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2744 messages, Last post on Nov 17, 2008 at 9:48 AM
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Replying to: dride (Jan 15, 2007 8:49 pm) |
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This is a little bit off topic, but I thought I'd share... My 3 is at the dealer for service to see if they can figure out a reason for my sub 20 mpg hwy mileage. I got a free loaner car because of the protection package I have... The car they gave me is a recent model Toyota Corolla, ~1700 miles. Either something is severely wrong with the loaner, or the car buying public must be the most naive group of people around to make it one of the best selling cars. The Corolla is, without a doubt, the WORST car I have ever driven. Though the power is surprisingly adequate, the engine feels like it came from a piece of agricultural machinery (I read that in a review, and it is an accurate description). Loud and hollow sounding under pressure, and very unrefined. Steering is numb and way too slow to react to input for me. The 1995 Jeep Wrangler 4.0 I used to drive was more refined and better steering. The gas mileage seems to be pretty high, but a Honda Civic has a much more refined feel. Point of the story, I would rather drive my Mazda at 19 mpg than get 100 mpg in a Corolla.
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I agree with your view of the Corolla. My wife and I took a test drive in a Corolla - the sales guy pulled the car up we got in - only drove 10 feet and knew - THIS WAS NOT A CAR we wanted. The sound of the exhaust note is a horrible low pitched drone. I also had some of the same feelings when we drove the Scion TC. I read some of the posts about the Corolla (on Edmunds) before we took the test drive. Several people said - it was like a mini Lexus! I just don't get it! |
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Replying to: claudius753 (Jan 18, 2007 7:58 pm) Interesting. I had a similar experience when my Mazda Protege5 was being repaired and the dealership offered a luxury Kia which I found to be an ungainly vehicle. Perhaps this is a strategy by dealerships to make one appreciate one's vehicle: offer them the competition. |
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I think most dealers just use some of the cars that were traded in. You need to ask - why a Mazda dealer would even have a Corolla with only 1,700 on the odometer? That is a sure sign that someone either had major problems with the car (not that likely) - or after a few weeks figured out they just did not like the vehicle (pretty likely). I bet they took a major hit when they traded it in.
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Replying to: z71bill (Jan 19, 2007 11:22 am) We see this happen once or twice a month...last week a lady traded her 2006 Volvo XC-90 with only 4000 miles...nothing wrong with the car, she just didn't like it. She also took a big hit...She purchased a new town car. Go figure. |
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The dealer found nothing wrong with my "economy" car. No explanation of the 19 mpg. They did work up a deal where I could get the exact same car but with a manual transmission. For the same payments, it would cost me about an extra $1,000 (basically taxes and fees) or alternatively I would have to pay an extra $16 a month. They are also going to contact Mazda and see if they would have a solution to the problem or if they would subsidize some of the cost associated with getting a manual. What would you do? I do kind of miss driving a manual and it would clear up the mileage issue. I would be taking a $2000 hit though (extra down plus manual costs less than the auto I paid for). If Mazda has no solution but are willing to kick back some cash to equalize the prices, I think I should get the manual. Ideas?
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Run the numbers - Lets say the manual will get 29 MPG - where the auto is only getting 19. Not sure it would be this much of an improvement - but just as an example - hoping for the best. To drive 50,000 miles takes 2,632 gallons with the auto - 1,724 gallons with the manual. You save 908 gallons - at about $2.20 a gallon about = to the $2,000 you spent trading. SO -- You need to drive about 50,000 miles just to be even. IMO its not a great pay back - unless you drive a lot of miles - the real question is - do you want a manual? Another good question (one I am asking myself) would be - do you want to buy another new car from a company that did very little to solve the problems you had with the first car? |
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Replying to: claudius753 (Jan 19, 2007 5:47 pm) How old is your car? Is it a 2007 or 2006? Will the car that you are getting be new, i.e. 2007? I do kind of miss driving a manual Could you elaborate why you picked the automatic? Lots of city driving is cited often as a reason for switching to automatic transmission.
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Replying to: autonomous (Jan 22, 2007 1:13 pm) I wanted an auto because other people would occasionally need to drive the car and I did sometimes dislike having to shift in the Cavalier I had. Now with the manual in the 3, I see that not all shifters are created equally. The 3 in an auto was nice, very nice, but the 3 in the manual is sheer joy. I also opted not to get leather in my new one, I like the cloth better, and instead got a few other options for the ~$600 saved by not getting leather. Had I driven the manual 3 before choosing the automatic, I would have never bought the automatic. If people need to use my car, they can either learn manual or drive something else. I don't think I'll ever buy another car with a conventional automatic. Maybe if I ever need a truck to tow things or a sequential manual like DSG, but no car with a torque converter again. |
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