I have been following the boards for sometime now and first of all like to give kudos to all of you for giving such help to new settlers and the community in general.

I have been here for over 1.5 years and now looking for a car. I have ruled out used cars for all the pain involved in searching for one and so have narrowed down my choice to three cars namely Honda Civic, Mazda 3 and Nissan Sentra.

Personally I totally love the Mazda 3, but would like to drawn on the opinions of fellow desis. I look for resale value, performance and dependability as my sister will be doing most of the driving and using it for weekends and jaunts to grocery stores and temples on weekends.

Insurance is not an issue for me as I have a previous insurance record so please dont factor that in unless you feel its a huge difference.

Your opinions will be highly appreciated

Regards
Raj

I owned a Honda Civic for 6 years and have recently moved to a Nissan Sentra. I have no personal experience with Mazda.

If you are looking to keep a car for several years, you cannot go wrong with a Honda. Resale value, worry free maintenance, fuel economy, all are excellent. My experience with a Sentra has also been very good so far.

Neither is a flashy car, but both provide a stable, value for money vehicle.

Hope this helps.

I am personally a "Honda/Acura" guy. I find their cars problem free, hassle free and easy to maintain. The Mazda 3 is nice vehicle as well. Here's a nice extensive review on the car from a Canadian perspective.

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/hl/07mazda3.htm

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Quote:

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Originally posted by raj1008

I look for resale value, performance and dependability

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I usually look to the consumer's report for use cars and get the facts. Honda & Toyota always stood out. Between then Toyota has better ergonomics under the hood so you save a few $$ on labor.

For thoose need more clarification, I have the following example. In Honda 6 cylinder accord, 4 plugs are easily reachable and to have access to other two you need to take 3 auto parts. While in Toyota all access is in the front. Performance and reliability both are very good.

Mercury

Honda:
more Sporty and fun to drive
Will be more reliable after 5 yrs (not a factor if you plan to sell the car before/at 5 yrs)
significantly more insurance than mazda 3 (even accord's insurance is less than civic)
better resale value
will get less options for the same cost compared to Mazda
higher financing rates than mazda

Mazda:
sportier than corolla but not as much as honda
Will be as reliable as honda for first 5 years but will fall apart slowly after that
lesser resale value after 5 yrs
will get more bells and whistles (power windows, rain sensing wipers) etc for the same cost compared to a Honda.
Insurance will be much lower
lower financing rates

Conclusion:
If keeping for <5-6ys go for Mazda
If want to drive the car for like 10 or more years go for the Civic.
If you are feeling adventurous test drive the City Rabbit
If you want to wait till Apr 08 test drive the 08 Lance


08 Corolla will be out soon so dont buy this year's model.
The only really good Nissan is the Maxima (Altima and Sentras are strictly ok)
Dont buy GM
Dont buy Ford.
Dont buy Chrysler.

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