My Rabbit, Caliber, Versa review

I had some free time away from the wife and kids yesterday, and I
decided to take the time to drive 5 cars.
Unfortunately, my local dealers didn't have a Fit or a Mazda3 on the
lot, so I ended up just comparing 3.
Now, these are a bit "mixed and matched", but they are all relatively in
the same class (size wise), but all over in terms of quality.

I've been eying the Rabbit for a bit now, and I posted a couple of weeks
ago here about why VW's get relatively bad gas mileage compared to their
competitors.
It doesn't matter!
Since this is the VW group, I'll start with the Rabbit.
Other than a Mercedes C-class, this is the nicest car I've driven in a
long, LONG time. There was very little to not like. The engine just
flat out surprised me with it's "punch". Not a little, but I'm still
flabbergasted. The tranny was slick and smooooooth shifting, but would
respond quickly when you got on the gas. Oh, the features! Just about
everthing you could want, with good handling and a rock-solid feel to
the chassy.
In short, It reminded me all over again of why I loved my VW. This was
a bad-ass car.
Cons: relatively poor fuel economy; still kinda a smallish car;
expensive.
Yep, it's expensive, with a 4door and auto with little else added
running up to accord pricing..

Caliber: This was the surprise for me. I like Dodge products, their
handling, and I particularly like the Caliber and it's styling. But
I've read the C&D review(s), and some others, and I was curious.
Wow. This is the WORST NEW CAR I'VE EVER DRIVEN.
The engine was pretty smooth and moderately torquey, but a bit lazy. The
tranny was okay, but nothing special. The interior was the WORST you
could imagine, and the dash height makes you think somebody installed it
about 3 inches too high!!
Cheap, cheap, cheap plastic everywhere. Unfinished edges, and when in
doubt, put more plastic. Good Ghod, Dodge! Look at the inside of a
Mazda3, or a Civic. Use GOOD plastic at least, and there's no crime
against cloth on the door.
Of particular interest, the rear has plastic on both sides (inside),
plastic on the back of the back seats, and a hard, sharp-edged plastic
plastic cover over the spare. During the test drive, the salesman's tag
fell and every bump or corner, you got this loud 'ssshshhshshshs!!!!
crash!" noise as the tag slid and bumped with no sound deadening across
the back of this crappy car.

Versa: Wow. Simply put, if I hadn't driven the VW, I'd probably have
bought this car. It's roomy (about as much as the VW), handled well,
but not sporty... just "solid". Pretty quiet. The CVT Tranny was just
cool, but the engine was the biggest difference with the VW. It was
perfectly okay, but just felt a bit weak compared to the Rabbit. Of
course the Versa gets 30/36 mileage, so that's the tradeoff, eh?!.
The interior was very nice, pleasant, with some good touches all around.
Of course, it's not close to the VW, but still very, very nice for the
price point.

In short, I think I may have decided yesterday to buy a new car...the
question is do I want to push $20k for the Rabbit, or do I want to be
careful and spend about $15k for the Versa.
Years ago, I drove a Golf and a Protege, and ended up with the Protege.
Now, the Mazda was one of my favorite cars ever... but since my favorite
car was probably my VW, I've always wondered if would have been happier
with the Golf.
I like Nissan very much, just about every product they have now... but I
find myself thinking that if I got the Versa and not the VW....2 or 5
years from now I'll be wondering what it would have been like to spend
the extra $70/month for the Rabbit.

JP


--
---------------------------------------
Save up to 20% on your Long Distance!
Try my 'best rate calculator' to
see your savings!::
http://billzilla.com/jonrpatrick
................
Free eBook shows you the exact methods
I used to get out of debt, painlessly:
http://www.freewebs.com/freedomfromdebt
--------------------------------------

Jon R. Patrick wrote:
> Unfortunately, my local dealers didn't have a Fit or a Mazda3 on the
> lot, so I ended up just comparing 3.

Don't quit yet. Drive the 2007 Mazda3 (i and s models) and see what you
think. The '07 Mazda3 has some significant changes over the '06s. '07s
are just starting to hit the dealer lots.

Thanks for including the Versa in your comparison. I'd be hard put to
take it over the Rabbit, which has, I think, the most standard safety
features of all the cars you mentioned.

"jpmccormac" > wrote in
ups.com:

>
> Jon R. Patrick wrote:
>> Unfortunately, my local dealers didn't have a Fit or a Mazda3 on the
>> lot, so I ended up just comparing 3.
>
> Don't quit yet. Drive the 2007 Mazda3 (i and s models) and see what
> you think. The '07 Mazda3 has some significant changes over the '06s.
> '07s are just starting to hit the dealer lots.
>
> Thanks for including the Versa in your comparison. I'd be hard put to
> take it over the Rabbit, which has, I think, the most standard safety
> features of all the cars you mentioned.
>
>


And more power, better handling, a more 'solid' feel... all the
intangibles. I'm not knocking the Versa, 'cuz I really liked it, but the
Rabbit is in a whole 'nother class. And you pay more to get to that
class.

JP

--
---------------------------------------
Save up to 20% on your Long Distance!
Try my 'best rate calculator' to
see your savings!::
http://billzilla.com/jonrpatrick
................
Free eBook shows you the exact methods
I used to get out of debt, painlessly:
http://www.freewebs.com/freedomfromdebt
--------------------------------------