<p>twomules- thanks I will take a look</p>
<p>
For safety reasons I’d avoid the tiny cars - especially if it’s for a kid who doesn’t have a lot of driving experience. IMO it’s worth a few MPGs less to get a car with a bit more mass because regardless of the star safety ratings, the relative mass of the cars in an accident is a significant part of the equation. </p>
<p>The Honda Fit is pretty tiny.</p>
<p>Miami, we were shopping for our first Corolla Matrix five years ago, and I recall that the Vibe’s design looked better on the outside (no low front bumper). I got to drive it for a while until it got passed to oD. I’m currently in the process of making another used Matrix for yD (who thinks it is her car, keeps it neat and clean and yells at us if we leave a gum wrapper in the cupholder). I agree that the 2009 design looks cool.</p>
<p>Tom,
The used rental Mazda was actually sold at auction and a dealer had it. I thought it was strange (new model, low mileage sold at auction) but the VIN /title checked out fine and my s was going to look at it-- but it was sold by the time he got a call back from the dealer. (He would have insisted on taking it to a mechanic to be cked out if he was interested).</p>
<p>I rented a Mazda 3 when younger s and I were in NOLA a year ago. He commented that he really liked the car. We had no clue older s would buy one a yr later. It isnt a super high powered car like the Subaru you guys are talking about, but he also hasn’t gotten any tickets and he does say it is fun to drive with plenty of pep.
MOWC-
If you are going to let WC have a car, you should make him drive a minivan!</p>
<p>The used Mazda 3 I bought was a fleet vehicle - may have been a rental or could have been owned by a business for its employees to use. It was an '05 and had 19k miles on it and I extended the warranty. There was a problem with the sensor in the transmission that had to be fixed - under warranty so no hassle.</p>
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