I need a new car. I use it extensively for work and the piece of crap I currently drive has cost me about a grand in the last month for repairs.
Here are the features in order of importance, top most, bottom least.
Price
Reliability
Warranty
Fuel economy
Performance
Features
Cargo space
Caveats; I don’t really want a hatchback. 4 doors are preferable to 2 doors, but only slightly.
I have been doing a lot of research on this, but I will keep my opinions to myself for now.
What do you think dopeland? Any advice, opinions, or personal reviews?
Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3.
You really can’t go wrong with any of them.
Cheaper but still reliable are the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris. They may be a bit more cramped and not as comfortable at freeway speeds though (noise, handling, vibration).
What do you all think about the Mitsubishi Lancer? Fuel economy is just ok, but very reliable, very fun to drive and a fantastic warranty. (5 yrs bumper to bumper, 10 years powertrain)
Or the Hyundai Elantra? cheap and has the same great warranty as the Mitsubishi
I am a Hyundai fan. I have an Accent and it’s really done right by me. With the hierarchy you gave, I think Accent 4-door or the Elantra would be a good choice.
I have read that the Honda Fit rates remarkably high. I’ve read that you can get a lot of stuff in a Fit. Myself, I went with the Civic EX, because by the time I added the features to the Fit that I wanted, the price difference wasn’t enough to justify the Fit over the Civic. And I don’t have a lot of need for cargo space. I love my Civic and I’m glad I bought it. When it’s clean I find myself just staring at it, I love it so much…
I wanted all the same stuff you list for the least amount of money. My only subjective intangible was wanting to still be driving the car when I’m 50. I “felt” more comfortable driving a Civic in middle age than a Fit.
BTW, I drove a Yaris and the tiny Chevy and didn’t like either. I drove a Mazda 3 and it was like driving a plastic toy car. My Civic feels solid to me.
I have nothing against the Civic mechanically but the one I drove in had visibility issues. I liked the Mazda3 better and the Mazda Speed 3 has the performance of a Mustang GT but you’ll loose gas mileage.
It depends in part on the actual weight assigned to price and reliability.
If its price >>> reliability instead of price > reliability, then presumably you want one of the 0% financing deals on domestic cars. Is the fuel efficiency thing just about money, or also the environment?
Another endorsement here for a Civic. It’s an EX sedan, the doors open really wide, there’s lots of leg and head room, it’s very comfortable, beautiful to look at (IMO), fun to drive, and great on gas. I found it had the most standard safety features (air bags galore) and standard options that would cost extra from another manufacturer.
GM and Chrysler are not buying back the stock from dealers they are cutting loose. You might find some good deals from those dealers, providing they don’t take the Circuit City liquidation approach.
Honestly, I think the civic, corolla and lancer are all out of my price range. I would love to get them, but I am in social services and do not get paid much.
If I want a new car, I think I am looking at the Accent, maybe the Elantra, low end Kia’s and maybe the Chevy Cobalt and Nissan Versa.
However I have been looking into buying certified pre-owned, which gives me the balance of the warranty. I found a 2007 Lancer with 33,000 miles on it selling for $9000. Would this be a better purchase than a brand new Accent or Sephia for $10,000-$11,000?
If price is your top priority and safety is nowhere on your list (i.e. you’re not after the latest safety technology), then I think you’d be silly to buy new. I don’t know much about those specific models, but I think certified pre-owned is a great way to go with one (obvious but worth pointing out) caveat: make sure you include the cost of financing which right now is much better for new cars.
This is interesting, but i am not sure I would qualify. It all depends on how it works.
I currently drive a 1997 Mazda Protege. It originally got about 29 mpg hwy which is about what a car like the Lancer would get. However, it is only getting about 25 mpg now. Would I qualify? Even though I would get a jump on the mileage, my old car still gets better than 18mpg.
'08 Elantra owner here. Had an '02 Elantra before it.
Upsides:
It’s a terrific car at any price- handles better than the Corolla, rides much better than the Civic, and is more powerful than (the standard versions of) either. It’s also ~$2k cheaper; I got my GLS (the middle equipment level) for $14k; the Civic costs $16,250 with similar equipment, and the '08 Corolla cost $900 more (the '09 is a revamped model, and is much more expensive).
The interior is comfy, and there’s plenty of head- and legroom even in the back. It comes with about 39 airbags. There are clever design touches everywhere- integrated antenna, heated side mirrors, a sunglass holder that’s actually big enough for sunglasses, a terrific standard stereo system, a trunk that’s both well-sized and well-shaped, and excellent headlights (they cast noticeable more light than most I’ve seen). It comes with the best warranty in the business, bar none. It comes with 60,000 miles of free roadside assistance, including up to 200 miles of towing per day. It’s extremely quiet at low speeds. Reliability is excellent; nothing’s gone wrong with this one (15,000 miles since August). Very little went wrong with the other one in 110,000 miles - it overheated twice due to punctured radiators, a wheel bearing broke, and one of the cam covers leaked.
Downsides:
The standard engine is a 2 liter, so while it’s more powerful and a little more torquey, it also gets about 2 mpg less than the Civic and Corolla. It comes with a 12.5 gal. fuel tank, which takes me just under 400 miles on average (I’m a very high-drain driver, though).
The engine is exactly the same as the one in the old Elantra, except it’s got variable valve timing. This means it produces slightly more torque, but also sounds a bit odd. At certain speeds it’s quite loud, and at high speeds the road noise can be intrusive. There’s never any wind noise.
The car doesn’t handle nearly as well as the Mazda 3, but then nothing in the class does other than the Focus.
The automatic gearbox isn’t very good at all. It tends to hunt for gears a lot between 30 and 40 mph, which is very irritating for me since my house is on a road with a 1.5 mile unbroken stretch at 35 mph.
The standard CD player won’t let you fast-forward through a track- only skip to the next one (or back, obviously). It comes with Sirius/XM connectivity built in, and 6 months of XM free, but XM and Sirius have really started to suck.
Now, here’s the rub: the car will be utterly reliable for 100k miles. That’s when the warranty expires. Then, magically, things will start going wrong left and right; nothing bad happened to the old car, but you could tell things were about to happen. It rattled a little more, shook a little more over rough roads, turned over a couple of extra times when cold starting, and so on.
By way of comparison, my previous cars were a used Nissan Altima (ugh), and a used Honda Accord before that (bulletproof). There was also a BMW M3, but I don’t want to get into that.