Best-cheapest new car?

[MetroMPG]

I'd definitely like to try a Fiesta 1.0 turbo.

Have your cake and eat it too?

Not sure about long term reliability, or even availability. The EcoBoost Fiesta and Focus are only selling in tiny numbers compared to the Mirage. Ford USA has refused to confirm there will even be a 2018 Fiesta available in the States (so, that probably means Canada too). Everybody wants CUV's now, so they're likely replacing it with the ECOsport CUV.

Manual Fit (Jazz) is also a good idea.

But in Canada, the base Micra/Mirage are the pair to beat with base MSRP below $10k (Mitsu's base price is 12.5k, but they have had a perpetual $2500 factory rebate on the base trim since the Micra came along).

Note: the base trim Micra, Mirage & Spark do not come with air conditioning in Canada.

[Xist]

Everybody seems to like the Mitsubishi Mistake but me!

[ar5boosted]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I'd definitely like to try a Fiesta 1.0 turbo.

Have your cake and eat it too?

Not sure about long term reliability, or even availability.

Here is your answer:

Ford Fiesta - Car Reliability Search | Reliability Index | How reliable is your car?

Excellent.

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Note: the base trim Micra, Mirage & Spark do not come with air conditioning.

For me, I'd be tripping to Japan and getting whatever I wanted.

Here's a more top specced:
Mirage: 2016 1.2 G AS&G Mitsubishi Mirage | carsensor.net



Pardon my lack of humour, but in Japan it seems you can get the Nissan with white-walled tyres:



??? 1.2 12E Mitsubishi Mirage AC |carsensor.net?

[darcane]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

OP says son has horrible luck with cars, which explains nothing, and then solicits for the best car, which asks nothing.

OP also states a desire to buy new and specifies cars 2012 and up. At six years old now, I don't see how a 2012 is "new."

Originally Posted by redpoint5

If bad luck is cars that break down, get a car known to be reliable, such as most Hondas and Toyotas.

This caused me to smirk a little. My personal experience is just the opposite with significantly more serious powertrain problems with Toyotas and Hondas than with domestic cars, despite putting far more miles on the domestics. One anecdote doesn't indicate a trend, but that's still amusing to me.

[roosterk0031]

Put 265,000 on a 3.1 malibu, 255,000 on a Stratus, 215,000 on current cobalt, all without anymore than 1 $350 fuel pump, never a CAT that seems to always come up with Toy's and Hondas. Boss has 2 that say they should be replaced. Luckily for him no yearly test here.

But for the price and MPG I'd still go Mirage, unless I was in Canada and could get a Micra which would make the decision a little tougher. Once in the 40 mpg range, cost per mile difference is tiny. Micra looks win, extra power wins, better suspension wins, engine rod knock, downer. Mirage rear axle not as big as the micra rod knock.

[MetroMPG]

Anecdotal sample size of one: the nameplate that cost me the most money in repairs & maintenance was Honda ('89 Accord).

Another one: the nameplate that cost me the least is Pontiac ('98 Firefly )

[ksa8907]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

OP says son has horrible luck with cars, which explains nothing, and then solicits for the best car, which asks nothing.

If bad luck is getting hit by other cars, then it sounds like safety is what is best. Get something with lots of airbags and a top crash safety rating.

If bad luck is getting horrible fuel economy, then get a hybrid to help offset poor driving efficiency skills.

If bad luck is cars that break down, get a car known to be reliable, such as most Hondas and Toyotas.

...and buying new is just guaranteeing bad luck of massive depreciation.

Judging by this list, Hondas and Toyotas don't seem any better than the others. Car Problem Trends | CarComplaints.com

[darcane]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Anecdotal sample size of one: the nameplate that cost me the most money in repairs & maintenance was Honda ('89 Accord).

Another one: the nameplate that cost me the least is Pontiac ('98 Firefly )

Well, once we get some real data compiled, the story looks a little different.

My go-to site for long term reliability is:
http://www.dashboard-light.com/
They figure out a reliability rating for each vehicle based on the percentage of significant issues with engines or transmissions of used cars sold through dealer auctions. Ratings are further adjusted by percentage of high mileage vehicles and by the age of the vehicle to try to give a fair comparison

Chart comparing Quality Index Ratings of all manufacturers:

http://dashboard-light.com/vehicles/...s/QIRAlpha.png
Honda (+Acura) and Toyota (+Lexus and Scion) do quite well. But so do many GM brands.

The other chart comparing all the manufacturers that I find quite telling is the chart showing percentage of vehicles over 180k miles.

http://dashboard-light.com/vehicles/...s/Over180k.png

Again, Honda, Toyota, and GM all fare well.

Finally, you can go find specific models of cars to see over the years which to avoid. For your Accord:

Honda Accord Reliability - Dashboard Light

Well, it doesn't go back far enough, but you can see a trend of reliability problems (worse than industry average) until about 2003. My generation of Civic has a similar but smaller spike, with models afterwards showing a significant improvement.

[ksa8907]

Originally Posted by darcane

My go-to site for long term reliability is:
http://www.dashboard-light.com/
They figure out a reliability rating for each vehicle based on the percentage of significant issues with engines or transmissions of used cars sold through dealer auctions. Ratings are further adjusted by percentage of high mileage vehicles and by the age of the vehicle to try to give a fair comparison.

I've never seen this site before. I like how they compare against industry average.

We specifically purchased the 2012 traverse because it had a much lower failure rate that previous years according to CarComplaints.com | Car Problems, Car Complaints, & Repair/Recall Information Sometimes the year is the most important factor of quality.

[bandit86]

Started with a 01 sunfire. 110 thousand miles on the clock. Soon needed a clutch. Tranny went in 3 months. Replacement granny crapped out soon after. Went to an 04 ranger 4.0. Timing chain snapped. Can't find a 4.0 in any of the wreckers.
Picked up an old beat up Taurus for cheap. Ran very nice. Rust got the best of it, I don't know how it passed safety.
Picked up a low mileage 93 civic. New clutch and a replacement tranny. Im seeing a pattern. 99 tracker, the battery blew out while boosting a car at work. Belt tensioner broke. New rad. Power steering rack just went. Finally he realised that something newer and better might be worth spending more on.

My dad's old company ran Corollas as service vehicles. 300,000 miles, full of tools and barely any maintenance, and not one had any issues