Small Car Recommendations-Car Bought :)

[TAX GUY]

Here's two options for small...

Smart Car or Mini Cooper

 

[justgrace]

Hi @flyingdumbo127
You might want to check out some of the Fiat cars. They seem to be pretty small. I'm not sure what's in your price range, but these seem pretty reasonable and they look pretty cute!

This one is the 2016 Fiat 500

I hope you find the perfect car!

 

[bcla]

First of all, over the years, there's been an increase in vehicle size. When I rent a car, a Civic or Corolla is classified as midsize/intermediate, although the DMV still calls them compact. A Camry or Accord from the late 80s is about the size of a current Civic or Corolla.

Did anyone mention the Toyota Yaris? That's about the size of other cars mentioned. It's a different class, but the Subaru Impreza is also about the same size.

 

[*3*Mouseketeers]

We bought my son a Nissan Versa to go back and forth to college. It's pretty small, but not TOO small. It's about the size of the older Sentras.

 

[MrsDuck]

I love my Honda Fit!

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Taxguy lol those are small all right! I will admit maybe a dash too small! Thank you so much for the pix.

Hi back justgrace, price is a HUGE factor for me. That car is cute and I love the bright red, something to keep in mind!

bcla, that is a great point and one I am working with "getting." I definitely know what I'm used to is WAY in the past and the new are going to feel different and take some adjustment but also are much safer. I never realized until searching that subcompact was anything other than a smart car (I assumed a smart car was subcompact) and like you said Corolla and others are sometimes considered intermediates even. I guess it all depends on the car.

3Mouseketeers, cute name! I am hoping to check out a Versa tomorrow. I saw one on the road today and it was cute.

MrsDuck, I went and saw a Honda Fit a week or so ago after church. At that time, I thought it seemed bigger but I saw a couple on the road today and changed my mind, so worth another gander

Update of sorts: I did test drive this afternoon a Ford Fiesta and did not like it. To me the drive was not completely smooth and the side mirrors bugged me! The car had a smaller mirror on top of the larger one and I felt like I had a blind spot instead of it showing me more of the road, it was distracting. I'd prefer one old fashioned regular mirror. I will say that the size of the car did not bother me in the least. I should test drive the Fit just to see how I like it despite it being a Hatchback. Yaris, I think is more money...the only other (I think) smaller is the Kia which as I said up thread I know can be iffy. I did go to a Chevy dealer also today but they only had the Sonic in a hatch, so wasn't able to test drive it. I'll keep all of you posted and thank you very much for your help!

ETA: I reread your post cabanafrau and maybe the non Mickey and Minnie mice were the issue of the Fiesta I test drove. It did feel a little herky jerky-ish.

 

[tvguy]

I didn't even realize they made those anymore. Hopefully they do a better job than the old ones. Had a loaner once, felt like it was powered by a couple of mice riding bicycles under the hood.

I rented one and I thought it was a hot rod. But I normally don't drive a stick, and the ones Ford imported from Germany in the late 1970's only came with a stick. Looked down on the freeway, I was doing 90! But my regular car was an automatic Pinto, a bit slower.

 

[Poohforyou]

Honestly, if you're looking at getting that kind of life out of another small car I don't think there's any point in looking at anything other than a Toyota or Honda. I'd also suggest Subaru but I don't think they make anything that small.

 

[Skippy918]

My mom had a 91 Corolla and it was really small. I used to drive it. I remember having to floor it to enter the highway and go up hills. She ended up trading it in like 8 years ago because she wanted something with better safety features. I don't think that car even had airbags. I drive a 16 year old Civic. Like you, I prefer small cars but I also want good reliability. I really like the new Civic and also the Fit. They both drive nicely and have much more pickup than the old Corolla. Even though the Fit looks small, it's actually quite spacious on the inside.

 

[cornflkgrl]

I love my Honda Fit!

 

[flyingdumbo127]

How cool your mom had a 91 Corolla, Skippy918. I was a passenger in my 90 Corolla a week or so ago for the first time in YEARS, and it was only then that I experienced just how low it really was. As it was winding down, driving up hill was no fun, it did not like that at all. No, airbags on my old Corolla. When are all of us going together to test drive a Fit?

 

[10MoreMinutes]

I have a 2013 Hyundai Elantra and couldn't be happier with it. I put a lot of mileage on it (45 miles round-trip to and from work each day) and haven't had a single problem with it in the year and a half I've had it (I bought it used). Mine is a 4-door, but it also comes as a coupe, which my brother has, and he loves his too.

Also, my parents put about 150,000 miles on their Kia Optima before they traded it in and they never had any major issues with it. From what you're saying, though, the Optima might be a little bigger than you were looking for. It's definitely bigger than my Elantra, which is classified as a compact car.

 

[jennasmommyinMS]

The reason I bought my Corolla last year is because several of my family members have had very reliable Toyota vehicles. My father has 2 Camrys--one with over 100,000 miles on it, and the other one with over 200,000 miles. No one in the family has had any problems with the Camrys or Corollas--except for that time that a deer ran into my daughter's Corolla.

I really like the size of my Corolla--compact enough, but plenty of trunk space, especially if I lay the back seats down. I have cruise control, a back-up camera, bluetooth with controls on the steering wheel, and much more. I just love this little car! Oh, and I have free servicing from the dealer for the first 25,000 miles--oil changes, tire rotation, etc. I'm getting about 38 miles to the gallon, and I'm really happy about that!

 

[xlxo]

Here's two options for small...
Smart Car or Mini Cooper

A warning for these small cars.... check the fuel octane rating. Most vehicles are designed for Octane 87. These European vehicles demand 91/92 octane premium fuel. The premium fuel comes with a significant premium price where I live..... not worth driving on premium fuel on congested roads.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

I re Google-d and have narrowed it down to 4 sedans: Sonic, Versa, Rio, and Accent plus with a careful gander at the Fit hatchback.

xlxo, I never thought of that with fuel. With my old corolla, I always got the 87 as it was cheapest. O/T but related, as an FYI, if you shop at Ralph's (Kroger) in some places, they do offer fuel rewards up to 20 cents a gallon and every now and then 40 cents--this is typically a gift card promotion.

 

[bcla]

I re Google-d and have narrowed it down to 4 sedans: Sonic, Versa, Rio, and Accent plus with a careful gander at the Fit hatchback.

xlxo, I never thought of that with fuel. With my old corolla, I always got the 87 as it was cheapest. O/T but related, as an FYI, if you shop at Ralph's (Kroger) in some places, they do offer fuel rewards up to 20 cents a gallon and every now and then 40 cents--this is typically a gift card promotion.

Very few cars in that class are going to recommend premium. It would go against the economy that they trying to market.

My last two cars had 91 octane recommended, but they were marketed as high performance cars.

 

[robinb]

To clarify.... is there a lot of stop and go city driving? Love my Prius V. While the Prius C hybrid is a hatchback.... you will get excellent fuel economy when stuck in traffic lights. Love being able to creep along for a mile without gas in slow traffic.

The regular 2016 Prius looks less like a hatchback with the shark design...

I went with the Prius V for more cargo capacity... wheelchair? bike?

I also have a Prius V that I love. OP, you're saying goodbye to a very old Toyota. Why aren't you looking at another Toyota? The Prius C is very compact and gets gas mileage between the V (the station wagon) and the regular Prius.

 

[bcla]

A warning for these small cars.... check the fuel octane rating. Most vehicles are designed for Octane 87. These European vehicles demand 91/92 octane premium fuel. The premium fuel comes with a significant premium price where I live..... not worth driving on premium fuel on congested roads.

They'll work on regular. It's somewhat of an unusual thing for such small cars in the US, but those two are designed by BMW and Mercedes-Benz. They sort of have a no compromise philosophy. Other European designed cars are tuned for regular. The base Fiat 500 is different in that they say 87 is fine, but 91 yields better performance. The current Dodge Dart is a Fiat design, but they use 87 just fine unless it's a turbo version.

Frankly a lot of carmakers could improve their mileage and performance by tuning for premium. If it might cost less depends on the price spread between regular and premium.

 

[Malibustyle23]

Have you looked at the Hyundai accent?

 

[Poohforyou]

I also have a Prius V that I love. OP, you're saying goodbye to a very old Toyota. Why aren't you looking at another Toyota? The Prius C is very compact and gets gas mileage between the V (the station wagon) and the regular Prius.

I was wondering that as well. Nothing is going to match the reliability and longevity of a Toyota or Honda in the type of car you're looking for.