car shopping, part 1

[cellio]

Tonight I visited Mazda and Toyota dealers.

The Mazda 3 seemed like a decent car -- nothing to get excited about, but servicable. I was having some trouble with the clutch, stalling several times, which surprised me given that I've been driving manual transmission for basically all of my driving life. I don't know if that means it's very finicky or if it's just been too long since I drove a different manual.

The Prius question has been solved for me: there aren't any, and the waiting list is 5-6 months long. That does not fit my timeframe.

The Matrix is a nice car. It's roomy but doesn't seem to be huge (I haven't tried to parallel-park it yet). I think some of the roominess comes from the fact that it's just plain tall compared to my Mazda 323. (But it's not an SUV, so I assume it doesn't have those safety issues.) The seats are comfortable (even the back ones), and visibility seems to be ok (not quite what I'm used to) once you remove the headrests from the rear seats. I wish the line between the bottom of the windows and the top of the doors were lower, though.

The test drive for the Matrix was very comfortable, including on pothole-filled and cobblestone roads. The one I drove was an automatic, so it lacked some of the get-up-and-go that comes with a manual. (I kept reaching for the control and then saying "oops, no, automatic" -- which means there were several times when I wasn't happy with its choice of gear.) I'll have to go back to drive a manual. The car I drove also had all-wheel drive, and I don't know how much that affects the driving experience on dry roads like we had tonight. (It affects gas mileage by two or three MPG, and I'll probably give it a pass unless I find that it makes a big difference -- one worth an extra $1500 or so.) The Matrix's gas mileage of 28/33 MPG is a bit of a turn-off.

I forgot to ask to see an Echo while I was there. (I got there closer to closing time than I would have liked. Pittsburgh navigation note: if you find yourself heading somewhere you didn't want to go and saying "well, this can't be that bad" -- you're wrong.)

Of the two cars I saw tonight, the Matrix beats the Mazda 3. Also on the list to investigate (thanks for all the comments!): Honda hybrid, Honda Civic, VW Golf, Ford Focus (the Car Talk guys seem to like it), Chevy Aveo (looks to be lower-end than most of these others).

Pennsylvania has an annoying law that forbids car dealerships from being open on Sundays. Bah. So I'm limited to certain evenings. My car turns into a pumpkin at the end of March, so this should be doable.

Comments

[the-never.livejournal.com]

I love my Matrix. I have a red one.

[rectangularcat]

The ford focus is a neat car - had forgotten about that one. cortejo and lj user="j_v_lynch"> have one.

[ironangel]

as an added bonus, the focus is the only american-made car that placed within the top 20 for greenest vehicles - number 12, I believe. it was in the post-gazette sometime in the last few days.

[tidesong.livejournal.com]

My sister has a Ford Focus, and she HATES it. She's had nothing but problems with it. It's been a maintenance nightmare.

[psu-jedi.livejournal.com]

We were given a Ford Focus as a rental car back in September and both Cary and I hated it. It was very difficult to see out of, and just plain uncomfortable. I don't know what the maintenance record is, but just for the simple fact that it was uncomfortable, I wouldn't consider it for myself.

I didn't realize PA had a law about not selling cars on Sunday...sure that isn't a Pgh thing?

[jducoeur]

The car I drove also had all-wheel drive, and I don't know how much that affects the driving experience on dry roads like we had tonight. (It affects gas mileage by two or three MPG, and I'll probably give it a pass unless I find that it makes a big difference -- one worth an extra $1500 or so.)

Important note: you can only get anti-lock brakes on the Matrix if you get the all-wheel drive package, at least with the automatics. (It might conceivably be in the high-end standard.) That was the main reason that msmemory went for the AWD. (Personally, I think it's an idiotic marketing decision...)