New small car advice

I have to have a dependable car but I really think i'll just buy a Hyundai econo car next time. Drive it till it's worn out and give it away on craigslist.

No reason an 80k mile car won't be dependable unless it was a POS to start with. But I agree re: buying out of the compact class - the current compacts are the size of a midsize from the 90's, surprisingly good room in them unless you're a giant.

It will just have annoying issues, from 70-130k were the alternator and exhaust system.

I used to put between 30 and 40k a year on them working, though with fuel where it's at my phone gets used more now. Not as many miles these days so a used car would likely be fine.

If you are going to be in Balto MD, I recommend buying your car from a dealer in MD. They handle the inspection (MD has a thorough inspection) and registration. If you buy outside of MD and have to re-register, they will make you pay based on a percentage of the value of your car.

Also, I recommend buying used. A new car in the city will just get beat. The JH school is nice, but the area is crap. My coworker told me a story about stepping over a dead body to get to school one morning. Huge heroin problem in Baltimore.

There are a ton of fun things to do in Baltimore. American Visionary Art Museum comes to mind first for the day and club Orpheus for night time fun. Federal Hill to watch the fireworks on 7/4 and all kinds of other things.
Enjoy!

When my close friend was in law school at UB he had a Mini. Even though he loved the car he said it sucked in Baltimore because the streets are in such crappy condition and the ride is so firm. Tons of fun and easy to park but uncomfortable as hell downtown.

thanks for the tip!

I'm not opposed to late-model used.

Another vote for the Golf. I know that people get pretty polarized about VW, but I have a '06 Jetta TDI and it has been absolutely flawless over the last 110k miles, returning 40mpg on average with zero maintenance issues. I would expect similar from the current Golf TDI.

Are you sure you don't have an uncle's cousin's sister who had a problem with her 230,000-mile Mk2 Golf not starting because of a dead battery? Because everyone else on this list sure has a story about someone else having a problem with a VW.

The amazing thing is that I read all of those stories, and bought the damn car anyway.

I've also known people who ended up with Honda and Toyota lemons, so there are no guarantees about quality.

Just with them the lemons are the exceptions, while with VW a trouble free cars are the rare ones.

I have been pretty happy so far with my 2011 Kia Soul Plus. I have had it for eight months and no problems so far. I am averaging 31 MPG per tank, at about 27-30 MPG around town and 33-34 MPG on the freeway. I bought it primarily because I was looking for a small wagon, and the Soul is about as close as a new car comes to that these days.

That's the 2.0 right? What speeds are you driving on the highway? And is it a standard or auto transmission?

I'm curious since I basically wrote the Soul off due to the poor MPG numbers but that is only a few MPG drop from my Civic (it gets 37-41 MPG on pure highway driving but mostly it lives in the low 30's for mixed driving).

Mazda 3


I saw one today .. Zoom zoom

Nice

A good salesman would have steered you straight to the used ones.

Good to know. Thanks!

2.0 engine with the auto transmission. Given our traffic here, my freeway speeds are usually 60-70 at most. I am the first to admit that I am not a leadfoot, and I try to drive in a fashion that maximizes MPG. I am certainly getting more than the published MPG figures. I chose this over the new Cube, Scion and Fit.

Looks like I'll have to do some more research, I drive standards so that should get a MPG or 2 but the flow of traffic is 75-85 around here. Thanks for the info though the Soul is back on the map now (especially since the thing is so bloody cheap for a nice little car).

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I would buy that in a farkin' heartbeat.

That, or a Baja bug. High curbs? No problem.