I want all those things in one car. Also it should be powered by unicorns farts and I should win things just for driving it.
I saw a Honda civic recently, but looking online supposedly quality has gone down. Sucks because I thought Honda was the gold standard of quality. It is a 2005 model. I’m trying to stay under 8k and prefer 6-7k for a 2005 or newer sedan. I prefer 30+ highway mpg, the closer to 40 the better.
I don’t like the Corolla or camry. I can test drive a yaris but those are hard to find. Should I go with hyundai instead? Any brands other than Toyota, Honda and hyundai that meet my criteria?
We’ve had excellent experiences with Mazdas. I had a '91 Protege (predecessor model to the 3) – it was highly reliable, and durable, as well (hit a deer at 60 mph, got rear-ended in a parking lot, and just kept going). I know that, in the intervening 20 years, styling and features have gotten better on the model, as has mileage.
My wife now drives a 2007 CX-7; again, it’s been a great car for her, with surprisingly good mileage for a small SUV. A friend of mine has a 2012 Mazda 3, which he has also found to be a great car.
It’s not so much that Honda’s quality has gone down, but that everyone else’s quality has caught up or is close. In the 80’s and into the 90’s Honda and Toyota really were significantly better than most anyone else, but the gap has closed to basically nil now. However, the used market hasn’t fully changed to reflect that yet and so those cars still hold their value like crazy. They’re still great cars but IMHO nowhere near good enough compared to everything else to justify what they cost used. And, of course, even if they were a tad more reliable, because they cost more to buy used you’re looking at buying an older and/or higher mileage one, which kind of defeats the purpose of paying a premium for reliability.
The Ford, Nissan, Mazda and Hyundai compacts are going to be cheaper used and are all pretty solid cars with decent gas mileage. If you’re willing to go into a sub-compact like a Fiesta or a Versa, you’ll get even better mileage and should be able to buy one that’s only a few years old in your price range.
No one’s mentioned Subarus. I never had a sedan, but I’ve got an 8 year old Baja (a sort of mini truck) and I’ve never had one single problem except replace tires, and other upkeep stuff. Without exaggeration the single most reliable car I’ve ever had.
The only reason I didn’t buy a Subaru sedan was I didn’t like the A/C-heater balance in subaru’s, but that’s an old lady thing. You might want to try one.
He wanted good gas mileage, though. Subies do okay for AWD cars, but not good compared to most 2wd cars. The only one that would meet his MPG requirement is the new CVT Impreza, but those have only been out for a couple of years so they’re probably out of his price range.
Also, though they seem to have hugely improved lately, Subaru’s reliability record has been decidedly hit-or-miss. It sounds like your Baja was a hit, but there were definitely some reliability issues with some models and engines that lingered well into the 2000’s.
However, most Subarus are AWD. AWD is one of Subaru’s big selling points.
While Japanese cars are famed for their reliability, especially workhorses like the Toyota Corolla which is largely considered to be so well made you could drive it for the rest of your life with only regular maintenance, this comes at a cost. One is that they are expensive. A while back I knew a guy who told me he had just bought a new Toyota, and I asked him why he didn’t buy a used one considering the reliability reputation. His answer was that he looked at used Toyotas, but they were nearly as expensive as brand new ones! Another problem is that they are big targets for thefts, because they are in such demand on the resale market! If you’re going to the 'hood, don’t take a Toyota or Honda sedan! You’re asking to get 'jacked, burgled, or hotwired! Be smart and borrow your sister’s '95 Ford Taurus and you’ll all be happy afterward.
I think it’s going to be a little while before we see lots of long-term empirical data, but I think this is very much true nowadays. 1980’s American sedans were pieces of crap that would barely stay together and wouldn’t start half the time. Today’s Chevys and Fords are miles ahead of that.
I’ve seen this when I bought my new Fit about three years ago. The discount on a late-model used Honda was so slight that it wasn’t worth it. And if you need to finance the car, you’re going to get better rates on a new car loan.
Researching the civic I came across more than one person who said Honda’s reliability has declined since the early aughts (2002 at the latest). I have no idea how true it is or if it is due to the rise of the rest or if Honda is actually using substandard parts (possibly more made in China crap) and as a result the cars are not the quality they were.
QuickSilver I never thought of a Jetta. Looking at prices they are pretty reasonable, a 2006 with under 100k can be had for 7k if you shop around. However I’m reading reviews saying the automatic transmission can go bad. Plus the reviews from owners on msn auto & carsurvey are mixed.
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I’m looking into the Mazda 3 on top of the other models I’m looking at. The reviews are decent, mileage is ok (about 29mpg on the highway with AT) and they are reasonably priced.
Has Kia quality gone up? When that brand first came up in the US around the late 90s it was notorious for bad reliability. But Hyundai used to be a bad brand for reliability, and they have gotten a lot better. If Kia has gotten better, that is good. But I haven’t been following that brand.
I’m looking at Kias right now on autotrader, there are a lot with 150k+ miles. That is a good sign I’d assume, if they can last that long.
Daughter has a newer Hyundai that seems, by all standards, to be a fair car. I wish I could say the same for the dealership. My advice, check yelp and judge for yourself whether that’s a dealership you want to deal with before buying.
Apparently 05 civics are fairly well known for blowing a head gasket at around 100k. What preventative things could I do to stop that from happening, and failing that how much would it be in parts and labor to fix that?
I have an 08 Mazda 3 5-door with about 87K–I haven’t had any major troubles. There have been a couple of minor recalls, both handled by the dealer with ease. It does tend to eat tires if you drive it with any kind of panache. Other than that, it’s been a good car. But I won’t be holding on to it much longer. It just feels like it’s getting worn out, and I don’t want to deal with things breaking on a regular basis.