Help Me Choose a New Car- Honda,Toyota, or VW?

I am new to this community but it seems like I might be able to get some
decent feedback. I'm in the market for a new car. What I'm thinking about
for now is a 2004-05 Honda Civic Hybrid, Toyota Matrix, or VW Jetta. I do
about 50/50 city and highway driving. But the highway driving I do is
mostly long-distances so good gas mileage is a major plus. Basically, I
want something that is reliable and will last a long time with as little
maintenance as possible. I'm not very car savvy, so I need some help.

Jazmyne wrote:

> I am new to this community but it seems like I might be able to get some
> decent feedback. I'm in the market for a new car. What I'm thinking about
> for now is a 2004-05 Honda Civic Hybrid, Toyota Matrix, or VW Jetta. I do
> about 50/50 city and highway driving. But the highway driving I do is
> mostly long-distances so good gas mileage is a major plus. Basically, I
> want something that is reliable and will last a long time with as little
> maintenance as possible. I'm not very car savvy, so I need some help.

If you want something reliable, then scratch VW off your list.

Since you do 50% highway driving, I really don't think you'd be saving
much, if at all, in the long run by buying a hybrid. The extra cost to
buy a hybrid is not likely to be offset by the savings in refueling costs
unless you do A LOT of driving, especially in the city.

Therefore, the only logical choices for you (IMO) would be the non-hybrid
Civic and the Corolla/Matrix. These should still get very good mileage on
the highway. My folks took a trip in their 2004 Corolla (automatic) last
fall and it did about 40mpg (yes, those are U.S. gallons). The Civic
should get similar figures under similar conditions.

Jazmyne wrote:
>
> I am new to this community but it seems like I might be able to get some
> decent feedback. I'm in the market for a new car. What I'm thinking about
> for now is a 2004-05 Honda Civic Hybrid, Toyota Matrix, or VW Jetta. I do
> about 50/50 city and highway driving. But the highway driving I do is
> mostly long-distances so good gas mileage is a major plus. Basically, I
> want something that is reliable and will last a long time with as little
> maintenance as possible. I'm not very car savvy, so I need some help.


--------------------------

Stay away from VW if you don't like driving a 'loaner' all the time. On
one of our Canadian driving shows they recently admitted they couldn't
recommend vW because of serious long-standing electrical issues. Good
for them! It's nice to know of a TV show will tell you the truth. Get
Consumer Reports and see for yourself.

Been there, done that.

'Curly'

Corolla or a Civic. both are reliable to the point of being boring.

On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 16:58:55 -0700, "'Curly Q. Links'"
> wrote:

>Jazmyne wrote:
>>
>> I am new to this community but it seems like I might be able to get some
>> decent feedback. I'm in the market for a new car. What I'm thinking about
>> for now is a 2004-05 Honda Civic Hybrid, Toyota Matrix, or VW Jetta. I do
>> about 50/50 city and highway driving. But the highway driving I do is
>> mostly long-distances so good gas mileage is a major plus. Basically, I
>> want something that is reliable and will last a long time with as little
>> maintenance as possible. I'm not very car savvy, so I need some help.
>
>
>--------------------------
>
>Stay away from VW if you don't like driving a 'loaner' all the time. On
>one of our Canadian driving shows they recently admitted they couldn't
>recommend vW because of serious long-standing electrical issues. Good
>for them! It's nice to know of a TV show will tell you the truth. Get
>Consumer Reports and see for yourself.
>
>Been there, done that.
>
>'Curly'

To back up the claims of others here re the superior
reliability of Toyota and Honda vs. VW, I strongly recommend
perusing the April 2005 issue of Consumer Reports. They
survey thousands of readers about the reliability of their
cars (over many years and many models) and present the
results in an easy to read format.

That's what first hooked me on Hondas and Toyotas some 20
years ago.

The Hybrids are still not cost justified, overall. So if you
buy one, it's your contribution to the environment, but a
loss to some charity that could use your donation of several
thousand dollars.

Consider waiting for the Honda Jazz/Fit to come out in the
U.S. within about a year. Supposed to get 50 mpg on a
conventional engine, IIRC.

"Jazmyne" > wrote
> I am new to this community but it seems like I might be
able to get some
> decent feedback. I'm in the market for a new car. What I'm
thinking about
> for now is a 2004-05 Honda Civic Hybrid, Toyota Matrix, or
VW Jetta. I do
> about 50/50 city and highway driving. But the highway
driving I do is
> mostly long-distances so good gas mileage is a major plus.
Basically, I
> want something that is reliable and will last a long time
with as little
> maintenance as possible. I'm not very car savvy, so I need
some help.

Jazmyne wrote:
> I am new to this community but it seems like I might be able to get some
> decent feedback. I'm in the market for a new car. What I'm thinking about
> for now is a 2004-05 Honda Civic Hybrid, Toyota Matrix, or VW Jetta. I do
> about 50/50 city and highway driving. But the highway driving I do is
> mostly long-distances so good gas mileage is a major plus. Basically, I
> want something that is reliable and will last a long time with as little
> maintenance as possible. I'm not very car savvy, so I need some help.
>


honda or toyota. if you want really good mileage, wait for the toyota
yaris- 40mpg.

Elle wrote:
> The Hybrids are still not cost justified, overall. So if you
> buy one, it's your contribution to the environment, but a
> loss to some charity that could use your donation of several
> thousand dollars.

i just like the idea of riding in the carpool lanes alone, which you can
do in a prius, in california.
>
> Consider waiting for the Honda Jazz/Fit to come out in the
> U.S. within about a year. Supposed to get 50 mpg on a
> conventional engine, IIRC.

yup. toyota yaris, too.

"SoCalMike" > wrote
> Elle wrote:
> > The Hybrids are still not cost justified, overall. So if
you
> > buy one, it's your contribution to the environment, but
a
> > loss to some charity that could use your donation of
several
> > thousand dollars.
>
> i just like the idea of riding in the carpool lanes alone,
which you can
> do in a prius, in california.

Understood.

> > Consider waiting for the Honda Jazz/Fit to come out in
the
> > U.S. within about a year. Supposed to get 50 mpg on a
> > conventional engine, IIRC.
>
> yup. toyota yaris, too.

What's the engine displacement supposed to be for the U.S.
Yaris?

Elle wrote:
> What's the engine displacement supposed to be for the U.S.
> Yaris?

1.5L, 4-cyl, 106HP
http://www.toyota.com/images/vehicle...essrelease.pdf

> Consider waiting for the Honda Jazz/Fit to come out in
> the U.S. within about a year. Supposed to get 50 mpg on a
> conventional engine, IIRC.

"SoCalMike" > wrote
> > yup. toyota yaris, too.

According to the press release, Yaris is only 34/40 mpg. Which is very
unimpressive for such a small car.

"Bucky" > wrote
> > What's the engine displacement supposed to be for the
U.S.
> > Yaris?
>
> 1.5L, 4-cyl, 106HP
>
http://www.toyota.com/images/vehicle...aris/pressrele
ase.pdf
>
> > Consider waiting for the Honda Jazz/Fit to come out in
> > the U.S. within about a year. Supposed to get 50 mpg on
a
> > conventional engine, IIRC.
>
> "SoCalMike" > wrote
> > > yup. toyota yaris, too.
>
> According to the press release, Yaris is only 34/40 mpg.
Which is very
> unimpressive for such a small car.

Seems right for an unbroken in 1.5L. The Echo is 1.5 L I
believe and gets about that.

I thought the Fit/Jazz was dipping down to 1.4 or even 1.3 L
in some countries.

Thanks for the reference.