Buying a small compact car, what would you choose?

Z

zimmerDN

Joined
Mar 30, 2005
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68
Dodge SX2.0?
Pontiac Pursuit?
Chevrolet Aveo?
Chevrolet Colbalt?
Chevrolet Optra?

No Ford Focus. It must be domestic. So what would you choose? The #1 priority here is reliability. 2nd is cost. Please share info if you have any personal experience or know of any good reviews or surveys.
 
Hehe- how domestic? Most "domestic" autos have foriegn-manufactured parts, or may be assembled entirely in foriegn countries.
Honda and other "foreign" makes often have production factories here in the states....

Most auto makers are heavily invested in other brands as well, so when you're buying a Jaguar, some of the profits go to Ford.

I had a Buick station wagon with the engine assembled in Candada, using a combination of metric and standard fasteners! Go figure...
 
Does anyone really believe there's such a thing as a car that's TOTALLY manufactured in one country??

Enlighten me as to its name!......:confused:
 
mwerner said:
I had a Buick station wagon with the engine assembled in Candada, using a combination of metric and standard fasteners! Go figure...
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$$$$'s, my man......$$$$'s!!!!!!!!! Follow the money trail!!:D
 
Pontiac Vibe would be a good choice. The only reason I say this, is that it's basically a Toyota Corolla with Pontiac trim, which means the thing will run for a LONG time.

And, as for the total U.S. made vehicle subject, there is no such thing. My Wife and I were looking for a car several years ago, and her Dad was going to help us out financially. But, her Dad is an old timer from WW2 days, and he won't buy a "Damn Foreign Car!" We declined his help and purchased a new Honda Accord anyway. Never regretted it a single bit. Guess what her Dad did a month or so later? He came home with a new Lincoln Town Car; made in Canada or Mexico with mostly Japanese parts. :rolleyes:
 
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Danbo said:
Pontiac Vibe would be a good choice. The only reason I say this, is that it's basically a Toyota Corolla with Pontiac trim, which means the thing will run for a LONG time.
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I think the Vibe is a Pontiac trimmed and badged Toyota Matrix.
 
The only Chrysler or GM worth the price would be the Vibe. For the essential reason that it is not a Chrysler or GM, yet a Toyota. I had one (the Toyota version) and was very pleased with it. I traded it it to my father for his Acura TL and he traded it in on a 2004 Lincoln Towncar and received more for trade in than I owed on the car.
 
mycroftt said:
I think the Vibe is a Pontiac trimmed and badged Toyota Matrix.
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The Matrix IS a Corolla. It's the hatchback version of the Corolla. They're actually pretty nice and have enough room for me to drive one(I'm 6'6" and 250 lbs). :)
 
After having years of bad experiences with various Chrysler products I personally would never ever buy one again. One advantage to the Chrysler vehicles I owned is that they definitely improved my mechanical skills.

Would agree with the other posts that Honda and Toyota probably make the highest quality compact cars.
 
Man, I still have a 95 neon that I bought new, ande I drive it everyday. It's great. With that, I'd have to go with the SXT 2.0. My other choice would be the PT cruiser.
 
Just don't get hit in that Neon. You have a 35% chance of a life threating injury at a speed of 35 MPH !!

Neons have a well earned rep for being a very unsafe car, yet parents keep getting them for their kids.....
 
GM/Pontiac, etc can't make a compact vehicle; GM recalls more cars than it sells.

If I HAD to buy a domestic car, it would be a NUUMI car.

-dan
 
I've had some very bad experiences with rental Neons, they've got decent engines but at highway speeds, the rattling/noise is unbelievable. I got scared the darned thing would fall apart. There's a reason, Ford/GM are taking it on the nose.

My old Civic runs like a dream and holds it's value remarkably well.
 
Danbo said:
The Matrix IS a Corolla. It's the hatchback version of the Corolla. They're actually pretty nice and have enough room for me to drive one(I'm 6'6" and 250 lbs). :)
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Thanks. I never made the Matrix/Corolla connection.

My brother in law bought a Vibe for his wife and they're very satisfied with it. My wife is considering trading in her VW Passat 2002 and buying a Matrix. I'm all in favor of it because I'm a big guy too (6'4" 275) and my wife is about 6'1".

I drive a Ford Focus SE station wagon and my weekend truck is a 1991 GMC Sierra 1500 with about 196K miles. The Focus has the same basic profile as the Matrix/Vibe with lots of head room, especially inthe front seat.
 
How about a car that isn't butt-ugly? That rules out most of the models mentioned so far.

I have my eye on a Chrysler Crossfire. Small, sporty, cool, and doesn't look like a$$. The Miata is on my test drive list too, as is the Eclipse and XR-8.

Just presenting a different line of thought. "Life's too short to drive an ugly car."
-Bob
 
While most of my favorite cars are Japanese, there are also some really nice American cars. Unfortunately hardly any of them are compact low-priced cars. The cheapest Chevy that isn't junk is the Impala for $22 thousand and up. The Cavalier is a total POS and one of the deadliest things out there. IIRC, the IIHS test ended up with the dummy's feet STUCK in the floor of the car. Some of those Lincolns are also dang nice vehicles, but I don't want a $30,000 car that gets 15 miles per gallon.

The Corolla isn't the cheapest small car out there, but gas mileage is good and it is one of the most (or maybe even the absolute most) reliable cars you can get. If you haven't thought about safety yet, both the Corolla and the Civic do better in crash tests than most other small cars and even better than some big cars.

The Corolla is probably made in the US anyway like many other Toyotas. I really don't care if some high-paid executives in Detroit get more money, who seem to have believed for the last several decades that poor people (or people not wanting to spend a fortune in general) don't deserve decent cars. If the car is made by Americans in Tennessee or wherever that Toyota factory is, that's fine with me. I think the latest Avalon model was actually designed there as well, not just manufactured there. That guy in Detroit doesn't give a $#% about us, why should we settle for junk for his sake?

EDIT:
Here is the car GM was happy to sell budgeted people for so many years:
http://www.iihs.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/html/95014.htm

This is the FRONT crash test, which even small cars usually do well in, not the dreaded side test. GM now has the new Cobalt, which looks like they finally caught up with Japanese manufacturers in terms of starting quality. Reliability is still waiting to show itself, maybe it will be good. But that's just new this year. Last year GM wanted you to buy a Cavalier. Do we really owe loyalty to such a company?
 
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