My Honda was totaled in a crash and the insurance company is shortchanging me on the appraisal BUT i need a replacement car I can afford. We were a loyal Toyota family till all the recalls ..been looking on CARVANA and Carmax.
Found a 2017 subaru forester manual trans and mazda 3 manual trans. The Subaru has 40,000 miles and carmax wants over $19000 (austin tx) the Mazda 3 has 50,000miles and Carvana wants $10,000. It would be a daily driver and I work fulltime and my commute is between 50-60 miles a day, mostly highway(60mph) but some city as well.
I need reliable not a money pit. i doubt I can find an affordable RAV4. Lesser of two evils ?its very difficult finding a manual in Texas and I do not know which car company makes a great automatic transmission. i only drive manuals.
Between those two, I would probably go for the Mazda 3. Since you will be driving a lot, you will save on fuel costs with the Mazda since it will give better gas mileage. Carvana has a 7 day money back guarantee policy so if you go with the Mazda, take it to a trusted mechanic to get it thoroughly inspected as soon as you get it. If the mechanic finds any big problems, you can then return it back to Carvana and get all your money back.
As for the Subaru, you should be able to get a pre-purchase inspection on it BEFORE you put down any money since it's from Carmax. That price does seem high, but SUVs are so popular these days that you're unlikely to get a great deal from a dealer or used car lot, especially since it's only 4 years old. Both of those cars should be very reliable with the stick shift, so you can't really go wrong - just depends on how much you're willing to pay.
Both of those cars are really good cars. However, I would try to go d a car that isn't at Carmax or Carvana. It is well known that they both charge way too much.
As I said I was looking for manual transmission and there aren't much to choose from in San Antonio. Not a whole lot of private party sales either so those were the choices I was left with that were actually lower than the car dealers in my area. I'm still looking , not in a rush, just doing research. THANKS to everyone for their opinions
{pear}:smile:
Yeah, unfortunately these days it is hard to find a manual transmission on the used car market.
Either of those should be reliable so it comes down to which one you like more during a test drive. The Mazda3 is cheaper and that is a plus. As far as automatic transmission, both make good transmissions so don’t let that be a deal breaker, but manual will always be better (for longevity). Either way, make sure you have an independent, honest mechanic check it out. BtW, CarMax allows up to 7 days to return the vehicle no questions asked (just like Carvana).
I'd get the Mazda 3, though Carmax tends to have cleaner condition cars than Carvana.
Mazda makes pretty good auto transmissions, though the Subaru CVTs are a bit weak. Manual Mazda 3 should be fine. Mazda has a partnership with Toyota since 2015.
Funny story. My friend was the same age as me, but didn't know a lot about my cars. My friend and his dad wanted the second generation Mazda 3. I said that the Mazda 3 don't last that long as Toyotas. I take that statement back HA HA. I know that Mazda 3s make good manual transmission, but the automatics are somewhat the weakest part of Mazda. The engines are decent. I think it last more than 150,000 miles.
Those second gens had weak Ford transmissions the 2012+ ones have (or have the option of) Mazda's own 6 Skyactiv automatic transmission which have proven to have no issues up till this point.
I've decided NOT TO consider the Subaru after all. I was really only interested because of the manual transmission. Subaru CVT transmissions are junk in my opinion (been there done that)So now have t o choose between a Honda HR-V and the mazda 3. Still intending to buy a manual trans . I am a little concerned with Honda's problematic start / ignition . My FIT was great but it was getting problematic before the accident and I was planning on taking it in to get replaced but...
The HR-V is a good vehicle and the manual would just add to it. The Mazda 3 is as well.
You are on the right track. Depends on the deal you get.