I haven't owned a car in twelve years. What should I buy?
My question is exactly what it says on the title. For the past 12 years I've lived in a downtown area and all my workplaces have been metro accessible. I've gotten by with car shares and rentals and borrowing other people's cars when I really needed them. but I'm applying for a job that would have about 45min to 1 hour commutes each way and will need a car to get by. I'm also just looking forward to having one, both because I have a dog now and my wife and I will start trying for a kid soon and it just seems more convenient to get around than relying on lyfts.
Yet having been out of needing to care about cars for 12 years, the modern world of everything being electronic is new and scary to me. Apparently transmissions don't need to shift gears anymore, there are alerts and alarms and sensors everywhere. . . I'm lost. I need help folks.
So here's what I'm looking for, ordered by priority:
- Visibility! I live in a city with busy streets and am terrified of accidentally killing a cyclist or scooter. So visibility is important to me, both blind-spot visibility and visibility on turns. Every rental or car share I've used has had shit for rear visibility. This includes the Ford Fiesta, the Mercedes GLC, and the Mercedes GLA. The Chevy Cruze has been okay, but still pales in comparison to the faithful 1999 Sentra of my youth.
- Fun! I haven't owned a car in forever. I want to enjoy driving it. A manual is out as my wife will need to drive it too, but something that feels peppy and has a good drive feel is important to me. I really like to "feel" like I'm driving and want something with really responsive steering and an okay amount of pick-up. We don't need to be getting into racer level, but I also don't want it to feel like I'm struggling to merge onto the highway (as I often do in a rental Fiesta or Cruze).
- Easy to park. Again, I'm in a city and parallel parking can be a giant pain and I always feel guilty holding up the people behind me when I'm doing it. Some of these features to alert when you're close to the car behind you or the simulated overhead view that some cars can give you seem great. I'd probably just settle for a backup camera and proximity sensors though.
- Cost of ownership
- Roomy and easy to get in and out of, including loading dogs and car seats for kids. I want to be able to drive around 5 people comfortably, with decent shoulder room and not make people feel cramped on long drives.
- Not too "basic." As in, I value some level of novelty and originality and would prefer something unique that not everyone else has. This is the most childish of my requests, so I don't rank it too highly.
Price-wise I'm leaning towards around $30,000 and could maybe be persuaded to get to around $40,000 for something that's REALLY perfect and cheap to own long-term. I'm currently considering a Prius, the Mazda3, a VW Golf, and a Toyota Rav4. I generally prefer sedans because of the responsiveness and drive-feel.
My logical brain is leaning Prius, but my inner teenager is saying "DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO BEING A LAME OLD MAN!!" The Golf and the Rav4 Hybrid are kind of tied. The Rav4 is bigger and harder to park, but it is roomier and has a lower cost of ownership. The Golf seems easier to park and would be more fun to drive, but it's also kind of expensive if I opt for a GTI or sport version. Plus it has less room, seems less luxe, and. . .I don't know it just looks kinda bland. I'm definitely leaning towards a low-mileage certified pre-owned whichever way I go just to not have to pay for depreciation.
So, any advice? Any other suggestions? Anything, feature-wise, I should be paying particular attention to?
The Mazda3 hatch seems really nice, but I'm worried I will 100% kill a cyclist
GTI is the "I have a moderate amount of money and want a fun car that I can daily drive" car of choice for a reason. Personally I'd get a prius, but considering your criteria I think the GTI would be much more fun to drive.
It's a bit higher than your price, but the Tesla Model 3 does neatly check almost all of your boxes.
Failing that, I think a Prius is actually a wonderful choice; they're not un-fun to drive, and they're pretty great from a reliability and long term ownership standpoint.
The GTI is a fun little daily driver, but I always have a bit of a hard time getting in them (I'm a behemoth). If you find them comfortable, they can be worth that tradeoff.
Heh I hadn't factored the rebates/incentives into the pricing before, with them it seems like the base model Model 3 is about on par with a GTI. . .
It's sooooo much more fun to drive as well, and think about never buying gas! It would be great.
(I don't own a Tesla, but I think my next car will be electric)
Sadly, as I don't have a garage I'd have nowhere to plug it in. Street parking. . . sigh
There are metered electric charging stations around, but they're always in high demand.
Ah, street parking is a rough situation. There are some options if it's truly of interest to you, including weekly trips to the closest supercharger (depending on how much you drive, and a hefty extension cord for top ups at home, but it's probably more trouble than it is worth, unless you could convince the new place of work to install a charging station.
It would be worth checking out on google maps if there are any Tesla charging stations around. In my area there's several that are located in shopping centers so it's easy to go pick up groceries or whatever and charge at the same time. Depending on how far your commute is daily, that might be feasible.
I have a model 3 and if you can't charge at home, it's not worth it. If you have to go to the supermarket every time you want to charge and use the supercharger, you'll end up wasting a lot of time and not saving much money over a similar gas car. Public chargers tend to cost 3x or more what your home energy rates would be, plus there are sometimes idle fees if you leave the car plugged in after it's done charging, and in some of the busier areas you sometimes have to wait for a slot to open up.
WRXs are a blast and right in your price range. Roomy for a 4-door sedan, with enough power to make driving super fun. Plus they're perfect for modding in the future if you want to take them up to stage 1 or 2. Plenty of extra horsepower to unlock when you start to get bored of it :)
I'd give one a test drive at the very least. If only to rule it out.
Edit: and the WRX wave is the maybe its most underrated feature. Literally every other WRX driver you pass can't help but wave back at you.
Nice. I had forgotten all about Subaru which is weird considering half the cars in front of my building are Outbacks.
The WRX looks nice. I was kind of hoping for a hatchback since it's easier to load a dog into the car, but the fun factor might make up for it.
i have a wrx hatchback and love it i get offers from strangers to buy mine all the time.
since you mentioned cost of ownership, just keep in mind the new WRX's use direct injection engines that are more efficient but can cause carbon build up in the cylinders. Walnut blasting the cylinders can cost from 700-1200 dollars. A lot of people install oil catch can to alleviate this a bit but it most likely will ruin your warranty when you mod it. Also if you aren't choosing manual, the new WRX comes with a CVT transmission which a lot of people don't like (me included). Subaru's interior also leaves much to desire.
The new accord sports are actually very nice and roomie inside and they are wicked fast, though they won't handle quite the same as a WRX
Why not a Civic? Maybe an Si (or other premium trims)? They're pretty light and really fun to drive if it's a manual. Best part is they're generally built very well, are economical and cheap and easy as heck to maintain. Generally in the same class as GTI's but fair better in terms of build quality.
Honestly, this sounds dumb, but I just really can't stand the Civic's design. It looks like something I would have thought was awesome when I was 16, but the thought of driving around in one in my 30s with a kid in the back just feels kinda silly.
If it feels good to drive though I'd probably suck it up and do it. I'm sure I'd get over it pretty quick.
I'm a big fan of the Honda Fit: roomy, easy to see out of, reliable, and has some neat features if you get the Honda Sensing package, like automated lane keep assist (meaning it'll stop itself from accidentally drifting over your lane markers) and dynamic cruise control (uses radar to automatically speed up and slow down so it doesn't hit the car in front of you), that aren't too common in this pricepoint. It's definitely not a sporty car or such, but it's very maneuverable and has enough pep to be enjoyable.
Alternatively, the 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback is another thing you may want to consider. It's pretty roomy, has quite a bit more power than the fit, looks a lot sportier, and still does really well on gas mileage and pretty good on parkability. It has a better version of Honda Sensing, including automated lane centering (so rather than just steering away from the lines, it actively centers itself) and fully dynamic cruise control, including stopping and starting from 0 iirc, so it can drive itself along the highway pretty much all by itself. It also has a much more luxurious interior than the Fit. It's a really good value for the money, and I may very well get one of these myself sometime.
I'm just a simple caveman. This modern world scares and confuses me.
But seriously, knowing stuff like this exists now helps me understand why I see so many people on their phones all the time on the road.
Or maybe everyone's just an asshole. Smartphones weren't a thing yet last time I owned a car. . .
I'm not sure what the deal is with the American market, so this might be a used proposition. But the ford fiesta is a very well handling car.
In particular the Fiesta ST has gotten some serious praise in regards to how it drives. In the same league as the mx5 and BRZ despite its hatchback-ness.
If you can handle the:
I would encourage you to read some reviews on it if you're interested. The press went ballistic about it a few years back.
Have you test driven your short list yet?
Not yet. I'm going to need a friend to give me a lift to places so I was hoping to narrow things down before heading to the dealerships.
Be prepared for them to push you to buy that day. The answer is a very friendly but firm no. You want to test drive all your cars before you make a decision.
You can actually go to a location with a bunch of dealers, and just spend the day test driving new cars to get a feel for the sort of car you want, just don't tell them that you intend to buy used.
When buying from a dealer, the best way to get a good price is to email them, and ask them for a cash price for the car you want. Not sure if that works for used cars.
Every Mazda I've ever driven ticks this box, it's what Mazda is known for. The only cars I have driven that are more fun are pricey luxury sports cars like the BMW Z4, though some will argue that the Mazda MX-5 is still more fun than that. A CX-5 or CX-9 might be worth considering.
The Prius isn't fun, at least the 2005 Prius I owned for ten long miserable years wasn't fun. It has fantastic storage, amazing visibility, good cornering, it is peppy to start but once you are moving it has terrible acceleration, it has a lot of road noise, it doesn't keep a straight line by itself and the brakes are a little grabby. The Prius gets no respect on the road. No one wants to be stuck behind a Prius. Even us fellow Prius drivers don't want to be stuck behind another Prius. There are two types of Prius drivers. Those that like to drive slow, and those of us who treat the accelerator like a light switch and keep the pedal to the metal. I had to change the battery pack after 150k miles ($3 grand) and the car is burning a little oil. You don't want to buy a used Prius from someone like me.
This might not be a popular choice, but a used, reliable car is the most fiscally responsible choice. Dropping $30,000 or more is, for most people, a poor decision. Something like a used Civic or Camry, while not flashy, will last you forever, be cheap to repair, scores highly for safety, and can be purchased certified for less than $20,000.
Or go nuts and buy a used Maserati Ghibli S for around $40,000. You can get some really fun used cars in that range. But... don’t.
Oh yeah I had no intention of buying new.
Unfortunately, I would really like some of these new parking assist features that luxury cars have, but almost none of those are available on used cars. I'm wondering if the dealership can just put them in after-the-fact?
Relatively new (to me) Prius V owner here! I really like it. Gets 43-44 mpg city easily, and on a long trip you can get up to the low 40s if you keep it in eco mode. It is more fun to drive in the power mode, but mileage really suffers. I did a longer trip with a copilot who liked to go fast (~75 mph on the highway) and kept it in power mode and only averaged around 35 mpg.
Since I have the V model it holds a boat load of stuff, and there's a little extra room for passengers as well. The drawback is they didn't sell well and are now discontinued, so they're hard to find and will be a few years old at least. That said, the price can still be okay depending on how old you are willing to go.
EDIT: That said, other than the extra space, I think all of the benefits would hold relatively true for a recent year Prius, without as much of the scarcity.
Probably a GTI, preaching to the hot hatch choir.
If not that then a Fiesta/Fiesta ST (used at this point) or Veloster because South Korea is getting better at making cars.
Also, Fiat is discontinuing the 500 hatchback and is dumping the Abarth model to anyone who will listen for way below msrp if you are into that sort of thing. Might be worth getting for price alone because the cars themselves are pretty fun with the turbo.
Or a Civic SI, can't go wrong.
Any idea why? The 500 is a cute city car, but I think the emerging family issue might make it a bit cramped.
Italian cars have a general reputation for being unreliable hence that backronym that enters the back of anyone's mind the moment they read "FIAT". That and fuel is cheap in the us so 1.8l cars a bit redundant here.
Basically it's a matter of wrong place wrong time.
Go test drive a 2015 or newer Acura TL, TLS, TLX or RLX. The one down side is it's comfortable seating for 4, the middle back seat is elevated and good for a car seat or short ride, not for 5 people on a long trip. You can probably avoid the AWD models if you don't live somewhere with long winters, and also take note whether it is Premium unleaded only or not. I believe the sport versions are premium only which will bring up the cost a bit.
Acura is the better version of Honda, both are very reliable car manufacturers and Honda usually gets upgrades based on Acura designs a couple years after Acura. I drive a 2013 Acura TL, best car I've owned and the only things I wish mine had is a GPS and remote start.
I did some comparisons between Acuras and Hondas and it really feels like getting a high trim Accord tops a low/moderately equipped ILX or TLX. Is the drive-feel any different?
I would say that depends greatly on whether you are looking at the v6 TLX with SH-AWD or the 4 cylinder version. The v6 will get up and go a lot better than the 4 cylinder Turbos that are in the Accords. Handling and acceleration are very responsive in the TLX giving it that fun/sporty ride you were looking for (similar to Mazdas), I don't know if you will get the same from the Accord.