The new 2010 Subaru Outback is alittle magical.  Subaru got quite creative and increased the wheelbase, width, and height of the car, at the same time cutting the length and weight.  You may not be able to tell these changes from the outside, but you can inside. Each seat is supposedly comfortable with plenty of room and the trunk is very large for all your cargo.  You’ll have all the necessary room for your camping trips or whatever else you want to do with your time.

You have the choice of a 2.5-liter 4 cylinder 170 horsepower, or 3.6-liter 6 cylinder 256 horsepower engine.  The fuel economy is pretty good. With the 2.5-liter engine you get 19 mpg in the city and 27 on the highway, and the 3.6-liter engine gets 18 mpg in the city and 25 on the highway.  Base price is $23,195, but a fully loaded 3.6-liter engine is about $34,700.

I know a few people who own Subaru Outbacks (older ones,) and they really like them.  Subarus are known for their value and I guess the new Outback is no exception.

Edmunds.com has compiled a list of the top used vehicles from 2003-2008 based on safety, reliability, value, and availability.  These are the kind of lists that I really like. I like to see lists of good used vehicles.  These days people need and want used.  So, here’s the list of the top used vehicles.

Compact: Hyundai Elantra 2003-2008

Midsize Sedan: Toyota Camry 2003-2008 (before pedal problems)

Large Sedan: Hyundai Azera 2006-2008 - weird choice to me but what do I now I guess.

Coupe: BMW 3 Series 2003-2008

Convertible: Mazda Miata 2003-2008

Wagon: Pontiac Vibe 2003-2008

Compact SUV/Crossover: Honda CR-V 2003-2008

Midsize SUV/Crossover: Mitsubishi Endeavor 2004-2008

Large SUV/Crossover: Chevrolet Tahoe 2003-2008

Minivan: Honda Odyssey 2003-2008

Compact truck: Toyota Tacoma 2003-2008

Large truck: Ford F-150 2003-2008

Luxury: Infiniti G35-2003-2008

Hybrid - Toyota Prius 2004-2008

So, if you don’t have the money for a new car at this time, I would trust Edmunds and take a look at one of these used vehicles.

www.autoweek.com

A new Lexus is out for all of us to buy, well not all of us due to the price, but some of us.  The Lexus 2010 GX 460 is available.  The GX 460 was available earlier this year, but Consumer Reports put out a report that said “Don’t buy: Safety Risk.”  There was a problem with the stability-control system and were prone to rollovers.  Well, that problem has been fixed and Consumer Reports gave the car a clean bill of health, so it’s ready to buy now.

This is a 7 passenger luxury SUV.  The problem is that not a lot of people are buying luxury SUVs in these economic times.  Tough time to introduce a car, but if anyone can succeed it’s Lexus and the GX 460. The base price for the GX 460 is $51,970 with the premium model costing $64,879.  All models come with full-time four-wheel drive. There is a 301-horsepower, 4.6-liter V8 engine and six-speed automatic transmission.

The Lexus GX 460 gets better gas mileage than its competitors getting 15 mpg in the city and 20 mpg on the highway.  In my mind, that stinks and I can’t help thinking about the gas mileage that will be expected starting in 2016.  This vehicle will need to get twice the gas mileage it currently gets. Crazy!

The Lexus GX 460 is competing with the Audi Q7, BMW X5, Cadillac Escalade, Infiniti QX 56, Land Rover Range Rover Sport, Lincoln Navigator, and Mercedes-Benz GL450.  It really looks like a sharp car, so I’ll be surprised if the Lexus GX 460 doesn’t do well, it just may need alittle time.

In case you didn’t know, U.S. cars have good quality!  According to msnbc.com, U.S. cars pass imports in the quality survey for the first time in 24 years!  Yes!  The survey was done by J.D. Power and Associates.  They surveyed owners and domestic cars reported fewer problems on average during the first 90 days of ownership than foreign trucks and cars.

Porsche got the top scores in the survey.  Acura and Mercedes-Benz were two and three.  Ford showed the biggest gain in quality.  The overall average was 109 problems per 100 vehicles.  U.S. vehicles scored an average of 108 with foreign vehicles scoring 109. It might have been close, but still this is the first time beating the foreign vehicles in 24 years!  That’s a long time! The worst….Land Rover, which had an overall average of 170 problems per 100 vehicles.

Here’s my question, does this information really matter to any of you or anyone for that matter?  I don’t know. Sure I want a quality vehicle, but this survey is just the first 90 days. You could have 0 problems the first 90 days and then your vehicle has all kinds of problems.  Or vice versa.  I think that this information is a good help when buying a new car, but for me this quality survey will not make or break what vehicle i buy.  Anyone agree or disagree??

If you are planning to buy a luxury car, there is currently like a maintenance program war going on that you can become a part of if you wish.  Recently Lincoln came out with a three-year/45,000 mile program for new cars bought or leased this summer.  Basically you can get oil changes, air filters, tire rotations, and inspections free of charge at the dealership.  Well, days after Lincoln came out with their new maintenance program, Cadillac introduced a better one offering 4 years or 50,000 miles.  All 2011 models are included as well as the Cadillac CTS coupe that comes out this summer.

BMW already offers a program similar to these.  The thing is that the maintenance program is really just built into the upfront cost of the vehicle.  In the end there really isn’t any significant savings with the maintenance programs, but there is something to be said about paying for your car and then doing your maintenance and not paying for it. I can’t say that I wouldn’t mind that. I mean if you are financing your vehicle anyways, what’s alittle more for the maintenance program?  I think probably like a few dollars a month. Well worth it. Now if only the non-luxury vehicles could have these programs to offer. I’d love to jump on one!

I wanted to share with everyone my car repair story/nightmare from the past week to hope that no one else will have this happen to them.  My wife said that her car’s brakes were “pulsing” so we brought it to the local dealership that we’ve gone to numerous times. They called her to say that the front and back rotors were very worn and that the front and back brake pads needed to be replaced to. To be exact, they said that the front brake pads had about 30% left on them and why not replace with the back. Well, the work was a mere $768. My wife said ok, because as she said, it wasn’t like she had a choice.  Right after hanging up with the service department, she realized that the front brake pads and rotors were replaced last summer sometime elsewhere.  She called me and I called the mechanic that did the work. Sure enough last August the front brake pads and rotors were replaced for $225.

I called the service department, fuming, and they said “well it’s a good idea to just replace the front ones now,” blah, blah, blah. I told them that when I picked up the car I want the brake pad and rotor.  So, I went paid them reluctantly the $768 and then took the brake pad and rotor to the mechanic.  They looked at them and said that I have at least 15,000 miles left on the brake pad and rotor. I am currently waiting for the service department manager to call me tomorrow to discuss this issue and dissatisfaction that I have for the dealership.

The moral of the story is even if you aren’t car savvy, question everything that a dealership or mechanic wants to do.  This is a perfect example of them thinking they can roll over a customer and get them to pay for a product/service that I didn’t need. The worse part is that the dealership charged me $375 for brake pad and rotor….$150 more than the mechanic. Highway robbery!  I know that these kinds of things happen all the time with cars and their repairs, so try to not become a victim like we did.

As the final preparations are being completed on the Chevy Volt before it hits the dealerships later this year, I continue to ponder thoughts of whether this car is going to make it big.  I just don’t know, and truly what do I know. I could be completely wrong, but the Volt will be expensive, like approximately $40,000, and it’s still something new. Sometimes people get really excited about new things and want to scoop them up, but at the same time, sometimes people are hesitant of new things and ideas. Who knows. I guess time will tell.

Recently, the Chevy Volt went through an extreme heat test in the Arizona desert to see how it would fare. Critics have been concerned that the Volt and its high-tech battery pack and compulsion systems may not be able to handle extreme conditions. I guess, according to a GM test engineer, the Volt “performed well.” So, I’m sure there will be a few more tests to pass before the Volt is ready, but I think it’s pretty close to dealership ready.

On the other side of the coin, the Volt is offering a nice, green vehicle to help the environment, save money on gas, etc.  There are probably lots of people that are chomping at the bit waiting for the Volt to become available. I commend those people and truly hope that they will love it and then word of mouth will make the Chevy Volt become a hardest car to get in the U.S. in a year or so!

Forbesautos.com used information from Wards Auto, which is an automotive data and analysis company, to come up with a list of the hardest cars to get in the U.S.  As you might suspect, most are foreign cars.  It makes sense that it would be harder to get foreign cars here; the supply in the U.S. is less.

Audi S4 - Average day supply - 17 (meaning days on the dealership lot) MSRP $45,900

Audi S6 - Average - 24 MSRP $76.100

Volkswagen Golf/GTI - Average  - about 14 MSRP $17,620/$23,664

BMW 5-Series, 7-Series - Average - 19 MSRP $49,600/$70,150

Dodge Charger - Average - 24 MSRP $25,140

Subaru Legacy - Average - 26 MSRP $19,995

Lincoln Town Car - Average - 26 MSRP $46,700

Audi A5 - Average - 26 MSRP $36,000

Audi R8 - Average - 28 MSRP $114,200

Honda Fit - Average - 33 MSRP $14,900

So, I guess if you want one of these vehicles (especially an Audi!,) you had better get it quick or plan on waiting to get your vehicle.

This is some interesting info.  Six out of the top ten EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) most fuel efficient cars from 1984 to present were built before 2000. Does that shock you?  It shocked me.  The fuel efficient articles, discussions, advertisements are nauseating. You/I would assume that every year we make more fuel efficient cars, right?  The information on the top 10 most fuel efficient cars comes right from the EPA.

Some are not surprising, and some are very surprising.  Here’s the list:

1. 2000 Honda Insight - city mpg 49, highway 61!, combined mpg 53.

2.  2010 Toyota Prius - city 51, highway 48, combined 50.

3.  1986 Chevrolet Sprint ER - city 44, highway 53, combined 48.

4.  1990-1994 Geo Metro XFI - city 43, highway 52, combined 47.

5.  1986 Honda Civic CRX HF - city 42, highway 51, combined 46.

6.  1995 Honda Civic VX Hatchback - city 39,highway 50,combined 43.

7.  2010 Honda Civic Hybrid - city 40, highway 45, combined 42.

8.  2010 Honda Insight - city 40, highway 43, combined 41.

9.  2001-2003 Toyota Prius - city 42, highway 41, combined 41.

10.  1989 Chevrolet Sprint - city 38, highway 45, combined 41.

10.  1989 Suzuki Swift - city 38, highway 45, combined 41.

As I said, some of these most fuel efficient cars are shocking to me.  How about all the Hondas in the top ten!  I guess newer doesn’t necessarily mean better in the most fuel efficient cars.  Intestesting.

Are you looking for a new car with great gas mileage?  Well, the new Ford Fiesta might be the answer for you.  Production for the Fiesta began last month, and it will go on sale next month.  The price has not been announced yet, but the experts expect that it will start in the low teens.  This is a subcompact car that will be getting great gas mileage.  The Fiesta should get 30 city/40 highway.  Ford is working very hard to promote this car.  Notoriously, Americans don’t want the small cars. I continue to blog about good gas mileage vehicles, small ones, but overall the sales of small cars are not great.

The Ford Fiesta will come in a 5-seat hatchback and a sedan.  There is a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine with 120 horsepower.  You will have a choice of a manual or automatic transmission, getting the best gas mileage with the automatic transmission.  The Fiesta will come with the SYNC communication system that is supposed to be awesome.  There are lots of air bags that will be standard in this car as well as other standard options that will be great.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you are looking for a new small car with great mileage, the Ford Fiesta could be the car for you. The price sounds like it will be just right.  There have been more than 750,000 Fiestas sold in Asia and Europe in the last year and a half.  Maybe we should check out this car next month when it becomes available at some dealerships.