questions → what's the best compact car to buy used or new?

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What's the best compact car to buy used or new?

Mar 29, 2012 10:45 PM

I looking to buy a new or used compact, I just wanted to find out whats the best compact you know about?

intelpimp intelpimp

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Honda Civic. I studied long and hard when I bought my car 4 years ago and came to the conclusion that the Civic was the best car for the money in terms of economy, features, safety, longevity and lasting value.

moondrake moondrake
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For me there was no doubt.
http://www.suzukiauto.com/sx4_crossover/?r=left
Suzuki SX4 crossover. Bought one for the wife last month and maybe another one for me Memorial day.
Fully loaded, selectable all wheel drive... Under 20K
Quick as hell and super tight handling.

She got the copper, I'm getting the black.

hottubrf hottubrf
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Why would you want a compacted car?

EDIT: I see...it says COMPACT car.

jsimsace jsimsace
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@moondrake: But which version? Just the base model?

When I was looking into cars to replace mine once it completely breaks down, I settled on getting a Volkswagen GTI or Jetta. Good price, good safety and I feel the major plus that sets it aside from others is that you can choose a diesel engine.

curtisuxor curtisuxor
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also looking into this. dh wants a suzuki swift. i just want a new geo metro (they rebranded them as chevy metros, then stopped making them back in the mid 90's.) they were extremely spacy inside, had a small, but powerfull engine, didn't come with extras-aka a radio, and got 50+ milespergallon in town, and were about 8k new. if i could find a 2012 version, i would own one tonight. have had several offers on my 1993--told all NO!!!

moosezilla moosezilla
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I have a Toyota Matrix that I love.
I'm not 100% sure it would be classified as a compact car. It's a Toyota Corolla wagon (half the paperwork when I bought it said Corolla). It's fairly small on the outside but insanely big on the inside. The engineers did an excellent job making use of the space. I've had four adults in it very comfortably and five without too much squishing in the back. Three teenagers of reasonable size fit very nicely back there.
The back seats fold so that the cargo area is flat. With the seats folded down I've fit a twin mattress and box springs and was within 2 inches of being able to close the hatch. I've put an 8 foot step ladder in as well (had to fold down one back seat and the front passenger seat).
Gas mileage is about 30 city, 34+ highway for my manual tranmission XR model.
I payed about $17k about six years ago. Haven't had any problems with her.

gt0163c gt0163c
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@curtisuxor: Agility and a fast acceleration are the main things I look for in driving enjoyment. I want a small, lightweight manual transmission car with the least amount of technology between me and driving it. The most basic model of Honda Civic had every feature I wanted and a bunch I enjoy but would not have paid for. Mine is actually one step up from the most basic model, which comes without air conditioning and is not sold in this part of the country. It came with power everything, cruise control (surprising for a manual drive), a decent radio with a plug for my MP3 player, cloth seats (a must in the desert), padded steering wheel, digital dashboard, anti-theft, and other stuff I can't think of at the moment. The maximum score on safety. I got it at 1.9% financing from Honda and paid it off in two years. It's 4 years old now, low mileage, and although I drive it like a pocket rocket it gets about 30mpg.

moondrake moondrake
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Back in the Cash for Clunkers days I had an old Jeep Cherokee I was looking to trade in for a commuter car. I test drove pretty much everyting under the sun and ended up with a Mazda 3 5-door. IMHO it drives much nicer than the Civic; it has a sporty setup to the chassis whereas most compacts feel slightly bugdet. It also has lots of techy features standard (bluetooth, traction control (that you can disable), etc). Of course, coming from a background racing mountain bikes, motorcycles and a little autocrossing I also appreciate the 6-speed manual and the larger 2.5L engine than most compacts have.

My only complaint is that the Mazdaspeed 3 didn't qualify for the Clunkers rebate by 1 MPG. Otherwise, I'd definitely have sprung for the extra 100 HP!

A friend of mine drives one of the new Hyundai Elantras with all the bells and whistles. The leather seats, sunroof, etc are nice but the ride is just OK compared to my Mazda. I'd put it comparable to the Civic.

suludance suludance
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@moondrake: Thanks for that in-depth explanation. We generally look for the same things in cars, although I am not sure how you can survive in the desert without A/C. Luckily I live on the West Coast so most of the hot weather is combat-able with all 4 windows down.

Lol, manuals with cruise control weird me out too. Congrats on being able to pay it off in 2 years.

curtisuxor curtisuxor
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As far as my personal opinion is concerned, I would vote for Volkswagen Golf and there is no doubt about it. A couple of months ago I purchased a used car from http://www.automotix.net/bargain_cars.html and I am very glad to let you know that I have not faced any issues with it so far.

lymanlaprade lymanlaprade

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