Best small car

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Yes, I should also add that every Honda I've owned has had a manual transmission. I've heard their automatics can be a bit "sluggish", but that said I find that to be true of the automatics on most small cars, unless they're on the higher end of the price range (e.g. the 6 speed tiptronic Beetle is lovely, and the Mini's CVT is also great).

Plus, if you've driven a manual, you find that small-car automatics oft downshift "unreasonably" (my term; I've driven a VW Jetta and my current Aveo with manuals, as well as another Jetta with automatic--that bought because I had to swap cars in a hurry at the time).

[ChristinaM 0]

I'd agree about having a standard; the control is worth it's weight in gold, IMO.

I have a 2000 Kia Sephia, which I like very much. The newer Hyundais are much, much better than the old ones, and might well be worth a look. Toyotas and Hondas are obviously the way to go if you can, but because they hold their value so well it can be hard to find one at the price you want to pay! I had a Nissan Sentra before my current car, which was a 1990 and would have gone on forever had I not crashed it. My hubby has a 1994 Nissan Altima, which is still going strong although it struggles a bit with gas mileage now.

Happy hunting - I love looking at cars!!

[russ 1]

I love VWs, they share lots of parts with the much more expensive Audis (like mine). Not recommended if you are looking for low maintenance. VW/Audi parts are pricey. They are great cars, just be prepared for the maintenance.

Suzikis are junk. Neons are also junk.

Civics and Corollas are super reliable, good cars. The Mazda Protege is also very good, and cheap (or the newer mazda 3).

My wife's 15 year old Toyota runs great, no problems, still has great gas mileage. German cars are great, but they are not built to be maintenance free. I love my S4, but it does cost about 5K a year, plus at least 3 weeks in the shop. This is for routine stuff (wheel bearings, breaks, belts, etc).

I'd be derelict if I didn't mention VW... can find really nice examples of the Passat, Jetta, GTI's and Beetles just about everywhere. Small, pretty well engineered and hold their value pretty good.

You'll hear lots of tales about Honda Civics etc and Toyota's too.. which are hard to argue with.. and the new Kias are looking pretty smart these days also..along with Suzuki and some others... but for my money...stick with the Germans..

[Niels Bohr 72]

A few years back I had a Toyota Camry with no engine oil. It runs for 200 miles before I notices there wasn't any oil in the car. It still works. I ran for years too after I put oil in it. I do not recommend this experiment.

Edited April 25, 2007 by consolemaster

[isleta521 5]

A few years back I had a Toyota Camry with no engine oil. It runs for 200 miles before I notices there wasn't any oil in the car. It still works. I ran for years too after I put oil in it. I do not recommend this experiment.

The idiot light never came on?

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

A few years back I had a Toyota Camry with no engine oil. It runs for 200 miles before I notices there wasn't any oil in the car. It still works. I ran for years too after I put oil in it. I do not recommend this experiment.

The idiot light never came on?

It was probably just low oil. The dip stick doesn't go to the bottom of the oil sump. It just indicates an operating range.

[Robor007 0]

I'd be derelict if I didn't mention VW... can find really nice examples of the Passat, Jetta, GTI's and Beetles just about everywhere. Small, pretty well engineered and hold their value pretty good.

You'll hear lots of tales about Honda Civics etc and Toyota's too.. which are hard to argue with.. and the new Kias are looking pretty smart these days also..along with Suzuki and some others... but for my money...stick with the Germans..

I'm going to have to say a VW. I own a 2000 VW GTI VR6 and while the car is comfortable and very nice to drive it's an utter POS and has been from the start. It's very unreliable and very expensive to fix when things break. Many 'mom & pop' shops will not even work on it. There are 'euro' shops that work on VW's around here but they're also geared toward Porsche & Audi (in other words $$$). I wind up taking it to the dealer most of the time.

Short story: If you're looking for reliable, inexpensive, low maintenance, and fuel efficient, stay far far away from any VW.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

While I happen to like VW's (having owned 2), I'm going with the "CCS/CAO" approach of many desis.

When desis own any North American engineered vehicles, you can be sure that these are LARGE (such as Crown Vic's or SUV's).

CCS: "Corolla-Camry-Siena"

CAO: "Civic-Accord-Odyssey"

I checked on Wiki about the Echo--introduced in 2000, so may work (admittedly, it was flop, but it still IS a Toyota)

If the OP can up the price to $12K, a 2006 FIT (Honda) becomes feasible.

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

accord/toyotas are good vehicles and retian their value. i think that will cause the OP some problems. Their budget allows them 7k. So the task will be to find a vehicle given those parameters. i haven't looked recently to know what kind of vehicle one can buy with 7k. Can you buy an accord/toyota under 7k?

Daniel

:energetic:

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Reliable used cars

These are CR's lists of reliable cars from the 2006 survey. These are the specific models with above-average Used Car Verdicts, spanning the model years 1997 through 2006. CR Good Bets are cars that have multiple years of above-average Used Car Verdicts. (Also see our lists of used cars to avoid.)

CR Good Bets and Bad Bets include only the models for which we have sufficient data for at least three model years. Models that were brand new in 2005 or 2006 do not appear. Problems with the engine, engine cooling, transmission, and drive system were weighted more heavily than other problems.

Listed by price group and alphabetically within groups. Price ranges are what you'd pay for a typically equipped car with average mileage.

$6,000 - $8,000

Acura CL ’99; Integra ‘98-99; RL ’97; TL ‘98

Buick Regal ‘00

Chevrolet Prizm ’01-02

Ford Crown Victoria ‘99-01; F-150 ’98; F-250 ’97; Mustang (V6) ’98; Mustang (V8) ’97; Ranger (2WD) ‘98-00

Honda Accord ‘98-99; Civic‘99-00; CR-V ‘98-99; Insight ’00; Odyssey ’98, ’00; Prelude ‘97

Hyundai Accent ‘04

Infiniti G20 ‘99-00; I30 ‘97-99

Lexus ES ‘97

Lincoln Continental ’98, 00; Town Car ‘99

Mazda B-Series (2WD) ‘99-00; MPV ’01; MX-5 Miata ’97; Protegé 01

Mercury Grand Marquis ‘99-00

Mitsubishi Galant ‘01

Nissan Altima ‘99-00; Frontier ’99; Maxima ’98; Pathfinder ’98-99; Xterra ‘00

Saturn SL ‘02

Subaru Legacy ‘99

Toyota 4Runner ‘97-98; Avalon ‘98-99; Camry ‘98-99; Corolla ’00-01; Echo ‘01-02; RAV4 ’99; Sienna ’99-00; T100 ‘97-98; Tacoma ‘98

[Saddle Bronc 124]

accord/toyotas are good vehicles and retian their value. i think that will cause the OP some problems. Their budget allows them 7k. So the task will be to find a vehicle given those parameters. i haven't looked recently to know what kind of vehicle one can buy with 7k. Can you buy an accord/toyota under 7k?

Daniel

:energetic:

OP can get an Echo of model year 2000-2003 (I checked cars.com Q&D approach, and got 121 listings), or Civic up to 2002. Accord is also feasible (I think you meant "Honda" rather than "Accord"--the Accord violates OP's designation of "small") to year 1999.

[isleta521 5]

I'd be derelict if I didn't mention VW... can find really nice examples of the Passat, Jetta, GTI's and Beetles just about everywhere. Small, pretty well engineered and hold their value pretty good.

You'll hear lots of tales about Honda Civics etc and Toyota's too.. which are hard to argue with.. and the new Kias are looking pretty smart these days also..along with Suzuki and some others... but for my money...stick with the Germans..

I'm going to have to say a VW. I own a 2000 VW GTI VR6 and while the car is comfortable and very nice to drive it's an utter POS and has been from the start. It's very unreliable and very expensive to fix when things break. Many 'mom & pop' shops will not even work on it. There are 'euro' shops that work on VW's around here but they're also geared toward Porsche & Audi (in other words $$$). I wind up taking it to the dealer most of the time.

Short story: If you're looking for reliable, inexpensive, low maintenance, and fuel efficient, stay far far away from any VW.

Have to agree. I know of two persons that have recently bought the VWs and they both have had all sorts of problems with their respective cars. Even the dealer sometimse had trouble figureing out the probs. I love my little toyota '96 4cyl truck - while I cant tow sht, it is great on gas and never had any major probems.

[Dr_LHA 3]

Can you buy an accord/toyota under 7k?

Of course, it will just be older.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Can you buy an accord/toyota under 7k?

Of course, it will just be older.

Not necessarily: I found 121 listings of Toyota Echo (all years 2000-2003) on cars.com for under $7k.

Edited April 25, 2007 by CherryXS

[Dr_LHA 3]

Can you buy an accord/toyota under 7k?

Of course, it will just be older.

Not necessarily: I found 121 listings of Toyota Echo (all years 2000-2003) on cars.com for under $7k.

Yeah, or cheaper! The Echo isn't exactly a prime example of a quality Toyota is it? Very much a low end car.