DC Posted August 9, 2004 Share Posted August 9, 2004 Matrix!!!!! I bought my first Toyota in the late 80s and have been very brand loyal since. They don't tear up, the road feels really good through the steering wheel and they shift really great too. The Matrix gets fantastic milage and is very cool for hauling gear. It'll be my next vehicle for sure. -David http://www.garageband.com/artist/MichaelangelosMuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outrider Posted August 9, 2004 Share Posted August 9, 2004 We just drove/tested/obsessed over a car purchase and the Mazda 3 5-door was one of my favorites. The handling was tight, the motor was decent, and I really liked the interior & exterior design compared to the others, which struck me as a little bland. The base model comes with a lot of features that others in the class charge extra for. In the end, the 3 was too small for our family and all the crap we haul around. We stuck with the brand, though...and got the Mazda 6 Sport Wagon. More than I wanted to pay, but I dig it. The Bose sound system rocks! One of these days I'm gonna change my evil ways... one of these days... http://www.emotipad.com/emoticons/Band.gifhttp://www.weidenbach.net/images/storage/headbang.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihategarybettman Posted August 9, 2004 Share Posted August 9, 2004 quote by Mats Olsson: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Snow, ice, sleet. You need 4x4. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nope, I know a thing or two about driving in the winter and you really don't need 4x4... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mats, I agree. I am a life-long Buffalonian and I've seen my share of snow, ice, and sleet, and I've always had small, American-made cars like Cavaliers and Chevettes. They've handled alright in the white stuff because I know how to drive in those conditions (plus, they're easy to push out of snow drifts because of their light weight). Phait, maybe you should get a used Chevette. I loved my first one (that's right - I owned more than one); it was a hatchback; and I was able to pick it up for under 300 bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticsound Posted August 9, 2004 Share Posted August 9, 2004 Originally posted by cwfno: Phait, you have to get real. First, you need something to haul stuff with. Big stuff. A person always has to haul big stuff. I don't know why. So, you need a pickup box. Next, you live in Wisconsin. Snow, ice, sleet. You need 4x4. Next, as you get older, and your back goes to hell, you need something big to get in and out of. Small cars = no. Big trucks = yes. Don't worry about gas mileage. If your back hurts enough, you will pay whatever gas costs. You may not be able to afford satellite tv, but you will pay for the gas. Get away from those small things you are looking at. Get a truck.LOL! FWIW - I grew up in Northern Illinois. I hauled plenty of gear in my parents' Mercury Lynx wagon (sister model of the original Escort), their Dodge Omni hatchback, and my '91 Escort. Snow was never a problem, nor was room. Don't get me wrong, a 4x4 would be great, but necessary? Maybe. (Though a pickup bed would have been nice an roomy!) My parents (and I for the Escort) chose a 4 door wagon or hatchback. The Escort sedan, that one year, was available in hatchback only, but it looked like a sedan. Point is, a hatchback can be a great car for hauling and wonderful in snow. (Those bicycle sized tires get better grab on slick snow than the larger tires of other vehicles.) As for your back... well... I don't know how tall you are but I've never had any difficulty with my back due to any of the cars I've owned. Still, a 4x4 with the now common 4 door option would be sshhhhwwweeeeeeeeettt! It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mats Olsson. Posted August 9, 2004 Share Posted August 9, 2004 In snow/ice/sleet, front wheel drive is often better than rear wheel drive. Off course 4x4 is nice, but very seldom necessary and it will cost more at purchase and when something breaks (it's also using more gas). http://www.lexam.net/peter/carnut/man.gif What do we want? Procrastination! When do we want it? Later! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyscots Posted August 9, 2004 Share Posted August 9, 2004 Originally posted by ihategarybettman: They've handled alright in the white stuff because I know how to drive in those conditions That's the thing - from my experiences in the US it seems that most 4x4 & SUV drivers don't know, or forget, how to drive! They use their oversized vehicles as excuses. Phait, unless you are loaded, you have no need to spend that amount of money. Go for the smaller option. Much better on gas & the environment and also much easier to park! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anoplura Posted August 9, 2004 Share Posted August 9, 2004 I went through this a couple of months ago. I test drove all three you mentioned, as well as the Mitsubishi Lancer sportback and several of the Subarus (WRX wagon, Forester). In the end I got a Jetta Wagon. It has the sport suspension and 1.8T motor and handles like a go-kart. It also has more cargo room than any of the cars on your list. The rear seats fold completely flat like a pickup bed, and it's a little over 5 feet long. My second choice was the Mazda 3. It drove very nice - sporty feel - but didn't have as much cargo room as the Jetta. Price was also a consideration. The Jetta wagon is normally $2-3 grand more than the Mazda at comparable trim levels, but VW is coming off of 2 years of poor sales in the US, and the Madza 3 is in very high demand (or was in March) here. When I started shopping around, I found that the real prices ended up being about the same. I qualified for 0.9% financing though VW, the deal was sealed. *It's also worth mentioning that all of the Jetta Wagons are made in Wolfsburg (Germany). All Golfs and Jetta sedans currently sold in the US and Canada are made in Brazil. The consensus from dealers and owners is that the fit and finish of the German made models is a lot better than the stuff coming from Brazil. Fewer squeaks and rattles. This helped me decide over the Golf or GTI. Oh, and 'cause I hadn't seen it mentioned yet: You know that the SVT and Mazda 3 are built on the same platform? Same chassis, transmission and engine (depending on trim level). It's also the same as the Volvo s40 and (new) Mitsubishi Galant. I was impressed by the ride of the Focus SVT. Much better than any Ford I'd ever driven. It (and the Mazda 3) rode like a BMW or newer VW - in contact with the road, but still comfortable. This makes sense as they both came out of Ford's European design lab. I liked the Mazda better than the SVT mainly because of the interior look and feel, though they do drive slightly differently. The Matrix felt small inside to me - both in term of cockpit ergonomics and cargo space. And compared to the other cars I was test driving at the time - Jetta, GTI, WRX, SVT and 3 - it felt slow. I drove it a couple of times, in both the 2WD and AWD versions, because I like Toyota and really wanted to like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anoplura Posted August 9, 2004 Share Posted August 9, 2004 A 4x4 is great when you are stuck in snow, but not any better than 2WD on icy roads. A 4x4 will not turn or stop any faster than a 2WD on slippery (icy or rainy) surfaces. In fact, as your typical 4x4 is larger and heavier than a typical 2WD sedan (or hatchback) it will take a lot longer to stop. So unless you live in a place where the roads are unpassable for part of the year (in which case you should look into a snowmobile :-P) a smaller car with traction control (VW, BMW, Volvo, etc.) will do a better job of keeping you out of the snow in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bbach1 Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 Originally posted by Mats Olsson.: In snow/ice/sleet, front wheel drive is often better than rear wheel drive. Off course 4x4 is nice, but very seldom necessary and it will cost more at purchase and when something breaks (it's also using more gas).Well, if you're going to be practical about it------ I can't imagine not having a 4x4. We have two. bbach Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phait Posted August 10, 2004 Author Share Posted August 10, 2004 Originally posted by ihategarybettman: Phait, maybe you should get a used Chevette. I loved my first one (that's right - I owned more than one); it was a hatchback; and I was able to pick it up for under 300 bucks.Well thanks for the suggestion but they're old and ugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bbach1 Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 Originally posted by flyscots: Originally posted by ihategarybettman: They've handled alright in the white stuff because I know how to drive in those conditions That's the thing - from my experiences in the US it seems that most 4x4 & SUV drivers don't know, or forget, how to drive! They use their oversized vehicles as excuses.I've tried using my 4x4 as an excuse. It doesn't work. The conversation goes something like this: "Honey, that's not lipstick on my collar, it was my 4x4". Her: "oh you're not going to use that old excuse again are you?" bbach Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shars Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 I drive a Fiat Bravo 1.4. Its a hatch and it carrys all my equipment more so than my Audi A6 as the seats all fold down and its like having a Escort van. The Bravos for sale btw Heres a picture of it and I'm not sure they sell these in the US but I noticed the Focus is alot different in shape to the ones in the UK as are the Audis. Is this true? http://hometown.aol.co.uk/SharminHall/04073006.JPG http://hometown.aol.co.uk/SharminHall/file000.jpg www.myspace.com/yacababy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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