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Buying a new car

Sirkickyass said:
This is the car I'm replacing. The whole reason I'm getting a new one is that a friend needs reliable transportation so I'm giving him my Camry. Hums like a dream. It appears that Toyota has lost some of its quality mojo from earlier in the decade unfortunately.
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Is this based on the brake/accelerator issues they had a year or so ago? Or have there been other issues as well?

Have you actually test driven the Hyundai? Did you notice how light it felt? Perhaps they've changed recently, but I felt like they were the lightest (and cheapest) cars on the market. Not saying that they're pieces of crap, just that they felt real light and plastic(ey).
 
I drive an 2011 F150 Ecoboost. I would strongly suggest purchasing one. I am averaging almost 19 Miles per gallon (18.8) around town and 22 on the Hwy. All that and I have 4 wheel drive when I need it. A larger backseat then any car, and a pick up bed to haul stuff around as needed. I also have the ability to tow a trailor, boat and camper. The only downside is the 40k Price tag for one that is resonably equiped. Only girly men drive cars these days. :)
 
The Thriller said:
Is this based on the brake/accelerator issues they had a year or so ago? Or have there been other issues as well?

Have you actually test driven the Hyundai? Did you notice how light it felt? Perhaps they've changed recently, but I felt like they were the lightest (and cheapest) cars on the market. Not saying that they're pieces of crap, just that they felt real light and plastic(ey).
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I totally argee that the low end Hyundia's feel and are cheap but the Genisis is bad ***! I drove one around for a couple hours and it was as nice if not nicer then any BMW I have driven.
 
colton said:
I read Car & Driver and the Hyundai Genesis Coupe has gotten nothing but fantastic reviews recently. It would be on my short list of cars to test drive.
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There is a girl who works in the same office complex that I do who drives a Genesis. It's a nice looking car, and she is smoking hot. This info is not really helpful, though...

All of my friends who drive/have driven VWs say roughly the same thing - great cars if you only hold onto them for 2 or 3 years.
 
If you're considering a Jetta TDI or an Audi A4, you should consider an Audi A3 TDI.

I have 2 Jetta TDIs, and my next car will be the A3 TDI. I love the diesel engine and the great gas mileage, but next time around I'm adding the Audi luxury.

Someone else mentioned Jettas dropping value quickly - that's not the case with TDIs. They are highly desirable on the used market and hold their value well. Those who hold on to them swear they break 500k miles with no significant engine issues. That said, VW interiors are classically not that durable.
 
Hyundai is the way to go. I was recently in the market and had narrowed it down to the Sonata, the Acura TSX, and the Nissan Altima, I ended up going with the '11 Sonata SE.

Nissan is a very solid option, cheap, and is looking pretty sharp these days, but it didn't have the warranty, horsepower or the options I wanted. Still a great option, though, if you're looking for simple but nice.

The TSX was badass, sleek, had a lot of options, and was just an overall awesome car. Unfortunately, with all of the add-on options it just gets too expensive. By the time you build a car that you want, it gets a bit out of control and even people that are selling used will recognize this and ask for a higher price. Excellent car, but it didn't have the warranty or gas mileage that I wanted.

Hyundai was a knockout. The new models look amazing and have gone through a major transformation in the last year. They have a lot of great add-on options that are put together in a very affordable package. It's extremely roomy, has a great looking interior, the warranty (5 yr/60,000 mile everything warranty, 10 yr/100,000 mile power-train), and the gas mileage is MUCH better than advertised. I took a trip to Vegas in March (from Salt Lake) which is usually a 6 hour drive with a necessary fill-up, I got their in under 5 hours (without speeding) because I didn't have to stop once. When I got to Vegas, I still had more than a quarter of a tank and about 150 miles left on my gas gauge. It's a beast, is fast, and an excellent price point. For a brand new 2011 Hyundai Sonata SE, with the sunroof and navigation package (which also came with a sub, improved speakers, extra connectivity hookups, cloth & leather seats, and other small add-ons) I ended up paying 22k. They take care of everything from engine problems to oil changes, flats, dents, and chipped windows. You can't go wrong at that price for what you get. My payments are about $370 a month with all of that included.

Don't get me wrong, there are some great cars on that list, but Hyundai has raised the bar in the last year.
 
porqsmith said:
Someone else mentioned Jettas dropping value quickly - that's not the case with TDIs. They are highly desirable on the used market and hold their value well. Those who hold on to them swear they break 500k miles with no significant engine issues. That said, VW interiors are classically not that durable.
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Can back you up on the TDI. Worked for VW for 4 years and not only is the re-sale depreciation night and day, but so are the engines. The old 2.0 and 1.8Turbo were by far the most problematic. Conversely, there are several dozen TDI (most from the old 1.9L edition) who are part of the "Million Mile Club" -- 1,000,000+ miles on the same engine.
 
Shad said:
My sister had a Jetta and it was the worse car she's ever had. The check engine light would come on all the time also and had multiple problems with the gas tank doing weird things. She got rid of it and has a Camry now. She's had it for over 3 years now and has never had a problem with it too.
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What year was the Jetta she had that she hated?

Since lots of people complained about VW's on here I went and checked out the Consumer Reports on it and they're reporting that model years from 2007 and later are extremely sound mechanically. Curious if you (and Surely) are reporting from model years prior to 2007.

The Thriller said:
Is this based on the brake/accelerator issues they had a year or so ago? Or have there been other issues as well?
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Those as well as declining reliability ratings from consumer reports. Don't get me wrong, I've loved my 2000 Camry but it will be nice to have a car that feels more "modern." I can't imagine I'll ever own a car with a tape deck again.

Have you actually test driven the Hyundai? Did you notice how light it felt? Perhaps they've changed recently, but I felt like they were the lightest (and cheapest) cars on the market. Not saying that they're pieces of crap, just that they felt real light and plastic(ey).
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So far I've only test driven two cars: The Mazda MX-5 Miata (which I really liked) and the Nissan 370z (which had blind spots so large I would honestly be scared to drive it).

I'm going on some Hyundai test drives this evening since I had three Hyundai models on my list.


porqsmith said:
If you're considering a Jetta TDI or an Audi A4, you should consider an Audi A3 TDI.

I have 2 Jetta TDIs, and my next car will be the A3 TDI. I love the diesel engine and the great gas mileage, but next time around I'm adding the Audi luxury.

Someone else mentioned Jettas dropping value quickly - that's not the case with TDIs. They are highly desirable on the used market and hold their value well. Those who hold on to them swear they break 500k miles with no significant engine issues. That said, VW interiors are classically not that durable.
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bordelais7 said:
Can back you up on the TDI. Worked for VW for 4 years and not only is the re-sale depreciation night and day, but so are the engines. The old 2.0 and 1.8Turbo were by far the most problematic. Conversely, there are several dozen TDI (most from the old 1.9L edition) who are part of the "Million Mile Club" -- 1,000,000+ miles on the same engine.
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Thanks for the info. Haven't test-driven one yet but based on just the paper and price comparisons, the Jetta TDI is probably the early leader.

Dtol17 said:
The TSX was badass, sleek, had a lot of options, and was just an overall awesome car. Unfortunately, with all of the add-on options it just gets too expensive. By the time you build a car that you want, it gets a bit out of control and even people that are selling used will recognize this and ask for a higher price. Excellent car, but it didn't have the warranty or gas mileage that I wanted.

Hyundai was a knockout. The new models look amazing and have gone through a major transformation in the last year. They have a lot of great add-on options that are put together in a very affordable package. It's extremely roomy, has a great looking interior, the warranty (5 yr/60,000 mile everything warranty, 10 yr/100,000 mile power-train), and the gas mileage is MUCH better than advertised. I took a trip to Vegas in March (from Salt Lake) which is usually a 6 hour drive with a necessary fill-up, I got their in under 5 hours (without speeding) because I didn't have to stop once. When I got to Vegas, I still had more than a quarter of a tank and about 150 miles left on my gas gauge. It's a beast, is fast, and an excellent price point. For a brand new 2011 Hyundai Sonata SE, with the sunroof and navigation package (which also came with a sub, improved speakers, extra connectivity hookups, cloth & leather seats, and other small add-ons) I ended up paying 22k. They take care of everything from engine problems to oil changes, flats, dents, and chipped windows. You can't go wrong at that price for what you get. My payments are about $370 a month with all of that included.

Don't get me wrong, there are some great cars on that list, but Hyundai has raised the bar in the last year.
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Thanks for the input. Did you compare to the Acura TL as well or just the TSX?
 
Sirkickyass said:
Thanks for the input. Did you compare to the Acura TL as well or just the TSX?
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I checked out the TL, it was just too far out of my price range because I wanted a brand new. The options are very similar to the TSX, but the TL is more on the luxury side while the TSX is more sport. I like luxury over sport, but you have to pay for it. The performance was great with both, but I looked at the TSX a lot more for cost purposes. You can't go wrong with either.
 
TSX is easily the best looking car on that list, plus it's made in Japan. Japanese cars are the best. Plus it's made by Honda, and Honda's are THE BEST. The Sonata is nice looking but I'm still can't get over Hyundai's terrible ratings they used to have years ago. I'm suprised to see all of the Hyundai love here although I know the quality has improved.

GoJazz said:
I drive an 2011 F150 Ecoboost. I would strongly suggest purchasing one. I am averaging almost 19 Miles per gallon (18.8) around town and 22 on the Hwy. All that and I have 4 wheel drive when I need it. A larger backseat then any car, and a pick up bed to haul stuff around as needed. I also have the ability to tow a trailor, boat and camper. The only downside is the 40k Price tag for one that is resonably equiped. Only girly men drive cars these days. :)
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I hate cars, I feel safer being higher off the ground. SUV's FTW.
 
Sirkickyass said:
What year was the Jetta she had that she hated?

Since lots of people complained about VW's on here I went and checked out the Consumer Reports on it and they're reporting that model years from 2007 and later are extremely sound mechanically. Curious if you (and Surely) are reporting from model years prior to 2007.
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Yeah, I think the model was 2005 or so but nobody in our family has had a worse car than that. She was taking it to the dealer every few months.
 
As a mechanic I would say the worse car companies we see are VW and Nissan. Both have piss poor engineering and have endless problems once they have some mileage. After saying that most cars are fine new so if you are going to buy a new car and drive it for a few years then buy whatever you like. Also most cars last pretty well up to 100,000 these days after that it seems to be how well you took care of the car. Things such as doing the manufacture scheduled maintenance and how hard you drive the car. Then you have to consider little things about the cost of the car like tire size and cost. A sporty car and even some fuel efficient little cars have ridiculous sizes of tires that cost an arm and a leg. or AWD vehicles are great but have more mechanical problems and larger cost to fix plus when you ruin 1 tire you have to replace all 4 so you dont ruin transfers cases.
 
Sloanfeld said:
Several Japanese cars are some of the best.
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Fixed that for you.

While it is easy to hang on to the obsolete notion that a Japanese car is always better, the automotive landscape has changed significantly in the last 10-15 years. And continues to trend away from Japan being the clear cut leader in quality. While I agree that Honda is possibly the best manufacturer, Hyundai products are completely removed from the early models that fostered such a negative reputation. They are now considered better (in terms of reliability) than many of Japan's mainstays.
 
Test drove a ton of cars today. Eliminated most of the cheaper options and was able to talk myself into buying a car in the $30k range. Some of my most expensive options (like the A4) I test-drove and determined the luxury delta wasn't so large that I could mentally justify paying an extra $10k for it.

The favorites are presently the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and the Mazda MX-5 Miata. Two totally different kinds of cars I know.

Still in contention are the Buick Regal and the Chevy Camaro, both of which I haven't had a chance to test drive. I suspect the TSX would be here as well but I was told (by the dealer) that they're largely unavailable presently because of the Japanese Tsunami/Earthquake and I'd have to wait 4-5 months.

I'm also going to give the Jetta Turbo Diesel another shot because the salesman was hilarious. He had a full demonstration of trying to show how well built the car was by opening the driver side door and putting his full weight on the door. He pulled out a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records to show me it was more fuel efficient than any hybrid. And he took me to an abandoned parking lot and had me do donuts in the parking lot as fast as I could to demonstrate the stability control features. A good enough time that it deserves continued consideration.
 
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