Looking for a small inexpensive car

i've got a 96 geo metro, and have never hauled more than six sacks of feed in it at a time. the back seat folds down, and there's quite a cargo area. gets 40-45 mpg, not much power, but once it gets rolling, 70-75 mph cruising speed.

i got my kid a honda "fit" a new model just out this year in the u.s. they've been selling them in europe for a while as the honda "jazz." peppy little 4 passenger car, seats fold down to carry cargo, gets almost 40 mpg.

the smart car is going to be offered in the u.s. next year (i hear) two passenger, really good mpg.

pax
t.f.

I just bought a fairly nice 82 Toyota for $400. Good tires, good interior, everything works, noisey muffler,runs good. Paint faded & several small dents & some scratches. Looks like it's going to get about 28mpg.

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Freedom isn't Free

Brand-new Honda Civics start at under $15K, get mileage in the 31 city/37 freeway range, are comfortable, and if you follow the maintenance schedule, will run until they get crunched in a wreck somewhere. They are *extremely* reliable.

Consumer Reports offers a service where for $40 you can find out what the dealers actually pay for the cars, which is typically $1-3K below the base price. In general if you take what the dealer paid and offer $200-300 more, they'll take the deal. I got my 4 cylinder Accord EX for about $3K less than the MSRP as listed before all that extra stuff the dealers try to charge you for (markup, delivery, etc.)

Anyway, this means you can get the cheapest model Civic for something in...the $12-$13K range, I think? You'll have to check what the current prices are as I bought my Accord 2 years ago so the prices from my research then have surely changed.

Oh, yeah, the Fit is also a really good little Honda. Very small, but if you ever have cause to park in a city you'll be soooo happy at parking cheaply on the street in tiny little spots only you and Cooper Minis can fit into.

Ugh. One last thing, the consumer reports info covers all makes of car.

Honda CRX I have had 4 Got 300,000 miles on all. I get 48 mpg It is a hatch back. You can get one for 1500 to 2000 dollars. great car