How did I miss the previous article? I got opinions too!

For new vehicles, can't get too new.

Mileage, reliability, safety all improved so much over the last few decades (on the whole - don't start telling me about your exceptions) that I would with the exception of brand new technology, always go as new as I can afford.

Brand new technology in cars is such a new thing as they stayed basically static for decades, that I try to avoid the bleeding edge until it has a few billion miles on the fleet.

One that comes to my mind right away is the Corvette. I wouldn't own one newer than the original 1953 to 1962 body style. That design was perfect. The rest, meh -- they're either stupid looking or just ugly. (IMHO.)

We just bought a new Chrysler 300C Hemi AWD. The reason? Because we could get a LIFETIME bumper to bumper warranty that covers all its zillions of computers and sensors. Engines, tranmissions, suspensions and other mechanical stuff now lasts hundreds of thousands of miles, but microprocessors can fail in a heartbeat, and cost a fortune to fix.

The rule has always been, "Never buy a BMW, Mercedes or Audi without a warranty," but it's getting to where you don't want to buy anything that doesn't have a lifetime warranty. Cars are so complicated today, they are becoming fiscally unrepairable.

And if you do buy a new BMW with a warranty for, say, $70,000, when it goes out of warranty at 4 years/100,000 miles, its value drops like a rock--especially when potential buyers learn that the transmission in some new BMWs costs $18,000 and can't be repaired (it must be replaced). What do you do when your 4-year-old $70,000 BMW is out of warranty, is now worth only $20,000, and its transmission fails?

We bought the 300C for my wife, but I'll keep my 2001 740 and 1997 M3 for as long as I can, because both of those cars can still be repaired.

I am all for buying the "green" cars that are available today. A synergy-hybrid from Ford, Toyota, Honda, or Nissan would be my choices.

All electric is not going to succeed in any big way, due to the "anxiety" effect. That means that very few people want to drive an electric to the mall and back, because the "and back" is uncertain (a freeway accident-causing delay on a 100 degree day for instance. The A/C will eat up the charge in a hurry).

However, an all electric DRIVE, like the Chevy Volt, is the way to go. It has an on-board charger using a small gas engine, which can relieve that "anxiety". Prices for large batteries needs to fall soon so that these types of cars can be purchased by retirees like me!

I can be coerced into buying a 2013 but any newer than that seems like a sham to me. I don't need a sham wow.

I agree. The rumour is that a "crossover" version of the Volt is in the works. That would fit my needs better (must have room for 3 golf bags and 3 players!).

I would like to buy a Ferrari, but cost considerations limit me to a 308, 328 or 348--so the newest Ferrari I can afford is probably a mid-1980s. Oh, and no computers! But plenty of very expensive maintenance.

But plenty of very expensive maintenance.

You are not wrong! The gas strut to hold up the rear 'hatch' on a Ferrari costs over$A400. It fails on a regular basis because Ferrari instal it wrong way up because it looks better. A correctly installed after market part is $A40.

I would like a Mitsubishi ASX from 2011.

What's an ASX? An Evo?

Mitsubishis are wonderful cars, but their dealers suck--in the U.S., any way.

I had a 94 Mitsubishi 3000GTVR4, 92 Talon, and 90 Eclipse GSX--all turbo AWD cars and they were amazing performers. We modded them considerably for road racing. The 3000GTVR4 was 500+hp and the 4-cylinder Eclipse was dyno-tuned to 355 hp at the wheels, but they were "tired iron" and broke a lot.

That's one problem with buying older cars--if you try to race them, they break easily. And if you buy a newer car, you can't modify them, thanks to the ECU. Just put a simple cold air intake on your '11 ASX and you'll probably have to reprogram the ECU.

My 1997 M3 is a good compromise--new enough so it doesn't break, and not so new that I can't modify it.