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Help me pick a car for my sister... (stubborn, hard to please)

slugg

slugg

Diamond Member
My sister is the typical girl. She just wants a car that "looks cool." But she also wants it to have stupid bells and whistles (bluetooth, auxiliary audio input, and other cheap thrills).

She has a 100% mental block against Mazda. Why? Because she has a 2004 Protege (purchased NEW) and she doesn't take care of anything she owns. From her own negligence, she's ruined her car. Instead of admitting this, she claims that her car is haunted and will never buy another Mazda. I think it's hilarious because I'm the third owner of my 99 Miata with ~104k miles, I beat the shit out of it (with proper maintenance), and it runs like a champ. She hates me for this.

So that being said, let me give you the break-down of what she's looking for:
- ~$20k out the door or less (new or used up to 3 years old)
- Must "look cool"
- Must get good gas mileage
- No hatchbacks/wagons
- 4 doors
- Automagic Transmission
- Must have cheap thrill features *

What does she mean by "look cool?" I'm not quite sure. She thinks the 2012 Hyundai Sonata looks cool, but she doesn't like the 2011 Toyota Camry (the car I originally suggested to her). She describes it as "it has to look sporty and make her look hot when she drives around." Please keep in mind that she's a total girl.

* = this can be aftermarket, but should be considered into the price of the car. The reason why she loves Hyundai so much is because their cars come with this stuff on the base models, so she refuses to even LOOK at other cars. I want to show her that other options do exist.

Knowing my sister, I don't think she knows what she's getting herself into. I think she'd be better off with something used, but still pretty new, for around $15k all things said and done.

That being said, what do you guys recommend?
My recommendations so far:
- 2010 or 2011 Toyota Camry
- 2012 Ford Focus Sedan
- Couple years old Honda Civic Si
 
4 doors and makes her look "hot"?

maser quattroporte, aston rapide, etc... are all I can think of that can do that apart from maybe an Evo or Rx-8, but evo = too expensive and only manual to fit her budget, and rx-8 is a mazda

wtfffffff

sounds like she really needs something like a Tc
 
I know you said no Hatchbacks, but what about a new Mini? Girls love them, they look "cool" you can have although bluetooth etc crap on them... In budget, reliable (BMW made) very girly. Win win.

Edit: OH! Or if you don't want a hatchback, then Maybe a BMW 1 Series Coupe, looks great, has all the fluff that she wants and you could get one (with one of the lesser engines) in budget.
 
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HAL9000 said:
Maybe a BMW 1 Series Coupe, looks great, has all the fluff that she wants and you could get one (with one of the lesser engines) in budget.
Click to expand...

Not in the US. The stripped-down, no-options base model is $31,050 new and even used ones with 50,000 miles are coming up at around $23,000.

ZV
 
Hyundai Sonata, Accent, Elantra or Kia Forte, Koup, Optima or Rio. You get a lot of bang for your bunk with Hyundai. Kia has 0% financing right now too. Here anyway.

I haven't driven the Optima but it's a damn good looking car, especially for a Kia.
 
mmntech said:
Hyundai Sonata, Accent, Elantra or Kia Forte, Koup, Optima or Rio. You get a lot of bang for your bunk with Hyundai. Kia has 0% financing right now too. Here anyway.

I haven't driven the Optima but it's a damn good looking car, especially for a Kia.
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God, I have to disagree, never get a pacific rim car. (possibly except the Hyundai Coupe)
 
HAL9000 said:
Because they are just cheap crap. Cheaply built, bad cars to drive.

What about the Mini?
Click to expand...

That was my impression. I have a friend with a Hyundai Elantra and everything about it screams CHEAP. Loads of electrical problems, cheapo upholstery, raised seams on every piece of plastic, and everything seems flimsy.

I think Mini's are cool. She says they're too small for her (but she likes the Elantra, which isn't much bigger...)

The only Scion that looks good is the TC, but she wants 4 doors. I'll suggest the Chevy Cruze to her, but I just checked them out last night at a car show and got the same "cheap" impression as I did with my friend's Elantra.

Pretty soon, I'm just going to tell my sister that I can't help her. It really sounds like she already made up her mind; she's just waiting for someone to tell her that she should buy the Sonata.
 
slugg said:
That was my impression. I have a friend with a Hyundai Elantra and everything about it screams CHEAP. Loads of electrical problems, cheapo upholstery, raised seams on every piece of plastic, and everything seems flimsy.

I think Mini's are cool. She says they're too small for her (but she likes the Elantra, which isn't much bigger...)

The only Scion that looks good is the TC, but she wants 4 doors. I'll suggest the Chevy Cruze to her, but I just checked them out last night at a car show and got the same "cheap" impression as I did with my friend's Elantra.

Pretty soon, I'm just going to tell my sister that I can't help her. It really sounds like she already made up her mind; she's just waiting for someone to tell her that she should buy the Sonata.
Click to expand...

Anything that only costs 20k is going to have some sort of cheap feel to it.

What about a VW Golf? They have 4 door models.
 
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Given that she doesn't take care of things, probably good to stick with something with a great warranty and a good repuation for reliability. Imho, Hyundai has dramatically improved in this area, and the Cruze and Focus make good options as well.
 
slugg said:
That was my impression. I have a friend with a Hyundai Elantra and everything about it screams CHEAP. Loads of electrical problems, cheapo upholstery, raised seams on every piece of plastic, and everything seems flimsy.

I think Mini's are cool. She says they're too small for her (but she likes the Elantra, which isn't much bigger...)

The only Scion that looks good is the TC, but she wants 4 doors. I'll suggest the Chevy Cruze to her, but I just checked them out last night at a car show and got the same "cheap" impression as I did with my friend's Elantra.

Pretty soon, I'm just going to tell my sister that I can't help her. It really sounds like she already made up her mind; she's just waiting for someone to tell her that she should buy the Sonata.
Click to expand...

The older Hyundais and Kias were like that, take a look at a 2011-2012 model, they have changed.
<- Loves his 2011 Sonata.
 
HAL9000 said:
I know you said no Hatchbacks, but what about a new Mini? Girls love them, they look "cool" you can have although bluetooth etc crap on them... In budget, reliable (BMW made) very girly. Win win.

Edit: OH! Or if you don't want a hatchback, then Maybe a BMW 1 Series Coupe, looks great, has all the fluff that she wants and you could get one (with one of the lesser engines) in budget.
Click to expand...


Not sure if serious (bolded part)??
 
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