Another "Help me Buy a Car" Thread!

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Joel

Joel

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So since car insurance is ridiculous here for anyone without a vagina, I can't take my car out to school this year. Because of that, my parents want to sell it after the summer because there's no reason to keep the car just sitting in the driveway all winter. This means I'll need to buy a car next summer to drive to work.

I'd like to move up from the Corolla to something a little more fun, fuel economy isn't a big concern, work will be 10km away from home and I generally drive less than 100km a week. Amenities would be nice, but the only one I'm really looking for or that would be a big plus is heated seats. Front or AWD would be preferable, but I think I could deal with RWD in the winter.

Right now I'm thinking a 2003-4ish Golf GTI or Mazda 3. I don't necessarily need a hatchback but I need a sedan at minimum. And before anyone says it, I can't get a Miata :p. I'd love one, but I need space to carry my hockey bag.

Any suggestions?
 
I bought a 2012 Mazda 3 last year and really like it (an iTouring with the Skyactiv engine and six speed manual). I shopped for a while and test drove a lot of cars, including a BMW 3-series, Subaru Legacy GT, Infiniti G37 and several Acura TSXs. Basically, if I found what I thought would be an engaging everyday driver with a manual transmission, I considered it.

When my old Honda wouldn't start one morning for the first time in over 200K miles, I realized it was time to buy one and knew which one made the most sense for me: the Mazda. It was fun, engaging, easy to find with a manual (I bought a new one) and very economical. In over 18K miles, I've averaged 36MPG, and my driving is on the "enthusiast" side.

Some concerns: Older Mazdas tend to rust quickly where roads are salted. Thankfully I have not seen any signs of rust on mine, so hopefully they fixed the problem, but it remains a concern. As for the car itself, I could use less road noise and a better stereo (there is a factory package upgrade, but it was only available with an automatic transmission.) I believe some of Mazda's older engines aren't as fuel efficient as some others, but I can say that the Skyactiv is really surprising. (As an aside, it takes 0-20 synthetic oil, which I'd never even heard of before).

Overall, for my commuter car (I drive over 80 miles a day roundtrip), the Mazda has been great and often has me taking fun road routes. I may go ahead and get another midlife-crisis type of car, but for an affordable, efficient, but engagingly fun commuter, the Mazda 3 is close to perfect.

Edit: Mine doesn't have heated seats, but the heater does work very well. I'm south of Canada, but I am in the NE Ohio Snowbelt. I also really like Bluetooth, mainly for streaming music. There's nothing like finding a curving, undulating country road on a great summer day, streaming some classic James Brown and working on getting perfect heel-toe downshifts to make me grin like a maniac.
 
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The GTI is what the car geek and german car fan in me wants to get, but the sensible choice is probably the Mazda 3. Something more off the board would be a Corolla/Matrix XRS but that would depend on if the handling doesn't put me to sleep.
 
The Infiniti G35x would be a good bet. Powerful 3.5 V6 with 280 horsepower, has a good amount of ammenities and a nice interior, and has all wheel drive. From what I recall it's a pretty comfortable car, but also handles well, accelerates well and has a pretty good ride. No doubt it'll be dead reliable, too. Seeing as production for the all wheel drive model began in '04, most have depreciated to pretty affordable levels. Not a bad car at all.

005210.8-lg.jpg
 
I considered the GTI, but from what I've gleaned from friends and a couple mechanics, buying a VW can be a bit of a dice roll. You may get a great one that will last for a very long time without any problems or one that seems cursed with issues and makes your mechanic want to pull out his hair. Still, I felt drawn to it (as well as used CC that came up for sale), even though the fake engine sound device put me off a bit. When I got to try the Mazda on some curves, however, I was sold.

For other options, have you driven a Subaru Imprezza or older Legacy?
 
How about a 2004-2008 Acura TSX? Nice interior, 200hp 2.4L four-cylinder with good fuel economy, very reliable, FWD. It can also come with a 6 speed manual or 5 speed automatic transmission.

06-08_Acura_TSX_.jpg
 
By the sound of it you're really interested in the mazda 3 but Im going to suggest checking out a wrx, great cars all around imo.
Likewise, if you can live with no torque and wouldnt mind good mpgs, the civic si is affordable and fits the bill quite well.

All that said, the mazda is a cool car so check it out for sure.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. The Mazda 3 isn't necessarily the be all and end all to me, just the first thing that came to mind when I thought of fun to drive reliable/Japanese cars. The Infiniti or Acura are interesting but I suspect the price would still be a tad high on them. Civic Si would be fun, but these days it's hard to find an unmolested example of one.

I'm still a ways off from making a decision (if I even do buy one, my parents might not sell the Corolla), but it's good to start thinking about it early.
 
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So I had a thought today. 2000's Toyota Celica GT-S to be specific. Anyone here have any experience with one? They just seem to hit the price/performance/reliability/fuel economy sweet spot. I'd have to check about trunk space though, if it's too small for my hockey bag that's a deal breaker.

Thoughts?
 
Dont know much about that car tbh but I do know that it reminds me of the 03-08 corolla xrs with the same engine and 2 extra doors! Plus, an xrs from back then isnt going to be more than 7k so its not bad for the all-around compromise on economy sport and practicality. 👍
 
What engine output did they have over there?

I know our ~140 hp ones are known for drinking oil as they get older, but the ~190 hp ones seem to be fine. May be worth considering if the smaller output one is something you were looking at.
 
The Corolla/Matrix XRS as well as the Celica GT-S all put out around 180hp I believe. I was looking at the more powerful Celica, and the XRSes of that era were only sold in the 180hp version. Harder to find Celica GT-S examples though, so I might end up with the smaller output version. I'll research the oil binging, although it is the same engine as in the Corolla and we haven't had issues with that in the 10 years we've had it.

I think if I were to get an XRS it would be a Matrix over a Corolla, I'd like the extra space if I can find one. That and I prefer the Matrix styling to the Corolla. Celica is just attractive because I like the way it looks and from what I've heard it's a lot of fun to drive once you figure out how to keep it in lift (Toyota's VTECCCC YO). I'm willing to give up space if the car is going to handle well and be fun to drive.

Still is all largely academic because I've never driven any of those cars, or a Mazda 3, or a GTI of that vintage and it'll probably come down to something like that. Shame the BRZ/FR-S, Mazdaspeed 3, and Focus ST weren't released 10 years ago :lol:. There's also the Acura RSX, but they've held their value well and reasonably low mileage versions are a tad out of my price range.
 
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Another vote for the Acura TSX/Honda Accord Euro.

Not the gutsiest down low, but effortlessly reliable and a great drive.
 

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