Poll; Which car would you buy for under $20,000
 

My daughter will be off to college soon. She has worked hard and saved well and I will be matching up to $10,000 towards a car.

She likes the Honda Civic, Mazda3 and the Acura RSX.

I am concerned with safety, reliability and practicality. This car will need to last a LONG time. I don't want a car that's expensive to keep up or in any way unreliable.

Which would you choose? Why?

Honda Civic
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1219368921.jpg

AcuraRSX
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1219368947.jpg

Mazda3
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1219368963.jpg

All three of them should do well over the long haul, but the RSX won't be new, and is limited to a coupe.

If you get the Mazda3, you can get a 5 door, and she can do most of her moving herself (you'll appreciate that). If you go this route but choose the sedan, get the 2.3l.

You really can't go 'wrong' with any choice though.

My personal choice would be the 3, then the Civic, then the RSX.

I have not driven a Civic or Mazda 3. But I have driven a RSX and owned an Integra. Simply put, the Integra was the best car we ever owned. I would have gone for the RSX if it was a bit bigger. We ended up with a 330 only because of size requirements.

The Type S or standard RSX would be a great car for your daughter. Our daughter learned to drive on the Integra. And it was a manual.

Did it leave you feeling like it was missing... something? I get that feeling everytime I drive one.

I forgot to mention that all of the cars we are considering are used with low miles.

Which has the best safety ratings?

they are all cool cars, so safety should be #1.

When I was looking at similar cars I found that I could spend 17-19K and get one with 30K+ miles or spend 21K and get one brand new with the full warranty left. That research prompted me to start looking for a $17K E46 because I need rwd with a touch or german soul and sophistication. The japs just didn't do it for me.

I went for the Honda...why? Many of them made, service available almost anywhere. You didn't say how far from home your daughter is going to school, but this could be an edge when/if anything happens and dad isn't there to help.

As a minimum, I would suggest you teach her how to check oil and tire pressure, change a flat.

The RSX isn't anything but a rebadged Honda and the Civic is a great car but you pay every cent that it's worth. The Mazda is every bit the car the Civic is but cheaper and I think a little more stylish. Buy a two year old Mazda 3 for closer to $10,000 and use the rest to give her a head start on life. The Maxda will go 200,000 miles without breaking a sweat. My first car was a 1991 Mazda Protege. We kept it for 10 years and only sold it because it was too smal for our now large family. Well over 100,000 miles on it and it looked hardly more than a year or so old. Great car, gutsy, fun to drive. I can't think of ever having it in the shop.

The interior of the Mazda3 if much nicer that the Civic. I like the idea of a hatchback for a college kid. I think I moved a dozen times in my first 6 years after high school. A hatchback would have been nice.

One more point to think about...

The civic will get better mileage than the 3, and the RSX will need premium (definately if it's an S, not 100% sure about base)

It would be a base. 2.0 liter motor. Takes regular.

Sounds like you've made your choice...

Not at all. The Honda Civic outperforms the others in crash testing and gets the best mileage. The Acura has a great lines and a really nice interior. I had an '88 Acura integra and I loved it. Bulletproof car. My daughter thinks the Mazda3 is "cute".

Civic it will last 100K miles plus and need nothing.

My dad has a new civic and gets over 40 MPG all the time and almost 50MPG when he is really good.

Has she driven any of them yet?

And Jim, the Mazda should last just as long, and the Acura is, well, a Honda.

For your $20K you can get a brand new '09 Honda Civic (estimated MSRP: $15,700-$19,600). Motor Trend says it's "still the best in the small-car class". It gets 42 MPG so it's a gas miser, EX models will have USB/iPod ports which she will like, it will be under warranty, and it's a Honda which means it will probably still be running for the next 30 yrs or until she gets rid of it.

This car is not for you its for a 18 y/o. I like the Acura line buy why pay more for an overpriced Honda.

Get a brand new Honda and she can have it for 10 years if she wants.

I have an RX7 I am a Mazda guy, but I ahve to be honest here the Civic is the best car for the money.

The Mazda has a build quality that I don't see in the other cars.

As for the fuel mileage...the Mazda is poor compared to the civic, because you tend to stay in it a bit more...it's just a fun car to rock around with. Toss the Mazdaspeed exhaust on it and it's quite the rocket, with an excellent exhaust note. On the freeway, AC on and cruise set, we get 33 mpg or so at 75mph. Around town, it dros closer to 22, with my foot in it continuously.

The hatch is cavernous...to a point. It'll hold lots of stuff, but there's too many thing sticking into the open space to carry really large single things...IKEA runs don't always work out. It will easily hold a complete 911 exhaust system sitting flat on the floor though, to give you an idea of the real estate.