Best car to buy? Honda? Kia? Hyundai?

[ParanoiaDragon]

My wife & I are ready to drive our 2013 Fiat Pop off a cliff, & then proceed to CarMax on Saturday to look for a new car.  I thought I'd get suggestions from ya'll.  She wants something like the Honda Fit.  We want something that will last/quality, & has good safety ratings & gas economy.  We're probably going to look a cars that are slightly used(couple years old).  We've heard of recommendations on the Korean brands lately, but we don't know as much about them then we do about Japanese cars.  Maybe it's just a matter of Googling the right phrase to get the info we need. 

[wildfruit]

Do you mean brand new? I don't know how many of these are available in your lands but there are loads to choose from. Pretty much almost every car for sale in the first world is safer and more efficient than anything before it. Well these are the ones I can think of in your size bracket.
Audi A1
Mazda 2
Ford Fiesta
VW polo
Skoda Fabia
Toyota Yaris
They're all good cars in their own right. I could go on there's too many.
I'd even say go slightly bigger on these hatchbacks
Audi A3
Bmw 1 series
Ford Focus.
Mazda 3.
Personally out of all those if I had to choose I'd go 1 series or Ford Focus. Petrol or diesel? Manual or auto?

[Necromancer]

The Honda Fit is pretty hard to beat, as it's very well packaged, reliable, and quite efficient.  Other good options are hatch versions of the Fiesta, Focus, Mazda 2 (Scion iA), or Mazda 3 with the Mazdas being preferable; and there's other decent options (VW Golf, Subura Impreza, Kia Rio, etc.), but I'd skip those for either being too expensive, less reliable, or not much fun to drive.

[CPTRAVE]

I have always been partial to Honda. When it comes to Korean cars I say no way, they look good but their quality build seems to cheap.. Oh and stay away from Car Max their cars are overpriced.

[geise]

I have a 2009 Kia Rio5 hatchback that I have yet take in for repairs.  Kia was awful, but in the past 7 years have really made some decent cars with fantastic warranties.

[xelement5x]

I have a 2009 Kia Rio5 hatchback that I have yet take in for repairs.  Kia was awful, but in the past 7 years have really made some decent cars with fantastic warranties.

I agree Kia has really stepped up their overall quality and presentation making them very good competitors in my opinion. 

Personally I've got a 2006 Corolla which has been pretty solid and my wife has a 2012 Rav4 (both Toyota).  I've had solid luck with my cars so far and hope to keep it that way, if I did buy another I've been looking at Subaru a bit, but Honda is also quite solid and my wife was looking at a SRV instead of a Rav4 for a long time before she chose what she did. 

[PunkicCyborg]

I love my Mazda. Stay away from the Euro cars

[esteban]

1972 Cadillac Deville

[bob]

another vote to avoid car max.

[Zero_Gamer]

I say honda or toyota, and avoid carmax like the plague

[780racer]

I have a 2014 Chevy Sonic turbo (6 spd manual no less)... And I wont ever admit it to my Wife (Its her car) But its a blast to drive and has been nothing but reliable for the 40K we have put on it since we purchased it new. It gets 40 MPG on the freeway because its the turbo model, and it is peppy enough to get around town. I am 6'0" and weigh in at about 250 Lbs and can sit in the back seats and not hate my life.

We looked at the honda Fit, but the Sonic felt Roomier, and honestly, was a hoot to drive as well. Also the same team that re-designed the Corvette re-worked the Sonic from the Aveo. Its a complete overhaul, and Its Very nice. Also its very quite in the cabin.

So my vote goes to the American car you almost forgot. I believe it has the best Crash rating in that year as well, in its class, and has 14 airbags.

[SuperDeadite]

Buy a Suzuki

[SignOfZeta]

My wife & I are ready to drive our 2013 Fiat Pop off a cliff, & then proceed to CarMax on Saturday to look for a new car.  I thought I'd get suggestions from ya'll.  She wants something like the Honda Fit.  We want something that will last/quality, & has good safety ratings & gas economy.  We're probably going to look a cars that are slightly used(couple years old).  We've heard of recommendations on the Korean brands lately, but we don't know as much about them then we do about Japanese cars.  Maybe it's just a matter of Googling the right phrase to get the info we need. 

Just buy the Honda Fit. It's nigh on perfect as a roomy city car. Honda does not f*ck around when it comes its key models and this its key model. They've had the same powertrain, more or less, for three generations and it was old when they introduced it yet it still sells like mad because power and refinement aren't important when real work needs to get done.

My argument for the Fit largely stems from the features it LACKS rather than the ones it has. My now 1 year old kid will learn to drive in my Fit. As a customer but also a former Honda mechanic I have no doubt whatsoever.

My 2013 Fit (features vary by year and region) lacks every one of the following features:

Automatic transmission
Hybrid driveline
Start-stop
Turbo
4WD
DOHC
phasing cams
Variable intake
Electronic park or handbrake
Nav
Heated seats, mirrors, wheel, windshield, etc
Leather
Bluetooth
Sunroof
A pointlessly inflated body (aka: "SUV")
Large wheels
Run flat tires
WiFi



And while I appreciate many of those features (I also have a loaded TDI Golf) not having them is the reason I'm sure the car will still be going in 15 years.

Btw, I don't know where you live but for the US production of the Fit moved when the MkIII was introduced. Mine is from Japan, new ones are from Mexico. I don't know if something similar happened for Europe but if it did consider a low milage MkII over a MkIII.

[spenoza]

If you can afford it, step up to a Subaru Impreza hatch. My wife has one and likes it a good bit. Base model even comes with a nice set of amenities. Plus, always-on all wheel drive and good gas mileage.

[bartre]

I looked real hard at the chevy spark/sonic when I was in the market.
solid cars, but didn't find a "deal" when the time came.

again, the mazda 2 was decent, but I thought It drove a bit too much like a go kart.

I personally couldn't fit in a fit/yaris (I'm 6'3")

I ended up going with a Jetta and the only problem I've had is that I had to replace the rotors, which is routine maintenance.
plus, with their little PR nightmare, VWs are cheap as hell right now.

look into getting a sportswagen, GTI, or a golf, and you can never go wrong with a subaru(I've yet to see anyone get less than 300K miles out of one).
course, I'm a big advocate of VW and subaru these days.