2010 GMC Sierra Crew Cab. Just bought this year, I could never afford a new one, so was happy to find a super low mileage one in almost mint shape. First non beater vehicle in my life. Mainly bought it for the 10 times a year I need a truck. Having the 4x4 is nice in winter, and it actually rides quite nice. Me and my wife are planning on having kids soonish so decided it would be easier to deal with a car seat in a crew cab over an extended cab.
Downsides are parking lots and of course the mileage(23ish highway, way worse city). My wife has a Suzuki SX4 which gets excellent mileage but is not nearly as comfortable. When we go anywhere of significant distance, we end up weighing the pros and cons of money spent versus our comfort and decide accordingly.
Acura TSX wagon, bought cash a couple of years ago with 14k miles on it. The main reason was that I wanted a wagon, and that limits your options considerably in the US. In the end it was a choice between Acuras and BMWs, with BMWs requiring more of a mileage / price tradeoff. It worked out well. Since I’m apparently the only person who likes wagons they sold at a discount, so it seems like it was price comparable to a nicely equipped Toyota or Honda sedan. And I suspect maintenance and reliability issues were less risky this way too.
In 2012, a colleague was moving to a drive-on-the left country, so he needed to sell his 2010 Honda Fit. He gave me a good deal on it. I’ve had few problems with it, and plan to keep it until it wears out.
I prefer small, reliable cars. I bought a 1993 Honda Civic hatchback new, and it lasted me 11 years and 240,000 miles. I bought a 2005 Subaru Legacy new and kept until 2012, giving it to a relative who was going off to college.
When I bought the Subaru in 2005, I got lots of upsell pressure from salespeople. A short, middle-aged white male, I must been looked like a ripe target for a mid-life-crisis-mobile.
2008 VW Golf that we bought used last year. It’s a petrol, so not affected by the whole Dieselgate scandal, and I’ve always liked Golfs, but the primary reason was that my SO, who grew up in Switzerland, was used driving a Golf, and it seemed to make sense to make her life easier when switching to driving on the other side of the road here in the UK. At least this way it’s a car she’s already mostly familiar with.
It’s comfortable, it’s functional, and it’s big enough for almost anything we want to do. I’ve driven it up to Scotland with my family, and it was great for that. Not perhaps the peppiest, or the most frugal, but our criteria are really about functionality. If it had adaptive cruise control, it would pretty much be perfect for me.
I doubt I’d buy a new car unless I won the lottery - depreciation on them is so steep that it seems to make far more sense to look at a used one, and by the time a car has been around for a few years you have much better reliability statistics on it anyway.
I have a 13 year-old Seat Ibiza. To be honest, the reason we bought it was because it was in good condition (six months old, ex-demonstrator, 252 miles on the clock) at a reasonable price…and the dealership is five minutes’ walk from my front door. Thus the garage, repairs, servicing etc is all within walking distance and there’s a bus stop almost right outside. Perfect combination!
The car itself is a 3-door hatchback, ideal size for the two of us and I rarely have passengers. There’s enough boot space to take suitcases on the airport run. The mileage per gallon is reasonable, servicing and running costs are affordable, and it’s in a fairly low insurance bracket.
I’m not sure what the engines will be – probably an EcoBoost in the lineup – but if you can hold off for the new Ranger a little while, it’s a very nice truck.
Apart from the items you listed, I’m finding it hard to imagine 2 more different cars! Well, except they’re both pretty ugly :).
My current drive is a Mazda3 MPS (I think it’s called the “MazdaSpeed” or something in the US) - 2.3l petrol turbo (252bhp) in a practical 5-door hatchback. I considered an Impreza WRX (ideally one of the older 5-doors) but my wife doesn’t like fast cars and didn’t like the styling (“what’s that hole in the bonnet for?”). Most other hot hatches only have 3 doors which is a pain with children, I would have quite liked a Civic Type-R or Ford Focus RS but I’m happy with my choice, it’s much rarer than the Focus and quicker than the ST170 anyway. I must admit the steering and gearbox are better in my wife’s 1.8l Civic though.
I’m now saving up for an E46 BMW M5, the last one before they really started going overboard on the electronic assists. I’ve always wanted a V8, and RWD. To that end I must admit I have fallen in love with the C63 AMG Merc my friend bought last summer (he got the last version without the turbo, so it pulls right from idle), but it’s probably going to be too pricey for me and in general I prefer BMWs. The newest Ford Focus RS has had rave reviews and apparently it’s 4WD system lets you swing the tail out almost at will (in the right settings) but it’s only a 3-door.
You have not met me. I am very tall in the trunk, have huge feet (UK size 14, US 15, EU 48), and moderately short in the arm. The second means I have to have the seat right back. The last means that I cannot set the rake of the seat too far back. There are many cars into which I simply cannot fit. There are many cars I can’t even get into the driver’s seat.
The Skoda isn’t the prettiest of cars for sure, but the Maserati is a different matter IMHO. De gustibus…
I’ve been driving Jeep Wrangler standard transmission soft-tops for a long time now. I like driving them.
I remove the back seat and store it until I trade on a new Wrangler. The dogs get the back and our parrot gets the passenger seat, making it a single occupancy vehicle.
Honda Civic. We’ve been an Accord family for 25 years, but the Accords were just getting too damn big and heavy. So when the 2000 Accord got too unreliable last year, I got the Civic. It’s got great fuel economy, and will probably go >200K miles, just like our Accords have.
2010 Toyota Camry. I had a Honda Civic and really wanted an Accord, but the local Honda dealer was rude, so I went down the road to the Toyota place. Essentially I bought it out of spite, but it’s a good car. I’d buy another Camry, but will also consider an Accord or Civic.
I drove a '15 WildTrak for a weekend this past summer. it is nice, but I don’t like the crew cab; it makes the bed uselessly small for me. I’ve heard some rumors about the US configurations but nothing concrete.
2015 Sonata hybrid, purchased lightly used at a nice price. Like the OP, the Sonata was a good intersection between cost and looks/comfort and we’ve been happy with it. I have an hour commute each morning that seems to hit the sweet spot of city/highway for the hybrid model and have gone from filling my tank every four days to every ten days.
I drive an Infiniti Q60S convertible. It is a retractable hard-top convertible. My previous car (which I still own) is a Toyota Solara convertible (pic not mine but it looks just like it), which I got because I loved the top-down experience after renting a convertible on vacation. (I love motorcycling even more but giving it up was part of the deal when I got married.) I decided to move to a hard-top to get a more conventional experience when the top was up (rainy or too cold). It is quieter, and looks cooler. I compared three or four other hard-tops. I wasn’t necessarily trying to get an expensive car but cars with this feature are all in the mid-range luxury class (Lexus, BMW, Audi). I ruled out BMW because of maintenance nightmares I hear from friends. I didn’t much care for the styling of the Audi. The Lexus and Infiniti are very close competitors but the Infiniti had an edge on performance and I got a very good deal on a new 2015 model on the lot.
I have always chosen my cars while considering the tradeoffs between practicality, the driving experience, and cost, but I never gave a shit about image or status. (My dad bought a big black Cadillac when I was a kid in the 70s, I think because he just felt that a business executive should be seen driving a Cadillac.)
2012 Volt. I love it. 239 mpg lifetime so far. I am thinking of getting a Bolt when they hit my area in a few months. The Volt is a quality car, with good electronics and nice to drive. I like getting close to zero emissions. I’ve changed the oil once (maybe twice) and rotated the tires. Other than that, no maintenance.
Other than CookingWithGas’s dad, I guess I’m the only one with a Cadillac! It’s a Cadillace DTS, and I love that thing. It’s like driving a cloud on wheels. It’s great for my Georgia to Oklahoma trips I occasionally make.
It’s about what you’d expect gas mileage (20-22 MPG), but my office is less than 6 miles from my house; so even then I generally only have to fill up every other week or so.
Bought it 2 years old. Good price. Comfortable seats, enough rom for my gear. #1 reason? The amazing mileage. A bad road trip averages 40 mpg. A good one is 50-52.
We simply burn very little fuel. This pleases me to no end.
I don’t drive it because it’s hip or a political statement.
It saves me hundreds of dollars on a long road trip.
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