Mustang, tons of stick shifts out there.
Accord totaled, need a 'new' car
- Thread starter greenjp
- Start date
post 2012 only real issue is water pump.
My vote goes to BMW, but BMW+stick carries big price
Stick with the Honda since you like it so much and honestly, none of those vehicles you listed are a good match when it comes to long-term quality.
If you Google 'Steven Lang and cars' you'll find out a lot about me and my work. Feel free to PM me.
If you Google 'Steven Lang and cars' you'll find out a lot about me and my work. Feel free to PM me.
Doubt a claims adjuster is even going to look at it in person after seeing the pic in post 1.
We have a 2017 Mazda 6 with the M6. When we bought it new, there were 4 total west of the Mississippi in stock. Good car if you can find one.
That sounds awful! People will turn on their blinkers to "test" if the lane is empty, just to get the screen to start working. There'll be Civics on the road in front of me signalling for no apparent reason. This is worse than people who cancel their cruise control with their brake pedals.
I use my blinkers to announce I am changing lanes, not to ask permission.
Fun too, decent bit of trunk space. Back seats in my 2013 were just about impossible to get in and out of, my son was 15 and my daughter was 7 and after a couple of initial "lets take the Mustang dad!" it quickly turned into "do we have to take the Mustang
" - I'm over 6ft tall and I had to move the seat up to uncomfortable levels for me so that she wasn't squished.I drove a 2015 after Bluezilla died in a horrible accident, and it seemed even more cramped. I settled on a 2016 Fusion.
I'll give the Mustang this though, it left pavement in excess of 100mph, bounced off of 2 trees and rolled 7 times. My son and 3 teenage girls all walked away, only 1 accepted an ambulance ride. He swears that someday he will buy me another, and I tell him "nah, we are good son, but I'll take another F150
"They made a few Fusions with 6 speed sticks up until circa 2015, but not many after the new model year of 2013.
If you ever want to get a real sleeper, I drove a 2017 Fusion Sport AWD (after I totaled the 2016) with the same 2.7 turbo 6 from the F150 line. Not a stick, but holy wowsers would that thing launch. It was like when Cap'n Kirk said to engage warp drive. I would totally buy one of those at the right price. 4 doors too.
To be totally hones, I think it had more off the line than the Mustang. I sure could leave a nice long set of lines on the pavement with the Mustang though. Probably why I couldn't get it to launch like the Fusion lol
Yeah, but I'd be wanting to find two sets of rims, one for winter and one for summer, and remove whatever 17" low profile tires it has. From what I've read it's underpowered, but hey, I'm driving a Corolla 1.8L now, clearly I don't need much.
I wanted to get a 2.5L I5 with 5MT but everyone on here, even the VW loyalists, seemed hesitant of anything with "high" miles. High meaning 150k+, which doesn't seem like much to me. Bummer!
When I was looking at the new Jettas again it seemed like plenty were against the stick. Can't win here.
While I agree with sticking with what works for the OP, I want to say the older I4's didn't have problems for Hyundai. They're not all bad, just the new ones.
Stay away from the worse.
Any thing German unless its an old aircooled bug or ? No Nissan's with a CVT, No nothing with a CVT. No nothing with a Li Ion battery.
Only think Hyundai heavy industries makes okay is machinery definitely not cars.
Ones I'd look at, Honda with no CVT, Mazda does not use a CVT on anything, top of the list for that.
No Fords or GM or what ever Mopar is called now. Unless they are older that mid 70's without electronic junk.
Any thing German unless its an old aircooled bug or ? No Nissan's with a CVT, No nothing with a CVT. No nothing with a Li Ion battery.
Only think Hyundai heavy industries makes okay is machinery definitely not cars.
Ones I'd look at, Honda with no CVT, Mazda does not use a CVT on anything, top of the list for that.
No Fords or GM or what ever Mopar is called now. Unless they are older that mid 70's without electronic junk.
It's actually a good feature, believe pretty much every Honda going back to at least 2015 has it. Our 2015 Odyssey does. There's a little button on the end of the stalk you can press to activate the blind spot camera without the turn signal.That sounds awful! People will turn on their blinkers to "test" if the lane is empty, just to get the screen to start working. There'll be Civics on the road in front of me signalling for no apparent reason. This is worse than people who cancel their cruise control with their brake pedals.
I use my blinkers to announce I am changing lanes, not to ask permission.
@greenjp - Where do you fall on size, leg length etc. I have a 2017 Accord LX (2.4L 6MT) and it fits for me 5'10 260lb. I've been driving stick since early 1980's.
When the motor went on my 2007 Sonata 5MT at 220k I also didn't find many stick options. My finding were that the Jetta's, Civic's and others were too small width wise especially with kids. I test drove a new Jetta and found that the salesman's arm was covering the arm rest so was uncomfortable in general for 2 larger people in front (he was bigger than me). Just by myself, no issue. My son (23yo and my size) have no issues with the Accord driving places.
If you look me up on DriveAccord I also have pictures from a 10th Gen Accord and the center tunnel area, at least in the automatic loaner, was much wider than my '17. It put pressure on my right knee where I had surgery and was quickly painful. I couldn't wait to gove it back and get mine out of shop. The 11th gen loaner got narrower again in that area and much better, but, no MT. 22 Accord tunnel vs '23 Hybrid
The Sonata 2.4L 5MT was the hardest manual to drive how they had it set up. I used to stall randomly as engagement point moved slightly and the dual mass flywheel made for jerky shifts. It held RPM too high, too long. It was a common complaint on the forums. Car was comfortable but softly sprung/dampened so "wallowed".
When I searched I drove a '17 Mazda 6, MT. It was very nice but they wanted way too much money for it. Not many used ones when I looked.
Harder to find, more $$, Chevy SS, Cadillac CTS V as long as size fits you. Something about a RWD, 4 door, 8cyl, 6MT that can haul a$$ while hauling the family also
.
Not sure on overall size but Mini Clubman was still available in MT and at least bigger. I have friends with WRX's, Civic Si's and that center armrest thing is one part I notice quickly.
Both of my kids 23yo son, 20yo daughter learned to drive on the Sonata. One of the first things they said with the Accord was how much easier it was drive smooth. It also has "hill hold" to give a couple seconds not to roll back but releases as soon as clutch is let out. First hill I was on I thought something was wrong expecting it to roll back a bit.
The base LX '17 Accord lacks all the blind spot things, stereo is EHH and a PITA to upgrade. Besides that I can get up to 40mpg ona nice highway cruise. I average high 20's low 30's on my daily drives. It sees redline frequently so take that accordingly. Full tank range on highway is almost 600 miles.
When the motor went on my 2007 Sonata 5MT at 220k I also didn't find many stick options. My finding were that the Jetta's, Civic's and others were too small width wise especially with kids. I test drove a new Jetta and found that the salesman's arm was covering the arm rest so was uncomfortable in general for 2 larger people in front (he was bigger than me). Just by myself, no issue. My son (23yo and my size) have no issues with the Accord driving places.
If you look me up on DriveAccord I also have pictures from a 10th Gen Accord and the center tunnel area, at least in the automatic loaner, was much wider than my '17. It put pressure on my right knee where I had surgery and was quickly painful. I couldn't wait to gove it back and get mine out of shop. The 11th gen loaner got narrower again in that area and much better, but, no MT. 22 Accord tunnel vs '23 Hybrid
The Sonata 2.4L 5MT was the hardest manual to drive how they had it set up. I used to stall randomly as engagement point moved slightly and the dual mass flywheel made for jerky shifts. It held RPM too high, too long. It was a common complaint on the forums. Car was comfortable but softly sprung/dampened so "wallowed".
When I searched I drove a '17 Mazda 6, MT. It was very nice but they wanted way too much money for it. Not many used ones when I looked.
Harder to find, more $$, Chevy SS, Cadillac CTS V as long as size fits you. Something about a RWD, 4 door, 8cyl, 6MT that can haul a$$ while hauling the family also
.Not sure on overall size but Mini Clubman was still available in MT and at least bigger. I have friends with WRX's, Civic Si's and that center armrest thing is one part I notice quickly.
Both of my kids 23yo son, 20yo daughter learned to drive on the Sonata. One of the first things they said with the Accord was how much easier it was drive smooth. It also has "hill hold" to give a couple seconds not to roll back but releases as soon as clutch is let out. First hill I was on I thought something was wrong expecting it to roll back a bit.
The base LX '17 Accord lacks all the blind spot things, stereo is EHH and a PITA to upgrade. Besides that I can get up to 40mpg ona nice highway cruise. I average high 20's low 30's on my daily drives. It sees redline frequently so take that accordingly. Full tank range on highway is almost 600 miles.
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They used to make Mazda CX5 in MT but I think ended in like 2015.
I'm 6'3", 195 or so. Long arms and legs. The Accord has been good, as was my Saab 9-5 before that. First car was a Saturn SC which was fine too so I guess I'm able to be comfortable in most cars. As for the smaller cars I'm just going to have to sit in a few of them and see what I think. My kids are 8, 12, and 14 the older two being girls so they won't be too big (14 year old has stopped growing at 5'7"), and besides as noted we have the Odyssey for going places.
Mazda 6 is one I'm aware of and would be up for but haven't seen one show up even if I set the distance to 200 miles, so I think it's just not common enough.
Should have prefaced earlier definitely not a Mustang/Camaro/any sort of Dodge guy
As for coupes, I do see quite a few Audi A5s coming up at seemingly attractive prices. Those (and A4s) are mechanically similar to a typical VW I gather - aside from people saying German cars are a nightmare, is there actually anything wrong with them? In the "oh yeah every A4's XYZ goes bad by 100k miles and it costs $3,000 to fix" sort of things? I drove a Saab for 12 years, wasn't as great as our Hondas but it wasn't actually bad.
jeff
That sounds awful! People will turn on their blinkers to "test" if the lane is empty, just to get the screen to start working. There'll be Civics on the road in front of me signalling for no apparent reason. This is worse than people who cancel their cruise control with their brake pedals.
I use my blinkers to announce I am changing lanes, not to ask permission.
They must not know they can turn the camera on without having to use the right signal
(there's a button on the turn signal stalk to activate the camera at any time)
I've only had my GLI for a year, and it's my first German so I can't speak to reliability yet but like you a year ago I hunted for something with a stick. Like you I would never want a WRX, the N was beat with the ugly stick, and everything else with a stick that is affordable is what I would consider underpowered. That left the GLI and the Accord 2.0T for me (sedans only which ruled out the GTI). The 2.0 Accords with a stick are basically unicorns, much better selection with the GLI nationally and it's much more of a sports sedan as opposed to a fun family sedan. That being said, it is also much more spacious than basically all of its competitors in the small car category and realistically is closer to a mid size which is another bonus. I'm also 6'3" 195# and have plenty of room.I'm 6'3", 195 or so. Long arms and legs. The Accord has been good, as was my Saab 9-5 before that. First car was a Saturn SC which was fine too so I guess I'm able to be comfortable in most cars. As for the smaller cars I'm just going to have to sit in a few of them and see what I think. My kids are 8, 12, and 14 the older two being girls so they won't be too big (14 year old has stopped growing at 5'7"), and besides as noted we have the Odyssey for going places.
Mazda 6 is one I'm aware of and would be up for but haven't seen one show up even if I set the distance to 200 miles, so I think it's just not common enough.
Should have prefaced earlier definitely not a Mustang/Camaro/any sort of Dodge guy
As for coupes, I do see quite a few Audi A5s coming up at seemingly attractive prices. Those (and A4s) are mechanically similar to a typical VW I gather - aside from people saying German cars are a nightmare, is there actually anything wrong with them? In the "oh yeah every A4's XYZ goes bad by 100k miles and it costs $3,000 to fix" sort of things? I drove a Saab for 12 years, wasn't as great as our Hondas but it wasn't actually bad.
jeff
I test drove previous generation Pilot and wanted to make a turn. When that screen popped up, I just turned around and returned car.That sounds awful! People will turn on their blinkers to "test" if the lane is empty, just to get the screen to start working. There'll be Civics on the road in front of me signalling for no apparent reason. This is worse than people who cancel their cruise control with their brake pedals.
I use my blinkers to announce I am changing lanes, not to ask permission.
That was overly dramatic of you...it can be permanently disabled in the hidden menus.
Some people just can't handle all the newfangled tech in modern horseless carriages like turn signals.
Here's a completely off the wall idea.
One of my friends who was in the used car business said the 2006 - 2007 V6 6MT 4 Dr sedan was the "Holy Grail" of Hondas. They're also quite rare (uncommon at least). The dealer had a couple of them when I bought mine, but I've never seen another one "in the wild".
So fix the old one. Buy a V6 automatic model (which is fairly common and should be pretty cheap) and swap over the engine and body parts to the broken one. Or swap the clutch and manual transmission into the automatic. Not easy (it would take me months, if I could do it at all) but a lot cheaper than many of the other options.
Or less creatively buy a V6 6MT 2Dr coupe. They're way more common than the 4Drs.
One final option. The Acura TL of the same era also had a V6 6MT and there may be more of them. A colleague at work had one.
One of my friends who was in the used car business said the 2006 - 2007 V6 6MT 4 Dr sedan was the "Holy Grail" of Hondas. They're also quite rare (uncommon at least). The dealer had a couple of them when I bought mine, but I've never seen another one "in the wild".
So fix the old one. Buy a V6 automatic model (which is fairly common and should be pretty cheap) and swap over the engine and body parts to the broken one. Or swap the clutch and manual transmission into the automatic. Not easy (it would take me months, if I could do it at all) but a lot cheaper than many of the other options.
Or less creatively buy a V6 6MT 2Dr coupe. They're way more common than the 4Drs.
One final option. The Acura TL of the same era also had a V6 6MT and there may be more of them. A colleague at work had one.
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