Decisions- New DD for the wife

Wife and I have been looking into a new vehicle for her for about the past 4 months. She currently has a miata and wants to be able to carry around more people/stuff. She has a couple of requirements that we are trying to follow. Manual Transmission, 2005+, 4 Doors, Hatchback/wagon, not an SUV. Oh, and that I like it too.

So far the test driven list is: Mazda 3 Mazdaspeed 3 Subaru Impreza (the new one, I don't fit well in the old one) Hatch Subaru Forester (wrx platform, not the newest one, too big) VW Rabbit Honda Fit

The mazdas while fun were not a s refined as we thought they would be, and while nice, the interiors were just not up to par with some of the other vehicles. Probably the cheapest option, but honestly probably not the first choice.

The Fit felt anemic getting on the highway, so it was out, cool little car though, if it had about 30-40 more HP it would be better, if we are still hunting this fall we may look at the new one coming out.

And it brings us to the 2 subarus and the rabbit.

Got an incredible offer on a new 08 rabbit, and the car is just loaded. There are really no options that we wanted on there for the price. It is about 1500 less than what we can get a new impreza for. It suprised me with how it drove and the interior. I have been hunting on some vw boards and the current word is that the bran new rabbit/golfs are head and tail above the last few generations. Bad part, same mileage as the impreza and wrong wheel drive.

The impreza is great, we already have a legacy for my daily driver so it is familiar to me. We right now don't really have a need for AWD. It would be more than the rabbit.

The forester also is good, but we have to track down a used one, and that would be difficult thing down here in arizona, not many around. Plus I would want something above the base model, that way I at least get rear disk brakes.

So after all that, I guess what I am trying to do here is figure out if I am going to be a rabbit owner in the near future or do we wait for the used subarus to hit the market.

Volvo C30: Like if you crossed a MS3 with a Mini and they had a slightly chubby but good looking kid. Or, like a Rabbit that's built right.

Yes, I own one, so I am biased..

Loaded for $16k. Mine has 36k miles on it, keeps getting better

Edit: Odd, sometimes the image works, sometimes it doesn't...

InigoMontoya wrote: She currently has a miata and wants to be able to carry around more people/stuff.

Get a trailer?

The best car for the wife is whatever she wants, as long as its cheap and you don't have to work on it.

Gearhead_42 wrote: Yes, I own one, so I am biased.. Loaded for $16k. Mine has 36k miles on it, keeps getting better Edit: Odd, sometimes the image works, sometimes it doesn't...

I noticed that too. Not sure if I fixed it, or if its just something with that image.

Tyler H wrote: The best car for the wife is whatever she wants, as long as its cheap and you don't have to work on it.

1 up for that, or go with the Rabbit.

I like the Rabbit as well, as long as it is not the tractor sounding 2.5L.

John Brown wrote: I like the Rabbit as well, as long as it is not the tractor sounding 2.5L.

what other motor would it be? If it's the 2.0T it's a GTI, not a rabbit.

The one with the trunk is called a Jetta too.

She does wants a hatchback, so the jetta is out, plus the chrome on the nose is 'eh' to me.

The C30 only has 2 doors so no go there.

The rabbit only comes with the 2.5L, the gti and r32 get the other engines, but they are priced out of our range around here.

I had seen stuff on the SX4 but we have not driven one.

The is an enthusiast, so the car does have to have a sporty characteristic. If I have to work on a car I would like to have an online knowledgebase that I can tap from I think that is the only reason we did not go look at the sx4 yet.

I was just being an ass, I apologize.

The Rabbit is actually a pretty nice car. The Six Speed Auto causes the engine to rev too low in my book (see the Vue thread) but it IS your wifes car.

One of our techs has a Rabbit as well as two early (MkI, MKII) GTIs. He said they are all pretty fun each better at certain things. He drives the Rabbit more often than the other two.

InigoMontoya wrote: If I have to work on a car I would like to have an online knowledgebase that I can tap from I think that is the only reason we did not go look at the sx4 yet.

We're all learning together

http://www.sx4club.com/forums/

'04-'05 Forrester XT?

*EDIT......Focus SVT 5 door?

It's not a hatchback, but the Acura TSX is truly a wonderful DD, especially with that sweet 6-speed manual. My wife's is an auto, but the manual is lucious. The K24 engine pulls well, and it should be in the NVH museum as a fine example of smoothness.

Handling is sporty without a punishing ride, the interior is very nice and simply refined, and they're very well equipped. Plus they've just changed up to a new gen which means 2008 leftovers should be going reasonably.

I'm suprised the GTI is out of your price range but the MS3 is in it. In my area MS3's are at full MSRP, but GTI's can be had for slightly under sticker. Mine came out at sticker after tax tittle and liscence for a 08 4-door DSG with Heated seats and Sunroof, the same price would of got me a stripper MS3. The heated seat sunroof examples were 2k more. Our dealer had GTI's on the lot for 23K, same as the lowest MS3's. I drove them back to back, and like the GTI more. But that could be because I was trading a regular 3 in on it, and had some small gripes with it (my knee hit the center console and put me in an uncomfortable position).

I'm just glad to see that the Caliber was NOT in the list(or the PT for that matter)despite meeting your 4 requirements. 5 door Hyundai Elantra?

I was able to find a MS3 for 19K with 11,000 miles about a month ago but were were not in a financial place to purchase that car, so we wanted to re test drive it in case we saw another one for around the dame place.

I have the smae problem with my knee in the mazda 3 so that pretty much took it out of the running.

THe forester is on the list, I have a line on one in Vegas that already got swapped to a wrx wagon suspension

Oh, anyone know if the hard hatch cover behind the seats on the Rabbit can be replaced with some sort of roll up one like the Impreza has? That is one thing that she does not like, makes her think of my ex-focus hatch I had (which she hated as well, but it had been wrecked.)

Any car we get is going to have a manual, can't even convince her to go DSG for the GTI, but I figured I would try. I converted her to manual and she will never go back.

As for the TSX, We already have a legacy gt for my daily driver, so a 4 door sedan is already in the garage so this car needs to be a hatch.

I talked with her about the SX4, she basically said she is wary of the suzuki name and the fact that there is not alot of them out there compared to the other cars we are looking at.

Caliber= Yuck, that was an easy one, she wants a good looking car

InigoMontoya wrote: I was able to find a MS3 for 19K with 11,000 miles about a month ago but were were not in a financial place to purchase that car, so we wanted to re test drive it in case we saw another one for around the dame place. Any car we get is going to have a manual, can't even convince her to go DSG for the GTI, but I figured I would try. I converted her to manual and she will never go back.

Ahh, A used MS3.. Got ya. Used GTI's in my area are hard to come buy, and priced not a lot below New.

I'm not sure about the hard cover. Mine is currently on a shelf in my garage, as the rear seats spend most of the time folded down anyway. It's not very big, so even if you have to take it off for a piece of cargo, it's really easy to store in the car.

As for the DSG, I was a die hard manual guy also. However The DSG converted me to a DSG guy. Not an Automatic guy, but a DSG guy, it's just so quick, and nice to not have to shift all the time.

Anyway, good luck on the search. All the cars your looking at are great, it just comes down to what works best for you. I looked at all the same cars before buying my GTI, and none of them were unacceptable.

Have you tried a VERSA? It's a lot of car for the money (something like 16k new for a well optioned one). It's just got rear seats that don't fold down the best. It has just as much space as a Rabbit/Fit/3, the seats just don't fold "flat". It's got a 6-speed, and more power than the Fit.

Also look at the Saturn Astra. It was also a good car, just not quite as good of a value new. (however it's a saturn, so I'm sure used ones are a great deal).

I guess that you are looking to spend around $20k?

Your thoughts so far are good. Here are some more.

Mini Clubman (stretched Mini)

Mazda 6 with the 5 door (not wagon rather big hatch) These currently have a $2,750 rebate or 0% for 60 months. 4cyl or 6cyl w/ 5 speed

Focus Wagon (lots of space)

Volvo V40/V50 wagon

Protoge 5 (older small car wagon, not the minivan Mazda5)

Matrix/Vibe

Saabs with hatchback

I think everything I listed can be had with a stick shift

I am glad to hear about the GTI. I was under the impresion that, apples to apples, a 4-door GTI was ALOT more than the MS3.

Versa?

We looked at the versa when they first came out. Does not appeal to her for one reason or another, I think she was looking for something with more get up and go.

Love the mazda 6, but the turning radius is like a bus and she has rented enough of those to take them off the list.

Volvo- some of my favorite seats in the world, didn't know they could be had in a stick, may look at it.

I always loved the protoge 5, but I think she wants something newer.

Matrix/vibe, she test drove an xR when they first came out and didn't really like it, I had no problem with it but it is going to be her car.

Mostly we are down to the impreza, forester and the rabbit. I was just wanting to know what people thought of the vw with their reputation since I had not looked at the new generation before.

I like the clubman, but she wants a full 4 doors, forgot to add that. Oh, and barn doors on the back? The plastic window on a miata is bad enough

Oh, and the focus, even the svt, since I owned a regular focus in the past and she did not like it that one is also off the list.

I've had no problems with my GTI. It's only got 7K miles on it though. I work with a guy who's wife dd's a 06 GTI. His has 40K on it, and it went to the dealer to have the wiring harness for the passenger in seat airbag replaced, He called them, described the symptoms, they ordered parts and he was done in 1 visit. Apparently this was a common problem on the 06's. Otherwise, I've heard good things about the MKV. And remember, the Rabbit/GTI are built in wolfsburg, not mexico like the Jettas.