Best small car

[Amby 490]

I have a 2000 Neon. I don't like it but it was free so I can't complain. I've never once had a problem with it and it has 82,000+ miles on it. I just change the oil and tire rotations and stuff. It gets good gas mileage. We drove to FL a few weeks ago it was 1000 miles and we spent $65 on gas each way. I think highway it gets a little over 300 miles to a tank. I think like 270 when I'm at home. I can't tell you for sure. I like that it's small because I suck at parallel parking haha.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

First time I've ever heard of good mileage on anything made by Chrysler getting "good" mileage (but if 440 km/270 mi city is "good mileage", ...)

I've never owned a 4-banger which got less than 500 km (city driving, about 310 miles) per tank--and that includes 2 automatics (my old Pony and my "hurried replacement" Jetta).

As comparison: a LeSabre I rented at Atlanta Airport, I was able to take to Lexington, KY (394 mi/635 km) without problems--I could probably have reached Cincinnati (476 mi/780 km) on fumes. Best I've gotten in any Chrysler was from Southhaven, MS to Tallapossa, GA (302 mi/489 km) ON FUMES--in a Stratus, which has a similar-size tank to a LeSabre (but is smaller, less comfortable, ...).

[mawilson 2,133]

What, no-one liked my idea of the Escalade as a "small car"?

I like Dodge Neons.

"Neons are Barbie cars: little and cute and rounded in the hips. Even in black,

they are feminine and adorable, only just a bit tougher, like Tattoo Barbie."

[Dr_LHA 3]

What, no-one liked my idea of the Escalade as a "small car"?

I like Dodge Neons.

"Neons are Barbie cars: little and cute and rounded in the hips. Even in black,

they are feminine and adorable, only just a bit tougher, like Tattoo Barbie."

Used Neons are more like "45 year old crack addicted hooker" Barbie.

[mawilson 2,133]

What, no-one liked my idea of the Escalade as a "small car"?

I like Dodge Neons.

"Neons are Barbie cars: little and cute and rounded in the hips. Even in black,

they are feminine and adorable, only just a bit tougher, like Tattoo Barbie."

Used Neons are more like "45 year old crack addicted hooker" Barbie.

2002-2003 Neons are quite nice and inexpensive ($8,000 or so.)

[Saddle Bronc 124]

What, no-one liked my idea of the Escalade as a "small car"?

I like Dodge Neons.

"Neons are Barbie cars: little and cute and rounded in the hips. Even in black,

they are feminine and adorable, only just a bit tougher, like Tattoo Barbie."

Used Neons are more like "745 year old crack addicted hooker" Barbie.

Also (contrary to mawilson), neon's are only as tough as the old Triumph Herald (known as "Standard Herald" for the few examples sold in India) on INDIAN roads (even fewer survive now, as the Herald's low-riding suspension was only suitable for the smooth roads of UK/US/Canada--among other desi-specific problems).

Edited April 25, 2007 by CherryXS

[mychelle 1]

for your budget of around $7000...a good condition 2000-2001 Toyota or Honda will be too expensive for you. check out the Chevy Prizm...it's pretty much the same as the Toyota Corolla...just less expensive...since it's a Chevy. i'm speaking from experience. my 1998 Chevy Prizm LSi is still running well although i rarely drive it to anywhere far...it pretty much just goes from house to train station...just kept up with the maintenance stuff.

Edited April 25, 2007 by mychelle

[Nikita2Charles 32]

VW

Colleague of mine had a passat, kept taking it to the shop until finaly just gave it away. They couldn't find an electrical problem, I would say Stick to Toyota/Honda, Kia has been doing pretty well also.

There's this place in Santa Clara, it's right on El Camino called " Wheals and Deals". on El Camino between Kiely and San Thomas expressway, I bought 2 cars there, and my wife. It's basically a lot where people put their cars there, the onsite dealer can provide the keys for test drive, you can call up the seller directly also. With that said my Major ADVICE no matter what car you buy is to order a 30days online service from CARFAX.com

Once you see a car you are interested, you can take the VIN number and run it through CARFAX.com, that way you will get a history of the car, accident, who owns it, last mileage report(just in case someone roll back the mileage). If it's a fleet Car.If the car has been salvage.

One of the car I bought has a salvage title, I bought it for a great price, I was able to negotiate the price based on the carfax report, Hey this car is salvage you already got the insurance money for it, or bought it at an auction don't expect i am going to pay the full value. It works, I bought this camry coupe 2 doors 4 years ago, and it's still running like charm. Good Luck

[akdiver 3]

We need to buy a new used car - a small 2000 or 2001 sedan or coupe. We'll be looking at cars for under $7,000 that can last us (well, mostly me ) for 3-4 years.

In December, we bought a brand new 2007 Chevy Aveo 5 for $8000 (final price, from the dealer). My wife loves it, and it is the perfect car for her. I highly recommend it.

It is touted as "the cheapest car in America" (:

Cheers!

AKDiver

Edited April 25, 2007 by akdiver

[Saddle Bronc 124]

for your budget of around $7000...a good condition 2000-2001 Toyota or Honda will be too expensive for you. check out the Chevy Prizm...it's pretty much the same as the Toyota Corolla...just less expensive...since it's a Chevy. i'm speaking from experience. my 1998 Chevy Prizm LSi is still running well although i rarely drive it to anywhere far...it pretty much just goes from house to train station...just kept up with the maintenance stuff.

A good-condition Echo (even up to year 2003) could be gotten for less than $7K (it IS a Toyota, though ultra-ultra-basic, like the Tercel it replaced). I did suggest the Prizm in an earlier post anyway (it has an unfortunate--though false--reputation of not being a "true" Corolla, which trashes its value-retention; but, that does make it available for less than a "true" Corolla).

[Saddle Bronc 124]

We need to buy a new used car - a small 2000 or 2001 sedan or coupe. We'll be looking at cars for under $7,000 that can last us (well, mostly me ) for 3-4 years.

In December, we bought a brand new 2007 Chevy Aveo 5 for $8000 (final price, from the dealer). My wife loves it, and it is the perfect car for her. I highly recommend it.

It is touted as "the cheapest car in America" (:

Cheers!

AKDiver

I've put 60K miles so far on my (2005) Aveo; the only problem(??) I had so far was having to replace all the 4 (original) tyres this past monday.

[Dr_LHA 3]

The Aveo is a Korean car right? Built by the former Daewoo, now part of GM?

[Saddle Bronc 124]

The Aveo is a Korean car right? Built by the former Daewoo, now part of GM?

(which explains why Aveo seems more spacious than the "larger" and more expensive Cobalt--the former is Korean/"copied Japanese" engineered, while the latter is North American disastered)

[Dr_LHA 3]

Thought so. It makes sense really, American designers have no idea how to make compact cars, let alone super-sub-compacts like the Aveo.

[Nancy2015 2]

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Well, manual transmission is out of the question - I can't drive it, my husband can't either. And I really don't want to learn. So, it has to be automatic. My budget can be more than $7,000 - I'm taking out a loan, but of course I want to spend as little as possible, since my APR is kind of high But I need a reliable car too, so might as well stretch my budget.

Yes, Fords are junk - the reason we're getting a new car is because hubby's '91 Ford Ranger is falling apart, and fixing it is more expensive than this sucker is worth (which is probably nothing).

I guess, I will be looking at buying a Honda or a Toyota, and maybe I will spend more than seven grand.

Thanks!