Ideal Car for New York City?

[romafan]

Originally Posted by fredfred

There are two seperate issues:

1) The car you'd have if you drove in NYC
2) The car you'd have your DRIVER have if somebody else drove for you in NYC

Parking in the garage of my apartment in NYC costs $450/month, and you don't even get a fixed spot. You have to give it to the "attendants" who are "NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR VEHICLE". I sold my Mercedes when I moved to this town. Even if I had it here I'd rarely use it.

Have you looked into the possibility of a 'subsidized' spot? Often the garage will have an arrangement with the building where tenants are given discounted rates. Typically not a lot (10-15%?), but every little bit helps....

 

[rnoldh]

I've been gone from NYC for many years.

When I worked for Roy Cohn in the early 1970s he had a chauffeur driven Mercedes 600 limousine like this:

Here's a description of the car

He officed and lived at 39 E 68th St.

Occasionally he let me drive him around in the car ( I'm not even sure that he had a drivers license ). I did not like driving an expensive car in Manhattan.

 

[bigbjorn]

Awesome. Yet another fact to file away under "What do Roy Cohn and Erich Honecker have in common?"

 

[BankerBoi]

Originally Posted by Tck13

There's such a decline in manual transmissions. I guess mainly because of traffic and I also believe that it's because people are too busy eating, talking on the cell, playing with their Tom Toms / CD players... I don't have to drive in that much traffic so I have trouble imagining that it's so bad as to only want an automatic. It's not that I don't believe what you're saying, I just don't have the experience of that much traffic. I recently started car shopping and I've found that several of the Subarus / Hondas I want aren't sold with MT any more.

I think as of 2009, the STi, WRX, or s2000 are all manuals. But automatics get better (M-B C350, Lexus IS350 that I've driven) with more speeds, faster shifting, and programs to hold higher engine revs when needed, and paddles to shift on demand. The Audi-VW DSG is well liked by many. Rally suspension FTW in NYC.

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by rnoldh

I've been gone from NYC for many years. When I worked for Roy Cohn in the early 1970s he had a chauffeur driven Mercedes 600 limousine like this:

Here's a description of the car He officed and lived at 39 E 68th St. Occasionally he let me drive him around in the car ( I'm not even sure that he had a drivers license ). I did not like driving an expensive car in Manhattan.
Roy Cohn definitely had a certain style. I'll bet his 600 had an integrated carphone. I imagine large luxury Lincolns and such were fairly common among the New York wealthy in the '70s. The disco chic probably drove Porsches and Mercedes convertibles. I wonder if Rolls Royces were common back then?

 

[dusty]

 

[TheClearanceGuy]

I see my friends on here have a great sense of humor. Cmon, this is a hands down decision...smart car all the way with some serious Batman fenders and anti-vomit paint if you live downtown.