My commuter car mini-roundup

[BoberFett]

I have driven all the cars listed in the OP as rentals used in three plus hour drives. I found the Mazda 3 to be the nicest and most comfortable of the group. The Sentra was the most uncomfortable. I was not inpressed by the Hyundai and would not buy one.

Agreed on the Hyundai, but the Sentra? Granted we only took it for a test drive, maybe a long drive in the Sentra would be different but it felt comfortable enough to me. Not as good as the Mazda, those seats seem very well built. I don't think I'd take any small car on a road trip though. We'll take my Lincoln in that case. Plenty of room to stretch out, a massive trunk, and still gets high 20s for highway mileage.

Have you look at the Ford Focus? It is based on the same chassis as the Madza 3.

We didn't look at the Focus, but it does look like a decent car. I do like what Ford is doing and hope they're very successful as we come out of the current economic climate.

 

[BoberFett]

If you have a minivan type vehicle then going with Mazda 3 sedan is not an issue. But a hatchback 3 is very useful for moving stuff.

I've got a truck so that wasn't really a consideration, and my wife didn't like the way the hatchback looked. I think she's crazy though, that thing is a sexy beast. I could totally see myself in a black Mazdaspeed3.

 

[sdifox]

I've got a truck so that wasn't really a consideration, and my wife didn't like the way the hatchback looked. I think she's crazy though, that thing is a sexy beast. I could totally see myself in a black Mazdaspeed3.

Then there is really no downside to the sedan.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

I was able to fit more into my GTI hatch than my roommate was able to fit in his CR-V

 

[BoberFett]

I was able to fit more into my GTI hatch than my roommate was able to fit in his CR-V

The thing about most small SUVs is that they're based on what amounts to a raised car platform anyway. Large SUVs like the Suburban are truck based and have a ton of room but a small SUV is just a tall wagon and has the capacity to match.

 

[CraigRT]

I wish the Focus had all disc brakes. That was a deal breaker for me.

Not the fact its the worst looking focus generation yet?
The backseat is also no bigger than that of a coupe.. Forget putting more than 2 people in that car.

 

[StageLeft]

STOP!!!

For the price of that Mazda 3 you can get a 2001 BMW M3 without too many miles. Seriously, way awesomer.

 

[StageLeft]

I kid. My main concern about your selection is that you're buying new. Otherwise the Mazda is a nice car. Not sure on the model but at least one of the 3s looks like (and is) pretty sporty and fast, kind of German-like.

IMO the Toyota Corolla is a steaming pile of donkey sh*t, way fvcking overrated and drives about as a nice as a soviet APC without any air in the tires. Sure their quality is great (assuming the Corolla is exempt from the "no-touch accelerator" option that many other Toyotas of late appear to have) but they are a horrible drive and are so Spartan even King Leonidas himself would consider them lacking. I believe that if you took the average joe and put them behind the wheel of the Corolla and, say, a Yugo pulled from a junk yard and didn't tell them which was which they'd probably prefer the drive of the Yugo.

 

[BoberFett]

STOP!!!

For the price of that Mazda 3 you can get a 2001 BMW M3 without too many miles. Seriously, way awesomer.

Just what I want, a decade old BMW.

I don't understand the hard on this forum has for anything BMW.

 

[exar333]

What about the new Ford Fiesta?

 

[Gibson486]

I kid. My main concern about your selection is that you're buying new. Otherwise the Mazda is a nice car. Not sure on the model but at least one of the 3s looks like (and is) pretty sporty and fast, kind of German-like.

IMO the Toyota Corolla is a steaming pile of donkey sh*t, way fvcking overrated and drives about as a nice as a soviet APC without any air in the tires. Sure their quality is great (assuming the Corolla is exempt from the "no-touch accelerator" option that many other Toyotas of late appear to have) but they are a horrible drive and are so Spartan even King Leonidas himself would consider them lacking. I believe that if you took the average joe and put them behind the wheel of the Corolla and, say, a Yugo pulled from a junk yard and didn't tell them which was which they'd probably prefer the drive of the Yugo.

what's with all the hate? My gf owns an 09 corolla, I own an 07 3. The corolla is fine. It's handling is far from sporty, but to call it horrible (ie, non capable) is just flat wrong. Slow? Well, yeah, it has a 1.8L engine that gets 32mpg when driven hard, but it has plenty of go on the road, just don't expect it to fly on the highway. Also, The Corolla's ride is better than the 3's. The 3's ride can get harsh at times. The Corolla's is always soft. It can take bumps much better. The cabin noise? 3 has lots of road noise. Corolla does not. It is very well isolated, even on the highway.

 

[Gibson486]

Just what I want, a decade old BMW.

I don't understand the hard on this forum has for anything BMW.

Well, according to lots of people, buying used is better than new....even in this economy when buying new can actually be cheaper.

 

[BoberFett]

Well, according to lots of people, buying used is better than new....even in this economy when buying new can actually be cheaper.

We got the Mazda on a $266/mo, $0 down, 42 month lease. The car is under factory warranty and we get free oil changes throughout the lease. In 42 months we'll turn it in and my wife will get another brand new car for a few years.

If I bought her a 10 year old BMW for $20K with $0 down (just for an apples to apples comparison) it would cost over $400 per month for five years. After those five years we would then have a 15 year old BMW which will probably have also required several thousand dollars of work.

I'll stick with the Mazda.

 

[StageLeft]

what's with all the hate? My gf owns an 09 corolla, I own an 07 3. The corolla is fine. It's handling is far from sporty, but to call it horrible (ie, non capable) is just flat wrong. Slow? Well, yeah, it has a 1.8L engine that gets 32mpg when driven hard, but it has plenty of go on the road, just don't expect it to fly on the highway. Also, The Corolla's ride is better than the 3's. The 3's ride can get harsh at times. The Corolla's is always soft. It can take bumps much better. The cabin noise? 3 has lots of road noise. Corolla does not. It is very well isolated, even on the highway.

It's just pure blah. As you actually mentioned earlier, when you run it hard the initial impression is "how long until this engine blows?". It's just not a nice car, there is nothing nice about it.

I was kidding about the BMW.

 

[Gibson486]

We got the Mazda on a $266/mo, $0 down, 42 month lease. The car is under factory warranty and we get free oil changes throughout the lease. In 42 months we'll turn it in and my wife will get another brand new car for a few years.

If I bought her a 10 year old BMW for $20K with $0 down (just for an apples to apples comparison) it would cost over $400 per month for five years. After those five years we would then have a 15 year old BMW which will probably have also required several thousand dollars of work.

I'll stick with the Mazda.

Yeah, my gf got a new corolla with a sun roof and everything (even the ugly sports kit) for 14.2K with some pretty low financing.

 

[exar333]

I know everyone in this forum drives exotics, but I'm going to post my mini-roundup anyway. It's time to sell the PT Cruiser. After the transmission went a couple weeks ago I decided it's time to get the wife something reliable. I'm going to start leasing her cars and just get her a brand new little commuter car every few years.

We started by looking at Hyundai, I had heard that the quality was up a lot in the last few years. After driving them, I'm not convinced. The look and feel are OK, but the engine of the Elantra was downright pathetic and the Sonata wasn't much better. Not impressed at all.

We looked at the Corolla too. I guess it's a car. Nothing very interesting about it, the performance was a little better than the Hyundai but not by much. I guess it's just a good old reliable Toyota. One strange thing was the clock. If you look at this picture of the dash of a Corolla LE you can't even see the clock. It's behind the shifter. It's an ugly little thing, an orange backlit LCD. It's in a terrible spot and looks like they ripped it right from a 20 year old Corolla. Someone over in their design department needs to get on the ball.

We looked at the Nissan Sentra next. I actually found this to be a nice little car. Not bad looking and a decent interior. It was actually a pretty peppy little ride. Seemed to have plenty of get up and go on the freeway, even with both of us and the salesman in the car. Not bad for a little 2.0 four banger. The CVT is kind of interesting as well. Makes for a very smooth ride. I've heard good and bad things about it, but they have extended the warranty to 10 year/120K miles on the transmission, so at least you have that as backup if something does go wrong with it. Seems like a nice little car for the money.

If we had stopped there, she definitely would have wanted the Nissan. Instead we decided to look at Mazda. We're going to go seal the deal tonight on a Mazda3 iTouring in Graphite that looks just like this. We're getting the sedan because my wife didn't like the hatch. Now normally I'm not much of a hatchback guy either but the hatchback Mazda3 is a badass looking little vehicle. If I ever wanted a toy that I could run at the track, a Mazdaspeed3 hatch would definitely be on my list of things to check out. Even in the base 2.0L though it's a fun little car. Great performance and handling. During the test drive the salesman prodded my wife to throw it through a few corners. My wife is kind of a Sunday driver, but even she went through a couple of tight turns as smooth as silk. Good looking too, the exterior is sporty and the interior is very nice for a car of it's class. Compared to everything we looked at and for roughly the same price as it's competitors the Mazda3 is hands down the coolest car in it's class.

Now to offload the PT Cruiser on Craigslist...

Nice to notice another fellow from the Twin Cities area.

Keep in mind MN's crappy law that you have to pay full sales tax on every lease you enter. That means you pay sales tax on the full MSRP of the vehicle, not just the amount you are actually paying for in the lease term. This may not be a huge amount for a cheaper commuter car, but can really add-up if your looking at leasing a 20k+ car. Just an FYI if you plan to re-lease every few years, because you would then regularly pay taxes on more car than you actually get.

 

[LTC8K6]

I wish the Focus had all disc brakes. That was a deal breaker for me.

The rear brakes do very little on such cars. No need for discs at all, imo. Likely wouldn't make much difference.

 

[ElFenix]

Not the fact its the worst looking focus generation yet?
The backseat is also no bigger than that of a coupe.. Forget putting more than 2 people in that car.

my sister's focus has a larger backseat than my mazda3. granted, each is the previous version of the car (i think hers is a 2007 and mine is a 2008.5).