Other choices??

[Captain KRM P5]

What were everyone's other choices before settling on the Pro5? I test drove a Pontiac Vibe GT, a Matrix XRS, a Suzuki Aerio and a Focus wagon. Both the Vibe and the Matrix felt like they were going to roll over in any kind of turn, and the shifter felt totally out of whack (although my experience with Toyotas has been one of funky stick shifts). The Aerio felt like Fisher Price or LEGO snapped it together, cheap. As for the Focus - man I have had terrible luck with Fords, they are just the single trashiest, junkiest and flimsiest vehicles on the roads. Ford thinks every American likes floaty steering and noisy four-cylinders. Even the SVT Focus's specs are limp. The Golf GTI and Impreza were just way too out there price wise to even be serious consideration.

In short, no regrets. Love the color, love the handling, love the ride and love the car. What's everyone else's two cents?

 

[CharlieP5]

My Options!

1)2002 Civic EX (My Wife Already Has One)
2)2001 MP3 (Too Expensive Where I Live $26,500)
3)2001 Acura RSX (Not Type S, Too Small, No Cargo Space)

I decided on the P5 Because it came fully equipped & Looks!

 

[MidnightP5]

My options were before the Matrix (which I think is hideous) and Vibe came out. My optoins were between a Nissan Sentra (not the SE-R) my dad checked out a Toyota Corolla for me (not what I wanted at all) I knew all along I wanted a P5 and I was determined to get one and luckily I did. I thank my parents all the time for getting it for me. I love it.

 

[badboyeee]

It was a battle between the P5 and Corolla S for me. The corolla would of been more affordable for me. The gas mileage is great, but that means weak performance, which I found when i test drove the CE. The CE was boring to drive, I wanted to yawn. I didnt like the interior setting at all. I saw a Corolla S driving on the street the other day, i thought it looked nice, kinda tall tho. Big improvement over the previous model

ruled these out kinda easily:
Matrix (didnt like the look as much as p5, heard drives like a minvan)
Lancer (reliability kinda etchy)
Spec v (too small, not too much of a fan on the looks)
Civic (too common, my cousin just bought one)
Accord (sis already has a 1999, couldnt wait for 2003 model, too common anywayz, lil pricey)
Rav4 (too girly, but my dad really wanted me to rget one, even its a lil pricey)
Escape (dad hates ford, found it to be poor reliabilty, lil pricey)
Focus (see escape, not pricey tho heh)

 

[tyr]

My choices...

i was looking at the following cars...

- subaru wrx sedan... all i can say is "WOW"... what a great car!... i would've went with this except for the fact that the 2 dealers i went to both tried to jerk me around... at one of the dealers i sat in the office for 6 hours negotiating a price between the salesman and the finance manager... finally i got them to a decent figure... $24,200 fully loaded before TT&L... then they came back and insulted me with a 9% apr and that's when i told them where they could shove it... mazda game me 3.9% apr and was $6k+ cheaper to boot...

- volkswagen jetta/golf/gti... nice cars... although i couldn't justify the price when comparing performance to the wrx and the p5... the vw's (i was looking at the 1.8 T's) are quicker than the p5 but the p5 handles better... for me, i'll take the better handling car anyday...

that's about it... the p5 was the best bang for the buck and had the best overall package (styling, performance, cost, financing, takes regular gas, better dealer, etc...)

later,
tyr

 

[Bumble G]

when I was looking for a new car the vibe, matrix, and se-r were not out yet. so it was betwen:

civic
corolla
protege

I didn't even consider any "home grown" cars.

 

[hihoslva]

I was settled on buying a Fuckus ZX3 - I thought it would be the only hatchback in my price range, and I needed the cargo room - I had to have a hatchback or wagon. I looked at the wagon, too, but I also wanted something a little sporty - this was going to be my only car, for work AND play, and I wanted a good compromise of both.

I figured I would "learn to like" the ZX3s hella-nasty looks, especially that big funky ass and high taillights.

Waiting on that purchase was the best thing I did - I was driving my silver P5 off the dealer lot 2 weeks after seeing the first commercial on TV. One test drive is all it took - I am so glad I didn't get the Fuckus.

If I were making the decision again, I would seriously consider the Subaru WRX wagon. I don't think it looks as good as the P5, and it costs a bit more, but 227 HP, AWD, and 0 to 60 in 5.7 sec. is mighty tempting.....but I have NO regrets an getting the 5, and would probably still choose it over the WRX, because of the price, styling, and now I'm hearing that the WRX isn't as good of a handler as it was touted to be.

 

[Shawn]

Ok, I just got lucky.
I finally decided that I wanted to sell my '82 jetta and get a nice car. We went looking for a newer Celica and I found a GT which was really nice, a little more expensive and had no options yet. I figured that to get all of the options I would want I would be paying about $6K more. The car was in the show room and he asked me if I wanted to test drive it but I didn't want the bother of moving it out of the store so I said no thanks. Then they tried to push a Civic SI on me and I sorta laughed. Funny thing is, I knew jack s*** about cars back then, I mean zilch, zero, nadda. The only item under the hood that I could identify was the battery. Yet, I still knew enough to laugh at the idea of being another Civic owner.
So we went across the street to the Mazda dealership and he showed me the P5 right away. I test drove it, liked it and told him that day that I'll get it.

So I only test drove one car and decided to buy it. In hind sight I realize that I could have stupidly bought a horrible car without knowing it. I look back and thank my lucky stars that the P5 is the car I stumbled upon. It could only have been worse.

 

[MidnightP5]

That just shows you how good Mazda is. You were able to test drive a car and fall in love with it in one day WITHOUT knowing anything about it. I think that says something about the company. I know I got mine WITHOUT test driving it. My mom and my friend "did it for me". I had to trust their experience. It is all just fate I guess.