2013 Ford Focus vs Honda Civic vs Hyundai Elantra: pick a car for my sister

[slugg]

Background:
My sister doesn't take care of anything. She had the Accord I'm driving right now for about 2 weeks and put on 90% of the cosmetic damage that's on the car over its 13 years of life. Her current car, a 2002 Mazda Protege, was purchased NEW for her and it's been horribly maintained. It still runs well somehow, and besides the smell of mold coming from her center console storage, the car is more fun to drive than my Accord, by far. She's needed a new intake tube (cracked, duct tape temporarily), coolant reservoir (cracked, I epoxied it temporarily), and swaybar bushings (driver's side is bad) for about ONE YEAR and she still hasn't taken care of it. Completely negligent.

Situation:
She hates her car and wants a new one. She has a budget of $18k. Let's be real here; she treats all her stuff like garbage. She needs the car that is most resilient to this kind of treatment.

The cars to pick from:
1. 2013 Ford Focus
2. 2013 Honda Civic
3. 2013 Hyundai Elantra

She is a woman and she's very stubborn. Believe me, there's NO talking her into any other cars. It took about 6 months of fighting to convince her to at least LOOK at the Civic and the Focus. She's been wanting a Sonata for a while, but then dropped her budget and she likes the new Elantra. I don't know why, but she really loves the Hyundais. She doesn't know why either; she knows nothing about cars. She doesn't even know what front wheel drive means; she doesn't believe me that the front wheels propel the car.

Among these three, which would you pick for her? I'd probably go with whichever is the cheapest to repair... The Ford? I haven't a clue.

 

[vshah]

elantra's 10 year/100k warranty sounds pretty good for her, to be honest.

 

[slugg]

elantra's 10 year/100k warranty sounds pretty good for her, to be honest.

That's just powertrain, right?

 

[Vic Vega]

...

 

[slugg]

Focus.

Why?

 

[Vic Vega]

...

 

[Arkaign]

It's easily the best car of the three. The "new" Civic has been universally panned and the Elantra, while good, doesn't match the Focus.

If you asked the same question five years ago the answer would be the Civic, the other two mostly sucked back then. Funny how things change.

I'm mostly in agreement, with the final caveat that she should go test drive both the Elantra and the Focus in person. Skip the Civic entirely. Honda tax + hopelessly mediocre vehicle in the segment = fail.

 

[endlessmike]

She should probably just drive them and pick the one she likes most. If she's going to beat on it and doesn't understand or appreciate any subtleties anyhow, it really doesn't make much of a difference.

 

[Blackjack200]

background:
my sister ...she is a woman

TTIWWP

caps

 

[Mermaidman]

The Elantra is not a bad car. In fact, I think all of the recently re-designed compacts are very good in their own ways, so your sister should go with whatever appeals to her. The Elantra does have a long warranty, but she will need to keep up with the scheduled maintenance or Hyundai might deny a warranty claim. As for the cost of repairs--They're all gonna be expensive. :biggrin:

Having driven a few rental Focuses, I found its stereo annoying to use, the cabin rather snug, and the automatic transmission jerky. My knee was constantly scraping against a sharp unfinished seam along the center console.

As Arkaign says, have your sister test drive the cars. Even sitting in one can be helpful in quickly ruling out a model for ergonomic reasons.

 

[NutBucket]

elantra's 10 year/100k warranty sounds pretty good for her, to be honest.

Yes. But bumper-to-bumper is still above average 5 years, 60k miles...or about double a Japanese warranty

Honestly, there's nothing wrong with an Elantra and for the same money it will have A LOT more features than a Focus. Its clear she doesn't take your advice anyway so why even bother offering it?

 

[KIAman]

The new Elantra is a good pick. It has less power than the Focus but better MPG. The focus is also more "euro" tuned which makes it a better "driver's" car but if you want comfort (road isolation) and refinement, the Elantra is better.

The elantra also has a much bigger back seat and trunk (if she cares) and has a 10/100,000 powertrain warranty.

As to resilience and reliability, if you have an owner who doesn't give a crap, all cars are equal in terms of withstanding punishment.

 

[Kroze]

I can tell you that DO NOT get the civic, the "redesigned" 9th generation civic is such a joke. The interior material is worse than the 1990 dodge neon, everything inside the car screams cheap. Much cheaper than the 8th gen Civic.

It's so bad that several magazines do not recommend the 2012+ Civics as a vehicle of choice when looking for a new car.

Honda actually admit that they screwed up and promised to revise the car for 2013 models. That's how bad it is.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

I have a 2012 Focus Titanium - I'd encourage her to buy a Corolla. The appliance of vehicles.

The DCT in the Focus is an adjustment from a normal automatic - she should go on a long test drive, including many start stops to ensure she likes how the car shifts.

Its a major sore point for many owners.

2013 Focus pricing will reduce the 2012 MSRP by about $750. Ford is going for smaller rebates and a lower starting price.

 

[LTC8K6]

2012 Focus with the discounts.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Does she at least do oil changes?

If she treats everything like shit then she shouldn't be buying a new car. Or maybe she should, but it doesn't matter what she gets because she'll destroy it anyway. It sounds like she is not interested in your help so I wouldn't really give it to her; she has made up her mind anyway and wants a new car (as if that'll fix anything; it'll just be a worthless shitbox in a few years). Personally I think she should just live with whatever rolling scrap heap she can find, but it's her money. Don't stress yourself over this, not worth it. Just have her get whatever she wants and don't let her blame you when her neglect causes problems.

If she doesn't get regular oil changes, have her watch this:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC-SxrsgEwo
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIkxlWpJ6bk

 

[vi edit]

Not sure I'm sold on the long term reliability of that Ford auto tranny in the Focus. It has not reviewed well at all. Plus it's just a very cramped car. Shame really...I wanted to love the Focus, but it's so much smaller than other cars in it's class.

I haven't drove one, but from a seating/room, looks, paper performance, and options for the price the Elantra is a clear winner.

 

[desy]

Since there is a new Civic coming out already, I'd wait to see what the update brings
Other than that all 3 should be good

 

[jackiewills]

Civic, the Focus are being recalled for leaking water from the wipers into the engine and Hyundai is Hyundai.

 

[hans007]

i'd take either the focus or civic.

i suppose if i was buying , i'd take the focus becuase i like the fact that it has DSG and comes ina hatchback. that said, a lot of people do not like the DSG a lot in that car because well people think DSGs are weird.

i also think the ford looks nicer, thought he hyundai is nice and offers some really nice features for the class that others dont like heated rear seats (i dont care about heated seats but some people love them).

 

[ElFenix]

The Elantra is not a bad car. In fact, I think all of the recently re-designed compacts are very good in their own ways, so your sister should go with whatever appeals to her. The Elantra does have a long warranty, but she will need to keep up with the scheduled maintenance or Hyundai might deny a warranty claim. As for the cost of repairs--They're all gonna be expensive. :biggrin:

Having driven a few rental Focuses, I found its stereo annoying to use, the cabin rather snug, and the automatic transmission jerky. My knee was constantly scraping against a sharp unfinished seam along the center console.

As Arkaign says, have your sister test drive the cars. Even sitting in one can be helpful in quickly ruling out a model for ergonomic reasons.

the elantra is not actually a compact car, that's why it feels so much bigger than others like the focus. it's a midsize.

 

[Drako]

Civic, the Focus are being recalled for leaking water from the wipers into the engine and Hyundai is Hyundai.

Wipers leaking water into the engine? Is this a joke? :hmm:

 

[vi edit]

Wipers leaking water into the engine? Is this a joke? :hmm:

What he meant to say was water getting into the *wiper* motor and causing it to short out.

http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/72731/ford-recalls-focus-cars

 

[Kroze]

Wipers leaking water into the engine? Is this a joke? :hmm:

:biggrin::biggrin:

 

[The Stigenator]

let her buy what she wants, its her money. I find women who do not listen, let them do what they want, if they fail, you just have to tell them 'i told you so...'

move on, i know she's your sister and all, but I treat mine teh same way. She finally realized there is merit to listening to people...but after teh failures.