What is the right car for TV?
 

With limited garage space, yet only one car in TV what would you recommend? We're thinking a small hatchback with some cargo room for drives north. Today we test drove a Hyundai Elantra Touring (boring), a Toyota Prius (refined & modern), and a Kia Soul (small & fun). What do you recommend?

A SECOND GOLF CART :a040::a040::a040:

I love my Prius.......

I have been thinking of posting if there was any interest in a Prius Club in The Villages if there is not already one there....

Frank

I would recommend for you to test drive a Ford Fiesta, we bought a GM Chevy Cobalt and very happy with it, we had incentives with GM for over 10k so we bought an GM car which has been a very good car. If we did not have the incentives we would have bought the Ford. I think the Fiesta is about 14k and over 40 miles to the gallon.

How about the small suv's?
Honda CRV
Toyota Rav4
Hyundai Tucson

We love our Honda Insight. Similar to the Prius, but a little smaller. Perfect for us and our 1 1/2 car garage. We usually get about 50 mph. At times we've gotten up to 54 miles per gal.

herbaru- we currently have a CRV and would like to downsize- they actually are fairly large in the garage. The Kia Soul took up very little room although I have to say I found the Prius to be quite compelling. Though narrower and shorter than the CRV it is about the same length.

I think a lot would depend on how often you think you will be using a car. I know of several who have two golf carts and just rent a car when they go on trips. More room in garage, much cheaper insurance and maintenance. I do know that everyone who owns a Prius absolutely loves it.

We just love our 2010 Chevy Equinox. Lots of room for people while here in TV's, then plenty of space for trips back North. Plus the gas mileage is excellent 32 MPG highway!
Take a test drive.....you'll love it! Imported from North America to boot!
:spoken:

Prius
 

That's me in a test car-Plug in Prius.

Love our 2011 Prius three. Averaged 55.7 from Syracuse to TV and home. While in TV looking at homes in 100 degree heat other cars idling wasting gas ours sitting out side locked waiting for us running the AC on battery only.

Have had BMW's Lexus Chevrolet Trucks and this Hybrid is more comfortable practical and fits in the garage.

Room for the Harley and one or two golf carts now! ELectric Cart of course- But that will start another war!

Right Frank!

Herv

Chevy
 

Chevy HHR. Small but roomy with good gas milage and US co.

A NEW CORVETTE:bigbow:

Folks,
Let's try to keep the topic to what cars work best in The Villages. It is a good question, as new folks could really use some input from those who have had cars in Florida for awhile.

What options to you now Floridians value more? What don't you need as much?

I currently have a 4WD Jeep Grand Cherokee that will not be coming to Florida simply because I doubt I'll need 4WD in a no snow/ice location.

The sad fact is that my Florida home's garage IS smaller then my NY 24x40 garage, and with no basement, space IS at a premium.

As to the US/Foreign thing....let's NOT go there. It will be considered off topic and more fitting for another thread of it's own. The lines there are MUCH too blurred anyway, with many foreign cars made in the US and many US parts made in Mexico, etc....let's keep to the topic of what is best for living in Florida.....

Frank

Without question - Ford Fusion fills the bill

Topic
 

Well said! they are all world cars now and parts such as transmissions, engines, AC units, steering systems abs brakes ,stab control etc are used by multiple lines. Who ever would have thought that BMW Ford GM and Chrysler would be using the same Hybrid drive technology.

I agree with you Frank, what we were comfortable in at home does not fit, park or work efficiently in " The Villages" Many folks do not consider or understand that stop and go, idling and the on off slow speed of Village traffic is very abrasive on brakes transmissions engine parts and the degration of motor oils. Letting a corvette or any other vehicle sit or putt around under 40 is the worst thing we can do to any vehicle. Like us they must be moved.

So as you say lets get back on the track. What is best? Well lets have folks consider another VERY VERY important topic. Many of our incomes will now be reduced. Look at the vehicle warranty and buy from the back of the dealership not the front. Meet the technicians the service manager because they are going to take care of you not who sells the vehicle. Also consider the facrory extended warranty on all electrical and computer components.

Test drive the vehicle for a full day! On all types of roads. Thats right they will give it to you or rent one. Your Back Butt Arms etc cannot appreciate a car until you use it for a few miles. not just around the block while a saleperson talks to you about the radio!

Frank you and I drive a Prius. We will never change our brakes while living in the village with normal maintenance. In syracuse only barke maintenance is rotor replacement from the :cus: salt.

A Hybrid owner never uses the brake except under 10 mph or stopped. Its a fake feel to make us comfortable. The service brakes are for holding at a stop sign hill and to burn off the morning rust. Also as a fail safe back up. The electric regen system is our brakes.

Our synthetic Oil maintenance is 10k miles or once a year and that is performed free at the dealership. The enigne will never wear out. It does not have to stress and work as hard. Electric motors will never wear out in our lifetime. The transmission is a sealed system and has no parts to fail.

Toyota has never in 10 + years had a battery failure and if they do they want it back will give you a new one so they can find out why. I will never have to buy another vehicle unless I wreck it or get bored with it.

So folks I'm saying within all car lines reasonable priced Hybrids are here or coming. Test drive them and consider their value.

That goes for Golf Carts also. Times and technology are changing.

So a small Hybrid will now be in my Village home. When I need a larger vehicle for the grandkids and family I will rent it and beat it up in a Disney parking lot then turn it back in.

I so want to do a Automotive talk show on the village radio station. Anyone got any connections or pull!

One more thought The Village Garage. At one designer upgraded open house I listened to a visitor say wow golf car garage. Will fit my three cars! Much to the dislike of the sales tech. I opened the garage drove my Prius in while many watched. They gasped at how this midsize car did not fit well.

My wife said Ok you win, Let's stretch the garage the max 4 feet that we can. The visitor said" thank you I did not believe you when you said these garages are smaller than you think! Now the wife wants her own Smart Car convertible. LOL


Herv- CarGuys

I can tell you that if you live in a courtyard villa, either the "Woodlawn" or it's new name "Durham", get the smallest car you can. I bought a Mazda 3 Grand Touring 5 door Hatchback and I have no more than 5 inches on the sides between the garage and my Yamaha golf cart. It looks exactly like this:

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...3oz0kXB6SCl6x-

Depending on the car, one with a fold down rear seat back will help if you want to pack a lot in the car for your Northern trips.

A full sized SUV is great for travel and keeps the golf carts away.

Last trip down we rented a Kia Soul just to see if we had more room than our saturn vue. Put as much stuff from Costo as would fit in the vue but gas was much better 36mpg and had lots more room in the garage. Took it to disney and did well on the freeway, seems roomie on the inside, stop by a dealer take a drive and see what fits in your garage

We bought a Hyundai Sonata w TV in mind. We have a Woodlawn CYV. I wouldn't want any bigger car, it's tight w the Sonata.

As said, in my NY home I am spoiled with a huge basement and a 24' x 40' garage. In my Florida home we only have a 1.5 car garage...but I have approval and got the blueprints to build an adjoining 14' x 20' garage....a bit bigger then a golf cart garage, but I still wish it could be bigger.

I'm looking forward to buying a second car or truck down there.....rust free, etc!

Another car to perhaps consider is a diesel. The newer ones are clean, and the engines I'm told could go 300k miles. Up north a body could not last that long, but down there in Florida....I think it is an option. Not sure if I would, but it might be worth thinking about. I could more easily consider a more expensive car when I know it will not rust away in a few years.....

Frank

Honda GX CNG
 

The Honda GX is a full Honda Civic that runs on CNG compressed natural Gas.

If you have natural gas at your home a unit called Phil can be bought. It's a slow fill system that is plumbed in your garage. Hooks up like a UL dryer.

It takes 8 hours to slow fill the 3000 psi tank giving you about 8 gallons of fuel.

The car gets 350 miles + on a tank and at home natural Gas prices you are paying 1.30-2.00 per gallon.

There is not a very big trunk as the tank is there. You would never know you were running on cng. It performs as a standard Honda Civic

Range anxiety is a problem.

We also have a Prius and love it. For the folks that think it might not be suitable because of size, they have 4 models coming out next year. They have the standard mid-size that they have had for years, then they have a slightly larger version that is more like an SUV, but not nearly a large. Then they have a smaller one that doesn't have as much cargo area and lastly they have a plug-in version that has the gas engine as a back-up. The plug-in version has larger batteries and would probably work great for getting around TV.

Our current Prius gets around 40-45 MPG and is air conditioned and has a heater, so we use it way more than we do our golf cart. After all, they both get about the same mileage. I believe EZ-GO makes a somewhat hybrid golf car, but doesn't have room for golf clubs. Some day there will be a hybrid golf cart with the ability to handle clubs too.

There seems to be an abundance of Honda CRV's in the Villages. We love ours.

We rented a Prius in New York when we attended a wedding, and I loved it EXCEPT the screen on the dash board reflected onto the windshield at night. We were on back roads in a rainstorm, and I thought it was pretty dangerous, because we couldn't see the road for the reflections.
Just my 2 cents.

There is a dial just to the left of the steering wheel that changes the brightness of the dashboard lighting. It makes everything just perfect. I like it bright in the bright sunshine so I can see it, and then I turn it down at night for night driving. Not a bother at all.

BTW, I find the regular Prius packs A LOT. last trip to Florida my wife put a HUGE cedar hopechest on the back seat filled with stuff. In front of that was my laptop backpack, cooler, etc,etc. Under the back floor in the secret compartments most folks do not know exist she had 3 other large boxes. In the back she put our suitcases, TWO antique end tables, a totem pole, (don't ask....), boxes, 3 months of clothes, etc,etc......and I still had clear vision of the WHOLE back window and side windows.......

I'm looking forward to seeing the new Prius V.....as it is 61% bigger. My son just bought a new Honda CR-V and loves it. He checked out the other comparable SUV's that size like the Rav-4, etc,etc but liked the CR-V the best in terms of resale value, 5 year cost to own, etc.

Sounds like there are enough folks to start a Lake Region Prius Club....

Frank

I am a TV wannabe from the "convincing my wife" thread. Still working on that but we now have a Toyato 4Runner and what you would say is the opposite end of the scale of a Prius, a Toyota Tundra double cab.
We use it alot to carry materials for gardening and work on our cabin plus we pull a 25' travel trailer with it and a dog in the back!
So my question is all of the cars everybody is talking about are small and I understand that but does anybody still have their RV or trailer to go traveling or do you just stop doing that once you have moved to paradise!
If you keep you RV do you store it there and the pull vehicle with it?
It is hard for me to believe after years of having a 4WD truck that I will no longer need it.
If this belongs in another post I am sorry but it seemed to fit here as a side note.
EB

I always had a pick-up truck and my wife always a small car. We sold them both and bought a Rav4. I love it but still miss my truck.

Only three types of guys....
1) Guys who have never had a truck
2) Guys who HAVE a truck
3) Guys who had a truck and miss it.

Sadly, I am in group #3.....(for now):laugh: Actually, I just realized I do own a nice pick up truck, but my son has it and I really only have the title...;-(

Frank

LOL! I am type 2 and hope to not have to be type 3.
I had not thought about letting my son-in-law look after it and then I would borrow it back when I need it. Although that might be a huge test of my love for my son-in-law!
On second thought.....
Is there storage close by TV for RVs and trucks?
EB

P.S. VillageGolfer, are you the same villagegolfer on the Wisdom in Golf site?

We have a Chevy HHR and love it.It's like having a station wagon ,When you put the passenger seats down you can carry lots of stuff.Traveled back & forth from massachsetts & the mpg was great.We traded in our 2005 Chevy Tahoe for it And it leaves plenty of room in our garage!I'm in group 3 and man I miss my pickups!

I couldn't get past this post. I have lived here since 2006 and there is no way I could do without a car. We are not world travelers. yet we often go Ocala Orlando, etc for shopping. About the only time I use my golf cart is to golf .

I bought a new vehicle in 2010, a crossover with a top safety rating which is important to us

God Bless anyone who can do without a car. It is a huge savings:bigbow:

We love our 2010 Ford Focus and also have two golf carts.

notlongnow, We have a Tahoe to tow our travel trailer and as a daily driver. We store the travel trailer at Ft. Knox Storage. We also have two golf carts, and only use the Tahoe when we go to places that are not golf cart accessible or towing the tt. When we sell the travel trailer, we will probably get a Hyundai Tuscon or Chevrolet Equinox.

This car is so popular it will NO longer be built next year:a040:

Miss my Truck- Maybe not
 

Frank I'm that number 3 guy. Today my Truck is sold. Money in the bank. A Bitter Sweet Day

However I will not miss
taking a hour to clean it.
Paying $100 to fill it
In a week paying another $100 to fill it
Trying to find a place to park it
Having to insure it
Watching NYS Salt turn it into a rust heap in three years

Doesn't mean you can't get a good used one for many years.

Looking for small SUV
 

I thought I could get along without a car while in TV....and just use the golf cart to get around. I was 100% wrong on that one. I am looking for a new/used small/med SUV (bad back and knees). I'm going to be zipping back and forth to TV from WNY. I would especially like an in-dash GPS although I have an iPad with GPS abilities.....but in-dash would be better. I am quite an expert at getting lost in TV! :)


This vehicle will be strictly used in TV and surrounding areas......not going back and forth to WNY.

I will be there for a couple weeks in early November.

Please PM me if you have any ideas.

best car for villages
 

:)
We bought a 2012 Ford Focus hatchback in April.

Very good car. We are getting 29-30 MPG driving

around locally and much higher on our rare long drives.

When we were looking around for a car, we test drove the new Chevy Cruze. We were impressed with it but decided on the Sonata. I think the Cruze would be a very nice little car for TV.