Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options
Economy Sedans (~$16k-$20k)
This discussion has been closed.
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
The routine service experience at the dealer has been wonderful. They treat us with respect, and do the work well. Of course, the only experience we have with them is for normal routine preventive maintenance such as oil changes, etc. But, we can get the car in for an oil change without an appointment, and turnaround time is less than a couple of hours at most. The dealership physical plant is quite new, and the customer waiting area would put many hotel lobbies to shame, with plasma TV's hanging from stone walls, free WiFi, free and expedient shuttle service to and from work, free breakfasts and free coffee to order, and a complimentary car wash after your car's service. It's as classy as any Lexus dealership I've visited. This dealer is a multi-brand "megastore" carrying Toyota, Scion, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Chrysler, and VW - all with dedicated and standalone showrooms and service areas.
No bits or pieces have fallen off the Elantra, and we directly compared the Elantra to the previous generation Civic and current generation Corolla in terms of panel gaps, overall apparent build quality, and attention to detail, and it was the equal to either of them. So, we bought the Elantra GLS for $13,500 delivered, including Tax, Title, and License, and have been very happy with the decision.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a Hyundai based upon our experience so far. Hyundai today is not the Hyundai of the '80s, and is a far better car than most American consumers perceive it to be.
That's good to know. The only Hyundai I've driven were the rental cars in Guam and believe me Hyundai does not stand up to rental car abuse although the place claims that they sell them off every 2 years. Still The oldest one they have is about a year old so who knows.
Rental cars are usually falling apart because people beat them. I like renting from this place because there is no drama from them. One phone call and a car is reserved and waiting for me. I pay half the going rate as I am a repeat customer and the Hyundai works ok for what I have to do. I wouldn't say it' exciting in anyway. But it does get pretty good economy in Guam which has no highways.
I showed one to my wife and she didn't seem very enthused. But if the price is well below a civic it might be worth taking a chance on. but her car is up to her. me I need a fun car as i have to do all the long haul driving.
I guess we can check out out when we get back to the US.
Thanks.
But... as long as you are looking at a manual Mazda3, and also looking at a Fusion, have you looked at the MT Mazda6 VE? In my town, it is available w/o negotiating for $16,300 + T&L, and it is a very well equipped car and has ride and handling more like that of the Mazda3, but more interior room.
If you are looking in the mid-sized space, a couple of other cars to consider that would fall into the $16k price range are the Optima and Sonata. Also have you checked out the Elantra SE? It would be less than $15k for a 2007 with MT, and has a smooth, quiet ride, bevy of features, and very good seat comfort (mid-sized interior room, compact outside).
I'm not a Ford fan, but the Fusion is one I would consider.
Styling is purely subjective, but I like the 3 better than the Fusion, although both are decent-looking. The 4-cylinder in the 3 is smoother than the 4-cylinder in the Fusion (at least the Mazda 2.3L, not sure about the Mazda 2.0L), and offers better performance and gas mileage, due to it's (slightly) smaller size.
Inside, the 3 wins easily. Interior materials are much nicer in the 3, with better fit-and-finish and higher quality than the Fusion.
As for your other concerns:
Road noise: The Fusion is quieter due to the softer base-model tires and wheels, compared to the 17" wheels/tires on the 3.
Ride quality: IMO, this depends on the type you prefer. If you like to actually "feel" the road, and how the car is reacting to it, the 3's your choice. If you like a smoother ride, with more isolation, pick the Fusion.
Seat comfort: For my 6'-3", 250 lb. build, both front seats are comfortable and nice for long trips. The Fusion has more rear leg and head room, but the 3 is okay for short trips, or if the only riders you expect are kids.
Features: The 3 by a long shot, considering you can get a well-equipped Mazda 3S, compared to a close-to-bare-bones Fusion.
IMO, for the price, I'd get the 3, since it's more fun-to-drive for me. Either way, make sure you test-drive both cars as much as possible before making a decision, and good luck!
it never bothered me, but i did notice the hushed nature of the rabbit when we bought one after the civic.
having said that, the honda's engine was ten times better sounding, so i didn't mind. But it was no deal breaker.
even the competition that has been labeled 'quiter' is only marginally so. I think only the elantra has the one up on the civic in that regard...and even then, its still only marginal.
I had an 06 civic, fresh when they came out; the only 'issue' was the visors. Granted every car manufactuerer can have bugs, and when you are new to the brand, its a recepie for disaster....if i was targettunning, i'd be mad at my experience too...but unlike him, i don't write honda off, but thats due to my current and previous experience with other honda's.
sound advice: never buy first year if you feel like it could potentially piss you off to no end.
having said that, the our fit is amazing!
I feel the road noise is louder in the Mazda than in my Civic actually. Could be because the Traction T/A's are just a noiser tire compared th the RS-A's that I'm currently running on the Civic.
The Sandman
I also found current incentives on the Mazda6 with automatic that bring it down to 18,725. That equals the mazda3 price with 2.3 and auto. to see it advertized for 15,400 is suprising, making total discount over 5000. I drive a 1970's interstate for 27 miles in a straight line each way, with potholes and bumps and too many trucks. I'm seeking isolation, not feel. 20 more miles after that on perfectly straight roads to reach home. Today for example, took 110 minutes to fight thru traffic including gas stop and grocery stop.
I have come up with the following options:
2005 Hyundai Elantra GT 5 door hatchback w/51000 miles. Fully equipped with leather, sunroof, etc., a real 'looker' at $9200 .. OR ..
2002 Nissan Sentra GXE w/ 37000 miles. Standard equipment, no remote (which troubles me for a kid at college, also Sentras don't seem to score as well as Elantra in web chats and CU.org). The price for this is $8950 .. OR ..
2006 Hyundai Elantra GLS 4 door w/ 11000 miles. The dealer wants $10,800. More than I wanted to spend, but I am intrigued by being left with 49000 miles of the 60000 mile Hyundai warranty.
Just curious on your thoughts on these options. Is it worth the extra $ to go with the Elantra with low mileage?
I can also get my hands on a 2006 Elantra GLS sedan with 45000 for $9500, but I think I would go with the aforementioned 05 Elantra H/B with more bells and whistles.
Thanks.
I have a 2005 Elantra hatch (though not a GT... those leather seats get REAL hot in the Texas sun which is something to consider), and it is a pretty good car. I know the dealerships in Dallas-Fort Worth area have been great so far, and I think there is a good one in Waco, and there are also some down by Austin.
And no matter what, if the car she gets doesn't have window tint, I know a place that does it for dealerships that charges $140. A good investment down here. (They're in Cleburne, about 60 miles from Waco.) She might be able to find a similar deal closer.
Part of the warranty is free courtesy towing too... just in case.
Let me guess.... Baylor?
If the $10,800 is the dealer's asking price, try to work it down some.
Also, it may interest you to know that the Elantra is Edmunds.com's top pick for a used car in this class.
I am leaning away from the high mileage 05 Elantra GT hatch w/ leather and sunroof. It is now between an 06 Elantra GLS sedan in Waco (w/ 12000 miles) or an 06 Elantra GLS hatch (w/ 33000 miles) at McNatt in Denton. I tried the Eckert Hyundai but they don't have much stock. They are both about the same price; the 12000 mile car was in service for 12 months and the 33000 mile car was in service for 19 months.
I know the 12000 mile car is a better deal, but I think my daughter actually likes the hatchback better than the sedan.
I need to decide today. I think I can't go wrong either way and it seems like a pretty good decision in the +/- $11000 out the door range.
Thanks for your assistance.
the elantra scores much better in the crash tests.
10,800 for a GLS elantra is actually a very good price to start from. Wholesale on that car is only a few hundred less. Edmunds shows trade in about 10,000.
When I moved my son from college in Iowa back to Texas, all this stuff:
fit into the Elantra. If you don't believe me, see for yourself:
Okay, just playin
Now he's a waiter at a movie tavern and going to community college.
And... umm... he drove my Elantra once (on topic! :P )
The Sandman
The local Hyundai dealership, who will service the car, indicated that the 5/60k mile warranty is fully transferable. The 100k powertrain is not transferable and therefore those issues would be covered in the 5/60k warranty.
I know more than a few guys who love/hate Chevy or Ford depending and for various reasons. Some don't consider Mazda to be Ford, others do and some won't buy it because it's a foreign car.
I think Mazda has some cars that are basically Fords and other cars that are not and are mostly Japanese with no or little Ford intervention. From my way of looking at it the Speed3 is a Japanese car and I don't see anything in Fords lineup that is similar to it.
I know the guy who originally posted this and he really does have bad luck with Fords!
Oh well I digress.
I just stumbled across this forum and had to respond to your post...
YOU ARE OBSESSED WITH YOUR 1996 FORD CONTOUR!!!!
You bring that car up ALL of the time in ALL different forums. Even if it has no relevance to the conversation, you somehow find away to work it in.
We get it, you like the car, it was a fantastic car, it was a wonderful car. But please, get over it and move on! It is a 12 year old vehicle that hasn't been sold here in years! Please stop comparing it to modern day vehicles.
Maybe you should try the "Classic Cars" forum.
An E36 M3 sedan can carry 4 in reasonable comfort (actually the coupe isn't terrible in the back), is as fast as an RX7, and is a heck of a lot more fun to drive than a current Camcord.
A mid/late-90s Civic SI was a track demon, ran on cheap gas, and easy to maintain. Ditto the Integra. Today, the Civic is about the same; not worse, but not a whole lot better either. The Integra/RSX got axed, Acuras are only for grown ups. In the midsize sedan chat the Honda zealots are praising their mid-90s Accords even 3 generations later.
Excuse me for not being about to get excited about a battery powered, rubber band transmission, isolation chamber of a transportation module :P :sick:
1.exterior design: Honda...I still like the design of this best because it looks sleek and modern. Elantra...I like this design also but it looks less sleek than the Honda. Overall it wouldn't deter me from buying the Hyundai however
2. Fit and finish outside: A wash, since both have tight body panel gaps and a good paint job with no flaws I saw. Both have doors that sound substantial when shut (this probably doesn't mean anything except a tinny sound is a turn-off to me). Of note,the inside of the Elantra trunk lid is unfinished (no insulation pad) while the EX Civic has one BUT I believe lesser model Civics don't have one either.
3.Fit and finish inside: I didn't see any glaring problems with the Hyundai and nothing fell of in my hand while we had it. The Elantra used hard plastics liberally in several areas. So does Honda in the Civic. The difference is the "quality" of those plastics. How do I define quality? Well, I have been vocal about the easily scratched door panel plastic on our Civic. It scratches when you look at it and my wife who has long nails scratches it while groping for the door pull. As a result the door looks like its off a 10 year old car. I deliberately tried to scratch (with my fingernails) the plastic on the door of the Elantra..nada didn't scratch. Will keys or a screwdriver scratch it? Probably. The fabric material on the Hyundai seats looks,well, economy car-ish. The pattern is unremarkable and it is one of those "just there" things that while not offending doesn't cause you to break out in dance either. The Civic also has fabric seat material and when new it looked a little more classy than the Elantra. You will notice I said "when new" because despite having only 10,5XX miles the driver side seat has a worn patch. Yes, the pattern has worn off (I have a new cover waiting at my dealer). So, while the Hyundai is a bit more unremarkable looking it wasn't worn a bit despite having about the same number of miles in 1/3 the time. Also of note, on our Civic the door sills are painted (body color) metal. So what? Well over time I find scrapes and scratches and mars from shoes dragged over it as we get in/out. On the Elantra there is a heavy plastic cover over the sill. It doesn't show all those marks. A personal preference? You bet. I thought I liked the two tier instrument panel on the Civic until I drove the Elantra which has standard clearly read gages on one level..maybe I just got used to it and will again no doubt. I really like the XM radio as found on the Elantra (as part of a package on the cheapest model...standard on the rest. I looked into dealer installing it on our Civic and it was about $800 at the time plus ripping out half the interior trim and dash..no thanks!
4.Ride and drive: Right off the top the Elantra was (felt) more roomy inside. I always thought the Honda had a lot of road (tire maybe) noise and wind noise too. The Elantra was considerably quieter in both regards, we could actually talk at normal speech levels. The Honda has trigger quick movements, twitch that small steering wheel and off you go. This actually was another thing I had to get used to when we first bought it. The Elantra was...what?...normal? in its response to wheel movements. This is not to say it doesn't respond to inputs well just not so instantly. Does this bother me in any way? Nope. Routine handling...what can I say? neither car makes me feel uncomfortable in curvy stretches of mountain driving. Keep in mind I am not in a rally either. Ah the ride. The Civic is taunt..firm even. It certainly isn't uncomfortable..to me anyhow even though it has a go-cart feel. But the Elantra is much better at delivering a smoother, less firm (softer) ride and may be more tolerable on poor roads.
5.) Performance: The Civic has about the same power as the Elantra but the Elantra felt less stressed in accelerating to speed on an on ramp or passing. The Civic has a 5 speed automatic transmission that is never happy to be in 5th. It is constantly downshifting on the slightest grade. Annoying to me and in the end the 4 speed automatic in the Elantra allows the engine to rev at about the same RPM at highway speeds as the Honda. I will say the Elantra seemed to maintain speed up the side of one mountain better than the Honda. No official timing here but seat of the pants only.
5.Fuel economy: Although I have not used the Civic in exactly the same drive scenario and terrain as the Elantra it delivered better economy on the couple of road trips we used it on. We used 1/2 of a 14 gallon tank (OK a bit more) on the Elantra over the week-end rental. I drove 287.5 miles and refilled with 8.4 gallons of regular to find that 34.2 mpg IS possible (at least) on the Elantra. While we have gotten as much as 38 mpg on the Civic it was under different conditions so I cannot directly compare the two. I have a feeling however that the Civic has the edge here though.
Summary: I did not miss the Civic and could easily drive an Elantra instead. Of course I would desire an upgrade for a better model as is my custom when buying cars. I did not find the Elantra to be dramatically inferior to our Civic. To the contrary, I found it to be superior in a variety of areas. I didn't even touch on some standard features the Elantra has not available in the Civic...sure do miss those heated mirrors for instance. Finally, although the Elantra can be regarded as more "conventional" in both exterior and interior design there is no reason not to consider one if you are looking at this class car. I hope this was helpful to someone. Long winded I know but what comparison isn't?
The Focus has apparently lost its sporty handling and has become softer, and also quieter, and has an updated interior and exterior. The signature feature on the new Focus appears to be Sync. Oh, and blue accent lighting in cup holders ala Scion. The target market is pretty clear.
The Focus coupe looks better to me than the sedan and could be a good buy if Ford has updated the safety along wiht everything else. The Astra five-door starts at $16k with a lot of equipment (ABS, ESC, 16" wheels etc.).
Will they be good enough to compete with the Civic, Elantra, Lancer, Rabbit, Sentra et. al.? And of course the new Corolla coming in a few months?
Edit: I just priced out a Focus coupe with AT equipped as closely as possible to an Elantra SE (one of my favorites in this class), and the price tag is just under $18k, or a little more than the Elantra. And ESC is not available on the Focus, but standard on the Elantra SE. Not so good a deal after all.
Thanks!
Yes they have been slipping. Their quest to sell the most has really hurt their build quality. As I have said before, they have peaked as an auto maker and now others are just as good or better. The last five years have not looked too good for this company and hopefully this will spread the wealth to others, and loosen perceptions.
On another matter, does the 01 hatch have a cabin air filter for the a/c and if so, how often should it be replaced? What about the fuel filter in terms of replacement?
Thanks.
The '01+ Elantras have provision for a cabin air filter, but at least in the early cars of that generation, they did not come from the factory with the filter. But it's pretty easy to replace, based on what I've read in the Elantra maintenance discussion here--just need to pop out the glove box--it's behind it. I think there's photos on the replacement steps in the owner's manual, but I don't have ready access to it now.
(You might want to ask the questions re Elantra maintenance in the Elantra discussions, you might get more responses.)
Is the IIHS biased for certain manufacturers? Case in point: the xD was recently introduced. Yet the IIHS has already run both frontal and side crash tests on the car (apparently the IIHS itself did the frontal crash test; sometimes the manufacturer does it and reports the results to the IIHS.) Some other small cars, introduced over a year ago (e.g. Elantra and Sentra), have not had side crash tests yet. And we're not talking about low-volume niche cars in the case of the Elantra and Sentra. I wonder if the IIHS favors some manufacturers, such as Toyota, over others when it decides which cars to test when? :confuse:
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=622
For instance, my latest rig, a 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS, is made by a company that's been in the bid-ness a long time making Lancer's. Why would I think they would produce an accordian-collapsing Lancer all of a sudden that might render me and my family unsafe?. Like a lot of things in life it's a common sense application.
To me, the passion of purchase is not even there if a person is gonna hold off buying a particular vehicle because of a poor or even an average crash test result.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick