New or Used : Tastes Of The Weird
Steve L., just a short note to thank you for your TTAC articles. They are my favorite at TTAC and I look forward to a new article each week.
Quick question: I noted in your last article you like some of the newer Mazdas. Can you tell me what new Mazda you would consider keeping for your own personal vehicle?
regards, Steve T.
The Other Steve Says:
My personal tastes are probably a quick study in the saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
I like weird stuff. Part of the blame lies in the fact that the wholesale auctions are slam packed with the lemmings of modern day transport. There will often be a line of 30 to 60 cars at the factory sales where the same exact model will be offered with minimal changes in features and specs. The strength of rental cars at auctions also skews me away from the common place car, which is why the rolling Big Mac Value Meal that is/was the Chevy Impala doesn’t raise my eyebrows.
What interests me Mazda wise? I like the Mazda 2. If you are careful with the spec sheet, you can get one out the door for under 15k. One of the regulars here bought one recently for less than $14,000 out the door, and made a nice pithy summation of it’s virtues, “The 100HP is plenty. The stereo is outstanding. The controls, shifter, it all works, and none of it makes you feel like you gave up anything.”
A generic popular car is not my thing because every day I’m surrounded by overproduced generic popular cars. What interests me is a Ford Fiesta hatchback. A base Mazda 3 with a stick that I likely won’t see at the auctions for a while. Even the new base Corolla with a 6-speed would interest me on paper because it offers the better engine and shifter of the high end model and cost about $5000 less.
If I had to buy new I would keep it cheap and try to hit em’ where they ain’t. Not because I want the deal. But because I just don’t value touchscreens, over-sized A-pillars, and a car that I can’t maintain myself. The cars I keep at the retail lot reflect my weirdness compared with mainstream consumers. 20% are sticks, and I always seem to have a couple of offbeat ones (Solara V6 /5-speed, green Beetle TDI) on hand that I buy for low prices, due to their lack of mainstream popularity.
Small, stick, powered for real-world performance, and preferably in the last year or two of production. Throw in easy access for basic DIY maintenance, and you pretty much have my perfect recipe for the in-town commuting and smooth Georgia roads I see on a daily basis.
So what about you? What would be the perfect ingredients for your new car recipe? Does anything in particular strike your fancy?
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To anyone who is shopping for or has bought a car in this segment recently, was the new Mitsubishi Mirage considered? The reason I ask is, I am looking at cars in this segment and am considering the new Mirage but it seems that any articles/discussions about cars in this segment ignore this car. I understand that this is, considered by most, the ugliest car in its (or any) class and may also have the worst interior in its class. But, the Mirage has one of the best real world mileage figures (in the upper 40's to lower 50's with a stick) and it also has one of the best interior volumes. Another thing this car has going for it is a low price. I understand you get what you pay for, but for a car like this I do not want/need things like power windows or "premium" interior materials. The biggest question I have about this cars is the reliability of the new(?) 3-cylinder engine it uses.
Don't bother. The Mirage that I test drove sounded like the engine was in the cup holder, the seat sat like a church pew, and the dashboard, on a mild weather day, actualy developed a rattle half way through the test drive. Awful machine. It probably does get better MPG than most and has a lot of equipment but the car itself will get tiring in a hurry.