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Crooky Testdrives Six Compact Cars In Three Days - Part 2

By crooky | May 17, 2008

It’s Saturday evening and I’ve had about all the new car smell I can handle. I’m saturated. I wrote yesterday about my goal to find a new car for my consulting business - something that is good on gas, fits my needs, is affordable and that I don’t look retarded in. Now that I’ve driven four of the six cars, I think it’s time for some reviews. In order that I test-drove them - the Nissan Versa, the Toyota Yaris, the Hyundai Accent and the Honda Fit:

1. The 2008 Nissan Versa

Okay. I was suitably impressed by this car. In their marketing literature, they say “creating room even a linebacker could love”. Me, being of the linebacker body type (read: fat), scoffed at this portion of the marketing literature. It’s roomy for a compact car but let’s not get silly. Before taking it out on the road, I sat in it. The seats aren’t as adjustable as those in the Magnum so it wasn’t a great fit for me but… they’re not terrible.

The steering wheel was solid but felt a little far away - I was reaching for it more than I like. Again, I’ve been spoiled by the telescoping steering column on my Magnum. There was plenty of room over my head while in the driver’s seat so I didn’t feel claustrophobic. I also sat in the back seat where there was plenty of room as well.

The ceiling in the back was nowhere near my head. There were 50 million little compartments in this car. Somewhere to tuck everything. My coffee cup fit nicely just ahead of the gear shifter. There was an auxiliary input for my iPod on the stock stereo. The cigarette lighter was close enough to the front of the car that I’d still be able to plug in my GPS unit and mount it on the windshield. The trunk isn’t huge but what the hell was I expecting? It’s a compact car!

You can fold down the back seats to give you some extra room - which is nice. The seats don’t fold down as flat as they do in my Magnum but… I think I could live with it. I test-drove the Versa hatchback in the SL trim package with the automatic transmission. The power was… disappointing. I cruised around within a few kms of the dealership, slowly booting up to 70 km/h and keeping up with traffic. I scared the saleswoman a bit by taking a hard right with about six feet of notice. It handled it well. This model has ABS and a CVT transmission (which the woman kept going on about but it’s not in the manual version so I didn’t pay much attention).

The controls were all in the intuitive places you’d expect to find them and I got used to reaching a bit for the steering wheel after a few minutes. Visibility in this car was amazing, compared to the Magnum. I could see all over the place. There is a small blind spot in the back near the hatch but that’s normal for a hatchback and if you have any brains, you learn how to position your side mirrors properly so that you can see what’s coming in your blind spot.

On the day that I drove it, I was impressed and convinced that it would make the shortlist but after driving the other cars, I came to realize that I was judging this car by my previous experience with an early ’90s Nissan Micra. The compact car industry has come a long way and after driving a few more, I came to realize that I had been impressed too easily.

As part of this process, I asked about a lease on this car. They told me that I could drive away in this baby for less than $200/month on a 36 month lease with $0 down. That didn’t seem right but they insisted (I also checked using a lease calculator when I got home and it’s right). Just FYI, I learned that with cars in this price range, every $1000 you put down brings down the payments by about $20/month.

The verdict: there was nothing spectacular about this car. It’s a good size for its class but that’s about it. Nissan build quality is good but not better than Toyota or Honda. I don’t think this car is going to make the short-list. The uncomfortable seat, the miles-away steering wheel and the lack of guts was a real turnoff for me.

2. The 2008 Toyota Yaris

I was excited about going to drive this one. This is the car that I pictured myself buying when I decided to get a new car a few weeks ago. When I arrived at the lot this morning at 9am, I was full of hope, optimism and granola. I was not impressed with how small this car is compared to the Versa. It felt tiny. The trunk was okay but the seats did not fold flat in the back - just most of the way. I sat in the back of it though and was amazed at how comfortable it was for the size of this car.

Getting behind the wheel was interesting. There are lots of compartments for your stuff but they’re in places that aren’t intuitive. I was looking around for the coffee cup holder as per my inspection regime and found it in some kind of a pull-out compartment up near the driver’s side view mirror. It was like those cupholders they have on the sides of shopping carts at Safeway for your coffee.

The instrument panel is dead centre in the dash - that took some getting used to. The seat was not very adjustable and while I was clearing the ceiling by a few inches, I felt like my face was too close to the windshield. It was a bit claustrophobic in there. Again, I felt like I was reaching for the steering wheel with my knees bunched up under it. Not a comfortable position.

We took it out on the road (including the highway) and it was immediately clear that this car isn’t very peppy. That’s not why I was going out looking for a car - I’m not looking for a sports car. However, I need something that can get up to highway speed quickly and this car didn’t have what it takes. I should add the caveat that my current car puts out 250 hp and I’m a bit spoiled in that department so it would be more fair to say that this car drives well, just not aggressively.

The cigarette lighter was on the floor by the e-brake - not the best location for the GPS unit to reach from. There is no auxilliary jack on any of the stock stereos but they play MP3s on CDs. For the low, low price (snicker) of $399, they could throw in an “iPod interface” which is essentially a standard iPod cable that pokes up in the glove box and wires into the back of the factory deck. No guarantees that it would work with my iPod touch but for older iPods, you can use the stock stereo to control your iPod which is safely tucked away in the glovebox.

Another nice feature of the Yaris is that it qualifies for the Government of Canada and BC Government ecoRebate programs. They both give purchasers of cars that get better than 36 mpg (combined) a $1000 rebate. You have to apply for the Federal rebate after buying the car and from what I’ve heard, you typically your cheque for $1000 in 3 months. The Provincial rebate is equivalent to the Service Sales Tax (SST) that you pay on a new car so they just waive the SST in lieu of the rebate. Toyota has been marketing the fact that the Yaris qualifies for this program heavily in the last year but unfortunately, this is the last year of the program.

The 5 door, LE Hatchback with a manual transmission can be had for $262.83/month on a 48 month lease with $0 down. This reflects the BC Government ecoRebate but not the Federal one. $271.89 if I want the iPod interface. I was a little taken aback at the payments. The Nissan came in at a significantly lower price - even without the ecoRebate. They advertise that you can lease a Yaris for $168/month. They must be talking about the lowest trim package (which, conveniently, is never available on the lot and “they have trouble ordering them in because the car rental companies snap them all up) - whatever.

The verdict: this is the smallest car that I’m going to take for a test drive. My wife and her friend were pushing me to take the Smart ForTwo for a test drive but I balked at that. I should have balked at this one too. I don’t think it’s going to make the shortlist for a few reasons: unreasonable expense to interface with my iPod ($399???), the claustrophobic feeling I got driving it, the lack of zip and the price. For a car this small, it should be more affordable to lease. It doesn’t hold a candle to other cars at that price in the same category.

3. The 2008 Hyundai Accent - sort of



(In case you don’t get the “… for me to poop on” reference, that’s Triumph the Insult Dog from the Conan O’Brien show and his shtick is not to be missed.)

I’m going to keep the review of this car short but sweet because I think the picture tells most of the story. I walked into the dealership and it was like stepping back in time. I was instantly mobbed by greasy, desperate, commissioned sales staff. I had an appointment with one particular guy and their loathing for me for not giving them a shot was apparent. One guy actually marched off swearing under his breath. It felt like a scene from Glengarry, Glen Ross (this linked video has more than a few obscenities in it, if you haven’t seen the movie - NSFW).

The greasy sales manager introduces me to his “best guy” - an even greasier fuck if that is possible. Every question I ask - “ya ya. It’s all good” or “sure sure. We take care of it.” More on his scheister kung-fu in a moment. The car is as ugly in person as it is in the promo shots. Jesus. As you sit in the car, you can visualize every knob and piece of trim being applied with care by Korean children being whipped. The hatchback only comes in a 2-door. Yuck. I hate 2-doors.

Despite my rising bile, I start to dig around the car a bit in the showroom. The door feels solid but when he shows me how to fold down the back seats… mother of god. It’s a six step process. He couldn’t even do it right. If I managed to get them down, I’d probably just leave them down. It has things like an auxiliary jack for your iPod and the cigarette lighter in the right place but even with 10 km on it, it feels like a well-maintained Honda from the mid-90s. Everything looks dated and worn.

I ask to take one for a test drive. He doesn’t have any 2008’s in stock so he offers to let me take a 2007 with a couple of hundred kilometers on it. As it starts up, everything starts to rattle and shake. It feels like it’s been driven for about 120,000 km with no maintenance. The engine has some pep - I’ll give it that. It was the first of the bunch I’d driven that had any get-up and go. However, this joy was offset by the fact that revving it up made everything rattle harder.

To fit behind the wheel, I had to get into a reclined position. Otherwise my head was touching the ceiling and my face was brushing the windshield. The turn-signal arm felt like it was ready to break off. The steering wheel had a lot of play and it felt like it wasn’t power steering. The brakes were grabby and the accelerator was very touchy.

The kicker - I lob a question to the greasy little shit in the passenger seat that I already know the answer to - “what’s the mileage like on this car?” He says “what else are you looking at?” I tell him the Yaris. He says “it gets at least as good of mileage as the Yaris and better on the highway”. You go ahead and look it up yourself but take my word for it - they’re not in the same ballpark. Real world mileage logs put the Yaris in the high 30s (MPG) and the Accent in the high 20s (MPG). That’s a bit of a difference. After this point, I didn’t believe a word the little slimeball said.

We get back to the dealership and my greasy little friend and his greasy little manager have a pow-wow in their native language (some of which I actually understood thanks to my wife’s family) and they come back with $294/month on a 36 month lease with $0 down. I just about fell out of my chair. I almost laughed out loud. Needless to say, I didn’t bother building up the guys’ hopes. They actually advertise on their website that you can pick one of these things up for under $10K. I have no idea how they get from that price range to a $300/month lease. Their interest rates must be like MasterCard’s.

The verdict: I’d rather have a colonoscopy. Anyone who says that the Hyundais are on par with or better than Honda or Toyota now must either be talking about their high-end models or they’re brain damaged. The Accent is a piece of shit. End of story.

4. The 2008 Honda Fit

I went to this test-drive expecting to hate this car. From the promo shots they splash around online, it looks completely ridiculous. My wife and my neighbour both liked the way they looked and were happy to hear that I was taking one for a test drive. When I got to the dealership, they didn’t bother taking me around to check out the model on the floor. The guy I made the appointment with said “I’ve got the car ready for you out front - let’s go take it for a drive.” I was impressed. The dealer was about my age and he seemed like a really genuine guy so it made the whole experience much better.

We stepped outside and he starts to show me the features. The first thing that caught my attention was the instrument cluster - it was gorgeous. Way better than what you’d expect to find in an economy car. I was a bit surprized at how little material made up the door. The frame around the window had to be a 1/2 thick. I slammed it a few times but it felt solid. I sat in the backseat - loads of room for someone my size. There was lots of room for me to put the seat back and get in a comfortable position behind the wheel. My feet went really far under the dash as well so that I wasn’t reaching constantly for the steering wheel. The salesman claims that the size of the cockpit in this compact car is just shy of their the cockpit space in their minivans. I can believe it. It was plenty of room.

What he showed me next blew me away. The backseats (Honda calls it the Magic Seat) are actually build like lawnchairs - they’re not cushions bolted to part of the frame, the floor of the car is flat all the way back to the trunk and the rear seats are mounted on it with some tubular steel supports. You release a catch on the supports, they fold away under the bottom of the rear seats, you fold the seat cusion up into the back rest and the backrest folds flat against the floor. This results in an amazing, flat deck in the back with an unbelievable amount of space. I was floored. It reminds me very much of the “Sto and Go” seating system features in Chrysler’s high-end minivans such as the Grand Caravan.

Between the interior fittings and the back seats, I was almost sold on this car before I even drove it. I’m a sucker for the little things, done right. There was lots of choices for places to put my coffee. There was an auxiliary jack down near the gear shifter, right beside the cigarette lighter. Good placement for my iPod and GPS.

We drive off the lot and everything feels tight. The gas and brakes are responsive but not jumpy. The steering was tight, responsive but loose and easy at the same time. Everything felt good in this car. We got it out on the highway and by god, it has power. It’s roughly the same amount of horsepower as all of the other cars I’ve been looking at but they’ve managed to do a lot more with it, somehow. I was impressed. I took it down the same bumpy farm road I took the other three down and it handled the ruts and potholes with ease (probably in part due to it’s long (for its class) wheelbase.

I was in for a few more pleasant surprizes when I got back to the dealership to talk numbers. I wanted to get a quote on the base model. My sales guy comes back from talking to his manager and he has “good new and bad news”. The bad news is that they have no more of the lowest trim package in stock and the ’09s are coming in soon. The good news is that they can do a 60 month lease on the middle trim package (which has AC and power everything over the base model) for $257/month. I was pleasantly surprized. Sure, it’s about the same as some of the other cars I was looking at but this is a lot more car for the money.

It got better. He says “wait a minute - you’re looking for a manual, right?” I confirm this and he says “well, the manual qualifies for the ecoRebate program.” Holy crap. I was jazzed at this point. This puts it at almost exactly the same price as the Yaris. The minute he said that, the Yaris was off the short-list.

The verdict: I’ve never driven a Honda before but I have friends that won’t drive anything else. I’m starting to see why. The build quality and fittings were amazing. Little features like the instrument cluster and the back seats were great features. I also liked the way it drives. This car is the only one of the first four that is moving on to Round 2.

Look for the last two car reviews on Sunday and the final decision on which car I’m getting on Friday.

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

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Topics: Business of Consulting, Cars |

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