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Dec. 13, 2011 8:59 a.m. pinchvalve SuperDork

While you are at South Park Mitsu, check out the Soul.

Kia Soul

It's a manual, but you can find a used base model with an auto somewhere, or embrace heel-toe and save some dough.

My wife bought a new 2011 Soul! and she loves it. It is a manual, but she didn't want to drop another $2K for the auto. We put the $2K into getting the (!) model over the base. That gives nice Bluetooth integration and other good stuff. It is larger inside than the fit IMHO, and she likes the view out of it and the funky, boxy nature of it.
Dec. 13, 2011 9:00 a.m. Bobzilla SuperDork

Kia Spectra5. Nice cars, same underpinnings as the 01-06 Elantras which have held up remarkably well.
Dec. 13, 2011 10:41 a.m. BAMF Reader

+1 on the Mazda3. I've owned my '07 since new and still love it. It's fun to drive, capacious, the ones made before the smiley face are handsome looking, and fuel efficient on the highway. My driving is almost entirely city, and I enjoy acceleration, so my average fuel economy isn't awesome, but a more gentle driver could come up with a fairly respectable city/highway average mileage.
Dec. 13, 2011 1:03 p.m. PHeller Dork

The main issue in this search is availability.

For some reason people in Northwest Pennsylvania hold on to their Mazda 3, Honda Fit, Focus ZX5, Kia Rio5, and Hyundia Accents...because there are none for sale!

All those that are for sale are on Autotrader and $2,000 more than similar Craigslist finds.

Not only that, but most of the vehicles listed in this post are no cheaper than the Honda Fit, and honestly its probably the most reliable out of the group.
Dec. 13, 2011 1:07 p.m. jrw1621 SuperDork

Sounds like a weekend one way flight to Atlanta might be in order.
Dec. 13, 2011 1:12 p.m. Bobzilla SuperDork

PHeller wrote:

Not only that, but most of the vehicles listed in this post are no cheaper than the Honda Fit, and honestly its probably the most reliable out of the group.

If you'd said that 5 years ago, I probably would have agreed with you. Not today. Honda has NOT stayed up on their quality, and has slipped a lot of the rlast 5-10 years while their competitors (Ford, the koreans, even mazda) have been pushing hard to overcome their quality and build better cars than their competitors.
Dec. 13, 2011 1:51 p.m. PHeller Dork

It just so happens that an 07 Honda is almost 5 years old....

I would agree with you. The NEW (2011/2012) Focus/Fiesta, Accent, etc are all very well built well engineered cars...because they finally started bringing the lesson of Europe to the US.

but for most cars in our current price range I'd say Honda still have the top marks for reliability.
Dec. 13, 2011 2:44 p.m. corytate HalfDork

spring a bit more and get a forte 5 door? very good looking car, I have the sedan not the hatch, but they are essentially identical. dead reliable so far at 50k, and the bluetooth and sat radio is awesome. I think most 5 door fortes have nav also
Dec. 13, 2011 2:48 p.m. Bobzilla SuperDork

PHeller wrote:

It just so happens that an 07 Honda is almost 5 years old....

I would agree with you. The NEW (2011/2012) Focus/Fiesta, Accent, etc are all very well built well engineered cars...because they finally started bringing the lesson of Europe to the US.

but for most cars in our current price range I'd say Honda still have the top marks for reliability.

I disagree, at least on the Korean front, that they have been building comparable cars since the mid-late 2000's. Ford was a little behind the curve, but the last 3 years they have really poured it on.
Dec. 13, 2011 7:02 p.m. DaveEstey Dork

Bobzilla wrote:

PHeller wrote:

Not only that, but most of the vehicles listed in this post are no cheaper than the Honda Fit, and honestly its probably the most reliable out of the group.

If you'd said that 5 years ago, I probably would have agreed with you. Not today. Honda has NOT stayed up on their quality, and has slipped a lot of the rlast 5-10 years while their competitors (Ford, the koreans, even mazda) have been pushing hard to overcome their quality and build better cars than their competitors.

If Honda has grown lax is certainly hasn't shown in the reliability ratings.
Dec. 13, 2011 7:14 p.m. mndsm SuperDork

CamaroKeith wrote:

I had a 2003 Protege5 that I put 190,000+ miles on it. Car handled pretty decently. Got low to mid-30's on the highway. I think the most severe item that had to be replaced was the wheel bearings. It did have a carrier bearing go bad in it (which was why I got rid of it) but that highly likely due to being hit twice in the LF wheel.

One draw back I found was the ignition timing is right on the edge of detonation so it pinged a lot, especially in the summer, once carbon started to build up. However, the first 4 years I had that car, I lived in an area that only had Tier II gas suppliers. Not sure if the pinging would have been there had that not been the case.

I use to drive a lot and it was pretty comfortable. Overall it was a good car. Stuff just didn't seem to break on it.

This all frickin day. P5 is the winner.
Dec. 13, 2011 8:21 p.m. nocones HalfDork

This seems like it may be scammy but Vibe all day long.

http://harrisburg.craigslist.org/cto/2698676835.html

For a driving appliance they are unbeatable.
Super reliable Toyota. Fold flat seats. Should get 30+ (mine got 35 highway but it was a 5-speed)