Stage 2 of My Car Decision Process

[Harrison486 10+ year member]

Hey everyone. What's up? Well, sometime has past since my last post about this and a little bit has changed. So we are now onto the next stage of my decision so I figured Id get some opinions again. (Sorry for the long post)

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First, I was wondering what your opinions were on automatic vs. manual

I have never driven manual and do not know how to yet. However, I have always said that my next car would be a manual. What I have gathered from my experience with other people who have manuals is that manual is a lot more fun since it is more engaging and gives one more control over the car. However, my mom keeps telling me that I am just going to find it annoying and that it is a pain in traffic or on hills. Learning to drive it will not be a problem at all.

Anyway, what do you think? automatic or manual?

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Now onto the more pressing issue. After having some more time to think about my situation I have realized a few things. (For those of you that did not see my last post -- Basically my car is dying and my parents dont trust it 4 hours away at college with me. Thus, I need to buy a new car. I have about 10k and Im hoping that with some negotiation and my trade-in that I can work with a list price from a dealer up to about 12.5k-13k.) My first reaction was to start looking into cars that I have always liked and always wanted. This basically came down to performance-type cars like the Subaru WRX, Volkswagen GTI, and Acura RSX Type-S. However, after some thought I realized that these were not necessarily practical choices. First of all, I need to be conscious of insurance rates. That basically eliminates the WRX and RSX. While the GTI may be somewhat manageable when it comes to insurance, the needed premium fuel along with the spotty reliablity (at least thats what I keep hearing about VW) and expensive maintenance costs seem to make it not such a good choice.

So I re-analyzed my needs/wants. Basically I am looking for a car that looks good and is comfortable. Additionally, I plan on having this car for awhile, so reliability is a big thing too. After doing some research it seems that Japanese cars are the way to go. Not that other cars are bad, but it just seems like they tend to have more problems down the road. (Maybe I'm wrong... Enlighten me?) Also, I am not really looking for anything that is real big. I figure later in life I am going to need a larger more practical car, so I might as well enjoy something a tad bit sportier while I still can.

So far my current list of possibilities looks like this:

2004+ Mazda3s

2004+ Mazda6s (although I don't know if Ill be able to find a used 6s with low enough miles so maybe Id have to settle for a regular Mazda6...)

2003+ Honda Accord Coupe (My top choice would be the V6 version, however I cannot really seem to find any I could afford and I do not know what it would be like on insurance, so I am basically looking at the regular 4 cylinder one)

2005 Scion tC

What do you guys think of these cars? Anyone have experience with more than one? Any cars that I should add to my list or ones that I should get rid of?

Any input will be appreciated. Thanks again.

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[crunktimes.com 5,000+ posts]

Those are a little more practical and I think the Scion (Toyota) or Honda are going to get your the most reliability, resale value and overall fun.

I drive a Scion xB and love it, I wanted to trade it for a full size chevy but after going over what gas was going to cost me driving to work, insurance bump and other things I decided to stick with the Scion.

tC is a nice little car and you can also add a factory turbo to it to give it some more power, check out http://www.scionlife.com for tons of info.

 

[Worlddre 5,000+ posts]

if you spend a gross amount of time in traffic stick with an automatic...

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

if you spend a gross amount of time in traffic stick with an automatic...

bingo. if you do much stop and go driving, a manual is annoying. otherwise its fine.

 

[.::DuD3::. 10+ year member]

manuals are nice for when someone is doing 10 under in the fast lane, and you only have a little opportunity to overtake them. i loved driving manual, but when you start hitting light after light after light, and then get stuck in traffic, it blows. plus if live in the mountains and you dont know how to clutch good, youll burn the clutch really easy.

 

[dkmesa 10+ year member]

v6 Accord Coupe

Mazda6s

Mazda3s

Mazda6

I-4 Accord Coupe

and then Scion

 

[colgatekillaa 10+ year member]

yeah i was going to say go with an accord or a civic si, but if space is an issue go with the accord, both get good gas mileage.

second, your mom tells you that because she's a woman. i love sticks even in traffic, but it could be because i only drive a stick once in a while. (my dad owns a 525i manual.)