Replacement For The Miata - Open Season
 

I think I've reached the time to ditch the Miata.

Oof.

Hard words considering I love the car but as the years go on it's a harder and harder fit it in our lives given how our family works. I haven't really gotten out much for "just for fun" back road drives (which is what the car was built for). And it's 2 seat arrangement and cramped interior is a big compromise on a day-to-day basis.

Plus . . . :eeps: . . . I've been finding myself a bit burned out on it. Doing the daily slog through rush hour, squeezing in and out at the end of trips. Shit, I think I'm getting old.

The last several months I've been pondering the possibilities of other rides: hatch backs, cuvs, the odd mustang vert, Toyota Tacoma 4x4 pick-up truck. All over the place.

This all came to a head recently when I broke my collar bone in a bike accident. The first week wasn't "that" big of a deal as I was on pain meds waiting surgery and being driven around. Now that I'm off pain meds and driving my self places, well, I'm using my wife's Forester. Which means she's driving the Miata. . . . which she hates. And I hear about. Think of any of the car's draw backs and its a big sore spot. All of them.

In any case, we're going to ditch the car and probably pretty quick. While it might seem like a rash decision over a recovery period of maybe 2 months until I could drive it again, the car was on borrowed time anyways for the above reasons. Plus, probably best to sell the car now in summer rather than drag it through winter or trying to sell it next season.

So......

Any ideas on a replacement?

I'm looking for:

Fun / Interesting Vehicle
This is super open. Sedans to me are too boring and limited. Don't want a minivan. I'm looking for something fun and hopefully interesting but I find a great many vehicles fun for different reasons. Hatchbacks are at the front of my thoughts for their small (nimbler?) size and cargo / passenger flexibility and I'm sure there are some that are funnish to drive on the road. The CUVs have caught my attention recently, particularly the Mazda CX-3 as the are like a hatchback but with a little extra ride height which would be cool on the many mountain gravel roads around hear. Cars can handle them ok but the extra 1-2" of ground clearance would help with peace of mind over pot holes. Smaller SUVs I could see but it'd really depend. Again, not so much fun on the street but more of a sub-jeep-capable mountain road explorer / recreational activity vehicle. It's why I dig our Forester and like the "idea" of the Subie XV. I've always liked Toyota's small compact pick-up trucks. They've been fun in their own sporty utilitarian way.

Ok Fuel Economy
I'll be doing the commute slog for a while so it needs to get ok fuel economy. If I'm getting low-to-mid 20's in real world mixed driving I'd be happy. The Miata gets ~25-26 mpg on my mix commute rush hour driving for example. We get mid-to-low 20's in our Forester. I figure most hatchbacks would probably be in the target range easily. Anything else it's a tougher call.

Transmission: Stick . . . or Auto
Geez, really depends on the vehicle. It's going to primarily be a road going vehicle and despite the stop and go rush hour I could see a stick. It'd add some fun to a few moments throughout the day. If it's a hatch I'd prefer a stick. If we're talking CUV, truck, or SUV thingie then I'm up in the air. For example, I kind of dig our Forester with his antiquated 4 spd auto. It'd probably be more fun with a stick but, eh. Pretty sure most potential manuals will be a let down after the Miata's shifter.

Toys
Don't care about extra features, sat nav, bluetooth, etc. Preferably power locks and windows and AC.

Bonus
If the thing can handle ok-ish gravel mountain roads it's a big plus. I'm getting back into mountain biking and want to try some trails further out and some trail heads are beyond the edge of the pavement. Which also means I'll be throwing a trailer hitch on whatever we get so I can use the awesome bike rack Kognito gifted me with. Plus, I'd love to be able to toss a few rifles in the back and head up target shooting easily enough.

$12k
This is the tough part. We still have remodel projects going on for the forseable future and with what the Miata is worth we're probably looking at a $12-13k price range (including Miata trade in value) figuring we'll also need to shell out for ~10% TTL on top of the sales price.

I wasn't figuring on replacing the Miata for another few years but, eh, it is what it is.

The next ride isn't going to be super long term but if it can get me through 2-4 years and ~50-70k miles of driving we'll probably be in a good position to replace it then. So I'm not going to get too emotionally wound up about things. Would prefer something not too old but 5-6+ years is probably where I'll have to start for our price range.

Used V6 Rav4? I KNOW ITS A TOYOTA but it fits most of the bill.

It is way over your budget, but what about a lease on a Renegade? That fits the bill for most of what you're looking for, C/D seemed to really like the one that they tried, and if you aren't going to keep it long-term a lease might be the right way to go.

Trying not to think about it. . . .

Oh, and JST, the lease thing isn't happening. I'm not comfortable with them and I can't ever imagine my wife would be either. Partly I think I put to many miles on the car / yr. Also, I don't want to be on the hook for any damage at turn in.

Used A3 TDI hatch

That's a great idea...

If you can find a decent indy mechanic, this is a whole lot of car for the money:
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...06613437&Log=0

or more in line with what I was originally looking for:
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...03669553&Log=0

So........

No Audi, BMWs, Merc's, and preferably manufacturers that no longer exist. :)

I suspect that any higher end german or euro car in our price range is going to be well used and we've already done the high milage german car thing. :ack:


Anyways, I feel a bit lost at sea as I wasn't exactly prepped for this and I'm needing to do quick, basic research on potentially a bunch of cars I was never thinking of yet.

Things I'm sort of tossing around:


Ford Focus hatchback
Given the price point it'd probably be a 2012. I want the newer generation but it's the first model year of it for an American marque, which I'd be nervous about. It'd probably have to by higher-than-typical milage but, hell nearly any 2012 model of anything is going to have less miles on it than my 100,000+ mile Miata.

But, I don't know much about it. The STs are too new and out of reach. However, I've liked the Titanium trim line, styling wise it looks nice. Yet I don't know that much about it.

Q. Are there any performance differences in the Titanium vs. SE?
Q. Any handling / suspension differences between the Titanium vs. SE?

EDIT: Seems the Titanium has a "sport tuned" suspension, though it may not be what we think that would mean. . .

Near as I can tell there is at least a 5 spd manual available in the SE hatchback. But ONLY automatic in the Titanium trim.

Assuming Titanium trim is pretty much cosmetic it sounds like a looks vs. manual? Is this accurate? Anyone have experience with the Focus'ssses'ss's automatic and manual transmissions? It's not like I can really test out the manuals right now so I'd be going into a manual blind.



Subaru Forester - Manual
Hm.... We have one. I kind of dig our Forester. Like it's mountain car potential. I wonder what it'd be like in a manual? Pointless frustration in the 97% of the time it'd be a commuter car? Or would a manual offer enough "something" to make it fun even with the DD commute? It's been a while since I've been on a Forest Service road in a manual. Last time was my friend's horribly underpowered 4 cyl. circa '00 Wrangler. Couldn't get out of it's way to speak of, even if I drove it off a cliff. But . . . Holy shit was that fun! Manual direct drive non-autosquishy goodness in the great out doors. Shave a few hundred lb. off and put on a supple 4 wheel independent suspension? Could be interesting.

Downside is how far I'd have to go back model year wise to get to our price point. Plus basically having two of the same car in our driveway seems . . . odd.



Suzuki SX4
:?

Last model year was a 2012 and prices are I think where we'd need them, maybe cheaper. It's an odd duck but ticks many boxes that interest me:

+ AWD
+ manual (probably hard to find, though)
+ ~2800 lb. (fairly light)
+ A smidge more ground clearance than a car, less than cross-over/suv
+ Hatchback configuration
+ 25 / 32 mpg ratings (so probably mid-upper 20's, about matching Miata)

150 hp +/-

Negatives are:

- Is Suzuki still in business in the U.S. market?
- Very bland stereotypical Japanese mid-2000's styling
- Probably shit box build quality, would expect interior to degrade quickly.

But for a 2-3 year use car? Get it, flog it, try it out, then move on. Not like I'd be wedded to it for life.





.

Don't you have a Jeep? Do you really need many off-roady type cars?

Buy a decent commuter if that's what you want, and use the jeep (or existing Subaru) for biking trips.

What am I missing?