Dusterbd13 said:Just pulled up next to an hr-v at the gas station. That looks an awful lot like a wagon.
Think ill add that to the list.
Not sure about the second gen ones, but the first gen is basically a Fit with a different engine, a lift kit, and enlarged a little.
My mechanic says the CVT in the heavier HRZ (and it's Toyota sibling) has been problematic, making them among the lowest reliability Honda and Toyota products respectively.
rslifkin said:Dusterbd13 said:Just pulled up next to an hr-v at the gas station. That looks an awful lot like a wagon.
Think ill add that to the list.
Not sure about the second gen ones, but the first gen is basically a Fit with a different engine, a lift kit, and enlarged a little.
The second gen is enormous. It's bigger than CRVs used to be. If you told me it was as big as a first gen Pilot, I wouldn't doubt you.
The engine in the first gen was the R(?)18 1.8l that was the base engine in Civics for years and years until they replaced it with the turbo 1.5. Same transmission, too.
So, what do we know about the current hrv? First blush, I really liked the one I just drove.
In reply to Dusterbd13 :
Funny, last week Google served me up a HRV review. It likely got sent due to researching competitors in this thread.
A generally favorable review with some negative marks for appearence/design which I don't fully agree with.
If you don't realize, the reviewer used the be a highschool/college kid that in that time period/age was an active poster here on GRM as G-BodyMan. These days, it seems he is now a college graduate writing professionally. All that is to say and inform you that the reviewer is "genuine GRM".
In reply to John Welsh :
Awesome. I'm glad he's still around! And that review lined up with my test drive, except first blush it seemed extremely slow and not great handling. But id also been beaten to death by the 6500 all day....
In reply to John Welsh :
That kid has talent. Thanks for connecting the dots on G-Body Man
So, im working the girl scout cookie booth with my daughter at Lowe's this morning. A cx5 was just here. Nice looking car, but shockingly large! I didn't realize how big they were until walking around one.
Also have a LOT of souls coming by. But no corollas....
Dusterbd13 said:So, im working the girl scout cookie booth with my daughter at Lowe's this morning. A cx5 was just here. Nice looking car, but shockingly large! I didn't realize how big they were until walking around one.
Also have a LOT of souls coming by. But no corollas....
I think the CX-5 looks bigger than it is. SWMBO kinda wanted one for a while, thinking it would have been a nice size upgrade from her former Prius. Then she got to ride in one owned by a friend and realized they're not actually so big, especially on the inside. The back seat area in particular was much tighter than she had expected.
In reply to Dusterbd13 :
I don't want this suggestion to give you analysis paralysis but rather quite the opposite. I know you want to "be sure" and I know you are more particular than most about things like seat comfort, etc.
In SW Charlotte there is a Hertz Car Sales outlet. Hertz does a thing know as Rent2Buy. From Hertz's Sales Website, you find the specific car you are interested. You then make a reservation where you can have this car, that is currently being rented but Hertz wishes to sell. The program gives you 2 hours for free or a 3 day rental at $55 per day. The rental fee is waived if you actually buy the car.
Yes, these are Used Cars but I'm not really even suggesting that you buy a car from Hertz but more suggestion it might be a good place to spend 2 hours each with a lot of cars. Though the car you test drive might be a 2023 and have 35k miles all the cars you are considering all seem to be offered as the same body and drivetrain today that they were just a couple of years ago. Sure, you will need to be smart to understand if there have been any trim changes but you're smart enough for that.
It also might be interesting to see how well/poorly the various models have aged in some heavy rental use. They key is really which on "fits you the best."
I see that this Charlotte location has every model you are considering. After you've spent a few hours with each, for free, that is when I might suggest that you spend $200 on a 3 day rental (of a specific unit that you will likely never buy.) But, this $200 could be what saves you from buying the wrong $25k car.
If you still like that make/model after the 3 day rental, then off to buy a new one.
Another option for same/similar is CarMax used car lot. Again, not so much to buy but rather to test many in one location.
In reply to John Welsh :
I didn't know ow that was a thing, John. That's absolutely mind blowing!!
You read my mind on renting and spending time with before buying to save a 25k mistake. I was trying to find the models im interested in on turo to rent at a weekend for exactly the same reasons. See how they've held up to "not me" maintenance and care, amd get a few hundred miles in them. Hertz seems way, way better.
Thank you John. Truly
Tested a 3 hatch, cx30 and cx50 yesterday. Cx30 is short list keeper.
So, short list is soul, corolla hatchback, and cx30.
My gut leans heavy to the mazda, as they have been very, very good to us over the tears of buying cheap used ones. Its also the only non cvt, non auto stop of the bunch. Awd isn't needed or wanted, but its OK to have it anyway. Test drove an s sport, but would buy an s for cloth interior.
Have a hertz rent to buy booked for next weekend for an s model. If I like it as much by Sunday as I did yesterday, it's gonna be expensive.
Just curious, what did you prefer about the CX-30 vs the 3 hatch?
In reply to Snrub :
Honestly, the door openings. Its got a bit higher roofline, and its easier for my fat ass to get into.
The 3 roofline is about an inch or two shy of me getting in without folding my neck and back up a bit. Im spoiled by my fullsize trucks.
The Mazda 3 hatch makes a lot of compromises on the interior space.. the CX-30 fixes a lot of them just by being a bit larger.
In reply to spacecadet (Forum Supporter) :
I hadn't seen you post in some time. Glad you're back, or to at least see you again! And compared to the o7 3 hatch I had, and the 16 my parents have, they really changed some dimensions for the worse. At least in the way it feels from the drivers seat to me.
In reply to Dusterbd13 :
yeah back to posting on the regular! been lurking a good bit more for 18+ months.
the CX-30 is a good little package. I helped my good buddy get his sister into one on lease earlier this year because she needed a low and consistent payment while she worked through some life stuff.
The FWD CX-30 is a great package of efficiency without being overly complicated it's just a good car. And Mazda is not perfect, but they're nice cars to spend time in, and the pricing is one of the few affordable options left out there.
I'll also put in votes against the HRV unless it really strikes your fancy. the latest generation ditched the Fit underpinnings so the Magic seats are gone out back and I honestly think it's a worse car for it.
I also think the Civic Hybrid hatch that doesn't have a transmission in the normal sense should be in this discussion. They drive very well and are crazy efficient.
I realize it's more than the CX-30.. but how much money would an average of 45-50mpg save you over an average of 30 in the CX-30?
i don't know how much you drive.. just some math that's worth considering IMHO.
The Prius as
spacecadet (Forum Supporter) said:
I realize it's more than the CX-30.. but how much money would an average of 45-50mpg save you over an average of 30 in the CX-30?
$1600 - $950 = $650
Fueleconomy.gov says that driving a Civic Hybrid vs CX-30 will save the average person of 15k miles at 45% highway driving a total of $650 per year or about $54 per month, a current gas prices.
The current gen Prius and Civic hatch are both a big step down in hatch practicality from previous generations and from other cars OP is considering.
Corolla Cross Hybrid would be a more appropriate comparison IMO
With Corolla Cross plain and Hybrid version added:
CX-30 vs CCross Hybrid = $500 annual savings to CCross Hybrid ($41 per month.)
CX-30 vs CCross Plain = $150 savings to CCross Plain (or generally not enough to really matter...$12.5 per month.)
So take those out to 4-5 years and we're talking $2-3k
In reply to Dusterbd13 :
We just picked up a CX5, Mazda seems to have better features at all the trim levels and less undesired stuff (CVT/gutless powerplants) than the other Asian market players. I was a little surprised at the interior size. We are coming out of a Maxima, the exterior dimensions for the two vehicles are about the same but the interior feels much smaller. So far it does not seem cramped but no long trips yet. Those of us that drive trucks regularly have a different outlook on size, I'm used to lots of space. For a "not sports car" it is very responsive, not winning any drag races but it pulls out into traffic without issue and handles curves nicely. We sort of test drove a CorollaCross, I was in the passenger seat and as we pulled out of the dealer's lot, my wife asked the salesman if something was wrong with the car, it had almost no power, we turned around at the next light. We had stopped to check out a RAV4 but they didn't have any, so he thought the CorollaCross would fit our needs. I'll vote for the Mazda, nice lines, decent pricing and fairly reliable overall. They were running a .9% for 36 months finance deal a few weeks ago if you are financing. Good luck finding the "one"
The CC is pretty slow. On my vacation last summer we had a CC rental and a CX30. The CX30 was a nicer place to be and felt sportier (but its not quick by any means). I didn't evaluate the interior volume difference between the two but they seemed close for basic usage (people + bags)
The CC Hybrid has a decent bit more power and is 2 seconds faster to 60 (faster than both the CX30 and CX5 non turbo)
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