car shopping

Word from the highly-competent mechanic who does all my car work (and, most immediately relevant, inspections) is that I will be buying a new car this year. Not surprising, but it's a pity. I had been hoping to hold onto the current car for a couple more years while waiting for field of hybrid offerings to get larger.

I've been paying attention to the car write-ups in Consumer Reports; alas, I think I will need to make a decision before the big 2004 buying guide comes out. That's unfortunate but not catastrophic. I mean, that's what the interim articles and the Internet are for. :-)

Because all knowledge is contained on LJ ( :-) ), I'll go ahead and list my requirements in case any of y'all have suggestions. My current "investigate these" list is: Mazda (what I have now), Toyota Prius, the new Honda hybrid, and I'd kind of like to find a US-made option too. I don't think there's anything that anyone could say to get me to look at a Saturn; my husband has had too many problems with his, and it's also uncomfortable.

The car will be mainly a commuter car, but a couple times a year I need to be able to stuff lots of crap into it and go on vacation, so it can't suck in terms of cargo capacity. Hatchbacks are good. I was going to say it has to be a hatchback, but maybe there's something else out there that meets all my needs, so I'll just leave it at a strong, strong preference for hatchbacks.

Visibility must be excellent. (This is the other area where my current hatchback totally rocks.) I want to look in the rear-view mirror and see the rear view, not car parts. I want to glance over my shoulder and see what's coming up in the adjacent lane, trivially. That sort of thing. Most sedans and all station wagons that I have driven (albeit not a large sample size) have been inadequate in this area.

I prefer smaller cars, within the parameters given above. They're more maneuverable (city parking, yay), and they tend to be more fuel-efficient.

It should handle snow and ice reasonably, because this is Pittsburgh.

I would, naturally, like it to not suck when it comes to comfort, fuel economy, safety, maintenance, and all the usual small stuff. But I think most of what I'd be considering will be ok for most of this.

What other cars should I be looking at?

car shopping, part 1

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.