Comments on: Question of the Day: Are You Ready To Buy Small?

By: Beelzebubba

Beelzebubba — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:43:37 +0000

I am both amused and enraged, simultaneously, when idiots (for instance, TV actors who test drive $15k cars) state their ill-informed opinions as authoritative fact. The inevitable result is that folks like us, who actually spend time researching and educated ourselves on a topic before advising others, get to first ‘un-do’ their damage before actually offering useful information. Even more ridiculous, some still won’t heed the good advice even with hard facts (crash test data, CR reviews, etc). I guess they deserve what they get!

One of my favorite quotes seems appropriate here- “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than speak out and remove all doubt.”- Abe Lincoln

TV actors- take note!

By: cretinx

cretinx — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:16:19 +0000

I just want to add that

“I’m having a baby so I need an SUV” is one of the most retarded things I’ve ever heard, yet so many people believe it.

Car seats fit in the back of a regular car. Unless you have a brood, you don’t need an SUV. My family of 4 did fine in a BMW 5-Series and Mercury Sable.

By: cretinx

cretinx — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:15:01 +0000

We’re having a baby in August

We got a new Civic SI. It has all those fancy ass curtain airbags, reinforced steel doors etc – the nanny government has essentially regulated extra weight and safety into the car for us.

we get 26 mpg city, 32 highway. It swallows everything I own without complaint (no problem eating 4 wheels with tires to take to autocross).

small can be safe and efficient.

By: David Holzman

David Holzman — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:35:16 +0000

If I had to get a new car today, I’d look hard at a Civic. If the Fit got about 10-15 mpg more than the current Civic, without being a hybrid, I’d look at that. I currently drive an Accord.

By: serpico

serpico — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:35:58 +0000

My 98 Jetta Wolfsburg is 26/38 mpg, so not sure if I need to upgrade. That’s not bad for a 4door 4 cylinder automatic car that is 10 years old. No problems with the car and I just do the regular oil change and tune ups. Would love to have a truck but maybe I should look into other options like wagons or CUV’s. But never a small car, couldn’t make it my primary car.

By: y2kdcar

y2kdcar — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:33:45 +0000

If I were buying today, I’d go small. My daughter has a 2008 Ford Focus sedan that she’s let me drive on a few occasions. After reading the TTAC review, I expected to hate the thing, but it’s actually quite a pleasant car to drive. Yes, the exterior looks odd, and yes, the interior plastics are only a small cut above Chrysler’s bargain-basement materials, but the car is comfortable, rides well, handles decently, and gets 30 mpg or better in mixed driving. I could live with that.

Will I trade my 2000 Mercury Sable in early to get a new Focus? Not bloody likely. The Sable has 100,000 miles on it, but the car is paid for, doesn’t lose much value to depreciation each year, is dirt-cheap to insure, and gets about 25 mpg in mixed driving. Since I drive roughly 12,000 miles a year, trading the Sable for a Focus would reduce my fuel consumption by 80 gallons a year. At current gas prices, that’s less than one monthly car payment for a Focus bought on a three-year note. Repairs might add another two payments’ worth of costs to my annual outlay, but I’m still saving a pile of cash by driving the old car until it quits.

By: Steve_K

Steve_K — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:51:48 +0000

Small car? Can I get a hell no? I’ve entertained the thought of a small “drivers car” but then I remember my friend’s Honda Prelude, aka The Rollerskate. I’m thinking G8 for my next daily driver and early ’90’s Cadillac Brougham for my next toy car.

By: John Horner

John Horner — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:15:03 +0000

“Long story short, she’s got about $15k to spend.’

A smart move for her is to hit the nearest Hertz Used Cars sales lot and pick up a 2007 Taurus for $9995 like this one:

http://www.hertzcarsales.com/FindYourCar/vehicleDetails.jsp?&vin=1FAFP56U17A195131&referrer=yes

That is a lot of car for under $10k, is much safer than a Fit and isn’t going to put you in the poor house like an Audi anything. Around town fuel economy will be in the low 20s instead of the high 20s like Fits return.

“Geez, when I was a kid, one of my dads cars didn’t even have seatbelts and no one wore the ones that did.”

Road fatality rates are down more than 50% since the halcyon days of the 1960s. Luckily you and your family survived, but that doesn’t mean it was due to skill or even good genes, just luck.

Size, vehicle choice and seatbelt use all make a difference:

http://www.iihs.org/news/2005/iihs_sr_031505.pdf

By: TEXN3

TEXN3 — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:59:52 +0000

@sashazur: You should be looking more closely at several newer model compacts…they’re not the penalty boxes you may believe they are. Almost all of them can be loaded up quite nicely with features.

By: brettc

brettc — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:31:07 +0000

I already own two Jetta TDIs, so I already drive “small” cars. Although I’d love to be able to buy something smaller, like a Polo TDI. But VW won’t bring them over, so a Jetta is the smallest diesel option. :(

If Smart really was as their name implies, they’d be selling the Smart CDI in the US and advertising the high fuel economy numbers.

By: radimus

radimus — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:10:21 +0000

@Jonny Lieberman

How’s your radiator overflow tank holding up?

Fine, as far as I know. What should I be looking for?

By: WildBill

WildBill — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:52:13 +0000

Already have an ‘03 Matrix. At the rate it’s going (tires and oil/filter changes is all so far after 135,000 + miles) we’ll have it forever, at least into retirement in 9 yrs. 5 mo.! We live in a rural area and 4WD/AWD is a blessing in the snow and ice and even for wet, slick rural roads. Would probably go with another Matrix AWD unless the Fit or Yaris or some other as yet unamed model offer it in the future. Have to keep the Expedition too for trailer towing (and for when the snow gets really deep!).

By: chuckR

chuckR — Fri, 30 May 2008 01:17:57 +0000

Owner of 2 A4s and an A6. Older A4 with 130K just needed a throttle body, exhaust and clutch. Thats not $400 per month over the past year but its a real ding if someone isn’t prepared for repair costs. Its German, for goodness sakes, and smaller doesn’t seem to mean cheaper repairs. But it was the devil I knew and a replacement markedly more reliable would have been markedly more expensive. Newer ‘04 1.8T MT6 A4 gets 30mpg in my suburban commute at an average speed of 37mph. Good enough mileage and Audi is the leader in demonstrating small doesn’t mean craptastic interiors or a paucity of features. It would get better mileage if it weren’t such a heavy little tank, but thats OK. Depreciation? That only matters if you flip cars, a proposition where you either lose or lose big.
The A6,meh. Just waiting for a moderately OK deal on something smaller. No adult sized kids to haul any more and 23mpg doesn’t make me happy.

By: bleach

bleach — Fri, 30 May 2008 01:04:36 +0000

As a GTI owner, I also already have a small car. Wait, we talking size not weight right? I didn’t choose it for mileage and I don’t get high mileage out of it.

As far as safety is concerned I guess I believe in avoiding an accident first and the design of the vehicle if I can’t avoid it. I was hit head-on by a dope in an Explorer trying to make a left turn while I was driving a rental Corolla. The Corolla was totalled and wedged under the Explorer but I didn’t suffer any injuries.

By: johnny ro

johnny ro — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:53:14 +0000

My A4 is a compact car according to the feds. It looks large to me.

My dad’s Expedition was a badly designed bus, not a car.

I get a steady 29 in winter and 32 in summer. Theres not that much left to save by going to something that gets in the high 30s.

I will go small though, next, they are more fun to drive than large, in principle.

By: xantia10000

xantia10000 — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:50:31 +0000

Ready? I say bring on the Lilliputians! I honestly never understood why my fellow countrymen desired to own those marshmallow-suspended Conestoga wagon look-alikes that were out-handled by either a bumper car or a supermarket trolley.

I hope that gas prices increase past five-a-gallon, so we continue to demand smaller. Imagine Fiestas replacing Explorers, Corsas replacing TrailBlazers, and perhaps for the first time, a sound business case for the MiTo, Fiat 500, VW Polo, etc. Maybe even the Fronsh will make a return – how cool would that be?!

I just can’t wait for the day when Muffy Tennis Whites’ Lincoln Townhouse no longer obscures my view down the road.

By: kjc117

kjc117 — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:43:23 +0000

You talked her out of purchasing an Audi?
Some gentleman dressed in all black will come visit you in the middle of the night! Ja!

Seriously, the new A4 are less troublesome than earlier models and Audi was giving 0.9% APR on them in my area.
I agree with her and not purchase a Fit if you have infant.
Size matters!!
My suggestion, Lexus IS250 or Acura TSX for her and the infant.
IS250, TSX, and A4 are total chix cars.

As for me, I have sized down but not in engine size!
Lexus IS350, 3.5 300+hp V-6 replacing 1.8T 170 hp turbo inline4 VW Passat

350z, 3.5 300+V-6 replacing 3.2 250hp V-6 TT.

More Pooooooooooooooower!!!!!!!!!

By: healinginfluence

healinginfluence — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:42:16 +0000

I haven’t decided yet. I now drive a 2001 MB E320 4Matic. I’m not ready for a Prius. I might be ready for a C-Class, a 3 series or maybe even a TSX. But all this is very much on my mind. Part of me says you only live once. Get another E-Class. Oh and safety matters more to me than mpg. See Informed For Life.

By: Matthew Potena

Matthew Potena — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:38:11 +0000

I have always preferred smaller cars, as lugging around a whole bunch of seldom used seats and a big cargo box seems like a waste. Currently, I drive a 2007 MINI Cooper S and get a bit over 31 mpg with it (mostly suburban driving). As a few posters mentioned, if FIAT brings over the 500, and especially in Abarth Esse Esse guise, I would get it. I have not, nor will I ever, purchase an SUV.

By: Wolven

Wolven — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:15:30 +0000

No, but I’m ready to join a revolution to overthrow the oil king running America into the ground.

By: fisher72

fisher72 — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:12:04 +0000

I small sized with a MINI Cooper S in 2003.

When I need a truck, I borrow one or rent one.

Mexico only has about 7 years worth of oil to export….and why is our oil under their sand anyway?

By: golden2husky

golden2husky — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:56:17 +0000

Fact is, unless you drive a lot, and own a big time guzzler, selling your car strictly for the mileage is usually not the fiscally prudent move, even with 5 dollar gas. That said, I enjoy driving smaller rather than larger. Light weight is a reward in and of itself.

By: rtz

rtz — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:53:58 +0000

Those minis just get average fuel mileage: http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/2008-mini-cooper-3.htm

I gotta go all the way. Geo Metro, Honda Insight. What are some more cars that get fuel mileage like that?

I’ve never been impressed by the Prius fuel mileage. When they add a plug on it, then it will be something:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_3D_JMG9cRQ

By: Bancho

Bancho — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:53:08 +0000

Bring ‘em on. I love small cars. My current “family vehicle” is an ‘08 Scion xB and I’d love a Fiat 500 for my commute.

By: beetlebug

beetlebug — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:44:35 +0000

Gone small..have been small. Had a first gen Mini for 6 years and now we’re on a new 2nd Gen. Do I worry when my wife or I drive it? Nope. The bigger is better logic bandwagon leads you to accept that a Hummer make perfect sense. I’m willing to risk the small chance that we will have an accident, that the accident will be of such violence as to be dangerous, and that its dynamics will be such that it will thwart the safety features of the Mini for good gas mileage and the money we’ll save. Life is unpredictable, but I’m not going to be wearing lead underwear and living enclose in a bubble due to it.