car-fi - Page 41

 

Yes, precisely. Very useful feature, wish they didn't discontinue it for my 00 legacy GT

 

The thing is ur asking a lot out of a car that starts below $20k. I decided to get it because it's a hybrid that's sporty, not because it's a sports car with great mileage. You can't have everything at this price point right now, but it does everything well. Sport mode is pretty swift below 40mph and many on the crzforum are reporting 45-47 MPG in the city in ECO mode. Quite good for a car that isn't a Prius. :)

 

I haven't been driving long enough to post any MPG numbers. Hopefully soon.

Yes yes understood. How is the sound system from a Head-Fiers perspective? If I had the money to buy it, I would finance it but here in Canada, Hondas financing APR% is notoriously high at 5+%. Maybe i'll pick up a used CR-Z in the near future

Yea, used Hondas hold up well. That's a good idea if you can't get a good deal on a new one. 5% is horrible. I got 1.9% through a credit union. Either go credit union or e-loan if you can.

 

The sound isn't really audiophile but it's good. 

Honda Financing were turds to me too when I tried to buy an S2000 back in 08. They wanted me to put down way more money then I should've needed to and the rate was high and they didn't want to give me discount on a hardtop. I walked next door and drove off in a new WRX with zero down, low payments, low %, and a free navigation system. Wish I was rich (or sold my kidney) and I would've bought that S2000 cash and finally got to own my favorite reasonably priced car that Ive driven.

It's not Honda Financing really but the specific dealership. Dealers have their own stickers and discounts so you can end up paying way over what they paid for the car from Honda. If you absolutely have to buy from a crappy dealership bring a check for the amount others are paying for. That way you only deal with the price of the car and no fancy financing wizardry. You know what the car is worth and they can take it or leave it.

 

Really? I remember Mazda having a British Columbia wide financing range (maybe even all of Canada). 0% on a mazdaspeed3!!!!! Gah if I had the money right now to actually afford the car... Financing isn't an option as well. Idk how Honda does it, but financing is incredibly high on their SI and CR-Z models... No wonder Mazda is destroying them in my municipality at the moment.

 

It was and it still is... If a CR-Z and SI financing is this high for a car under 30k, imagine the NSX and S2000 back in the day... Still, can't go wrong with a WRX. Practicality monster that thing... Every Subaru is a 24/7, 365 kind of car in nearly every environment. Make sure to watch out for the dreaded Subaru leaky headgasket. My 00 Legacy GT went and the one of the best mechanics in Vancouver estimated $1.5k for labour and $200~ for parts and machining... Subaru quoted me nearly $3k to get it fixed! Either way, it's an expensive job Subaru seriously needs to fix in their newer engines.

 

My '98 Outback has been running fine on its original headgasket (189,000 miles), but my dad's '00 Outback is now on its fourth headgasket. Seems like it varies from engine to engine, and there's no way to tell if it's going to leak or not. Frustrating 

 

FOURTH? Holy moly! Does your 98 outback have the EJ25D DOHC compared to my EJ251 with SOHC? I think your dads might have my engine, not too sure. Your dad must love that Subaru! It's not just engine to engine, apparently it's driving habits as well. Longer distance trips and synthetic oil might prevent it from leaking while shorter trips and lower quality oil might cause it to happen. Did your dad pay for all those replacements? If so, how much?

 

The first two were under the factory warranty, the two that failed afterwards were $1,500 a pop. He's starting to like it less and less recently (hmm, I wonder why... ), but replacing our '95 Ford Windstar is a higher priority right now 

 

The previous owner of my car used it to commute daily between Santa Rosa and San Francisco (about an hour each way), while the '00 was used mostly in town with an annual trip to Tahoe in the winter (really our only need for AWD). Not sure which engine each has, I'll have to check. Mine burns through a quart of oil every 1500 miles (worn rings), but I check it every time I fill up.

Mazdas don't have the best reliability. Pay a slightly higher APR for a Honda that has it. My Mom ended up trading in an RX-8 because it had so many engine problems.

Not true. I admit the Mazda rotary engines are quite unreliable and unpredictable, but their 4cyl and turbos are quite sturdy. Look at the Miata. That has to be one of the most reliable cars on the market today. Besides, Mazdas are made in Japan still while Toyotas and Hondas are made in the United States, Mexico, etc. And this does show because my family had a '00 Accord and that thing was an absolute beast! And my neighbours '10 Accord had a couple engine and transmission problems. Both cases vary on many conditions, but the two are my first person observations.

 

 I think we were talking about Subaru?

Saying Mazda's have poor reliability because of the RX-8 is like saying Toyota has poor reliability because of their LMP2 car. The RX-8 is a rotary, therefore it needs more maintenance and care than most cars with piston engines. Blame the owner not the car. I haven't had a problem with my Mazda since I bought it last year and neither have my friends that own older models (1989) and even newer models (2010).