My wife & I are ready to drive our 2013 Fiat Pop off a cliff, & then proceed to CarMax on Saturday to look for a new car. I thought I'd get suggestions from ya'll. She wants something like the Honda Fit. We want something that will last/quality, & has good safety ratings & gas economy. We're probably going to look a cars that are slightly used(couple years old). We've heard of recommendations on the Korean brands lately, but we don't know as much about them then we do about Japanese cars. Maybe it's just a matter of Googling the right phrase to get the info we need.
Do you mean brand new? I don't know how many of these are available in your lands but there are loads to choose from. Pretty much almost every car for sale in the first world is safer and more efficient than anything before it. Well these are the ones I can think of in your size bracket.
Audi A1
Mazda 2
Ford Fiesta
VW polo
Skoda Fabia
Toyota Yaris
They're all good cars in their own right. I could go on there's too many.
I'd even say go slightly bigger on these hatchbacks
Audi A3
Bmw 1 series
Ford Focus.
Mazda 3.
Personally out of all those if I had to choose I'd go 1 series or Ford Focus. Petrol or diesel? Manual or auto?
The Honda Fit is pretty hard to beat, as it's very well packaged, reliable, and quite efficient. Other good options are hatch versions of the Fiesta, Focus, Mazda 2 (Scion iA), or Mazda 3 with the Mazdas being preferable; and there's other decent options (VW Golf, Subura Impreza, Kia Rio, etc.), but I'd skip those for either being too expensive, less reliable, or not much fun to drive.
I have always been partial to Honda. When it comes to Korean cars I say no way, they look good but their quality build seems to cheap.. Oh and stay away from Car Max their cars are overpriced.
I have a 2009 Kia Rio5 hatchback that I have yet take in for repairs. Kia was awful, but in the past 7 years have really made some decent cars with fantastic warranties.
Quote from: geise on 06/08/2016, 11:29 AMI have a 2009 Kia Rio5 hatchback that I have yet take in for repairs. Kia was awful, but in the past 7 years have really made some decent cars with fantastic warranties.
I agree Kia has really stepped up their overall quality and presentation making them very good competitors in my opinion.
Personally I've got a 2006 Corolla which has been pretty solid and my wife has a 2012 Rav4 (both Toyota). I've had solid luck with my cars so far and hope to keep it that way, if I did buy another I've been looking at Subaru a bit, but Honda is also quite solid and my wife was looking at a SRV instead of a Rav4 for a long time before she chose what she did.
I love my Mazda. Stay away from the Euro cars
1972 Cadillac Deville
another vote to avoid car max.
I say honda or toyota, and avoid carmax like the plague
I have a 2014 Chevy Sonic turbo (6 spd manual no less)... And I wont ever admit it to my Wife (Its her car) But its a blast to drive and has been nothing but reliable for the 40K we have put on it since we purchased it new. It gets 40 MPG on the freeway because its the turbo model, and it is peppy enough to get around town. I am 6'0" and weigh in at about 250 Lbs and can sit in the back seats and not hate my life.
We looked at the honda Fit, but the Sonic felt Roomier, and honestly, was a hoot to drive as well. Also the same team that re-designed the Corvette re-worked the Sonic from the Aveo. Its a complete overhaul, and Its Very nice. Also its very quite in the cabin.
So my vote goes to the American car you almost forgot. I believe it has the best Crash rating in that year as well, in its class, and has 14 airbags.
Buy a Suzuki
Quote from: ParanoiaDragon on 06/08/2016, 02:39 AMMy wife & I are ready to drive our 2013 Fiat Pop off a cliff, & then proceed to CarMax on Saturday to look for a new car. I thought I'd get suggestions from ya'll. She wants something like the Honda Fit. We want something that will last/quality, & has good safety ratings & gas economy. We're probably going to look a cars that are slightly used(couple years old). We've heard of recommendations on the Korean brands lately, but we don't know as much about them then we do about Japanese cars. Maybe it's just a matter of Googling the right phrase to get the info we need.
Just buy the Honda Fit. It's nigh on perfect as a roomy city car. Honda does not fuck around when it comes its key models and this its key model. They've had the same powertrain, more or less, for three generations and it was old when they introduced it yet it still sells like mad because power and refinement aren't important when real work needs to get done.
My argument for the Fit largely stems from the features it LACKS rather than the ones it has. My now 1 year old kid will learn to drive in my Fit. As a customer but also a former Honda mechanic I have no doubt whatsoever.
My 2013 Fit (features vary by year and region) lacks every one of the following features:
Automatic transmission
Hybrid driveline
Start-stop
Turbo
4WD
DOHC
phasing cams
Variable intake
Electronic park or handbrake
Nav
Heated seats, mirrors, wheel, windshield, etc
Leather
Bluetooth
Sunroof
A pointlessly inflated body (aka: "SUV")
Large wheels
Run flat tires
WiFi
And while I appreciate many of those features (I also have a loaded TDI Golf) not having them is the reason I'm sure the car will still be going in 15 years.
Btw, I don't know where you live but for the US production of the Fit moved when the MkIII was introduced. Mine is from Japan, new ones are from Mexico. I don't know if something similar happened for Europe but if it did consider a low milage MkII over a MkIII.
If you can afford it, step up to a Subaru Impreza hatch. My wife has one and likes it a good bit. Base model even comes with a nice set of amenities. Plus, always-on all wheel drive and good gas mileage.
I looked real hard at the chevy spark/sonic when I was in the market.
solid cars, but didn't find a "deal" when the time came.
again, the mazda 2 was decent, but I thought It drove a bit too much like a go kart.
I personally couldn't fit in a fit/yaris (I'm 6'3")
I ended up going with a Jetta and the only problem I've had is that I had to replace the rotors, which is routine maintenance.
plus, with their little PR nightmare, VWs are cheap as hell right now.
look into getting a sportswagen, GTI, or a golf, and you can never go wrong with a subaru(I've yet to see anyone get less than 300K miles out of one).
course, I'm a big advocate of VW and subaru these days.
A used 2006 Prius. Seriously, I put 40,000 miles on it and had to do minimal maitenance such as oil changes and transmission fluid flush. 75k and going strong. Enough said.
I would be worried about remaining battery capacity in a 10 year old Prius. Most Priuses have a 10-year, 150,000 mile warranty on the battery, and those suckers are PRICEY to replace.
Quote from: guest on 06/09/2016, 09:37 PMI would be worried about remaining battery capacity in a 10 year old Prius. Most Priuses have a 10-year, 150,000 mile warranty on the battery, and those suckers are PRICEY to replace.
I forget the year, but sometime in the mid 00s they changed the design.
Now you can simply replace the bad cells.
It's MUCH cheaper now.
Quote from: guest on 06/09/2016, 09:37 PMI would be worried about remaining battery capacity in a 10 year old Prius. Most Priuses have a 10-year, 150,000 mile warranty on the battery, and those suckers are PRICEY to replace.
From what I understand the batteries on these things have a relatively low failure rate. When I bought mine 2 years ago from the dealership, they told me they warrantied the battery at 150,000 miles. This article is a good read for buying used priuses. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1065557_buying-a-used-toyota-prius-heres-what-you-need-to-know/page-3 (http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1065557_buying-a-used-toyota-prius-heres-what-you-need-to-know/page-3)
Well, that sounds promising. Thanks for enlightening me. Now all we need is one that's all wheel drive for the bad weather parts of the country.
Probably gonna get a slightly used Honda Fit or a Kia Soul the way things are looking with the various suggestions from ya'll as well as from others I spoke to in person. I just hope we don't get overly raped on turning in our Fiat. I know they dropped the price on those, & we still owe plenty on it, so they'll have to roll it into our payment. Trying to keep our payment low ofcoarse. I think we both have great credit unless something changed recently. Deffinitely want something that will run forever, since my wife's current job puts on some decent miles. She said she wouldn't be opposed to a Yaris(which is what I'm driving) but it would have to be a 5 door & automatic(of which mine is a 3 door manual). She had foot surgery that never fully healed, so it's got to be automatic for her sake.
Quote from: ParanoiaDragon on 06/10/2016, 04:51 AMProbably gonna get a slightly used Honda Fit or a Kia Soul the way things are looking with the various suggestions from ya'll as well as from others I spoke to in person. I just hope we don't get overly raped on turning in our Fiat. I know they dropped the price on those, & we still owe plenty on it, so they'll have to roll it into our payment. Trying to keep our payment low ofcoarse. I think we both have great credit unless something changed recently. Deffinitely want something that will run forever, since my wife's current job puts on some decent miles. She said she wouldn't be opposed to a Yaris(which is what I'm driving) but it would have to be a 5 door & automatic(of which mine is a 3 door manual). She had foot surgery that never fully healed, so it's got to be automatic for her sake.
You should try to sell your fiat yourself, the dealership will Rape you on this. If you do decide to trade it in, make sure you do not get scammed, they may say "Well I can't lower the price to much on the new car because I am giving you this much for your car" (SCAM) You are actually doing two deals, selling your car to them and buying a new car from them.
I agree with Bigus, I have a Lexus CT200H basically a Prius with Lexus wrapping. Love the car. No issues so far. Also the day you need battery repairs, a lot of times its just one of the cells gone bad or the battery contacts need cleaning. Don't take it to the stealership when you get issues and are out of warranty. Im in Socal and there is a tech who comes to your place and diagnoses and repairs any hybrid battery problems and the cost is way below taking it to the stealer who will want to replace the entire battery.
I also own a BMW Z4. 250, 000 miles and still going strong with only a couple of common repairs that didn't really cost much. Solid Engine. My Buddy is Korean and he says stay away from Korean cars.
I work in field service and I'm on my third company car in almost 6 years with the company. I average about 33-43K miles a year for work. My company pays all gas, maintenance, insurance, tolls, and plate fees. I do get to use the car for personal use and they cover all the gas. I am taxed on my personal mileage, which I have to log into a website at the end of the month.
Here is what I've had so far an my impressions of each. All were issued to me brand new with less than 5 miles on the ODO.
2011 Ford Taurus SEL. Ride quality is phenomenal. Best by ride quality out of all three cars I have had so far. Feels like you are driving a CAR, not a go kart. Very comfortable for long trips. Titanic gas tank. Trunk is huge, even before you fold down the rear seats. Only issue in the 88K miles I had it was a rear brake caliber had seized up, which was fixed under warranty. Overall fit and finish of the car feels solid. Decent power out of the V6 engine. I would love to try driving the SHO version of this car to see what the twin turbo feels like.
2013 Toyota Camery. Nice car. Feels like driving a go kart. Ride quality is OK...but no where near as nice as the Taurus. My company has mandated 4 cylinder cars for all techs now so this one didn't have the power of the V6. Decent gas mileage. Slightly better than the Taurus on the highway. Absolutely zero mechanical issues in the 90K I had it. I really liked the iPod hookup that the radio had and its easy to navigate your whole iPod without ever taking your hands off the steering wheel - kinda important to me as I listed to a ton of podcasts on the road! Easy to park, back up. Trunk size is OK.
2016 Toyota Rav4 XLE (my current company vehicle)
To me, this just feels like a Camery in a SUV skin. Not very fast. Upper 20's for MPG on the highway. I had a powertrain malfunction the same day I drove it off the dealer lot. Basically there was some issue with the All wheel drive and the car was stuck running in the 2wheel mode. The dealership said they are used to seeing this issue with Rav4s with 60K or more, not one with 55 miles on the ODO. They fixed it and it hasn't happened since. I just turned over 19K on the car and I've had it since November of last year. I like the sunroof, the power rear hatch function, and the All Wheel drive function in the winter (only works up to 35mph). Sadly, the radio controls for the iPod are nowhere near as nice as the Camery. I find myself taking my hand of the wheel to fuss with the dash touch panel to find playlists and podcast while I drive.
I don't know anything about the Honda Fit so can't comment on it.
We tried a plethora of cars. Can't remember em' all. We first ended up on Saturday getting a 2013 Prius with 25k on it, but going up a major grade on the way home, it was choking. My wife had the peddle to the metal, & it was barely staying at 60 mph. Also, it took awhile to even get the gas mileage it promised it could do, which technically was 46 Highway/53 City. Still, the lack of power really killed it for us. I wish going up that grade was part of the test drive.
Thankfully, they have a 5 day return policy, so we turned it in for a 2014 Altima with 43k on it for the same price. So far so good, we're liking the car, & it went up that grade like a champ! Decent gas mileage & really comfortable inside. We'll probably stick with this one(4 days to return it). Also, we had zero problems thus far with Car Max, it was stupidly easy, a lot better then a regular dealership. Infact, I don't think I ever want to go to a regular dealership ever again! Obviously it would be nice to cut out the middle man, but, I feel safer with warranty's & such, especially after the nightmare that was our Fiat!
A little late here I guess, but I will also say that TrueCar is a pretty solid service as well for comparing prices.
This is a good article on the costs of maintenance over the lifetime of a car.
http://priceonomics.com/which-cars-cost-the-most-and-least-to-maintain-as/ (http://priceonomics.com/which-cars-cost-the-most-and-least-to-maintain-as/)
I wonder what there data is actually based upon. I'm not going to say a Mustang, 328i, Explorer, or Grand Cherokee are particularly reliable cars, but how in the heck would you spend ~$25k in maintenance in 150k miles?
It's $300 for a trans oil service on my VW. I can't imagine how much it runs at the BMW dealership. Some of the upscale Mustangs are $100,000 + now so I'm sure they've invented extra expensive items for them too. Tires are $1500-2000 a set on some cars now and might only last 10,000 miles.
When you go to buy your car ask them for a print out of all OEM specified maintenance for the first 100,000 miles. Ask them what tires cost. Ask them how many services require a dealer.
The priciest Mustang is a GT350R at $68,660 with every available factory option; the only way you'd get to $100k is with aftermarket suppliers. Either way, it's disingenuous to base such an article on a tiny percentage of models sold instead of the maintenance schedule and parts for 95% of models sold.
QuoteBrake pads, spark plugs, and batteries also require frequent repair.
I wouldn't consider any of those to need replacing frequently.
This article makes me pretty happy I decided to get my Corolla. 10 years so far and it's still holding pretty well.
Quote from: guest on 08/01/2016, 03:13 PMThe priciest Mustang is a GT350R at $68,660 with every available factory option; the only way you'd get to $100k is with aftermarket suppliers. Either way, it's disingenuous to base such an article on a tiny percentage of models sold instead of the maintenance schedule and parts for 95% of models sold.
As someone who used to work for a famous Mustang tuner who's name I won't mention but you can probably figure out, I promise you can buy a brand new fully warenteed Mustang for a lot more than that. You are correct in saying that it's certainly not representative of "Mustang" as a whole which is historically a very cheap car to run. Even the supercharged ones aren't too bad.
However in recent years Ford has invested *heaviliy* into technologies such as direct injection and turbo charging. Even the lowly Ford Escape is both DI and turbo in its lowest trim. Considering what I've seen of Ford's extremely damaging cost cutting I honestly wouldn't buy anything from them right now. The risk is really really high. This is after all that company that had to replace SPRINGS in millions of Ford Focus because they...apparently cheaped out on them too much. Springs are actually pretty fucking important. How are they going to...can they get a VGT turbo to last 150,000-200,000 miles? I don't know, but I'd rather read about it than experience it first hand.
My friend just bought a Focus RS. His current "fun" car as an MR-2 Spyder. I'm going to try to convince him to keep the MR-2 simply because in 10 years that high maintainence 4WD DI turbo monster is going to look...well, if it hasn't rusted out or cost you tens of thousands in RS-only parts then you still wouldn't have spent $4000 on tires. The simple little Toyota, which will still be happily running no matter who he sells it to, might look really good at that point.
Quote from: crazydean on 08/01/2016, 03:45 PMQuoteBrake pads, spark plugs, and batteries also require frequent repair.
I wouldn't consider any of those to need replacing frequently.
On a modern car, 60,000k for front brake, longer for rear. If a hybrid, way longer on both. Spark plugs are 100k usually, batteries are usually warenteed for 5-7 years. Most new car owners won't have the car when this stuff comes due.
Quote from: SignOfZeta on 08/01/2016, 05:26 PMQuote from: crazydean on 08/01/2016, 03:45 PMQuoteBrake pads, spark plugs, and batteries also require frequent repair.
I wouldn't consider any of those to need replacing frequently.
On a modern car, 60,000k for front brake, longer for rear. If a hybrid, way longer on both. Spark plugs are 100k usually, batteries are usually warenteed for 5-7 years. Most new car owners won't have the car when this stuff comes due.
I agree. I just replaced the original front and rear rotors and pads on my truck. It had 95k miles on it at the time. I never even once had to turn the rotors (and I'm pretty picky about my rotors - I will turn them if I even notice the slightest bit of warping)
Quote from: SignOfZeta on 08/01/2016, 05:14 PMAs someone who used to work for a famous Mustang tuner who's name I won't mention but you can probably figure out, I promise you can buy a brand new fully warenteed Mustang for a lot more than that.
Rousch, Steeda, Saleen, Shelby American, etc. are not Ford, they're third party companies that don't touch the car until after it's left Ford's ownership. Any "full warranty" you get will be in two parts: one for the parts they added/modified and one from Ford for everything that was left stock.
Quote from: BigusSchmuck on 08/01/2016, 09:46 AMThis is a good article on the costs of maintenance over the lifetime of a car.
http://priceonomics.com/which-cars-cost-the-most-and-least-to-maintain-as/ (http://priceonomics.com/which-cars-cost-the-most-and-least-to-maintain-as/)
I noticed that Pontiac is mentioned in that article. I wonder how old some of that information is. The article was written this year, but Pontiac has been out of business since 2010. How odd...
I can safely testify that this article is accurate when it comes to my Prius. I think total I have spent on maintenance (counting HID headlights) in the two years I have owned it is around $800 for 40,000 I have put on it. Those damn HID headlights cost me $400 this weekend to replace ugh. Take that out of the equation really $400 for oil changes and a tranny flush/change.
Quote from: BigusSchmuck on 08/01/2016, 06:43 PMI can safely testify that this article is accurate when it comes to my Prius. I think total I have spent on maintenance (counting HID headlights) in the two years I have owned it is around $800 for 40,000 I have put on it. Those damn HID headlights cost me $400 this weekend to replace ugh. Take that out of the equation really $400 for oil changes and a tranny flush/change.
I've heard varying reports on battery replacement on the Prius. I imagine the total cost would be pretty high. Any ideas on that cost and how often it is needed?
My sister's Prius was rear-ended by an actual "convertible Mustang full of cheerleaders", like something from a comic book. It got hit so hard they had to replace the battery.
So...I don't know the price but I know a way of making your insurance pay for it. :)
I imagine under $5k but not by much.
Quote from: guest on 08/01/2016, 05:43 PMQuote from: SignOfZeta on 08/01/2016, 05:14 PMAs someone who used to work for a famous Mustang tuner who's name I won't mention but you can probably figure out, I promise you can buy a brand new fully warenteed Mustang for a lot more than that.
Rousch, Steeda, Saleen, Shelby American, etc. are not Ford, they're third party companies that don't touch the car until after it's left Ford's ownership. Any "full warranty" you get will be in two parts: one for the parts they added/modified and one from Ford for everything that was left stock.
OK, it's a *mostly* warenteed car. Jesus, get off my fucking back. My point is that $100k Mustangs most certainly exist. The market may have peaked a few years back but there were a STUPID number of LE Mustangs out there for a while and if you checked all the options then $100k was possible. God knows why you'd want a Mustang when you could afford a Viper but whatever. You can't win a logic battle with millionaire Texans.
Quote from: crazydean on 08/01/2016, 06:52 PMQuote from: BigusSchmuck on 08/01/2016, 06:43 PMI can safely testify that this article is accurate when it comes to my Prius. I think total I have spent on maintenance (counting HID headlights) in the two years I have owned it is around $800 for 40,000 I have put on it. Those damn HID headlights cost me $400 this weekend to replace ugh. Take that out of the equation really $400 for oil changes and a tranny flush/change.
I've heard varying reports on battery replacement on the Prius. I imagine the total cost would be pretty high. Any ideas on that cost and how often it is needed?
When I bought my 2006 prius 2 years ago, they told me the warranty on the battery is 150k miles. Other dealerships go for 10 year warranties or 100k on the batteries. To replace the battery is like $2.5k, counting labor and depending if you go after market. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-587-001?seid=srese1&cm_mmc=pla-google-_-shopping-_-srese1-_-dorman&gclid=CjwKEAjw5vu8BRC8rIGNrqbPuSESJADG8RV01aRs3IeHixJ_QXC2xPh4YwPA5BEKiXFAoVrf_8ETXBoCwi3w_wcB (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-587-001?seid=srese1&cm_mmc=pla-google-_-shopping-_-srese1-_-dorman&gclid=CjwKEAjw5vu8BRC8rIGNrqbPuSESJADG8RV01aRs3IeHixJ_QXC2xPh4YwPA5BEKiXFAoVrf_8ETXBoCwi3w_wcB)
I love my Ford Taurus so far, 2 years into owning this 3 year old vehicle. Feels like a tank full of recliners.
I agree with the "tank" part.
Quote from: Gredler on 08/01/2016, 07:39 PMI love my Ford Taurus so far, 2 years into owning this 3 year old vehicle. Feels like a tank full of recliners.
The new Taurus is surprisingly a nice car, especially when you are expecting the same features as a 10-year-old Taurus.
Quote from: SignOfZeta on 08/01/2016, 07:27 PMOK, it's a *mostly* warenteed car. Jesus, get off my fucking back.
Do you always get so mad when someone points out that you're wrong?
Jeez, get over yourself.
Quote from: guest on 08/02/2016, 10:13 AMQuote from: SignOfZeta on 08/01/2016, 07:27 PMOK, it's a *mostly* warenteed car. Jesus, get off my fucking back.
Do you always get so mad when someone points out that you're wrong?
Jeez, get over yourself.
I think by now you probably have a good idea how I behave. I would hope anyway. I do, and I've noticed I let myself be dragged down into your hole over hair splitting irrelevancies like this, often defending to drag out fights over shit that, as in his case, has zero to do with anything anyone else is talking about. It's just an argument between you and me.
My original point stands. You can waste that much money on a Ford. For me it isn't worth fighting about any more than that because I don't give a shit about Mustangs. To me every cent spent on one is a waste.
What's irrelevant is you bringing pricey third party stuff into the conversation and arguing it matters in a conversation about the reliability of factory models.
Just went on a nice little journey. Got some good fuel economy. (https://web.archive.org/web/20190510045401im_/https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160809/06c4da719c2c26f27dd5ae85af7e8647.jpg)
Quote from: wildfruit on 08/09/2016, 12:18 PMJust went on a nice little journey. Got some good fuel economy.
You're basically cheating by using the imperial gallon. My car would get great mileage too if I defined the gallon to be overly large.
Btw, in the UK, you buy gasoline by the liter, yes? But, your fuel economy is based on the gallon. That doesn't make sense to me.
Well the difference is 20% so it's not that hard to compare. 56 us mpg. Basically everything to do with a road is imperial. Anything sold in a shop is by litres and kilograms. I wouldn't call it cheating as it's still the same amount of fuel however you count it. I prefer metric anyway. 4l/100km
Diesel? Whatever it is, it's dang nice mileage.... way better than the ~17 I get tooling around town in the mullet chariot.
Quote from: guest on 08/09/2016, 12:51 PMDiesel? Whatever it is, it's dang nice mileage.... way better than the ~17 I get tooling around town in the mullet chariot.
Yes it's diesel. 1.5 litre 3 cylinder BMW B37 engine. Personally I'm not a diesel fan, I prefer driving a petrol, but it's a company lease and was cheapest to get.
I miss my diesel. I just sold it last year since I didn't have the time on the weekends to keep fixing stuff (just on the car, the engine itself was rock solid).
I bought my diesel when I was driving my truck 30k miles a year at 14 mpg when gas was over $3.00 a gallon. You can do the math. The VW TDI paid for itself a few times over. The only reason I didn't replace it with another diesel was due to the fact that I don't drive nearly as many miles per year.