EriktheAwful wrote:I'm not actively looking for a car to buy yet, but I want to be ready when the Accord finally craps out. Right now the "short list" consists of:
Honda Fit Sport
Mazda 3 (non-turbo)
The maybes consist of
Toyota Prius
Vibe/Matrix
The Scion xB would be on the short list if my wife would be willing to be seen driving it.
My thoughts:
I was looking for a replacement for my commuter given that i have a fairly long commute on days I go to the office (100mi/rt). My 1997 Honda Accord was starting to cost ~$100/mo (in aggregate) in maint while only getting me 30MPG at best for my hwy commute.
The Honda Fit was a great sized car and very versatile inside but a) the short hood would make maintenance more of a pain (think minivan packaging) b) the 1.5L engine was a bit too gutless for freeway merging in CA. If I only drove in SF, this is probably what I would have bought.
I loved the handling of the Mazda3. There are some comments about quick rear tire wear b/c of the aggressive negative camber on the rears but that could have been dialed out with a rear camber kit.
In the end, I bought a Prius and am glad i did. Why? The MPG. I simply couldn't argue with the 49MPG I achieved while driving on vacation for a week (mostly hwy, just like my commute) last Oct. After 5.5K mi, I'm still averaging 47.5MPG despite the crappy CA gas and high freeway speeds (most of my cruising is done at 70-80MPH). The only downside was that handling was dreadful -- I'd say downright scary -- at hwy speeds. It reminded me of an 80s toyota minivan with how the body would roll. My solution was to factor in suspension upgrades into my acquisition cost (up to $1.5K for the Tokico coilover kit + swaybars). My problem is that in SF, dropping your street car is downright stupid given the hills. Luckily, all I needed was the $250 TRD rear swaybar (cars after mid 2012 have a stiffer center chassis brace -- another significant point of complaint of folks). Now the Prius handles no worse than my Accord ever did and in a long sweeper the crappy low rolling resistence tires will lose traction before the body starts to roll outwards. Of course, since I bought this car purely for its MPG, I wasn't about to give up the few MPG switching to stickier tires would cost me.
Another option: if you feel you need AWD, I was pleasantly surprised by the driving manners and MPG my mother in law's recent Subaru XV crosstrek got her. We consistently got 32MPG on the last road trip we took with to Yellowstone her despite a car full of 4 adults+luggage. If I had to buy an SUV-let, this is the one I'd buy.
Two more selling points on the Prius:
- Hybrid battery replacements are FAR lower than originally expected. I remember finding a different article that discussed how the replacement rates of 1st gen Priuses are MUCH less than originally anticipated even by 2013.
"Toyota says its out-of-warranty battery replacement rate is 0.003 percent on the second generation Prius that debuted in the 2004 model year. That equals about one out of 40,000 Priuses sold, says Toyota spokesman John Hanson. "
http://www.newsweek.com/hybrids-high-co … ries-90397
- I can't find it but I also remember an article about how maintenance costs (brakes, engine wear, etc) are lower with Priuses than their all gas equivalents (which would probably be the Yaris). The engine/braking system simply doesn't have to work as hard and it shows after lots and lots of miles.
As far as being a driver's car, forget about it. This is an appliance.
-g
Myopic Motorsport's #888 Ceci n'est pas une Citron Thunderbird ("This is not a lemon" but a 1995 tbird w/ 93 V8 swap + shopping cart rear wing + engine mounted frito maker)
2017 Sears Pointless Organizer’s Choice
Frito Making Tbird from 2018 Sears Pointless Engine Heat BBQ -
http://goo.gl/csaet4
