Bike Carrier - Car

I am thinking about upgrading my bike carrier this year, which is a truck I bought back in 2004 with intention to tow a tournment ski boat and then I sold the boat in 2005 so I never really got to use the truck long term for the intention. With gas costing me about $70 US about every 11 days or so I am thinking about going something more econo later this year.

I have spent a lot of time on car review blogs and webpages, as well as, reading a whole lot of owner comments, but I thought I would see if anyone here owns one of the following on my list of consideration and may have some input - pro or con. I know a thread like this can sometimes stir up hot opinions and that is okay if this thread ends up in that direction, but if someone has one of these and is willing to share I would appreciate.

On my current list of consideration are the following hatchbacks. All of these have similar attributes and close mpg. Some have more amenities. I will probably use a hitch mount carrier on any of these leaving the hatch available for the rest of the gear.

1. 2013 Subaru Impreza 5 door - What concerns me is the amount of complaints I have seen about interior road noise being really bad. Also there seems to be a very limited inventory for the Atlanta metro area, which surprised me. That may mean very little negotiating ability from the buyer. But I do like it that it AWD and might be nice in some of the spots I go for cycling.
2. 2013 Ford Focus 5 door - What concerns me is the amount of reliability comments from owners and a rapid depreciation of value
3. 2013 Mazda 3 5 door - with the Skyactive engine it gets decent gas mileage and still has some pep. Don't like the front end that much. We already have a 2007 Mazda 3 sedan and the road noise is fairly pronounced, but it is a reliable econo car.
4. 2013 Hyundia GT 5 door
5. 2013 Honda Fit - few interior amenities, pronounced road noise, but a road bike bike can be stood up inside the hatch and still have room for gear.
6. 2013 Toyota Prius - really started liking this car lately, but feel like it is too expensive for what you get. Not sure the extra cost of the car will balance out with the gas savings.

Another on my list that is due to come out later this year is the 2014 Kia Forte 5 door. Fairly good comments from car blogs and web pages that have been able to test drive one of the prototypes.

 

Not on your list, but I have a Honda CR-V and I've been quite happy with it. Decent mileage, and you can easily mount a 2" receiver on it. You max out at about 1,500 lbs. for towing so you wouldn't want it for pulling much, but it works great for a hitch-mount bike rack. It's pretty comfortable even for 4 adults, and it runs like a top.

 

Wifey drives a 2013 Imprezza 5 door, and digs it. She's had no complaints about road noise.

 

Thanks for the tip and I have considered the CR-V. We had an older one a few years back, but the latest model looks like it is much more refined. I will take another look.

 

That's exactly what I was looking for.
If some of the local dealers ever get next shipment I want to test drive. I keep checking their websites and they say "In Transit" and per a phone call the dealer said they are still waiting.

 

Note however that Wifey's car is black, and since space is black and since sound doesn't travel in the vacuum of space, the blackness of Wifey's car could be the reason it's not noisy on the inside. I've done a longish highway trip in it without complaints. We assume that this Imprezza will be as reliable as all the other Subarus we've had, which is to say very.

 

I may go with white so that may set me back a bit on the benefit. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

I think I will keep the Imprezza hatchback in the #1 slot for now. I appreciate the personal review here moreso than the multitudes of reviews on car websites. It gets quite overwhelming with the amount of opinions. I have never owned a Subaru, but it seems to be a brand that keeps loyal customers so that is a big plus. I do see a lot of gripes about the interior noise, but have also seen some rebuttles from some owners saying that it is relatively quiet for a econo car. Maybe some of those griping are those stepping down from a luxury car and still expect the econo car to be as quiet. Can't be any worse than my Titan that has a constant drone from the V-8 and performance sounding exhaust system, which got old after the first week of ownership.

Another gripe I see frequently is concerning the bluetooth connectivity and audio system, but neither of those are huge concerns to me either. I saw one reviewer state that he replaced the speakers and that improved the audio issue. Besides those things everything else about the Imprezza seems to suit me fine. I looked at the Honda CRV and some of those sized SUV/crossover but the cost quickly rises to the 30K mark for the same amenities and the combined mpg is not as good.

I will probably wait until the fall to make the leap.