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TL;DR Would you get the slightly better car used, with less warranty, or the brand new car?
Longer version:
I am in the market for a hatchback. There are not many hatchbacks that are not underpowered (Versa, Yaris, Accent etc...) currently. Toyota, Nissan and Honda do not make one (although Honda is re-introducing the Civic Hatch next year). Even Audi stopped making the standard A3 hatch.
I do not drive, in fact I have not owned a car in a long time. Finally time to get one for road trips. Do not feel like spending much since I do not need a car daily, so I started looking at used cars. There is a thread on here today about how used car prices for late model cars are high. I completely agree! Not much value in the used market, and very little inventory.
Found a 2014 Mazda3 Touring with 20K miles at a Mazda dealer for $16300. They are offering a limited lifetime dealer warranty on engine and transmission. Not sure if the current warranty would still be in effect for the next several months as provisioned or not.
Started looking around, and I noticed for just a little bit more ($16800), I can get a brand new Elantra GT. The incentives are high right now, so the price for is much lower than MSRP.
All prices are pre-negotiation, although I suspect there is not much room to negotiate on the Elantra since the price is pretty good. TrueCar has it at $16100.
Would you get the slightly better car used, with less warranty, or the brand new car? The Touring version has alloy wheels and a better interior.
I am not a car enthusiast, but I am trying to avoid smaller cars such as the Versa. I do appreciate nicer cars, but I rather save $1000 a year and use that to go on vacation. From what I have read, the Mazda3 has a more sportier feel while the GT is more comfortable. I have driven the Mazda3, and it drove great, but I still have yet to drive the GT. Considering I a looking for a car for road trips, perhaps the suspension on the GT is more my style. I do not have a mechanic handy.
Hyundai will be new and will get you a 5/60 bumper to bumper and 10/100 drive train warranty. The 2017 Elantra has a lot of safety features such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert and automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection. It can also be had with 8 inch navigation system, HID headlights and auto high beams and a whole lot more. Between the two, if I was getting a road car, this one has a lot more to offer. I actually have the Sonata that has all of the above items except for the automatic emergency braking and it's a great road car. All that technology makes for a much safer drive.
Hyundai will be new and will get you a 5/60 bumper to bumper and 10/100 drive train warranty. The 2017 Elantra has a lot of safety features such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert and automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection. It can also be had with 8 inch navigation system, HID headlights and auto high beams and a whole lot more. Between the two, if I was getting a road car, this one has a lot more to offer. I actually have the Sonata that has all of the above items except for the automatic emergency braking and it's a great road car. All that technology makes for a much safer drive.
I am looking at the Elantra GT, not the standard Elantra. There is no 2017 version and none of the options you mentioned.
Almost every single person I've known personally that have/had a Hyundai or Kia has had numerous issues with them mechanically, and the interiors seem to fall apart (even on the Genesis) fairly quickly. I could tell you of multiple stories with them, but I'll digress. I personally wouldn't own one for this reason. Mazdas on the other hand, are relatively solid in my experience.
That being said, I've seen a lot of people online who love their Hyundais and have had very good luck with them so IDK. They also have a good warranty just in case you run into problems.
Me myself, based on things I've seen with my own two eyes, would take the 3 if I planned on keeping it awhile(especially with that powertrain warranty), but that's just me.
I agree with the other poster who said to try them both out and see which one you like best.
Only a year into my first Korean car, the Kia Forte5 SX. Everything's holding up well, still looks new in every way. In an essentially year long shopping process test driving all sorts of stuff I picked it over the 3 for a fun hatchback. I'd recommend checking it out as well.
FTR, the Chevrolet Spark(and the Aveo, and the Cruze, and the Sonic,...) is a Daewoo with a bowtie emblem.
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