What car would you pick?
 

I'm heavily leaning toward trading my 2010 F150 Lariat in on a 2002 to 2008 sedan.

I've narrowed my list based upon Edmunds consumer reviews to the following vehicles:
1) Ford Fusion (2004-2009)
2) Honda Accord (auto after 2004, manual before 2004)
3) Honda Civic (auto after 2004)
4) Hyundai Sonata (2004-2009)

Although I enjoy the F150 I'm looking at halving my monthly payment. Based on what I've seen used at dealers I could get anyone of those for about $15,000 depending upon the mileage.

I'm looking at keeping the mileage less than 60,000 if possible even though I only put about 10,000 miles a year on a vehicle.

What would your choices be?

Re: What car would you pick?
 

I lean towards either of the honda's personally. I would also have to have it a manual, but that's somewhat of a personal choice. Overall the hondas are reliable and fuel efficent and best yet, cheap! Also if you decide to go that way, there is a huge aftermarket, both JDM and rice for the hondas where there is virtually no aftermarket for the others.

I am a little biased though. I love manuals and would modify my car because I put over 25k on it a year and I like to be comfortable.

Any way you go is good, you selected 4 fine cars sir

Re: What car would you pick?
 

I actually already have a 2001 Honda Accord EX manual.

I bought it in 2007 with 74,000. It now has a "whopping" 109,000 miles on it and still going strong.

I really want leather seats in the vehicle I purchase although it won't be a deal breaker.

Re: What car would you pick?
 

You know exactly what you want it sounds like. SO I'd go with that you think is best. After all your the one driving it!

Re: What car would you pick?
 

When I was recently looking at vehicles, a Ford Fusion was very enticing to me. It can be had with an automatic, 5 speed manual, or hybrid. I was looking at the hybrid & the 5 speed models. Both can turn some impressive numbers considering the size of the vehicle.

Re: What car would you pick?
 

I agree with NotYourDay. What you like the best is most important, especially when you're making a jump to such a vastly different type of vehicle.

The Hyundai Sonata is likely to be the best value, and is more likely available with a manual transmission than the Accord or Fusion.

Have you checked your potential insurance cost for each model?

Re: What car would you pick?
 

I haven't run the insurance numbers yet but I know that it will be cheaper than a 2010 F150 Lariat. As well I will be reducing the number of cars I have from four to three.

I was interested in others viewpoints on the advantages/disadvantages on the cars I listed. As well if there are other reliable models I would be interested to hear also.

Re: What car would you pick?
 

the fusion is very comfortiable and roomy, my mom has the v6 with 6 speed auto and it will get up and go in a hurry but yeilds pretty good mpg around town. has a built in MPG guage and whatnot.

we havent had any problems with it.

id recommend getting the plain jane steel wheels, my moms has those 17" alloy things with the rubber band tires that are very costly to replace

Re: What car would you pick?
 

i agree w/ HC in regard to difference in vehicle type. be SURE to thoroughly drive your vehicle prospects!

if cost is the issue(you mention car payment), then i'd go w/ the civic...it has proven reliability over MANY years, as well as low maintenance cost. besides, gas prices may be coming down...but not forever.

but, again, drive it many miles, especially if you're a big guy.

Re: What car would you pick?
 

I also forgot to include the Kia Optima.

Re: What car would you pick?
 

The 2011 Optima is really nice looking...but that's out of your intended price range (and doesn't really matter much, it's just something I've observed lately).

To get others viewpoints on the advantages/disadvantages of the proposed models in a more meaningful way, I suspect you'll need to find someone who has owned two or more of them.

My vote if you must buy something is the Sonata, but re-reading the thread I see that you already have an Accord that meets most of your specifications; why not sell the truck and put the extra money into leather seats?

Re: What car would you pick?
 

Do you have a chance of being upside-down in your truck, since it is only a year old? That might be hard to roll excess funds into a used vehicle.

Re: What car would you pick?
 

Yeah, I will most likely be about $1800 upside down in the truck.

But I will be selling a 1999 Honda Civic (manual) that should cover that.

BTW, if anyone is looking for a car that gets 35-40 mpg on the highway I have a 1999 Honda Civic EX manual for sale for $1800.00. :)

Re: What car would you pick?
 

sounds like a great deal if the car is in good shape. why not make IT your DD is my question tho.

Re: What car would you pick?
 

i second the suggestion to drive the car many many miles (possibly test drive at different dealers in different terrain/road surfaces, ya know new smooth blacktop VS busted up concrete)especially if you are a big/tall guy. im both categories and do not find riding in my friends 01 corrola (well before it threw a piston out the block with 132K on it) rather uncomfortable, front or back seats, same with the 99 era civic, felt like i was riding on a parkbench and was threatened by the dashboard wailing into my knees at every stop or head hitting the roof on bumps. (hence why i said lumpy as hell street the better)

now my friends i think its an 06 kia spectra it isnt too bad, rides better than the other 2 i mentioned and has pretty good front seat room but backseat is a little to be desired but not terrible(not like a mustangs backseat haha)

i know the cars i mentioned are way off from what you want but dont let the new car smell cloud your judgement :P and always sleep on it at least 2 days to make sure thats the car you want

Re: What car would you pick?
 

Well I pulled the trigger this weekend. I traded my 2010 F150 for a 2008 Honda Accord auto with 41,000 miles on it.
I'm going to have buy a scanguage to check my mpg consistently but I did air up the tires to 40 psig. Sidewall max press rating is 50 psig.
It's rated at 21 City and 31 Highway. Has anyone with an Accord beat these numbers?

Re: What car would you pick?
 

i've averaged just over 30 w/ a mix of 40% city/60 hwy driving in a 4cyl AT accord.

Re: What car would you pick?
 

Thanks. That's reassuring. What modifications did you make if any? Or was it just easy driving?

Re: What car would you pick?
 

absolutely none, except driving habits. remember, easy driving is not really accurate--moderate acceleration getting to the highest gear possible quickly is best.

tires were 51(max)psi btw. if i remember correctly my epa estimates are lower than yours, so you may be able to achieve well over my numbers!

Re: What car would you pick?
 

Yeah, more like really hard driving, in too high of a gear... But planning ahead and not using the brakes is very important too. Knowing how to use it's DFCO mode to it's maximum advantage is also quite helpful.

Re: What car would you pick?
 

Confirming when your car actually uses DFCO is very important...if you haven't had a meter on an injector wire then you can't be sure, and if you're trying to leverage DFCO but not actually getting DFCO then you'll use more fuel than neutral coasting (or a higher gear).

Re: What car would you pick?
 

DFCO? What the hell? :)

Re: What car would you pick?
 

deceleration fuel cut off...

when releasing the accelerator at rpms above 1k, most modern vehicles use little or no fuel down to 1k rpms. the drive wheels keep the engine going down to 1k, when idle then kicks in to prevent stalling.

it's like free mpgs for a short time. i use it OFTEN as pulse and glide! on longer glide opportunities, it is more beneficial to coast in neutral however. with AT, if you do use neutral glide, it is wise to rev match before shifting back to drive. or you could just use it at eminent stopping situations.

anyway, you DO have DFCO in that vehicle. i never use neutral coasting in my AT vehicles.

Re: What car would you pick?
 

The usefulness of DFCO depends on the make and model. On my HHR, it doesn't kick in until rpms are above 2000. Then, except for newer engines with better valve control, the lack of fuel going to the cylinders means the engine is pumping air, and engine braking increases.

So for the HHR to hit DFCO, I'd have to be cruising at high speed where the braking will cause too much speed loss, or downshift.

On the other hand, the wife's Sable has an absurd coast ability. There isn't a usable difference between leaving it in drive or shifting to neutral. Except when the DFCO does eventually kick in, the slow down slightly increases. You might not notice it.

New Fords use aggressive DFCO as part of their mpg improvements.

I understand the updated scanguage can show DFCO operation.

Re: What car would you pick?
 

The thing about DFCO is it's never simple, and it's often not dependable or consistent. It's certainly not as simple as anytime you get off the gas over 1000rpm.

Some, but certainly not all, of the additional variables that may be considered by the computer as it decides whether or not to DFCO:
- Built-in delay (I observed this on my 2002 GMC)
- Current gear and road speed (maybe)
- Accessory usage - A/C, wipers, lights, etc (commonly reported on Hondas)
- Recent changes in RPM/shifts (I observed this on the 2008 VW I had)
- Once engaged DFCO may stay engaged down to 1000rpm, but it may not engage if you're at 1100 before it starts. It wouldn't make sense to bother engaging for just a moment, so they may include a margin.

When I first learned of DFCO, I was constantly trying to leverage it and I couldn't figure out why my FE went down. It turned out that downshifting my truck for 5-10 seconds of engine braking cost way more fuel because DFCO was delayed by 8 seconds. In my truck I basically have to be looking at 20 seconds of engine braking for DFCO to beat neutral coasting. Don't forget that during those first 8 seconds it runs at higher RPM but doesn't run lean so it's using more fuel than it would at idle.

The 8 second delay is probably not very common.

The VW usually wouldn't DFCO if I had recently shifted; it preferred to DFCO only after steady cruising. Complicating matters, the VW had a "feature" where it would avoid DFCO and even avoid closing the throttle to prevent excessive engine braking for the sake of stability in low-traction conditions, but it is not well documented at all.

Honda Civic drivers who have directly detected DFCO report that the DFCO floor can raise to 1400rpm or higher with A/C and electrical accessories in use.

A meter connected directly to a fuel injector wire is the most dependable way to detect DFCO. OBDII tools like the ScanGauge and UltraGauge do an OK job, with some display lag, if you watch the open/closed loop indicator (other data has worse lag and/or may be inaccurate). Sometimes you can tell by turning off the ignition; if engine braking increases with the ignition off then you were not in DFCO, but that's only useful experimentally, not as an indicator.

Studied, measured, and applied accurately, DFCO is a very useful tool. If you assume or guess then it's a crapshoot and may cost more fuel.