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Crooky Testdrives Six Compact Cars In Three Days

By crooky | May 16, 2008

There comes a time in a self-employed persons’ life when the family car is no longer cutting it for a business vehicle. As much as I love my car (see pic below), the following things have changed in my life recently:

1. I am on the road more and more because my business is growing.

2. My wife just got her driver’s license and with our third child on the way, she can no longer rely on transit to get around.

3. With my car only getting 19 MPG, the price of gas ($1.35/litre today) means I’m easily spending $300/month on gas.

4. I actually spend a lot of time that I could be working driving my wife and kids places during the work day. I can no longer afford the time.

Besides, even if a new car runs me $500/month for lease payments, insurance and gas, it takes less than a day per month of billable hours saved to justify the expense.

Without further ado, here’s the rundown of the cars I’m going to test-drive this weekend:

1. The Nissan Versa

This is the smallest car that Nissan currently offers. It was featured prominently in Season 1 of Heroes. It’s touted as having the largest cargo capacity in its class (whatever that means).

My pre-test drive expectations:

Back when I had a 1991 Volvo 740 sedan, I had to take it to a bodyshop for some work and the courtesy car they gave me was Nissan’s previous entry-level car - the Nissan Micra. I picked my wife up at the Skytrain and she could barely get in the car, she was laughing so hard. The steering wheel was about the size of DVD and so were the wheels. I couldn’t sit up straight in the thing so I was all hunched over to boot.

If this car gives me the ability to move time and space (like Hiro), all will be forgiven.

2. The Toyota Yaris

This is the car that I’ve been the most excited about test-driving. I think it’s a cute little car. This car is a second generation model, replacing the much uglier (in my opinion) Echo in 2005. This car also qualifies for a Government of Canada EcoRebate of $1000. I see lots of these things around town being driven by couriers - that’s a sign of quality to me. If couriers like them, it’s probably a good car.

My pre-test drive expectations:

I like the looks of this car but I have a feeling it’s the car that I won’t fit into. It looks small. Too small. I’ve never seen anyone my size driving one of these.

3. The Hyundai Accent

The third generation Hyundai accent is purported to be on par in terms of quaility and feel with the much more expensive Honda Civic. It’s not the prettiest car in the world but it’s cheap.

My pre-test drive expectations:

It makes me laugh that I’m even going to test one of these. When I was a teenager, Hyundai’s were absolute shit boxes. My sister completely killed her roommate’s first generation Accent by driving it offroad at the local sandflats. I know that Hyundai build quality is now supposed to be on-par with Honda but I don’t know if that means Honda has slipped or Hyundai has improved. Most of the reviews I’ve seen for these cars say “wow! Great value… for the money” or “gritty, real driving feel”. If I get this car, it’s nickname is going to be Gritty Shitty Bang Bang.

4. The Honda Fit

The enthusastic salesman at my local Honda dealership assures me that this car, introduced to Canada in the 2007 model year, is made for big guys like me. While the looks are a bit cartoony, it’s a Honda so the build quality is probably pretty good. It’s been available in Japan since 2001.

My pre-test drive expectations:

I really don’t like the way this car looks so it has some sucking up to do. I’ve read that it’s a very fun car to drive. It’d better be.

5. The Suzuki SX4

The Suzuki SX4 was developed by Suzuki and Fiat! Okay. I know Fiats aren’t know for being great cars but they sure look cool! The SX4 is the only car on my list with available all-wheel drive. I’m definitely going to try that but that option takes the fuel economy down to about 25 MPG. This car won the Consumer Guide Subcompact Showdown in 2007, beating out the Honda Fit for the #1 spot. This impressed me. It’s purported to be a very solid car that’s fun to drive.

My pre-test drive expectations:

I’m expecting that I’ll love this car the most but I’ll have quandries about buying it. I’m going to want to get the AWD version and that’s going to put the lease payments into a range that I’m not comfortable with and the gas mileage will only be marginally better than my Magnum.

6. The Volkswagen City Golf

This is actually an old car that’s been brought back from the scrap heap for a new market. The 2008 City Golf is the same as the 1997-2005 Golf (Mk4). When the Golf got updated in 2006 to the Mk5, they continued to make the Mk4 in South America for the Canadian market. It’s not availabe in the US.

My pre-test drive expectations:

I’ve never driven a VW but I was the passenger in a Mk4 Golf many times and while it’s not a big car, it’s comfortable. I’m anticipating this to be a good test drive. I’m a little nervous about the fact that this car is made in Brazil but… we’ll see.

My testing regime will be as follows:

1. Do I fit in it comfortably/can I see myself staying comfortable for as much as 4 hours in a day?

2. Is there a place for my coffee?

3. Does it have a aux hookup for my iPod?

4. Can I fit a bunch of stuff in the back (eg. several hundred text books or a small filing cabinet?)

5. Does it drive nice?

6. Do I look retarded in it?

Here’s the testing schedule:

Friday @ 10am - The Nissan Versa

Saturday @ 9am - The Toyota Yaris

Saturday @ 10am - The Hyundai Accent

Saturday @ 11:15am - The Honda Fit

Sunday @ 11am - The Suzuki SX4

Sunday @ 1pm - the Volkswagen City Golf

I’ll post my reviews of the first four on Saturday evening and my reviews of the last two on Sunday evening. By next Friday, I’ll probably have decided which one to lease for my business and I’ll let you know why.

*********************
Aaron “Crooky” Cruikshank is the Principal and Founder of Friuch Consulting. He has written professionally about science and technology.

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Topics: Business of Consulting, Cars |

3 Responses to “Crooky Testdrives Six Compact Cars In Three Days”

  1. Trevor Says:
    May 16th, 2008 at 11:12 am

    Good luck with the testing! Can’t wait to see what you decide on.

    LOL at “…I was the passenger in a Mk4 Golf many times…”

  2. Aaron Cruikshank Says:
    May 16th, 2008 at 11:16 am

    I’m talking, of course, about Zippy McAllister’s car. I should have also mentioned that I spent a lot of time in the back seat of his Jetta.

    Woah. That looks way worse in writing than it sounded in my head.

  3. Shanti Says:
    May 20th, 2008 at 6:27 pm

    Looking forward to the review! Also curious to see which one is your winner.

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