I can believe that; if you (as a manufacturer) have a fairly unsexy, basic entry-level car that you’re selling, one way to sweeten it up, without adding much expense, would be an unusual paint color.
I bought a 2024 Honda Civic Hatchback SE in December and I’m delighted with it. If I could have afforded a hybrid, I would have, but I work only 5 miles from home, and the mpg I’ve been getting overall is double that of my last car. I can’t recommend it highly enough. (I’d been looking at Kias, but where I live they’re still being regularly stolen by Kia boys.)
Buy Used. Get a Honda with 200k miles. Only half way done.
As much as I like both magazines, I use the EPA for mileage comparisons: fueleconomy.gov.
Good question because, under certain circumstances, cheaper definitely makes more sense. I think retired people who drive less than 100 miles a week should go that route because they just need to shuttle themselves to the grocery store, an occasional doctor/dental appointment, a friend’s house, church, etc. To me it makes sense for them to allocate their money into vacations, hobbies, etc.
There is a lady who calls me occasionally for computer help in her home. She is in her eighties now but, when she was in her seventies, she bought a totally top of the line Cadillac Escalade and paid, by the time it was said and done, about a hundred large for it. It basically sits in her garage looking shiny, beautiful and expensive.
I just skimmed the car dot com article on the 10 Cheapest new cars. Every car had an combined fuel economy in the 30ish mpg range.
That seems to be the same as new cars from 40 years ago. I had a 1982 Honda Accord that got about 30 mpg combined and a 1988 Toyota Corolla that got 32 mpg. (and incidentally the coldest AC I ever experienced)
I know hybrids get better than that, but it seems strange that gas only cars haven’t improved that much in 40 years.
The EPA changed its testing regimen around 2008, so comparisons between cars newer and older than that aren’t apples to apples.
Is there a way to make comparisons between the two? Though my 2010 Honda Fit had an MPG rating of 27/33/30 (City/Highway/Combined), which is about the same as ICE cars fourteen years newer. So there hasn’t been much progress, aside from buying a hybrid.
That’s good, because we gave our younger son our 2010 Fit, and if you are right, he has about 150k miles left on it.
Our current 2020 Fit problem is that it intermittently flashes multiple warning messages. Our neighborhood mechanic said to take it to the dealer. The dealer says it needs a new camera — US$2,066 plus tax — that will be warranteed for 12 months. I did check for alternate ideas on the internet and the dealer is likely correct in the diagnosis, and that only they can install properly. My wife is afraid of paying for the repair and it happening again in a few years. I guess our no-worries 2010 Fit spoiled us.
IIRC, the 2008 and later ratings were about 10% lower than the pre-2008 ratings. So a 2009 model that was unchanged from their 2007 model would be rated about 10% less mpg.
In the case of your 2010 vs new cars, the new cars have improvements but the gains in efficiency are often used to increase horsepower, rather than to increase mpg. Also, most models gain weight with each update.
Yes. Even when they do not stop selling an entry level model in North America, they super-size it. For example:
I recall driving an American Motors rental around 1980 or so. Whenever there was the slightest upward incline on the Pa. Turnpike, you couldn’t get it to go more than maybe 50 MPH. That bothered me. But every 21st century car, sold in America, is already more than fast enough IMHO.
My 2010 Honda Fit has certainly given me little to worry about.
In defense of the Mirage, I feel like many of those reviewers are comparing it with more expensive cars, and then complaining that it’s not as nice as they are. IMO that’s kind of missing the point – of course it’s not as nice as a more expensive car, that’s why Mitsubishi is able to sell it at a lower price.
Our son saved up his nickels and dimes for a car, and settled on a 2015 Fit. We were impressed that he could save enough in a little over a year while also paying rent (albeit rent split with his gf/partner).
Car & Driver shows both the “as tested” (with a heavy foot on the accelerator) and the EPA. The EPA numbers are good for comparisons, but they are not really real world numbers.
But- sadly- they discontinued that great little car. I tried a Fit a couple of times- it seemed bigger on the inside than the outside. But the ride was not smooth.
So The Honda Fit is no longer an entry level car for the OP.
I remember when I was a kid, they advertised some cars as less than $2k. Not sure if it was a VW bug, or something like a Pinto or Vega.
Just for kicks, I ran an inflation calculator, somewhat arbitrarily choosing 1970 (when I was 10). $2000 in 1970 had the buying power of $16,525 today. So I guess the price of cheap cars has remained pretty constant.
In 1974 I bought my first car, a new Toyota Corolla, for around $2000. I was a college student working part time and living at home. It was the cheapest I could find. It was also a manual, which I did not know how to drive. I learned on the way home. That car influenced what I would always drive - three low end manual Toyota Corollas and one Nissan (well, Datsun - a B210). Those cars have served me well. I drove two of them for 17 years each. Right now I have a Toyota Yaris (it was cheaper than a Corolla) which I love. I’m sad to see that those have been discontinued. I’ll probably go back to a Corolla for my next car but will have to get an automatic for the first time.
If that’s important to you, you can still get a Nissan Versa with a manual transmission. It appears to be one of only non-sporty cars left available with a manual in the US.
Car and Driver maintains a list of every car you can buy with a manual in the US:
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g20734564/manual-transmission-cars/
It is bigger on the inside than the outside. I don’t do vanity license plates but if I had to get one, it would say CARDIS.
I got that beat. They advertised this thing for decades in the back of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics. The King Midget.