Scotty I'm looking for a brand new or slightly used preferably small cars cuz I like how it's easy to drive, easy to park, gets good gas mileage, cheap to insure and cheap to buy that fits in my budget. If you had to choose between a Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, Nissan Versa, and Mitsubishi Mirage. Which would you choose?
If you had to choose between a Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, Nissan Versa, and Mitsubishi Mirage. Which would you choose?
Frankly I think I'd jump off a cliff before buying any of those. They're all pretty bad, an old Corolla would beat any of them hands down even if brand new.
LOL I was thinking the same thing!
small cars
The small car scene is not developed in North America - Small cars sold there are not the sophisticated "supermini"'s and "small family cars" that are sold in Europe.
You can't buy a Škoda Scala, SEAT Arona, Kia Stonic, Opel Mokka, Suzuki Swift, Toyota Yaris Cross and other small sophisticated small premium cars - the ones that are being sold in the US market are just cheap junk.
how it's easy to drive, easy to park, gets good gas mileage, cheap to insure and cheap to buy
Ease of driving depends more on the car it self, my midsize SUV drives much easier than anything else I have driven over the years. Same with as millage the US market versions with their 1.6L engines are not terribly efficient...
I do not see the benefit of small car for the US.
Mitsubishi Mirage (...) Chevrolet Spark
Probably the worst cars in existence.
They're not even subcompacts, they're more like sub-city cars.
Y'know, you get into a Hyundai Casper, Citroen DS3, Opel Adam, etc. and everything's nicely laid out comfortable - when you get into a Mirage/Attrage and all that you wanna do is jump out immediately! lol.
brand new (...) Hyundai Accent
The Hyundai Accent (HC) is now out of production for the US market.
Russia's best selling car (the Accent, or as they call it the "Solaris") is is a really bland car for 2023, it feels like it's right out of 2012 (and quite basic and boring even by that standard). I wouldn't recommend it, not with the US market powertrain.
It is being replaced with an all new model that's actually much nicer than competitors but so far they have not announced any plans to sell it on western markets as far as I know.
I had an older Accent for over 100k miles and it was perfectly average, but it was in a configuration not available in the US. (port injected, conventional automatic)
The best variant of that platform was the 2021 Hyundai Kona base model, it has a port injected 2.0L engine and a conventional 6 speed automatic transmission - but as the 2nd owner you're probably not gonna get the 10 year warranty since you're not the original owner also may not have the proof that you took care of the car as required.
Kia Rio
The Rio sold in North America is produced in Mexico and quality hasn't been great.
I have the SUV variant of the Rio and it's quite plush, very well handling - just a nice cheap car.
But the US variant has an iVT transmission (known for driving well but being unreliable) so it makes sense only if you can get the LX variant for MSRP (under 17 grand) or lower with the 10 year 100,000 mile warranty and make sure you comply with its requirements.
So yeah, a bit mixed on that one, only if it's super cheap and brand new with the warranty.
Nissan Versa
The Versa is a bad value, all automatic variants on it are quite expensive - it's not worth what they're asking, at all.
In the US, the Corolla starts at under $22k with a good powerful and reliable powertrain so consider saving up a bit and going that route.
But if you really wanna have a small car that does not have any benefit over a regular one, what about a Scion iA / Yaris Sedan?
In the US, the Corolla starts at under $22k with a good powerful and reliable powertrain so consider saving up a bit and going that route.
I am in full agreement with @dan
All of his points regarding the other cars are accurate. I seriously doubt you would be happy with any of them.
Also the Chevrolet Spark
Well I'm not a fan of 5 of these cars the only subcompact car I would consider worth buying is Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit but they don't make these anymore here in the United States but still making them in other parts of the world. With these 5 cars in your list, when they're brand new sure they generally don't fall apart as soon as you drive it but if you value your money in the long run consider a Toyota Corolla/Yaris or a Honda Civic/Fit they will outlast these 5 cars in your list.
Id go slightly used Honda Fit. They are naturally aspirated (no small engine turbo issues) & zippy enough. Easy parking, low repair costs
I would honestly buy a 10-15 year old fit or Yaris as has been suggested, before I ever even thought of buying anything else that is subcompact, new or not.
Try finding a 2020-2022 Corolla LE lease return and start from there. Try to pay $16-18K out the door.
