I've been in the market for a new car for the last couple weeks and have been looking at used cars, new cars, and leases. I like smaller mid-sized cars, not quite compact but almost. My wife's car is a Saturn ION sedan, which we really enjoy. I looked at bunch of my friend's cars (Versa, Matrix, etc.) and also took out a Kia Soul, Toyota Prius, and VW Jetta TDI.
Looking for the car:
The Kia Soul was my favorite - I liked the different look and the weird green color quite a bit. The ride was extremely stiff and the rear window visibility was very poor, plus the gas mileage wasn't that great (24/30) but okay for a small SUV. I did like the large amount of space for such a compact size. I had also looked at a friend's Honda Element (loved the waterproof interior) but it was $23k for the Element vs. $13k for the Soul, and I liked the Soul's looks better. Financing turned out to be not that great - $2300 down and either $320 a month for a lease or $380 for a 5-year 2.9% loan ($16.5k car for a 3-year 15k-mile lease).
They offered me $2,000 on the 2005 ION if we wanted to do a trade-in. We were considering two Souls, but the price was a little high for what it was.
I took the Prius out as well. 48/51mpg. They had a special for a lease - $2500 down, $198 a month (3 years, 12k miles). Both my wife and I drive a lot so that would cut our high gas bill in half if we go that (24mpg on the Saturn). I also took the Jetta TDI out (thanks to aphex for the recommendation!) and BOY was that a fun car! 30/42mpg but you have to use a diesel pump. No sparkplugs or glowplugs or whatever like most diesels, so you don't have to wait for the light to come on to drive. Lots of power and great electronic steering, but that was $2500 down and $337 a month. I also didn't particularly care for how it shifted, turbo'd, and then dropped off so quickly, but it was so much fun to drive I didn't mind *too* much :awe:
We also considering some used cars, but we both have extremely busy schedules and don't want to deal with downtime and repairs on a used car, and didn't want to spring for a large pay-in-cash payment or do a separate loan. I've leased twice before and have had pretty good experiences both times. I'm not a car guy, I don't have a garage, I don't have tools, and I don't have the time or interest right now to really get into fixing them, so DIY home repair wasn't really a viable option for me. Leasing or buying a new, fairly-inexpensive car seemed like the best course of action.
My buddy is a big Honda fan and suggested we check out the Fit. I'm not really a Honda fan (just the Element, even though it's an odd car) but decided to go down and have a look. The Fit was very compact, but HUGE inside. The dealer sold me on it on the spot - no down payment or fees, no first month's payment, and $249 for 3 years, 12k miles. So basically nearly $100 less a month without a hefty down payment. Plus I can do any mods I want (that add value), free wiper blades once a year, free car washes whenever I swing by, and 4 free oil changes. I wasn't planning on getting one until September, but I decided to go for it - not having to spring for a $2500 down payment, plus saving $50 - $100 a month was too good to pass up. The end-of-lease details were also nice - up to three major repairs up to $500 each, no charge on the return.
They do take a $500 security deposit, which they refund when you pick up the car, but I talked to them about working that into the price and they dropped it down to $239 a month, which was a little nicer. So it ended up being $500 down, no first month's payment or fees, and $239 a month for 35 months. I chose to get 12k miles since I'll probably buy it out at the end of the lease and don't mind the overage.
Mini Car Review:
The car is deceiving. It looks extremely compact on the outside, like a bloated VW Golf. But on the inside, it had the same feeling as the Kia Soul - "wow, this is big!". I'm 6' 1" and I had plenty of headroom both in the front AND the back, which is a big deal for me. It's a hatchback with 4 doors (I guess they call them 5-door cars), btw.
The rear seats are super cool. They fold down completely flat, so you end up with a ton of cargo space. I work on computers and do video as a hobby, so I like having room for gear, which is something I didn't really have with my Saturn and previous cars. The procedure only takes seconds and it has a latch on top, so it's easily accessible and quick to do. They also fold UP vertically, so you get 4 feet of vertical room for tall stuff. This was a really neat feature! There's nothing underneath the seats either, so you have a lot of room in the footwell.
The front passenger seat also folds back, so you can get 7 feet, 9 inches of length. That's pretty nice! One of the reasons I was looking at the Soul and the Element was the large amount of room in a more compact vehicle. There's also a "relax" mode, where you can remove the front seat headrests and make them recline flat, and then recline the back seats, so you basically get a lawnchair inside your car for taking a nap or relaxing. That'll be nice for catnaps or relaxing on day trips or at lunchtime at work.
Update: Relax mode feature was removed in the 2010 model! It still folds flat, but not completely flat - there's a hump now from the seat! Boo! (thanks fuzzy!).
I got the Fit Sport, which was the model with cruise control (base doesn't have cruise). It has foglights and an iPod jack with a little iPod glove box, as well as a 1/8" input jack, A/C, power windows, power locks, remote locks. You can control the iPod from the car's stereo controls. Speaker system is decent - I kind of wanted to put a system in, but I'd much rather have all the room in the back for my gear than a couple of 10" subs. It does have tweeters, which is nice. The surface material of the dashboard refuses to work with my GPS suction cup and the window is too far away to mount it on (it's really very large inside lol), but luckily I have one of those anti-skid beanbag mounts that I can use instead.
I have 3 complaints with the car:
1. Drives like it's a long car
2. Weak A/C
3. No Traction Control
#1 - When I first took the car out, I was very surprised at how it drove - it felt like I was driving from the back seat. It felt LONG, even though it was a small car. That threw me off. After driving it around all day today I'm totally used to it, but it was pretty different at first. Also the way you sit in it is different than my previous cars (great seats btw) - you sit up more, but lower your arms for the steering wheel. My past cars, like the Saturn, are more, ah, slouchy
#2 - The A/C to me seems weak. I would label it as "adequate". It feels like a snowman is breathing on you, instead of shooting icicles. My Saturn is like an icebox, but this was just OK. When you're driving around, especially at highway speeds, it kicks in more, but it's not what I'd classify as super cold. It was 95F today with high humidity and it did the job though, so it's passable. I was cool enough. The car only has 117hp, so I'd imagine that's all it can put out anyway, haha. I saw other people complaining about it as well online, and the salesguy said that was normal performance for the Hondas they sell, so it wasn't anything the shop needed to check out unless I really wanted them to.
#3 - The higher-end model with the nav system has Traction Control, but this model didn't. I really like that feature on my Saturn - it makes driving in the snow feel like you're driving in mud instead of ice, so you can drive almost completely normally and it handles the slush underneath. Not a huge deal, but it's a feature I really liked.
So, no real complaints - just some minor qualms. I'm used to the driving now, the A/C is 'good enough', and I can manage in the snow without a robot brain handling the car. But just some things to be aware of if you look at one!
The initial acceleration is great - pretty quick off the line. The biggest thing I hated about the Prius was the hesitancy starting from zero MPH - it would take a second or two to kick in the engine over the battery, which was super annoying. I could see that being a BIG problem when you need to do a left turn in front of traffic quick. The Prius merged onto the highway just fine, but passing was a sluggish affair - you wouldn't outrun a semi if they merged into you. The Fit was faster - not by much, but enough to be in the "adequate" range. And no 1-2 second delay from takeoff - in fact, like I said, it was pretty quick off the line up to about 15 MPH.
Merging on the highway and passing still felt slow, but then I realized it's because it drives so smooth and it's such a quiet car. It's not a speed demon by any means, but it does the job. The engine whines quite a bit when you floor it on the highway, but that's the 4-cylinder for you. I could have a normal conversation at 70 - the A/C was far louder than the engine was!
Visibility is great - huge front window, it feels like a picture window in a house! Large side mirrors, which also flip in (by hand) for parallel parking. The rear window is a little on the small side - not as bad as the Soul - and since you're only a few feet off the ground, it's fine. The car's lower step into the interior is low, which is really nice for getting in and out of - but the car itself isn't really low. Didn't have a problem with steep entrances to parking lots or speedbumps. Ride is a bit stiff, you really have to slow down over speedbumps, but not nearly as stiff as the Soul - you felt every crack and pothole in the road with the Soul.
Steering is great. VERY nimble & responsive. Really fun to drive and really digs into the corners. A little squirrely at highway speeds (you have to babysit the wheel a bit), but shifting lanes is very precise. Not much power, but fun to drive nonetheless. I really liked the off-the-line acceleration, better than my Saturn even - it makes darting out into traffic really nice because it just zips right out there. Great for the city.
This car is automatic and has the Tiptronic or whatever Honda calls it for clutchless shifting. It has paddle shifters on the steering wheel, which is kind of fun. I've had it once before on a gearshift on the floor and it got boring after a day. I don't think it will be used much, but it's there. One slightly annoying thing is that the Sport mode (to use the clutchless shifting) is the gear selection all the way back, and Drive mode is second, so you can't just blindly pull your gearshift all the way back and drive, you need to do it one notch higher for normal driving. Not a biggie, but a wee bit annoying - I couldn't figure out why it wasn't accelerating properly when I pulled out of the dealership, haha.
Conclusion:
So overall, I really like the car, as well as the price - so much so that we're actually looking at another one! Honda also offered me a great deal on my trade-in ($1500 on top of other dealers offered, way over bluebook), which would get a 2nd Fit down to the price I'm paying on my 5-year-old Saturn (plus cheaper insurance, plus better gas mileage), and no down payment or fees. At that price, I'd basically be leasing two Fits for the price of one Soul, and not have to put money down on either one of the Fits. It's roomy enough for both of us, nice gas mileage, affordable monthly payment for my budget, and I didn't have to cough up a huge down payment.
I like the compact size, large interior, cornering & handling, and the cool way the seats fold up so you can do a lot of things with it. It's a fun car for the price and has pretty good gas economy to boot. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a nice little car to get into!
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