THE DECISION:
Ever since the demise of Birdy (may she rest in peace only temporarily), I have been sharing Jamie's car. As you know, she is a 2004 Corolla named Zyvelles. She gets 32 MPG if you drive 70-80 MPH, and that's nice. She also has enough oomph and is extremely reliable. However, there aren't two of her.
Given that Jamie and I will both have jobs this summer which will likely require us to be in two different places an unwalkable distance from wherever we end up living, I need a car before May. And why not now? I've been stalking cars for years. I've wanted a 2004 or 2005 Civic, I've wanted a 2002 Celica GTS, I've wanted a Mazda3 hatch...but mostly I've wanted a Mazda3 hatch. Recently, I've been looking up lots of cars (their prices and availability on Craigslist, their specs and reliability data on MSN Autos, and their consumer reviews on Edmunds).
To cut things short, I really liked the VW GTI for some time (cheap, has cargo space, and the base trim comes with 180hp), until I found out that the 1.8 liter turbo sometimes has problems with oil sludge and the VR6 (you guessed it—the V6 model) gets something like 22 MPG. Also, after seeing it in person, the cargo space isn't super impressive—it's like squaring off the back of a Civic sedan.
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| Alas, my love! I do not in fact want to pay for some mechanic to pull off your valve cover gasket to check you for oil sludge before I buy you, and I do not want to feed you full synthetic every 5,000 miles and 91 octane every pit stop. |
I thought about Civics, but really they're just so small (and so great on gas, and so supposedly zippy, but whatever—I've made my mind up), and I thought about Matrixes but they're ugly and expensive and Fits but they're ugly and only have 109hp (I mean really). (Please note that grammatical conventions have been abandoned so you know with what inflection and speed I would say this out loud.)
So.
I have made a decision.
I am going BACK to my first love, the Mazda3 hatch. With 31 cubic feet of cargo space, 160hp, and Car and Driver and Motor Trend reviews where the writers are nearly pissing themselves (see:
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/wagons/112_0406_2004_mazda3_5door/viewall.html for just the praise, and see:
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/mazda-3-road-test for praise with an extra helping of sentimental whining), it seems to be the affordable hot hatch to get. And even despite the 2004 being the first of a new model (the Mazda3 replaced the Protege, which apparently made Tony Swan feel a little sad and a little glad), it has great reliability ratings and few insane complaints on consumer reviews sites.
THE NOT-SO TEST DRIVES: DAY ONE
Yesterday, I went to go test drive and eyeball some other cars, just to see what they felt like and how they looked. And because no one sells stickshifts anymore (either because they're so great and everyone wants to keep theirs or because no one buys them new anymore..let's be realistic, it's probably the latter), I found a dealer who was 20 miles away who had, miracle of miracles, both a Civic coupe (just for fun) and a GTI 1.8T. When we got there, it was on a tiny lot, with cars blocked in by two or three other cars (making me guilty for wanting to test drive something I had little desire to purchase), and with a huge hill coming out of the lot onto a major roadway. Now, Jamie and I are sometimes very stupid, and we had chosen rush hour to go test drive this car. Also, I hadn't driven a stick in a long time, and the grade of that hill was very intimidating. Let's just say I chickened out and we did not test drive anything. It was a valuable trip though, because I got to sit in a GTI (and convince myself the interior was not as utilitarian as I had previously believed) and also look at a bright yellow Civic SI they happened to have there. (An aside: Civic SIs in the model years I'm looking at are fairly ugly—no—no—it's true—don't deny it—and also have about the same amount of cargo space as do GTIs, which isn't impressive. And despite the fact that they generally boast pimply teenage boys as their first owners and typically sport overinteresting rims, they come at high prices for their mileage because of Honda's too good to be true reliability reputation. Crossed it off my list.)
After exchanging a few polite words with the car salesman, we departed. And let me mention that I had found the GTI blocked in by several cars, seen that it was unlocked, and gone ahead and just let myself in. I was trying out all the inside doohickeys that didn't require a turn of the ignition when the fellow shouted from afar, asking if Jamie and I needed any help. No no no (emerging clumsily from the driver's seat of the GTI), too much tint on that Civic coupe over there that we'd been interested in, and hadn't known that this GTI had over 130,000 miles on it (blatant lie since the mileage was in the online ad and if I hadn't seen the online ad, how else would I have known it was there? I'm terrible). We got in Zyvelles and got out of there.
This used dealer was located in a veritable sea of other used car dealerships (and new dealerships, of course), but we drove for miles without going to another one. Since I was driving, Jamie kept his eyes peeled for older hatches in the sales lots (“I don't see any,” “This one doesn't have any,” “Keep going,” “Apparently no one buys the things!”) with little luck. We were about to pass a gigantic Nissan dealership when Jamie said, “Hey! This one's huge. Maybe they have a hatch we can't see!” (or he said something like that anyway). I stomped the brakes, turned right, and slid into a parking spot right in front of the glossy indoor showroom, where a friendly-looking older gentleman was already standing outside waiting for us. My heart sank in dread.
I removed the key from the ignition, made sure to take all the time I wanted putting my keys in my purse, and stepped out of the car.
“Hi there!” he grinned, stretching out his hand. He was old like I said, and tall, with fluffy white hair and suboptimal teeth. He seemed nice. I shook his hand. “Hey, how are you?”
“Great! My name's (something or another).”
“Allison.”
“How can I help you today!” It wasn't a question. It was a challenge. It was, “You have parked your car in this parking space right here, the one I wandered casually over to so I could get the commission from this sale, and now you have to buy something from me or I may bite you with my non-dentures!” The following is a near transcript of our conversation.
Me: “Where are your used cars?”
Salesman: “What's your budget?”
Me: “Under $10,000.”
Salesman: “What are you looking for?”
Me: “Mazda3 or a GTI, potentially a Matrix. Maybe a Civic SI.”
Salesman: “Well we've got a brand new 2011 Mazda3 for $22,000.”
Jamie: “That's twice our budget.”
Me: “We'll need something under $10,000.”
Salesman: “I've got a 2006 Mazda3 for $11,000.”
Me, playing along: “Sedan or hatchback?”
Salesman: “Sedan.”
Me: “Yeah, we're gonna need the hatchback.”
Salesman: “Well, do you have any others you've thought of? Maybe a Nissan Versa?”
Me: “Well, we thought about those, but honestly I don't really...like the way they look.”
Jamie: (outright laughter)
Me, awkwardly: “They're nice though because you can get them cheaper. And the updated styling for 2012 is a little better.”
Salesman: “We have a brand new Versa sedan for (some price I don't remember).”
Me: “Yeah, you know, I don't think we're interested in that.”
Salesman: “Anything else?”
Me, getting sick of this now three-minute-long rampage of suffering: “No, you know what, looking around, I'm not seeing many things in our budget--”
Salesman: (some other offer)
Me: "--and I think we'll probably just look elsewhere, thank you so much for your time!” I reach out to shake his hand.
Salesman, ignoring my hand: (some other offer)
Me, walking away from him sideways with Jamie: “No no, well, we really have to go, you have a nice day.”
Salesman: “$10,000 is really difficult to find, you guys. Really difficult.”
Right. Just like it was so hard to find all those GTIs and SIs and Mazda3s online for less than $8,000. We got in the car and left, me feeling icky and guilty for cutting the guy off like that, Jamie feeling entertained. He jokingly apologized for getting me to turn into that dealership.
THE TEST DRIVE: DAY TWO
Five-speed Mazda3 hatches are very rare in these parts and basically everywhere else, but a dealer about forty-five minutes away has one off the lot for minor body repair. (“Allison you idiot! It's been in a crash! Run awaaaayyyy!” but no, the Carfax says it's accident-free and the guy selling the car told me it was likely an unreported knock into a pole or something, and it's only costing him $400 to fix it...if you've had any body work done you know that's not much.) I've been in contact with him for a few days, and I'd arranged to see the car tomorrow (which is when the body work will be done). Since he's forty-five minutes away, I wanted to make sure I really did like the Mazda3 and really did want to drive a longish round-trip to see one, and so I settled for test-driving an automatic one today at a dealer about twenty minutes or so away. This time it wasn't rush hour (win).
When we got there, we were appalled at how horrible the car was. Not the model in general mind you, but that particular unfortunate example of it. The person who had owned it had banged it up badly, with multiple large and noticeable scratches and dents. It had no rear windshield wiper, just a sad looking little hole. And when you started the car, it would cough-hesitate-cough-hesitate and then start at an idle which was steady for about 75% of the time. The other 25%, the engine would suddenly go “ERRRRRNNNGGG” with no jump in the RPMs (the only thing my mechanically challenged mind could think of that might account for that noise) until after ten seconds it decided everything was okay and settled down again. I worried silently that it might not be safe to take on the road.
As for the salesman, I have no complaints other than him not really knowing anything about cars (he started two days ago, though, so...). The Mazda3 was blocked in by a beautiful Audi TT, and he kept asking his fellow salespeople (when I went inside to let them copy my license), “What was that red car? An Audi?” until Jamie just got the key to the TT (tagged 2003 Audi TT, red) off of the rack (which wasn't behind a desk) and said “Here you go, we found it.” The salesman checked it to make sure, said “Ahhh,” and then we all went outside again.
In any case, I test drove the thing and it was sufficiently lovely. The tranny kicked a little going into second (but what do you expect, it was a terribly maintained car and I was driving it harshly, and I don't care because HA HA I am getting a manual), but the handling was just perfect. Absolutely wonderful. The pickup was great. The brakes didn't work well, but again that's an individual car and a wear and tear kind of thing. I feel like handling is a more across-the-board sort of attribute, and if it hadn't gone to hell (quite the opposite!) on this terrible car, what will it be like on a better one? Jamie liked the styling (which has been an issue with most of the other hatches—so many are so unappealing), and we thought it had enough cargo space to justify a few MPG fewer than other cars. Suffice to say, I thought the wear and tear sorts of things on this car were pretty bad, but things like cargo space and handling were super great. Definitely going to see that other one (the one that's actually a manual) tomorrow.
I should also say that when the fellow asked if we were going to buy the car, I told him that we probably wouldn't, we weren't sure, and I was a little concerned about how the engine started and idled. He told me that it was starting after having sat for a while in the cold—but the funny thing is it was sitting in the sun in 65 degree weather. Mmm.
POSTSCRIPT: HOPE FOR TOMORROW
Tomorrow I am going to test drive a little gray Mazda3 stickshift hatch. If all goes well, I will drive it home, and you will hear lots more about it.
Photos:
1. http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3938/behindsnswi9.jpg
