Small car recommendations

[jent]

Have you looked at the Mazda 3?

DH has a Mazda 3 and likes it. Good mileage and apparently fun to drive (I am not into cars so I don't really get this myself). His is 5-6 years old and we haven't had any major issues.

[SnuggleBuggles]

DH has a Mazda 3 and likes it. Good mileage and apparently fun to drive (I am not into cars so I don't really get this myself). His is 5-6 years old and we haven't had any major issues.

I’m not a car person either but my mom’s Mazda 3 is really fun to drive!
Is it a long term workhorse like a Corolla or Civic? Not sure. But, it’s a good little car


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[sariana]

DH’s Mazda 3 is a 2007 with at least 140,000 miles on it. It’s a workhorse! And yes, fun to drive.

[khm]

My favorite car of mine was my Audi A4. PERFECT size car for me. Not really comfy for adults or kids in the back for long trips, but it wasn't an issue due to having other cars for that. For ME to drive daily to work and the gym..... Man, I loved that car. AWD, fun, etc. Sister car would be a VW Jetta, which are also super cute and fun. A Passat is just enough bigger that *I* don't love it, but other people beg to differ. They are ceasing production on Passats so there may be deals? It'd be mid-size, feels smaller than a Camry, but might just be styling.

For uber-reliability, I'd look at the Civic or the Corolla. Civic seems more "fun" to me, but I don't know why I think that.

I will say, we got a CR-V for one of the kids and I kinda love it. It's way old, but it is warming me up to the small SUV segment in general. Plus you could get AWD if that is something you are looking for. I'm a fan, having had it then got a car without it, I miss it a LOT more that I thought I would. I did have winter tires and the combo was great. And, they just feel different. Next one will be for sure.

I do have several friends who are repeat Subaru buyers. I know you said you weren't interested, but maybe go look at the new ones - different model? They seem SO popular, there has to be a reason! Plus, AWD, etc.

ETA - additionally, take into account how old your kids are. Really. Time FLIES and buying something to teach them on and pass down might be the way to go. Then, DH can get something super fun at that time. We didn't take this into account and I wish we would have. It just seemed so far off. Spoiler alert, it wasn't!

[ezcc]

Are you considering an electric car at all? I am pretty sure that is what I will get next- I haven't really explored the options but it just seems like they are getting better and more affordable- people I know with Teslas seem very happy. I loved my corolla and drove that for 10 years in the 90s and then had a Jetta which was cute but had some issues. I love my Mazda5 so consider myself a Mazda fan as well.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Are you considering an electric car at all? I am pretty sure that is what I will get next- I haven't really explored the options but it just seems like they are getting better and more affordable- people I know with Teslas seem very happy. I loved my corolla and drove that for 10 years in the 90s and then had a Jetta which was cute but had some issues. I love my Mazda5 so consider myself a Mazda fan as well.

We’ve debated it but the national infrastructure isn’t good enough yet. I think they’re a good choice in very specific situations. Commute length, access to chargers at work, home and community. And it can’t be your only car as they’re too frustrating for a road trip.


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[PunkyBoo]

We’ve debated it but the national infrastructure isn’t good enough yet. I think they’re a good choice in very specific situations. Commute length, access to chargers at work, home and community. And it can’t be your only car as they’re too frustrating for a road trip.


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Agreed. DH has a plug in hybrid and considered all electric. Keeping it charged is sometimes a pain (keep in mind it's expensive to charge at home, especially during peak hours when he gets home from work, so he had it set to charge in the middle of the night). We would never use it for a road trip due to range concerns. Here in California Teslas are everywhere but the infrastructure is not.

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[Snow mom]

My favorite car of mine was my Audi A4. PERFECT size car for me. Not really comfy for adults or kids in the back for long trips, but it wasn't an issue due to having other cars for that. For ME to drive daily to work and the gym..... Man, I loved that car. AWD, fun, etc. Sister car would be a VW Jetta, which are also super cute and fun. A Passat is just enough bigger that *I* don't love it, but other people beg to differ. They are ceasing production on Passats so there may be deals? It'd be mid-size, feels smaller than a Camry, but might just be styling.

For uber-reliability, I'd look at the Civic or the Corolla. Civic seems more "fun" to me, but I don't know why I think that.

I will say, we got a CR-V for one of the kids and I kinda love it. It's way old, but it is warming me up to the small SUV segment in general. Plus you could get AWD if that is something you are looking for. I'm a fan, having had it then got a car without it, I miss it a LOT more that I thought I would. I did have winter tires and the combo was great. And, they just feel different. Next one will be for sure.

I do have several friends who are repeat Subaru buyers. I know you said you weren't interested, but maybe go look at the new ones - different model? They seem SO popular, there has to be a reason! Plus, AWD, etc.

ETA - additionally, take into account how old your kids are. Really. Time FLIES and buying something to teach them on and pass down might be the way to go. Then, DH can get something super fun at that time. We didn't take this into account and I wish we would have. It just seemed so far off. Spoiler alert, it wasn't!

My Subaru has been a huge headache, which I think might feel even worse because people talk all the time about how dependable and low maintenance they are. It hasn’t been to the mechanic yet, because DH is going to drag his feet until I give up and schedule and bring it, but I think it might now be to the point where the work it needs isn’t worthwhile. It’s a 2010 and has maybe 80k miles. I won’t touch them again.

I totally am thinking of the hand-down factor of choosing a practical, safe small car. DD will be driving in less than 4 years. Totally not ready for it, but having something a few years old that she can drive seems worth planning for. And DH can get a different car then depending on how his needs change.

Are you considering an electric car at all? I am pretty sure that is what I will get next- I haven't really explored the options but it just seems like they are getting better and more affordable- people I know with Teslas seem very happy. I loved my corolla and drove that for 10 years in the 90s and then had a Jetta which was cute but had some issues. I love my Mazda5 so consider myself a Mazda fan as well.

I haven’t looked at all electrics but it might be a good choice in some ways. DH drives to the office (7 miles), then back home. He doesn’t go to stores, the gym, etc. so we wouldn’t need to worry about charging while out during the day. The only time we take his car as a family is in sloppy winter conditions. I just feel like to have an electric car it’s best to have solar, and before doing solar I’d need a new roof and a few trees cut down and then the solar panels and suddenly it’s gotten more complicated than I can handle! We are considering a hybrid. I saw there is now a Corolla hybrid. My mom loves, loves, loves her Prius. I’m not sure if having a hybrid for a low mileage car is really worthwhile, but we could always use it for errands when DH isn’t at work. He could even drive the minivan to work on days where I have more driving but fewer needs for a large vehicle.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Less stops for gas with a hybrid


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[AnnieW625]

My Subaru has been a huge headache, which I think might feel even worse because people talk all the time about how dependable and low maintenance they are. It hasn’t been to the mechanic yet, because DH is going to drag his feet until I give up and schedule and bring it, but I think it might now be to the point where the work it needs isn’t worthwhile. It’s a 2010 and has maybe 80k miles. I won’t touch them again.

………………..

I haven’t looked at all electrics but it might be a good choice in some ways. DH drives to the office (7 miles), then back home. He doesn’t go to stores, the gym, etc. so we wouldn’t need to worry about charging while out during the day. The only time we take his car as a family is in sloppy winter conditions. I just feel like to have an electric car it’s best to have solar, and before doing solar I’d need a new roof and a few trees cut down and then the solar panels and suddenly it’s gotten more complicated than I can handle! We are considering a hybrid. I saw there is now a Corolla hybrid. My mom loves, loves, loves her Prius. I’m not sure if having a hybrid for a low mileage car is really worthwhile, but we could always use it for errands when DH isn’t at work. He could even drive the minivan to work on days where I have more driving but fewer needs for a large vehicle.

My first car was an 88 Subaru GL wagon that we got when it had maybe 70,000 miles on it and I seriously loved that car but then by the time it hit 140k miles and my brother was driving it full time; about 5 years later after we bought it) 4 of the 6 head gaskets cracked and that was a very expensive fix (like more than the car was worth at the time). I told myself I wouldn’t look at another Subaru because of that issue because of that issue it and people on Subaru boards were still complaining about head gasket issues in 2006 (when we were looking for a car in 2006) and even again a little bit in 2012-2013, but then () they seemed to have fixed it and I bought a 2017. I just got 80k miles today on my car. Car blogs have said the problem with the head gaskets has been fixed since 2011 though.

Dh is kind of in the same predicament about all electric and or hybrid because his commute is maybe 6 miles round trip and he will maybe be going into the office twice a week and there is a bigger monthly cost to both electric and hybrid cars (unless you can afford to pay cash upfront and or don’t care that you are paying $20k more for an all electric car or about $5k-$10k more for a hybrid) than buying a cheaper manual transmission commuter car even when you have to pay for gas.

https://www.cashcarsbuyer.com/subaru...sket-problems/


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