general new car musing...

New appliance for the Wife. Base Optima or base Sonata or base Camry or base Impreza? Fusion?

Optima. Kia has been a great choice for me so far.

Are those your only options/considerations? Wife just got a Dodge Dart (complete opposite of "base"), instead of a Kia Optima (also, complete opposite of "base"). The Dart was cheaper. Also, manual wasn't available in the "opposite of base" Optima.

Fusion wouldn't be a bad choice if she doesn't hate the styling(although I think it looks better than the other choices)

In reply to noddaz:

I have a Limited Sontata (wanted leather - had to go Limited) and have been pleased with it. 40K miles in less than 2 years. I like many things about the Optima over the Sonata, but I couldn't get past the C pillar look on them. I personally also would look at the new Fusion.

Fusion.

No Dart. Too "small"... Auto Trans. (Is appliance.) No leather. Just do not care for it. And we are looking at that general size of car. And before anyone asks, no Nissan...

We drove the Fusion. The steering/handling SUCKED although the engine was okay (1.6 eco) We bought the Mazda 6 because the chassis/handling/ride is STELLAR. and the mileage is better. The base model 6 (Sport) can be had in manual or auto 6 speed and is a little over 20k. Winnah.

Mazda3i Skyactive. This is Mrs. t25's daily ride, here's her Fuelly page. So 22k miles in and no complaints. She loves it. Hers is the leather, navigation loaded one, but even so it was only 22k out the door last year.

Mazda 3 too small... But I forgot about the 6... Hmmm.

2014 Mazda 6. Looks really sweet, and has gotten rave reviews so far. Otherwise, from your list, I'd go Kia.

MAZDA 6 !!!!!!

Available in cloth and auto, SkyActiv tech, actually looks good, drives great.

I've driven both the Sonata and the Optima, Optima hands down. What about the '14 Forte?

Dunno if an SE 4-cylinder Camry is out of your price range or not, but Jack Baruth just gave it a pretty good review over at TTAC:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/05/review-toyota-camry-se-2-5l-track-tested/

In reply to Bobzilla:

Did you drive the same trim levels for both? Was there that much of a difference (wondering what I'm missing out on with the Optima)? Hopefully this is still relevant to the discussion and not a hyjack.

If the Maz6 turns out to be too small you may want to look at used Suburbans. Really.

Both cars were base auto's (16" steelies with hubcaps, cloth etc). The Optima justhad better feedback to me. The suspension was tighter, the steering felt better etc. Just the overall driving dynamics were improved.

I was also pleasantly suprised by the 6-spd auto in both cars. It wasn't the horrific slushbox of the early 2000's that I remembered.