Picking out a new car

[Crazy Lee]

So, my old car is approaching 300k miles and I need a newer one, $6k or less. That much money can buy me some pretty nice cars with reasonably low mileage. What I'd love to get is a 5 door hatchback. I've always wanted a Mazda3 or Toyota Matrix, or possibly a Ford Focus. My current car is a focus and has been reliable most of the time.

I sent a list of cars I'm looking at to a fur friend of mine who's a car nut and a mechanic and asked him what he thought of the ideas, and he pretty much killed every one of my ideas, which is annoying because it leaves me at square one and I have to figure out what to get then. I'm posting my list here with his responses.

Focus - "I've had friends who hate them and have had lots of problems with them." He couldn't iterate what those problems were. He did mention something about a tube under the intake, which is probably the PCV tube. 

Mazda3 (or, less desired but possible, Mazda 6 or Protoge5) - "Mazdas are not good cars."
He didn't elaborate to why they're not good, and I didn't ask further. 

Toyota Matrix (or, less liked, Pontiac Vibe) - "Weak 1.8l engine, drivetrain has problems/is weak, wiring problems, rots, bad plastic."
This is a car I've always wanted to have. I'm surprised he has such a bad opinion considering it's a Toyota. Maybe he's just seen bad Vibes in the past.

Subaru Outback/Impreza/Forester/Legacy - "Don't like boxer engine, they have lots of head gasket problems because of the flat engine and things being thrown up into the head gasket, motor mount problems due to horizontal vibration."
Subarus are one of the cars I'd seriously consider due to the fact they're so high rated for reliability (Consumer Reports ranks them #2 for reliability), so I'm surprised he ranks them so low. I've heard those things go 300k with no major problems. Only issue I'd have is with the horizontal piston placement making it hard to work on the engine.

VW Golf/GTI - "Not a bad car, it's just driven by douchebags. If you drive one, you're gonna be labeled a douche."
Okay, so the only reason I shouldn't drive a car is because douches drive it. Sigh. In any case, I see more douches in BMWs than anything VW.

Cars he did label as liking included:
Crown Victoria, Civic, Accord, Corolla, Camry, most Buicks, anything with the Buick V8 3800, Ford Fusion, Jettas. So basically nothing hatchback. And it's not like those are bad suggestions. They're all very good cars... Most Hondas are good cars, Toyotas are good, Buicks are boring and plain yet reliable...

So, what do you guys think? Is he right, is he wrong? 

[Fantasma]

Would honda elements work for you? 

(Sorry don't know any of those cars, bug I freakin love my element)

[Rassah]

Civic has a hatchback version, and they last for ever. Also, $6k may not be enough, but what about a Prius? :3

[Endless/Nameless]

Get the one that's cool and goes vroom vroom

Paint it black

I don't know

[Ikrit]

ford focus: new ones are good, I've found the older ones to run weird like they had some form of engine issues, IDK if it was lack of proper maintenance or if it's just they way they are.

mazda3: amazing car, rather cheap to own, great handling,  the optional 2.5L engine provides extra fun power if you can find it.

toyota matrix: IDK much about them.

Subaru: I've never seen one over 100K miles that wasn't pissing oil everywhere.  head-gaskets always have serious oil leaks after a while,  and the unusal engine design can be a pain to work on.

golf: just don't even consider this car. every single one I've worked on was a damn mess. They are a pain in the ass to work on, parts are more expensive cuz "European import" and doing you own work will be rather difficult without some specialty tools

 

[Vallium]

Civics, Accords, and Camrys are pretty dang reliable and I dont even know anything about cars.

But from what Ive seen theyre pretty hardy and reliable, Id had a civic once myself. These are cars that with some that are made around the 90's and can still run well

[Xaende]

How about a Honda Fit?

[Rukh Whitefang]

14 hours ago, Crazy Lee said:

So, my old car is approaching 300k miles and I need a newer one, $6k or less. That much money can buy me some pretty nice cars with reasonably low mileage. What I'd love to get is a 5 door hatchback. I've always wanted a Mazda3 or Toyota Matrix, or possibly a Ford Focus. My current car is a focus and has been reliable most of the time.

I sent a list of cars I'm looking at to a fur friend of mine who's a car nut and a mechanic and asked him what he thought of the ideas, and he pretty much killed every one of my ideas, which is annoying because it leaves me at square one and I have to figure out what to get then. I'm posting my list here with his responses.

Focus - "I've had friends who hate them and have had lots of problems with them." He couldn't iterate what those problems were. He did mention something about a tube under the intake, which is probably the PCV tube. 

Mazda3 (or, less desired but possible, Mazda 6 or Protoge5) - "Mazdas are not good cars."
He didn't elaborate to why they're not good, and I didn't ask further. 

Toyota Matrix (or, less liked, Pontiac Vibe) - "Weak 1.8l engine, drivetrain has problems/is weak, wiring problems, rots, bad plastic."
This is a car I've always wanted to have. I'm surprised he has such a bad opinion considering it's a Toyota. Maybe he's just seen bad Vibes in the past.

Subaru Outback/Impreza/Forester/Legacy - "Don't like boxer engine, they have lots of head gasket problems because of the flat engine and things being thrown up into the head gasket, motor mount problems due to horizontal vibration."
Subarus are one of the cars I'd seriously consider due to the fact they're so high rated for reliability (Consumer Reports ranks them #2 for reliability), so I'm surprised he ranks them so low. I've heard those things go 300k with no major problems. Only issue I'd have is with the horizontal piston placement making it hard to work on the engine.

VW Golf/GTI - "Not a bad car, it's just driven by douchebags. If you drive one, you're gonna be labeled a douche."
Okay, so the only reason I shouldn't drive a car is because douches drive it. Sigh. In any case, I see more douches in BMWs than anything VW.

Cars he did label as liking included:
Crown Victoria, Civic, Accord, Corolla, Camry, most Buicks, anything with the Buick V8 3800, Ford Fusion, Jettas. So basically nothing hatchback. And it's not like those are bad suggestions. They're all very good cars... Most Hondas are good cars, Toyotas are good, Buicks are boring and plain yet reliable...

So, what do you guys think? Is he right, is he wrong? 

Focus: Depends on the years. The early 2000s before the mid year body change had water pump issues. Which normally wouldn't be a huge deal if it wasn't a timing belt water pump. And mentioning timing belts, they MUST be replaced at the recommended intervals. Interference engines grenade when the belt breaks/streches and skips a tooth. Engines also have a lot of vibration problems. Poor engine mount design, nothing dangerous but a huge annoyance. Later model years 06 and up have fixed most of the problems and don't have any major issues that other cars don't.

Madza3: Same thing as ford focus really just the Mazda version (Mazda6 is the same as a Ford Fusion too). Ford and Mazda share a lot of parts. My old 1999 Ford Escort used a Mazda trans axle.

Toyota Matrix: Stay away. They do rot out fast. Engines had issues. They get bad drivetrain vibration. The Matrix was a joint venture with GM (pontiac), there is a reason it was discontinued. They start breaking down fairly quickly.

Subaru: Mixed. Great cars until they break. Can be expensive to fix. Older ones (early mid 90s) last forever. Boxer engines do have inherent head gasket problems and their timing belts are known to break (thats a maintenance item though). Again the design of the engine makes working on them tough if you haven't worked on one before.

VW Golf/GTI: Depends on the years. Can be expensive to fix. Some had oil leak issues (gaskets). I do know that I used to replace VW half shafts a lot more often than other cars when I wrenched professionally. They also have control arm bushing problems (that's across the board on most VWs). They seem to have a high fail rate.

[Crazy Lee]

16 hours ago, Johanna Waya said:

Would honda elements work for you? 

(Sorry don't know any of those cars, bug I freakin love my element)

No SUVs

16 hours ago, Rassah said:

Civic has a hatchback version, and they last for ever. Also, $6k may not be enough, but what about a Prius? :3

Only the older Hondas, really, and those are 3 doors. They have 5 door hatches in Europe because Europe gets all the cool cars.
And Prius... once that battery goes it becomes a standard underpowered gas engine car, with 1000lbs of additional weight. Replacing the batteries are expensive. Unless you hack it with your own battery replacement.

3 hours ago, Xaende said:

How about a Honda Fit?

Too tiny.

1 hour ago, Rukh Whitefang said:

Focus: Depends on the years. The early 2000s before the mid year body change had water pump issues. Which normally wouldn't be a huge deal if it wasn't a timing belt water pump. And mentioning timing belts, they MUST be replaced at the recommended intervals. Interference engines grenade when the belt breaks/streches and skips a tooth. Engines also have a lot of vibration problems. Poor engine mount design, nothing dangerous but a huge annoyance. Later model years 06 and up have fixed most of the problems and don't have any major issues that other cars don't.

I know about interference engines. Haven't heard about the water pump issue, though, but I have a timing chain and belt pump. The engine mount problem I know about, people keep recommending sticking with the dealer mounts because the aftermarkets tend to be crap. I lucked out when I replaced mine with Anchor brand, they seem to be staying in one piece. Most people say the aftermarkets fall apart real quick.
The early Fords had a 2.0L SOHC which I know is crap and would never buy. Then the 2.0L DOHC Ztech which is timing belt, and then the 2.3L DOHC Duratech timing chain like I have. The ztech and duratech, with some minor changes, are in the 2005 (after the body change) and up... it's also in the Ford Fusion, Escape, Ranger, Mazda3, Mazda 6. Both the 2.0 and the 2.3 are Mazda L engines.

[Rassah]

1 hour ago, Crazy Lee said:

And Prius... once that battery goes it becomes a standard underpowered gas engine car, with 1000lbs of additional weight. Replacing the batteries are expensive. Unless you hack it with your own battery replacement.

Prius batteries don't need replacing. http://prius.wikia.com/wiki/Lifespan/Operating_costs The only record of one that needed a replacement was one that was involved in a major accident. Plus you don't even need to replace the whole thing. The GPS in the car also works as a diagnostic computer, and if one cell fails, it tells you which one. Then it's just $45 to replace, but that's really rare too.

On the other hand, at least 50mpg, oil changes only once every 10k miles, sparkplugs, brakes, and battery coolant every 100k miles, and that's it. No transmission, no belts, no timing belt or water pumps, no AC coolant (it uses an electric heat pump just like a house). There's practically nothing to fix or maintain, cause it's all electric (even power steering and brakes, which aren't even used unless you stomp them or drive below 8mph).

On the plus side, it's easy to add an inverter to the back, and use it as a generator in case your power goes out (limited to 1,500 Watts). One tank of gas can power your house for a week.

[Ikrit]

other cars to consider!

Scion iM: this is nothing but a Toyota corolla hatchback, so expect the reliability of Toyota! but may be hard to find in your budget

Scion xB: if you like the look this is another reliable one, and space is plenty since it's literally a small minivan

Kia Soul: Kia and Hyundai still get crap for being "unreliable Korean tech" but that couldn't be any more far from the truth.  in fact just recently Hyundai just surpassed Toyota in the reliability ranks.  I personally find the Kia Soul to be stylish and easy to work on,  my only complaint is that the timing belts on them are supposed to be replaced every 60K,  IDK if all soul engines have timing belts though.

[Jerry]

I've recently heard from one of my school teachers about the absolutely disastrous oil consumption of some Subaru engines past a certain mileage. Apparently they consider a quart of oil per thousand miles normal, lolwut. That's the consumption I expect from a 12.7L Detroit Series 60, not a 2L 4 cylinder!

My car doesn't even take that amount after FIVE thousand miles! And the crankshaft seals are leaking LOL.