Time for a new car....

[PureDeXteritY]

Impreza.
I Bought an Impreza last year and I can say winter driving is truly a pleasure. It's only been a year but no problems so far, I've heard some pretty nightmare stories about dealing with the dealership but they're been pretty friendly so far with my experience.
I can say that Subaru has a pretty soft paint, so it's quite prone to rock chips and surface scratches.
I had a cardboard box sitting on the car's roof and my girlfriend pulled it off (instead of lifting it off) and it left quite a few scratches

Civic SI.
My friend bought a Civic SI two years ago and he's really liking the car. It's a really smooth ride and it's actually pretty decent for performance. reliability wise I mean, it's Honda so you'll have that goin for you. On the downside he's kind of bored of it. At the end of the day it's a Civic and you're going to see them everywhere.

Ford Focus.
I rented a car when I was traveling and it was a focus. I must say I was VERY impressed. the thing was loaded with features, there are a lot of features you don't think you'll need but once you have them you won't want to be without them. the fuel economy was great as I didn't have to fill it once on my trip and I drove quite a bit.


But at the end of the day it really comes down to what feel's best for you. Go out and test drive all of them and see which fits you best. Also take a look at your lifestyle (sports, hiking, skiing, children ect) and imagine which car works best with your lifestyle.

For me I play hockey and I go snowboarding throughout the winter. So I wanted the AWD for the mountains, Utility of a Hatchback for hockey gear, and I enjoy a little performance for the fun factor so I went with the impreza.

[speeed]

My experience with Honda has been quite good as far as warranty work.

I've had everything fixed under warranty without a problem, even with modifications that was probably related to the issue.

For example, I am lowered about 3 inches on coilovers and still had my torn cv boot replaced when the coilover strut body was sitting about 0.5cm away from it.

After the winter there was a bit of moisture building up in my headlight. Service manager took a glance at it and ordered the a brand new headlight unit and replaced it with no hassle of HID's or swapped bulbs.

I noticed after a recent carwash, a little bit of paint was peeling off the edge of my factory rear lip right where it meets the bumper. Again, the service manager looked at it and sent me straight to my preferred body shop to get a estimate. So screamin paintworks is painting my lip as we speak under my Honda warranty.

There's a whole list of other minor things fixed under warranty also, and again no hassles whatsoever.

so overall, a big for T&T Honda and their service.

[heavyD]

Don't listen to the fanboys, drive the cars and buy the car on it own merits and it you do that the two two best cars are pretty clear and it's up to you to choose if you prefer the Focus or Civic. If you have to have AWD get the Impreza or maybe new Lancer with AWD but I would stay clear of the Impreza it's nowhere near as good as the other cars outside of AWD.

1) Focus - Style, Handling, Reliability
2) Civic - Reliability, dependability and only thing that keeps it from being #1 is conservative styling and cheaper materials than last gen. Focus interior and exterior are much superior.
3) Mazda 3 - Not spectacular at anything but competent and decent handling
4) Lancer - Best warranty, reliable
5) Impreza - AWD but probably the most mundane car of the bunch and worst paint in the business
6) Forte - Not bad but nothing particularily special

[eblend]

How about something like a matrix awd? Toyota so you know it is reliable (mostly), with AWD can get you through the winter nicely.

I was too thinking of buying brand new, but ended up going used, just isn't worth it, as the price drops immediately as you leave the lot.

Two weeks ago I got a pontiac vibe awd, 2009 with 26k on it for $11,500, original retail value of the car was $25k (have the window sticker). Thats a freaking 13.5K off in 3 years, and a great little car, drives fast enough (if you are not looking for racing or the cool factor), and a Toyota through and through, with a toyota powertrain, identical interior to the matrix besides the Pontiac logo on the steering wheel.

Just saying.

I was thinking of going with the new Imprezza myself, but quickly realized that I rather buy with the cash I had and be done with it, than to finance if over x amount of years.

Test drove the new ford focus hatch, really liked it myself, great car and lots of features, also the Chevy Cruze was a good ride.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[Kennyredline]

Well, I definatley don't want anything used, it's time for a brand-new car with no hassles, and a warranty. Since I'm so hooked on the Impreza, I'll probably test drive that last. I would love to get a WRX, but it's a little out of the budget for me. If I have to order my car, if a dealer doesn't have what I want on the lot, how long does it take to get a car to a dealer?

[max_boost]

It depends where the vehicle is located.

In the province it would be 2-3 days and if in Vancouver, usually about a week. For a car like the Impreza which doesn't come with a lot of customizing, you should be able to have your choice.

PM sent. I dealt with Terry from Subaru Calgary and he was terrific in the whole process.

[Gibson]

Wait a year and buy the Focus ST.

[eblend]

Originally posted by Kennyredline
Well, I definatley don't want anything used, it's time for a brand-new car with no hassles, and a warranty. Since I'm so hooked on the Impreza, I'll probably test drive that last. I would love to get a WRX, but it's a little out of the budget for me. If I have to order my car, if a dealer doesn't have what I want on the lot, how long does it take to get a car to a dealer?

Are you talking about the 2012 impreza or the current one? New ones are out in november, so would make more sense to buy the new one with awesome gas milage and the redesign, which would mean your car might still look like current generation when you finish paying it off.

[heavyD]

Originally posted by eblend


Are you talking about the 2012 impreza or the current one? New ones are out in november, so would make more sense to buy the new one with awesome gas milage and the redesign, which would mean your car might still look like current generation when you finish paying it off.

Yeah. The all-new 2012 Impreza looks promising but the outgoing Impreza sucks. If you have to go that route get a 2012 for sure.