OT - Cars! Honda Fit, Nissan Versa, or Pontiac Vibe???

[mlill]

OK Dis'ers! I really need your help! We are going new car shopping this weekend and I need some advice! We have narrowed our seach down to three cars...

Honda Fit

Nissan Versa

Pontiac Vibe

If anyone has one of these cars, how do you like it, and would you buy it again? I am looking for any feedback, good or bad, that you might have! Thanks so much!

-Michelle

 

[sjms71]

I don't know much about any of these cars but I would always go with a Honda!! We have never had a problem with any of our Honda's. When we do Honda bends over backwards for us to take care of it.

Me: 05 Honda Ody
DH: 01 Acura MDX
3rd: 95 Civic and still going strong

Good luck.

 

[bnorm27]

Honda or Nissan.....NOT Ponti-ache! Of Honda and Nissan, I would go with Honda, even though we are on our 2nd Nissan. I have previously owned a Honda Accord, and an Acura Legend. In my opinion, Honda wins!

 

[lovemygoofy]

How many people are going to be in this car? Isn't the Honda a little bitty car? If it's for a teen ager or just for one or two people that would be different I think. Have fun car shopping.

 

[nbodyhome]

I ended up with the Hyundai Elantra - it would be larger and somewhat more expensive (but I'm VERY happy with it!) We bought it last week.

 

[candaceg]

I have a four year old Pontiac Vibe with 100,000 miles, and I would definitely buy it again. It is not made by Pontiac - it is a Toyota Matrix in disguise, and is built on a Corolla platform.

My car has never needed service for anything outside of routine maintenance.

 

[welovedisney7778]

Another vote fot the Pontiac/(Toyota) Vibe! I have a 2003, and I LOVE it. Its like having a mini SUV that actually gets decent gas mileage, and its sooooo easy to drive, park etc. . It is so handy with the back seats folding down flat to move things, and I love the passenger seat that folds flat into a table. It's been great since we had our son, it makes a nice changing table. I would definitley buy another one. We've also only had regular routine maintenance done on ours. Good luck with your decision!

 

[cgcruz]

My chick test drove the honda fit. Wow, its a tiny car! You really get no space inside. Its just way too crammed feeling. Very small engine also, so not too much power. We didnt test drive it yet, but did look at the Versa. It looks nice! Plenty of room and nice price tag. She's also looking into the Toyota Yaris. Sorry, dont know much about Pontiac. I wouldn't let her buy an american car, if I can help it. Too many problems. I'm a Toyota guy myself.

 

[kfeuer]

Question for you Vibe owners--is it big enough to be a "family car"? I need something big enough for DH who is 6'4", me, and two boys (6 and 4) who are both in booster seats. We also have to drive my MIL around fairly often--is the back seat big enough for 2 boosters and a "fluffy" adult? Is there decent trunk space?

I've been looking for an affordable family vehicle and the price on the Vibe seems very reasonable (seems like everything else I've looked at is at least $25,000, and that's more then I want to spend).

 

[mlill]

Thanks for your input everyone! This is basically going to be a work car for DH, so MPG is a big thing. We also want the hatch/cargo room with fold down back seats. Believe it or not, we all fit in the Vibe, but the Fit and Versa are pretty tight. This is going to be our 4th car (two teenage drivers!), so it's no biggie for us all to fit; we've got bigger cars that will do the job nicely. Soooo, it's down to price and options. We'd like to stay under $20k - the more we save is more money towards another WDW vacation - I know you all understand!

Anyone else???

-Michelle

 

[Belle2667]

I have a 2004 Vibe with 50K miles on it and I love it!!! 4 of us fit nicely. We've even had 5 without any trouble, we just have bigger cars we normally use when we have more people.

My favorite word to describe my Vibe is Zippy!!!

 

[gonemousin']

OK Dis'ers! I really need your help! We are going new car shopping this weekend and I need some advice! We have narrowed our seach down to three cars...

Honda Fit

Nissan Versa

Pontiac Vibe

If anyone has one of these cars, how do you like it, and would you buy it again? I am looking for any feedback, good or bad, that you might have! Thanks so much!

-Michelle

Hi Michelle,

Having just researched these same vehicles (except the Vibe - we looked at the Toyota Corolla, but as PP have said, they're basically the same), I thought I'd respond.

The Honda Fit gets decent reviews and since it's a Honda, it would be very reliable. When we test drove it, I didn't care for the excessive road noise (little tires) on the highway. The car itself was very small, but we were looking for a point A to point B commuting car with good gas mileage, so the size didn't matter as long as it had good safety ratings. We liked the Fit but didn't choose it for one reason...they're incredibly popular (in my area at least) and the dealers sell them before they even arrive on the lot. We could have put a deposit on it, but we wouldn't take delivery until June/July. And we would have paid MSRP - no discounts. At that rate (we were looking at the most optioned model), we could have picked up a Civic for a few hundred dollars more because the Civics are plentiful and the dealer was offering discounts on them. So...we moved onto the Nissan Versa.

The Versa wasn't much larger than the Fit, but the interior felt more spacious and the road noise wasn't as terrible as the Honda. We liked it, but were worried about the reliability since it's a new model. We owned a Nissan Maxima for a few years, and while it was reliable overall, we had numerous recalls to attend to and it was a pain to constantly bring it back to the dealer (not close to our house).

Ultimately, we purchased (last weekend) the Toyota Corolla. We considered the Yaris, but by the time we were done adding all the options onto the Yaris, we could have a modest Corolla (same gas mileage, bigger car) for just slightly more. We also have a Toyota Sienna van that we enjoy...actually this new Toyota is our 7th Toyota vehicle, so maybe we're a little biased. We didn't go out hunting for another Toyota, but it turned out to be the best bang for our buck ($750 rebate after talking the dealer down below invoice - we got almost $2500 off the MSRP). And the beauty of it...I'm on my second tank of gas (we put a lot of miles on our cars) and I'm getting approx 42 miles/gallon (80% highway).

Good luck with your car search!!

 

[Lisa_M]

Honda or Nissan.....NOT Ponti-ache! Of Honda and Nissan, I would go with Honda, even though we are on our 2nd Nissan. I have previously owned a Honda Accord, and an Acura Legend. In my opinion, Honda wins!

Oh give me a br-ache! I don't know what the Nissan is like, but the Honda fit is so small, I wouldn't even consider it, plus I have had great experiences with Pontiac.
We have a 2003 Pontiac Vibe and it has been great. No problems at all. My inlaw's have a 2001 Honda Accord that had transmission problems in 2003. Every company is going to have issues with various cars. One swallow does not make a summer. Anyway, if you're looking to buy a new car, Pontiac has a great financing deal going on right now 0% apr with $1000 cash back. Plus, their new warranty is excellent 5 yr 100k.

Have you looked into Mazda at all? DH wants a mazda 3 hatchback (looks alot like the vibe). The features are pretty neat. They have really optimized the trunk area for best usage. This car is about the same size as a vibe.

 

[Lisa_M]

Question for you Vibe owners--is it big enough to be a "family car"? I need something big enough for DH who is 6'4", me, and two boys (6 and 4) who are both in booster seats. We also have to drive my MIL around fairly often--is the back seat big enough for 2 boosters and a "fluffy" adult? Is there decent trunk space?

I've been looking for an affordable family vehicle and the price on the Vibe seems very reasonable (seems like everything else I've looked at is at least $25,000, and that's more then I want to spend).

Yes I think it would be roomy enough for your family. I had 5 adults in mine last weekend. 2 "fluffys" in the back seat plus me (heading towards fluffy).
I don't have booster seats so I don't know how much room they take up, but I would recommend going to a car dealer and checking it out to make sure the size stuff would work for your family.

 

[iwannago!!]

I think that it is always best to shop around, to ask for feedback on different makes and models, to read up on Consumer Reports, check out recalls etc. Everyone has different wants and needs when they shop for thier vehicles, so opinions and feedback will always vary.

For me, Honda and I have a great relationship. I have a 2000 Honda Accord with 120k miles on it. There was a transmission issue and at 90k miles, I got a new tranny - all because I asked them to check it out for a 'miss' that I was feeling, which happened to be part of a recall that the had going on. I have a 2001 Honda Odyssey with 100k miles that I just took into the shop for a 'look over' before my warranty expired. They found a couple things wrong and did $1500+ worth of replacements and repairs for me under warranty, and I wasn't even there because there was anything 'wrong' with my van.

honda has had a few transmission recalls on vehicles the last few years, but they do their recalls, extend their warranty's and provide excellent customer service. All of this is WAY more than I have ever got out of Pontiac, Ford, or Chrysler. I would own a Honda over anything, and I would know that I would be driving it for years and miles to come!

Good luck with whatever you decide, but do shop around and be sure that you are buying a car with longevity - as you know, cars are not an investment, they depreciate. The best you can do is to buy one that will last you and your needs for years to come- JMO.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I have a 2004 Pontiac Vibe GT. I LOVE IT! However if I were shopping all over again I wouldn't get the GT model because it has a Celica engine in it and requires premium gas. I chose the Vibe over the Matrix because I drive my cars into the ground. I figure I could pay less upfront for the Vibe trading on the fact that as a "Pontiac" it wouldn't have as high of a retail value when the time came to sell ten years down the road since odds are the car wouldnt have any worth anyway.

I went to the Atlanta car show last week and looked at the cars you are talking about (other than the vibe). I considered both the Versa and the Fit to be too small except for "station" driving or areas where there is no population.

Another car you might want to check is the Mazda 5. It actually has seating for six inside along with mini-van style sliding doors. Yet it is only a tad taller than my Vibe. Had this style been available when I was car shopping I may have chosen the Mazda over the Pontiac barring any performance differences.

 

[WDWBoundAgain]

I working for a Pontiac Dealership in NC. I think they are fine cars. It is all what a person desires. I can give you details as far as $$$$ on any of the Pontiac/GMC line.

 

[arminnie]

I've owned Honda's for the past 20 years - 1 Accord and 2 Odysseys. I love Honda, and I hate GM.

But I bought a 2006 Vibe about 16 months ago. My current Odyssey is also a year old. The Vibe has been great and is so fun to drive. But I probably would not have trusted it if it hadn't been made by Toyota.

I love the way the seats fold down in the Vibe, but when you have to use the backseat for passengers there is not a huge amount of space left for luggage. But maybe I'm just unfairly comparing it to the Odyssey which is huge.

I have had NO problems at all with the Vibe. With other GM products I always had to take the car in for tweaking of defects even when the car was new. The Vibe has been perfect. My previous GM bad experiences are 20+ years old so may not be relevant anyway.

 

[Hedy]

I test drove the Honda Fit today. I liked it, but I am concerned about the lack of haggle with the price/its availability.

 

[tiggersgal19]

We bought the Nissen Versa cvt (controled veriable trans) you don't feel the tran shifting. Great car, great leg room in back, very roomy all around. Rated best overall in crash tests.