forgotten_aria: (Default)
forgotten_aria ([personal profile] forgotten_aria) wrote2008-01-31 12:29 am
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Cars and cargo space... a babble

So, in general, cars talking about cargo space in cubic feet. The problem seems to be that no one can agree on how to messure this. To look at the mazda5, you can find quotes of anything from 70 cubic feet to 44 for with both 2nd and 3rd seats folded and anything from 15 to 4 with all the seats up.

So I've been searching for "real" messurments (because I can't get this off my mind and it doens't make sense for me to go to a dealer until april.) I think I acutally found some and found that that despite the shorter nose, and longer body and wheel base, the cargo area is a mere 2" longer than my current saturn. How does that happen?! I can't really find good numbers on how tall the space is (with out blocking visiblity) but I'm really hoping that will be the big win. I'm still confused that it does not have a longer cargo hold than my saturn... So confused. I really hope it WILL be able to carry things better. What really fightens me is how small the mazda3's space must be.

The more I look into modern cars, the more I realize just how awesome my current car is. *sigh*

[identity profile] zkzkz.livejournal.com 2008-01-31 02:01 pm (UTC)(link)
The matrix has crazy cargo space. When I moved into my last appt in Montreal we moved tons of stuff and fit crazy numbers of large objects in it. My dad had a piece of plywood with bicycle quick-release mounts on it to carry his bicycle in. A friend with a big Jeep came over and liked it -- it wouldn't fit in the Jeep even though it fit fine in the Matrix.

But I'm not sure I would really recommend it overall though, Toyota build quality has gone way down. Mazda quality is actually quite high these days, though it could be because their sales numbers have risen so fast their car repair stats skew towards younger cars than Honda.

I wouldn't worry too much about restricting visibility though. I mean, visibility is important but if you're carrying a lot of stuff it's a special occasion when you're willing to deal with the hassle of limited visibility. Keep in mind that trucks have no rear window at all. Visibility under *normal* circumstances is something to keep in mind though. Cars like the Matrix and I think the Mazda too have the bottom of the window rising up which severely limits visibility in ways you don't realize when you're driving.

Actually trying to pack something in the pack isn't a bad idea. Trusting cubic ft measurements is a bad idea. Lots of cars have roofs that slope down at awkard angles or sides that slope in. Sometimes you cant' fit in things that seem like they ought to fit becuase you just can't fit it in the opening even though there's space inside.
nacht_musik: (Default)

[personal profile] nacht_musik 2008-01-31 02:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Toyota build quality has gone way down

Can you provide a citation for that? Consumer Reports has noted a few less-reliable model-years for Toyota in the last ten years, but overall still gives them very high ratings.

[identity profile] zkzkz.livejournal.com 2008-01-31 02:31 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm basing this on three things -- all of which are pretty sketchy for various reasons:

1) My own experience with the matrix. Admittedly a cheaper car than the Saabs I was more familiar with. The clutch gave out really early (~30k km) and Toyota refused to consider it under warranty --clutches are normally not covered by warranties, but seriously, 30k km driven by a mother familiar with manual transmissions? Also, the plastic front skirt clips all broke and paint chipped like crazy. The disc brakes have inadequate ventilation and rusted earlier than they ought to have -- I'm told VW disc brakes have the same problem.

2) I read something somewhere about Toyota build quality going down. When I read it I said "aha, so it wasn't just this car" but didn't save a reference to it.

3) A company which sells used car warranties publishes their stats based on their actual warranty claims at:
http://www.reliabilityindex.co.uk/top10.html?apc=3128339010848601

Note that Toyota is still in the top 10 but compare it to Honda and Mazda with half the warranty claims. It's still better than the likes of Chrysler and Alfa though with double again the claims of Toyota. let alone Jeep, Porsche, and Landrover with more than 3 times the claims (Though this takes into account the dollar amounts which is why they fare so poorly).

That said, their US numbers look better. They have slightly lower rates of failures than Honda. These stats don't take into account repair costs. So either their US plants are doing better than their European plants or their repairs aren't especially common, just more expensive.

[identity profile] forgotten-aria.livejournal.com 2008-01-31 05:21 pm (UTC)(link)
The matrix also seems to be a few years behind the times in terms of features and design. The 2009 looks a little better, but I'm not sure when it will come out.

I think I still like the mazda 5 over it.

As for "special event" I've transported enough stuff that cut off my visiblity, that I would like to have as much visiblity as possible. I want to avoid accidenets and even though I'm not doing it often, it is still dangerous. And if I all goes well, I will be moving drums often. But I shouldn't make that a huge factor, since it might not happen at all.

[identity profile] forgotten-aria.livejournal.com 2008-01-31 05:27 pm (UTC)(link)
and in the realm of crazy space when filled to the brim, I have this picture of a mazda 5:



How does it compare?