everything out there with the Impala badge, especially the 6th gen. SS, I just can't afford to drive another gas guzzler.

Thanks for listening,
Tim

 

[77Impala]

Hello and welcome to the community Tim. If you notice my "signature" you will see that I own two vehicles with V-8's. My van of course is my work truck for I do many different types of work, such as mobile automotive repair. Now my Impala I bought in January 2003. I cannot afford to drive a newer car because for the difference I would pay in fuel would not make up for the newer car payment. I heard a radio car add down here in Texas that I had a good laugh over, they said that if you traded a car that gets 15 mpg for a car that gets 30+ mpg that you would save over $250.00 in your fuel costs which would be more than enough to pay the monthly car payments. The fine print (fast talk disclaimer) said that was based on driving the car over 50,000 miles per year. Not every body drives that many miles a year.

So, first, I would look at what you would save in gas by driving either car verses your current car, you will most likely find that the savings won't pay all or most of the payments. Second figure out what your need are now and say what your needs could be in a year to three down the road. Both cars have their good qualityes and their bad. Which ones can you live with most?

I hope this helps. Kenny