When I come back to America, presumably next summer, from being stationed in Germany, I will sell my trust '97 BMW and get something similar to it stateside. I've analyzed some of the cars, but there's no clear winner in my mind. Here's some of my analysis. Have I overlooked any cars that would be competitive with these cars?
Things I love about the BMW that I'd like/would be nice to replicate in the next car:
1. So prevalent, I could always find about 10 of them in any normal junkyard. This made replacement parts cheap and plentiful
2. Easy to work on (every german mechanic has done everything on this car multiple times)
3. Super reliable engine and manual transmission
4. Low maintenance (just standard stuff, really)
5. Excellent fuel economy (low-mid 20s city/mid 30s highway)
6. Cheap initial purchase (Current 318i cost $1,750 when new. I'd prefer to be at $3k or less, but *could* afford more if the car was a huge leap ahead of anything else in this price range). Mostly, I like having a car I'm not afraid to dent or soil, or one that will continue to depreciate significantly due to age.
7. timing chain (or non-interference with belt)
8. Rear wheel drive (I think this is going to be hard to find)
9. 4-door/5-passenger with plenty of trunk space for luggage/equipment (hatchbacks work for me too)
Some things I don't have but wish I did:
1. CRUISE CONTROL
2. rear-wheel discs
3. A little more leg room to stretch out my 36" inseam legs.
4. Folding rear seats to add storage space
Absolute no-gos:
1. Auto tranny
2. poor safety or reliability ratings
3. Price range is just about right
As a quick observation, there are essentially no rear-wheel drive economy sedans anymore. I guess FWD has won that market completely in America.
With all that stuff, I've looked for the stateside equivalent of my car. I've looked closely at the '03-'05 Focus, '98-'02 Toyota Corolla, '04-'05 Mazda 3, '03-'04 Jetta TDI.
'01-'02 Corolla: I started with the Corolla because it was the most common vehicle sold in those years.
Pros:
1. Maintenance/reliability/fuel economy had the highest mileage of the gassers at 28/37 (fueleconomy.gov)
2. Price range is spot on
3. best selling car of all time, apparently, which means I should find them prevalent in any junkyard
Cons (from what I gather):
1. Handles like a floating log
2. rear seat doesn't fold down to add trunk room
3. rear wheel discs not available
4. I'm guessing that new foreign OEM parts are more expensive, but that this is offset by the high reliability and proven last model years design.
'03-'05 Ford Focus: Almost but not quite...
Pros:
1. Drivetrains have Great reliability particularly with the Duratec motors, just minor problems with the earlier Zetec and SPI motors like timing belt replacement, thermostat housing cracking (ZETEC), valve dropping (SPI), ignition cylinder/lock malfunctions (up to '04, and requires drilling once failed)
2. Great ride and handling from what I've read
3. Prevalent car with cheap and easy to find parts
4. Cheapest purchase price (most hit by resale/depreciation values)
5. Best driver, passenger, and rear passenger spaciousness
6. 2.0 Duratec from '05+ is the best blend of power (136hp), reliability, and fuel economy in the Focus
7. 2.3 Duratec from '03-'07 makes great power (151hp) and is very reliable
8. Overal reliability: All of the recalls and problems associated with early Foci were worked out before these model years.
9. Fold down 60/40 rear seats allow a significant increase in luggage room.
10. "Good" crash test ratings
Cons:
1. 2.3 duratec seems to be the only '03-'04 motor with excellent reliability and no history of issues, but also returns only decent fuel economy for this class of car 22/30. The SVT version makes great power, but crap fuel mileage and has the same ZETEC reliability issues.
2. '03-'04 Interior looks goofy, as one article put it, it looks like the interior, with all it's funky shapes and asymmetry, was designed by bad geometry teachers. Don't like the placement of the cup holders, no practical center console storage space
3. rear-disc brakes were never combined with the 2.3L motor until the '05 ST, which also upped the power, but downed the fuel economy of the motor. The ZTS model from '04 and earlier had an advancetrac option that added disc brakes along with traction control, but only combined them with the non-SVT ZETEC 2.0L engine.
4. worst fuel economy of the cars already mentioned 24/32 for SPI, 22/29 for ZETEC (dismal for the class), and 22/30 for the 2.3 Duratec. On '05 models the 2.0 duratec gave 22/32 EPA ratings. Honestly, even though it's the lowest of the group, I think I'd be happy with the 2.0 duratec's mileage. The SPI was apparently a dog and anti-fun. The ZETEC is outperformed, less reliable, and less efficient than the 2.3 Duratec. So, I'd only settle for one of the Duratec motors, though I'd prefer not to trade 15hp for 7% FE reduction.
5. Lifetime airfilter... WTF? Apparently, it requires special tools to replace and is not designed to be replaced except every 100k miles at a dealership.
'04-'05 Mazda 3: More performance than any other with better economy than the Focus?
Pros:
1. Same basic motors as the duratec Focus engines, but they actually made more power in this platform (148 for the 2.0, and 160 for the 2.3). 2.3 available in '05+ only.
2. 2.0L has Fuel economy slightly better than the Focus with the same engine (24/32 Mz3 vs. 22/32 Focus). Also, 2.0L Duratec is available in the '04 version
3. 4-wheel discs are standard!!! Stopping distances measured in several tests are correspondingly extremely impressive for a compact sedan
4. Interior design is much more pleasing to me. Dash is symmetric; center console has usable storage box.
5. Platform is the same as the '05 Euro focus redesign (a newer generation focus platform that wasn't adopted in the states until '12?)
6. Reviewers have almost unanimously praised the gearbox as better than any other in this segment
Cons:
1. Interior may be more cramped (anybody that's tall driven one?)
2. Hatchback might be preferable because I've read the size of the trunk door is restrictive
3. initial price is too far on the high side of the Focus. Has retained value much better than the Focus. A little searching today showed Foci in the $2,700-3,200 range while the Mz3s were being listed in the $5k-6,200 range.
4. Crash testing shows a significant decrease in side crash tests in comparison to the Focus. However, NHTSA did not conduct the test with a 4 or 5 door, or with side airbags, I believe. The Focus had poor side impact ratings for back seat passengers in the 3-door models, but not in the 4-5 door models.
5. '04 is first year of a new model, which automatically makes me nervous. Known issues include motor-mount failures, body rusts more easily, weaker a/c, worse than average interior squeaks and rattles,
6. brakes strangely designed to activate rear brakes more than the fronts during normal stops. Many Mz3 owners report going to through multiple sets of rear pads while the fronts last upwards of 200k miles. Apparently, it was intentionally engineered to do this under normal stopping.
VW Jetta TDI: insane fuel economy
Pros:
1. exceptional diesel gas mileage at like 35/44 or something equally ridiculous,
2. Love the German style/practicality
I didn't go much further because:
Cons:
1. Nearly every thread I read about the reliability of the cars was plagued with significant problems
2. Generally people said that the increased const of diesel in the states offsets the gains from efficiency
3. I have no experience working on diesel motors
4. 90-ish hp? bleh!
So that's about as far as I've dug so far. What other cars should I be considering? Have I missed any significant ups or downs about the top vehicles?
Things I love about the BMW that I'd like/would be nice to replicate in the next car:
1. So prevalent, I could always find about 10 of them in any normal junkyard. This made replacement parts cheap and plentiful
2. Easy to work on (every german mechanic has done everything on this car multiple times)
3. Super reliable engine and manual transmission
4. Low maintenance (just standard stuff, really)
5. Excellent fuel economy (low-mid 20s city/mid 30s highway)
6. Cheap initial purchase (Current 318i cost $1,750 when new. I'd prefer to be at $3k or less, but *could* afford more if the car was a huge leap ahead of anything else in this price range). Mostly, I like having a car I'm not afraid to dent or soil, or one that will continue to depreciate significantly due to age.
7. timing chain (or non-interference with belt)
8. Rear wheel drive (I think this is going to be hard to find)
9. 4-door/5-passenger with plenty of trunk space for luggage/equipment (hatchbacks work for me too)
Some things I don't have but wish I did:
1. CRUISE CONTROL
2. rear-wheel discs
3. A little more leg room to stretch out my 36" inseam legs.
4. Folding rear seats to add storage space
Absolute no-gos:
1. Auto tranny
2. poor safety or reliability ratings
3. Price range is just about right
As a quick observation, there are essentially no rear-wheel drive economy sedans anymore. I guess FWD has won that market completely in America.
With all that stuff, I've looked for the stateside equivalent of my car. I've looked closely at the '03-'05 Focus, '98-'02 Toyota Corolla, '04-'05 Mazda 3, '03-'04 Jetta TDI.
'01-'02 Corolla: I started with the Corolla because it was the most common vehicle sold in those years.
Pros:
1. Maintenance/reliability/fuel economy had the highest mileage of the gassers at 28/37 (fueleconomy.gov)
2. Price range is spot on
3. best selling car of all time, apparently, which means I should find them prevalent in any junkyard
Cons (from what I gather):
1. Handles like a floating log
2. rear seat doesn't fold down to add trunk room
3. rear wheel discs not available
4. I'm guessing that new foreign OEM parts are more expensive, but that this is offset by the high reliability and proven last model years design.
'03-'05 Ford Focus: Almost but not quite...
Pros:
1. Drivetrains have Great reliability particularly with the Duratec motors, just minor problems with the earlier Zetec and SPI motors like timing belt replacement, thermostat housing cracking (ZETEC), valve dropping (SPI), ignition cylinder/lock malfunctions (up to '04, and requires drilling once failed)
2. Great ride and handling from what I've read
3. Prevalent car with cheap and easy to find parts
4. Cheapest purchase price (most hit by resale/depreciation values)
5. Best driver, passenger, and rear passenger spaciousness
6. 2.0 Duratec from '05+ is the best blend of power (136hp), reliability, and fuel economy in the Focus
7. 2.3 Duratec from '03-'07 makes great power (151hp) and is very reliable
8. Overal reliability: All of the recalls and problems associated with early Foci were worked out before these model years.
9. Fold down 60/40 rear seats allow a significant increase in luggage room.
10. "Good" crash test ratings
Cons:
1. 2.3 duratec seems to be the only '03-'04 motor with excellent reliability and no history of issues, but also returns only decent fuel economy for this class of car 22/30. The SVT version makes great power, but crap fuel mileage and has the same ZETEC reliability issues.
2. '03-'04 Interior looks goofy, as one article put it, it looks like the interior, with all it's funky shapes and asymmetry, was designed by bad geometry teachers. Don't like the placement of the cup holders, no practical center console storage space
3. rear-disc brakes were never combined with the 2.3L motor until the '05 ST, which also upped the power, but downed the fuel economy of the motor. The ZTS model from '04 and earlier had an advancetrac option that added disc brakes along with traction control, but only combined them with the non-SVT ZETEC 2.0L engine.
4. worst fuel economy of the cars already mentioned 24/32 for SPI, 22/29 for ZETEC (dismal for the class), and 22/30 for the 2.3 Duratec. On '05 models the 2.0 duratec gave 22/32 EPA ratings. Honestly, even though it's the lowest of the group, I think I'd be happy with the 2.0 duratec's mileage. The SPI was apparently a dog and anti-fun. The ZETEC is outperformed, less reliable, and less efficient than the 2.3 Duratec. So, I'd only settle for one of the Duratec motors, though I'd prefer not to trade 15hp for 7% FE reduction.
5. Lifetime airfilter... WTF? Apparently, it requires special tools to replace and is not designed to be replaced except every 100k miles at a dealership.
'04-'05 Mazda 3: More performance than any other with better economy than the Focus?
Pros:
1. Same basic motors as the duratec Focus engines, but they actually made more power in this platform (148 for the 2.0, and 160 for the 2.3). 2.3 available in '05+ only.
2. 2.0L has Fuel economy slightly better than the Focus with the same engine (24/32 Mz3 vs. 22/32 Focus). Also, 2.0L Duratec is available in the '04 version
3. 4-wheel discs are standard!!! Stopping distances measured in several tests are correspondingly extremely impressive for a compact sedan
4. Interior design is much more pleasing to me. Dash is symmetric; center console has usable storage box.
5. Platform is the same as the '05 Euro focus redesign (a newer generation focus platform that wasn't adopted in the states until '12?)
6. Reviewers have almost unanimously praised the gearbox as better than any other in this segment
Cons:
1. Interior may be more cramped (anybody that's tall driven one?)
2. Hatchback might be preferable because I've read the size of the trunk door is restrictive
3. initial price is too far on the high side of the Focus. Has retained value much better than the Focus. A little searching today showed Foci in the $2,700-3,200 range while the Mz3s were being listed in the $5k-6,200 range.
4. Crash testing shows a significant decrease in side crash tests in comparison to the Focus. However, NHTSA did not conduct the test with a 4 or 5 door, or with side airbags, I believe. The Focus had poor side impact ratings for back seat passengers in the 3-door models, but not in the 4-5 door models.
5. '04 is first year of a new model, which automatically makes me nervous. Known issues include motor-mount failures, body rusts more easily, weaker a/c, worse than average interior squeaks and rattles,
6. brakes strangely designed to activate rear brakes more than the fronts during normal stops. Many Mz3 owners report going to through multiple sets of rear pads while the fronts last upwards of 200k miles. Apparently, it was intentionally engineered to do this under normal stopping.
VW Jetta TDI: insane fuel economy
Pros:
1. exceptional diesel gas mileage at like 35/44 or something equally ridiculous,
2. Love the German style/practicality
I didn't go much further because:
Cons:
1. Nearly every thread I read about the reliability of the cars was plagued with significant problems
2. Generally people said that the increased const of diesel in the states offsets the gains from efficiency
3. I have no experience working on diesel motors
4. 90-ish hp? bleh!
So that's about as far as I've dug so far. What other cars should I be considering? Have I missed any significant ups or downs about the top vehicles?
