Saying no to a Skyline...again. :(

[NS2500]

Your thoughts?

I lost my Skyline in an accident (not my fault!) pretty much a year ago. At the time, I was just about to get engaged so I decided to put the payout towards a house and just buy whatever I could with what I had left over. I ended up with a 1997 Fairmont.

Things have changed again and the time has come to let that car go - it's approaching 150k kms, services are costing me heaps and it does 15/16L per 100km when I drive it around (and I drive a lot). Now, I could quite easily pick up a nice R33 in Australia or go through the hassles of importing again and end up with a Skyline.

But...after considerable thought (and circumstances again), I'm going to get a NEW car and therefore the Skyline has to miss out again. Apart from being new, I had to meet the following criteria:

* Around the $30K mark

* Must be P-plateable (fiance)

* AAMI has to insure it

* 10L / 100km or less (ADR combined measurement, blah blah)

After a bit of research I came up with the following:

Honda Jazz, Nissan Pulsar, Subaru Impreza RS, Mazda3 SP23 - with the latter 2 being of greatest interest at the moment.

My thoughts on the Impreza (which I haven't driven yet):

Positive - Wagon model looks pretty good. Most of it taken from the WRX - seats, suspension etc. "Symmetrical AWD"

Negative - It's not a WRX.

And...the SP23 (which I have driven):

Positive - Sedan looks the goods inside and out. 2.3L engine (over the standard 2L).

Negative - Too quite for me, I'd like to hear the engine a bit more. FWD - not for me! Mazdas have always bored me in the past.

Obviously these are hardly performance cars so please take that into account, but what do you reckon?

[daler32]

sumthin else to be weary of with a subaru is parts are very expensive and in the case of my brumby which was 12 hears old parts had to be imported from japan if they were available at all

[NS2500]

12 years is a little different to current model with warranty when it comes to parts. But yeah...Subaru parts aren't cheap.

[daler32]

no worries mate wasnt sure if u knew

[Col-GTSX]

SP23 is a nice car in standard trim.....

The pulsar lacks interia design.....

The jazz is too slow.....

The sub will be the most expensive to service, however it will have a very good re-sale value....

My vote is for the Mazda....

Go and test drive them all and ask the sales person to point out the costs in running and maintaining each car and servicing costs... Once you have driven them all... Weight up the costs in between the 2 you liked to drive the most....

Still i have driven most of the cars listed above at work... Id go the Mazda....

[NS2500]

I'm only interested in owning the car during it's warranty period - how does this affect the servicing? I don't have to use dealer servicing do I?

[Gus-]

me votes mazda

[Binky1970]

My younger brother has a new Subie RS, and I must say its a good all round car, and with three years unlimited kilometre warrenty you can't really go wrong. My work car is an 04 Subie RV hatch and even that is a good car to drive round everywhere in.

[NS2500]

How does the hatch go in corners? Is it much different to the sedan?

[nmcmahon83]

Some warranties may require you be get services done at a factory service center... or certified equivalent or whatever... so be careful... I'd go the Sub just cos I've heard they are well engineered and have a 2.5L Boxer.

[NS2500]

I have to admit I am partial to the Subarus, Dad's always had one, and as I said originally I find it really hard to like Mazdas.

The Mazda has an intergrated stereo in the dash (no upgrades), whereas the Subaru has a room for a DIN/2DIN unit.

[bootlegapparel]

Go the mazda, it's the sportiest of the lot, probably the most practical too.

Have you looked at a mazda 6? They look quite good.

[NS2500]

I have two close friends with Mazda 6s, part of me doesn't want to copy them, and part of me thinks they're really under-powered here. Overseas the Mazda6 is a 3L and does 0-100 in 6.8 seconds - that I would consider.

[Col-GTSX]

Ummmm what about a Mazda 6 in a 3 litre twin tubro.... what about that NS2500???

[martydaman]

I voted the Subaru, came very close to buying one last year.

[NS2500]

Ummmm what about a Mazda 6 in a 3 litre twin tubro.... what about that NS2500???

That would be great, except it's still a Mazda.

[bootlegapparel]

what about waiting for the Mazda 6 MPS, Turbocharged 4WD, it's not overly stupid either, it's supposed to be a refined yet sporty car, i guess like a bmw sortof notion.

but, from the testing i've seen, it LOVES to oversteer, i'd consider that

[NS2500]

This will be good when it comes out - http://www.mazda.com.au/articleZone5.asp?a...icleZoneID=3311

EDIT: Just beat me...

[paulr33]

b4 liberty twin turbo

these things fang

[NS2500]

Have you sat in one though? There is no support!