Since Everyone's Talking About Daily Drivers...Efficient Automatic Cars That Aren't Awful To Drive?

In reply to ConiglioRampante :

Oh yes, this goes without saying for any "enthusiast" car. If you buy used, you have to make sure it is a clean example and has no evidence of prior modification. Way back in '05 when I bought my first WRX, I ran into this firsthand. I had tested a 2002 WRX sedan at a local dealer, and the sales guy was talking up and down about how clean the car was. Immediately on the drive, I smelled coolant. Looking at the engine, I could see new hardware near the downpipe, which told me that someone had ham-fistedly swapped either the downpipe or the turbo itself. Sales guy was "oblivious" and said it was "normal". Later found out that someone else locally bought it and it was 100% modded and haphazardly returned to stock. This is why I prefer new if at all possible with cars like this. 

100%. I love the car but the average MK7 GTI owner is generally the lowest common denominator in terms of modding them.

Fortunately it's very easy to scan and check for the number of flashes that have been done. If it has any more than those documented at the dealer it's worth taking pause. 

I tune it myself because A LOT of the aftermarket does some real haphazard stuff like numbing the hell out of the knock sensors, way too much timing for pump fuel, etc. Saw one recently where one big name tuner has an OTS tune that was targeting 0.90 lambda at all times under load even at 27psi. Only one I've seen like that, but probably a weird box code that they didn't optimize or something.

That said they take some crazy abuse and live at 400whp for quite a while. 

Finding a well documented car from a more mature enthusiast is probably the best bet.

As much as I want to tell you to buy a GTI/GLI with DSG...there are times in life it might make sense to fully commit to driving a boring, comfortable, reasonably efficient vehicle.   Embrace the beige.  Avalon, Lexus, Mazda6, Accord, etc would probably work well.  Because you're in heavy traffic, you'll benefit more from a hybrid.  

I'd prioritize which ones have the best fitting seats & infotainment.

Rather than Mazda3, take a look at the CX-30.  I had one as a rental & it's essentially a safari'd Mazda3 w/AWD.  The auto trans worked pretty well.  Android auto was good once you get use to Mazda's wheel-selector.  It's pretty small, and visibility isn't great...but it cornered pretty flat and averaged mid-20 mpgs. Retail (new) is under $30k.

In reply to Hoondavan :

The CX-30 is a great little CUV. I checked these out when we were car shopping last year for a new ride for the wife. We both found it a bit cramped inside, so we moved up to the CX-50. I would actually consider a CX-50, but they are a bit out of range with the turbo engine, which I'd rather have. I do love that drivetrain. That said, they revised the shift points in the 6-speed auto to better match the N/A 2.5 in one of the CX-50s we tested. It felt much more peppy than the one in our old 2018 CX-5. 

Embrace the beige by getting a beautiful bright red Mazda seems like a pro-tip.

I would say too, look at the base integras. I'm already seeing depreciation on used ones and they are marking down new ones locally. They seem like a really good miles eaters like the GLI without the VW question marks. 

I used to own a 2021 Mazda 3 hatchback that I bought brand new in March 2021. I owned it for about 1.5 years before selling it. My notes from owning it: 

-Perfect blend of sporty and comfortable. I loved the seats and seating position in that car. I could drive it all day, but it was also fairly fun on a back road. 

-The powertrain was wonderful for commuting! Very torquey motor and the transmission was pretty intuitive for a 6AT slushbox. Whenever I put my foot down, the car did exactly what I wanted it to do. 

-The blindspots on the hatchback are horrendous. I was disappointed that Mazda prioritized style over visibility. For reference, the sedan's visibility is much better than the hatch's. 

-The back seat and trunk are much smaller than you would think for a hatchback. I was coming from an FK8 Civic Type R (long story- it hurt my knee to drive), so I was shocked at how much smaller the Mazda 3 is in comparison to the Civic. They're supposed to be competitors, but inside, the Civic felt like a substantially larger car- massive difference in back seat space and trunk/hatch capacity. 

-The doors have that thin, tinny cheap car sound and feel when you close them, but the rest of the materials inside the cabin felt very premium. It felt nicer than quite a few "luxury" cars I've driven over the years. 

-Mostly city commuting, I think I was getting somewhere around ~29-30mpg. For an AWD car with 300 ft-lbs of torque and only 6 gears, I was impressed. 

-******The car burned oil, brand new******* Yes, I followed the break-in period instructions. I think the first time I received an "add oil" message on the dashboard the car had ~3000 miles on it. It would proceed to burn about a quart of oil every 3000-3500 miles throughout the duration of my ownership. For a modern, brand new car, this was absolutely not acceptable to me. I never brought it up with a dealership (probably should have). Searching the internet led me to discover it was a fairly common problem... I'm pretty sure the culprit is supposedly the valve stem seals. I heard Mazda might have upgraded them/fixed the problem the following year. 

-When I bought the car, no one was buying cars (seemingly everyone was terrified, hiding in their basements). I'm pretty sure I bought it brand new for somewhere around ~$29k or so (it was the "base" model Mazda 3 Turbo, which was still fairly loaded in my opinion). 1.5 years later, when the market spiked, I sold it for about the same amount of money I bought it brand new for. 

In reply to bmw88rider :

Unfortunately, the auto box on the Integra is a CVT, which makes it a non-starter for me. And yeah, I know that rules out a lot of other cars, too. 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

Any updates? I commute to Dorchester from North Attleborough so I know what you mean about traffic. I WANTED a manual but after driving this commute for a while I realized I didn't want one in my DD here, as cool as it would be... 

In reply to chknhwk :

I've decided to stick with the devil I know for now. Driving a manual can be annoying in heavy traffic all the time, but it's a fun car most other times. Focusing on making it more comfortable and solving some annoyances (like the speaker issues I've detailed in my maintenance thread) to make it a better daily driver. 

That said, when it's time, there are a few cars on my short list. Most are Mazdas and Toyotas so far. 

If you can deal with a VAG product, it's hard to beat a TDI as a great efficient DD.  A golf/jetta TDI wagon will easily give mpg's in the 40's, be a very pleasant place to spend some time and haul all your crap.  If you need a more burly option, the Touareg TDI fits the bill and will still give a combined mpg of high 20's.

In reply to Tony Sestito :

I get it. Many times I wish I had a manual but then I hit the Route 3 split and change my mind. I get to work by 5:30 am and leave around 1:30 just to avoid traffic. 🙄

In reply to Tony Sestito :

I think I need a stick after all...  I was exiting an on-ramp a little spiritedly the other day and after all these thoughts about sticks I slammed the left foot down to shift.  On the brake pedal.  In an automatic.  

docwyte said:

If you can deal with a VAG product, it's hard to beat a TDI as a great efficient DD.  A golf/jetta TDI wagon will easily give mpg's in the 40's, be a very pleasant place to spend some time and haul all your crap.  If you need a more burly option, the Touareg TDI fits the bill and will still give a combined mpg of high 20's.

If I ever went down the path of VW ownership again, it would probably be a GTI. They look great, perform well, and are efficient enough. I've always appreciated them from afar, and can see myself getting into one. Something like an Audi S4/S5 also looks good on paper, but to be honest, stuff from all of the German marques scare me. Been there (albeit a long time ago), and I didn't particularly enjoy my ownership experience.  

Dude, 

Push a button and it quiets down, softens up, and gets 30mpg highway. The seats are supportive, sure, but also long-term comfortable. I am, uh, bigger and they never pinch me or get uncomfortable. Plenty of things to keep you occupied in the sit-n-go grind, and the DSG is just awesome. It is pretty darn good for a daily commuter all things considered, but not perfect. My commute is 30 some miles each way through mucho traffic, so it takes an hour. What do I choose to drive over the Elantra? 

Yep, a $1K Saab 9-3. I don't worry about if it gets dinged, at least, not as much as the Elantra. I don't care how many miles I put on it, whats another 60 per day when you have 190,000 already? Its better on gas. The seats are comfy. I have all the creature comforts. Its fast enough to keep up with traffic, but it doesn't make me want to race everyone all the time. And at 20 years old, the interior is holding up better than my Fiesta was at 5 years. Seriously, go buy an old Saab (or Volvo I'm guessing) and enjoy the luxury and quality of a bygone era on your commute. 

In reply to pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) :

Considering my '05 Volvo has been on jack stands since September, this might be dangerous advice. I would recommend going with a manual transmission if you're going Volvo, just to avoid the headaches I've encountered.

In reply to pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) :

I've thought about BOTH the Elantra N and something Swedish. Weird! 

One of the more annoying things about my Forte GT is how loud it is. It's a tarted up econobox, after all, and driving it in Normal Mode is absolutely annoying thanks to how it cuts boost and throttle response. Boost, I get, but making it more difficult to modulate throttle in a car with a MANUAL transmission is just plain dumb, so part of my startup process is to mash the Sport Mode button immediately. The Elantra N is my car cranked to 11, including the volume. It probably drives better in Normal due to the DSG, though. Wondering if they have the same annoyances I have with the Kia and terrible real-life warranty coverage that the Kia has. 

As for the Swedish side, I thought for a while my nephew was going to pass his new-to-him 1994 Volvo 850 Turbo Wagon to me, because he didn't really like it all that much. Somehow, he's made a complete 180 and now it's not only his favorite car in his fleet, he's converted it to 850/V70R-spec performance with lots of mods and maintenance. He even got a job at a Volvo dealer! Car actually changed his life for the better. 

I am still mad a tree crushed my $100 Saab 9-5. I would like to get another one in wagon form, or a turbocharged Volvo wagon of some flavor. I've even been kicking around the idea of getting a XC70 Cross Country and doing a mild lift and A/T tires for some overlanding cred that can tackle our aggro crag roads up here. They are dirt cheap.  

It's disappointing to hear you are having issues with the dealer on warranty coverage. I wonder if it's dealership driven or parent company? 

I found the local Herb Chambers was really good about it when I had my Elantra, even replacing the trans around 65k and engine around 90k. They also always put me in a demo as a loaner (sonata hybrid, Elantra GT) when there for more than a day. 

The Kia dealer (Wagner) was ok, but their loaners were older vehicles and not the cleanest (interior stains, etc). I didn't have any significant warranty issues on the Sedona, so I can't comment on their willingness to cover repairs. 

I know on the Hyundai the dealer had to get approval from the manufacturer, but this were major repairs. Hyundai even had the dealer compare pricing on long vs short block, with the cylinder head being reconditioned locally before committing to a long block. 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

No worse than some old volvo/saab.  The Mk7 GTi's are very reliable, I'd just want more space to haul people/stuff/dogs.  My Golf R was a good car but very limited in cargo capacity

In reply to No Time :

This dealer (which will remain nameless) won't touch a thing on the car. They wouldn't even do a state inspection on my car, stating that the "plates were too worn out". I brought it to a local garage on the way back home and I was in and out in less than 10 minutes. There is zero wrong with the plates, other than slight wear that any car in New England would have. Probably not a lucrative job, so they won't do it. 

So far, they have refused to warranty all the things I've complained about that should be covered, and told me they will only work on the car if I get pre-authorization from Kia themselves. I haven't pursued things further, to be fair, but I feel like I shouldn't have to go through all that and do their work for them. From other local owners' experiences, there really aren't many dealers around that are any better, either. Kia's dealer network in the Boston area is akin to going to a buy here/pay here lot. They are all awful. 

FWIW: The same owner has a Mazda store that has been good to us. So it's not necessarily the ownership group. 

It's a Boston thing.  I had tons of issues with the tire store chains there refusing to work on my cars because I had aftermarket wheels, or had done a wheel stud conversion, or hadn't bought the tires from them, or it was Friday, with a half moon, and the Red Sox had lost.  Nobody gives a flying F about any of that stuff out here in Colorado.

In reply to docwyte :

Oh, it could totally be. There's definitely a thing about doing everything by the book and/or seeking out creative ways to tell you no around here. It makes finding the good places that much sweeter. 

Tony Sestito said:

In reply to docwyte :

Oh, it could totally be. There's definitely a thing about doing everything by the book and/or seeking out creative ways to tell you no around here. It makes finding the good places that much sweeter. 

You got that right...