corolla or civic or focus

[jyot soni]

hey guys.
i am 19 years old and currently looking for a realible one year used car that gives me a good gas milage and cost less to operate. after all my research i have come down to 3 choices. corolla , civic or focus. all of them look good and reliable. i am kind of confused about what to buy. i would really appreciate if you guys can help me. please include your experience with those three cars. thank you.

[acrackintheice]

TOYOTA all the way man! I was in the same boat. I am 19 as well I needed a cheep car to get me around and to and from work. bought an '87 corolla for $700, had it for a year, put 17,000 miles on it and its still running great, I dont even know why I replaced it. well I guess I do...the 74 horsepower engine is anoying, but I didnt have to do a bit of maitance to it. How many old fords do you see on the road compared to old toyotas? goddluck with whatever you get

[jherbert]

Honda or Toyota are a tossup. Toyota is a bit cheaper, I find. The reason is that Honda is considered more of a young sporty car and Toyota is a bit of an old foggy car. But Toyota quality is outstanding.

Focus? Don't you dare! This is a terrible car. It set a record for the number of recalls. Very serious reliability problems according to many sources. Only buy a Focus if you consider a breakdown on the highway a fun experience.

[wormhole]

Go with the corolla or civic. In my opinion the foucs is a p.o.s.

[Naxxal]

I agree with all the posts here. I own a Corolla 94, runs great, economical, and not expensive to repair. From what i have heard, Toyota and Hondas are the most reliable cars. Hondas as i agreed are more sporty than Toyotas, and if you have plans to put some aftermarket parts than honda will be an option, more parts available.

[HeWhoKillz]

I agree, I would say Toyota from the start. I drive a 91 corolla and I have 169000 miles on it and its still going. If you want to enhance your car, then go with the civic, with this corolla, I am having trouble finding parts for it. And the Focus. Well, I leave you with this last word to dwell on and see if you think its worth even trying. Here is your final word" Ford (what a laugh)

[93rollaracer]

What everyone else said. Fords in general are not very reliable compared to Asian cars. As far as Honda or Toyota, go with whatever is cheapest. You'll get about the same amount of life out of each.

[GV280Z]

Agreed with all of the above: Toyota and Honda are indeed a toss up; both are high value cars, excellent reliability and gas mileage. I'd say go with a new Corolla, you'll have an almost perfect ride and you'd be original..there are way too many Honda's on the road..set yourself apart man, be different!

I'd love to have a Corolla, they are nice cars.

Just DON'T get a Focus! That was Ford's wannabe asian "Hot Hatch" answer to the booming aftermarket / sporty import scene, which makes them Fake wannabe poser's, it's like that kid in "Not Another Teen Movie" who's trying to look and act like a cool asian guy..but he just can't cut it.

Goodluck dude!

Greg

[GV280Z]

Here's another thought too..you don't absolutely have to buy brand new or even a year old..you could go back to the mid 90's or even some early 90's Honda's or Toyota's, there are tons of em from $2,500 to $4,500 in damn good condition..check out www.autotrader.com as a good resource too.

[mistersooty]

I have both Corollas and a Civic. All are super reliable. The 93 Corolla needed the diff. replaced last year at 125K miles. Otherwise no problems with any of the three. I find the Corolla's a little easier to work on but prefer the interior design of the Civic. The Civic averages 38mpg, the newer Corolla (4 spd.) get a little less than this, the older 93 (3 spd.) gets about 28mpg. Focii may be cheaper but I think you get what you pay for. When looking remember your priorities and buy the best you can. Either Toyota or Honda it's hard to go wrong. If I had to choose either or it would depend on what day of the week you asked me as to what my answer would be.

[Rampart Crawler]

I'm going to be totally honest with you. A good friend of mine owns a corolla, I, myself own a civic, and my mother drives a focus. I have driven all three a good amount.

If you get an '03-'04 Focus, you will have no reliability problems. It was the early models with the issues. The Focus is easily the best handling, sportiest car(comparing average base models). I am being serious right here. Any and all car magazines say it, and I agree with it.

The Corolla is the upmost boring car of them all. They are basically the sister car to the Geo/Chevy Prizm. The newer ones are a bit better. I would have to say they are the most dependant of them all, even though I have had no problems with my Civic(loosed exhaust, but it was new, anyway).

Civic is sort of in between. I love the styling, so I went with that. I am hoping you posted this on the focus and civic forum, too. Each one will give you different feedback.

Go out and test drive all of them. The focus is the best handling and has a slick shifter(impressive for a ford), but if getting from a-b is the only thing you are worried about, a civic or corolla MIGHT be the choice.

[Rampart Crawler]

Originally Posted by GV280Z

Just DON'T get a Focus! That was Ford's wannabe asian "Hot Hatch" answer to the booming aftermarket / sporty import scene, which makes them Fake wannabe poser's, it's like that kid in "Not Another Teen Movie" who's trying to look and act like a cool asian guy..but he just can't cut it.

Goodluck dude!

Greg

I know, that's why Ford pulled a Focus SVT out of their asses and it could outperform both the top model Civic and Corolla of the time. Same thing goes for the Cobalt SS and Dodge SRT-4. Honda and Toyota were toying around with 'sport compacts', America enters the scene and now the imports find themselves having to catch up.

The Focus is also very popular in WRC and Europe has very potent performance Foci'(Focus RS), which *gasp*, isn't FWD!O_O

[Mecha2]

Originally Posted by Rampart Crawler

I know, that's why Ford pulled a Focus SVT out of their asses and it could outperform both the top model Civic and Corolla of the time. Same thing goes for the Cobalt SS and Dodge SRT-4. Honda and Toyota were toying around with 'sport compacts', America enters the scene and now the imports find themselves having to catch up.

The Focus is also very popular in WRC and Europe has very potent performance Foci'(Focus RS), which *gasp*, isn't FWD!O_O

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

America has just found a cheap old way to put power into tired old
engines that lack technical refinement. Adding superchargers and turbochargers are the quick way to go. The SRT4 and Cobalt SS
are nothing more than mini muscle cars. The SRT4 is really a Neon
with a Mitsubishi 2.4 liter Turbo tacked onto it. What scares me is
that the SRT4 with all its extra power has the same brakes as the
lesser Neon. Wouldn't you think that Chrysler/Daimler Benz would
have upgraded the braking system? I haven't done an analysis
on the Cobalt yet. Power and acceleration don't make the best
car. Some people consider reliability,quality and refinement are much more important. Yes, I agree that the SRT4 and Cobalt SS would appeal
to many..But for the sake of American/Canadian jobs - the big 3 would
have to make major investments in engineering/research and overall
big Corporate changes in management where the Old Boys club
mentality must be broken up to allow better managed risk taking
and forecasting. Resorting to antiquated technologies turbocharging
and supercharging and nitrous just don't seem to be keeping
with today's events. Just my opinion, I welcome all opinions differing or not.