In reply to Klayfish:
My neighbor has one. I do kinda like it
In reply to Klayfish:
My neighbor has one. I do kinda like it
Dunno...I haven't had to refill the tank yet. 
They're rated at 51mpg city and 48 highway, so it should be significantly better than a gas only even on the highway. I believe the electric motor helps push, even at highway speeds. With the afternoon traffic I'm hitting, I should get great mileage. The car can crawl..sub 10mph...on electric alone. I needed a car built like a brick E36 M3 reliability wise, ultra fuel efficient, seating for 5 and wanted some modern conveniences. All on a budget. I searched all over CL, drove some of the bottom of the barrel new cars (Versa Note, Mirage, etc...), and the Prius was the hands down winner.
Datsun1500 wrote: In reply to Klayfish: I always thought the hybrids were good for city commutes, not long highway ones. Don't they get the same MPG as a non hybrid car at speed?
Hybrid itself isn't [that much] better than a non-hybrid, but most of the shapes that get the best mileage are only found with hybrid drivetrains--CRZ, Prius, Insight, Volt, etc.
If you already have an e46, I can't think of a car less offensive to people who care about their neighborhood looking "nice" if that's the main goal.
I have four cars I work on, and I live in a tight neighborhood with a HOA. I'm also the VP of said HOA. Just remember that the junk cars and crappy lawns make the neighborhood less desirable to live in, and can lower the property value of other homes in the neighborhood. It is actually quite nice living somewhere that has standards and rules that are governed within our CC&R's. It's still a constant battle though, as everyone's standards are different. While many people don't care for the rules, there is something to be said about the guy with poor taste that just painted his house sky blue a few houses down, in a neighborhood with earthy tones. That's an issue I'm dealing with right now. Laughable to some, but I'm not cool with it, as well as many of our residents.
I get it though; my ratty Spitfire shares space with my miata in the 1.5 car garage, while my prettier E34 and Jeep Patriot look nicer in the driveway. I shuffle cars a lot, but I respect the rules and I'm cool with it.
Just a view from the other side of the fence. If you don't like it, move.
-Hamid
Hey, he's the VP of the HOA, he knows what's best for everyone!
Who are you to question that? Keep acting up and you'll get a violation.
Now paint your house the same ugly catE36 M3 brown as the rest of us.
I realize that HOA suck, but you willingly moved there and you got a list of what is/isn't allowed. I hate to say it, but either follow the rules or GTFO.
AverageH wrote: While many people don't care for the rules, there is something to be said about the guy with poor taste that just painted his house sky blue a few houses down, in a neighborhood with earthy tones. That's an issue I'm dealing with right now.
Was that something you intentionally mentioned to illustrate the problem many of us have with HOAs?
Someone revived the HOA in my neighborhood about a year ago, but so far they've been limited to repairing some landscape at the entrance of our subdivision and successfully persuading the county to repave the road.
I can't think of any circumstance in which I would voluntarily move to an HOA Neighborhood.
I'd just keep the E46 unless it's a POS. Have passengers get out of the car before entering the driveway.
Datsun1500 wrote: In reply to AverageH: But that guy likes his house sky blue. You say that it's poor taste, but he likes it. If he decided he "wasn't cool" with your E34 sitting outside, will you care?
Usually HOAs have an approved color list. You can mix and match as you please after that. If it's a color not listed, then it will have to be approved by the board.
Unless e34s are specifically listed in the HOA that is a silly argument. But I guess this is the internet and silly arguments are the norm
I don't understand when people bitch about HOAs but move in to one anyway.
AverageH wrote:While many people don't care for the rules, there is something to be said about the guy with poor taste that just painted his house sky blue a few houses down, in a neighborhood with earthy tones. That's an issue I'm dealing with right now. Laughable to some, but I'm not cool with it, as well as many of our residents. -Hamid
My neighbor/landlord in college wanted to paint his house a normal color that would fit in with the neighborhood but was not on the approved list. He got pissed off with the HOA and picked three trim colors from the approved list (red yellow and blue) and painted his house those colors just to piss off the HOA. He followed the rules to a T. Now his house is known as the crayola house.
Besides the aggravation they can cause, I tend to dislike neighborhoods with an HOA because all of the houses look the same.
Cone_Junkie wrote:Datsun1500 wrote: In reply to AverageH: But that guy likes his house sky blue. You say that it's poor taste, but he likes it. If he decided he "wasn't cool" with your E34 sitting outside, will you care?Usually HOAs have an approved color list. You can mix and match as you please after that. If it's a color not listed, then it will have to be approved by the board. Unless e34s are specifically listed in the HOA that is a silly argument. But I guess this is the internet and silly arguments are the norm
Thank you Cone_Junkie.
And it's not about what kind of car you have sitting out front, it's whether or not it's sitting on jack-stands or in the front yard. I moved to this neighborhood for a reason, and I don't want that where I live. I don't care about taste in cars.
As for the light blue house... well, yes, everyone has a different idea in what color looks nice, but his color does not blend with the neighborhood, and that's as far as that should go, but it's up to our committee to decide. If you like painting butterflies on your roof, go for it! Just don't go bitching to an HOA, just move.
Remember that HOA's can be great. I like to think of the graffiti and vandalism that we just cleaned up as a good thing. Same goes for cutting down the dangerous 12 foot high tree stump in our common area so no more kids fall off of it. I only decided to interject into the conversation due to the general "screw the HOA" tone in the thread, so I felt inclined to give a different point of view. I'm also a volunteer as the VP, as with many board members, so it's not like I'm paid to be a pain. Sorry, I'll leave you guys to complain.
-Hamid
My uncle lives in a very strict HOA in Peoria, near Phoenix. I hated everything he said about it, you can't park cars on the road, even overnight, they told him to paint his house, its about 5 years old, what colors to paint, what plants to have in the front, complained about a how big a tree got in his yard and an oil stain on the driveway.....to me, that sounded like a living hell, for him and my aunt, absolutely wonderful. They live there part time, it was an investment and for them to have all the neighbors be kept in line is perfect. Like I said, I don't know why people complain about a situation they have put themselves into.
To be compatible with the HOA, maybe one of these would be appropriate?
Or if you wanted a convertible you could get one of these:
Seriously, though... I'd like to third or seventh the idea of a subie wagon. Of course a hardtop Miata would blend in pretty well and still looks pretty awesome with a little bit of extra ground clearance.
Welcome to Portland!!! HOA's SUCK berkeley balls!!! Wife and I purposely avoid them when we went house buying.
You MAY have another option.... sharing on a garage!!! There are lots of small garages around town and quite a few have 2, or 3 guys sharing/spreading the costs.
As to what car... based on your requests I'd initial say a Subaru GC8 type Imprezza...
as another option you might go E30 - think its GC is better then your E46
HOAs don't enforce what kind of car you own/drive, generally. HOA rules usually just say that the car has to be legal, registered, and not rusting on jackstands, etc. I've always lived in places with HOAs (some stricter than others) and have never had any problems with lowered cars, loud cars, lifted Jeeps, trailers, rallycross cars with full race livery, etc etc. My HOA in this neighborhood is pretty lax (once in a blue moon they send an email about people leaving their trashcans on the street for 2 weeks....), but the prices in this neighborhood keep people from doing anything too crazy. Most people try to maintain their investments and their neighborly relations.
I personally don't want my immediate neighbor to have a rusty old Maserati BiTurbo on jackstands sitting in his lawn.
The real problem I see with your situation isn't the HOA. It's the "tiny garage."
Datsun1500 wrote: I do not have an issue with the color being on the "approved list" I have a problem with the attitude of the color of his house is in "poor taste" and "I'm not cool with it" It was said that the "ratty triumph" is in the garage, while the "prettier BMW" was outside. All I was asking was if the neighbor decided that the 10-15 year old BMW was not pretty enough to meet the rules, would you be OK with it? If the rules state that you can not have 2 cars in the small garage, and no more than 2 in the driveway, are you willing to get rid of one? I agree, most of the time a HOA can make the neighborhood nicer, but a lot of times the guys on the board are on a power trip. Is that blue color not allowed according to the rules in place when he moved in, or have the rules changed?
All good concerns but slightly aside from my points. My "ratty Triumph" is actually on jack-stands in the garage, hence the BMW out in the drive. As far as a neighbor having issues with the BMW, well I chose to not live in a neighborhood where that's an issue! I can own whatever car I want! If I was living in Medina on the shores of Lake Washington next to Bill Gates, I'm sure every neighbor would make issue of all of my cars, and yes I would be pissed. I would also realize that maybe I made a mistake as to where I chose to live if it was in the covenants. Again, two cars in the garage etc... I would not be cool with it, but what's in my garage is not the concern of my HOA. I know what you're getting at though and I totally agree.
As far as the "poor taste" comment, that was purely my opinion. I didn't know I was supposed to represent my HOA on this forum so I apologize. Seriously though, it does not blend with the 210 houses within our neighborhood, and with the amount of comments we have had from other residents, it seems to be in poor taste. Again, it's something that we as a board need to decide. Power trip or not, it doesn't blend. I don't like to blend in with all the other lemmings at times, but that's why I own 12 acres of land elsewhere in the state where I plan to build a giant nasty garage holding all of my stoopid man toys. I choose my battles.
I'm guilty of poor taste, but in the meantime I choose to put it within the interior of my home
-Hamid
Ahahaha, oh man, this thread.
Look, I know HOAs have a reason to exist, and I have a reason to live in one, and I want to be a good c̶o̶m̶r̶a̶d̶e̶ neighbor and abide by the rules. I just want to have a car I can play with on weekends while I do it. The e46 is great and isn't going anywhere, but at 186k miles it's just too old and expensive to maintain for rallycross duty, and I'm pretty sure the dashboard and the key would both have aneurisms if I tried to megasquirt it (even though neither has any business possessing a brain).
I need a project car that will stand for that kind of meddling!
irish44j is right: the main obstacle is the garage. The Subaru idea continues to grow on me...I think I can avoid being mistaken for a hipster as long as I keep rally tires on it.
pinchvalve wrote:
This fills me with want. Anyone know which Impreza was the shortest in length?
Here's the crux of the issue when it comes to the HOA rules:
"Vehicles in Disrepair. No Owner shall permit any vehicle which...is in an extreme state of disrepair...to remain parked upon any Lot for a period in excess of 48 hours, nor on a Common Area, alley or street for any length of time. A vehicle shall be deemed in an "extreme state of disrepair" when the Board of Directors reasonably determines that its presence offends the Owners and Occupants..."
The subjectivity of this rule will be my undoing, I'm sure. It doesn't even have to be broken! What's worse, though, is this later line:
"No repair or maintenance of vehicles shall be allowed in parking spaces." How do they define parking spaces? They don't, but I'm interpreting it to mean the ones on the street.
Meanwhile, I guess it's time to read up on my space-saving workshop tricks. (Do they make engine hoists that will fold up into a suitcase?)
jsymonds wrote: Here's the crux of the issue when it comes to the HOA rules: "Vehicles in Disrepair. No Owner shall permit any vehicle which...is in an extreme state of disrepair...to remain parked upon any Lot for a period in excess of 48 hours, nor on a Common Area, alley or street for any length of time. A vehicle shall be deemed in an "extreme state of disrepair" when the Board of Directors reasonably determines that its presence offends the Owners and Occupants..." The subjectivity of this rule will be my undoing, I'm sure. It doesn't even have to be broken! What's worse, though, is this later line: "No repair or maintenance of vehicles shall be allowed in parking spaces." How do they define parking spaces? They don't, but I'm interpreting it to mean the ones on the street. Meanwhile, I guess it's time to read up on my space-saving workshop tricks. (Do they make engine hoists that will fold up into a suitcase?)
Sounds like as long as it moves at least once every 48 hours, you're golden
Sounds like you need to find another place to live. You might be able to work with them for a while but eventually the busybodies will find something to aggravate you with.
Don't forget the HOA dues, you're paying for the grief and anguish that will eventually come your way.
pinchvalve wrote:
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