new car fever?

[absintheisfun]

somehow it posted only half the message...see the next post!

[absintheisfun]

I'm thinking of getting a new car, and I want to venture back to Chevrolets after my past two cars being imports...

Needs:
Cargo room-I'm buying bigger parts for my project, and the hatchback just ain't cutting it.
has to be fast or big, or both.
Smaller (not full size)-they make me feel like a midget!
decent (20+ mpg)
four doors for the family (wife and 3 dogs)

Option 1-Colorado Crew Cab Z71

or...and this is where the questions come...

Option 2-HHR SS
http://jalopnik.com/photogallery/hhrsstest2/
am I weird for liking this thing?
Is it possible this will be a limited run much like the typhoon and syclone?
0-60 in just over 6 seconds, and cargo room????
is this a glorified grocery getter?
a speedy mom-mobile?

thoughts, comments?

I'm going to test drive them tomorrow, but

[cheapthrillz]

Trailblazer SS - they are bad ass!

Suits everything you need...

[muthstryker]

+2 for the trailblazer SS

[bigvegan]

The HHR is FWD, which automatically puts it in the grocery-getter / mom-mobile category for a lot of folks.

If you don't mind that the drive wheels are at the "wrong" end, it is a pretty cool looking machine.

The Trailblazer SS is cool, but 12/16 mpg (http://www.chevrolet.com/trailblazer/specifications/) is hardly the 20+mpg you're looking for.

[cheapthrillz]

The HHR is FWD, which automatically puts it in the grocery-getter / mom-mobile category for a lot of folks.

If you don't mind that the drive wheels are at the "wrong" end, it is a pretty cool looking machine.

The Trailblazer SS is cool, but 12/16 mpg (http://www.chevrolet.com/trailblazer/specifications/) is hardly the 20+mpg you're looking for.

WOW, didn't know that they were that bad. I figured they would just be a little worse than the GTO's.... Still a sweet ride tho...

[hdesign]

We love our Tblazer for all the things that are in your "needs" category. I lost the battle on the SS though. It drives/rides better than anything else we drove in the price range, it feels incredibly substantial, it's capable of getting out of it's own way and it's OK on fuel if you're not mashing the gas to the floor at every green light. Highway we get about 21-24 mpg.

One thing I absolutley can't stand on ours is the exterior and interior styling, it's pathetic! The bumpers and tail lights have all this cluttered, boxy junk molded into it to look utilitarian or something. YUCK! The dash and door panels are right out of the Flintstones. Way, way too much hard plastic that creaks.

The SS definitely smoothes off all of the unnecessary chunky exterior styling details and I think the interiors are a little nicer. We actually wanted an Envoy for all these reasons but couldn't see paying that much more for the same thing with a few "nice to haves".

[Nine Ball]

We looked at several $20K range SUV's a few months ago. The Nissan Xterra was probably the best all-around vehicle to fit your requirements. TBSS was quick, but drinks gas. If you want BIG and fast, pick up a used diesel fullsize truck. Slap a $700-900 tuner on there and they haul ass and get 20 mpg hwy. Avoid the later model Ford Powerstroke engines, those suck. Stick with Dodge/Cummins or GM/Duramax

[absintheisfun]

The HHR is FWD, which automatically puts it in the grocery-getter / mom-mobile category for a lot of folks.

If you don't mind that the drive wheels are at the "wrong" end, it is a pretty cool looking machine.

The Trailblazer SS is cool, but 12/16 mpg (http://www.chevrolet.com/trailblazer/specifications/) is hardly the 20+mpg you're looking for.

I went and test drove all three today...initial impressions-
Trailblazer SS-nice...very nice. However, I could drink a gallon of gas and run farther than it will go on a gallon...Gas prices don't seem to be dropping back to a buck a gallon any time soon.
I would have a hard time convincing my wife of two vehicles that get crap for gas mileage...

Colorado-did Chevrolet forget to put any sound proofing on this??
rides like a truck-a good thing-I miss this kind of ride
overall okay..just really really noisy.

HHR-SS
If I could get over the "its a mom-mobile" this is not too bad.
Ride= pretty good...
Price=downright reasonable. Leather, quick (not neck-breaking fast, but quick) and gas mileage around 25mpg...for 23K? the best deal for sure.
Damn those stereotypes. I just don't think I could bring myself to own it.

[cheapthrillz]

I am sorry if this offends anyone on this forum, but the HHR is just down right ugly. It looks like a chopped and channeled minivan. My grandpa says that HHR stands for "high head room". They are just way too square, but round at the same time.

I think that the xterra is a pretty cool looking vehicle. I have a little background in offroading, and at one time I wanted an xterra or a montero sport.

I think that the best DEAL would probably be a Kia sorento. You could put Lexus badges on it and most people wouldn't even notice it was a kia. It looks just like the older RX300's.

I think that you need to decide if you want a truck or a small suv before you start comparing them. Todays trucks and suvs are not as similar as they used to be. The trucks still ride like trucks, but the suvs ride more like minivans.

Good luck with you choices! I didn't mean to sound so negative. I do wish you luck. But remember that almost all new cars will depreciate very quickly, so plan on keeping this ride for a while.

[bigvegan]

The best deal would probably be a new Honda Fit for a 4 door with great gas mileage ($14kish) (Car & Driver 10 best, 5 star frontal crash rating, lots of cargo space, and 31mpg combined), a used Ford Ranger Pickup for parts getting ($4kish) and $5k worth of goodies for the pro-tourer.

It all depends on how many cars your better half is ok with.

[cheapthrillz]

I bet you could get away with a reg cab ranger with a camper cover. The dogs could ride in the back with all of the car parts! Get one with a sliding rear glass, and the dogs could come up and say hey...