OT: Corolla/Civic/Sentra/Impreza

[uconnfan68]

I initially didn't think to consider a Subaru. My family's been Nissan/Toyota my whole life, and Honda's reputation for reliability speaks for itself. My old man suggested the Impreza on a whim, and the more I've read the more impressed I become. I will indeed be in CT, so the AWD is a huge plus.

Just remember AWD doesn’t really help you stop.

 

[uconnphil2016]

Get an impreza because of awd. Id never by a Nissan personally, they are known for being unreliable. Cant go wrong with toyota or honda

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Nissan does make some nice cars but Sentras are trash. Miles behind Civic and Corrola and I’d put Elantra ahead of it too.

Edit: Mazda is making great cars right now, too. I test drove a Mazda3 and my only complaint was a cramped cabin

I would concur
We always have been Toyota people, Camry's , I still drive a very old one that just turned 100,000 miles and will still be on the road after I’m gone.
My wife gets a new one
We’ve made the mistake of buying an Altima last go round
We have driven Corrolas and Sentries as loaners
The Toyota is much better
I can’t speak to the others but I did own a Suburu wagon in the 1970’s
Possibly the worst car ever.
Multiple heat gasket problems hopefully they improved since than.

Im

The Honda CRV is a compact SUV built on a civic platform. It comes in AWD models. from personal experience. Handles essentially as a Civic does.

The CRV
RV4
have a significantly higher price point ever than the Camry or Accord.
Especially AWD

 

[JMick]

I would concur
We always have been Toyota people, Camry's , I still drive a very old one that just turned 100,000 miles and will still be on the road after I’m gone.
My wife gets a new one
We’ve made the mistake of buying an Altima last go round
We have driven Corrolas and Sentries as loaners
The Toyota is much better
I can’t speak to the others but I did own a Suburu wagon in the 1970’s
Possibly the worst car ever.
Multiple heat gasket problems hopefully they improved since than.

Im

The CRV
RV4
have a significantly higher price point ever than the Camry or Accord.
Especially AWD

Toyotas are appliances. They're fine if you don't enjoy driving and don't push your car past 5/10ths. Personally I can't deal with the level of boredom they provide but I'm not the target market.

 

[Stainmaster]

Try them all except the Sentra, it’s crap. You may want to also consider a Mazda 3. Nice car, more sporty than the other three. If you are overly concerned with snow, a Subaru Crosstrek is essentially a lifted Impreza. Vermont is loaded with those (with snow tires). Also, the Hyundai Elantra is a decent car.

If you were looking new, I think the Civic is nicer than the Corolla, but the Corolla is freaking huge inside. Rode in two this week as an Uber passenger. Bigger than a 90s era Camry.

New is unfortunately not an option. I do concur with you on the brand-new Corolla; we rented one while on a vacation last month and I was a huge fan of the ride.

 

[Stainmaster]

what's your budget? not all car model years are equal

Roughly $5-7K with a little wiggle room in either direction.

 

[JMick]

Roughly $5-7K with a little wiggle room in either direction.

I'd get an 04 or 05 civic.

 

[uconnfan68]

Toyotas are appliances. They're fine if you don't enjoy driving and don't push your car past 5/10ths. Personally I can't deal with the level of boredom they provide but I'm not the target market.

Appliances are perfect. They only need to get you from A to B, safely. Turn the music up.

 

[whaler11]

Roughly $5-7K with a little wiggle room in either direction.

If you can come up with another $500 or so Jmick will paint some cool flames on the side.

 

[Mano]

If you can come up with another $500 or so Jmick will paint some cool flames on the side.

Do you even art bro?

 

[the Q]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to ask given the amount of Beemers and Audis mentioned in the other thread, but...

I'll be purchasing a used car sometime over the next month or two, and it's looking like it'll come down to one of these four options. If folks have experience with any of those models (specifically from model years 2006-2010), any insight you can share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

I love my legacy. But I'm 6'3 so an impreza wasn't an option.

But I test drove both and found they drove very similar.

 

[Danzz]

Imprezza by a lot.

 

[gtcam]

I initially didn't think to consider a Subaru. My family's been Nissan/Toyota my whole life, and Honda's reputation for reliability speaks for itself. My old man suggested the Impreza on a whim, and the more I've read the more impressed I become. I will indeed be in CT, so the AWD is a huge plus.

Stain - consider the Subaru
You are going to pay more but they hold value and they are reliable as hell
I've had 3 Legacy's and first two had over 260K miles and my current '11 Legacy has 162K and sounds brand new - no major repairs on the new one
The two old ones did have the head gasket issue Subaru was known for but all models after 2010 seem to have no issue
Nissans are ok but the AWD makes all the difference - my family all have Honda's and they trade them in before 100K so I can't speak the longevity of Honda
Good Luck

 

[JMick]

Imprezza by a lot.

A new one? Sure. One in his price range? No way

 

[CTMike]

Just remember AWD doesn’t really help you stop.

Tires are the only thing connecting you to the road... don’t cheap out on them if at all possible.

 

[JMick]

Tires are the only thing connecting you to the road... don’t cheap out on them if at all possible.

Shoes, mattress, tires. The three things I will never bargain hunt for.

 

[Paesano]

Shoes, mattress, tires. The three things I will never bargain hunt for.

Wise advice. Honestly, swapping good all-season tires with Blizzaks in the winter buys you more than AWD in most situations. One notable exception would be if you live on a steep hill or have a steep driveway made of gravel.

Personally, I only buy AWD cars and I still swap in Blizzaks in the winter but I live in upstate NY. We were strictly Subaru for a while but the headgasket issues soured me. Yes, they eventually went with copper based gaskets and, supposedly, the new engines have a separate coolant feed but, still. Also, there have been engine problems due to shortened piston skirts to try and improve gas mileage. Toyota and Honda quality has slipped too but that is where we turned after Subaru as they are still better. Last year I bought a 2005 Acura RL in great condition with the timing belt and water pump already done on it. The year before that I bought a 2009 Toyota Venza with stupid low mileage in it. Both cars were owned by old guys. Both cars have been great. Both have plusses and minuses. Right now, I would give the nod to Toyota. The only major quality issue they had, to my knowledge, was sludge build up on the first generation of direct injection engines. But that is better than the slush box issues Honda had in the early and mid 2000s.

 

[JMick]

Wise advice. Honestly, swapping good all-season tires with Blizzaks in the winter buys you more than AWD in most situations. One notable exception would be if you live on a steep hill or have a steep driveway made of gravel.

Personally, I only buy AWD cars and I still swap in Blizzaks in the winter but I live in upstate NY. We were strictly Subaru for a while but the headgasket issues soured me. Yes, they eventually went with copper based gaskets and, supposedly, the new engines have a separate coolant feed but, still. Also, there have been engine problems due to shortened piston skirts to try and improve gas mileage. Toyota and Honda quality has slipped too but that is where we turned after Subaru as they are still better. Last year I bought a 2005 Acura RL in great condition with the timing belt and water pump already done on it. The year before that I bought a 2009 Toyota Venza with stupid low mileage in it. Both cars were owned by old guys. Both cars have been great. Both have plusses and minuses. Right now, I would give the nod to Toyota. The only major quality issue they had, to my knowledge, was sludge build up on the first generation of direct injection engines. But that is better than the slush box issues Honda had in the early and mid 2000s.

Winter tires are so much more of an advantage than a lot of people realize

 

[Paesano]

Winter tires are so much more of an advantage than a lot of people realize

We had quite a long streak of mild winters that made people complacent. It is hard to justify the hassle when you barely get snow. But, the last few years? Yeah, I love my Blizzaks.

 

[Stainmaster]

Thanks again to everyone who gave me great advice here. I ended up going outside of my anticipated price range and splurged on an '09 Camry.

 

[August_West]

I initially didn't think to consider a Subaru.

R u a lesbian?


Not that there is anything wrong with that.

 

[Stainmaster]

R u a lesbian?


Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Well, I am attracted to women...

 

[August_West]

Tires are the only thing connecting you to the road... don’t cheap out on them if at all possible.

The tires are the things on your car that make contact with the road

 

[8893]

The tires are the things on your car that make contact with the road

Where’s my vacuum?

 

[Paesano]

Thanks again to everyone who gave me great advice here. I ended up going outside of my anticipated price range and splurged on an '09 Camry.

Solid choice. Now, start shopping for a spare set of rims and look for online deals for Blizzaks. Mount and balance them and put them in your garage until October or November. You will not be sorry.