Looking for a small inexpensive car

We are very pleased with our Kia Rio. It's a 01 or 02, and has given us no troulbe. (Knock on wood.) It gets close to 40 mpg highway, but it is a stick, so I'm sure an auto would be somewhat less. Anyway, I'm sorry LCB that you've had such trouble with yours. Sounds like your dealer is a big wonker. We had a great dealer (so far), but haven't had to work with them much because we've had no problems with it.

My SIL and BIL have the KIA minivan (also around an 01) and have had very problems with it either.

Now my newish Honda Odyssey has been a total pain in my you-know-what from day 1. And I'm a HUGE Honda and Toyota fan, but this thing is just not put together well. And it cost about 3 times as much as the Rio. lol.

Oh, what about that new Yaris thing. I believe it's put out by Toyota and it supposed to be pretty cheap.

Not that you can get one in the USA, but for kicks, check out a Smart Car...

Really a neat idea for just general going and coming.

Angie

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"Live your life, and forget your age." Norman Vincent Peale

Scion. Toyota made. We got an Xb. Hauling room. Pretty simple, not alot of bells or whistles, minimal plastic. Lots of room under the hood for changes or/repairs. Compact, travels well on the interstate, and fits in just about any parking spot. Right around 15k.

Frugalville -- What kind of gas mileage are you getting with it? Any problems yet? What kind of warranty are they giving on them? Thanks!

MaryNY

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"...creating & living an independent, self-reliant, building constructing, garden-/animal-raising, food-preserving, ecologically sound, solar/off-the-grid, self-made, individualistic lifestyle..."

There is small company in maybe I'm thinking Santa Rosa, CA that imports these independently from europe and modifies them to meet US emmissions and safety requirements. They dont import the diesel version, just the two cylinder turbo gasoline version. Zap! thats the name and they call it the Zapcar. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5217861/

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"What would you do with a brain if you had one?" -Dorothy

"Well, then ignore what I have to say and go with what works for you." -Eliot Coleman

LOVE LOVE LOVE my Civic!! I bought a new Honda Civic in 2002 and haven't had ANY problems with it. It has a good reliability and safety rating and the seats fold down in the back so you have a lot of room in the trunk. Best car I've owned.

It was redesigned since I bought mine. Good affordable price too.

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/ov...da&model=Civic

Happy car shopping!

I was doing a traffic control point yesterday and saw a hatch back that believe it or not had a cement mixer and lots of lumber in it I could not believe it Lots of folks have little cars here in Kosovo and you would be surprised what I see them hauling.

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marching to the beat of a different drummer

Hermitjohn I had wondered what those cars were I have seen a few here.

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marching to the beat of a different drummer

We have one Subaru (1985 wagon) and it is still running strong at 235,000 miles. We have had to replace the clutch on it and brakes but that is about it. We also have a mini van we are trying to get rid of. I would love to own a Subaru outback. They are great for room, 4wd or AWD and wonderful for gas efficiency. Anyway they have a great repair record, and might just fit what you are looking for.
Blessings,
Jennifer

I have a 2004 Hundai Accent 4D and it gets great mileage! DH and I love it, though the cab can get loud because it doesn't have a lot of insulation/noise protection hense the good gas mileage... We got a good deal on it, someone bought it the year before and traded it in for a new car.... we've had it since December and haven't noticed any problems so I suppose they just wanted a new car each year or something.

I think they come in hatchbacks and coupe models, I would have loved to get a hatchback... they are really practical.

Jessica

3 yr/36k basic warranty and 5/60k powertrain warranty. Absolutely no issues to date and I've got a little over 10k on it. I normally get around 30/32 mpg depending on running the air and if it is loaded or not.

Just seats, simple gauges (in fact just 1 instrument cluster that has speedo, tach, fuel) and a rice burner type motor (it's a 1.5l) Also didn't seem too plastic. Also because it was a Toyota. (and I've had my share of Fords and Chevys thank you). A pretty peppy toaster that is pretty good on the wallet.

I'm guessing it will probably be pretty enonomical in the maintenance category as well due to simple design, small tires and such..

They also gave me 3 free oil changes.. (woo hoo)

Time will tell, but I don't see alot of Toyota Lemon Posts...

It's hard to go wrong with a Honda or Toyota and two people I know are having very good luck with their Scions. That being said, like MaryNY, I bought a 2005 Hyundai Accent. I found one used with 90 miles on it (lady won it in a constest and didn't want it). It's been a great car so far (over a year and nearly 17K miles). The gas mileage in town has been consistently a little over 30 and I'm getting about 34 on the freeway, and that's not "babying it". I paid $9k for the car, but she just wanted it out of her yard and that was before the gas prices really shot up. They're probably a little higher now.

Good luck, and do review the crash test results for any car you are seriously considering buying.

In today's Wall Street Journal - The JD Powers & Assoc. 2006 Vehicle Dependability Study.

Number of problems reported per 100 vehicles:

Lexus 136
Mercury 151
Buick 153
Cadillac 163
Toyota 179
Acura 184
Honda 194
Jaguar 210
BMW 212
Infinit 215
Lincoln 220
Ford 224
Oldsmobile 224
Chrysler 232
Pontiac 232
Subaru 232
GMC 239
Mercedes Benz 240
Chevrolet 241
Nissan 242
Mazda 243
Porsche 248
Hyundai 253
Dodge 258
Mistubishi 260
Jeep 264
Volvo 272
Audi 279
MINI 280
Isuzu 283
Saturn 289
VW 299
Hummer 307
Kia 310
Suzuki 318
Saab 326
Land Rover 438

hyundai
hyundai
hyundai

boy, I wish I still had mine!
never had a problem with it that I couldn't fix & it got incredible mileage
their warantee is great too

If my funds were limited to say 2,000 dollars or less I would go with a Ford Escort Wagon from the mid 90s. I would make sure the transmission in the automatic was strong before buying it. I always got good mileage and never had any problems in the snow. I've had several and you wouldn't believe how much they'll carry.

We also have a 2001 Kia Rio (standard) four door that still gets 38-20 mpg. We have put over 115,000 miles on it, and all we've done is oil changes, new tires, and the 60,000 mile tuneup. Runs like a top. I don't know about the power in the automatic, but with the standard, we'll be running down the interstate, look down, and be doing 80 and climbing with it just purring along. It does have the 14" tires.

When it wears out, I'll probably trade for another Kia. You can't beat the warranty!

Laura

I'd say a used Saturn S-series. Not the newer Ions which are a headache. Ideally a SW station wagon. S- cars were designed to be easy to work on and really last. Highest I've personally seen was 425k on original engine (he replaced the clutch. 300k was not unusual. Very safe, parts are not hard to find or expensive, the SW was the least stolen car for years.

I have a 95 SL (base manual) and I've used that car hard- skidding trees out of the woods, dragging fresh disced sod, pulling flatbeds with a ton of hay- it turned 205k yesterday and the only repairs have been wheel hubs and an alternator.

I can also say, based on personal experience, that you can fit 4 goats in the back seat.

I just drove home(yesterday) a new 2007 Nissan Versa.

I researched for a year for this new car. I have test drove and reserached everything from a Honda Fit, Potntiac/Totota vibe, All the scions.

It cost me 14,000.00 out the door for a 4 door, six speed hatchack with air and power windows. Mileage is supposed to be in the low 30,s but better in the CVR automatic. It has all the air bags you could need.

It is worth a look. I am very happy with it.

Jill

you cant go wrong buying a nissan they get decent mileage and one of the toughest brand of cars on the road

Used Honda CR-V !!! With the seats folded down, it has a huge cargo area.

Just bought one with 100,000 miles on it for $8,000. Not one rattle! It's just broken in & gets 31 gal/mi (4 cylinder - 5 speed)

Because it was so inexpensive, I bought a 2 year warranty plan too - just in case.

If you are planning on keeping the vehicle, beware of the new hybrids. Only one company in the world makes the battery and they're really expensive to replace after the warranty runs out.