Steve_Jones said:Slippery said:What about one of these?:
That C-HR is already gone. As far as other places most dealers are showing "in transit" vehicles online. If they have photos of new cars, and the one you see doesn't have them, it's probably not there.
I am sure most are gone by the time he makes a decision, I think looking at other brands is going to help finding a good deal relatively close by.
Toyota and Honda probably have more of those two models than all Mazda models combined.
Slippery said:Anything against AWD other than price? Might be wise to include those as the price difference is not significant based on how long you mention keeping cars.
As you said, in the case of the CX-3, it adds very little cost but...
More mechanical components that add weight, require service, and can fail.
Rule of thumb for power loss from flywheel to ground is 12% for FWD, 15% for RWD, & 18% for AWD so that 6% delta has to go somewhere...poorer mileage and/or performance.
The gas tank is something like 0.75 gallons smaller to make room for the rear differential so that's going to cost her about 25 miles of range.
If she gets a flat on less than newish tires, she'll need to replace them all.
I wouldn't rule out the AWD drivetrain but the only way it'd provide a benefit is if she winds up in snow and in that case, I'd get her a Subaru Crosstrek.
Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to RX Reven' :
Honestly it sounds like the school is failing her by not providing a teacher and/or facilities. An AP class really doesn't mean that much in the grand scheme of her education, I would seriously look into switching classes to one with a teacher, even if it's "lessor".
We may not have a choice as there are rumblings that the class will be dropped altogether.
I still want to get her a car...she's trustworthy, smart, hardworking and absolutely loves to drive.
For example, she got up at 5:00 AM on her first day as a HS senior this week, grabbed Watson the dog, and shot through the canyons to the beach so they could enjoy the sunrise.
Keep in mind that she had knee surgery on August 5th, needs both a leg brace and crutches to get around and has only had her drivers license for a few months and yet off they went.
I admire her tenacity and I want to make sure she isn't missing opportunities because she doesn't have her own car.
Hi Steve_Jones & Slippery,
I'm right in line with your suggestions...C-HR / HR-V are the types of cars I'm expanding my search to.
In reply to RX Reven' :
What about a Soul, Niro, Venue, Kona?
In reply to bobzilla :
I was going to include the Soul ... but then I re-read the title 
In reply to Slippery :
I ignored it..... like always.
bobzilla said:In reply to RX Reven' :
What about a Soul, Niro, Venue, Kona?
Pre COVID I traveled extensively for work which gave me a good amount of seat time in both Hyundai's and Kia's.
In terms of initial quality, I think they're well made cars but I don't know about their long term reliability simply because Mazda has never given me a reason to research anything else.
Now I have a reason, no inventory on the Mazda lot, so I'm looking more broadly.
Unrelated...I drove my 1983 RX-7 to work yesterday so my daughter could have my daily. The tach hasn't worked since I bought it four years ago but it suddenly started worked - spirit of Mazda whispering "buy another one of us" - and I learned that I'm turning 4,950 rpm at an indicated 80 mph. 
Added later...
Hi Slippery, I should have included South Korea...no offense to their fan base intended.
In reply to RX Reven' :
What I can tell you about long term ownership after the last 19 years: They'll run and run and run and run.... but whatever you do DON'T let them sit for 18 months in northeastern Ohio.
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