Cars

[DPS]

Mrs Smith and I need a new car. In contention are the Mazda 3, 4 dr sedan, Toyota Matrix, 5 dr hatch back, and Honda Civic 4dr sedan. Any experience with these cars, either bad or good would be appreciated.

[ericb]

Mrs Smith and I need a new car. In contention are the Mazda 3, 4 dr sedan, Toyota Matrix, 5 dr hatch back, and Honda Civic 4dr sedan. Any experience with these cars, either bad or good would be appreciated.

 

I've got a 97 civic with 150K miles. Other than routine maintenance, and one $200 CV Joint fix, I've not spent a dime on the car. Another thing to consider (if this is for climbing pursuits) is a secure trunk. My civic has a locking mechanism on the interior trunk latch and fold down seats so someone who breaks a window doesn't gain auto entry into the trunk and its contents. A determined thief could certainly find a way no doubt, but it does give a little added security if you are leaving it at trailheads etc. This is one reason I prefer a sedan over a hatchback.

Edited June 3, 2008 by ericb

[spotly]

I've had lots of experience with Mazdas. We haven't owned either of those models but have purchased new RX7, 626, 323, GLC, B2600 and B4000.Up until Ford got their grubby finders on the manufacturing, we were satisfied. Resell on the Mazda also sucks. The last 3 we owned were lemons (bad head, peeling paint, bad brake rotors,...) and I've since switched to Toyotas and been very happy so far.

 

I'm currently looking to dump my Tundra and get an economy car myself. My wife has the Yaris, which is highly rated for maint costs and has one of the best gas mileage ratings of gasoline cars (we're getting close to 40 highway). It is under-powered for Montana speeds though (at least on the hills). I believe I'm going with the Corolla, which has a great track racord and supposedly 35 mpg highway. Plus it has a bit more style than the butt-ugly Yaris.

 

In my checking, it looks like the Honda is maintaining its value better than Toyota and the Civics aren't too hard to look at.

[Hugh Conway]

civic. cheap to own, cheap to operate. ~40mpg. Fold down seats allow for skis inside.

[willstrickland]

I just replaced my Subaru legacy wagon with a new (used) car, and looked at all those (Matrix/Vibe, Mazda 3, Civic) as well as newer Subaru legacies, Mazda 6 wagon, BMW 325 wagon, Audi A4 wagon, VW passat wagon, Ford Focuse wagon, VW Jetta wagon, Toyota Prius, Honda Element.

 

The Matrix/Vibe is surprisingly tall inside, but has a very shallow cargo area when the rear seats are up/occupied. Also, the mpg isn't that great for the size. They drive nice, and have toyota quality, but ultimately not for me. I have two friends driving them that are very happy with them.

 

Mazda 3, pretty nice interior styling for the class, drives/handles MUCH better than the primary competitors, but they are holding value too well for me (I want a steep initial depreciation curve, thats why I look at 3-5yr old used cars and drive them until they fall apart, others may value the higher resale values)

 

Civic, pretty bland car. Does everything competently, but doesn

t inspire or stand out in anyway (aside from reliability). The newest version looks good outside, but has some interior design flaws IMO. For example, the e-brake lever is too far forward and you'll bump your knee into it alot, the "a" pillars (the piece of metal running from the hood to the roof) are too slanted and obstruct vision when turning or especially when driving curvy mountain roads. And, they don't get quite the mpg of the prior generation. But, they hold value well and are very reliable, second only to toyota.

 

Honda Element: Bad mpg, somewhat utilitarian with the configurable cargo area and no "b" pillar between the front and rear doors. Drives like the unweildy box that it is. AWD available. Interior seems cheap. Car is just fugly. If I were a dedicated water sports or mtn bike guy, this might make the list. Holding their value pretty well.

 

BMW 3 series wagon: Aboutg 30mpg on the highway, drives better than anything in it's class. Handles fantastically with a very smooth inline 6 that has lots of torque where you really need it. Beautiful car inside and out. Exceptionally safe.AWD available as the "x" badge (i.e. 325iX). Cons: expensive to buy, and expensive to service. On the used market, you can get a 5 series wagon same year, same mileage for about the same price so unless you wanted a small car for some reason, it's a no brainer to go with the 5 series over the 3.

 

Mazda 6 wagon: Reliable, handles well. Mpg is subpar and for the price you can get better cars.

 

Suby legacy/outback wagons: After the switch from the 2.2L to the 2.5L head gasket problems began. Since the years I was looking at were all equipped with the 2.5 and the problems usually only surface around 80-120k I passed on the subarus (which was my first choice initially. I had a great experience with my '91). They are also overpriced on the used market relative to what else you could get for the same loot.

 

Audi A4 wagon: A slighlty nicer, barely smaller version of a passat wagon (same parent company, and the passat uses a stretched version of the A4 chassis). Reliability sucks, styling is uninspiring for a "luxury" car. AWD available, steep depreciation so maybe a good deal on the usde market. Everything about this one someone else does better. Expensive parts and/or service.

 

Passat wagon: Reliability issues, but drives very well, interior is pretty nice. I avoided these because VW has one of the very worst reliability records of any company in recent years. AWD available in the GLX trim (called 4motion, which is just a re-named audi quattro awd).

 

Volvo V70 wagon: safe, reliability issues, costly parts and service. One of the biggest cargo areas and folds completely flat. Interior are nice, if somewhat bland. Many have turbos, which do tend to get leaky or give up altogether around 70k-100k. There was a non-turbo available, AWD also available.

 

Saab 9-5wagon: Terrible reliability issues, steep depreciation, very expensive parts, shitty ac compressors, mostly turbos with the associated turbo lag and other typical turbo problems. My housemate has one of these and although the car looks nice, has a very nice interior with these bitchin' "cooled seats" (has interior fan ventilating the seat back) as well as heated seats...the seats themselves are some of the nicest I've sat in, but the reliability, few independent repair shops, and high cost for parts turned me off. Very little torque steer for a turbo front wheel drive vehicle. Very steep depreciation.

 

Ford Focus wagon: Cheap new, but don't depreciate quickly enough for me. Some reliability issues. Cheap and poorly designed interior. Good mpg, about 35 hwy. Big cargo area for the class. Handles/corners well but has a pretty anemic engine. This was the first thing I looked at, thinking they'd be really cheap. But at the age/mileage I was looking, the deals weren't very good and I couldn't get past the shitty interior.

 

I ended up with a used 528iT wagon, a lease return with service records and low mileage. It's an amazing car, gets 20/29, and I can sleep in the back. Paid less than I would have for a similar year and mileage of any of the others listed above...hard to believe I know. And this was not just for this particular car, it was actually third on my list behind two other 528iTs at around the same price.

[ericb]

civic. cheap to own, cheap to operate. ~40mpg. Fold down seats allow for skis inside.

 

Haven't used my ski rack in 3 years!

[Hugh Conway]

Having owned a Mercedes I wouldn't lump a used one in the same bracket as a Civic in anything but initial purchase price.

 

Mercedes = more expensive to insure, to fill up, to maintain. It's also much more fun to drive.

 

Honda = cheap to own, operate, boring as all fucking hell.

[counterfeitfake]

I'm currently looking to dump my Tundra and get an economy car myself.

 

A worthy idea no doubt- I'd encourage you to do the math first though. It might be a good idea and it might not. From an economic angle, the cost of a different car might be able to buy you an awful lot of gasoline. From a eco/green angle, producing a new car may impact the environment more than driving your existing truck.

 

You've probably thought about it already, I am just hearing a lot of people saying they want a more fuel efficient car, and I'm starting to get suspicious toward some of it. I heard on NPR something about used Geo Metros selling for $7k, which sounds like folly to me.

[pup_on_the_mountain]

Honda = cheap to own, operate, boring as all fucking hell.

I have a Civic Si Coupe (2000 year model). With the extra horsepower (as compared to the base models of Civic), its not at all boring to drive. Its a bit noisy though (which is part of making it more "sporty"). The current version of Si looks even more sporty, sleek, and packs more power as well (plus a 6-speed transmission). I got my Si used with 38K miles back in 2004, and just passed 100K recently. No major problems to report (except the usual maintenance expenses). The mileage claim was 26/31 mpg in the book, but I routinely get more (yes, more) than 31 mpg when driving on the highway. In fact, over the long weekend, driving at 50-60 mph speeds, I got 36 mpg!

[DPS]

Wow, thanks you all for your considered opinions, espcially willstrickland!

 

 

[mccallboater]

Three months ago I bought a 2001 Volvo XC 70 wagon with 100K miles on it for $10k. On my initial road trip to BC from Boise with a moderate load and the skis loaded inside (using the handy fold down armrest feature of the back seat) I averaged 28 mpg. That was with a lead foot on the gas. Since then I've learned it does much better at 60 mph than at 75. With my canoe and a kayak on top traveling to McCall and back at 60 mph and below I can squeeze about 24.5 mph. Not bad for such a big gear hauler and such a luxurious car. I've heard rumors of reliability issues but talking with other xc70 owners and the local independant Volvo service guys, with standard preventative maintainence they expect my rig to last another 150 thousand miles. I'm selling my 2003 Focus SVT if anyone's interested. That's a great car, but too low to the ground for my use.

[dbconlin]

All I know is a Mazda 3 (5 speed, hatchback) at the dealer was the most fun car I have ever driven!

[G-spotter]

Hey will,

 

How can you call the Element fugly when you compare it to a REALLY fugly van like the Pontiac Aztek (Asstek)?

[Stefan]

my last 1990 honda civic = 235K miles

klenke's civic I think had 300K miles. maybe more.

we both trashed our civics on terrible logging roads and we didn't feel bad about it.

 

boring. But it gets you there. reliably.