Help me buy a small car

[spesmilitis]

I'm planning to get a used, year old, small car. The factors I will be looking at are mileage, safety, and reliability. Price is not that important to me, I am leaning towards cheaper, but the first three aforementioned factors are most important.

Any advice/info would be greatly appreciated. So far, these cars have caught my eye:

Subaru Impreza
Mazda3
Honda Civic
Honda Fit r
Toyota Corolla

These are other cars I have looked up but haven't got a chance to look at too closely:

Toyota Scion XA, tc
Toyota Celica
saab 9-2x
Toyota Yaris
Nissan Versa
Hyundai Elantra
Mitsubishi Lancer
Cars by Acura
Nissan altima
Nissan ultima
Pontiac G5
Hyundai accent
Toyota Echo
Toyota Prius
Toyota Scion XA, tc
Toyota Celica
Suzuki swift

 

[SmoothTalker]

From personal experience, I would recommend an Elantra. My family has owns 2 (2002 and 2007), and the 2002 one has run for over 100,000 miles with NO problems. Just change the oil and the thing runs great. Fuel economy is decent, but certainly not as good as Toyotas or Honda's, but, the engine is also a bit bigger and the new models are very roomy for a small car (actually classified as a mid sized car based on interior volume).

Since the public hasn't really caught on yet that Hyundai isn't making the **** cars it use to, price is probably the most attractive feature.

 

[HandyAndy]

get a 350z

 

[Kidfabulous]

My friend owns a Mazda 3 and it's great. My family has had 3 Mazdas and love/d them all.
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/oneyear/112_0609_2005_mazda_3_s
Check out this review by Motor Trend; it's very insightful.

 

[navyseal2101]

a 350z is big and not a great ride for the price.

 

[Mr. Wolf]

Subaru Impreza - Alright car, good engine
Mazda3 - Nah
Honda Civic - Nah
Honda Fit r - Nah
Toyota Corolla - Nah

Toyota Scion XA, tc - Nah
Toyota Celica - Nah
saab 9-2x - Alright car
Toyota Yaris - Nah
Nissan Versa - Nah
Hyundai Elantra - Pfttttt...
Mitsubishi Lancer - Nah
Cars by Acura - Nah
Nissan altima - Nah
Nissan ultima - Nah
Pontiac G5 - Yea baby!
Hyundai accent - Nah
Toyota Echo - hhahahahahahah
Toyota Prius - Nah, but better than Echo, homo
Toyota Scion XA, tc - Nah
Toyota Celica - Nah
Suzuki swift - Nah



Ford Focus - Yea baby!
SVT Countour - older than one year because they don't make them anymore, Yea baby!
Taurus SHO - Yea baby!
Ford 500 - Yea baby!
Ford Mustang - Yea baby!

Small cars by Pontiac and Chevy.. - yea baby! Even a catera by Cadillac is yea baby!!


Now, maybe you should get a sport bike, crutch rocket.. It's small too.

 

[Mr.Positive]

If you don't need a backseat, get a smart car.

http://smartusa.com/

Cheap, great gas, and would definitely grab the ladies attention.

 

[SmoothTalker]

Mr. Wolf, please tell me you're kidding.

American small cars are the best? WTF? First of all, half the cars you listed aren't even small. A Ford 500? Do tell what kind of mileage a mustang gets..

The only type of cars American companies (maybe) make best is big ass brute force type of cars. If you want reliable and good on gas (and some sort of safety technology beyond a large mass of steel), go Asian. Those companies make small cars as their bread and butter, not as desperate attempts to win over a market that's sick of Hummers and grocery getting cars with 8 cylinder engines.

 

[squirrels]

This coming from someone who's owned American muscle-cars...you're on the right track buying an import. American companies can't make cars that match the quality of Asian and European imports. Not at comparable prices. They got buttf*cked by the UAW and are struggling to keep their heads above water. I drive an import now. You'd be hard-pressed to get me to go back to a domestic car. Imports are tops in reliability, safety, and longevity.

Yes, a Mustang or Camaro will "smoke anything on the road" but to get speed at an affordable price, quality is usually sacrificed. Dunno if you're looking to do the whole aftermarket rice-racer thing...I thought that died out with the Fast and the Furious. If you are, Civics have a huge aftermarket. But it's a waste of money, and you'll never get a 4-banger import grocery-getter to be "fast" without a HUGE investment.

Personally, I'd stick with something in the Honda/Toyota category. Some common car that's easy to work on and get parts for. As long as your car isn't falling apart or beat up, a woman will respect it for what it is...transportation.

 

[Bible_Belt]

Mitsubishi Lancer

evo or a subaru wrx

mileage, safety, and reliability.

For miles, you will safely and reliably blow by almost everything on the road.

 

[Mr. Wolf]

This thread is gay, because you gays are trying to decide on the gayest car to get. My advice, get it in pink.

 

[SmoothTalker]

The reason your country is 'addicted to oil' (one of the few smart things Bush has said) is because you have a messed up mentality that anything not powerful enough to push a tank is 'gay' or a sissy car.

You don't need a god damn 5000 CC V8 in an everyday car. You just don't. Is it fun to throw around something with that much power? Sure.

Is it the car to get when someone's looking for a cheap and reliable daily driver that's GOOD on gas? Hell no.

 

[Mr. Wolf]

You don't need a god damn 5000 CC V8 in an everyday car.

Geeeze tiger.. I agree, 5000 CC is too much, good old 500 CID is enough.

 

[HandyAndy]

Mr. Wolf? Why 'nah' to the tC? Its an amazing car for a ridiculously cheap price! I found one in cali with 3500 miles on it for 11 grand, thats a great price and it comes with an assload of features, scions are easy to customize too.
Heres what I think:

Subaru Impreza- Not too sporty at all
Mazda3- my bro rented one of these for a week, they have no power but the ride is smooth
Honda Civic- The 2007-2008 ones are really nice
Honda Fit r- If your into hatchbacks
Toyota Corolla- the 2008 ones are really nice

These are other cars I have looked up but haven't got a chance to look at too closely:

Toyota Scion XA, tc- definatlely the tC
Toyota Celica- yes and no
saab 9-2x - no
Toyota Yaris- are you kidding me?
Nissan Versa- ew
Hyundai Elantra - ew
Mitsubishi Lancer- the 2008 lancer is great, if your getting a lancer evolution, the MR package is best, but pricey
Cars by Acura- acura TL
Nissan altima- YES! the 2008 model is freaking sexy
Nissan ultima- meh
Pontiac G5- meh
Hyundai accent- ew
Toyota Echo- no
Toyota Prius- great on gas, has no HP at all
Toyota Scion XA, tc- tC
Toyota Celica- yes and no
Suzuki swift- ewww[/QUOTE]

 

[Mr. Wolf]

Mr. Wolf? Why 'nah' to the tC?

It's not well built. Cheap.

 

[ready123]

I own an 04 Corolla and I've put 75k miles on it over the past 4 years w/out any probs

if you're on a budget, the car is fine

 

[LostAndConfused]

Nissan 240sx.

Thats all you'll ever need.

 

[HandyAndy]

It's not well built. Cheap.

They were made to attract teens and young adults. You cant expect ferrari quality from any of the makers he posted above..

 

[Monster]

Mazdaspeed 3

 

[Mr. Wolf]

Mercedes, BMW, VW, Pontiac.

VW Rabbit is a great small car. GTI MkV, R32, GLI.
BMW 1 series, Z4.
Mazda MX5.
Pontiac Solstice.