I currently own a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix which I bought in late 2007 through an auction buyer that was a pretty good deal, $14,000 at the time. It's been paid off for a while now and I still really like the car, but I'm feeling it's time for a change.

One thing I don't like about my car is the fuel efficiency. Being a 6 cylinder it loves it's gas. I only get about 17mpg city and 20mpg hwy despite it being  at 19 city 23 hwy. I drive every day but everything I drive to is close by. In 5 years I've put 17,000 miles on my car making it a 7 year old car with 35,000 miles. I've started to experience some age related failures including a broken window mechanism that was not cheap to fix, interior armrests showing wear and some other things. Also I've been putting off my 30k maintenance which will cost about $1000.

When I bought it I lived in an apartment and it was hit three times in the parking lot within a month of buying it. The damage is fairly minor but repairs were quoted at $1500 at the body shop so I decided against fixing it. I've since moved into a house and its been garage kept. It's been a bit since I looked it up but I think the blue book on the car is around $9500 in great condition. Discounting for the exterior cosmetic damage I could probably get $8500 or so selling it myself or a bit less on a trade in.

I've been interested for a while in these very compact cars like the Honda CR-Z, Fiat 500, VW GTI, and the like, most of which get 35mpg or better plus are small but well made cars. If you guys have suggestions is love to hear them. I haven't even remotely narrowed the choice yet, these are just examples of what I think I want.

The main question I'd like input on is leasing vs buying new. Leasing gets hammered on most of the searches I've done and quite frankly a lot of it comes across with more religious zeal than a fire and brimstone service so I can't really tell if its as bad as they say or if I should trust the pages that say leasing can be good as long as you know you are paying a slight premium to always be driving something new.

The other hitch to leasing with my situation is the mileage. Most leases are 12-15k per year and I drive about 1/3 of that. I've seen some luxury cars advertise 5000 mile leases but is that low of a mileage negotiable on a normal car? On a 3 year lease I doubt I'd have more that 12-15k on the car so the depreciation would be significantly less than a normal person who has put 36-45k on the car.

Or should I forget leasing and go through the hassle of buying? If so I would be 50/50 on new vs 1-2 years old.

Another thing I should mention is I prefer comprehensive insurance even when I fully own so that won't make any difference between buying and leasing perpetually.

Or should I just shut up and keep what I have? LOL

BTW public transportation is nonexistent here so a car is a must unfortunately despite the small mileage.

I have an Accord from 2002 still, and I'm having genuine trouble finding a better all-around car.  I've driven Lexus cars, Ford cars, Porche cars, BMWs, and many other even higher-priced cars, but I always find myself coming back to my run-down Accord.

What is it that makes this car so fun to drive?  It's a jack of all trades.  It's good at everything and great at nothing--and that's exactly how I like my cars.  It finds that smooth zen between a Porche's twitch and a BMW's almost boat-like smooth and quick response. 

If it was a pair of headphones, it'd be the HD600.  It's a good foil to the enjoyment of the BMW's LCD-2 and the precision the Porche's HD800

I've driven significantly better cars, but it isn't performance that attracts me; it's balance.

Quote from: PelPix on October 29, 2013, 04:45:50 AM

I have an Accord from 2002 still, and I'm having genuine trouble finding a better all-around car.  I've driven Lexus cars, Ford cars, Porche cars, BMWs, and many other even higher-priced cars, but I always find myself coming back to my run-down Accord

The 1998-2002 Accord was the best one. The 2003 was worse, and the one after that was a Honda Avalon. I haven't driven the latest version, but I seriously doubt even the Sport version drives as well as the '02. The late '90s was the golden age of the Japanese motor industry. While Germany was beginning its slide to rock bottom, Japan was churning out cars with insane build quality and refinement. Sadly, those days are completely over at Toyota who has been building lazy, cheap ass shit for at least the last 5+ years.

Honda was just wandering around aimlessly, to the point that they delivered a new Civic where the only new "feature" was it was worse than the car it replaced. Something seems to have lit a fire under them though, the emergency refresh Civic proves that. The new Accord hybrid is also a kick straight in Toyota's teeth which I didn't see coming. Honda has been sucking at hybrids since the original Insight, so they were the last one I expected to deliver a world beater.

That said, Acura is still a total disaster.

Nissan still is hit and miss. They can deliver either a really solid, if not necessarily outstanding entry, or the worst car in the segment, seemingly depending on what day it is. Infiniti needs to worry alot less about being the first with a steering wheel that's not attached to anything (except for the emergency back up system, saving them....what, exactly?) and their asinine, incomprehensible naming scheme, and a lot more about chassis and suspension design. Lexus isn't fucking around anymore, so the old rock hard suspensions and snap oversteer are no longer going to cut it.

In any case, I suspect the B9 S4 will make both the IS and Q50 rather moot.

When you talk about balance, there isn't a more balanced car than the S4, other than that forbidden Alpina fruit. The ATS likely handles better, but the S4 has year round, all weather ability and electronics that are actually usable. I so want to like the CTS V-sport, but the "it like iPad!!!" derpy controls are just too maddening.