FOFC Wisdom - Car Advice: Altima/Legacy/Mazda6/what else?

[I. J. Reilly]

Unfortunately I find myself in the car market now. Thought I would bump this thread instead of starting a new one since I’m mainly looking at the Altima and Mazda 6. A few people I work with have Altima’s and they love them, and I’ve rented Mazda’s in the past and been impressed with how they drive. I’ve really only done internet research at this point, but I am really liking what I read on both of these cars.

DT and rowech; you guys still happy with your purchase 6 months later? Anything you wished you had looked at or done differently?

[rowech]

Originally Posted by I. J. Reilly

Unfortunately I find myself in the car market now. Thought I would bump this thread instead of starting a new one since I’m mainly looking at the Altima and Mazda 6. A few people I work with have Altima’s and they love them, and I’ve rented Mazda’s in the past and been impressed with how they drive. I’ve really only done internet research at this point, but I am really liking what I read on both of these cars.

DT and rowech; you guys still happy with your purchase 6 months later? Anything you wished you had looked at or done differently?

We've had a couple of nusiance things happen though that probably should be mentioned. First week we had it, there was some sort of seal problem. Was fixed immediately. Back window got stuck and wouldn't go back up. Fixed again. I'm sure they're just random luck deals on those.

That said, we are EXTREMELY happy with the car. I love the handling of it most of all. Just handles so true and so easy. Plenty of power despite being only a V4. Sounds made from the engine take a little getting used to as it's some crazy engine type...it'll sound bad and I've been told some people can't get past it. Not a big deal at all though once you get used to it. I stand behind our Altima for sure.

[GrantDawg]

We are shopping for second car right now as well. We have a nice little Sentra 2.5s all paid for, so we are leaning Altima. My brother-in-law has one that is very nice. We are also looking very hard at the Kia Optima and the Hyundai Sonata. Don't laugh, because the quality of those cars have shot up in recent years. You are talking saving thousands of dollars on new cars that are as good or better than the other options. The Sonata especially.

[DaddyTorgo]

Super happy with my 6. Not sure there's words to describe how happy I am. Just took her in for her first oil change last week (~3800 miles), and I've had absolutely zero issues so far. Handling and responsiveness and all are great. No mechanical problems. No non-mechanical problems of any sort.

The thing that pushed me towards a 6 rather than an Altima was I guess the interior - I think the interiors on the 6's look nicer (IIRC you can only get one color leather interior on the Altima, and you have to get a certain exterior color to get that), and they maybe have a touch more legroom in the back seat. But that may just be personal preference.

I know I test-drove the Altima and it was a close 2nd-place. At least out here I don't see many 6's too also, and I think it looks somewhat different/nicer. But that's for sure personal preference.

V4 is plenty enough pickup and power...no need to go to the V6 and destroy your fuel economy (as rowech echoed).

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

We are shopping for second car right now as well. We have a nice little Sentra 2.5s all paid for, so we are leaning Altima. My brother-in-law has one that is very nice. We are also looking very hard at the Kia Optima and the Hyundai Sonata. Don't laugh, because the quality of those cars have shot up in recent years. You are talking saving thousands of dollars on new cars that are as good or better than the other options. The Sonata especially.

Hyundai makes good stuff. If I could have afforded a bit more in payments I woulda gone for a Hyundai Genesis.

[I. J. Reilly]

Thanks for the updates guys. Glad everyone is still happy with their purchase. Hopefully when I start test driving cars one of them will stand out enough to make it an easy decision.

[rowech]

Well, two years later, and our Altima's little issues are starting to outweigh the car. The warranty is up in five months and to be honest, it has us worried. We've had the thing in 8 times for misc. crap like a window not going back up, a corroded battery after a year and a half, a rattle that won't go away under the windshield, now there's a leak somewhere. All of this stuff and the other minor issues have been covered but quite frankly, we worry we got the one dud.

So we're considering scaling our car down since it's looking more and more like were are going to be unable to have children. We're considering the Hyundai Elantra. Anybody with experience with this car or at the least the Sonata? We're also considering Buick Verano along with a Chevy Cruze. Anybody with experience on these? Our general impression is the Elantra stood out. THere is a possibility because of GM points we can go with a Malibu as well to be a bit bigger.

Really disappointed in the Altima. We still love the car overall but we just got a dud. Ain't no way around it.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by rowech

Well, two years later, and our Altima's little issues are starting to outweigh the car. The warranty is up in five months and to be honest, it has us worried. We've had the thing in 8 times for misc. crap like a window not going back up, a corroded battery after a year and a half, a rattle that won't go away under the windshield, now there's a leak somewhere. All of this stuff and the other minor issues have been covered but quite frankly, we worry we got the one dud.

So we're considering scaling our car down since it's looking more and more like were are going to be unable to have children. We're considering the Hyundai Elantra. Anybody with experience with this car or at the least the Sonata? We're also considering Buick Verano along with a Chevy Cruze. Anybody with experience on these? Our general impression is the Elantra stood out. THere is a possibility because of GM points we can go with a Malibu as well to be a bit bigger.

Really disappointed in the Altima. We still love the car overall but we just got a dud. Ain't no way around it.

I can't help you with the Elantra or the Sonata, but I have a Genesis and it is terrific. It drives great and it's nice looking car.

I think my only complaint is that when you do need to have something done, it's expesnive heck. Brakes and tires were all very expensive. Not sure if that would still be the case with the Sonata or the Elantra, but I imagine it would be. And that stuff isn't covered by their warranty (which is considered to be excellent, with the 100,000 miles or 10 year warranty, they have).