I’m looking for a car that is a great value (like a Honda) and is safe (like a Volvo). I know cars like the Honda fit have good safety ratings, but I don’t think I’d want to be in an accident in one. A 3-4 year old Volvo S60 isn’t too expensive to but, but ongoing service is expensive. Is a used Honda Accord a good way to go. I’d like the car to be fun to drive if possible and under $20K.
Civic Si with manual transmission would be a good choice for the “fun to drive” factor. You might also consider a Mazda 3.
An Accord is a large car by EPA standards and is very safe, but not so much fun given its size.
Best value in a safe car = Buick. Fun to drive? No.
Chevy Cruze, Hyundai Elantra The New Elantra is very nice plus 40 MPG
Agree with the Buick comment. I think the new Regal might even be fun to drive in the turbo trim, but probably low to mid 30s.
If you’re looking for a fun to drive car, Honda isn’t something you should look at. Reliable, yes. Fun, no.
Volvo will cost a lot to maintain it, and, despite reputation, other car makers have caught up and/or surpassed Volvo’s reputation.
Can you drive stick? If so, look for a good used Mazdaspeed 3. If not, a regular 3 or 6 should be good for the fun and reliable factors. If you can find a leftover 2010 model normal 3 or 6 on the lot, you should be able to get it for under $20k
Plug & Play, Pole Position, was $19.99. I crashed and burned that game so many times that my head is still spinning.
If ANYONE trys to tell you Hondas arent fun to drive or performance minded they are FLAT OUT WROOONG…The Accord 2Dr is VERY precise on the road…SAFE, fun to drive and dead ROCK SOLID RELIABLE…The Civic Si…even more so but the Civic is a different class of car…its in the econo class…However that doesnt take one thing away from it…It didnt win 10 Best YEAR after Year as well as TOP that list several times because it was a limp noodle on the road…Someone needs to test drive some Honda’s…FAAAST.
Honda and Acura make FANTASTIC vehicles…Dont take my word for it…pick up any Auto Publication and if they arent singing Hondas praises I’d be VERY SHOCKED…because that wont happen.
The Accord should suit you quite well. I esp like the 2Dr version…it is MUCH sportier. Anyway to each his own…but to try and knock Hondas products is an excercise in futility…my opinions can be completely ignored…many others in the auto world will tell you the same thing I have and much more…
If you want sporty and safe…ANY BMW will knock your socks off As for safe…they are built like the proverbial TANKS…trust me…BMW is SERIOUS about safety.
Im sorry I just re-read you dont even care much about fun or sporty…you want safe…BMW still fits the bill. The older and Im sure newer Volvos will provide you with a vehicle that has no equal in the safety dept. dI havent been able to get my hands on the more fun versions of the VUVU…but they exist… Theres lots of cars out there that you can get into…look at Consumer reports it tests vehicles in the manner that would interest you greatly.
I agree Honda can be fun. Believe it or not, Volvo can be fun also. I’ve had a Volvo V70R (300 hp) in the past and it was a great car. Fun and safe, but also expensive. I know there are a lot of small(er) cars that fit the cost and fun criteria, but I’m not convinced I want to drive one on the highway every day. Maybe what I’m looking for doesn’t really exist. A car that is safe - not just rated safe but real word safe - won’t cost a lot to keep going, and can be fun to drive. What I guess I’m stuck on is even if a small car is rated safe, if it gets hit by a bigger car, I think the smaller, “safer” car will loose, but maybe I’m wrong?
Bigger is safer. A Volvo S60 is in the middle of the pack for medical payments according to HLDI. A similarly sized car with much better medical payout is a BMW 3 series with AWD. An Accord or Camry are about equivalent to the S60, BTW.
jtsanders - Thats good stuff - thanks very much.
I’ve owned a Honda, they aren’t all that in terms of sportiness. My Civic had to wind up to atleast 3 or 4k RPMs before it made any real power. I had more fun in a Mini Cooper base model than I did in my Civic. I have a crossover that weighs almost twice what my Civic weighs(4001 vs 2513 lbs), yet it’s quicker than my Civic was. Hondas are good, I’ll give you that, but they lack one key ingredient that makes good performance possible, torque.
As for safety, someone blindly believing any Volvo is safer than anything on the road is about 20 years behind the times.
20 year old Volvo wagon crashes into a 5 year old small hatch, place your bets on who gets creamed:
Safe inDEED.
The Cruze and Elantra are nice for what they are(recent rentals). However there is nothing fun to drive about them. Hyundai does not make fun to drive in their cars.