Help me buy a new car!

[SodiumSulfate]

Looking for suggestions for buying a new car, being used by my wife for getting to and from school, and just driving around the city (car won't be primarily used for long distance (100km+) driving).

She's not picky, her only conditions are automatic transmission and air conditioning are musts. Comfortable "on-the-road" budget is around $32,000, give or take a couple thousand. We're only looking at Japanese cars, no domestics or Europeans.

So far, we've looked at:
* Subaru Legacy 2.5i/SE
* Subaru Impreza 2.5i
* Honda Accord SE/EX-L/V6-SE
* Mazda3 Sedan GT
* Toyota Corolla
* Toyota Camry

Are there any suggestions? Which ones do you guys favour? We definately don't want a Honda Civic or Fit. They just didn't appeal to us.
Not terribly concerned with gas consumption, an extra litre or two per 100km won't kill us. Definately want reliabilty as we plan to drive it into the ground.

I really liked the Subaru Legacy, but it seems so expensive for what you get (which is enough I might add). Wife could go either way, a car is a car to her. Right now, it's just me and the wife, but we'd prefer a larger car which can accomodate kids in the future.

Any input is greatly welcomed.

Thanks!

[ElvaSoShexai]

i was really close to getting a mazda3 gt sport (had a really good deal on it)... until i decided to test drive the car again on a hot day... that killed the deal... the ac on the mazda 3... REALLY sucked...

the toyota camry was HUGE inside... suspension feels like driving a van and the v6 was kinda sluggish

the accord se v6 is nice. interior has nice materials. it's sooo damn quiet inside too. went up to 180 on the highway and it was incredibly stable.

accord se is nice too if you don't need the extra power from the v6... dealers are willing to lower the price on these quite a bit... probably since they don't sell as well... although i ended up not getting this car.. but that was just cause i don't like big cars... otherwise it's pretty gd

corolla materials quality is nowhere as nice as camry/accord if u'd like a nicer car

[NorthYorker]

If you want some kind of "make a statement" vehicle, look at Subaru Forester. It will show what a caring husband you are buying a Suba with all kind of safety bells and whistles. If you want economic transportation which will go on and on for longer that you'll need it (esp. taking into account that you'll use it as low-mileage city vehicle) you can look at Suzuki Aerio Wagon. You may also get AWD with that. But keep in mind that this probably last year for Aerio. They announced plans to bring new small wagon to us next year.

[MP3_SKY]

Impreza is good with the AWD, so you don't worry that your wife stuck her car in the snow during winter time and for sure it's under 30k. Legacy will be few k over..

Mazda 3 or Corolla will be ok too....lower gas consumption

Accord and Camry are just too big as a second car.....I guess she just drive the car alone most of the time....

Good luck

[SodiumSulfate]

Thanks for all the feedback. My wife is 5' tall, a Californian, and has literally never seen snow, let alone driven in bad weather. The commute to and from York will only be about 20-30 mins each way (about 35 Kms from my house by using back roads), and mainly used to "get around".

Ideally, I wanted a car that I would be happy with, so that when it comes time to buy another second car, we'd be in a better financial position to get a better optioned car, and I could take her car.

I test drove the Honda EX-L (only Accord tester they had on hand) and I liked it, but I think it's a bit too big and bulky. It was a nice drive and all, but i'm not all that knowledgeable about the ins and out of test driving so i'm sure there are things I overlooked. The interior was a little too fancy for my liking, but what to do. I really like the Subaru's interiors, they're plain, but not too plain.

I also tested a V4 Camry a couple of months ago, but I didn't feel anything from the drive. It was like riding in a boat. I'm sure that if I hit something, I wouldn't feel it - which is a good and bad thing. Again, I find the Camry too big and bulky.

I have yet to drive the Mazda3. I've read good things about it, and dollar for dollar, it seems to give the most useable features.

I don't know about Nissan's - their styling doesn't appeal to us. I went to a dealership to check out the Sentras/Maximas. The display cars (the ones that are parked in the showroom/outside the showroom) had rust bubbles on their A and B pillars. Not a good thing to have on display, let alone on brand new cars. Not just one car, but I saw it on at least 3 cars: there was what looked like a pencil tip sized nick in the paint, and it had started to rust and the surrounding paint had started to bubble.

I lost my interest in Nissan after seeing that.

Anymore tips or advice? Does anyone have a Subaru Legacy 2.5i SE, a Mazda3 GT or Honda Accord and who's willing to give their $0.02?

Thanks!

[mon1]

Stay away from the Mazda - just got ride of my M3 - due to the endless problems.

[SodiumSulfate]

Stay away from the Mazda - just got ride of my M3 - due to the endless problems.

That's sad...I was actually warming up to the Mazda.

Do you mind telling me what problems you had with the Mazda?

[mon1]

That's sad...I was actually warming up to the Mazda.

Do you mind telling me what problems you had with the Mazda?

Well I had a list of 20 problems two of which included: car stalling while driving and a power surge where the car took off without putting your foot on the gas. If you go onto www.edmunds.com - you can read a lot of people complaining about the same issues. The air conditioning is really bad on the Mazda as well.

In my experience, Mazda Canada wasn't supportive of any of my problems and their customer service department was lacking big time.

[lasallejai]

SodiumSulfate:



I just went through all the things for getting a car for my wife, and our situation is very much like yours, except we have a 1 year old son, but the car is for the sole purpose of letting my wife to do errands in the city, and she is a new driver in Canada even though she has had her driver's licence in Hong Kong for almost 10 years.

I have done thorough research on a few cars I was considering and they were, Mazda 3 Touring Edition, Mazda 6 Touring Edition, Subaru Legacy i SE, Subaru Impreza i sedan, Hyundai Sonata GL with the ABS/sunroof pacakge.

Due to the fact that we need more interior space at theback for a car seat I eliminated the Mazda 3 and Impreza very quickly after checking them out at the respective dealer. The Legacy is indeed nice inside and out, but it is a bit pricey due to the AWD system on board. If money is not a constraint for me I would have gone with the Legacy for sure. Automobile insurance costs an arm and a leg for us since my wife has never been insured in Canada and she just got her G licence last year. I owned a 1994 Legacy Li before and then I passed it on to my Mom in 1999 and she is still driving it without any major problems--one problem in 2000 when the odometer broke and she had to replace it and that was all in the last 12 years.

Reliability wise you cannot go wrong with an Honda or a Toyota, even though once in a while people do run into a lemons made by them, but it is really once in a blue moon--I find it happens most when people actually abuse their cars, or they do not really maintain their cars. I owned a Toyota before and it was troublefree for 8 years before I traded it in for the Legacy in 1995--the only thing I replaced was the alternator. As to Mazda, well, I have been driving a Mazda for over 13 years and I have only replaced the condensor of the A/C system so far, and the rest were all due to normal wear and tear like brake pads, rotors and spark wires. I wont say Mazda's are as reliable as the Honda's and the Toyota's though. If you do go with a Corolla I think very likely you will have many trouble free years before you actually have to put some money into it. My brother owned a Corolla and he replaced it after 12 years not becuase the car died on him but because he really needed a larger car for his growing family of 4 so he has gone with an Acura MDX. If you pay attention to what driving instructors mostly use it should imply the Corolla's must be quite durable. I have known a few instructors myself who have their Corolla's over the 300,000 KM mark and still going strong. My brother still owns a 10 years old Camry and no problems at all according to him and he is being tempted to trade it in for the 2007 Camry.

The Mazda 3 and the Impreza are both made in Japan and I like the build quality very much. Too bad they are just too small for my family. They are good on gas too, but the Impreza is a bit more thirsty of course due to the AWD system but you have better traction on the road when it snows and rains. I have been driving an AWD car and a RWD car since 1995 and it is hard for me to go back to a two wheel drive. The new car is a front wheel drive one and it is for my wife to get around town, so I will still be driving my AWD one until some day I am sick and tired of standard transmission. : )


To conclude, I would go for the Legacy if money is not a concern for you. My second choice would be the Impreza if rear seat room is not a concern for you. My third choice would be the Mazda 3, because it is really well built for the money you spent, not to mention the intrior features of the car.

I joined the Automobile Protection Association for the sake of getting the invoice prices of the cars I was considering and let me tell you it is worth the $70 for the membership fee. If you do decide to go with an APA pre-negotiated dealer representative you will also need to pay APA a referral fee of $65. Nevertheless, it saved me time at the dealership with no hassles at all and I saved close to $2,500 after the APA membership fee and the APA referral fee. They allow you 5 free quotes so narrow it down to 5 cars you would like to consider and get the invoice prices from APA. Suddenly the Legacy i SE is not that expensive after all.

[lasallejai]

SodiumSulfate:


I just read up at Edmunds.com as Mon1 suggested and found out that according to the Editor's Most Wanted Choice Mazda 3 is ranked #1 in the under $15,000US category: http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/mostw...9/article.html ; in the under $25,000 category Legacy is the honorable mention: http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/mostw...1/article.html

[superdeals]

SodiumSulfate:


I just read up at Edmunds.com as Mon1 suggested and found out that according to the Editor's Most Wanted Choice Mazda 3 is ranked #1 in the under $15,000US category: http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/mostw...9/article.html ; in the under $25,000 category Legacy is the honorable mention: http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/mostw...1/article.html

And I just read in the Canadiandriver.com a nice article on VW Rabbit 2007.

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/pw/07rabbit.htm

I think you can get one with 'all options' + tax and everything for less than $30K. It has "In combination with the standard ABS, electronic brake force distribution and traction control, this is a formidable suite of traction and stability aids that are is not found in any other vehicle in this class."
Seems very nice!! (though I am not a big fan of VW)

[SodiumSulfate]

To conclude, I would go for the Legacy if money is not a concern for you. My second choice would be the Impreza if rear seat room is not a concern for you. My third choice would be the Mazda 3, because it is really well built for the money you spent, not to mention the intrior features of the car.

I joined the Automobile Protection Association for the sake of getting the invoice prices of the cars I was considering and let me tell you it is worth the $70 for the membership fee. If you do decide to go with an APA pre-negotiated dealer representative you will also need to pay APA a referral fee of $65. Nevertheless, it saved me time at the dealership with no hassles at all and I saved close to $2,500 after the APA membership fee and the APA referral fee. They allow you 5 free quotes so narrow it down to 5 cars you would like to consider and get the invoice prices from APA. Suddenly the Legacy i SE is not that expensive after all.

lasallejai,

Thanks for that impressive write-up! My extended family typically buys Japanese cars, so i'm with you with regards to reliability. I haven't physically driven a new Legacy, just the Impreza and I really enjoyed the drive. I'd imagine the Legacy would be much the same, but i'll have to take it out for a test drive before I decide what to buy. Our previous family car was a 92 Mazda 323, and I loved that little guy. It was dependable and it took such a beating and kept on ticking.

My current budget is around $32,000 but I can stretch it by a couple of grand either way and I won't be overextending myself. Ideally, I'd like to keep below $30,000 so we'll see what happens. This will be our first car, so I don't feel so bad if I don't get the Legacy. There will be others in the future!

The styling of the Mazda3 is okay - I still prefer the styling of the Legacy. It just looks all that much more masculine. I find the Mazda3's styling to be too "girlie". My wife doesn't car, she just wants a car that she can drive to and from, and listen to her CD's.

When I was testing the Impreza, the AWD didn't feel any different than any other FWD car i've driven. Granted it was a hot summer day, but I was expecting it to drive differently somehow. How is the drive different in an AWD than a FWD in the sense that do you drive it differently?

I haven't had a chance to check out the Mazda3 in person yet, so I want to reserve judgement until then. I was looking at a parked Sonata on the street. It's a sharp looking car, and it looks pretty roomy too!

[SodiumSulfate]

And I just read in the Canadiandriver.com a nice article on VW Rabbit 2007.

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/pw/07rabbit.htm

I think you can get one with 'all options' + tax and everything for less than $30K. It has "In combination with the standard ABS, electronic brake force distribution and traction control, this is a formidable suite of traction and stability aids that are is not found in any other vehicle in this class."
Seems very nice!! (though I am not a big fan of VW)

Sigh, it looks like a very nice car, not to mention very well equipped, but I've sworn off of two things: first year product runs and european cars that are made in Mexico. Is it made in Mexico?

As an aside, I don't like round tail-lights for some reason. Seems like that's the common trend these days, I guess everyone loves round tail lights. Here I go bucking the trend yet again!

[charliebrown]

When I was testing the Impreza, the AWD didn't feel any different than any other FWD car i've driven. Granted it was a hot summer day, but I was expecting it to drive differently somehow. How is the drive different in an AWD than a FWD in the sense that do you drive it differently?

I haven't had a chance to check out the Mazda3 in person yet, so I want to reserve judgement until then. I was looking at a parked Sonata on the street. It's a sharp looking car, and it looks pretty roomy too!

Went to test drive the legacy 2.5i Ltd about 3 wks ago and got a pretty enthusiastic sales rep. You should be able to feel the AWD car wanting to hold onto the road more than ur typical car. We took the car on some side streets northwest of Finch & Yonge. Sales rep told us to keep the car above 60 while going through a slight s-turn -- and honestly, the car didnt swing side to side (now i havent taken an accord/camry down that same street, so cant comment about them)

(now, for those that want to try, i'm referring to talbot rd/hilda ave, just before drewry ave underneath the hydro wires)

How much space do u need? funny thing was that we took a manager's car for the testdrive and he/she had a carseat in the rear. It's a bit cramped in the back w/ that carseat...so i dont think 5 adults would find the legacy comfortable

Also, the rear seats do not fold down on the legacy sedan; just a centre pass thru for skis (this may have been the biggest factor for us NOT buying the legacy)

Good luck with the new car!

[bembol]

Nice to see Subaru on the list...I've test driven all of them and would take the Subaru Legacy


Handling, Power and Finish 2.5i

IMO Toyota is BORING...even the Celica...I would the Mazda 3 GT