Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Try a jetta. You might just like what zee Germans have to offer.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

When i was waiting for my wifes Sante Fe to get serviced at Buerkle Hyundia. I test drove an Audi a3 with a 6 speed manual that seemed like it would be a fun dd. It had 80k for mileage, they were asking 15k.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hn...327238606.html

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Here's some reading for you on the Kizashi Dave
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com...uzuki_Kizashi/
http://www.edmunds.com/suzuki/kizashi/2012/#fullreview
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/suzuki/kizashi.htm

Across the board the critics knock this thing for the same reasons.
1) Less leg room in the back, which isn't that big of a concern for you.
2) No V6, or turbo version, also not a huge concern for you. In fact, probably a plus so you don't mess with the turbo!
3) Lack of dealerships and availability. Not an issue in the twin cities.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Test drove some of the 2013 Fusions this past weekend. What a difference from the 2012's, they are friggin nice. Not the $15k price tag you were looking for, but man sure is a nice car for the money. Katy really liked them, so that might be the route we go, probably with the 1.6T motor.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

^IS that the 4 cyl. ecoboost?

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

It's one of em. The motor options are:

- Base cheapo model = 2.5L NA 4cyl, 175hp/175tq, 22city/34hwy/26cmb mpg

- Upgrade to 1.6L EcoBoost 4cyl, 178hp/184tq, 23/36/28 mpg

- Upgrade to 2.0L EcoBoost 4cyl, 240hp/270tq, 22/33/26 mpg

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Thank you sir, I really enjoyed that car and am strongly leaning towards it now.

Just to update the thread, drove a 2011 Suzuki Kizashi, was extremly suprised. Very nice driving car. Great interior, quiet, peppy, solid handling and comfy! And at 31mpgs its is pretty dang good.

I am honestly leaning towards buying this. I drove an AWD version too which is nice as you can flip a switch to go straight FWD mode too! So we will see might pick one of those up.

I also drove a 2010 honda accord and an SE 2011 galant, which wasn't half bad, nice options for sure but a bit more expensive at like 18900. I pepped at a newer toyota corolla S but just wasn't interested, hate the looks.

The accord was very blah, I liked the galant more honestly and the suzuki a lot more. The accord seemed very dated, very basic, seats sucked, road noise was more...however i know the motor is great and it will last but it just lacked anything to draw me in.

I am going to attempt to hit up Kia and Subaru before this weekend and either this weekend or early next week make a purchase.

I love that with the suzuki I get a 7yr/100k powertrain warranty, that is huge.

Thoughts on suzuki from others? I would've never looked at them if I didn't see one in person, I was very surprised at the car.

None of the cars are Lexus' or anything, but great cars for the price.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

I think the suzuki looks sweet, what is the price on that?

I remember looking at it, and being surprised at how high it was.

I'm interested to see what you think of a kia.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

We have an AWD with 9k miles for like 17.9, or a front wheel with 12k miles for 16.5. BTW, Dave I'm going to have my used car manager look for a different color AWD Kizashi SE.

Brown, considering what the Kizashi is up against in the mid-sized market and what you get for the money, they're really not expensive at all.
Base Camry LE ~22.5
Base Accord LX ~21.5
Base Altima 2.5S ~24
Base Sonata ~19
Base Optima ~22.5
Base Legacy 2.5 ~23.5
Vs. an base all wheel drive Kizashi S starting at ~19?
The only other one on that list that's AWD is the Subi, and you can't turn it off.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Kizashi is pretty sweet, all of the mags gave it rave reviews. I nearly bought a new SX4 a couple of years ago, Suzuki is pretty underrated. I have a buddy that has loved them for years and has had several.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Thanks troggy.

Jet i must agree I know a lot of people that once they buy one suzuki they seem to fall in love with them and buy more.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Funny how they dominate (or at least have a strong presence) in the motorcycle market, yet can barely make a dent in the automotive market... I always thought the Kizashi was a pretty decent car for the category.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Well unless Kia wows me or an outside chance at a subaru, the suzuki is prolly going to win for me. I also find it funny how their bikes dominate as well.

At this point its between hyundai sonata and suzuki kizashi. The hyundai is a bit bigger and a bit better gas mileage but fewer options and doesn't handle/ride quite as well.

We shall see.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

My guess is the Kia fits right in up there with the Hyundai and the Suzuki, but you'll probably leave Subaru with a "meh" feeling.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

I am guessing you meant kia fits with the hyundai and suzuki.

I'll give subaru a chance, a small chance :)

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Yup, edited.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Did you give up on or get to try a golf/jetta, tdi or gli?

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

It'll be hard to find a TDI/GLI/GTI in that price range with the kind of miles he's looking for.
Take this one for example.
Or this GLI
Or this TDI

They're really good cars, but they have a higher MSRP, and hold their value super well given current gas prices.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Right, they seem to hold their value super well, and are on the high end of his price range. Just curious if he has driven one. After driving a tdi, it seemed worth the extra couple grand to me.. but thats just me.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Out of curiosity, what's a gallon of regular 87 up there right now? $3.29 seems to be the average here these past few days.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

I think i saw 3.38 when I filled up yesterday. (e85 was at 2.83)

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Not sure what E85 here costs right now, I don't really pay attention.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

If you go to Barnett Kia in WBL, hopefully you get a better salesman than the guy we talked to (Mike Pinotti). He was a complete dork and super annoying. I barely got the door open of my truck when we arrived and he was already in our face, very pushy, and once we told him we weren't buying anything that day he pretty much pushed us right out the door.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

They're actually the 9th largest auto makers in the world. Mostly in Asia/India. But you're correct, they haven't really penetrated the American car market. We probably sell 10-15 new Suzuki's a month. Where as we sell closer to 60-70 new mitsus a month. Apple Suzuki, who exclusively sells Suzuki's only sells about 4-8 a month.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

How can a dealership survive on 4-8 sales per month?

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Yes, I have thrown out the diesel stuff.

I honestly was thinking 15k at most when I first made this, the cars I am looking at now are already more than 15k and with TTL its getting close to 20k.

If I actually had some cash saved up I would be more inclined to look at a VW diesel but I don't, so financing over 20k just seems stupid to me, I don't like to do 15k+ even but I will be getting a good sized bonus which I will pay off a large chunk in April.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

sounds good, I was just curious. makes sense.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Was probably going to stop at BP Kia as its on my way home from work.

I am guessing the Optima is what I am looking at as the sorento seems to be higher priced.

Maybe check out the Forte too, but seems like thats a bit smaller/cheaper than the comparable models (kizashi and sonota).

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

From my personal experience, the Forte would compare pretty equally vs. the Kizashi. It's a nice sized car with plenty of goodies.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

The forte seems more like a corolla competitor or civic imo. The kazashi seems more accord/camry style imo.

I could be wrong though.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

They mostly sell used cars. Like 3/4 of their lot is used cars. That, and they have like 2 sales guys.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

I know the optima is used in comparisons with accords/camry's, etc

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Well, test drove a few more today.

First stopped at Kia in BP. The forte is too small for sure, the optima is the right size though.

Drove a brand new optima, it was pretty damn awesome actually. Very good handling, smooth ride and a lot of features. And with a 3 year lease at 15k miles/yr I can get payments at 267 or 303 depending on model which is where I wanted payments. Honestly, this made everything a very hard decision now, I think i liked it even more than the suzuki.

Then I stopped at Subaru and test drove a brand new legacy, quite nice! It was a lil rougher around the edges, but still 34mpgs, great AWD and pretty peppy. HOwever, brakes felt a bit sloppy unlike the OPtima/Suzuki. Again leasing this car payments were 300ish for a new one.

Originally I didn't want to lease as I thought I drove too many miles but at 15k miles with dual summer duty with the evo I should be fine by my calculations. The problem was slightly used Subaru's and even Optimas as they are so new both hold value really well so getting a good deal on one is tougher. I could maybe find a good deal but then I have to line up financing and get rid of my honda. But both the places said they'd give me 500 for the honda, I am happy to dump it for that.

So now I think my new final 3 are the Optima, Kizashi and Legacy in that order. I am going to try and go hit up all 3 again for one final test drive Saturday and make a choice. Going to bring my dad I think for a second opinion.

The loaded Optima was awesome too, and at like 27k or whatever it had nav, back up cam, power everything heated/cooled seats (cooled seats are awesome) and was pretty damn cool.

Ps. The impreza on a lease was actually more than a legacy for some reason, so I said screw it.

So not any closer but I have thinking to do on financing/leasing etc.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

The one thing I could highly advise you look at on a lease is what your loan on the buy out would be. Some companies way over value what their cars will be worth after your lease, making them difficult to buy for the same monthly payments when you're lease is up. With a company like Mitsu the make an effort to use realistic residual values. Assuming I get a decent rate, my buy out will actually drop $48 a month.

But if a company over values their residuals and you end up doing like 35% lease and 65% buy out your buy out loan is either going to require a large sum of money down or a longer loan payment to be at the same price. You don't want to end up leasing for 3 years, then taking out a loan for another 5 just to keep your payments the same.

TBH, I don't know what Kia's leasing programs look like or how their residual values are calculated. But you wanna make sure to ask what percentage of the value of the vehicle the residual is vs. the percentage of the lease. If the gap is larger than 40:60, run.

Also, just an FYI, because Suzuki is offering the 0% for 72/m on new ones, their lease program is almost non-existent. With that offer, you're payments are nearly the same, or better (depending on your credit and down payment) if you take the special financing. I wouldn't recommend leasing a new Suzuki.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Both of the cars were around the 12k to 13k range for buyouts after the lease which seems roughly accurate. But I can ask a few more questions when I go back.

Honestly, I think now its to the point where I will just get whatever car I want most. Then figure out how to pay for it :)

Find any AWD kizashis in a different color yet? :)

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Got plenty of new ones! Still working on a used one.

How long of a lease term was that residual on? If you know the MSRP, and the length of the lease, it's pretty easy to figure out what buy out payments would be. Basically compare that lease payments + the remaining years of loan term that would total 72 months. So like 3 years of lease and a residual of 13k would be like 390 a month for the remaining 3 years.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

I will talk to you about possibly leasing etc when I stop by Saturday to "level the playing field" with what else I am looking at. Still not set on leasing yet by any means.

The two probably ones are as follows:

Kia optima Ex - 3 year lease - capital cost 22793 (without ttl stuff I think)- residual 13970

Subaru Legacy - 3 year lease - 23192 (price, not msrp) - residual 14815

So I guess I was off what I said before, was remembering the LX optima i think.

There are lots of numbers on these forms so not sure exactly what they all mean really lol.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

That means the optima is about 40:60, lease:residual. That's reasonable. Anything more than that and I'd recommend running! But again the further away from 50:50 you get the bigger gap you're going to see between 3 years of lease payments and 3 years of loan payments. Plus you have to factor in interest rates. Lease rates are always subsidized by the manufacturer. Say you can get 2.9% for 5 years from a bank on a new car. A lease rate would be more like 1.66% for 3 years on a new lease. But when you go to buy that car out you're now buying a 3 year old car on a loan. Meaning that the rate is no longer subsidized, and its a used car. This is why in most cases we don't recommend putting a huge chunk of money down on a lease to own, because your payments will change when you buy it.

So you said they quoted you around 300/m for 3 years on the EX. That will make your 3 year loan about 400 a month + interest which I didn't calculate becuase I have no idea what interest rates or your credit will be 3 years from now.

As I recall, we roughly calculated out a Kizashi SE with AWD to be about 335/m for 72 months.


Again, I don't recommend leasing a Suzuki, strictly because they're not offering subsidized lease rates due to the 0% financing.

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

Leasing seems kind of scary to me. You said you could drive the evo in the summer to help keep miles off the daily, but what if the evo is broken and you end up going over the miles you are allowed? Don't they hit you with a pretty hefty penalty?

Re: Need New DD...~15k
 

If you're going to lease route now check out the deals Chevy is offering on the Volt. I've seen leases for as low as $250/month on that thing. I would definitely rock something like that as a daily due to the huge gas savings. Figure on average the Volt can go about 40 miles on electric, that should take care of most roundtrip commutes which means for regular daily use you'd barely be using any gas, if any.