Wrong time for new car?

After pestering you guys for opinions, driving an xD, a Fit, and an Elantra, and sitting in an Accent and a Mazda2 (both too small for four full-sized people), we've decided... Wrong time.

The Elantra was the frontrunner on price and mileage, but neither of us liked its Buick-ey isolation, and the total absence of manual trans cars killed it.

The new Focus was a little compelling on paper, but my impression of Focus build quality isn't stellar (fingers crossed for the new gen), and in combination with the first-year-of-new-model gamble and the first year of Ford's direct-injection engine, that didn't seem like a good bet.

But it seems silly to buy anything else when next year's cars will all be direct injection, and the 2013s will be direct injection AND not be first-year models.

So, is it really just the wrong time to buy a new car? What says the GRM brain trust?

The good news is that while the next keeper has to be a high-MPG car (before we decided we wanted a four-door, she had sworn she wouldn't buy new 'til she could get 50mpg), the fleeting nature of the stopgap car has convinced my girlfriend that perhaps we can have something silly like a WRX while we wait for the companies to build what we want (and for me to build what I really want).

I think it's the wrong time to buy the type of car you're looking at.

ransom wrote: will all be direct injection, and the 2013s will be direct injection AND not be first-year models.

Direct injection = pain in the ass AFAIK. The new focus gets the same mpg as a Fiesta. Beyond that, what more can you want? A stylish, peppy, 5 door hatch that handles well and is solid with insane warranty and good reliablity? You can "what if" into the future, but eventually you have to buy or you never do. The DI cars will get what, an extra 2 or 3 mpg? And possibly be harder to maintain. At 40mpg already, that extra 2-3 ain't worth it.

In reply to HiTempguy:

Direct injection might seem like a PITA now, but I suspect everything will have it in short time. So, I figure I better get used to it.

If I was the OP, I'd wait.

ReverendDexter wrote: I think it's the wrong time to buy the type of car you're looking at.

Good and important distinction. There are a lot of cars out there that are simply stellar. Wish I was in the market for more of a fun car...

HiTempguy wrote: Direct injection = pain in the ass AFAIK. The new focus gets the same mpg as a Fiesta. Beyond that, what more can you want? A stylish, peppy, 5 door hatch that handles well and is solid with insane warranty and good reliablity? You can "what if" into the future, but eventually you have to buy or you never do. The DI cars will get what, an extra 2 or 3 mpg? And possibly be harder to maintain. At 40mpg already, that extra 2-3 ain't worth it.

The new Focus already has direct injection, which is part of why it gets the stellar mileage (I think the Civic's the only thing cracking 40 without DI). When you look at the 5 mpg boost the Elantra got, it sure looks like DI is significant.

And I just have reservations about buying first-year tech from anybody, especially for a car I expect to keep for the next decade.

I also expect not to work on this one myself. I have plenty of projects, and this one will probably go to the shop even out of warranty. Even warranty repairs involve time off, loaner cars, etc... So if DI's harder to work on, I'm not that bothered. If it's less reliable, that's another story...

You're absolutely right that you can what-if yourself into oblivion. It's like waiting for the ideal time to buy a PC: Never, ever going to happen. My question is whether right now is more or less exactly the wrong time for this type of car ('this type' being a specifier I should have added orignally). The current crop is great, but when next year's Mazda3 gets the Sky DI engine, spending a decade getting 15% worse mileage just seems short-sighted.

If you've got the cash, it's rarely ever a bad time to buy a car, unless you've got solid proof of a serious improvement in the upcoming generation (see the new Mustang).

Osterkraut wrote: If you've got the cash, it's rarely ever a bad time to buy a car, unless you've got solid proof of a serious improvement in the upcoming generation (see the new Mustang).

Bolded, the exact reason for the question, with respect to virtually every compact getting DI engines in the next year. Or I'd probably be finalizing my order with the credit union right about now...

Though it does make me wonder how true the first-year curse is in these modern times. It does seem like there's usually something wrong with the first year of a new generation, though not always catastrophically.

I'm perpetually thinking about buying a new car, and I've come to the conclusion that it's always the wrong time to buy because there will always be something around the corner.

That said, I'm not sure there is a first-year curse anymore either. I am greatly interested in the Mazda3 SkyActiv, but because it combines DI with high compression (14:1, I believe) I want to wait to see how it ends up being (mainly, can it meet the economy claims Mazda is making). But, if I needed a car now, I would just buy whatever I liked the best.

DI is a fun way to get massive torque out of a 4 banger at ludicrous compression levels (for FI applications) Add corn and proceed to awesome.

ransom wrote:

Osterkraut wrote: If you've got the cash, it's rarely ever a bad time to buy a car, unless you've got solid proof of a serious improvement in the upcoming generation (see the new Mustang).

Bolded, the exact reason for the question, with respect to virtually every compact getting DI engines in the next year. Or I'd probably be finalizing my order with the credit union right about now...

Oh so you don't have the cash. Wait, then. Then you can look at the GDI versions.

ransom wrote: ...The fleeting nature of the stopgap car has convinced my girlfriend that perhaps we can have something silly like a WRX while we wait for the companies to build what we want (and for me to build what I *really* want).

Rationalization is divine :D

Osterkraut wrote: Oh so you don't have the cash. Wait, then. Then you can look at the GDI versions.

Correct you are. Just curious, though; I'd have thought that buying the current model would be just as ill-advised in cash as if financing. My thought process being that you'd still take the heaviest depreciation hit in order to trade to the GDI later, and so would be better off waiting to buy the keeper the first time. Or are my notions of rolling-off-the-lot depreciation outdated?

ransom wrote:

Osterkraut wrote: Oh so you don't have the cash. Wait, then. Then you can look at the GDI versions.

Correct you are. Just curious, though; I'd have thought that buying the current model would be just as ill-advised in cash as if financing. My thought process being that you'd still take the heaviest depreciation hit in order to trade to the GDI later, and so would be better off waiting to buy the keeper the first time. Or are my notions of rolling-off-the-lot depreciation outdated?

Why would you trade for the GDI later? I guess if you consider the GDI "the keeper," but I agree with most of the thread, you're making a whole bunch of trouble for a few mpg and a few hp. Not jumping from 300 to 400hp like in the Mustang's case.

Buy the Focus. Its the class of its field, fun to drive, offers as many features as you care to pay for, looks great(inside and out) and Ford's are screwed together pretty well these days. Drive it for a few years, if you still enjoy the car, grind someone for the extended warranty and enjoy the drive.

In reply to Osterkraut:

For a ten-year car, I'd consider 3-5mpg significant. But more immediately, I understand your reasoning now.

The significance of 3-5 mpg depends on how many miles you drive per year. If you only do 5k per year it's less important than if you do 30k. Also, depending on what you current fuel mileage is, waiting a year may cost more than you'll save with any improvements on the next model year.

I don't know what the difference in maintenance cost is between DI and conventional is, but at 40 mpg the small savings from 3-5 mpg could be eaten up quickly.

As far as I know the Elantra isn't DI for 2011 or 2012. But there are supposed to be steering and suspension improvements for 2012. Nothing major, or and definitely not enough to cause me any buyers remorse for my 2011.

Joe

In reply to jstand:

The Elantra is actually DI for both 2011 and 2012. As far as I know, it was the first of the bunch.

As sort of referenced in the original post, part of this is a matter of principle as well. More for my girlfriend than for me, but for the household appliance, I can get behind it. We want to vote with our dollars for an emphasis on efficiency.

The reality is that I work from home and she mostly commutes by bike or bus (parking downtown utterly eclipses gas costs by an easy order of magnitude), so it's not a strict question of what will cost us the least. That would be a cheap used econobox I could keep running.

Try looking for $2-5K cars that inspire you and are still fun.

NUT-THINKout there!

ransom wrote: In reply to jstand: The Elantra is actually DI for both 2011 and 2012. As far as I know, it was the first of the bunch.

I'm not sure where you received you info on DI, but it isn't.

Here's the 2012 spec sheet: Hyundai spec sheet

It will be interesting to see how much they squeeze out of it when it goes DI.

But even without DI, I typically average 37+ per tank on my commute @ 65-70mph on cruise (65 miles each way), and 34.5 mpg overall since new (8700 mile on it now) with the auto trans.

In reply to jstand:

You are absolutely correct. And I'm sitting here wondering how I managed to find a number of sources which all made me think it was.

In this thread, apparently I do a spectacular impression of someone with an ADHD middle-schooler's research capabilities. And then I try to extrapolate from my poor research to actionable findings. I hang my head.

That's all the more impressive without DI. They really are doing a bang-up job over at Hyundai.

The Focus is not Fords first DI vehicle. Just sayin'.