Car shopping

Jan 05, 2009 20:14

Been checking out cars in preparation for my move to California. The ones I've test-driven include:
Yaris, Fit, Corolla, Prius, Civic, Civic Hybrid )

cars

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Comments 17

pie_is_good January 6 2009, 02:03:04 UTC
Well this isn't me personally, but my dad absolutely LOVES the Honda Fit. He wants to buy one as soon as he's allowed to drive again.

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nostrademons January 6 2009, 02:05:34 UTC
That's the second strong recommendation I've gotten for the Fit...

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zorb January 6 2009, 02:06:20 UTC
You'll blend in well on campus with a Prius. :))

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nostrademons January 6 2009, 02:09:57 UTC
When I was going around looking at apartments with the realtor, he said "You can basically tell how many Googlers are in an apartment complex by counting the number of Priuses in the parking lot." ;-)

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zorb January 6 2009, 02:15:44 UTC
It's so true. That's one reason I'm tossing out the Prius from my not-yet-started-really car shopping - I like being able to find my car in the lot. But they are indeed snazzy.

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nostrademons January 6 2009, 02:18:17 UTC
You might actually have some luck now. Here in MA, there were like 8-10 Priuses on the lot. They were all preordered 6-10 months ago, but when they arrived, gas prices had dropped and the buyers canceled.

I'll let you know how my car hunt goes. I'm curious if there're good deals out there, given how crummy the automakers are having it.

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gandalfgreyhame January 6 2009, 02:28:14 UTC
Given where you're moving to, I'd be looking at things like Miatas, S2000s, RX8s, Mustangs, etc. :P

But that's just me...

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nostrademons January 6 2009, 03:06:36 UTC
I think Miatas, Mustangs, etc. are significantly less "cool" at Google than Priuses are.

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gandalfgreyhame January 6 2009, 03:33:45 UTC
The Miata and S2000 would actually get pretty decent mileage. The RX8 and Mustang not so much. :)

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airemay January 6 2009, 03:02:38 UTC
Jeff has a Prius and it is AMAZING. The hatchback gives us a huge trunk. We can fit bikes, furniture, camping supplies, you name it! When we go do outdoorsy things, sometimes we eat meals in the trunk (with the hatchback open of course). It's great!

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nostrademons January 6 2009, 03:07:34 UTC
Yeah, I thought the Prius had a really good body layout. You can fit a lot in it, particularly with the seats down. The Fit is like that too - hatchbacks are great.

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anemonerose January 6 2009, 04:26:19 UTC
I own that Yaris Hatchback. Just bought it in December. Mine isn't noisy at ALL, although the salesguy did tell me that if I did a lot of highway driving that it was not a good choice, as it's lightweight, doesn't have a huge amount of pickup, and can get blown around. But I do almost no highway driving at all, so he said it was a good match for me. Doesn't sound like it would be for you, though, so it's probably best to pass.

I was leary about the cupholders, too, but they actually work perfectly fine. I've used them several times since I got the car with no spillage.

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nostrademons January 6 2009, 04:31:03 UTC
Hmm. I wonder if the noise could've been the dealer plastic coming loose and flapping around. It was fairly quiet on local roads, but when I got onto the highway, it suddenly got really loud.

I wonder how much highway driving I'll need to be doing. My commute is all on local roads (or potentially by bike if the weather's good), but getting anywhere else in the Bay Area usually requires a highway.

The other thing is - the Yaris was actually more expensive than the manual Corolla. They've apparently got this rebate going on the Corolla, trying to move them. Dunno if that'll apply at California dealerships as well, but if that's the case, I may be better off just going with the Corolla (or Prius, or Fit if I want to splurge. The Fit's MSRP is comparable to the Yaris, but in the Northeast, they're selling for more because of high demand. Dunno what it'll be like in Cali.)

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anemonerose January 6 2009, 04:43:50 UTC
I dunno. I didn't even take it on the highway. :-P

Well, unfortunately manuals are typically less expensive than automatics. I can't drive a manual, so didn't even look at them, although I did test drive a used automatic Corolla that I didn't like nearly as well - the engine was much MUCH noisier than the Yaris and the inside wasn't nearly as up-to-date, even though the car was a 2007. And the Yaris was cheaper at my dealership when I bought it, although not by much, to be honest. The Yaris is a pretty expensive car, but it came highly recommended to me by my uncle who owns one. He's a police officer and commutes two hours one way to work everyday and says it's just fabulous. I don't do anywhere NEAR that amount of driving, but it's a really cute car and I really kind of fell in love with it. :)) Plus it gets really good gas mileage, which is always a huge bonus!

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