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.
It's hard to argue against the Sonata for sheer content for the money. You say you want a car that runs on regular, and you can put regular in the Sonata but you probably won't get the full 275HP without premium. However, its EPA mileage rating is so much higher than your other options that you'd still get more miles per dollar even if you fill up with premium than you'd get from the other options filling up with regular.
It's hard to argue against the Sonata for sheer content for the money. You say you want a car that runs on regular, and you can put regular in the Sonata but you probably won't get the full 275HP without premium. However, its EPA mileage rating is so much higher than your other options that you'd still get more miles per dollar even if you fill up with premium than you'd get from the other options filling up with regular.
Even if I get 250, that's fine by me. I'll wait to see what Hyundai says. I seriously doubt they would release a version of the Sonata that needs premium gas. They seem to be ahead of Honda and Toyota on meeting the 2015 CAFE standards. But even if the Turbo did require premium, that alone wouldn't be enough reason for me to pass on it.
No car "requires" premium any more in the OBDII era. The only question is how much power do you give up putting regular in a car that is optimized for premium, and in many cases, how much fuel economy do you give up as well. And in the latter case, is using regular a false economy, as in, do you lose more money through lost fuel economy than you save by using a less expensive grade?
the problem with high horsepower turbo cars is they tend to not last as long as larger N/A V6 models that make the same power plus there is less to go wrong with a N/A car. I would go with the mazda 6 for now and wait until the 2011 sonata has been out for a for a year or so and get the second gen with the bugs and production kinks worked out.
I mean 275 HP out of a 2.0 liter is alot and being in a heavy 4-door family sedan it will put alot of wear and tear on it to get moving in a lighter car it would be awsome but in the large family sedan market a V6 is a better choice IMO
Ford's quality has drastically improved over the last decade to be on par with the Japanese OEMs. While I drive a Lotus Elise and Corvette Z06 for night/weekend cars, an AWD Fusion sport is my daily driver. In many ways, it's nicer than both of my sports cars for certain purposes.
263 hp
AWD
Microsoft Sync (This will have the USB, Bluetooth, and pretty much all of the other electronic features that you desire)
The only car I've driven on your list was a Mazdaspeed 6,which was a fun car but I like my Fusion better. My only advice would just be to keep an open mind and at least check out some new Fords to see if you like them or not.
The Mazda is as mentioned the sportier of the bunch, but just a little something to keep in mind. Both Ford and gm have 300hp V6's coming out in the car size ranges you are looking at. And as much as I hate to say it, the gm v6 is out already in the camaro and doing very well in power and mpg that will rival everything on your list. I just think the fusion is the best in class for quality. And believe me, I don't like saying that!!! As far as resale/trade in value, with all the recalls from honda and toyota of late, who can guess in 4-7 years what might be?
OP - "Here is my list of cars I am considering. NO DOMESTICS!"
Everyone else - "Here's a bunch of cars not on your list. Get a Ford or a GM."
I don't think anyone flat out lambasted the OP's choice. In fact most of us stated which vehicles on the list we felt were best and offered some considerations that weren't on the list.
As far as domestics, I honestly think people looking for a sedan that meets the OP's criteria are remiss to not at least consider the Ford Fusion. It is the "car of the year" whatever that's worth and is consistently ranked as one of the best sedans you can buy. The OP obviously has his reasons, but the Fusion is at least worth a mention.
No one can argue that it checks every box he wanted except for the no domestic one. Since no one asked the question, why does the OP want to avoid a domestic at all costs? It is sort of ironic as everyone is recommending the Mazda 6 and the OP had it on his list and it is essentially a domestic.
I second the idea of putting the Fusion on the list, especially if you're heavily considering the Mazda 6 anyway.
Mike
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.
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.
