Thoughts on a daily driver

I've been scouring for a new vehicle for a few months now and can't decide on what would be the best option as I've never owned most of the brands I've been looking at. I'm looking for something fun and reliable as I drive over 40K miles per year. I'm looking in the less than 25K-ish range, but am open to ideas. Cars I've been checking out Around the 25K range: Mini Cooper S Volkswagen GTI - I test drove one a week ago, drove great, handled well, and decent pep to it. 20-24K V6 Mustang - Owned Fords all my life and my experiences at >100K miles they go downhill quickly Hyundai Genesis Coupe - Isnt this pretty much a rebranded Tiburon? <20K Scion -Toyota Brand, could last tons of miles? Kia Forte Koup - Heard rumors floating around they made be headed out of business in a few years. Civic - Not really a Honda fan =/ Anyone care to throw some ideas my way? My local Lexus dealer is offering a Lifetime Warranty, kinda might be worth it considering the miles I drive lol. Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by Unbreakable

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I've been scouring for a new vehicle for a few months now and can't decide on what would be the best option as I've never owned most of the brands I've been looking at. I'm looking for something fun and reliable as I drive over 40K miles per year. I'm looking in the less than 25K-ish range, but am open to ideas. Cars I've been checking out

Around the 25K range:
Mini Cooper S
Volkswagen GTI - I test drove one a week ago, drove great, handled well, and decent pep to it.


20-24K
V6 Mustang - Owned Fords all my life and my experiences at >100K miles they go downhill quickly
Hyundai Genesis Coupe - Isnt this pretty much a rebranded Tiburon?

<20K
Scion -Toyota Brand, could last tons of miles?
Kia Forte Koup - Heard rumors floating around they made be headed out of business in a few years.
Civic - Not really a Honda fan =/

Anyone care to throw some ideas my way? My local Lexus dealer is offering a Lifetime Warranty, kinda might be worth it considering the miles I drive lol.

Thanks in advance

Can't speak for the GTI/Mini, but they're both FWD cars fwiw - not sure if that makes any difference. IMO, I'd prefer the GTI as I think it's larger interior space makes it more utilitarian.

Also, the Genesis is not simply a rebranded Tiburon - it's RWD (as opposed to the Tiburon which was FWD). If you're debating between the V6 Mustang and Genesis, Motortrend did a pretty good comparo between those cars - http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/..._se/index.html. The Genesis V6 is a bit pricier than the Mustang V6, i.e. $26k vs $23k, but was favored in the comparison. However, in terms of specifications, the V6 Mustang was every bit as good, if not better, than the Genesis, and better mpg to boot.

Originally Posted by Kyoung05

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Can't speak for the GTI/Mini, but they're both FWD cars fwiw - not sure if that makes any difference. IMO, I'd prefer the GTI as I think it's larger interior space makes it more utilitarian.

Also, the Genesis is not simply a rebranded Tiburon - it's RWD (as opposed to the Tiburon which was FWD). If you're debating between the V6 Mustang and Genesis, Motortrend did a pretty good comparo between those cars - http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/..._se/index.html. The Genesis V6 is a bit pricier than the Mustang V6, i.e. $26k vs $23k, but was favored in the comparison. However, in terms of specifications, the V6 Mustang was every bit as good, if not better, than the Genesis, and better mpg to boot.

Yep I knew that, but FWD doesn't matter. I'm just curious if anyone here owns either with well over 100k miles.

Thats an awesome article too. The mustang is shorter and lighter than the other three which I found weird. Mustang is quicker also, damn the Mustang is pretty much better in almost every category, especially price point. Seems like more bang for the buck.....hmmmm

The Mini S looks like it would be a lot of fun, and cheap to operate.

I have a Mini Cooper S Clubman and it's a great daily driver. My neighbour has a Volkswagen Golf GTi and he loves it too.

You can't go wrong with either of those cars based on your criteria.

I'm quite happy with my Volvo C30, which you should be able to get within that budget in the US. The turbodiesel engines are great and have relatively low emissions.

When you use the phrase daily driver that makes me assume you have other cars for the weekend.

I say get yourself a cheap ************* that you don't care about. 3 grand for a beater.

I dont think I want to be driving 40k miles a year in a 3 grand beater lol

I guess some folks on here have had luck with Minis but I have heard nothing but bad things from people who own them. Remember it's a BMW product - so you're going to have some of the same types of issues in terms of cost of parts and service. (I am a BMW owner, so this is not some anti-BMW bias.)

Maybe GTIs are better than Jettas but I can tell you everyone I know, everyone, who has owned a Jetta is absolutely miserable. A friend/co-worker just had to replace his transmission at ~70,000 miles. Out of warranty, too bad, buddy. I drove a Golf with a dual-clutched 7-speed manual as a rental in Switzerland not long ago, and while the car was totally a thrill and really made me interested, VW's spotty quality history would really have me shying away from any of their products for a while.

Of the options you presented the Genesis coupe seems like the probably the top performer and will have the best warranty. It's the one I'd go with.

Dunno what you have against Hondas but the Civic is probably the most responsible choice of those presented.

+1 for the Honda Civic

new or a

$3000 beater

http://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchr...7&alMdId=20823

If you're driving 40K+ miles a year there is only one answer, a VW Jetta TDI.

Fun and sporty to drive plus 40+ MPG's. As far as the reliability issues go, the majority of people who have problems have problems with the gas Jetta's not the diesel (TDI) Jettas.

I drive about 30K miles a year in my commute to work and have a 2006 Jetta (TDI) and a 2004 Golf (TDI) and haven't had any problems in either. I'll let you decided if you think changing 2 head lights and a tail light is what you would consider "problems". My sister-in-law liked the Golf so much that I ended up selling it to her about a month ago.

You can find really good 2001 - 2003 Jetta TDI's with around 150K miles for around $7K. That's a steal as those years are known to get 50+ MPG's and you can put another 200K miles on it easy. I recommend the 5-speed over the automatic trans but that's just me. Plus the manual transmissions are pretty much bullet proof. As long as you keep up on the regular maint. you won't have any problems.

I just traded a 2008 GTI with the DSG transmission. I already miss it, but I needed something AWD for the snow. Mine had 64K miles, and the only problem was the mechatronic issue for the DSG transmission (resolved under extended warranty for that issue). It was very practical, got excellent mileage, and was a lot of fun to drive. The only downsides were the expensive oil changes (required full synthetic oil and cartridge filters), and one of the HID headlights went out. The bulb cost around $110 and I replaced it myself. Originally took it to the dealer, and they said they'd have to take off the front bumber etc. to change it, and could cost $400. I just took it home and went through the driver's side wheelwell. I would recommend the GTI, or you could wait for the Golf R (if VW brings it over).

40k miles a year yikes!!!
That means you spend about 3 hours of every day in a car?

Definitely go with the Hyundai Genesis. Drove it in a track before and that thing is a beast. They also have a great warranty, probably still one of the best in the country.

You want 2 door or 4 door? When you say fun do you mean zipping through traffic or convertible fun?

If you want a convertible I'd go with the Mustang. For something cheap to get around in I'd go with a Civic Si. I'd steer clear of the Volkswagon's and Mini.