Time to buy a new car. First off I’ve got a 2005 Honda Accord. I currently have 156,000 miles and so far its given me no problems. I stay in top of required maintenance.
I’ll soon be buying a new car and wanting opinions on Mazda or KIA.
I will not buy a brand new one, usually a year old.
I want fast acceleration, stability, realibility.
I’m open to other suggestions. I’ve driven the Ford Fusion and hated it.
Thanks in advance.
Also it must take curves well at high speeds, I’m in Texas and 75 to 85 mph is normal outside city limits.
Sounds as if you want an essentially practical vehicle like a mid-size sedan, with those characteristics. Hard to beat Honda in any respect, even though Mazda has made some nice examples.
Wwhich Mazda would you suggest?
I have a 2015 Mazda 6 which I bought new and love. I used to be a fan of buying late model used, but when I went looking for the last one I found that the price differential did not justify it so I bought my first new car (I was 64 at the time).
There are a number of options on this car that I did not think about much before I bought, but I would not get a car without them now (this could be because I am getting older & need all the help I can get).
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[li]Backup camera[/li][li]Rear cross traffic alert (has saved me from at least two accidents).[/li][li]Blind spot detection[/li][li]Radar controlled cruise control[/li][/ul]
No recommendations, as I’m not familiar with the last decade of them. I know they are more variable than, say, Honda in quality and so forth, with some models you’d want to avoid and others that are a great buy.
You might also consider Subaru, as they make a couple of very un-Subie-like sporting sedan/coupes and would otherwise be in my first list of choices for reliability, quality etc. They might be a just a tad down in interior finish and so forth from Honda and Mazda.
A friend from college is much more of a car nut than I am and I believe he still drives a Subaru WRX, which is basically a sports car in a sedan body.
But I question your plan to buy a one-year-old car. I think few used cars are available that young (dealer demos, maybe?), and those that are, are discounted only slightly from the price of new ones. You might find two- or three-year-old cars that came off a lease, but again, not a huge discount off new.
I have a 2016 Mazda 6 and I have to say my favorite thing about it from a driving standpoint is the steering. Well-weighted, good control. Professional reviewers I believe mostly concur.
However I believe it is limited to only a single engine train at the moment, a 2.5L 184 hp inline 4 which is a little rattly-loud IMHO ( compared to my old Nissan ). So if you want tons of excess power, this wouldn’t be the one for you. But 75-85 should be no problem at all, assuming you don’t need lightning quick acceleration.
Thanks for Subaru suggesion and others. I’ll take some testdrives. Feel free to add more comments.
Thank you!
My wife traded in her 2003 Accord for a 2014 Subaru Legacy; handles great, zippy, very comfortable.
Nobody has ever regretted buying another honda.
But since you mentioned Kia, look at the Optima. I think it’s much nicer looking and a superior car to the similar Mazda 6. Better engine too.
But for a driver’s car in your price range, get yourself the VW GTI.
If you’re going to look at Subaru WRXs and GTIs take a look at the Ford Focus ST as it’s in the same ballpark, has a great options list and is a blast to drive. If you’re looking at sedans vice hatchbacks I’d second the Subaru Legacy and if your budget will stretch a little I’d take an Infiniti Q50 for a spin. We had one for a rental last year and it is a great highway cruiser with tons of power and it likes the twisties, too. 
Not true. My last Honda had several maintenance issues and grew old quickly. Bought something else and didn’t look back.
Honda quality went down in 2006 models, which is why I didn’t by a new CR-V back then. Perhaps they’ve re-upped their game. I presently have a 2016 Mazda CX-5 (SUV) and love the handling and acceleration (not to mention the Bose sound system). Mazda really got in the game in 2015, and most of their line gets excellent reviews.
We’ve had two Mazdas – a Protege (their small sedan model, which morphed into the 3) from '91, and a CX-7 from '07, which we still have. Both cars had excellent reliability, and very good quality.
When I bought the Protege in '91, my intent was to buy a Honda Civic. At that time (and probably still true today, to an extent) the Honda dealer had no real incentive to deal or negotiate, since their cars were in high demand. I did my homework, saw that the Mazda was also a very good car, and bought it for substantially less than the Honda dealer was willing to go on the Civic.
We’ve also owned a Subaru Outback (a model from '97 or so, IIRC, which we sold when we bought the CX-7). It, too, was a great car, and extremely reliable.
I like Honda, but Subaru and Mazda both make good cars, too. Depends what you want or need. You can get a Subaru WRX with really nice all wheel drive, but your MPGs will suffer.
Not surprised you don’t like Ford if you’ve been driving a Honda for a while. I’ve always felt like those two makers are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of drive feeling. Not that one’s better, they just have different philosophies in terms of that the driver should be feeling.
Just out of curiosity, what year, engine, any why? It’s one of the best cars I’ve driven aside from a honking, huge Expedition Max (although, I do have a Mustang on the way, so time will tell).
Do your automotive press homework, read Car and Driver and Motor Trend online reviews. But remember that these publications can often favor “fun” and performance over other considerations. Consumer Reports just recently released their top ten new cars, and the Kia Optima is on it.
A Honda Accord with the V-6 has plenty of guts (and if you like a manual tranny, Honda’s is one of the absolute best) and is, and has for decades, been an all around great car.
Ditto the V-6 Camry, although a little bit bland for me, though it did get a recent refresh.
Subaru makes GREAT cars, but I’d be leery of a performance model like the WRX or WRX-Sti used, they have likely been driven very hard or even modified.
Mazda seems to garner a lot of automotive press for their “fun to drive factor” across almost their entire carline, including the 3, the 6 and ultimately, the MX-5 (which is NOT a practical car other than MPG’s, but one of the most grin-inducing cars I have ever driven).
The newer Ford Fusions are actually good cars, especially the brand new ones. My boss has a Fusion Sport with AWD and it’s a riot to drive, but only available new (and at $40k) right now.
Finally, the new Chevy Malibu with the 2.0L turbo engine might be your cup of tea. Talk about a car that’s made leaps and bounds in quality/technology, etc in only a few years.
Another option for you if you don’t want to buy new is to lease a car. If you can keep your car under 15k miles a year and don’t damage it beyond normal wear and tear (and they’re a lot less restrictive about that stuff than in the old days) it’s a good option for a cheaper payment, more car for your payment money, and it’s always under warranty. At the end, you can buy it outright, trade it in (although you will have some negative equity, some cars much more than others) or just hand in the keys and walk away. Or lease another new car then.
I have a CX-5 AWD with the 2.5L engine and I had a Mazda3 5-speed with the 2.3L before that. The Mazda3 was much more fun to drive and I think it had better acceleration than the CX-5. No problems with the Mazda3 in 97k or so far with the CX-5 at 52k
For me the CX-5 is a better choice because I take long roadtrips and pack a lot of gear. The new CX-3 looks interesting but I haven’t read any reviews.
The CX-3 is very small ute. Even the salesman said he didn’t see the point in it.