"Frosted" (frostedbuns)
04/11/2014 at 16:56 • Filed to: None
1
13|
"Frosted" (frostedbuns)
04/11/2014 at 16:56 • Filed to: None | 1
| 13 |
Took in a lot of advice from all you guys and went today to sit in two of the subcompacts I've been considering: Mazda 2 and Chevy Sonic
First off, the Sonic. It was an LT Automatic and was quite well equipped with blue tooth and a nicer dash than the LS would've had. It was surprisingly nice inside though and a sales manager walked me through all of the warranty info, definately a very nice car to daily drive for such a low price. Seats weren't as comfortable as I'd like though and the LS looks to have worse seats. The gauges have a cool design but look a bit like an afterthought and I'm not sure I liked it. It was cool at first but thinking about living with it for a few years is another story. The LT nice was nice but I'll hold judgement until I sit in the LS. Salesman and manager were both very respectful and courteous though and, despite going in in my Domo tee shirt mild hobo looks, they were happy to talk me through the car and answer all of my questions.
The Mazda 2. It's no secret that I'm biased towards the 2 already. I love the way it looks, like it's excited to go for a drive. Interior was very nice, nothing felt particularly cheap for the price range and the contact points were nice to touch, had a very smooth and glossy feel compared to the Sonics obvious plastic (that had nice touch points too but you can tell they were cheap plastics). The seats felt far more comfortable and slightly more bolstered than the Sonic, though not as much bolstering as I'd like. The salesman took his time getting over to me and was genuinely unpleasant though. He said he'd give me the 6500 I wanted for my car on the spot without an appraiser looking at it which seemed shady. He asked me if I had a job and when I said no, he told me I should get one before getting a new car assuming that I wouldn't be able to pay for the car in full (I've spoken briefly with my parents and they agreed that if I get a job, they'd help me pay for the car and I would give them a portion of my paychecks). He didn't seem to know much about the 2 or warranty info and counted on me to look over the brochure. If I go the Mazda route, which I really just might, it won't be from that dealership.
*Note - I was unable to test drive either car because they only had 1 example in the showroom and none on the lot.
So yea, I like the 2 over the Sonic so far.
Sonic - better equipped even at base trim
- better warranties and Onstar
- Base starts at 15,500 and that's pretty close to my budget ceiling
- Cheap plastics galore but nothing offensive to touch
Mazda 2 - Personal preference in the looks department both inside and out
- Decent warranties but not the greatest
- Kinda bare bones in terms of equipment
- Base model with a manual was about 15,100 and I'd qualify for rebates.
jkm7680
> Frosted
04/11/2014 at 16:58 |
|
Hmmm, The Sonic Rs I prefer over the Mazda.
But the Mazda has better looks. With a Stick.
Brian Silvestro
> Frosted
04/11/2014 at 16:58 |
|
DRIVE THE DAMN 1.0L
|
Frosted
> Brian Silvestro
04/11/2014 at 17:00 |
|
I can't live with the center console. Also finding a 1.0 on a lot where I can test it is gonna be impossible. I couldn't even get a test in these 2 as they didn't have any on the lot, just in the showroom.
eindeutschfanboy
> jkm7680
04/11/2014 at 17:02 |
|
Try the ford fiesta it's a great car with a manual.
|
Brian Silvestro
> Frosted
04/11/2014 at 17:02 |
|
*cries*
Oh well. At least the Mazda 2 exists. You really can't go wrong in this segment.
|
Frosted
> jkm7680
04/11/2014 at 17:03 |
|
The Sonic RS is a bit outta my price range (16k max). The LT I saw was JUST squeezing in and the salesman said I'd qualify for a few rebates to get the price down more if I went with the Sonic at all. But yea I liked the Mazda more than the Chevy. The Sonic was surprisingly not bad but just not quite what I wanted.
Ilike_cougars
> Frosted
04/11/2014 at 17:13 |
|
I actually had a rental Sonic LT sedan for 2 weeks, and loved it, the biggest surprise, I did a 300 mile trip at an average of just above 40mpg.. Its an awesome DD if you ask me. I haven't driven the Mazda 2 so cant comment
**EDIT** SR20
Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
> Frosted
04/11/2014 at 17:50 |
|
Mazda warranty has left a bad taste in my mouth, though it might just be their service department at that dealership. People always seem to rush through warranty work, especially in this case. The warranty feels like a joke to me, they don't allow any place other than the dealership work on the car, they threaten to void warranty if you don't agree to pay what they set for oil changes, balances, etc. Very little is covered under the warranty, basically you pay for some of it anyway. They basically give you a "warranty" to force you into their service department.
|
Frosted
> Brian Silvestro
04/11/2014 at 19:24 |
|
I'll check out a base Fiesta still as it's only fair to see all of the competition but seeing the 2014 Fiesta in pics is already putting a sour taste in my mouth.
|
Brian Silvestro
> Frosted
04/11/2014 at 19:26 |
|
I guess we have really different opinions on this car's looks because I love the new face!
|
eindeutschfanboy
> Frosted
04/11/2014 at 19:26 |
|
snyc voice commands work great though, so it is kind of irrelevant how good or bad the center console is.
Bytemite
> Frosted
04/13/2014 at 18:35 |
|
Have you already ruled out the Rio, Accent, and Fiesta? What about the smaller cars like the Fiat 500 or Chevy Spark or Scion iQ?
|
Frosted
> Bytemite
04/13/2014 at 19:02 |
|
The Rio and Accent are out, I'll be checking out the Fit, Fiesta and testing a 2 this Thursday. I sat in both the 500 and Spark and just didn't care for either plus I'm not a fan of the looks and the iQ is just too small.