Old girl is heading out, in need of a new eco car?

[needsducktape]

Corolla is a known oil burner depending on year.

I think Honda is just as reliable as Toyota My very first car was a 1994 Integra (first year of the bug eyes) I bought it used in 2000- Put 150K on it and it- Never ever ever let me down.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Mazda 6 is not on the list but it is better value than Accord, you can buy a similar year/mileage/condition for up to 25-30% less. Honda and Toyota are overpriced for a used car because many people willing to pay a premium for it.


I can attest to that.

My Mazda6S V6 was the same price as a similar Accord or Camry 4 cylinder.

 

[Gearhead113]

I would choose the Accord. As a side note, the Ford Fusion seems to be good, too.

 

[Mr_Accord]

Quote:
I think Honda is just as reliable as Toyota My very first car was a 1994 Integra (first year of the bug eyes) I bought it used in 2000- Put 150K on it and it- Never ever ever let me down.


I'm curious to know if Hondas of today are of the same quality as the old early 90's Hondas.

 

[MarkM66]

How many miles do you have on your current Accord?

I have an '01 Civic, with 230k miles, a/t went out at 215k. '01 seems to have been the troublesome year for the a/t. Mine went further then most, or so I hear.

I also have a '04 Vibe (Toyota matrix, same car), 155k miles, and not a single problem yet, knock wood. Lots of room for a 'small' car, gets low to mid 30's mpg. Not the best seats, but I guess you can't have everything,

.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I'm not sure I'd classify the Corolla as having "no power". I had an '07 LE with the 5-speed manual. 0-60 on it was around 8 seconds. That's plenty competitive in my opinion. A good set of tires really wakes up the Corolla's handling. It's got a decent-sized sway bar in the front and the rear, and handling is surprisingly neutral.

The 1ZZ-FE is a great little engine, and in the time-frame you're looking at, oil consumption is not an issue. I averaged low-to-mid 30s in town with mine and upper-30s at 75mph on I-95. It was a great car, and I still wish I had it.

 

[addyguy]

Chevrolet Cobalt. Very reliable Ecotec 4-cylinder, less to purchase and insure.

If it HASt o be from your list, Corolla S. I like the look of them, and hey, it's a Corolla......

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Chevrolet Cobalt. Very reliable Ecotec 4-cylinder, less to purchase and insure.
...

I tried to like the Cobalt. I really did. But they were below average cars.
I found a very nice and very rare LT 2.2 manual coupe on Autotrader. (all the manual coupes are stripped LS models) 10,000 miles, barely broken in. I'm thinking, :...this thing has Integra LS horsepower and Prelude torque. It's gotta' be fun to drive."
It wasn't.
Honestly reminded me of driving my old Hyundai Scoupe. Except the Scoupe had better quality materials in the interior. All those rich looking surfaces on the Cobalt? Hard as a rock.
We repeated the Cobalt experiment when I had to rent 2 cars back to back. Rented a Cobalt and a Focus. The LS automatic sedan Cobalt was even worse than the LT manual coupe. More boring if that is possible.

But I sincerely liked the Focus.
It's probably actually slower than the Cobalt. Lower hp and torque on paper and it's a smaller engine. But that doesn't matter because it feels quicker and faster. Cruised on the freeway "easier" too.
The Sync was entertaining for awhile. You could sit in front of the store waiting for the wifey to get her stuff and see what kind of smartphone various people had.
There are some shortcomings in the Focus. The year I drove had a gaudy chrome badge on the side. The interior plastics are an odd mishmash of textures and colors, the rear seats have no headrests or grab rails, and the brakes felt "funny". The brakes worked fine it just felt like I could feel every pavement imperfection trasmitted through the pedal. And the handling was just plain better.

It's just a better car. If you can handle the console being a different texture and color than the dash which is different than the door panels...etc... and you don't carry rear passengers or they are too short to get whiplash, I would get a Focus. It's just a more pleasurable car.

It may not be a Civic or a 3, but IMO the Focus is a better driver's car than the competent but boring Corolla. It's in a different category than the Caliber but I'd still rather have the Focus. And the previous generation Elantra? like the Corolla, a completely competent car but rather boring. I'd have to say Focus again.

I also like the Kia Spectra5, but I'm goofy about sport wagons...

 

[Mr_Accord]

Originally Posted By: MarkM66
How many miles do you have on your current Accord?

I have an '01 Civic, with 230k miles, a/t went out at 215k. '01 seems to have been the troublesome year for the a/t. Mine went further then most, or so I hear.


Mine just hit 223000 miles

 

[bepperb]

I had a rental Cobalt for 2 weeks while my Accord was in the body shop after an accident. They are not in the same league. The Accord would slot between the Malibu and the Impala... not two slots lower. There isn't even one metric the Cobalt was better as even the fuel economy was about the same. On the other hand it would cost half as much.

As to the "Honda reliability" versus that of old, I think if anything they are more reliable now. The problem is that the difference between Honda/Toyota and Ford/GM has really shrunk. I'd still say as a generalization that a small car from the former is better than the latter, but probably not enough to justify the purchase premium and perhaps lost in the noise of owning just one random car. But, my 01 went 113,000 when I sold it and it was perfect when it left me. My 06 doesn't seem any better or worse. My 86 and 91's I only view through rose colored glasses these days, of course they were perfect but realistically they wouldn't even remotely compare to what you can buy now.

 

[IndyIan]

You could try a 2nd gen Neon, the R/T versions have a good engine, good handling, and they seem to be pretty cheap compared to the usual small car choices. I can see one with a 5spd in my future over a Corolla, as the price difference is huge.