Stop me from making the worst car decision ever

What I want is a stick shift hatch, 30+ mpg, around 30k miles, with cruise.

I like cars with colors, i.e. not white, gray, silver, black.

Budget: hopefully $15k OTD

As reported here, I've test-driven quite a few cars and I really haven't come across anything interesting that pushes all the right buttons.

I feel like giving up. And by "giving up" I mean buying a boring car that doesn't push all/any of the right buttons and getting something boring and cheap, just because it is a really good deal and will be reliable and economical and not at all fun.

To wit: a 2012 Toyota Prius C Two with 44k and painted white. It is about $14k out the door. It will get 50mpg and be really reliable and boring and I will hate it.

But I am at a loss for what else to do and I kind of need to buy a car fairly soon. HELP!

Don't do it or you'll end up ramming the car you hate into another car just to get rid of it.

Have you looked at the Mazda2? Mazda3? Ford Focus SE? What about a new Scion iM?

In reply to Javelin:

Mazda2 simply don't exist around here. Drove a 3, but I can not abide by how they stuck the radio to the top of the dash.

Like the Focus SE, but they are thin on the ground around here, especially if I want one that's not gray.

Like the iM, but there aren't any used ones and a new one is $7k over budget.

Fiesta SE ecoboost? I saw a Ford dealer advertising them for 14K, so you can probably get pretty close to 15K out the door on a new one.

The focus st's are available new for 14k some fees if you look. Highly tempting easy button for me...

how about Hyundai? I think you can get a brand new accent for that price.. with a manual, hatch, and in decent colours. They are not bad to drive either..

Go older and build something amazing around a KLZE or F2T. For the budget you'll be able to get the engine with fresh main and rod bearings, and heck new internals if you'd like.

Elantra Touring SE (pre-owned certified--with warranty)

5 Speed comes with H&R shifter, Leather, Moonroof Heated seats, BIG back seat with lots of storage.

Handles well enough to be autocross-worthy. Not quite a Mazda3 but still fun.

I got 27-28 mpg mixed with mine--and didn't try for good miles-per-gallon

In reply to mad_machine:

Had my eye on a leftover '15 Accent Sport at $17k OTD. Couldn't make a deal. Now the rebates are gone on '15 Accents and it's $18k OTD. My bad.

84FSP wrote: The focus st's are available new for 14k some fees if you look. Highly tempting easy button for me...

Please show me a Focus ST for $14k new. I can't even find a Fiesta S for $14k.

Mini?

Try driving a Protege5. You should be able to buy the nicest one in the world for that budget and a spare. But they're kinda fun to drive with a decent suspension.

I was close to that on my brand new Fiesta ecoboost. It is a hoot. Add better tires and the $250 Fiesta handling pack it would be killer.

Oops - was a Fist not a Fost.Buy me

iadr wrote: Those are really good cars. I was working at Hyundai when those came out. A little cheap feeling- if I were to own one I'd spend a weeknd with a lot of Dynamat, taking off panelling and sticking or spraying into door shells, 1/4 panels, etc. Gas mileage is not great, surprisingly. Major jump when they went to DI a year or so later. Big thing for me, that would 100% prevent me from owning one, is whoever spec'd the rack ratio should never be allowed to touch a car again, ever. Maybe not even allowed on public transport, so he or very possibly she, has to walk or bike for the rest of their life. Spec is 2.1 turns lock to lock, reality is 1.8 or 1.9, so there is over a full turn missing there. They "tried" to compensate for that with more caster, but failed dismally.

I did not find the steering to be that bad. Like I said it was autocross-worthy all day long.

Autocross results

In the local "F" class the car was about 3 seconds (raw) off of a National Podium Celica GT (GS class car; ET is HS car) on a near-minute long course. Yeah, that's a fair bit--but that was on OE type tires too.

I'm pretty sure you could get a handsome discount on a fully loaded 2015 Mirage.

Lightly used Chevy Sonic LT or LTZ with the turbo? I don't have ownership experience, but did test drive one and if I decided to go more practical than the FR-S it would probably have been what I wound up with.

If you're still in Las Vegas like your profile says, I think I found something.

EvanR wrote: What I want is a stick shift hatch, 30+ mpg, around 30k miles, with cruise. I like cars with colors, i.e. not white, gray, silver, black. Budget: hopefully $15k OTD As reported here, I've test-driven quite a few cars and I really haven't come across anything interesting that pushes all the right buttons. I feel like giving up. And by "giving up" I mean buying a boring car that doesn't push all/any of the right buttons and getting something boring and cheap, just because it is a really good deal and will be reliable and economical and not at all fun. To wit: a 2012 Toyota Prius C Two with 44k and painted white. It is about $14k out the door. It will get 50mpg and be really reliable and boring and I will hate it. But I am at a loss for what else to do and I kind of need to buy a car fairly soon. HELP!

secretariata wrote: Lightly used Chevy Sonic LT or LTZ with the turbo? I don't have ownership experience, but did test drive one and if I decided to go more practical than the FR-S it would probably have been what I wound up with.

the below is a '14 Sonic

to bad you can't wait a couple more yrs ... then there would be hatch with manual, cruse, satellite, back up camera, and way lower miles ( slightly less than 8k miles in the first yr of ownership), carolina blue for exterior color ... so meets you color requirements if I work at it, I can get 40 mpg for a take full ... most will get in the mid to low 30's just because they can make themselves stay out of boost, 1.4L turbo... and under your budget requirements ...