Another "girl needs a cheap but new economy car" thread (My Sister!)

Ottobon

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Location
Detriot Metro Area
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2 Rust buckets and a confused 1999 American.
Mainly I'm just trying to figure out what cars if any that i may have left out of my list. The criteria is for a 2004+ model car under 10 grand that can get 30+ mpg (the better the milage the more desirable though) Just as a reference, she likes cars a lot but doesn't see any light in wasting money on gas, when that Loremo concept came-out she nearly had a cargasm, but sadly its still just a concept.

Ontop of that i'd like if you guys could just think about the cars in the same way you usually would, with all influences pointing at how the car drives, its character, and its beauty. Basic human thinking really. If this was the European market we would probably be talking about something like a Suzuki Swift or a Fiat Panda, sadly those aren't options :p

So far the candidates (although looking for more if you have one) are

04+ Focus (which one is the best in the U.S. market??)
04-focus-hero.jpg


Honda Insight (much Better milage and 100x less gay then a Prius, which we both hate)
Backround Info: Me and here both are anti-yuppy, I.E. we've lived outside of Ann Arbor our whole lives and we have a love for hating on pseudo-hippies, and or people who are constantly peering up their own asses for inspiration (California branch of Google :p ) so we don't want to appear as such, but we both agree we feel the insight is just outside this yuppie classification, simply because its less of a pretender then the Prius and driven by less pretenders as a whole, are we wrong on this assumption?
Honda_Insight.jpg


Scion XB (Not best milage or drive, but its interesting and cute)
6625779676.241763065.IM1.02.240x180_A.240x180.jpg

cooper (very good to drive, but holds a high premium, and BMW service/repairs :( )
07.mini.cooper.s.340.jpg

Mazda Protege (Should be economical, have been told by at least 4 different experienced auto-crossers that their great to drive)
00protege.jpg

Honda Fit (she likes it alot, but price may still be high, closest to what we're looking for though)
honda_fit_hybrid_vehicle-723740.jpg




Anyways, would love to here your recommendations for a usable, good to drive, slightly passionate, yet extremely economical car for under 10k and 2004 or newer.
 
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The Insight is damn cool. I hated it when it came out, but now that its time in the limelight has been ceded to the Prius I think it's a perfectly acceptable little commuter car to own with less of the backlash the Prius has.

And that's exactly that: a commuter car. Better pray your lady friend doesn't go on many cross-country road trips or has to haul drywall in her 2nd job as a construction jobsite manager or something. :p Although an old Car and Driver long-term test article featured taking it from Michigan to California and they found it to be a surprisingly good long-haul car that attracted lots of attention. Which it does, and positively.
 
What about a VW Golf or Beetle?

we would be all over VW Diesels if it wasn't for their shitty customers service records around here, so their out of the question. The fact i have two none-running VW diesels doesn't help inspire her that much either.
 
The US market Focus is crap. Not because of the design, but because the UAW doesn't build it right.

The Suzuki Swift is actually sold here. However, it's just a rebadged Chevy Aveo - which isn't bad either. There's also the Suzuki Aerio.

So does the Hyundai Elantra. The new Hyundai Accent looks OK, but I don't know anything about it.

You've also forgotten the Scion xA.
 
I'd go for either the Focus or Protege. Both are good drivers cars.
 
The US market Focus is crap. Not because of the design, but because the UAW doesn't build it right.

The Suzuki Swift is actually sold here. However, it's just a rebadged Chevy Aveo - which isn't bad either. There's also the Suzuki Aerio.

So does the Hyundai Elantra. The new Hyundai Accent looks OK, but I don't know anything about it.

You've also forgotten the Scion xA.

Isn't the Aveo sold here a different car than the Swift sold overseas? The Aveo here is a rebadged Daewoo, it is called the Suzuki Swift+ in Canada but it isn't really the new Swift that everyone else gets. (source: wikipedia)
And I also heard that the Aveo is an awful car in terms of both driving dynamics and mileage. It is spacious, but I don't think I've ever read a review speaking highly of it.
 
If the Aveo actually handles as well as the european swift then that will become a option, but i know nothing of it. She doesn't want a Hyundia, there too plastic, and for that same reason she doesn't want a Saturn Astra or any other saturn.

On a side note, i found this weird Insight video, its worth a look :)

[YOUTUBE]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Jfz3J5b5hGM[/YOUTUBE]

Focus: From what i understand the 03 and earlier focus's are royal pieces of shit, but from 04 on they started making extremely reliable cars, thats what i've read atleast. We've owned Taurus's all our lives so a Focus is probably like comparing a 80s Fiat to a 80s Honda so far as reliability goes.
 
Anything Japanese with a sub 2 litre 4 cyl engine will be a fuel saver.

Just ask your sister to pick one that she think its the best.

If you want my opinion, I think the Honda Jazz is quite a nice choice, my mum just traded my Ford Bantam in for a new 1.5 vtec Jazz, and she is loving it.
 
Spend the extra money and get the Fit, it'll be utilitarian, yet cute and practical and good for the long term.
 
+1 for the Golf. I've even seen 04-05 Jetta's with 22k miles for around 10 grand.

VW is the way to go!

I was told by the locals here to avoid VW USA. Heard they have some bad resale value and shocking reliability problems.

Is this true? Are the cars imported from Germany or made in the states?
 
Cooper or Fit.
But preferably Cooper.

Do you get the Diesel Cooper? Because that one also gets awesome mileage
 
No VW plants in the US, currently, and not since 88-89.

Until the last year or so, most of the US VW lineup was made in Mexico or Brazil; only recently has this changed. See this thread:

http://forums.finalgear.com/questions-and-answers/american-vws-not-made-in-mexico-26821/

NooDle: We do not get the diesel Cooper in the US. That diesel won't pass emissions regulations in the US. They may be introducing a new diesel soon that *will* pass, though.
 
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If I was buying for myself, Focus.

But this is your sister, so Insight.
 
Isn't the Aveo sold here a different car than the Swift sold overseas? The Aveo here is a rebadged Daewoo, it is called the Suzuki Swift+ in Canada but it isn't really the new Swift that everyone else gets. (source: wikipedia)
And I also heard that the Aveo is an awful car in terms of both driving dynamics and mileage. It is spacious, but I don't think I've ever read a review speaking highly of it.

Proper Swift
http://img142.imageshack.**/img142/4315/800px2004suzukiswift01hr0.jpg

Daewoo Kalos
http://img134.imageshack.**/img134/7646/800px2ndchevroletaveosese9.jpg
 
Anything Japanese with a sub 2 litre 4 cyl engine will be a fuel saver.

Yeah, but most cars under 2L don't use a lot of fuel, not just Japanese. Are you saying that any Japanese car will use less fuel than any non-Japanese car of similar size? :)

I'd say go for the Focus.
 
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