car suggestions

[deciduous]

Hi, I know cars are a common topic here, so I'm sorry to repeat it. I'm looking for old threads that address this topic too.

I have a completely insane vehicle: a full size pickup truck with a contractor-style cap over the bed. It's not without reason: I fulfilled a decade-long yearning by road tripping in it for 3 months straight last year, using it as what amounted to a homemade RV. It was just about perfect for that, as well as the occasional move and so on. But for a normal, urban life it's preposterous. And so now that it's starting to be a money sink it's time to swap it out.

Here's my situation:
1. I ride or walk everywhere for my daily life. It looks like this past year I did 5,000 miles or so. And 2,000 of those would have been when I helped someone move.
2. Although I would love to perform maintenance, it's effectively impossible at my own house. I don't even have a flat place to work. So I don't want a "project."
3. I don't expect to take any more months-long road trips anytime soon, but I love camping and climbing in all seasons and conditions. In a perfect world I would be able to (discreetly, comfortably) sleep in the back of my car.
4. I don't want to have something that will struggle in snow or, say, a muddy national forest road
5. I think my plan to buy it would be to pay cash, in the 11k - 13k range
6. All things being equal, I would prefer to buy American, although since I'm buying used I'm not sure that's even meaningful.

So what jumps to mind is a little hatchback kind of thing: Honda Fit, VW Golf, or maybe a Subaru wagon. I used to be fond of the Mazda wagons. Does anyone have experience with using anything like that like I'm describing?

Thank you so much!

[guitar_stitch]

I drive a Honda Element.  Not the best on gas, but damned reliable.  179,000 miles and I've only replaced 1 starter and a set of brake pads, outside of normal maintenance.

[RWD]

The Honda Fit is probably the cheapest vehicle to operate on your list. That said, I test drove one recently and both my wife and I really didn't care for it.

I've heard good things about the VW Golf, though the VWs tend to be a bit higher in maintenance/repair costs.

We currently own a Subaru Legacy wagon, which has been a great car. The Subarus tend to get worse fuel economy, but they are solid, drive well, and of course are excellent if you encounter snow on a regular basis. The newer (2012+) Imprezas get excellent fuel economy for an AWD vehicle (comparable to the 2009-2013 Honda Fit).

The Mazda 3 is supposed to be a good car as well. The newest one (outside of your specified price range) gets great fuel economy too. The previous generation of Mazda 3 got decent fuel economy, but not great.

Some other options include the Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris. You'll want to test drive a variety of cars to see what you like. Check TrueDelta for reliability info and fueleconomy.gov for fuel economy data.

[RWD]

I missed one of your points about preferring to buy American. Keep in mind that many "American" cars are actually built in Mexico or Canada and many imports are actually built in the United States. My Legacy, for example, was built in the United States. But the Ford Fiesta is built in Mexico.

You'll need to look into each specific model to determine where it is actually built if you want to truly buy American.

[Cwadda]

This echoes what other people have been saying.

-Honda Fit has gotten excellent reviews. And Honda is one of the most reliable companies out there. As long as proper maintenance is done, it's common for Hondas to go 250-300k miles no problem. I think there're also Honda Crosstour Matrix which is a hatchback, but I don't know a whole lot about it.
-VW cars in general are pretty decent cars, but the maintenance costs are going to be expensive unless you know someone who works on VW vehicles. They have expensive parts and all that.
-Subarus are known for being excellent in the weather. They tend to be thirstier though unless you get a newer model.
-The Mazda3 is a reliable car. I have an '07 sedan which gets 28-30 mpg but the hatchback of the same year gets only about 24-25 mpg. The newest model easily gets in the 30s. If you like a fun driving experience though, this is a car for you. Lots of zip. I'm not too sure how the car does in the weather.
-You can also try looking into some Toyota hatches. I don't know of any in particular but Toyota is a good company.

Personally I don't feel the need to buy American because the Japanese engines have proven to be most reliable. That's just how it is. Idk, it's just my opinion though...I'd rather get the most reliable car and not have to worry.

[deciduous]

Yeah, buying American is a very nebulous concept. A company like Chrysler/Dodge is owned in Italy now, and a lot of the "foreign" cars are built here. We live in a global economy, it's a complex issue, and I'm buying used anyway, so my impact on the market overall is pretty small.

Thanks for the tips! I wasn't aware of the apparent tradeoff between fuel economy and AWD, even though that should be really obvious. It's something to think about. Although all of these are going to be a big improvement over my status quo; when I fill up it's not unusual to need 2 transactions because I hit the $100 limit.