Picking up some new wheels this week.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My current car has been approaching the point where I couldn’t depend on it any longer for a while now. Yesterday I went to start it and, for the first time ever, it didn’t start right up. It took 3 turns of the key and a bit of cranking, and then it started quite hard. When I pulled out it hesitated quite severely and I got the impression it wouldn’t make it to work.

Fortunately, I’ve been thinking about this for a while and applied for an auto loan the day before, which was approved, so now it’s just a matter of getting the car I want.

Which is a Nissan Juke.

Really.

I am so tired of sameness. My last 3 cars were a Malibu, a Prizm, and an Accord. It’s time to channel my inner weirdo.

I found two of them, both top-trim SL 2011 models, both with 65000 miles plus or minus. One is very close to me, but the dealer wants $2000 more for it than the guy further away. I suppose I could use that to my advantage, but I’m inclined to avoid it because it has two dents on the hood, two reported accidents on the Carfax (from 5 years ago with the first owner, to be fair), and it has an Injen intake on it. The last is what concerns me, because that is a glaring, blinking stop light, telling me that it was owned by a kid who abused the hell out of it. On the plus side, it comes with a lifetime powertrain warranty from the dealer (one of their gimmicks to sell more cars), which is a plus when dealing with turbocharged engines, and for an abused car that’s the perfect stress reliever, knowing that it’s not on me.

The other one has no reported flaws but comes pretty much as is with no warranty and is about an hour away. It would save me the hassle of negotiating, too, which I loathe. Its Carfax reports it as a former fleet car. I want to know what kind of fleet uses manual transmission Jukes, because that’s my kind of workplace. But I digress. That means that the car was well maintained, well abused, or both.

In any case, by this time next week, if everything goes as it should, I will be the owner of a Juke. I told my son that if he gets a job and makes the necessary repairs to the Accord it will be his when he gets his license. I want him to get some sweat into the car, but I’m not going to make him buy it from me. The repairs are the purchase price. I figure about $1000 over the next 2 years should make it a perfectly suitable starter car, so he’s got that going for him. And I’ll be styling in the weirdest car on the road today, which is perfect for me. Even better: because it’s a manual, Robin won’t be able to drive it, just like the Accord. How can you beat that?

2

It’s not that weird. But it does look like a rounded version of Walter White’s Pontiac Aztek.

3

Congrats on the new car. Well, new to you at least. And I don’t think looks that weird, either. Not dissimilar to what a lot of small cars look like these days.

4

I never did get my AMC Pacer.

5

Funny you should say that. Jalopnik linked a fleet of 5 in various condition for $4500 last week. I wish I could get it but I couldn’t get a loan for it or afford the transport costs, not to mention parking them somewhere.

If I had acreage they’d be mine.

6

Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…

7

There’s guy, not far from us , who has a Gremlin…doesn’t run…but the body is in good shape…We’ve been trying to get it for years…he won’t part with it.

8

the first ca I remember driven in was my dads gremlin …and how we had to go out of the way a few times to avoid going up hill …
erm no offense but the wife not being able to drive the car is a plus? does she know that ?

9

Yes, it’s a plus. She can’t drive my current vehicle, either.

10

Are you Batman?

11

Update: the one further away, when I got there, had 1000 more miles than represented, it had a kick plate detached, was covered in cobwebs, and worryingly threw a misfire code. We cleared it and it didn’t come back, but it’s still concerning.

So, now to the dealership to see what happens. I may have to give up my dream and buy something tepid and boring.

12

Why don’t you just buy a newer one with fewer miles on it and still some remaining factory warranty?

13

Jukes are cute (sorry). Kia Soul wins for weirdness. They were rated well in Consumer Reports, but I can’t get past the looks. We’re looking for a cheap backup car since our current backup has 236,000 miles on it and I’ve been working cargurus.com for a month. It really surprises me how many manual transmissions there are. My first two cars were manual and they were a blast, but in Seattle traffic, no thanks!

I hope you find just what you want. Don’t settle for boring.

14

Kia Souls are like the Scion Xc (I think that’s the model): a self-propelled toaster. Cute, function over fashion, but not weird looking.

The Juke is weird looking, especially in the headlights / face. Makes me think of a post-Holocaust radiation-damaged mutant frog. The fact you can get one in amphibian green completes the image. The similar but larger Murano family wagon has almost none of the facial weirdness.

Airman Doors: Jukes are vastly available. I’m not sure how you seem to be limited to two. Within 150 miles of me (admittedly near the centroid a major US city), kbb.com reports 104 for sale. Within 500 miles it’s over 300 vehicles.

IMO if you’re not willing to drive 150 miles to check out a car you’re either sport shopping or preparing to buy the wrong vehicle from the right zip code.

To be sure, as you filter more finely the count goes down. But ISTM if you’re thinking you’re forced to look at only a couple of examples you’re guilty of what software developers call “premature optimization”. IOW, focusing on a less-important thing to the detriment of a more important thing. Better to loosen your online search criteria and pick 1 from 20 you visit than set tight online search tight criteria and pick 1 from 2 you visit.

Choosing the right degree of slop in all parameters will vastly reduce your scope for the gross error you desparately hope to avoid: buying a nearby piece of crap with most of your desired bells & whistles.

IMO distance is criteria #1 that people over-tighten way too early. Why do they do that? Because it seems harmless & convenient. It *is *convenient, but it’s far from harmless. And the farther you are from Los Angeles or NYC or maybe Miami or Dallas the more that’s true. A wide grographic search area is your best insurance against buying a crap-mobile.

At least that’s my experience having recently bought the near-perfect used car from a few hundred miles away and having bought and sold close to a hundred used cars back in the Olden Dayes pre-internet. Be loose in the initial search criteria and be tight on what you actually see & feel when you touch it in person. The money and aggravation you save by avoiding buying a POS will more than pay for the extra effort to search more widely in criteria space and geography space.

==============
Different suggestion: If I was seeking a Juke-ish vehicle I’d totally buy a Hyundai Veloster. The turbo model scoots pretty good, they’re cute, they’re silly-affordable, and they’re a Hyundai product which means price/performance far exceeds the Japanese brands. Of which Nissan is IMO the least performant per price of the lot.

OTOH, ISTM a Juke is a bunch larger inside than a Veloster. So if haulage is a big goal of yours Veloster may not make the cut. Otherwise check them out. In my area Velosters are about 2x more common than Jukes: 700+ within 500 miles and 300 within 150 miles. If performance is your thing definitely drive the turbo: the normally aspirated 4 has all the performance of a self-propelled lawnmower; the turbo is worthwhile by the standards of that size/price class.

15

I just looked up some pictures online, and I’m confused. It looks like it has the outline of four doors, but the rear doors (if that’s what they are) don’t have handles.

Now, the Aztec, that was an ugly car.

16

NO NO NO

Run away from a Velociraptor. They EAT expensive tires, come with no spare and break if you look at them sideways!

Beware!

17

He wants a manual, so that’s going to severely limit the selection available.

18

“Weird” is a subjective term so to me, Souls are WEIRD looking. I think you might mean the Scion xB not the xC, but since you think Souls aren’t weird looking, maybe you don’t. :wink: My cousin has an xB of which I sometimes have custody when her family needs a ride to the airport. It has the car seats. It’s an absolute blast to drive, but I can’t stand how it looks.

At the risk of hijacking Airman Doors’ thread, our current frontrunner is a Pontiac Vibe (Toyota Matrix), which verges on my “weird-looking” line, but it’s a great deal if it works out. We’re also looking at Hyundai Elantras as I’ve had a few as rentals and really liked them. However, I want a hatchback, not a sedan, and the GTs (which I LOVE) are out of our budget. But it’s nice to see someone else thinks they offer a lot of value for the money. Comparable Mazda3’s are usually about two years older. Reliability, longevity, and value are the primary considerations, but I’m really hoping to work “cute” into the mix and the Vibe is doing it.

/hijack

19

The rear door handles are integrated into the C-pillar. A trick to make a 4-door look like a 2-door, if you ignore the fact that there are obviously doors there.

20

This is the Juke you are looking for…