Recommend good Honda and Toyota car forums, have questions

Any recommendations for good, popular Honda and Toyota car forums? I have questions in which I'll post here as well.

I think I'm going to have to buy a new car very soon (I'll spare the sad and unnecessary details why) and without ever driving any of them, my top three choices now would be a Honda Fit, a Toyota Yaris or perhaps a Scion XD, with the Fit being the number one choice. As you can tell I'm looking for good gas mileage, reliable cars. I want a new car and I don't want to pay more then $16k tops, 15k would be better (payments then less then $300 per month).

Questions, I have again mainly geared towards the Fit. Are these cars even readily available? Can you ****er on the prices (I'm guessing not much if at all). While remote entry, nice stereo type options are nice I think they would put me out of my price range, likewise as would moving slightly more upscale such as a Corolla or a Civic. The only options I think are absolutely necessary is AC and I think an automatic transmission. I know autos make it more expensive but I don't have the urge to drive a standard anymore, particularly in stop and go traffic.

Thanks for any advice or pointing towards saavy forums. I'm probably going to have to do this next week.

Any reason you need to buy new? How about buying a nice used Civic or Corolloa, or used Fit, Yaris, XD?

I've never bought new a new car. The initial hit on depreciation is not worth it.

Buy used, get it thoroughly inspected by a trusted mechanic, and the money you'll save will be available towards buying flashlights.

Hello,
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/ seems to be pretty good for Toyota's.

FWIW, I drive an '07 Civic for work everyday. I have checked my mileage almost every fill up for the past ~30k and never got less than 36 mpg, and have gotten as much as 40 mpg. On average I do about 60-70% highway miles. I'm not sure how much that is out of your price range, as I didn't buy the vehicle, but just thought I'd throw it out there.

Don't know any forums, but my 2 cents...

I checked out a few Fits a few days ago, and they are not budging on cars that get 30+
mpg. With factory options like $500 ''Paint protection'' $300 ''Fabric protection'', and Factory installed bluetooth, you're looking at 20k+ out the door.

I think you will be in great shape with a used car. I've been trying to find a 96-00 Honda Hx but they are hard to find in STOCK non RICED out condition.


I was on the same boat as you, looking for a little econobox to putt around in. I have a 20 mile round trip commute to work. My lifted Tundra gets 15-16mpg. I spend about $100 in gas every 1.5-2 weeks. My truck is already paid off so all I need is insurance and gas for the most part. It costs me roughly $300-$350 a month to drive it.

Gas will either have to double in price, or my commute to double before I NEED to get another vehicle. However I'd like to get a little econobox so I can start doing the things I use to do. Like drive 30 miles to the beach or do a roadtrip up north with many stops to see my sister.

My brother just bought a Yaris with the basics. Has A/C but a manual tranny. Paid in the 12K range. They wouldn't budge on price, but they didn't ask more than MSRP either.

I personally like the Fit more as it's hatch is more spacious and it seems as it's more connected to the road.

I test drove a Fit yesterday. It certainly is a clever design with the interior layout. Performance was as I kind of expected, ok on the back roads although you feel the bumps and fairly anemic highway acceleration although it drives the highway speeds ok. I currently have a 2002 Saturn SL1 and the performance was no worse than that so I'm not expecting much. What really got me though was as mentioned, the $799 fluff package that is added. I read the redesigned 2009 Fit is a marked improvement so I think I would rather wait for that than pay full MSRP plus a fluff package on a 2008. Does anybody know when the 2009 Fits will hit the US?

I think I will try to test drive a Scion XD, I read it is a better choice then the Toyota Yaris

Have you heard they will offer a Hybrid Fit soon that is projected to cost $2k over the standard model fit>?

Fit is a sharp looking econobox..but its a bit cramped for me even with the seat all the way back. (Im 6'0'').

Have you looked at the Versas? Check out the back seat leg room on those. The back seats are pushed all the way back so if you have passengers it will be really comfortable.

http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/ Here is the forum for the Yaris. Here in Tampa they are still dealing on the Yaris...for example...4 DR sedan...$15,300 out the door...not including the tag transfer. This is on the model below the "S". Has the brushed aluminium gauge area, tach, CD... cruise control...automatic...power windows, keyless entree...A/C. Very nice. I almost bought one...but folks talked me out of it and into just waiting till 2010 when all the hybrids should be out at affordable prices.

The Honda dealers are not doing deals in my area...the Fit is also very nice.

Here is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee0GSSxStFQ&NR=1 a silly little add from ytube. There`s actualy a lot of vidios on both the Fit and Yaris.

Honda makes the best cars, so dealers never budge on price.

Yaris or Scion (built by Toyota)? Personally, I think the Yaris is too small and would go with a Scion.

Of the three, I'd go with the Honda..

-dan

Which dealers bargain and which ones don't are completely arbitrary and vary by region. Out here, it's the Toyota dealers that refuse to budge, and yet we landed a deal on an '05 Odyssey when they first came out - a time when they were hard to find at all, let alone deal on.

Look up dealers in your area, look for an email or "internet" contact. Carpet bomb with emails. See who comes out of the gates willing to deal, and narrow the field from there.


Generally, Honda has a fixed package on the car, with the remainder as "dealer installed options". Where the Toyotas have more factory options, but they have a crazy way of mixing and matching what you can and can't have on the car (at least that's how it was with Siennas, I presume the same applies with other models). If you are just looking at basic models, it shouldn't affect you much. But if you are adding stuff above what normally rolls off the floor, it can be a bit frustrating trying to get the right setup from Toyota.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

I'd recommend used as well.

Here is a great site for researching what the expected MPG is for most cars:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm

Be sure to run the numbers on exactly how many miles you drive per month/year and what the actual cost is at $4 gas in different MPG cars. The difference between 30 and 35 if you are driving 10k miles a year isn't that great.

Here are some numbers - I have a spreadsheet that kicks out a bunch of this stuff

At $4 gas and 10k miles/year

35MPG = $1143/Year
30MPG = $1134/Year
- So that is only a $210 difference, or roughly $15 month. You'll save tons more than that buying a nicer used car.

As you get closer to 0MPG the numbers get more dramatic. The change is not linear:

25MPG = $1600/Year
20MPG = $2000/Year
15MPG = $2667/Year

dano said:

Honda makes the best cars, so dealers never budge on price

Click to expand...

They certainly budged on Mrs. Powernoodle's '08 CR-V in February. It may help to hit up one of the large dealerships with tons of inventory just sitting there. They seem to be a little more eager to get it off the lot. They are moving a bunch of vehicles at a little profit, instead of the other way around.

LED-holic said:

Any reason you need to buy new? How about buying a nice used Civic or Corolloa, or used Fit, Yaris, XD?

I've never bought new a new car. The initial hit on depreciation is not worth it.

Buy used, get it thoroughly inspected by a trusted mechanic, and the money you'll save will be available towards buying flashlights.

Click to expand...

Agreed with LED-holic. I only buy used. You buy new and some jerk will ding your doors the moment you park in a public place anyway.

I've owned both Honda and Toyota over the years. Both are great makes.

Hondas are sportier and give you better handling, in general.

Toyotas are more luxurious, and give a much better ride in general.

It all depends on what you prefer. I prefer Toyotas since I like soft riding suspensions (as the Camry and Avalon give).

Would like to upgrade to Toyota's Lexus division in my next purchase.

Regarding the Honda Fit: Honda is technically "cheating"; This new wave of subcompacts rolled in a couple years ago when Toyota introduced the Yaris and Nissan their Versa, with nearly all manufacturers following close behind. Honda had an ace up their sleeve - the Fit, which they had been producing and selling in several other countries for *seven years prior*. So while the other manufacturers were introducing all-new untested models, Honda simply brought in a tried-and-true, honed to perfection model that already had years under its belt.

It shows in the comparison tests of various magazines, with the Fit coming out miles ahead of the competition, with high praise for how polished and fun Honda managed to make a subcompact. Now you know the secret behind the success :thumbsup:

For cars I would generally prefer Honda's, but for SUVs and Trucks I'm Toyota all the way. I drove both Honda and Toyota cars till they are 200K+ miles, and both are still going strong till I sold them. For my car choice Honda fit is just slightly ahead of Toyota yaris.

I agree with some post here. If I want a gas sipper I would just by a great condition used car. My preferred choice would be a 98 to 02 civic or the 02 to 05 corrolla

You might try carsdirect.com. I have had excellent service from them in the past. They skip the paint protection, VIN etching, security system, blah blah blah. In my experience their prices have been fair and the delivery process completely painless.

My wife and I have purchased four new cars from them because of their service. The last car we bought (a Honda Element) was delivered right to our door.

...plus their site makes a great price reference for window shoppers.

I'll second the carsdirect.com recommendation. I've had great luck using them as a negotiation tool. They will also hook you up with local dealers for a no haggle transaction if you like the price they are quoting.

I ended up buying a Honda Fit. A few minor quibbles but overall a fun, agile car to drive that rides better then you might think. Feels bigger on the inside then it looks on the out. Let's just say the small econoboxes have come a long ways since the Chevy Metro.