My car is in the shop right now getting a brake overhaul so I can try and squeeze a few more months out of it, but it’s time to start shopping. The mechanic says I’ve got 4-5 months before some other things start going horribly, expensively wrong. So… time to start looking for a replacement.
I’ve never bought a new car before. The one I’ve been driving was my aunt’s, and she gave it to me when I moved down to Maryland. I’ve been looking into cars for a little while, and I’m leaning towards the Toyota Yaris. But there are so many cars out there and I’m really not sure how to go about choosing the best one for me. I’m such a girl on this it’s embarrassing. I’m the one who’d get screwed at the mechanic or car dealership if I went alone, because I know nothing about cars.
I need something with good gas mileage, reliable and fairly easy to maintain, enough trunk space for groceries, and while I prefer a smallish car I’d like one that has 4 doors. I’ll admit to being a little bit superficial in that I’d like it to be an attractive car. Part of why I like the Yaris is because it’s cute. I also don’t have a very big budget, times being what they are and all. But then, I don’t even really know what’s a reasonable price for a car. Looking at used Toyotas and Hondas on carmax.com, it looks like the used ones aren’t really worth it because they’re only a couple thousand cheaper than new, on average, and have a bunch of miles on them.
What I didn’t like about the Yaris was the placement of the instrument panel in the middle of the dash instead of behind the wheel, and the low visibility through the back window. But then, I’ve been driving a hatchback, so maybe I’m expecting too much of a normal rear window? Do you get used to that sort of thing pretty quickly?
I love our 2002 4-door Honda Civic, purchased used nearly 2 years ago. We got a great deal, it’s inexpensive to maintain, and has great gas mileage and (thus far) has been eminantly reliable.
Take a look at the Suzuki SX4 Sport (i.e, the sedan-with-trunk). We own its predecessor, the Aerio (well, actually, we own two) and they have been excellent, reliable cars.
I drive a 2005 Toyota Corolla, and I love it - I have very few complaints about it (one of the very few is that I can’t see great out of the back window when parallel parking). There’s a reason they’re one of the most popular cars on the planet (quite a few reasons, actually). If you can drive a stick, you get a fair amount of giddy-up out of the small car and small motor. We went with the Corolla over a smaller car because we do a lot of highway driving.
The Hyundai Elantra also gets very good ratings (Hyundais are not the same any longer as they used to be - they get good ratings in all categories, and have a fantastic warranty). The Hyundai Accent is a solid little economy car (with surprisingly high safety ratings). The Mazda 3 is also supposed to be quite excellent - when I was car shopping, I tried the Toyotas, the Hyundais, and the Mazdas, and I found the Mazdas had nothing to recommend them over the others, except they were much pricier. I was looking for a stick, though, and you’ll find that very few small cars feel very peppy unless they have a manual transmission. The Elantra was actually my choice, and we tried to buy one, but the Hyundai dealerships around here are absolute assholes.
Regarding the high price of used Toyotas and Hondas - that’s actually a good thing. The cars retain their value because of their quality.
Hyundai is one of the only car companies to actually turn a buck recently; they must be doing something right (of course, it could be their “if you lose your job, we’ll take the car back” policy that’s convincing the public to buy).
I don’t have any recommendations as to what to buy, but when you do your shopping…
As you’ve got plenty of time, take a lot of cars for testdrives, see what you like to drive and what you don’t. See what other cars of similiar size to the Yaris are around and just test them.
I would always go for the wagon / hatch over a sedan - especially for most Japanese brands that have a wagon form of pretty much every sedan - I don’t feel you give anything away in terms of dynamics or driving performance but gain a whole hell of a lot in versatility.
My wife and I went car shopping last week after her car was looking at $2,300 just to be roadworthy.
She went in looking at the Yaris and the Nissan Versa, but we were completely sold on the Honda Fit instead. It was roomier and rated more reliable than the Yaris, plus as I’ve had my Honda Civic for 195,000 miles with no major problems I’m rather fond of the manufacturer. So the Fit is sitting in our garage now, and we’re quite happy with the decision.
I’d strongly suggest taking a look at the Fit and the Accent (another one we considered) in that class of car.
I like almost everything about the Yaris except this: The speedometer and the other dials are in the center of the dashboard. Not right behind the steering wheel, which would be directly in your line of sight if you shift your eyes slightly downward, but right smack dab in the middle. I don’t know why this gets to me so much, since it seems fairly trivial to move your eyes a different way, but it precludes me from ever buying a Yaris (at least until the dials are moved back behind the steering wheel).
My biggest recommendation is to go through CarMax. I’ve only bought used from them, but when they say “No Hassle”, they mean it. I already had a loan secured and my car picked out, so I was in and out in twenty minutes.
I quite like my Hyundai Elantra SE. Rated higher than the Corolla or Civic by Consumer Reports last summer. I got mine for about $16,000 + tax. They also make a GLS version that has smaller tires and no electronic stability control, but Consumer Reports didn’t rate it as highly because the handling wasn’t as good.
My previous car was a 1998 Pontiac Sunfire, and it had various minor problems at different times. By comparison, my Civic is the Mac of cars- it just works.
I’m in about the same position, and I’ve also been looking at the Yaris. However, I’m leaning more and more to the Honda Fit.
My husband has a Honda and they’re very reliable and do great on gas mileage. All the reviews I’ve read favor the Fit over the Yaris, although they are both good cars. The Fit is a little more expensive but not enough to put it out of range.
Well, considering that I’m now looking at the Honda Fit pretty seriously… you may be onto something. It seems to have all the things I like about the Yaris, and none of the things I don’t. On the other hand, it’s significantly more expensive. On the other other hand, it comes in purple.
Where can I go for reliable car reviews and ratings? I’m most interested in safety ratings.
You can also buy a month or two online subscription to Consumer Reports for pretty cheap. I just checked and the Fit was their highest-rated car in the “Budget Car - automatic” and “Budget Car - manual” categories. They rated the sport trimmed manual higher than the base auto (76 vs. 68). The Yaris scored 18 points lower than the Fit (50 vs. 68). The Hyundai Accent and Nissan Versa both scored higher than the Yaris too.
I got the news a year ago that my 1998 Civic would need expensive brake line something or other and traded it in for a 2008 Corolla. I loved my Civic but I dearly love this Corolla. I never had any problems with the Civic but the Corolla is zippier. The Civic would shake at 800 mph or higher but the Corolla buzzes along (I don’t drive that fast regularly, but to pass people, etc.) The Corolla feels more solid, and I found it more comfortable than the Civic I test-drove, when I was assuming I would get another one.
It doesn’t hurt that the Civic was a base model, and now I have A/C, cruise control, power windows and locks. Happy Birthday, Corolla!
ETA: I get MPG in the low 30s in town when the weather is temperate, and high 20s when it’s icy cold. I haven’t taken him on a long trip yet but would expect to get in the high 30s.
I have 4 friends who own Toyota Matrixes (Matrices?) all made between 05 and 07, and they swear it’s the best car they’ve had. The gas mileage is great, cargo room is ample, and it’s zippy. When we get a new car we are seriously looking into the newer Matrix.
That’s the only car that I’ve heard glowing reviews on recently, although really you can never go wrong with the Civic. I ran one into the ground (literally!) and it was great all around. Best gas-mileage I’ve had in a while.
If you do buy a Toyota from a dealer, be forewarned that they (the dealerships) suck. They use more BS sales tactics and lie more than any other dealers I have found. Nice cars though, I have a 10 year old Corolla and it’s great basic transportation.
If you can drive a stick, you get a fair amount of giddy-up out of the small car and small motor. We went with the Corolla over a smaller car because we do a lot of highway driving.
