Buying a Hatchback!! What should I get???
 

Hey guys I'm finally turning in my toyota 1999 le. I'm tired of getting 25mpg so I'm upgrading. I really love the flexibility of hatchbacks so that is what I'm leaning towards. I would love to stay around 14,000 to 17,000. Basically what will give me the best MPG and best car. I don't know how to drive manual, I know I'm lazy, so it needs to be Auto.

I've been looking at

Nissan Versa Note - CVT, active grill shutters, pretty basic, solid MPG 31/40

Mazda 2 - simple, clean, but the MPG is just ok. 29/35

Honda Fit - great MPG 33/41

Kia Rio 5 door - lot of standard features 27/37

Hundyai Accent 5 door - lot of standard features 27/38

Let me know if you can think of any others. I'm not really particular on car brand and I don't need anything fancy. Maybe you have one of these and know that it is capable of way more MPG then is listed. Thanks guys!!!

Kyle

For what it's worth my girlfriend has a 2012 Sentra and the CVT is atrocious. Unresponsive, mushy, inconsistent... I've driven a Mazda 2 manual and it was a fun chassis with a numb but precise shifter. Out of your options, even without driving the Korean cars, I'd be between the inefficient but fun Mazda and the efficient but presumably less fun Fit.

interesting, yeah the CVT are really interesting to me. I imagine they can achieve better gas mileage then a normal automatic but probs not as much as a well trained hyper miler with a manual.

I'm test driving a 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage right now. It falls right in your price range, and gets crazy good mileage. Its rated 37/44!

wow I will definitely have to check that one out!!! Thanks for the info!!

My short list from a year ago:

Tiny cars- Chevy Spark and Mitsubishi Mirage, too small for my needs.

Nissan Versa- If you want a manual, you can't get power anything. If you can stomach a CVT, take a longer look.
Chevy Sonic- If the 1st gen (Aveo) doesn't scare you entirely away, worth a look.
Ford Fiesta- I sooo wanted one, but the cargo space was on the small end and the price was on the high end.

I got a Honda Fit for $15k. If you want real mileage, spend a few minutes learning the manual. It's more fun and pays off in mpg.

I really wonder about buying a Mitsubishi over the long term. You don't see a lot of older ones on the road (questioning reliability) and the company itself seems to be half-hearted in this country these days. Just food for thought. It could be a great car!

^^^x2 on learning a manual. 30 minutes in a parking lot will get you roadworthy, and from there it's just refinement.

How about a Prius? Beats the MPGs of the others by far despite being an automatic and you can get a pretty new/low miles one for your budget. Good amount of cargo space with the seats up or down.

that is a great point, def going to look more into used priuses.

There is your car.

regards
Mech