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Looking for a new small commuter car

Yaris is a lot cheaper then the cars you have listed...my GF loves her 3 door hatch Yaris though. I personally would not have bought it though.
 
The Hyundai Elantra (considering pice & warranty) might be worth a look and if you could somehow hold out until April the Honda Insight (although priced at around $19K) would be something to consider.
 
OP,

I've been down a similar road recently and perhaps I can help. My wife gave her Mazda Protege to our son and wanted a new car to replace it. We looked at 5 models: the Civic, Corolla, Sentra, Elantra and Sonata. After visiting each dealership we had a clear winner (for her): the Civic. Dollar-for-dollar it is the BEST car in the group. She gets about 35 MPG in city driving and loves it. Unfortunately for me it was the most expensive in the group but she's happy so I'm happy.

It seems, from your post that you are torn between the Corolla and Civic. My opinion (if it even matters) is that they are two very different cars. My local Toyota dealer had a "take-it-or-leave-it" attitude ... and the price that you mentioned ($12,500 with dest) may be a mirage. They were selling for in the $17,000 range with no negotiation just last year. I doubt, even with the current state of the economy that you can get that good of a deal. It is WAY out of the ballpark of the numbers that I remember.

How do you get the best price? Easy ... just go to the man website for each car that you are interested in, locate all dealers within let's say 100 miles of your house and email them with what you want.

Ask for an email quote in writing.

Sit back and relax.

Take the lowest price or work the dealers against each other. In my case a dealer 75 miles away had the best price ... when my local dealer asked if I had gotten a better quote I told him and he matched it. Problem solved.

BTW I paid about $15,300 for a 2007 Civic LX ... $17,000 OTD. It was by far the best "bang-for-the-buck in mid-2007. You might be able to do better these days.

Good luck and let us know how it goes ...
 
My Dad is picking up a base '09 Fit w/ auto for around $15k this weekend. I've never sat or drove one some I'm a little intrigued. A number of people he's talked to that have them are getting 40MPG at 55-60MPH. In town milage is above 30 if you baby it.
 
My fiancée has a '07 base Fit with a 5 speed. It is a good little car that is a lot bigger inside then it looks and has pretty good acceleration. We average 38 to 40 mpg.
 
Originally posted by: zoiks
The Fit has shitty gas mileage for its size.
Click to expand...

27/33 EPA estimate mpg. I've been getting 32 mpg on average (calculated) on 50/50 street and freeway driving condition. My work commute on the freeway isn't that long, only about 25 miles total/day.

Driven strictly on the freeway w/o traffic cruising at 70 mph, I can get the trip computer to indicate 44mpg. However, the mpg/trip computer is off by +3mpg (approximate). It is a known problem. Also note that that it only has 10.8 gal gas tank.

Ride is a bit "sportier" (stiffer/rougher) than my accord. Seats 4 comfortably, not 5. I'm only 5'-9"ish but I've had a friend who's 6'4" fit the passenger seat just fine with plenty of headroom and people in the back. Overall, it's a fun little car to drive with a deceptively large interior. I've seen photos of people being able to fit a water heater or a dryer in it.

I drive a 2009 sports auto.
 
I AVG 32 in the Versa but more HW driving, bout 75/25 split
Its not a small car, it weighs 2800lb, guess what a 97 Accord weighed? 2800 lb

Focus
Astra
Matrix/Vibe
Elantra

All others to test drive
 
My niece has an 08 Civic. For the most part I like the car. Interior is spacious and the road feel is pretty good. My only gripe is the power spread with the transmission. Just doesn't have enough power in the lower RPM's so I had to wind the engine up quite a bit to get it have enough torque.
 
Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
My niece has an 08 Civic. For the most part I like the car. Interior is spacious and the road feel is pretty good. My only gripe is the power spread with the transmission. Just doesn't have enough power in the lower RPM's so I had to wind the engine up quite a bit to get it have enough torque.
Click to expand...

You want a Honda with torque?
 
Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
Yaris is a lot cheaper then the cars you have listed...my GF loves her 3 door hatch Yaris though. I personally would not have bought it though.
Click to expand...

Is it? The base model seemed cheap, but whenever I priced it out with basic items like A/C it ended up costing about as much as other cars. I think the echo had a similar problem, although it was also uglier.
 
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
Yaris is a lot cheaper then the cars you have listed...my GF loves her 3 door hatch Yaris though. I personally would not have bought it though.
Click to expand...

Is it? The base model seemed cheap, but whenever I priced it out with basic items like A/C it ended up costing about as much as other cars. I think the echo had a similar problem, although it was also uglier.
Click to expand...

Also note Yaris has worse braking than a Camry which is what twice the size?
 
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