Ranting Canuck

Today Heather and I started to car shop, I am looking for a new car for myself and Heather should start to look also. Right now I am driving a 2004 Mazda 3 GT Sedan which I bought brand new back in 2004. There is a couple of reasons why I am looking at getting rid of it. The first being it is coming off of warranty soon and the resale value of cars decreases when they come off warranty. Which leads to the second reason I am getting of it , I have had some issues with my Mazda 3. I have dropped two transmissions out of the car in the fewer four years that I have owned it. Basically the entire drive train from the engine back has been replaced twice.

The first time the transmission failed was on the 401 one day, I was doing about 120 and all of a sudden the car dropped to 1st gear. This caused the RPM’s on the engine to red line and the front of the car just drop, luckily there was no one right behind because I probably would have been killed. I got the car back to Guelph in basically 2nd gear and they replaced the transmission, axels’, drive shaft and some computers. All under warranty was not a big deal, stuff happens especially when you buy a car in its first model year. Anyway after getting the car back the transmission failed yet again and they had to basically the same repair two weeks later. Ok so now I am not happy, but after this repair the car has been fine, which is good since I told the dealership if this happens again they are buying the car back.
The most interesting thing is going to the Toronto car show a year later and seeing the Mazda had redone the engine in the 2005 Mazda 3’s. This makes me wonder if there were some other issues with the car since they redid the engine. 

My other reason to get rid of the car is that it really does not drive well in the winter; the car is over powered and light. So it will spin it tires and traction in general is extremely poor. It gets to the point where I will not let people drive my car in the winter since it is so bad, Heather hates driving my car in the winter. 

So right now I am looking at small SUV’s or crossover cars, I want something that is good in the winter and will not be pig on gas. I would like some more storage space, which is extremely limited in Mazda 3 Sedan. But I also want it to drive like a car; I like small cars from how they drive. Both my sisters have had various SUV’s and I did not like really any of them.
I had been looking on line a while at different options but today was the first day that I actually went out test drove. We test drove three cars today a Nissan Rogue, a Mazda CX7 and Mini Cooper S.

The first up was the Nissan Rogue which is Nissan’s new crossover car / small SUV. Even before I test drove it was my first choice. After test driving it is still my first choice, it drove really well and I liked the handling. The Rogue has a 4 cylinder engine but it still accelerates well and actually gets better mileage then my Mazda 3 GT. This really is not saying much since unless I am on highways my Mazda 3 GT gets horrible mileage.

Heather drove the Rogue also and really like it, she was able to see out of it and get in and out with no problems. My only complaint about the Rogue is I am not crazy about the interior, at least not in the demo unit I drove.

After leaving Nissan we went to Mazda to test drive a CX-7 which is also a cross over SUV / Car. The CX-7 looks like a truck that they have made into a car while the Nissan Rogue looks like a car they have made into a truck. The CX-7 is larger than the Rogue and it also take premium gas only while the Rogue takes normal. Anyway we test drove it and I was very unimpressed with the CX-7.

The interior was nicer then the Rogue but I felt the drive the on the CX-7 to much rougher then the Rogue’s. The Rogue drove very smoothly you did not feel it shifting gears, it does not have any, but the CX-7 it was really noticeable. Also you really felt every pot hole in the CX-7 which I did not noticed in the Rogue.

Heather drove the CX-7 and was not impressed with it at all either; she did like it more than may car though. She complained that she could not see the front of the truck and that it did not drive well. To contrast the Nissan Rogue and Mazda CX-7, with the Rogue Heather and I had to find things that we did not like. But with the CX-7 we have to find things that we actually liked it was not a positive experience at all.

The next car we test drove was a Mini Cooper, Heather loves these cars she even went as far as to say I could get her an engagement mini rather than a ring. Heather has taken them out for test drives several times and loves them. I had never actually driven on so I figured I would give it a try. I must say I did like the car it was extremely fun to drive. I did not drive the S only on regular Cooper and it has a lot of pick and go and it corner well. It just a really fun car to drive and I suspect Heather will end up getting in the next year or so. But I have some beef’s with the car, the first being the rear view mirror was large and right in my line of sight. Also the speedometer is in the center console so you actually have to turn your head to see how fast you are going. This is an interesting feature for a car that wants to go fast and that is easy to speed in.

I also do not like the fact that it takes only premium gas and the mileage that it gets is pretty poor. But it is more of sports car so this is somewhat ok. I also do like the financing rates that mini is currently offering over 8%. These are not horrible normally but when every other manufacturer is offering 0% to 0.9% for the most part it is tough pill to swallow. Even Volvo is offering 0.9% and they historically have higher interest rates.

I like the Mini Cooper but I just do not see it being a very functional car for me. I do drive a lot for work and I do at times have to move computer equipment around. I can barely do this with my Mazda 3 Sedan; it would not be an option with a Mini Cooper. So while the Mini Cooper was the most fun to drive it just is not functional car for to have at this point.

So right now the front runner is a Nissan Rogue for my car and I would say Heather’s is the Mini Cooper. To be exact Heather wants a Mini Cooper S Sidewalk edition convertible. The Mazda CX-7 is off my list of cars, it was a close 2nd to the Nissan Rogue before I test drove it. But I was so unimpressed with it I have taken it right off my list.

Not sure what I drive next, I will defiantly drive the Rogue a couple of more times, I would like drive it on the some icy roads. I will probably have a look at what Honda and Toyota are offering and maybe Kia and Hyundai.