What are your experiences of/impressions with these small cars? (luxury car, 2011)

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by jambo101

Got something against Toyota Yaris? Very economical and reliable daily driver comes in hatch or sedan versions.
From personal experience Ford may make great Pickups and large Crown Vic type cars but the small cars arent their forte..
From your list i'd go one of these.
Mazda Mazda2
Scion xD
Hyundai Elantra
Also its going to be tough to buy a sport model of these cars without all the accompanying bells and whistles.
PS i'd also include the Hyundai Veloster, and a base MINI.

Wow are you out of date concerning Ford. The Ford Fiesta is an upgrade over the mechanically similar Mazda2. And Ford's cars, especially the Fusion and Focus, are very competitive in their class.

The Yaris is a crude bad riding car. Even Consumer Reports doesn't like it. It has never made CR's recommended list because of its poor road test scores.

[Retriever]

Originally Posted by ukrkoz

There's Chevy Aveo, which basically Suzuki. Good car.

The Aveo is a good car?
You are absolutely the only person whom I have ever heard who thought that the pathetic Aveo is (was) a good car. And, it is (was) not a Suzuki.
The now-discontinued Aveo was made by Daewoo, which never made a decent car, either before it went out of business or after it was re-started by GM.

The Aveo was replaced by the Chevy Spark, and while the Spark is better than the Aveo, it is still not really competitive with the best cars in its class.
But, since the Spark is just another Daewoo creation, the likelihood of it being a good car was never a high probability.

If I was looking at the cars listed by the OP, my focus would be on the Ford Fiesta/Mazda 2, and the Hyundai Elantra GT. However, the car that I would personally favor over any of the listed cars is the Honda Fit Sport.

[PDD]

Originally Posted by Aerio

The MINI is a really nice brand, and I like all of their models, but I cannot and will not get over the dashboard/center console. I cannot stand to look at that speedometer and all those circles and just anything in there. It's a shame, I really like those cars but the interior just kills it for me. It's also quite expensive I've noticed, unless I get a used version.

I have a newer car and there is one part of the car that esthetically I don't really care for. But the performance, handling, comfort, and good gas mileage far outweigh what I don't care for.

I look at the dashboard of the Mini the same way, yes it's not very attractive, but the performance, handling, mileage certainly outweigh the not too handsome dashboard.

Get over your hangup on the Mini and you will be driving a really fun car.

[43north87west]

Out of your list, the xD, Fit, and Versa would be the top of my list. They are all a lot of vehicle for the money. If you are looking at an xD, might want to check out the Kia Soul as they are similarly sized. A lot of cars in that price class are going to be "spartan" by today's standards, but they won't be "spartan" like a 1990s car. Obviously, some things that weren't even invented in the 90s, are standard in almost all cars today.

[gardener34]

I thought they were not making toyota yaris in the USA anymore. scion is toyota's low tier now.

[npaladin2000]

Probably the top three out of that list would be the Sonic, Fiesta, and Elantra, not necessarily in that order. You can probably get a good deal on the Elantra, now that they took the EPA hit they're probably having a harder time selling them. I personally thought it drove too much like a numb appliance, but I know some people like numb appliances.

[Grandpa Pipes]

Our son just bought a pristine 2003 Toyota Avalon (a $35,000 car) for $9,500 out the door. Now THAT is a really decent car for less than 14K any day of the week!!

And it ain't no little ass beater but it still gets 32mpg while costing less to own and insure than any "new" little ass beater car.

[Byron1022]

Buy anything but from CHRYSTLER. I bought a 2006 SUV of the lot. TO DATE every year I have major mechanical failure.

1/2007 - engine blew 3/2007 = starter blew

2008=sensors electrical system haywire

2009= ok

2010= fuel pump blew

2011= electrical system again found "pinched" wires

2012= 4/2012 "computer malfunction" NEW Computer put in. 9/2012 Blown head gasket. 12/2012 TRANNY blew

IT ONLY HAS 55320K ON IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chrysterl refuses to acknowledge that during the THREE year warranty they failed to FIX EVERYTHING. They refuse to acknowledge the continuing cascading effect of part failures that according to their OWN manuals should not fail will porper maintenance at certain milage.

What should happen now if CHRYSTLER was run by civilized humans as opposed to PREDATORS is to do what I asked them to do. That is this:

Give me a truck comparable in milage, size and year that has proven track record of durabilityand longevity. That is what I thought I was buying and it is not durable or reliable. Give me another truck.
UP YOURS MR. CUSTOMER. WE GOT YOUR $$$$$$. You are out of waranty.

Oh,they will fix it as long as YOU pay the bulk of the repair. How kind!!! They want YOU to refurbish their junk while paying for them to do it!!! UP YOURS CHRISTLER!! You disgusting sub humans. I paid my monthly bills on time everytime and allI got was vicitmized these predators from Chrystler.

I did not even ask for a brand new truck I just want a RELIABLE TRUCK. I said to the customer service," I contracted for a reliable durable truck,not for junk that falls apart and has been nothing but a financial drain not to mention the inconveniance." Answer like a robot: "You are out of warranty."
My money was not counterfeit, all of $32Kyet those low lifes gave me a counterfeit junk.

NEVER EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM CHRYSTLER.

I think they deliberately preprogram the parts to fail so that YOU can be their perpetual cash cow. They will not let YOUR mechanic fix it and still do the right thing and pay even under the warranty.Which proves to me that they want you to keep paying them using THEIR MOPAR parts, the very ones that are failures in this truck.

I CANNOT STRESS HOW "STRESSFUL" these six years have been and how expensive WITH NO REAL HELP TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM FROM CHRYSTLER.

NEVER BUY CHRYSTLER. SPREAD THE WORD and don't go through what I have. This is not vicious maligment these are facts. And Chrystler can sue me if I am maliciously slandering. Which I am not.

PS. No I don't qualify for the Lemon Law because the repair has to be recurring problem. My problem is different parts failing.

[Aerio]

Originally Posted by PDD

I have a newer car and there is one part of the car that esthetically I don't really care for. But the performance, handling, comfort, and good gas mileage far outweigh what I don't care for.

I look at the dashboard of the Mini the same way, yes it's not very attractive, but the performance, handling, mileage certainly outweigh the not too handsome dashboard.

Get over your hangup on the Mini and you will be driving a really fun car.

That is good advice about getting over the hangup and weighing in pros/cons, I should give them a look. In fact, I was at the Honda dealership and spotted a new Fit which admittedly was better than I thought. OK, so it's not really the best looking but yet the pros outweigh the cons, especially in its class. I didn't like that, at least in the model I sat in, the trunk was open from the outside so all your wares are for display. I like the covers that rise with the hatch, which cover the entire trunk when closed.

I also sat inside an '08 Civic coupe, and found it very nice and would give it another chance. I just hope it's mechanically not a POS and that was not the reason for its return to the dealership. As for MINI, it'll have to be used but the variety is a great factor, I really like the Cooper and Clubman, but would impractically prefer the Roadster or Coupe.

[Karen59]

I'm happy with my Nisson Versa. It's 2009. I have a stick shift. It gets incredible gas milage. I can turn around in tiny, tiny spaces and do u-turns in the middle of the street. I haven't spent any money on it. It didn't cost very much.