Hi, has anyone compared these head to head? I like the idea that the Forester has an available manual transmission. The Mazda looks reliable and very fun to drive. The frontend/grille looks kinda stupid.
We’re in very rural northern Vermont with quite a few dirt roads, usually but not always pretty well maintained.
Car dealerships aren’t close by. The Subaru dealer is just under an hour drive, the Mazda/Volkswagen dealership just over an hour and a half each way. Locally we have Ford, GMC/Chevy, and Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge.
I’d probably buy new this time although I’ve had good luck buying ‘certified’ used cars off of leases, most recently a 2015 Audi A3 off of a 36-month lease cancelled after 24 I think? so pretty close to new - with manufacturer + dealer warranties; someone else having eaten the depreciation; low mileage, and full confidence that scheduled maintenance has been adhered to, prior to my taking ownership. Comfort and tech, of course reliability, and ease of third-party servicing and parts are all considerations for me.
Reasoned opinions very welcome; TIA for any thoughts at all. Buying is hard.
Have you considered a CX-30? It’s more of a hatch than a SUV. There’s a whole bunch of crossovers that can cover this use case as well (like the Crosstrek).
I have. I drove one as a rental and I liked it but it did feel SUV-like and I think it goes for around $36k base if I’m not far off. Maybe I am. Anyhow it seemed comfortable if not really all that much fun to drive, but I’ll take another look. Thanks!
And yes, I keep reading very good things about the recent CX-30 - including its top ranking for compact SUVs by Car & Driver so I’m reconsidering it strongly also. It could be the car with the ability to get me to move from sedan to (entry-luxury) SUV and thank you very much.
(Reviewed in 2024; why not more recently? Don’t know.)
https://www.caranddriver.com/mazda/cx-30-2024
https://www.caranddriver.com/compare/?trimIds=68138110f617407e339225dc%2C688ca95787d50e8069d44443%2C68c2b669b0e59b06d393e950