What should I lease? (Long)

[Mitsu3000gt]

The Corolla is a good lease deal if all you need is something to get from A to B and don't care about much else. Looks way better than prior years. The heated steering wheel would make it a great winter beater.

Going to drive the new Civic tonight (touring 1.5T), I will report back. I have a feeling it will end up being one of the front runners, and has been getting great reviews. Downside will probably be the CVT - I read it is one of the better ones but I suspect I would still prefer a traditional transmission.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by Aleks


As already posted by one member in this thread, it is possible to be in a base GTI for $360 a month roughly.

But yeah, for compacts, take a B250 out along with a base Golf and then a GTI back to back and see what happens.

Problem I have with the GTI is the option packages that make it $38K in a hurry, at which point you are ~$2K off of an entry Golf R before fees. The base model 4-door is already $35K, and that is without DSG or any options. Add DSG, driver assistance, and fees and it is $41,400 for not even the performance version of the GTI, let alone the R.

The 2-door 6MT with zero options is over $380/mo before dealer fees to lease for 4 years - where are you seeing $360? Are the dealers giving big discounts?

[dtrieu]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt


Problem I have with the GTI is the option packages that make it $38K in a hurry, at which point you are ~$2K off of an entry Golf R before fees. The base model 4-door is already $35K, and that is without DSG or any options. Add DSG, driver assistance, and fees and it is $41,400 for not even the performance version of the GTI, let alone the R.

The 2-door 6MT with zero options is over $380/mo before dealer fees to lease for 4 years - where are you seeing $360? Are the dealers giving big discounts?

I just leased a 2017 base 3dr gti and your pricing is more accurate than the $360.

[gpomp]

Mine is a 2016 3 door DSG on a 48/25k and I pay a hair over $360 with $0 down. There are others on Beyond with this car at this price. You could get as low as $330-340 if you went with less km and a manual.

[rage2]

Prob just depends on timing. 2016's had some killer deals on interest and residuals after dieselgate with GTIs and R's.

[gpomp]

Originally posted by rage2
Prob just depends on timing. 2016's had some killer deals on interest and residuals after dieselgate with GTIs and R's.

I just priced out a 17 and it's about $5 more than what I'm paying for mine

[Aleks]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt



The 2-door 6MT with zero options is over $380/mo before dealer fees to lease for 4 years - where are you seeing $360? Are the dealers giving big discounts?

I would just email Ryan directly, forget PM. He may not hang out on Beyond as much as we do You can find his email on their site.

There is a reason tons of guys go up there to pick up their new VWs. Hard to get similar pricing in Calgary.

[max_boost]

For the performance the GTi is impressive. The WRX is basically the same price 29,995 but checks out at $440/month before any discounts although I'm sure $400 is possible.

I would opt for a 3 door manual GTi but gf might think wtf since she has a Golf as well haha

I'm putting a lot of mileage on my GLK right now, close to 900km/week I hope nothing breaks on it since it's post waranty

[Hallowed_point]

^ Also agree on the GTI. Quite quick with the DSG. Feels much more high end than a VW should. At least...for now lol

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by Aleks


I would just email Ryan directly, forget PM. He may not hang out on Beyond as much as we do You can find his email on their site.

There is a reason tons of guys go up there to pick up their new VWs. Hard to get similar pricing in Calgary.

EDIT: I emailed him and response was instant.

Originally posted by max_boost
For the performance the GTi is impressive. The WRX is basically the same price 29,995 but checks out at $440/month before any discounts although I'm sure $400 is possible.

I would opt for a 3 door manual GTi but gf might think wtf since she has a Golf as well haha

I'm putting a lot of mileage on my GLK right now, close to 900km/week I hope nothing breaks on it since it's post waranty

WRX has the same problem as the GTI (for me), as soon as you put the necessary options on it, it's $38K. Also I would have to take a manual which I am not sure I want to do again.

3-door GTI's seem to be what everyone is getting deals on but I need 4-door

[Prelude_dude]

Acura has some pretty solid promos right now on lease rates if you willing to put down a bit of a down payment and a security deposit. We are looking at an RDX with lease rates between 0.01% and 0.4%. Should probably be able to get in that range on the TLX as well. Its their 30 year anniversary, so it seems they are pretty flexible.

Let me know if you are interested and I can PM you my guy's name.

[Xtrema]

[Mitsu3000gt]

Did some test driving yesterday, here were my thoughts:

2017 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport 6MT & CVT (did not have a sport touring for me to test):

This car really surprised me. I generally had an idea what to expect from the reviews but I liked it a lot. This is not anything like the Civics I am used to, and behaves much more like a refined Accord than a Civic. It's not a tiny car anymore either, there is plenty of room everywhere. There is a lot more sound deadening. You do not feel like you're in a Civic IMO. The body cladding and LCD dash are a little "boy racer" but I think that is to be expected from Honda by now. Doors shut with a nice "thud", even with the windows down, which is always one of my tests that most cars fail. Interior materials are pretty good, what needs to feel nice does, and the cheaper stuff was well disguised. A step above the average econobox for sure, but the materials won't blow your mind.

Chassis was great, sporty ride but not harsh at all, seemed to be very well tuned. I couldn't do anything too crazy because the roads were wet and it was dark but it seemed to handle more than well enough to be fun. The clutch and shiftier are very light feeling, typical ridiculously easy to drive Honda. Steering was surprisingly heavy for Honda, weighted well IMO.

The new 1.5T is a great little motor. There was about twice the throttle pedal travel I am used to, so it took me a minute to get acquainted and turn off "Eco" mode, but after that the car became much more lively haha. The motor's power is significantly underrated. Hondata dyno'd a CVT model (which has less HP/TQ than the 6MT models) at 177hp/190tq at the wheels (advertised is 174hp/167tq at the crank). Add 15% to that or so and you're at 203 Hp / 218 TQ which makes more sense after driving it. The 6MT model should have a bit more on top of that. It makes that torque from 1700-5000RPM, so pretty much everywhere after you get moving. Torque in a Civic was a weird feeling, and in 6th gear going up a hill on the highway you can actually accelerate quite nicely which is something you don't really get with a N/A 4cyl. It matters a lot less what gear you are in, which makes it much easier to drive as a manual IMO.

Compared to the Sedan (Ontario), the Hatchback is actually made in England. It is 135mm shorter, but has the same wheelbase. It has extra bracing and different dampening, and hydraulic bushings instead of rubber on the other cars (Same for high-trimmed sedans). Different steering ratio. The hatch has slightly less leg room in the back than the Sedan, but more headroom and hip-room. Canadians are the only ones who can get the Hatch in Sport Touring with a manual, apparently.

The interior layout and technology list is really quite excellent as well. Every imaginable space has been creatively utilized. Since it has an electronic parking brake, there is now a cavernous center console similar to something you might find in a minivan or SUV. Under the dash there is a grippy wireless charging pad for your phone. Android/Apple auto is standard on all models. It's only downfall is probably that there is no volume knob (touch screen only) however there are steering wheel controls that I imagine would get used most anyway. Sport and above gets the proximity key & push button start. If you move up to the sport touring, you get every piece of tech you could reasonably want, including rain sensing wipers, heated rear seats, auto-high beams, radar cruise control, lane keep, automatic low-speed follow for traffic, auto braking, 12 speaker 540w stereo w/sub, full LED hi/low beams, etc. It has an all-digital dash that would take a little while to get used to as I do prefer standard gauges, but not a big deal.

I briefly drove a CVT model as well but didn't go far enough to form a reliable opinion. First impression was that it was much better than your typical CVT, which reviews seem to echo as well. There was no droning or weird behavior that I noticed, and it didn't seem to fight the turbo. I couldn't really tell that it has slightly less power than the 6MT, but I didn't do anything too crazy in it either.

Whether it will end up being the best overall deal for me I don't know, but you sure do get a lot for your money. I think if you could negotiate a sport touring to under $30K it would be hard to beat as a total package. That being said, Honda lists hilariously low unrealistic residuals, so the lease payments are higher than I'd like. Having to sell the car after the lease to make some money back takes away one huge plus of leasing - that you don't have to put in any effort to taking care of it. If you are selling it privately at the end of the lease, that changes everything.

2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport

After Honda we went over to Hyundai. Sitting in these two cars back to back, it was night & day or at least seemed like it to me. The Hyundai just felt so cheap. Hard garbage plastic absolutely everywhere, even high up on the doors and touch surfaces. Doors rattled when they shut. Everything felt flimsy, light, and cheap. Everything had play in it. Cheap traditional parking brake, far less utility and cleverness to the interior overall. Very plain and uninteresting after being in the Civic. No clever storage, clever layout, or anything like that. Switch gear felt a bit cheaper, but it could have just been because I was so turned off by the rest of it. Didn't even bother with the test drive, I have taken that car off my list. It's probably pretty fun to drive, but I would not consider the car based on the interior. I walked away thinking the cost to build that car compared to the Civic was far less.

2017 VW GTI 3-door Autobahn DSG

Who knew the 3-door GTI was exactly the same size/dimensions as the 5-door? I did not haha. Made things a little more interesting, but I would still prefer the 5-door.

Overall very nice car, not hard to see why they are so popular. Interior was well put together but uninteresting. Traditional e-brake and limited push-to-open center console storage seemed bland and did not have nearly the utility of the Civic's setup. Materials were good up front but they cheap out for the back seat passengers. The LED strips on the door sills were a nice touch, gave the high end feeling. Great seat, great dash, nice big bolsters. Nice traditional gauge cluster (which I prefer to LCD). The GTI has more cargo room than the Civic hatch inside with the seats down, but quite a bit less with the seats up where for me they would most often be. Fender Audio system was more than enough for my needs, and had a clever subwoofer in the spare tire area.

It drove well, but rode noticeably harsher than the Civic Hatch. I couldn't tell if it handled any better, the roads weren't great and I didn't want to do anything stupid. The DSG paddles had lag that I didn't remember from previous drives, which took away almost all the fun of using them in manual for me, but it operated really well in sport-auto mode too. The rev-matched downshifts are nice and give a premium feeling to the drive. The car definitely felt a little faster than the Civic, and performance numbers show it's about a half second faster 0-60.

At over $40K though I don't think I see $10K more car than a loaded Civic Hatch. It seems you are mostly paying for DSG and the more powerful engine, which shouldn't be overlooked, but you also give up some features and some interior utility. Given that I am rarely doing 'performance driving' around the city or in rush hour, the Civic was a nicer place to spend time in I think (for me). The GTI was a little quicker and probably would edge it out in the handling department, but the DSG wasn't quite as good as I thought I remembered either. I would like to revisit it in the daylight with some dry roads though, I might feel differently. A manual GTI would also take a couple grand off the price which helps.

Tonight I plan to drive the ATS, B250, and possibly the Cruze if the Cadillac dealer has one since I will be there anyway.

[R154]

Goodluck!!!

Great GREAT reviews so far man. Kudos.

[Hallowed_point]

Love the reviews dude.

[4doorj]

I just got a 2017 Civic hatchback sport 6 speed manual. I absolutely love it! It's fun to drive! Handles sporty. You don't have to go so fast to have fun with the car. Turbo is fun, haven't really pushed it that hard yet. And the gas mileage on it is amazing so far.
The infotainment is so awesome. Having Android auto makes listening to music so easy. Love the way Honda's feel.

[HiSpec]

Originally posted by 4doorj
I just got a 2017 Civic hatchback sport 6 speed manual. I absolutely love it! It's fun to drive! Handles sporty. You don't have to go so fast to have fun with the car. Turbo is fun, haven't really pushed it that hard yet. And the gas mileage on it is amazing so far.
The infotainment is so awesome. Having Android auto makes listening to music so easy. Love the way Honda's feel.

Congrats!

It's this generation of Civic just as mod friendly as the 8th gen was?

[bigbadboss101]

Mitsu that write up was great! Very professional. Looking forward your views on the other test drives.

[Hallowed_point]

Good choice. They look awesome in white. You're going to love the handling, fuel economy and features. Lane watch is awesome. Ironic how much of a modern honda advocate I've become. But they really know how to build a car that you fall in love with. Without getting arrested lol

[4doorj]

Originally posted by HiSpec


Congrats!

It's this generation of Civic just as mod friendly as the 8th gen was?

It's so brand new not much out yet. But I heard with hondata they have a +3 and a +6 psi tune for it.
It bumps it from (174 hp and 162 tq) to (213 hp and 241 tq)