NEW car shopping with the wife

We are about 2-3 weeks away from a new car purchase. Looked at and test drove a number of cars this weekend with the wife. Mostly compacts and a few subcompacts. Looking at pretty well loaded vehicles, a few requirements being automatic transmission, sunroof, and high end audio system a big plus, and NO leather, and not too interested in navigation. So heres what we checked out and test drove. Really just posting to share our experience and opinions, if you have anything else to mention on these cars feel free to chime in.

2012 Kia Soul Plus, with Audio package, sunroof. Drives and rides nice, has good power. Not really very sporty to drive but why should it be? The new for 2012 6 speed transmission seemed to hunt for gears a lot. The UVO system is really cool, apparently now has an internal hard drive for storing music, has a backup camera which is super convenient, lots of speakers and power. Has HD radio on it and optional Sirius. My only complaint is that the screen is small. Like as small as a smartphone screen. The best thing about the soul is the price, you get a lot of car for your money, the one we looked at was MSRP around 20k. It was pretty much a Plus optioned up to an Exclaim, minus the 18” wheels.

2012 Rio, we glanced at the 2 on the lot, but the wife didn’t think it looked as good IRL than in photos. Also, too small for our needs, we want something bigger than my Accent. Also, the SX model is apparently hard to come by right now and that’s the only one we would have considered. It’s the same story with the Soul Exclaim, we saw a lot of base models and optioned up plus models, but have not seen a new exclaim on the lots yet.

The biggest problem with the Soul and Rio right now appears to be availability. The few dealerships we talked to said they pretty much get what Kia sends them and that’s that. Not sure if that’s marketing speak, trying to get you into the car on the lot or what. Also they claim the Souls are selling within days of hitting the lots. But they were not overly pushy to sell the cars or anything. Resale also seems to be high, a few weeks ago the local dealership had a 2010 30k mile Soul Plus on the lot and 17k+ on the window. You can get into a NEW one for that price….if you can find one you like I suppose.

Hyundai. Glanced at the Veloster and Elantra. Accent was off the list as theres no sunroof option this year. And I already have one. Wife doesn’t like the looks of the Elantra, and Veloster was close to 20k for a close to base model with no sunroof. Also, while the front 2 seats look roomy and comfortable, the back of the car is too small for our needs. I suspect like most of the reviews mention….the 140hp 1.6 would feel a bit lacking. We didn’t get to test drive as in the 10 minutes we were walking around right outside the dealership door, we were not approached by any salesperson.

2012 Ford Focus SE. We weren’t initially considering this car. Future sister in law just got a new SE hatchback. Plus we already have a 2003 focus and figured we might like something different. We decided we better look for comparison purposes. They had a black SE hatch on the lot, with the Sync package, sunroof, Sport package, and optional 17” black painted wheels with machined spoke faces. It looked absolutely sick. The interior was very nice, there is definitely a learning curve with the Sync but you could tell it’s a really cool feature. The engine and transmission felt a lot nicer than the Kia Soul, a lot smoother and better power delivery. Handling and steering feel was great. Wife loved it and remarked she felt right at home driving it, similar to our old Focus. Trunk space is huge compared to our old Focus as well so that is a big plus. The Focus has some torque vectoring system for the drivetrain to make the most of your power in the curves, also the transmission computer pretty much learns your driving habits after 1000 miles or so and uses that info to make your drive as efficient as possible given your driving habits. MSRP on the hatch we looked at was $23k. (The SE trim starts at $18.2k) More expensive than the Soul, but a lot nicer in many ways and a lot more cool technology. It’s a very impressive compact car even if it has stupid looking taillights. Ford is willing to let you order a car to your exact specs if they can’t locate it for you. Ford had A LOT of Focuses on the lot 15+ at least, maybe better chances at negotiating the price down???

2012 Chevrolet Sonic LT. Dealer only had 1, and it was in service waiting for inspections and some additional features to be installed so it could not be driven. In reality, too small for us but we took a close look at it anyways. It was an LT 5 door. Dealers just started getting them 2 weeks ago, so supply is low, but like Ford, they will order one up exactly to your specs. LTZ (which also has a leathery interior standard btw) with automatic, and sunroof, MSRP is 19.3k. Holy crap. Ok this thing is a vast improvement over the Aveo it seems, but its not $19k good by any means, especially compared to comparably priced vehicles. The gauge cluster and trip computer stuff seems cool, but the rest of the car seems sort of like typical GM. Boring interior, the radio is just standard fare, no options for super high tech stuff like Kia or Ford are offering. Color selection kind of sucks, there is an orangish color, 2 different reds, black, white, and silver. And maybe a dark gray. The 1.8 is the only option with the Auto, you cant get the 1.4t with the auto until May 2012. It’s a step in the right direction, but still a few steps behind everyone else in that price range.

2012 Honda Fit Sport. No real improvements over the 2011 except 1 new color available. We actually test drove a CPO 2011 model with 9k miles on it. We didn’t like the color but that one has to be a hell of a bargain for someone else. Better warranty on the CPO than the new ones too (Other mfrs seem to be doing this as well, Kia is….) It’s as slow as you would expect with only 117 hp, and a 5 speed automatic, but it was fun to drive and I really liked the steering feel. Maybe more than the Focus, which was also very good. Visibility very good. The interior seemed like it had nearly as much space as the Soul with the seats folded down, or maybe more? The Navigation system is voice controlled, and does sound like it has some nice features in addition to just being a navigation tool, but we did not get a chance to play with it much. But other than the nav and the drivers seat, the rest of the car seemed pretty….basic. Around 19k+ MSRP for a loaded automatic with nav.

So after all that, and a day or two discussing things......the car we werent really going to look at...The Focus.....may end up being our new car after all.

Just order a Focus SE Sport Pack and get exactly what you want.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the new Focus I rented recently - it's an order of magnitude nicer than the previous models. A VW Jetta is in your price range - I think that it would be worth your while to test drive one for comparison.

Didn't look at a Cruze while you were at the GM dealer?

Wouldn't your wife rather be driving/riding around in a C5 Z06 for $20k? Just sayin...

She doesnt like the looks of the Cruze, so you know what that means.... (same with the Elantra)

We are primarily looking more at a 5 door hatchback type things. No kids but 2 large dogs in our household.

Thanks for the tip on the Jetta, I hadnt really thought much of that one, I doubt it crossed her mind too.

What we really need is the C5 Z06 AND a Miata. That Gives us 4 seats......

Javelin, Focus Titanium pretty much starts around the price of that Focus SE Sport, and has most of the options (like the sport package for instance) standard, plus a better Sync system only available on Titanium. So we are looking at that.

Souls are hot sellers. Expect them to go for full sticker, and yes, you can't be choosy. I'd still say it's the best of the lot,

Go with the Focus.

Focus. And its American too.

Wife has had a Soul for 2 years now. For the money I don't think there's much better out there.

They are hot but there are deals to be had, just need to get them on the right day. Ran my wife's numbers past a friend of mine who sells Kia's in another state and he said we got it at about $100 over invoice so we must have hit them on a good day (good for us that is).

Why bother with the "high end" stereos for the cars? You can stuff on the aftermarket for cheaper which will sound better.

Sometimes it's decent enough that you don't bother, though. I know if my Miata still had the factory stereo in it, i wouldn't have cared enough to upgrade.

I'm glad that someone before me did, don't get me wrong, but i wouldn't have bothered.

because high end stereos in most cars these days are practically in dash computers that do all sorts of cool E36 M3? I cant imagine what kind of integration nightmare it would be if I had to build something similar myself.

I am still pretty amazed at the technology jump in a lot of these cars, that seems to have happened just in the past year or two. Its pretty incredible.

I was in a similar position a few months ago and opted for the Kia Soul. It was a 2011 model with lots of incentives at the time. In any event, my wife absolutely loves it and it serves her purposes very well.

No Mazda3? The skyactive engine just came out, right? 40MPG.

Haha wife and I are on vacation, car rental place was out of subcompacts so gave us the upgrade to compact for free, pick any car in the row type deal.......there was a new focus there......open the trunk and someone already had dropped their bags in there and took the key.

Still irked about that, we ended up with a cobalt sedan. I was soooo excited to have a week long test drive with the focus

I appreciate the feedback on the Souls. We liked it when we drove it, but glad to hear that it's good in the long-term, too.

GTwannaB wrote: No Mazda3? The skyactive engine just came out, right? 40MPG.

I was just thinking the same thing.

Go back to rental place on another day and complain about the Cobalt like a vibration at high speed. They will not check it out but rather give you another choice.

Lol. The other choices were corollas and sentras. I would hate to go back and be swapped into one of those.

Roll the dice, the inventory changes every day. What you get to choose from could be better but not likely to worse than a Cobalt sedan.

My wife and I recently went with the Soul+ as her DD. She loves it! We did not cross-shop the cars that you did because out absolute max was $15K and at that price point, you can't beat Soul for value. (I don't think the Focus or Honda are even available for that cheap). She loves boxy cars, so the Ford would not have won anyway.

At $20K however, I would have looked a the Focus hard. I love the front end myself.

nderwater wrote: Because this thread made me curious, and because I'm a huge geek, I decided to compare the lower-end of the new car market using the Edmunds.com 'True Cost of Ownership' estimates. TCO compares average purchase prices and estimates expenses to project the cost to own a car for five years. How much could that new econobox cost you? Take a look:

(From the Versa thread)

Considering they are on crack for their Subaru stats, I'm lead to believe the list is bullE36 M3.

I think of their TCO numbers as being like dyno numbers - useful for comparing between cars, but not necessarily what your actual ownership costs will be if you buy a specific car.

I'm not familiar with Subaru values, so let me know the specific numbers you're calling bull on:

2011 Subaru Impreza, 2.5L 4-cyl. AWD 4-speed Automatic
MSRP from $18,495
Typical Cash Price with Options: $21,097
True Cost To Own: $34,966 (or $583/mo)
(5-year estimate with 15,000 miles driven per year)

Their TCO is a total of the following cost estimates...
5 Year Depreciation: $9,839
5 Year Taxes & Fees: $2,044
5 Year Financing: $2,244
5 Year Fuel: $11,732
5 Year Insurance: $4,687
5 Year Maintenance: $3,649
5 Year Repairs: $771

(nabbed from http://www.edmunds.com/subaru/impreza/2011/tco.html?style=101296019)