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I went in looking for a corolla....
kaliyama
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Left to find less-moderated foraRegistered User regular
Hey,
So i went into my local dealerships to see about the 0% financing on corollas + camrys. I got a solid deal on them (i thank fightingchance.com for that.), but I test drove a scion tC. It was the first time i drove something with more pickup. So I couldn't pull the trigger on the corolla. Stupid, but there it is. The bummer about the scion branding is that they've adopted a) an inane marketing demographic, and b) a no-haggle saturn-style pricing system. So in this down market, I can't negotiate them down on financing or MSRP.
So I couldn't in good conscience pick up a scion without doing research. That research indicate the closest experiences are the Mini (WTF??) and the Mazda 3 (which makes more sense). Does anyone else have experience with any of these brands and want to share? I'm fine with two doors of course but four seats are required.
So i went into my local dealerships to see about the 0% financing on corollas + camrys. I got a solid deal on them (i thank fightingchance.com for that.), but I test drove a scion tC. It was the first time i drove something with more pickup. So I couldn't pull the trigger on the corolla. Stupid, but there it is. The bummer about the scion branding is that they've adopted a) an inane marketing demographic, and b) a no-haggle saturn-style pricing system. So in this down market, I can't negotiate them down on financing or MSRP.
So I couldn't in good conscience pick up a scion without doing research. That research indicate the closest experiences are the Mini (WTF??) and the Mazda 3 (which makes more sense). Does anyone else have experience with any of these brands and want to share? I'm fine with two doors of course but four seats are required.
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I haven't personally driven a mini, but the people I know who have said it was a fun little car.
The only gripe about said interior, though, is the room. He's a skinny, short dude, so it was fine for him, but if you're walking around at six feet with 200 pounds, you're gonna have issues. Also, very very little cargo space.
A Civic LX-S would be another choice, the engine isn't as powerful as a Lancer or Mazda3 but it has a nice 5 speed transmission and good handling.
I want to spend like $20. At that price i plan on paying it off in about 1.5 years. So I could put more on my car payment but i want to get these student loan bills squared away. I could be persuaded to hit $25k (tax, etc. inclusive) if it resulted in a radically different driving experience.
I know a number of people who really enjoy their Minis, and they are a real driver's car--but they are also a bit of a statement car. Some people like statement cars, some don't.
The tC also is positioned to compete with Civics, which I feel best the tC in most regards. The tC is pretty long in the tooth these days.
That all being said, they are made by Toyota, and still are fantastic little coupes for a good price. I looked at one for a little while at a Carmax, but ultimately passed for a steal on a Prelude. If you are looking for something sportier than your average grocery-getter and don't mind going used, you might also want to consider the Prelude, RSX, Accord, GTI, or Celica, depending on how far back you care to go. Hyundai offers some nice cars for your price range as well, but sometimes aren't as exciting to drive (even the Tiburon, which is a little unrefined). The exception to this appears to be the Genesis, but I haven't driven one yet.
Don't a lot of automakers have 3-5 year 0% finance deals going right now?
Yeah. But they don't extend to the scion. Bear's post shows he's on the same page as me in a lot of areas. I actually saw one driving today and thought the mazda 3 was way ugly. It looks a lot better on computer screens than it does in reality. Maybe the mazda6?
I get why people would like the Mini, but I don't want to stand out quite that much.
The Mini is pretty cool as well. I drove in one owned by a contractor of mine and it was a great ride.
I came up from a Cavalier and my co-workers have a mix of Camry, Scion, and Corrollas (with a Pontiac G6 thrown in there). It's by far the most fun to drive of all 3 and has a better overall build quality feel to it. The overall design is either love it or hate it, but it's a fantastic deal (19k for the 2.0L with the Bose/sunroof package)
fightingchance is great - someone on here recommended it when my gf went car shopping about a year ago.
I am also in the market and have driven all the 2.0-2.4 litre V4s the companies are offering. I enjoyed the Corolla, i30, Lancer and the Focus, but loved the Forte Koup and Mazda 3. Now I'm just waiting for the mid year sales to start up before snatching one one of them up.
That is crazy, I moved up to a Mazda 3 from a Cavalier! And I also have the GT(?) with the sunroof and the Bose stereo! Do you have the leather interior?
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But I really like the Mazda 3s (for the record I drive a 5-door 2008 WRX now) and I kind of wish I had bought one after my tC was totaled. I love my WRX but it was more expensive, and I am not sure the difference was worth it.
How often did you change the wiper blades? I've got a 2010 hatchback, so mileage varies I guess, and I found the car to handle infinitely better in the snow with the traction control thing turned off. Also, I think it would do better in the snow with different tires.
The thing I like best about the tC is the panoramic sunroof. Otherwise, I think the xB is a better value for the money. More useful for hauling cargo, more comfortable and $16k. Still pretty quick if you get the manual transmission (that's what I have). 158 HP isn't bad and it gets it moving pretty well.
Scion financing sucks though. They are targeting young people with no credit histories, who will take whatever they can get for financing. It's also where they make their money, since the price of the car is chopped to start with. You can bring in a pre-approval from your bank or credit union and negotiate on financing though. They will usually match your rate if you are firm enough.
Thanks. I actually got a 4.75% APR on financing. That's a fine deal, but when I can get zero percent financing on a Mazda until May, it's hard to go with Toyota even tho I have a lot of irrational loyalty to them. I do like the roominess on the x models.
I am actually buying a first gen ford fusion, its a great line of cars for the price, you can easily find one for $13k with under 30k miles and only 2 years old.
If he is willing to wait a bit he might look into getting the new Ford Focus (not the 2010 model) its basically an americanized Mazda 3.
I only had it for a year before I moved to the city and had to sell it, so I didn't try replacing the wiper blades. Maybe they were just weren't fit well... I don't know much about cars, but it didn't seem like there was a lot of noise that the wiper made when they were run dry, so maybe they weren't quite close enough to the windshield.
My understanding was that only the frames were shared. Different engines, suspension, etc...
Have you checked out any Lancers? When I tried them they felt kinda cheap, but if that doesn't matter to you, they do have a nicer warranty than the rest of the cars in this thread.
Not quite, Ford owns about a 13% share of Mazda.
Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart is pretty nice. Basically a tuned down Evo with a price tag to match. But the price tag really doesn't compare to the Mazdaspeed3.
Other than that, my friend has a Scion TC and it's kind of nice. She loves it, but it's more of a "girl" car, imo (no offense to anyone who drives one).
Also, if you ignore the fact that it's a Kia, I've heard a LOT of good things about the Kia Forte. I've heard it was pretty much a Honda Civic with a Kia badge. But I haven't test drove one, so I don't know.
I've heard Ford was having a sell on Mustang's with 0% Financing, etc. That could be old news, though.
Maybe that helps some?
Part of it's a function of a car as an external display of wealth and preferences like clothing is, but all of our assumptions, etc. are derived from marketing and capitalist culture. It's bizarre to see how much that stuff invades our headspace without us even knowing it.
Then I went for a 7k 05 ford focus with 50k miles on it.
It has less pick up than the honda sport, but if you go looking that price range and get a nice 4% interest rate, the 200/month you'll save gives you the $20k you'll need for a rental property after 4 years.
Luxuries are always the last thing rich people buy. You can drive a nice car after you've leveraged your way into 5 double-unit investment properties and make a 40% rate of return doing it. (Put four years of mortgage payments, paid with rent, into your equity, sell it, buy two more, etc)
YMMV, but its food for thought. Checking mint.com always takes the sting out of having a little less horsepower.
Buying used is always an option but the transaciton costs and risks involved in figuring out if my car is going to fall apart, let alone warranty issues, made me rule it out. Not worried about it because car payment + annualized maintenance contrib. + insurance is going to be about 10% of monthly income. You're entirely right it doesn't make a lot of sense to throw $ at a depreciating asset. As an aside, I'm pretty sure that paying off higher-interest rate student loans right now gives me a better ROI than most real estate investments right now. Nor does dealing with tenants or whatever investment vehicle you've signed up with on an investment property pay off w/time, IMO. Would rather dump $$ in a REIT...
Yay for other happy xB owners. Yeah, you get a crazy amount of car for your money. I've got the manual too. When I realized I could get such a big roomy reliable machine with every feature I could want for $16k, there was nothing left to think about.