I'm Buying a New Car... What Should I Get?

[DSTRen13]

I drive a Toyota Matrix, my husband drives a Ford Focus, and my sister drives a Mazda 3. I absolutely *love* my car and firmly believe that my car wins out of our three cars. My husband prefers my sister's car, and she does as well. Mine, however, came with so many more features standard, and is much easier to drive. My family members who actually enjoy driving seem to prefer the Mazda, but those of us who hate to drive and want the experience as simple and easy as possible prefer my Toyota. (No one really likes the Focus ...)

[sanjiyan69]

Originally Posted by DSTRen13

I drive a Toyota Matrix, my husband drives a Ford Focus, and my sister drives a Mazda 3. I absolutely *love* my car and firmly believe that my car wins out of our three cars. My husband prefers my sister's car, and she does as well. Mine, however, came with so many more features standard, and is much easier to drive. My family members who actually enjoy driving seem to prefer the Mazda, but those of us who hate to drive and want the experience as simple and easy as possible prefer my Toyota. (No one really likes the Focus ...)

not sure where you are. If you consider Matrix, then consider the AWD if your location warrants it.

If you can get a Pontiac Vibe then you basically have a Matrix because Vibe has Toyota engine in it.

[sceniczip]

Another vote for my civic! I love driving it and I've been in a few accidents and it's still alive

I drove a Focus one time while the civic was in the shop when I was rear ended and liked the Focus but not quite as much as my Civic!

[angels&angles]

I should note that I drive standard, so that heavily biases my preference. I have no idea what the Mazda drives like in an automatic. My sister has a Civic (also standard) and loves it, she drives it all over San Francisco hills with no problem.

[Kappamd]

Another Civic driver! Mine is going on five years old and I haven't had a single problem with it. I drove all the smaller sedans when I was shopping for my car, and again when my fiance was shopping last year. I still loved the Civic the most (although he ended up getting a Corolla).

[aephi alum]

I won't touch American cars, not since the day the transmission fell out of my dad's nearly-brand-new Oldsmobile when I was a kid. (I won't touch a Mercedes for the same reason. It seems Dad doesn't have good luck with transmissions.)

My first car was an Acura Vigor that I drove until it all but fell apart. I replaced it with a TL that I love. My dad drove a Honda Accord for a while - he put 120K miles on that car, mostly from a rough commute to NYC. I've driven that car and I loved it. (It has long since gone to car heaven, but it took a hell of a beating first.) So I second (third? fourth?) all the recommendations for the Civic.

[PhoenixAzul]

Someone you know loves a Honda!

My husband and I have a 2006 Honda Civic that is such a champ. It is a very reliable, very efficient, and cute car. It's not super fast, it's not super flashy, but it is a good, solid, dependable vehicle that has never let us down. My dad who is a master mechanic, said that while he hates that it is a "Japanese" car (despite that it was 70% american content, and assembled in Springfield!), he loves driving it and loves the maintenance on it because it is so easy.

And I just bought a 2010 Honda Fit on Monday of last week...and I'm in love. Like, unreasonably so. They're also having great financing on the Fit until the end of the month (0.9% if you qualify). So I got the Fit Sport with the 0.9 for $16k. I don't drive a whole lot, and when I do, it is usually with my bike in the back, and the seats in that sucker are amazing! It's like a minivan shrunken down to fun size.

Meet "Norm".

[Gusteau]

I drive a 2006 Nissan Altima that I love, love, love. The only negative thing I have to say about it is that the front is very round and longer than it looks so it can take some time to get a feel for where the car ends. Other than that I have had no issues, and really enjoy driving it.

[thetygerlily]

Originally Posted by Gusteau

I drive a 2006 Nissan Altima that I love, love, love. The only negative thing I have to say about it is that the front is very round and longer than it looks so it can take some time to get a feel for where the car ends. Other than that I have had no issues, and really enjoy driving it.

I have a 2007 Nissan Sentra and LOVE it. It's our main commuter car and has done road trips up to about 500 miles so far. Its hood is shorter than the Altima so you don't have that issue.

My favorite parts:

- Keyless Entry. Just have the key in your purse and push a button to unlock the door. Push it twice to unlock all of them. Push it once when you get out to lock. Push it under the trunk to open the trunk. Push in the ignition and turn it on. Seriously- it's amazing. I'm sure guys appreciate it too (my husband does), but it's huge for women with black hole purses! I never see my key anymore because I don't need to.

- Divide & Hide Trunk. The trunk is massive & deep, especially considering the size of the car. To avoid groceries sliding all over the place, there's a hard shell divider. I usually keep long term things in the "hidden" spot- road maintenance kit, extra towels for the dogs, reusable shopping bags, etc. Then when I open the trunk it looks incredibly clean, & I can fit groceries or shopping bags easily.There are little circle hooks on the divider to hang plastic bags from, but I use the big fabric rectangular ones so I barely use the hooks.

Otherwise- it drives well, and is fairly quiet. We also have a 2005 Ford Focus, which replaced a 1998 Ford Escort. I'm unlikely to buy a Ford again. After a few years, the road noise is very strong and the feel rattly to me. It handles nicely too. One of my tests is to go to a cul-de-sac and crank the wheel & spin around a couple of times. If the turning radius is too wide, we aren't getting that car. Good visibility, comfortable for backseat passengers (another of my tests).

We're likely going to get an SUV of sorts this year (to replace the Focus in hauling capacity and increase it, plus get something heartier for heavy weather & terrain). Ford will not be on my list to investigate, but I'd happily buy another Nissan. One of my friends bought a Nissan Versa (hatchback) after seeing ours and loved it, then traded up for a Nissan Rouge (crossover SUV).

[CutiePie2000]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

I’m looking to buy a car, and I have no idea where to start! This will be the first new car (which isn’t more than 7 years old!) that I’ve bought.. so I want to make a good choice! What I’m looking for:

- 2010-2011
- Preferably under $20,000
- Similar in style to a Honda Civic, Mazda 3, Toyota Corolla, etc. (and if you’d suggest I buy one of these, let me know!)
- Can be a 2 or 4 door
- For the most part, I’ll just be driving to and from work (a 10 minute drive) 5 days a week, but during the summer I’ll be making numerous trips to the Jersey shore and to Rhode Island
- Jersey winters (generally) aren’t too bad in terms of snow, but I’d like a car that can at least somewhat handle the winter weather

Help!

I don't know if this comes in under $20K, but VW Golfs are awesome in snow with their front wheel drive action. Otherwise, I co-sign on the Honda Civic - those cars run forever and are very reliable. However, my VW was going for about 14 years before I replaced it.

[Chicago88]

VW's are great. My friend has a new jetta, they start at like 16 I think. I love my bug, and was told it will last 300,000 miles

[angels&angles]

Aren't keyless entries sort of unsafe? Since a thief/car-jacker, etc, would only need for you to approach before they could get into your car? In my self defense class, we were told never to remotely unlock our car before we got to it for that reason. It seems like it would make it much easier to steal your car if the key doesn't need to be in the ignition. Esp since you can't really "lock" your car if you're anywhere near it (esp if the key is in the car...)

[Drolefille]

If someone's stalking you like that, they'd be close enough to physically attack you prior to you getting to your car anyway.

Most cars still require a key for ignition, those that don't require that the "key" be IN the car to start it. Remote starters don't let you put the car in gear, just start it up to get the heat or AC going.

Keyless entry also does let you lock your car with the keyfob (mine's part of the key itself.) The only time I can't "beep" my car locked is if a key is IN the ignition. And that's a safety feature more than anything.

Realistically you don't have people hanging out outside your car waiting to dive into it as soon as you unlock it. Practically, most keyless entry systems let you hit the button once to unlock just your door and twice for all doors.

[thetygerlily]

For Nissan's keyless entry, you have to be within a couple feet of the button for it to work. If someone is close enough to you at that point, you have issues regardless.

To start the car, the key has to be in the car. I've had my purse on the passenger seat and behind the driver seat without an issue, but sometimes the car will flash a little signal to say that it can't find the key & you have to move it closer. Once the car is started it's fine.

As for locking the key in- they thought of that, too! It will not lock if the key is inside the car or trunk. It'll throw a few quick beeps at you and refuses to lock or the trunk won't latch. That has saved my keys several times, back when I kept my laptop bag in the trunk (& purse in the laptop bag).

Ditto to Drolefille's comments about opening all the doors- one push to open just one door, two pushes to open all. There's a button on both the driver's side and passenger's side. One push to lock all the doors.

It's pretty much awesome

[AOII Angel]

I agree with Drole and Lily...I LOVE my keyless entry on my Prius and wish my Mercedes had it. On the Prius, you can actually program your doors to unlock in any way you'd like. I have them set to all unlock when I reach for my door handle. I don't even have to dig my keys out of my purse. I could have it set to just unlock my door, but I like it to unlock them all. I can also lock all my doors by pushing a button on the door.

I just push a button to start the car. If you take the key out of the car, the car beeps at you. If you try to drive away without the key, it will stop and turn off. You can't steal the car if you don't have the key. It also won't let me lock my key in the car bc it'll beep at me to alert me that the key is inside the car.