MustangSVT
Lifer
First of all.. i tried to search about this topic as much as I could online, and I would like to hear what you guys/gals think about this.
Currently, our family car, "96 Dodge NEON" is starting to cause little problems. It had few problems down the road but nothing major. (Broken transmission hose, brakes, rediator replacement.. ) but now it seems to have problem with transmission (its auto) .
I've taken it to an honest auto mechanic (yeah.. Im lucky 😀) and after going thru the car and checking different things, he told me the transmission needs to be fixed and there are other problems as well so he suggested that we just ride it as long as we could and purchase a new car instead of fixing it.
At first I was looking at cars around $20k, and since im young 😀 first cars that came to my head were RSX and WRX..
and it seems like RSX base model can be had easily for under $20 k with some nice options. I test drove it, and I loved its handling and features. Since it was step up from NEON, I had no problems with its performance either.. (it was auto with sports shift). although I like WRX more for its 4 door and all wheel drive (i live north west subs of chicago), the OTD price was little too high..
So I started to look around $15k, since this will be a family car anyways, and I'll get my wrx(sti perhaps 😀) in stick when i get a car JUST for me 😛.
And so far Mazda Protege5 seems to be the best value for me. I've looked into Honda CIVIC LX but it just looks too boring..
Mazda seems to be great except some ppl questioned its reliability, especially with its transmission... is that true?
What do u guys think? basically this HAS to be an automatic, and 4 door preferably. It will be driven in all wheater (snow, rain, but not much hills here) and its reliability is VERY high on the list.
Thank you in advance for any comments/suggestions.
Currently, our family car, "96 Dodge NEON" is starting to cause little problems. It had few problems down the road but nothing major. (Broken transmission hose, brakes, rediator replacement.. ) but now it seems to have problem with transmission (its auto) .
I've taken it to an honest auto mechanic (yeah.. Im lucky 😀) and after going thru the car and checking different things, he told me the transmission needs to be fixed and there are other problems as well so he suggested that we just ride it as long as we could and purchase a new car instead of fixing it.
At first I was looking at cars around $20k, and since im young 😀 first cars that came to my head were RSX and WRX..
and it seems like RSX base model can be had easily for under $20 k with some nice options. I test drove it, and I loved its handling and features. Since it was step up from NEON, I had no problems with its performance either.. (it was auto with sports shift). although I like WRX more for its 4 door and all wheel drive (i live north west subs of chicago), the OTD price was little too high..
So I started to look around $15k, since this will be a family car anyways, and I'll get my wrx(sti perhaps 😀) in stick when i get a car JUST for me 😛.
And so far Mazda Protege5 seems to be the best value for me. I've looked into Honda CIVIC LX but it just looks too boring..
Mazda seems to be great except some ppl questioned its reliability, especially with its transmission... is that true?
What do u guys think? basically this HAS to be an automatic, and 4 door preferably. It will be driven in all wheater (snow, rain, but not much hills here) and its reliability is VERY high on the list.
Thank you in advance for any comments/suggestions.
