Originally posted by: Arkaign
The Mazda3s is a nice car, but beware, the 2.3L is pretty thirsty.
The Civic is probably the most bulletproof of any of the cars in this thread, and will maintain the best resale value as well. You could drive it for 4 years, and at trade-in, you'll get a decent chunk of your investment back to use as down payment towards something else. OTOH, it's also the best bet as a 'drive it into the ground' car, as ordinary maintenance should net you ~200k miles or more.
EDIT : Also, the 2.3L Duratec motor in the Mazda 3 is a lot different than the 6 that's in the Ford/Mercury. Both may be Duratec variants, but they are not the same.
You might want to check out the Mazda3i, it uses the 2.0, and paired with a manual transmission should deliver a great balance between performance and fuel economy. It will certainly have more 'go' than the Civic.
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Have you checked out the new Saturn? has everything you ask for and is pretty low price.
32Mpg, heated seats, leather, 7-speaker 6-disc mp3 system, etc.. for less then $19,900
Saturn Astra
The V6 gets better mileage than the 2.3L i4? Or at least very similar?Originally posted by: Jawo
Out of the final three, I would go with the Mazda3. I got a 07 mazda6 last July and couldn't be happier with it. I have the v6 and regularly get over 30 mpg on the highway, 25 in the city. In 15k miles haven't had to do anything besides oil changes. The heated leather seats get warm very quick when you want them....last winter it was perfect, since the engine didn't get warm enough during my brief commute.
Edit: I can't believe the most obvious thing...the styling is so much better than the Honda!
Originally posted by: TheGoodGuy
You know the Honda Civic is probably the most sensible one.. its got good gas mileage, presumed good reliability, and hopefully will last a LONG Time.
Originally posted by: Chunkee
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Have you checked out the new Saturn? has everything you ask for and is pretty low price.
32Mpg, heated seats, leather, 7-speaker 6-disc mp3 system, etc.. for less then $19,900
Saturn Astra
which are you speaking of?
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Originally posted by: Chunkee
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Have you checked out the new Saturn? has everything you ask for and is pretty low price.
32Mpg, heated seats, leather, 7-speaker 6-disc mp3 system, etc.. for less then $19,900
Saturn Astra
which are you speaking of?
theres a link in my replay with the name of the car and the link goes to the site that shows the car I named/linked too. Not sure if i can do anything else to tell you what car it is.
Originally posted by: lather164
Looks like everyone is saying Mazda and Honda, I have an 08 Fusion SEL and I'm very pleased with it. I got everything you are looking at except I did not get leather/heated seats. The Sync is a nice added bonus and I am pleased with the price paid for the features/comfort. I got the v6 and have about 6,000 miles on it. Absolutely no issues with the thing at all. I've read a lot about their reliability which was a big reason why I went with it. I personally like the Fusion's styling slightly better than the Milan as far as exterior goes because of the front end, i like the lower chrome cross bars on the Fusion.
Uh . . . he edited his post at 11:05 AM, and you posted your query at 11:34 PM. Did your your brain require all that time to compose a 5 word reply?Originally posted by: Chunkee
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Originally posted by: Chunkee
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Have you checked out the new Saturn? has everything you ask for and is pretty low price.
32Mpg, heated seats, leather, 7-speaker 6-disc mp3 system, etc.. for less then $19,900
Saturn Astra
which are you speaking of?
theres a link in my replay with the name of the car and the link goes to the site that shows the car I named/linked too. Not sure if i can do anything else to tell you what car it is.
hey Gomer, thanks for editing your post after i posted mine. Ropadoped