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Bought a Ford Fiesta / what wheels should I get?

T

TechBoyJK

Lifer
I've had a z4 for the past 3 years, and it's been fun. It's out of warranty now, and it's pushing 80,000 miles. With that, suspecting the need for maintenance coming on, a $550/month payment, $200 per month in gas, and the fact that the car is useless in winter, not to mention the novelty of such a car has kind of worn out it's welcome, I think I'm ready to try something else. If I could afford to keep it for a weekend car, I would, but that's not practical at the moment.

I'm planning a few road trips this summer, some of which include 2-3 days worth of driving, and I wouldn't want to do that in the z4. I was thinking about getting a truck, but I think I want to first buy a comfortable econobox with good gas mileage that is cheap and I could pay off pretty quick. I'm thinking $24k tops.

I like the Hyundai Sonata and the Kia Optima. I also like the Ford Fusion, focus, and fiesta.

I'm honestly leaning towards the Fords. The focus and fiesta, the sporty versions, still look fun to drive, and they would be much more practical for my lifestyle.

Thoughts? What else should I be looking at?

List so far

Hyundai Sonata
Kia Optima
Ford Fusion
Ford Focus
Ford Fiesta
Honda CR-Z

EDIT:


I decided I wanted a hatchback, and the fiesta was the best deal out of the bunch. This is going to be my econobox for travelling, etc. I should be able to pay it off fairly quickly, and I'm thinking I might go back and get a 2009 z4. I loved the car, just couldn't justify dumping money into the car anymore. I'd rather get an 09 with 20k miles and start fresh.

Either way, I'm having to decide on options. Check the last post as I detail them there.
 
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How many people are you looking at traveling with? If it's yourself and one other, a Focus or Fiesta should be fine. If you're looking to put people in the rear seats or travel with a lot of luggage, I'd get a Fusion.
 
it's underpowered relative to the competition, but I love my Civic Si (sedan) the 2012 one bumps up to a 2.4L engine. i get 35mpg highway.
 
If you're "only" spending $200/month on gas, the savings on the CR-Z would be minimal and you still only have two seats, small trunk, and all the other limitations of your BMW (except for maintenance costs).

It sounds like a step down in almost every way but it's your money.
 
If the bimmer was new, comparably, it would be a step down. But I'd be going from an 2004 to a 2011. My payment would be nearly half.. $300 vs $550, and I'd probably save $100 a month on gas.

Granted the z4 does 0-60 in about 6 seconds and the crz in 10, everything I read is that it's still fun to drive. I'm always driving 'sporty' in the z4, so I know I'm not even getting the 23mpg it's rated for.

I'm going to go test drive a few cars tonight. I don't plan on making a decision for a month or two (want to enjoy the nice weather with the convertible a little longer).. I really need to drive some of these and see how I feel about it.
 
New or slightly used? Honestly so many decent cars in that category these days you just need to get out and drive them. Any of those fords, the cruze, sonata,
 
Turin39789 said:
New or slightly used? Honestly so many decent cars in that category these days you just need to get out and drive them. Any of those fords, the cruze, sonata,
Click to expand...

I would prefer to certified pre-owned, or maybe 1 year used.. But I might buy new because of better interest rates.
 
Mazda3, Mazdaspeed3... VW GTI?

I really like my Mazdaspeed3, drove 2100 miles in it over four days with the girlfriend and it was quite comfortable. The 2011 rated 0-60 is still 6.0s like your Z4, you'll get 4 doors, 30-33mpg on the highway (I do anyway). The LSD, coupled with some decent snow tires, does very well in the winter, in two NH winters I have been very pleased. The hatchback body has been very nice to move stuff/people around in, though the back seat isn't huge it's not too bad.

Edit: also comes with a lot of neat little tech features, like automatic lights, automatic wipers, and automatic climate control. The after-market is pretty reasonably priced and there is good support.
 
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TechBoyJK said:
What do you guys think about the Honda CR-Z ?? It looks pretty fun.
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I don't think I've read a very good review on it yet. It is also horrible to sit in. I sat in one in the dealer and there is just no room inside. Visibility is horrible (honestly you cant tell where the front of the car is because the hood is sooo high), the seats suck (most honda seats do I've come to realize), and the driving position isn't that great either.
 
My wife and I are in the same boat, looking at a similar list of new cars. We did a test drive of the 2012 Focus last week. It's a nice little car, but it's just too compact for us. We are trading in our high mileage IS300, and the Focus seemed smaller than the IS. so we shifted out focus (pun intended) on a Sonata / Fusion, something in that segment. I would say you can go with the Focus as long as your ok with keeping a compact long term
 
I test drove a base model Fiesta and Focus last night. The local dealer didn't have many in stock, and most were sticks (i can't drive a stick). I can get a Fiesta that I like for $21k, and the focus for $25k. Both would be loaded models.

I liked them. Certainly a different driving experience than the Z4.

The only thing I'm really concerned about is the stereo. I took a listen to the premium Sony 10 speaker stereo in a Fusion, and while it sounded good, it wasn't close to what I have now in my bmw.

I gutted the bmw stereo and put some high end stuff in.

The Ford's stereos are simply too integrated to just replace and there's no where to put a normal car stereo in if I wanted to. So if I wanted to replace the stereo, I'd have to use the factory head unit, and use Line Level converters to convert the speaker wire to RCA and feed that to the amps.
 
I had an EVO, traded it in and got a Sonata... aside from the handling/power, the Sonata kicks ass. Lots of comfort plus the mileage is just awesome. I drove from LA to Mammoth and averaged about 34mpg highway miles@75mph. Been averaging a combined of 27-29 lately, this is about 30% city 70% highway.
 
If I were in the market for a sub $20k car, I'd look at the following:

Honda Civic- reliable, proven, nice looking inside and out IMO...can't go wrong
Ford Focus (sedan)- the hatch is more expensive...ford has been doing nice things lately
Jetta/Golf- German reliability is a big con though
Elantra- the new model looks great and Hyundai is reliable

Out of those, I'd probably get the Civic.

If you don't need 4 seats, I'd look at the Honda CRZ. I think it looks great!
 
You own a BMW. Everything else will be a step down and you'll just have to learn to live with it. This comes from an owner of previously two e36 M3's.
 
While not the most excitinh - try out a new Hyundai Elantra.

We test drove a 2011 Elantra back to back with the 2011, Civic, 2011, Focus, 2011 Cruze, 2011 Corolla and the Elantra was the favorite.

We liked the interior best, felt peppy but not as quick as the Turbo Cruze, and had really useful cubbies, bins, and a massive trunk. We liked the styling a lot too.

The CRZ is useless, pointless, and really impractical. If you can another 3-6 months the Hyundai Veloster will be out. Should get 40mpg, be sporty, and practical.

I'd also have a look at the Kia Soul & Hyundai Tucson.

if you need a larger sedan, the Optima looks amazing or you could always bump up to a Ford Fusion Hybrid.

So many good choices out there - test drive a lot, and maybe rent a car or two for your road trips and decide on which you like best and buy.
 
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