Quote:
Originally Posted by Shortie771
So I am 13 pages late to this forum, but my friend just got one of these and I rode in it. It's a decent ride (kinda loud). For the price though I think I would just get a very lightly used 2011-2012 Honda Civic and be done with it. At least then you know it will last forever and replacement parts will be easy to find if/when it starts to break down. GF just got one and she averages 36mpg without hypermiling,no mods and an automatic transmission. I believe the 2012 Civic had the option for a 6-speed manual transmission. That would add some extra highway mpg. 
EDIT: Didn't read your last post. Grats on the purchase. I guess you can disregard my post. |
You can't find a 08+ used car with under 100K miles around here for the price of the spark. Granted, I paid the same for my brand new '11 Focus - there's deals on new cars if you shop around.
Around here, USED cars are going for MORE than new cars. I know a LOT of people who have bought new cars, traded them in a year to get what they paid or a bit more.
Check on autotrader / cars.com for Syracuse NY. The used cars are going for a few thousand more than equivalent new cars. When I bought my 2011 Focus in March 2011, I couldn't find a 2008+ focus with UNDER 50K miles for less than $15000.
Fir the price of a spark, you're going to get a 6 or 7 year old car with >100K miles
Quote:
Originally Posted by niky
Congrats on the purchase. I'm thinking perhaps better engine mounts and shifter bushings will cure the shifter, but hell... poor shift action is the bane of cheap cars everywhere.
Now it's time to get hypermiling. Show those nannies at the EPA what a Spark can really do. 
Old diesels, maybe, with their half-million mile rebuild intervals. But would you really trust a modern direct injection system to last more than 200,000 miles nowadays without needing thousands of dollars in injector and pump repair? I wouldn't. With good cause. Have seen too many secondhand direct injection cars laid up in the shop for one problem or another. |
Agree. The engine itself will hold up, but all of the emissions equipment and pumps, injectors, etc won't hold up. Especially if something happens and they can no longer access the better quality of fuel.
To me, diesel's attractiveness was the simplicity. You put in something that will combust when compressed on one end and the engine does the rest. You can diagnose an old diesel by the color of the smoke coming out of the tailpipe.