I was bored the other day and went and test drove a few cars. I drove the new Civic, Mazda 3 hatch, Corolla, and Prius C. The Corolla felt unbelievably cheap inside and was nothing special to drive. The Prius C felt cheap inside as well and was very loud when accelerating but felt fairly spacious inside. The Mazda 3 felt fairly small inside and with the automatic seemed very slow and had fairly high road noise. The new Civic felt very nice inside with a perfect blend of power, efficiency, comfort, and quietness with a nice low reving engine even at 75 mph. I liked it more than i thought i would but still not sold on the exterior looks. I still say the Fit is as good or better than every one of these although after driving the civic it made me realize how much more jittery and somewhat noisy the Fit was. But, the Fit has the best visibility, nice upright high seating position, and interior space hands down with the civic a close second. Considering the Fit is a subcompact, i think the fact it holds it's own amongst most compacts really says something.

 

Driving different cars when the boredom strikes. It was great hobby for me. After driving then compare advantage and disadvantages of that every car. Exciting!

 

My daughter brought a Mazda 3 I Touring Sedan with Skyactiv, 6 speed automatic with leather heated seats and every option list was $23,000 dealer sold it to her for $18,500 two days ago. Hugh discounts because the next generation is coming out in the fall. I got her a quote on a 2013 Fit Sport with automatic at $18,100 prior to her purchase. It is tough to give up all those options.

 

I agree poncianoarnel! And holy cow cjecpa, that's a heck of a deal!!!

 

The only problem with the " I was bored and so went and Test Drove Cars" hobby? Is that sometimes it can end up being very expensive.

Usually when I get bored, I clean my vehicle. Then after getting it perfect? If I still feel like I want to look at other vehicles? Then maybe I will.

I think sometimes on an impulse or just a "bored day" people can end up in a new vehicle when perhaps it really wasn't time.

Test Drives are fun...but dealerships, well they usually aren't as much fun.

 

Local dealer has been advertising $4,000 off sticker and I think Mazda has a $500 rebate right now.

 

When my brother was in college, he and his best friend would get dressed up in a suit and tie pretending to go to some Ivy League School and would say that their father's were going to buy them a car and to "look around" for what they liked.

Of course, they only hit Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes, etc...

 

The Mazda and Civic are both more "grown up" cars. But in different ways. The Civic is comfortable and way better for commuting. The Mazda is every bit as sporty as the Fit, and faster, with more features, but less space inside. Both are pretty compelling in their own way. But yes, the Mazda will presumably get a 2.5L Skyactive next year and so the 2.5 not-SA will look terrible in comparison on a fuel economy basis (it's already not competitive). This will be a good development, though; the 2.0L is a good engine and is matched with a terrific dual-clutch/torque converter automatic, but it can't be said to be quick.

 

The next generation Mazda 3 is suppose to lose a couple hundred pounds. Will be interesting to see the numbers on the 2.5l Skyactiv engine which is suppose to be rated in the upper 30s highway. The new model should be shown soon it is to be released this fall. Similar to the Fit will be produce in Mexico.

 

how is the '13 civic different from the '12? i ask cause i read the current gen was a flop when they first released them..?