I often drive a Honda Fit through my carsharing membership. It’s a fun little car to drive, and with the hatch combined with the back seats folded down, a whole lotta stuff fits back there.
On the “domestic” side, I also drive a Ford Fiesta. Not quite as peppy on the gas pedal as the Fit, but close, and the interior feels nicer to me. I just splurged on a road trip with a Ford Escape and that was a very enjoyable crossover suv type to drive. I turned the 200 mile marker while out with it, so very new, and I will take it out again. I thought those backup cameras were silly until I experienced it with the Escape and it’s quite a nice feature to have.
I’m not judging, Ufreida. Simple objects can be beautiful too. I’m just a car enthusiast. So when people are all, “it’s just a car”, I’m all, “what?!”.
You can probably find a toyota right for you. For gas mileage, most models can be either 4 cylinder, hybrid, or both. Many of their sedans come in a hatchback model as well. One option you didn’t think about if trunk space is important is a pickup. Modern pickup trucks are essentially sedans with an open trunk: 4 door, 4 seater, etc. And, you can also always get a cab cover as well. I usually find 4 cylinder cars to be the most fuel efficient, but the larger the car the more gas you will use.
They are probably a little pricey for you (unless you are thinking about the Honda, Hondas are usually 30-50% more expensive than toyotas for similar features.) A month ago I checked prices and they are about 18k starting.
I don’t have numbers to back it up, but I doubt you get substantially more space in a CR-V or Rav4 than in an Accord or Camry. That said, the 2014 Accord Hybrid is available at the end of this month. 50mpg at $30k.
The volume may be close to the same but the space you have in a crossover with a hatchback is more versatile.
OP, if you want a lower price tag and better fuel economy than the crossover market but still quite a bit of room to haul stuff, there are quite a few hatchback options out there: Focus, Impreza, Mazda3, Elantra, Versa, the frequently mentioned Fit, and probably more.
When they refuse to negotiate, they are basically telling you to go fuck yourself; if you want that car, you’ll pay whatever ridiculous mark-up we ask, and by the way: go fuck yourself again. I’ve never paid sticker and never will. Hell, I didn’t even pay sticker on my Saturn; of course I waited until they were going out of business to do it.
I considered looking at pickups, but the mileage is lower.
It’s not just in numerical cubic feet, it is in accessibility and arrangement of that space. Hatchback SUVs with fold down seats have a large rectangular volume that can easily be accessed and stacked. Sedans have a smallish trunk and then a back seat, with space above the trunk not useable as it is in an SUV.
I currently drive a Dodge Intrepid. It’s got a fairly large and deep trunk. No Sedan currently on the market comes close in size. Most are about 2/3 the size or less. That is a big hit to my carrying capacity. My back seat is roomy, so that would be comparable. Basically, I would be trying to cram everything I stuff in my current car into a car with 1/3 less trunk space. I have already been lamenting the access aspects of my car. Stuffing three or four bags of gear into the back seat is not always fun. People park next to me, and then it’s hard to go in and out of the side doors. Stuff gets piled awkwardly. And then you have to consider how accessible the trunk actually is. How big is the opening? What is the shape of the opening. It doesn’t matter if the trunk has room to carry two bags of stuff if the opening is so small/awkwardly shaped that I can’t get two bags through the opening and into the trunk.
All of those are too small. I want an adult car, not a clown car.
I looked at the Fit on the lot last night and I can see why they are cheaper and have better fuel economy - they are smaller.
I did a test drive on the Honda CR-V and the Mazda CX-5 yesterday. The Honda was pretty nice. For the time I was in the seat it wasn’t bad. The Mazda had the smaller engine that wasn’t quite as responsive. They do have a 2.5L that I will consider trying, but overall I wasn’t really impressed. The side mirrors are small and weird-shaped. The backup camera package requires two upgrade packages, whereas it’s included on Honda.
I will be looking more closely at that kind of stuff as I go and get a feel for what I care about.
Use theCostco Auto Buying Service. It will remove ALL of the hassle of buying, give you a great price, and get you in and out quickly. Every car I have purchased over the last couple of decades I bought this way.
