Small car recommendations

[Snow mom]

We might be needing to replace DH’s car. I asked him a few years ago to start thinking about what he’d like to replace it with but of course he hasn’t so here I am looking for starting points He usually gets my hand me down cars but I now drive a minivan that I’m very happy with. We don’t need anything big because the minivan meets those needs. Our kids are out of car seats (well, DS still is in a booster) and just fitting the four of us for a short drive is fine. His commute isn’t long, but good gas mileage and especially being able to get out in all weather is important. I don’t drive when there is a lot of snow but he needs to be able to get to work, even if the roads are sloppy. I’ve never lived anywhere with worse drivers so I’d like it to have good safety ratings too. We are replacing a Subaru and I prefer not to go that route again.

[AnnieW625]

Toyota Corolla. We had a 2001 from 2001 until 2013 (we bought a slightly bigger Passat diesel because we still had a kid in a full size booster and a kid in a regular car seat and it was getting cramped when all four of us were in it) and then we sold it to my brother who drove it until 2020. It had to have had at least 200k miles on it when he donated it last fall. It outlived the Passat we bought to replace it (due to the diesel recall). The car was a great little car and because it had a manual transmission it routinely got 38 mpg. I would definitely look at another Corolla. I had never driven in heavy snow before we had our Corolla and the few times I had to do it the Corolla handled the snow fine. My brother drove in the snow more in Oregon and never complained about how it performed in Oregon either.

You probably couldn’t go wrong a Civic either.

I had my dh check the California recalls and engine warranty issues for both cars and he says there is nothing for 2020 or newer for either model. There were some issues for both brands between 2014 and 2019 but nothing as of now.


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[gymnbomb]

I also love my Corolla! Mine is a 2011 and I have no plans to replace it for at least a few more years. It gets great gas mileage and has been extremely reliable. I don’t think I have had to fix anything other than routine maintenance stuff. I am in New England and haven’t had any problems with snow. (I don’t have to go out before the plows come around if there is a lot of snow, just the times when it isnt enough to plow yet or whatever is left after plowing.


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[mm123]

I also have a Corolla and just love it. Mine’s a 2005 and still very much going strong. It’s been incredibly reliable, and I’ve had no major issues with it- just regular replacement of tires, brakes, etc. It’s surprisingly roomy on the inside and the trunk holds a ton of stuff. The mileage is great, and it’s been fine in the snow (I’m in Canada). I do switch to snow tires from around December to March. I love it so much that I plan to drive it until it dies, and then replace it with another Corolla!

[Kindra178]

Crosstek.


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[AnnieW625]

Crosstek.


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Subaru has a had a lot of recalls and engine warranty issues (at least that California requires notifications for) for the Crosstrek (and the Ascent). Most of them are easy fixes and Subaru handles them well, but those are the two Subarus that DH says he wouldn’t want to buy. He just doesn’t get a good feeling from them. He says if he were to buy another Subaru he would think about another 2017 Outback as he has not seen a recall for one in a very long time and so far it was just the one in late 2018 or early 2019 that was a simple reflash of the programming.


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[Snow mom]

Looks like I should look again at the Corolla! These posts made me laugh, especially Annie’s extolling of her 2001 Corolla because back in 2001 I bought my first car and actually test drove the Corolla. It was too practical a choice for me back then and I ended up with a Jetta which is long (LONG!) dead. Now we are at a more practical stage of life, but I wasn’t sure if there was something new and exciting in the practical small car category.

[AnnieW625]

Looks like I should look again at the Corolla! These posts made me laugh, especially Annie’s extolling of her 2001 Corolla because back in 2001 I bought my first car and actually test drove the Corolla. It was too practical a choice for me back then and I ended up with a Jetta which is long (LONG!) dead. Now we are at a more practical stage of life, but I wasn’t sure if there was something new and exciting in the practical small car category.

Ha ha! Dh is an engineer and while what he really wanted in 2001 was a BMW 3 series sedan he was fresh out of college and didn’t want a really high car payment as he didn’t have a ton of money saved for the down payment. He thought he would keep the Corolla for a year or two and well that turned into 13 years, a marriage, two kids and about 110k miles on it. Now he just teases Dd1 that she is his BMW (which now he says he wouldn’t get because they are just too temperamental, but if he did get one he would advise not getting an extended warranty because BMW usually ends up having to extend the engine warranty due to engine issues).


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[sariana]

Have you looked at the Mazda 3?

[rollycolly2007]

I have a 2013 Ford Focus. It’s 8 years old. It’s a nice car and drives well.

I have had to replace my ac, but that has been my only issue.


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