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BMW and Mercedes were using alpha-numerics decades before everyone started copying them! Besides, most BMW and MB owners refer to their car simply by the 'series' or 'class'- (3-series, E-class).
Because I always hate writing out the full model name of my car- Mazda3 s Touring 5-door and the lower-case 's' looks odd, when it could just as easily be 'S'. Automatic spelling checks always want to capitalize it also...i
It's unforgivable because I'm OCD and it bugs me...
So what's the best car in this group? Gotta be the 2012 Focus right? :P
thank you
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Have you checked out what Hyundai plans for 2012 Accent, Volster and Elantra. I think So. Korea is on the ri.se.
I'm waiting for the VW Polo,but each day the compacts are getting loaded up. They ought to be with gas so high. Most of the compact cars are upgrading to heated seats,moonroofs ,grab bars,Bluetooth and consoles. :shades:
I also like the Golf, as it still has the high-quality interior and the more useful hatchback configuration, compared to the Jetta. But... the Golf isn't a sedan, although it is a compact.
I am very excited about the new Focus, the Mazda3 (excepting the smiley front end), the Impreza WRX and the VW GTI. I think any of these cars match the interior volume of my '93 Accord. I am pretty keen on the sport models of these compacts - I want to see the Focus ST (but I fear it will have a psuedo-stick instead of a true manual transmission), although I am partial to the WRX sedan already.
Depending on my driving situation come 2015 or so, I might splurge a bit & go the used route with some more creature comforts like leather/moonroof...something a bit more upscale than a Civic. But that's a long way off & there's a very good chance that I won't be able to drive when that time comes. Time will tell.
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
When I went to buy my Mazda3, I had every intention of buying the 's' 4-door sedan. But when I saw it parked next to an 's' 5-door (identical color), I was sold....hatchback all the way!
The 2012 Mazda will be getting a facelift and the smiley-face front-end will be toned down substantially!!! I was ready to pull the trigger on a 2011 Mazda3 s Sport 5-door, but I've decided to hold off and see how the 2012 're-fresh' turns out first.
But I like the concept of upright roomy seating and being able to sleep or camp in the back and haul stuff in a pinch. Affordably. And I love the fact that it comes with a std. If only it was AWD there would probably already be one in my drive.
Anyway, if i do end up with one, I'm going to get about 2 or 3 molded white Billy-Bob teeth made up professionally, and I'm going to randomly stagger-mount them in the grill. They're gonna be so white no one will miss them. Altho, maybe I should have them yellowed? lol (Hopefully no one tries to steel them though :sick: )
It's the best thing anyone with a smiley could do. That is if you're comfortable being able to laugh at yourself in the mirror. I am and do all the time..
Styling is subjective. I happen to like the crisp lines of the Forte hatch.
This article is not yet online (I couldn't find it, anyway), but I did find two first-drive articles, and a lot of the content from these two reviews shows up in the March article. Check them out, if you want to see why Automobile thinks Focus and Elantra are at the top of the class:
http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/driven/1101_2012_ford_focus_drive/index.htm- - - l
http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/driven/1012_2011_hyundai_elantra_drive/inde- - - x.html
From the looks and description of the Focus hatch, it looks like a great small car--great handling, plenty of power, excellent fuel economy, high-quality interior, versatility of a hatch. The sedan isn't bad looking either, but I think I like the looks of the Elantra sedan better. Plus given the choice between a sedan and hatch, I'll take the hatch--especially when it looks better than the sedan, which the Focus hatch does to me. I just wonder what the Focus will end up listing at, with a modicum of equipment.
Edit: I see pricing for the Focus is up on Edmunds.com, so I priced an SE hatch with 6AT and cruise control--so pretty basic, but something I could live with. MSRP is $20.3k! Or about the same as a well-equipped Cruze 1LT, or an Elantra Limited. Adding options to get the Focus' equipment level up to, say, the Elantra Limited puts the MSRP to nearly $24k. It will have to be a really great car to justify that price premium, IMO.
You can get a bare bones compact(even with midsized interior) for $15k or something with all the bells and whistles for $24k. Quite a spread and quite a choice which is the way it should be. Some people completely balk at $23-$24k for a compact car but they are much more substantial cars than they were 15 years. My first car was a 1960 Falcon with 13" rims, 3 speed on the column, no power of any kind....not even steering. No seat belts, air bags, head restraints, crash resistant steel bars in doors or crumple type front and rear ends. And people wonder why they weigh so much more now. LOL.
But there's probably enough buyers out there who want a loaded compact and are willing to pay ~$25k for one to make it worth manufacturing them, e.g. retired folks who used to drive a Buick, but now realize they don't need a car that size but still want all the luxury features. So they'll buy one small, loaded, car for themselves, and a minivan or 3-row SUV to convey the grandkids.
I think many, whether luxury car buyers or not, tend overreact to gas prices and mpg figures.
The average person drives about 12,000 miles per year. Even a large difference, like 25 mpg vs. 35 mpg does not amount to all that much money...25 vs. 35 mpg would mean about $400 per year at $3 per gallon.
$3 vs. $4 per gallon would be a difference of $342 at 35 mpg and $480 at 25 mpg.
People get all worked up over differences like this that amount to $30-40 per month in gas costs, even going so far as to buy a new more fuel efficient vehicle to alleviate this cost and spending more than they will ever save from the reduced fuel purchases in the process.
Case in point - the TSX is actually the current generation Accord in Japan. What they ship us as the Accord is one size larger over there. There is a hefty markup over the price in Japan for the vehicle when they ship it to the U.S. as a result of their smoke and mirrors in doing this swap. (there is no "Acura" brand in Japan - it's all "Honda")
I think the new Buick will sell very well.
I agee that one shouldn't buy a new vehicle just to get better MPG. That, I agree, is foolish as just the sales tax and fees alone would pretty much eat up any savings even if kept 5 years or more. However, don't know your situation but $30-$40 dollars a month is a consideration for me when looking at a potential purchase. Not a deal breaker but definitely a consideration.
Did you not shop around to save a couple of thou when you bought your last car? That's about what $30-$40 a month would be over a 5 year period. If it's not important to save that why did you bother shopping around? It all figures into the overall cost of ownership. Most luxury vehicles take premium and the thought of $4 gas and more for premium is a consideration if one is going to buy a new car. I can afford a luxury car but preferably I'd like to get decent MPG if possible. One thing is range. The less I have to fill up the better especially this time of year. Just sayin that IMO a lot more of those kind of buyers are taking MPG into consideration.
Just read where BMW, Infiniti are both coming out with small 4 cyl front wheel drive cars in the near future. Times are changing.
In the case of an increase in gas prices, there is not much that you can do as you already own whatever car you previously decided to buy. Undoing that previous decision is often more expensive than living with it and paying for the gas.
And fwiw, the Cruze is not "aka Verano". They may have some common underpinnings, but are much different cars--different bodies, different interiors, different engines. For starters.
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
Pretty expensive floor mats,(wink) Usually an option costing that much would include several expensive items...not one or two. I'm sure the average person gives some thought to adding that $2000 option or not.
Going from 25 to 35(40% increase) is kind of extreme but if I buy another SUV/CUV it will probably be an increase in MPG of that much or more. My current 8 yr old SUV is rated at 15/17. Won't be too hard to increase that by 40% if I buy another.
In the case of an increase in gas prices, there is not much that you can do as you already own whatever car you previously decided to buy. Undoing that previous decision is often more expensive than living with it and paying for the gas.
You're still talking about trading/buying a new car just to get better mpg and I agreed that would be a stupid decision. My point was that if one is going to buy a new car anyway, even a luxury brand, MPG has become a consideration for those buyers where it didn't used to be.
- at a presumed amortized rate of doubling your money every 7 years
- if you start work at 16 to 20 years old and retire at 65
- and if gas never ever went up in price during that entire period
you would have an extra $190000.
So we know that from the example above, in the real world, you would have a lot more than 190k after 50 years of that 35 bucks / mo savings.
I don't know about you, but that amount of money makes the difference between me maybe being able to retire at 65 vs possibly even being dead before being able to retire.
Everything is relative to what one gets used to or expects. $35/mo is a lot more money to someone only making 20k a year, compared to a household income of 100k +. The difference is a multiple of 5. Five times that $35./mo is enough money to lease a new car every 3 years that will always be under wty for the next 50 years.
So IOW's, $35/mo is not an inconsequential amount....to some of us..
I have no sympathy for those who lack the ability to compare the cost of making a coffee at home and putting it in a thermos, vs those who actually waste more dollars in gasoline as they sit in the drive-thru line, waiting to buy that coffee.
Milllions spend so much on cigarettes that they could literally put each of their kids in a new home half paid for when they fly the coup.
How many times have you sat around a camp fire at night and listen to people proclaim that they can't figure out why they can never do better than live hand to mouth. This will be the same person that leaves their 4x4 Chevy pickup (only running on 7 cylinders) idling at the 7/11 while they pop in to buy smokes and pop and chips at 3 times the cost at a grocery store. Why did they leave the truck running? Cuz they can't afford to buy a new battery...and so it goes..
Anyway, off topic..I'll stop there.
Chiming in on the examples of other areas many people spend money without the concerns that gasoline seems to cause, how about going out for lunch every day. I'm sure some spend $35 a week that way and maybe $35 a month just on the soda that they have with it instead of drinking water.
Expecting 10% annual returns, what a quaint notion...
I'm not going to get the calculator out, but I suspect that the math I indicated, did not depend on a rate of return as high as 10% annually. Otherwise, the retirement age might have been able to be pushed up a few years sooner.
But nonetheless, I got your point. I will assume your smiley con, means you got mine also.
We're in the middle of a 1970s era inflation cycle. Nothing short of hard assets will save you, because nothing will consistently give you those sorts of returns in this economy.
Thanks,
Jeannine Fallon
Corporate Communications
Edmunds.com
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I feel very much like you. I really lament the size growth of sedans over the last 20 years.
Most of the recent best small cars have grown too much (TSX) or gotten cheaper inside (Jetta). The Mazda 3 is a pretty nice car, but not luxury. The A4 and MB C class are much nicer but also much more expensive. The BMW 3 series is more austere and when loaded is quite expensive. I don't know enough about the Volvo S40 but that might be an option. The new Cruze is almost midsized but when loaded it is very nice inside. For mileage the new Elantra might be good, but is probably not as "nice". I hear the Kia Forte is pretty nice as well.
Cruze gets 5 stars, as does the A4 & Jetta. The Forte gets 4 stars with a warning.
Corolla, Elantra, and some others have yet to be tested.
Can't we just stop messing with the size?
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The other ridiculously cheap move is all the electronics that mfgrs are offering. I have seen people rule out a certain great car, just because it didn't have a USB outlet.
That little scam they (especially the Koreans) have going, will go down in history as one of the biggest profit moves ever. All this iPod, Bluetooth, USB stuff costs them literally pennies, yet pull hundreds and even thousands by the very strategic option packages. Most cars already come pre-wired for stuff like this because it would cost more to 'not' have that slot in the factory assembly line allocated for the 'odd ball'.