yaris: available in 3 door and 5 door versions with extensive option list, can be had cheaply if you don't mind having no power anything, and no safety features. With comparable equipment costs more than the fit. You can customize however you want. Great fuel economy but only with the manual transmission (auto is a 4 speed, and alright). Japanese made.
corolla: excellent fuel economy (decent with automatic) , old model so can be had cheaply, so possibly the best value of the bunch. Not a lot of safety equipment. California made.
fit: most versatile, best all around car on this list. Tiny outside, huge inside. Hard to find. Available with a similar 5 speed auto to the civic, but you can shift it yourself if you get the sport trim level. City fuel economy is excellent, highway fuel economy is comparably bad because of the gearing (fuel economy sacrificed for good acceleration). Reasonably sporty. The seats are not very comfortable. Same model has been made in japan for like 7 years so quality is excellent.
civic: better than a corolla on pretty much every technical count, but more expensive. Better highway fuel economy than the fit, even with the same number of gears, similar gearbox, and more powerful engine. might not be worth the price premium.
Of all these choices, I prefer the fit, and have quite a bit of experience with them. But they are hard to find, and you can't get a stripper model, so if you're on a budget the toyotas will work better for you. Styling of course is quite subjective. I think the fit and the yaris have the best looking exteriors, and all except the yaris have acceptable interiors. Both the hondas have few available options, but come with all the stuff you'd want anyways, like power doors, power windows, side airbags, ABS... The toyotas have low starting prices but leave these things out.
Another car to consider would be the scion xD, basically a corolla.
corolla: excellent fuel economy (decent with automatic) , old model so can be had cheaply, so possibly the best value of the bunch. Not a lot of safety equipment. California made.
fit: most versatile, best all around car on this list. Tiny outside, huge inside. Hard to find. Available with a similar 5 speed auto to the civic, but you can shift it yourself if you get the sport trim level. City fuel economy is excellent, highway fuel economy is comparably bad because of the gearing (fuel economy sacrificed for good acceleration). Reasonably sporty. The seats are not very comfortable. Same model has been made in japan for like 7 years so quality is excellent.
civic: better than a corolla on pretty much every technical count, but more expensive. Better highway fuel economy than the fit, even with the same number of gears, similar gearbox, and more powerful engine. might not be worth the price premium.
Of all these choices, I prefer the fit, and have quite a bit of experience with them. But they are hard to find, and you can't get a stripper model, so if you're on a budget the toyotas will work better for you. Styling of course is quite subjective. I think the fit and the yaris have the best looking exteriors, and all except the yaris have acceptable interiors. Both the hondas have few available options, but come with all the stuff you'd want anyways, like power doors, power windows, side airbags, ABS... The toyotas have low starting prices but leave these things out.
Another car to consider would be the scion xD, basically a corolla.
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