@dagosa, if someone sells their car with a lot of life left in it, then it may make sense to consider retained value. Our cars are good for donation when we get finished with them, and retained value is no much of an issue. Repair and maintenance costs are quite similar for many cars these days. There is still a small advantage for Honda and Toyoya, but it isn’t much in my experience.
The only drawback of the Fit is the anemic electrical system–there have been many posters complaining on how quick their battery dies if just listening to the radio for half an hour. The Fiat has “love it or hate it styling” (but I guess so does the Cooper) and is pretty slow to accelerate unless you get the turbo–then it’s like they fed the hamsters that run it some meth.
The Golf will probably be the most fun to drive and have the best interior and overall feel of build quality. It may or may not be less reliable or more expensive to fix.
Since you have a running car (or will soon), I’d make a weekend project out of this and take your time–drive ALL of the recommended vehicles and more. Do some research on Edmunds or other sites where actual owners post reviews on cars and you will get an idea on what is loved/hated and what went wrong.
If you buy a new car, you will be stuck with all that depreciation and maybe upside down on the loan (like you are with the Cooper) when it comes time to get rid of it. But it may be your only option to choose new if you need the new loan to absorb what’s left of the old one. Buying used always is the cheapest and best value IMHO. Unless you must have the latest and greatest, look for about a 3-5 y/o car gotten rid of by some silly person that doesn’t care about depreciation. If you pick and choose carefully, a private owner selling a car will give the best deal usually. (get the car inspected before you buy)
@Bing
Would you rather they called it the i-Eco engine, or some other ridiculous “trendy” name?
I don’t care what they call it, I just haven’t seen an explanation of what it is.
@Bing - ‘Skyactiv’ is a combination of high-efficiency features, like HIGH compression ratio (14.1:1), no turbo, direct injection, etc., combined with high efficiency ‘regular’ automatic transmission, or a manual transmission. Much better to me than the ever-growing turbo engines and CVTs…
Thanks. So its nothing to worry about then, if one buys a Mazda?
UncleTurbo wrote:
How long do you plan to keep the next after you sell Mini? If your answer is 2 or 3 years then a lease might make sense - IF you only drive 10,000 to 12,000 miles a year.
Someone who is underwater on their current car and only has $1,000 saved up should be planning on driving the next car into the ground while saving toward the car after that. Getting rid of it in two or three years should not be considered at all.
@Bing “Thanks. So its nothing to worry about then, if one buys a Mazda?”
Not necessarily; direct injection engines are more prone to valve deposits. Mazda is not the only one who uses them now. My Ford Focus has one too. I guess they have worked the details out, but like everything new in the automotive world, time will tell.
Corolla or Honda Fit would be my recommendation. Both are long lived, reliable, and cheap to fix.
When our old minivan’s transmission died suddenly, we wound up buying a new Honda Fit 4 months ago and are happy with it. The interior is spacious, the car is reasonably comfortable, visibility is great and the car is good at what it was designed to be. As others have said, used Fits were not that much cheaper than new, and at the time Honda was offering 0.9% financing (which was better than the financing we would get on a used car). So it was actually cheaper for us to go new (and our payment is very close to what the OP is after). Another concern I had about used cars at the time concerned the recent flooding back east and the possibility that some flood cars had made it onto the market.
Thanks. So its nothing to worry about then, if one buys a Mazda?
People not believing you when you tell them your Mazda 3 is getting 40mpg on the highway AND it’s fun to drive
Mazda has had a great track record for reliability overall, the Skyactiv engine and transmission have been available for a few years now and haven’t shown any problems. If Mazda had released this engine in late 2009 it would have been on Mom’s list. She had her Protoge for 19 years with very few problems. There’s a bunch of Mazda 3’s,6’s as well as a couple of Mazda5’s owned by my co-workers and all are very happy with their cars. I’m looking at one myself.
@bscar2 people wouldn’t believe the same thing with the '90 protoge which would get 40mpg on long trips while cruising with the pack at 70-75
Mazda has fairly consistently good reliability, per Consumer Reports. The SkyActiv models have typically been a little less reliable, but they are substantially redesigned cars, and that usually has a slight effect on reliability until they work the kinks out. There is nothing in the SkyActiv set of technologies that is super high tech or completely new. It’s just a way of applying a lot of best practices in a single drivetrain, such as high compression rates, low friction bearings, etc. The reault is very good efficiency at little extra cost. Usually less weight, too. The Mazda3 and Mazda6 are both as good as anything in their classes, as is the CX5. As other models get redesigned they will also benefit. Mazda is one of the smallest automakers in the world. They couldn’t pour a lot of money into some whizzy technology that might fail, so they sensibly chose to adopt well understood technologies and let each small improvement contribute. Enough small improvements is as good as one big one, and less risky for everyone.
@OlyDoug I agree that Mazdas are dependable and long lived cars. A friend of my wife first had a Mazda 323, which she drove for 12 years before giving it to her son. She now has an 11 year old Protege which will likewise be given to a relative and replaced by a Mazda3 Hatchback. Neither of her cars ever needed a major repair, other than wear items.
My wife’s 2012 Mazda Sport hatchback has performed flawlesly so far. They’re cheap, reliable and fun to drive, something you don’t often find in an economy car!
@Docnick the list of things replaced on the Protoge other than normal service items like the battery and brakes would be very short indeed. At 194,000 miles it used a quart of oil every 4-6 thousand miles and started every time on the first turn of the key. The only reason it was replaced was to get a newer car with more safety and comfort features like airbags,A/C,cruise and a driving position that she could adjust more to her comfort. If the Skyactiv 3 hatch was on sale in the summer of 2009 it would have made the list in a heartbeat. Only the 2.5 could be had in the hatch and the milage ratings weren’t nearly what we had in mind. All my co-workers with Mazda’s love their cars. The one who hasn’t checked her oil in awhile is learning what happens when the engine runs out of oil (Rod knock in her Mazda6)
Mazda doesn’t make the shopping list of as many people as a Honda or Toyota product but it should.
I like to think of myself as a trend setter around here. There’s atleast 2 other CX-7s here in town and I’ve noticed a lot more Mazdas on the road than I have before I bought mine.
Would you care to post the major things that have gone wrong with your Mini? It may be possible that these are troubles once repaired, will not likely show up again. Problematic original equipment parts may result in improvements showing up in replacement parts. Consider too that it is possible that owning a car that needs occasional repairs can cost less than buying again. $200 per month for repairs is less than $300 per month for payments. There is, of course, the desire for a car that does not need repairs to be considered. If your car has not left you stranded then you might want to stay with it if your monthly cost is similar to as I stated.
The mini is made by BMW so parts for it are $$$.
Why not get a used corolla, something that does not have expensive to fix modern technology, 90-2000 era and have a mechanic do an inspection before buying.
I would not go with Mazda Skyactiv, high compression sounds like more wear and tear and it has not even been a decade.
Doesn’t the yaris, fit, etc have leaf suspension? There’s probably a lot of comprises to get the price that cheap.
I have to agree with @Wha_Who? . What kind of repairs have you had to have on the Mini?
I have two friends and former colleagues who own Minis. One purchased her Mini brand new and the other, our department secretary, purchased a used Mini. Both friends really like their cars. Our department secretary is a single woman and this is her only car. Both those Minis in the 2007 model range.
I don’t think any of the cars suggested would be as fun to drive as the Mini if that is important to you. I drove a first generation Mini, the Morris 850 back in 1960 and I thought it was a blast to drive. If the present Minis are anything like the original to drive, I wouldn’t want to give it up for an econobox.
As far as the repair records in Consumer Reports is concerned, I am not certain that it is gospel. I owned a 2000 Ford Windstar and a 2006 Chevrolet Uplander. Both vehicles were deemed unreliable by Consumer Reports. Yet, I didn’t have major problems with either vehicle. I sold both to my son. He drove the Windstar well past 150,000 miles when he sold it and bought my Uplander. the Uplander probably has 110,000 miles and is running perfectly. I now own a 2011 Toyota Sienna. According to CR, it has a good reliability record. However, I had to replace the original tires at 36,000 miles, the brakes at 45,000 miles and the battery at 47,000 miles. The tires on the Uplander were good to 60,000 miles as were the brake pads. The battery was good for six years. Now brake pads, tires and batteries are normal expenses, but they are expenses and the Sienna has been no less expensive to run than the Uplander.
You might be money ahead to pay a trusted mechanic to do an inspection similar to what he would do for a used car you are considering and go from there. Keep in mind that any used car you buy may need attention right away.