went touchin' more cars

"MonkeePuzzle" (monkeypuzzle) 07/11/2018 at 13:51 • Filed to: None

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in continuation of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! of the cheapest model each company offers (except some garbage companies that aren’t near my office), I went and drove the last three on my list

Nissan Versa Note: the dealer experience was bad, lots of waiting, etc. And the car. WoW. It’s not good.

The brakes felt like they needed a good bleeding, steering was vague, almost deceptive . Power windows aren’t an option without a special order. On the plus side lots of rear passenger room, and the spare is mounted under the car so the trunk is roomier.

Hyundai Accent: a genuine surprise. It had all the features a modern car should have. Was roomy. Drove well, if perhaps a little under- powered. Didn’t try to be too fancy inside, which is a mistake most of the cheap end seem to make. Hyundai are just owning who they are, and seem to be doing it well.

And with a bunch of insentives, the car that already started at the lowest price was ~$5k cheaper than all the others.

Kia Rio: eh. meh. blah. The engine is actually got good power, and a manually controllable 6 speed auto made for a zippy car. But aside from acceleration driving was otherwise numb. And priced similar to it’s competitors it too had no power windows, AND no remote locks. How is that still a thing. And no backup camera, which the Nissan was the only other to lack.

Mostly I hated the faux ipad in the dash look of the stereo. Stop doing that car companies. It looks Bad. And looks especially bad when it’s like a 3.5inch non-touch screen in the faux tablet dash pod

also there was this. It looked pretty.

conclusion: were I to buy a new car, it’d be the Toyota Yaris or the Hyundai Accent.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 14:07

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SO you bought the Stinger. Right? Right?

Gerry197 > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 14:08

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Dealership decals is absolutely something I can’t get over, luckily in my state it isn’t common except from people from out of state driving their cars here.

The most we put up with are license plate dealer frames, but those are easy to change. 

Chariotoflove > Gerry197 07/11/2018 at 14:11

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Yes!  I don’t want to be a rolling ad for a dealer.

pip bip - choose Corrour > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 14:11

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manual windows swings it for me.

wafflesnfalafel > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 14:15

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kinda sucks you had that bad experience with the Fit..  other than the seat not going back quite far enough for me I thought it was a neat, zippy little ride... 

Khalbali > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 14:15

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Did you drive a mirage at all? I'm thinking of looking at one Saturday.

Tripper > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 14:15

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+1 for the Accent. I refused to stand out as a tourist and rent a convertible mustang or wrangler when we were in Kauai. So I saved a few bucks and we rented an Accent. It was buzzy and slow but otherwise a perfectly good car. We put almost 1200 miles on it driving around!

MonkeePuzzle > Tripper 07/11/2018 at 14:18

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buzzy, yeah. It certainly had more road noise than some of the others in the same range. but not so much that it was uncomfortable .

JCAlan > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 14:18

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Don’t the Accent and the Rio have the same exact engine? Interesting that the driving experience would be that different.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 14:19

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I thought all new cars in the US were required to have backup cameras as of a year or two ago?

MonkeePuzzle > wafflesnfalafel 07/11/2018 at 14:20

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oh yeah, it was a bad test drive, but the car is fantastic!

the problem is really that the Honda is too good. It’s priced fair, but higher than the others, and retains its value so used ones arent exactly a bargain either.

likely, for my wants, it’s just too much car/cost.

MonkeePuzzle > JCAlan 07/11/2018 at 14:20

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of ideas I have none. but the transmission was certainly different between the two. which could potentially be the reason.

either way, the accent was ok, but the rio was zippy. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 14:21

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y u no Mazda?

MonkeePuzzle > BaconSandwich is tasty. 07/11/2018 at 14:23

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yeah! thats what I thought too!

but... maybe they are getting away with it being an older design? i.e. the 2018 is really just a 2015 design.

but yeah, I thought that strange too.

MonkeePuzzle > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 07/11/2018 at 14:23

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I drove a Fiesta... :P

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 14:24

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The Accent / Rio have the same engines and transmissions here in North America (although the current generations of both are NOT based on the same platform anymore.)

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 14:26

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A Mazda 3 starts at $18k (list) - is that more expensive than all the others you drove?

MonkeePuzzle > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 07/11/2018 at 14:27

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and the mazda 2 isn’t a thing anymore. and the next smallest is the 3 which is kinda of a step up pricewise. 

MonkeePuzzle > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 07/11/2018 at 14:28

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yeah. the base price on the list of cars I drove was all sort of $15k -ish

MonkeePuzzle > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/11/2018 at 14:29

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huh. well. dunno what to tell ya. maybe it’s an electronic brain or mapping issue? they certainly drove differently. 

Takuro Spirit > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 14:30

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Look for cars built after May 2018. They HAVE to have a backup camera.

Takuro Spirit > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 14:36

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Also: https://jalopnik.com/goodbye-tata-nano-the-worlds-cheapest-car-you-deserve-1827513853

You missed your chance

Takuro Spirit > BaconSandwich is tasty. 07/11/2018 at 14:37

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Only if built after May... 18th? I think? 2018

MonkeePuzzle > Takuro Spirit 07/11/2018 at 14:39

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for when you want a motorcycle but you have bad balance

MonkeePuzzle > Gerry197 07/11/2018 at 14:40

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not to mention dealership decals that cant even line up wiht the car’s own lettering

MonkeePuzzle > Khalbali 07/11/2018 at 14:44

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I have not. It’s on the list, perhaps I can swing some more time later this week.

Even though the Mazda2 isn’t a thing anymore, I’d like to touch one of those too. And could hit up Mitsubishi at the same time. 

Svend > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 14:54

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Is that Kia Rio a 4 door?

Ours is 5 door hatchback only in the U.K.

Looking at Autotrader that have 37 of  the 2018 registered vehicle and 34 out of the 37 are manual.

Power front windows even on the base vehicle with manual windows on the rear doors. Air con and remote central locking.

MonkeePuzzle > Svend 07/11/2018 at 14:58

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yeah, the 5door hatch is still available in the US, just not at the dealer I went to today.

There are certainly Rios available with the options (lets call them defaults by now) like power windows and such. But for the price, just not worth it (in my opinion)

MonkeePuzzle > Takuro Spirit 07/11/2018 at 15:18

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odd, and what with so many man Tato dealers nearby me :S

MarquetteLa > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 15:20

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From what I understand the Mazda2 was sold as a Scion iA here in the States until Scion died , and was then marketed as a Yaris starting in August 2016. So I think you’ve already tried the Mazda2 when you were in the Yaris in your l as t post?

Takuro Spirit > MonkeePuzzle 07/11/2018 at 15:25

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I forgive you for forgetting about them.

BTW I heard ROXORs are around your price range, and bretty basic

MonkeePuzzle > MarquetteLa 07/11/2018 at 15:55

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entirely possible. 

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Takuro Spirit 07/11/2018 at 19:26

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That could be.