New Small Car Shopping... Avoid Ford 6-spd automatic and japanese CVT???

ultrarunner · Mar 13, 2015

This Ford Automatic has dual servo operated clutches...

One of the complaints is hard driving will result in a burnt clutch smell...

Hard driving can be as simple as stepping hard on the pedal as in passing or changing lanes.

Too bad because otherwise it's a well presented little car...

I'm now focusing in on 2013 and older Corolla S... prices here in the Bay Area are 14 to 16k for a clean 30k mile car with some having warranty remaining... a much cheaper cheaper alternative is going salvage title and there seem to be a lot all over Craigslist.

Garandman · Mar 13, 2015

ultrarunner said:
The Subaru Justy CVT was a disaster... I have seen some total failures under 10k or even 5k... thing is this was some time ago... late 90's.

25 years ago the Americans still made bad cars and the Germans still made good cars.....

Subaru still sells quite a few manuals but most of the new cars have CVT's and Subaru has more than tripled their US market share since 2008. They now sell more in the US than VW. You can even buy the CVT in a WRX. All CR top rated for reliability.

I looked up the Ford Fusion on CR and for both "Transmission Major" and Transmission Minor" they report "Much better than Average" the highest rating. 2010-2011 were Average for "Transmission Minor."

The #1 reliability hit for Ford (and quite a few other brands) cars is audio systems - people have problems with the new dangled "infotainment" systems.

We have three Chevy Cruze, two turbodiesels and an Eco. CR says they are "Much worse than average." They all have 30K plus miles and never been back to the dealer other than service and some recalls. Attractive car with great economy, nice interior,, good trunk, great front seats but rear seat is a bit small.

Garandman · Mar 13, 2015

ultrarunner said:
I'm now focusing in on 2013 and older Corolla S... prices here in the Bay Area are 14 to 16k for a clean 30k mile car with some having warranty remaining... a much cheaper cheaper alternative is going salvage title and there seem to be a lot all over Craigslist.

One thing I discovered about salvage titles: they may not be accepted in another state. If I bought one in Maine I would have to bring it to a MA state inspection station with all the receipts. And vice versa. They usually sell at a discount and are still overpriced.

varmint · Mar 13, 2015

FWIW, after years of driving a Subaru Forester with a manual transmission, I replaced it with a new Subaru Crosstrek. After doing much research, I decided to go with the CRV... it has gotten good write-ups not only from consumer magazines, but also car mags. like Automobile and Motortrend, which tend to look more at performance issues.

I have been quite happy with it. Even though it is not a high dollar car, the transmission seems to "shift" (it is set up like a 6 speed, and you can manually shift or change speeds, if you wish, via steering wheel paddles) at just the correct points during driving, which is something I am often bothered by when driving automatics. Best of all, the mileage is better, which is really what convinced me. I wouldn't go back to a manual for a normal car. (I have been driving manuals for over 50 years, including several Austin Healeys and Porsches, so I am not your typical old guy?)

buickanddeere · Mar 13, 2015

Chevy Trax AWD. Nice little units with a backup camera and other goodies for reasonable .

ultrarunner · Mar 13, 2015

Garandman said:
25 years ago the Americans still made bad cars and the Germans still made good cars.....

Subaru still sells quite a few manuals but most of the new cars have CVT's and Subaru has more than tripled their US market share since 2008. They now sell more in the US than VW. You can even buy the CVT in a WRX. All CR top rated for reliability.

I looked up the Ford Fusion on CR and for both "Transmission Major" and Transmission Minor" they report "Much better than Average" the highest rating. 2010-2011 were Average for "Transmission Minor."

The #1 reliability hit for Ford (and quite a few other brands) cars is audio systems - people have problems with the new dangled "infotainment" systems.

We have three Chevy Cruze, two turbodiesels and an Eco. CR says they are "Much worse than average." They all have 30K plus miles and never been back to the dealer other than service and some recalls. Attractive car with great economy, nice interior,, good trunk, great front seats but rear seat is a bit small.

I should ask if you would consider selling... the Cruze pictured is very similar appearance wise right down to the spoiler and blacked out window trim.

When I visited the Chevrolet Dealer... Volt was the one car they wanted to put us in... Over 14 years, Mom has put on 60k miles with no Freeway the last few years unless I'm driving her out to one of my brother's homes.

mikehaugen · Mar 13, 2015

I'm not saying it's a good purchase or not, just curious if you've researched the Dodge Dart at all?

ultrarunner · Mar 13, 2015

Good to get some real world feedback...

As for Consumer Reports... I own one of the "Worst" cars Consumer's has ever rated... my Samurai and totally love it...

Have a lead on a 2002 Ford Focus under 2k that a friend mentioned... a similar Corolla would cost 3 times that and all well over 100k mileage wise... saw a 2003 Corolla Wednesday for 290,000 miles for $4000

ultrarunner · Mar 13, 2015

Nothing on the Dart other than talking to my career Dodge parts counterman... he was not thrilled with them.

Actually, he was one of the first to say the CVT transmissions are designed to be a 100k throwaway item...