Which of these vehicles should I buy?

Question

Here are preferences:
1. less expensive than average to maintain (not one that breaks down all the time).
2. anti-lock brakes and cruise control.
3. adequate head room (I think this means a hatchback for head room over the rear seats).
4. Roll down windows (they work well for a long time and are less expensive to repair).
5. a little more elevated off the ground than average (because for example it might be a little better at traveling over snow).

Which of these should I get?
Honda Fit $15,905
Honda Civic
Kia Spectra $16,620
Mazda MAZDA3 $18,520 - $24,650
Mazda MAZDA6 $21,345
Nissan Versa $15,355
Scion xD $15,170
Volkswagen GTI $23,370 - $23,870
Volkswagen Rabbit $16,130 - $18,125

or another kind? The following should pretty much all describe the other kind:
1. costs approximately $20k to $25k or less.
2. a stick shift vehicle.
3. four door.
4. good gasoline mileage (4 cylinder).

Quietman, you cannot get parts for them, you cannot choose your own preferences as easily (you take what comes with the car), not as many safety features are available, and quite simply, things go wrong with them. If not, they wouldn't cost so little.

the_bucc..., I'm thinking a VW Rabbit or a Honda Fit would be slightly better for me. You can get roll-down windows on a Nissan Versa S, but you must sacrifice cruise control and ABS. Also, I probably don't qualify for the college grad rebate at this time in my life, it's quite annoying to buy a car knowing that I miss out on a $500 rebate.

The Rabbit is classy and fun, heated seats, high HP, spaceous like the Versa but maybe better for 5 passengers, and there are lots of extras.

The Fit is inexpensive for what you get, it's a great car for boring people who don't want to stick it to Japan for taxing imports from us so heavily (I don't quite qualify).

I'm thinking the Rabbit when I consider why I am getting a brand new car for once in my life. I want a fun one! Not great on gasoline mileage though compared to the Fit. I'm still thinking...

Ian, you might never read this but to answer about ground clearance, I once had a vehice that kept having snow built up in front of it. I had to get out, shovel, drive more, get out, shovel, drive more, and so on till I made it home. Being low to the ground has another problem. Water splashes underneath and the car can wear through. Then exhaust gets into the inside of the car. This has happened to me as well. Was a pain to fix it and shortly after my dad did it for me, the car broke down for good. I want ground clearance!

Lewis, I can fix roll-down windows myself and I can roll windows down at my speed, and the car doesn't decide for me to keep rolling downward lower than I want, and the automatic windows break and move very slowly (annoying!), and they break and are an expensive repair.

Also, I like spending a little effort instead of pressing a button. Why only exercise in a health spa?

Answer 1

I love my homely but practical Nissan Versa SL Sedan.. loaded, automatic CVT, good radio, electric steering, including electric windows (they are under warranty for 3 years). Standard side curtain air bag safety. It has more room inside than my daughters Camry and is small outside. As a bonus you get a roomy trunk behind the large roomy high headroom back seat in the sedan. It was $16,375 including destination charge..I will bet you can get a deal on a new 07 by now if there are any left, and there is no model change for 08 because it is new. I get 26 mpg city and 32 mpg highway at 80 mph. The Honda Civic and Toyota Corollas are great cars, but you probably have already discovered the price is high and they will not deal. The Scion XD might be interesting but I haven't looked at one yet. P.S. Diesel fuel is 60 cents a gallon higher than gasoline here in California. Someday Diesel will probably be the way to go but too few choices of car makes for now in the USA.

Answer 2

Re: The VW Bug:

UH, WHAT? You can get any part you want for almost any VW bug more readily than any car on your list, period. You could almost build a brand new Beetle from new parts. And plenty of cars get that cheap while still being reliable (old Civics, for example).

Your other objections are alright, though.

anyhow:

1. The Hondas, the Mazdas, or the Scion (Toyota) are your best bets.

2. They should all have these as options.

3. You'll have to try them out to be sure. Headroom varies by your height, and more importantly, WHERE your height is. Some people are more leggy and some people have longer torsos. And plenty of sedans have adequate rear headroom. Hatchbacks are handy, though.

4. The only car on your list available with manual windows is the Spectra...and optioned lower than any 16,000 dollar version. Manual windows are pretty much extinct.

5. Ground clearance isn't that important for driving on snow. What's important is your tires, and how good you are at adjusting for constantly changing traction. (I learned to drive in Alaska, in winter, in a car with shot springs and bald tires. trust me I know.)


Any other cars...depending on your definition of "good fuel economy" you might like a Subaru Impreza or Legacy, particularly on snow.

Answer 3

Why gasoline? the DIESEL VWs get 50mpg, DONT have timing belts (honda wants theirs changed every 50K and at a cost of $500 each time!), DO NOT need tune-ups, Only oil and filter changes and the engine lasts 2X as long as a gas engine. You know VW is german, and with that comes German quality. You can steal a Honda or Toyota with a screwdriver, the ignition switches on the japanese cars are made of cheese.

Peope here in the USA DO NOT realize the potential of Diesels, 30% of European cars are diesel because fuel is sooo expensive there.

Buying an `07 will save you 30% off the cost of an `08 and it will still be new! VW was still making the TDi diesel in `07, but only the Jetta has a diesel in `08 (a new engine for Vw)

heres the report of the 04 golf, note the mpg figures...
http://www.transmitmedia.com/golfTDI/

and the highest mileage diesel VW found in the USA, note that he still gets 50mpg, after a HALF MILLION miles!!!
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/08/23/vw-finds-highest-mileage-diesel-in-ohio/

The `08Jetta is reportedly going to be EPAed at 40city and 60 highway....

Answer 4

1st of all, basically none of these cars come with manual windows, except for maybe the base model Kia. It sounds like you have had a bad experience with power windows, but out of all my freinds, family, and people who I have worked on thier cars, none have complained about any problems. Also, in my opinion, having the power option is worth the extra money to fix it if something goes wrong. But maybe you should look at the car it went wrong on, was it a peice of crap? Maybe it was the car, and not the power winows.
Anyways, Out of those choices, the ones that will last the longest are the Honda Fit, and Civic, and the Scion xD. The Kia is so crappily built, I would not even consider it. The Mazda's I would only choose if they were the Speed versions, becuase the base models, for what they are, you can get an even better Honda.
The Nissan Versa is very new, and not much is known about it's overall reliability yet, but it looks fairly good.
The GTi would be the most fun to drive out of your list, but might cost more in repairs. THe Rabbit gets great gas mileage, and is fairly cheap, but lacks power, and still costs a lot for parts.
I would highly recommend a Subaru Impreza (regular, sport hatchback, 2.5RS, WRX, WRX wagon, outback wagon)
or a Subaru Legacy (sedan, 2.5GT, outback).

Answer 5

You can't hardly go wrong with a Honda or Scion,the Mazda has gotten some good revues in recent consumer report magazines.
You may want to check out insurance prices before you buy. I can tell you that a stick shift will more than likely cost you more for insurance.

Answer 6

if you want a nice car get a BMW for sure really sporty and luxurious. A M3 would be very nice and you could get one anywhere from 15,000 and 25,000 very nice in my own experience. A really good snow driver would be a Subaru impreza WRX that would be a really good reliable car that would be very minimum on repairs. The car is AWD so it would handle extremely well and abs. You will pay a decent amount of money for these cars but you will definitely not need to put that much more money into them 5 stars to both. hope this helps

Answer 7

well i know Toyota's are known for they're dependability id say the scion. But if you want to be a little different get the diesel VW (food for thought according to top gear they get 80 MPG whereas a prius only gets 50;) ) As well as the fact diesels are saposto last at least 600,000

Answer 8

Schucks, with $2500 you can buy an old Mercedes diesel and get 35mpg in town, and it will last you the rest of your life. when the cost og oil goes thru the roof, you`ll still be happily driving along running on BioDiesel.

VW TDi diesels are very good too they get 50mpg by just driving the speedlimit.

Answer 9

I would go with the Mazda 3, simply because it's a nice car for its price. It also looks nice and sporty, and Mazda is just a great manufacturer of sports cars because it has sold more sports cars than any other manufacturer (from what I've heard).

Answer 10

The Honda civic would be the best in that catogary\

And one thing, why would you want manual windows in a $20,000 car.

Almost everyone knows power windows are better than manual windows.