Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Automotive
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-24-2014, 02:30 PM
 
4,901 posts, read 8,688,824 times
Reputation: 7117

Advertisements

If you want a reliable car that is really, really fun to drive and also low cost, take your time (use cars.com, autotrader.com) and find a low-mileage 2011 Honda Civic Coupe. DD has an '08 and I really like driving it....peppy, responsive steering. She is getting 37 mpg driving to college...mostly highway with a little bit of city mixed in. Besides that, it's cute! It's not a hatchback, but it does have a large trunk, and, of course, the back seat folds down for more trunk room.

We have 3 Honda Civics in the family and they are all excellent cars. Ours (parents) is an '02 with 190,000 or so miles, still going. We had to have the transmission rebuilt, but it was cheaper than a new car. The paint has held up well, so when it's clean and shiny it still looks good.

I don't recommend the 2012 because they changed it that year and Consumer Reports didn't recommend them that year. They changed them again for 2013 and CR recommended them again that year.

You may really want a new car, I don't know, but late-model used cars are a better value, IMO. Well, at least when you're talking Hondas.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-24-2014, 05:26 PM
 
113 posts, read 328,738 times
Reputation: 71
Which vehicle performs better in the snow? I'm thinking Civic might perform better since the M3 has such low clearance?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-24-2014, 07:21 PM
 
Location: Michigan
2,741 posts, read 2,955,416 times
Reputation: 6540
In 2011, I switched from a Corolla to a 2010 Mazda 3 sedan, and there's NO comparison between them. The Mazda 3 is much better engineered, and a LOT more fun to drive. Only maintenance I've had to do to it so far (I now have 47k miles on it) is regular oil changes, and I just replaced the tires and TPMS sensors all around. As for rust, there's not a bit of rust to be seen after 3 years, and I don't believe it has "thinner metal, and is prone to rust" as the other poster says above. Maybe the older ones had that problem, I don't know, as this 2010 model is the first Mazda I've ever owned.

I LOVE that car! The mileage is a hair less than the Corolla, (Mazda has a 2.0L engine, Corolla has a 1.8L and is a bit lighter) but the Mazda drives so much better, and has a bit more room. I would never go back to another Toyota (with the possible exception of a Prius). Toyota's as they age seem to develop a lot of odd electrical issues, and repairs get expensive. They also take every advantage to dodge any warranty issues and not cover them if they can get away with it.

So, my vote is for the Mazda 3, because it won't disappoint you, and I'm sure you'll love it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Automotive
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top