Hi, ok, the “windows OS” is a silly tag line, but there’s some truth there too. Read on. My wife & I’s (“I’s” ? ok, ok) best friend is a small person, about 5 ft. even. She currently drives a 98 or so Saturn 4-door that is clunking apart. She is a Recreation Therapist & her car has to haul a lot of job-related things about, & sometimes keep them there (toys, costumes – you get it). The current & future car is for her alone, her family has not used the current one at all. She just has two wishes for the future car – it has to have big enough front & rear windows to see over the hood & safely beyond, in a comfortable way for her – did I say she is short? This is not just a convenience. We work at the same joint & the fast, winding road we both use (did I say we are friends & live nearby each other?) is very, very narrow (just legally passes) so being able to see is kinda very important. While my wife & I both drive Honda CR-Vs, that’s more car than she wants or needs. But the window size works. So, no gun-port-style car recommendations, pul-eeze. The other thing is reliability. Most new small cars (I am asking about NEW cars on this post, for her) get really great mileage, so good-great mileage is sorta assumed -30+ mi./gal & up, minimum). I looked at a co-worker’s 2-yr. old Hyundai Accent yesterday. I forgot to note the window sizes, but otherwise it seemed a good fit for our friend. So we’re talkin’ about similar type models, 4 doors, in the $10-17K range, that have the roominess for “stuff” in the passenger & back seats, has a good frequency-of-repair rep & GOOD SIZED WINDOWS.
I’d visit all major Automakers Websites. If you’re looking for something reliable between the 10k-17k Range with what you’re looking for…I’d look at the Chevy Cobalt (They have decent passenger space and a good sized trunk). The 2010-11 Ford Focus (Roomy with big windows), The Volkswagan Jetta, or The Mazda 3’s…
Since you like Hondas (so do I) I’d look over the new Civic, or Fit.
The Fit seems to have lots of room in a small package, handles well, and seems to have good lines of vision. A power seat should have some ability to raise the seat height to aid a small person’s vision.
Similar for the Civic, make sure a Civic has a fold down rear seat which might be enough space. The Civic trunk is pretty big for a small car.
I own a Nissan Versa, similar to the Honda Fit and the Versa has a little bit more space in the back of it. Not to say Nissan is better than Honda. I’m just speaking from my own experience. The Honda Fit was one of the cars I had considered buying.
Around here it seems…the smaller the person the bigger the vehicle. My counterpart at work is 5’3…drives H1…A neighbor of mine is at MOST 5’4 and weighs sopping wet MAYBE 120lbs…drives a lifted F250. I’m amazed he can see over the steering wheel.
The size of the vehicle is in no way…NO WAY …related to the size of the drivers it may accomodate.
She MUST test fit every potential purchase to see the adaptability of each brand.
My 5’ friend has a Mitsubishi Galant and it is a very bad fit. The seat adjustment simply will never accomodate her and she must use a pillow and back rest.
Yet when she uses my 08 Expedition or my wife’s 06 hybrid Escape, those seats both adjust well for her.
I’m 5’9 and so I look a little big in smaller cars. I test drove a Nissan Versa Sedan and then the Hatchback version and it seemed the Hatchback had more leg room in it. The salesman was like “You have a kid, don’t you want a car with a larger trunk?” and I was like “My kid is 7 years old, I don’t use a stroller anymore.” The Honda fit barely had enough room to put groceries in the back where the Versa had more space.
My Mom is about 5’ tall and had a Fit for several years. She loved it, but on the highway it got blown around and wasn’t very solid. She wanted a more solid car for highway driving, and one that had all wheel drive for winter conditions. I did some research and found the smallest all wheel drive car sold in the US: the Suzuki Crossover. Mom got one and loves it. She can climb into it easily because it’s lower to the ground than my CRV, seating position is good for a short person, it handles well and is stable on the highway. I’ve driven it, and it’s a great car. I can’t figure out why Suzuki doesn’t advertise more, and why there aren’t more of these things on the road.