<p>I LOVE College Confidential and am always thankful for the shared wisdom of so many knowledgeable people!!! I just made my LAST EVER college payment for DS, who graduates in May. 
After 7 long years of paying for two kidâs college costs, we are done. YES!!! We will be giving the older car to DS for the spring semester, so that he can commute to an internship or job, and we need to buy a new vehicle. I am doing my âdue diligenceâ and researching online, but nothing beats hearing peopleâs personal experiences with cars⊠(and, I needed to share the LAST PAYMENT news ;))
Do you have one of these cars, and if so, what do you like or dislike about it? Thanks</p>
<p>I donât have one. I have been thinking about the Honda Fit or Ford Fiesta for their good mileage. I think the ford may be a bit small for my husband to fit in though. My daughterâs ex room mateâs mother had a Honda fit that I rode in once and was surprised how roomy it was for a small car. (the Momâs husband is also a large guy and that was why they chose the fit rather than the honda civic which he found too small).</p>
<p>I will be interested to hear opinions from people who actually have these cars. </p>
<p>Oh, CONGRATS on the LAST PAYMENT news.</p>
<p>Congratulations! We are on the sixth year of seven, so I can at least see the end of the tunnel.</p>
<p>I have a quick comment. A good friend bought a Fit a few months ago (after many years of driving a Civic). Her only complaint is that it has a bigger blind spot than she is used to, something to be mindful of if you take a test drive.</p>
<p>Yay!!! Welcome to the âIâm done with tuition paymentsâ club. Doesnât it feel great? We feel like we won the lottery!!</p>
<p>We too are looking at new cars but we have narrowed our search down to either a Subaru Forester or Honda CRV (top of the lineâŠIâm trading in a Volvo).</p>
<p>Everyone I know who has a Honda Fit loves it. Honda is very reliable and the cars get great milage and are comfortable. For a small car, I would go with the fit. BUt I would also look at the CivicâŠprices are similar.</p>
<p>Thumper, I have a Forester and love, love, love it. Iâve been driving it for five years, put ~14K miles on it a year and havenât had a problem with it. It is a great vehicle for dogs and gardeners. My only complaint is that itâs a little noisy. When the time comes to replace it I plan to try out the CRV. (Weâve owned a couple of Civics.) The Toyota doesnât appeal at all, not sure why.</p>
<p>You might want to add the Toyota Matrix to your list. Your list is the same list I researched when we were buying a car for our company. The Toyota dealer gave us far and away the best deal and threw in two years of maintenance as well.</p>
<p>One of my good friends has a CRV and loves it. I must admit I really like the CRV as well, but I will be doing a 100 mile round trip commute 5 days a week starting January so really want good gas mileage. Though the car is not likely on the cards as early as january.</p>
<p>D just bought a Fit. I was in it a few weeks back, its pretty roomy for 4 would be tight for a fifth in the back seat. Interior is pretty basic.It seemed âpeppyâ acceleration wise, but D got a scare right away when she heard sloshing sounds upon stopping and starting.Brought it back to the dealership who explained the placement of the gas tank can cause you to hear the sounds in the passenger compartment.They have the same âflawâ with the Odessey.Its safe but takes getting used to.
It would be nice if it came with a pull across cover for the hatch back trunk compartment so everything you are carrying wasnt so exposed.She says her gas mileage is excellent (city driving and highway too)</p>
<p>Friend has a Honda Fit. He likes it for the price and mileage. It fit his budget and he knows it will last him. While riding in it I sort of feel like I am in one of sonâs old matchbox cars. I would prefer to get something slightly larger even a Civic.
I love the Suburu. Everyone I know who has one loves their car.</p>
<p>I have the Scion XB (2006) with 117,000 miles. I love this car. I get 30 mpg/city and 35 mpg/highway the newer Scions get lower gas mileage. I have only replaced brakes and tires in 117k miles - darn good. This is a very roomy car (you have to get in to believe it). The back seat comes out - so you can pack a lot in there. Visibility is amazing after you get used to the âfishbowlâ feel. Inexpensive to buy, insure and taxes. Very reliable but not great in the snow - I think I will get snow tires this year.</p>
<p>D has a Fit and loves it. She was able to bring home her couch from Ikea in the back of the Fitâdeceivingly roomy.</p>
<p>But the wheels look to be the size of little Hostess donutsâŠ</p>
<p>I have a 2008 Scion XD and love it. I drive mostly around town, go WEEKS between fill ups. Love the hatchback. NOT as roomy cargo as the Fit but just fine for groceries and pool chairs in the summer. Peppy enough accleration when I need to merge onto highway.</p>
<p>I thought I would get the Fit last year when shopping and think the fold down seats/flat cargo area is amazing. But we stumbled across my XD, one year old with 5K miles and about $4000 less than the Fit so went with the Scion.
Very happy so far.</p>
<p>And congratulations on the LAST tuition payment! We will be making the last rent payment in May for graduate student sonâŠand plan to buy a CRV to replace DHs 10 year old Town and Country that has an annoying âcheck engineâ light that does not know how to stay off!</p>
<p>The Toyota Rav4 grew a FOOT (the dealer told me) about two years ago. Itâs way to big for my tastes. BUT more than thatâŠit has the wheel on the outside of the back door and I personally hate that look. </p>
<p>Now back to the topicâŠI agree that the matrix would be something to look at as well.</p>
<p>I donât knowâyou sound like the sporty type, anxiousmomâmaybe a cute little Miata is the real you!</p>
<p>thumper1, Youâre right; itâs the wheel on the back. Thatâs why we didnât look at the CRV in '05. (Apologies, OP.)</p>
<p>Miata :eek: LOL! Nawwwwww⊠definitely not me! Thanks for all the ideas, guys. I hadnât thought of the Matrix. I looked at a CRV, but it seems so large and curvy andâŠbulbous. I like the square boxy ones from 4-5 years back; not so much the curvy ones. Keep the thoughts coming⊠(and I have an Ody for road trips, so slooshy fuel tanks donât scare me!)</p>
<p>I used to have a RAV4 (1999)⊠I loved that carâŠ, which was totaled when a boy scout (no joke) rear ended me in 2007. At that time I was NOT expecting to need to purchase a new car, but unexpectedly needed to. I looked at the Toyota Scion, Matrix, and RAV4 (although the new RAV4s were a little too big for my needs, so I discounted quickly⊠I wish they had not changed the design), the Suzuki SK4, the Honda Fit, and the Subaru Forester. Although I live in VA now, I am from New Hampshire, and still go up there in the winter to see family, so I wanted an AWD car. I liked the Honda Fit, but at that time they were hard to find, and I was needing a car fast since mine had been totaled. In 2007 I do not think the Fit was AWD either. I am also difficult that I prefer to drive a standard. I liked the look of the Fit, but ended up finding a 2006 Subaru Forester AWD standard that was VERY reasonable (because apparently neither standards nor Subarus are as popular in VA as they are in northern NE 
)⊠I love my Forester⊠but now that the Fit is available in AWD, I do sometimes experience a little bit of car envy. Subaru, Toyota, and Honda are all good bets.</p>
<p>
Click and Clack, the Tappet brother experts broadcasting on NPR (Dowweee, Cheatum and How ;)) did a great explanation of how to set your rearview mirrors to eliminate blind spots. Basically, you set them so that they are flared out far enough to see the lanes next to your car; NOT so that you can see the end of your car⊠the other cars should just disappear in your rearview mirror as the nose of the car appears outof the corner of your eye⊠:)</p>
<p>OP, Do you live in a large city and often need to drive on the free way in a large city? If yes, isnât a car like Honda Fit too small? I always feel âthreatenedâ by those big trucks if I drive in a smaller car. For some reasons, there are well too many aggressive drivers driving mid-sized trucks (not those small pickups) on the freeway in Texas.</p>
<p>When DS needs a car eventually, we will likely hand him our Nissan Altima 2.5. Its size likely makes it a little bit safer. Do you consider a car like this?</p>
<p>Austin. Lots of huge SUVâs and pickups - but I refuse to take part in the size escalation. ;)</p>