Well, I think I’ve mentioned this before . . .
My bad back will not tolerate the Mazda 3 ride. It’s bone jarring, and every single bump gets transferred straight to my back
Not so with any Corolla that I know of
So I’ll take boring over fun
I don’t care for the hard ride either. But I have major issue with the Toyota’s typical finger tip helm and mushy stop pedal.
People often complain about how small cars get blown around at high speed. I think part of the problem is driver induced oscillation. The car experiences a slight wind disturbance. The driver, who can’t get any feedback from the light steering, relies on visual cues and over corrects because the driver cannot feel what is straight ahead through the fingers. The resulting disturbance grows.
The same thing goes for the stop pedal. Why must it be soft for the one third of its travel before it gets firm? It isn’t much of an issue these days since ABS is mandatory, but it is harder to get a smooth stop. The Celica that i test drove want like that
Most of the Yaris versions are still Toyota designed and built. Only the Yaris iA, previously the Scion iA, is a restyled Mazda2. As such, it drives better and has a nicer interior than any Toyota-built Yaris, and Mazda reliability has been very good in recent years. The regular Yaris is rated poorly even by Consumer Reports, which finds it underpowered, cramped, and cheaply made. It is, no doubt, extremely reliable, but so is the Honda Fit, which has gobs of space, a nicer interior, and is much livelier to drive. The Hyundai Accent is also a good choice in the ultra-frugal category, with plenty of room, very good reliability, and a simple, but attractive interior. It won’t be much fun to drive, but is adequately powerful and feels like a proper car.
The compact ranks, one size larger, get very similar gas mileage to the cars mentioned above while typically being quicker and more pleasant to drive, roomier, and better equipped. When new there is a meaningful price difference, but it shrinks after a couple of years, with used car buyers valuing frugal transportation more than new car buyers do. Good compacts include the Toyota Corolla (pricey, even used), most years of the Honda Civic, the Hyundai Elantra, the bland Kia Forte, the sporty-feeling Mazda3, and the Subaru Impreza, but only if you live in a climate with harsh winters where the AWD can be helpful. Anywhere else the AWD just adds complexity (one more think to break) and reduces gas mileage.
There are also some quirky cars that are worth considering, like the boxy Scion xB (second generation only), based on the Corolla, the short lived Scion iM, really just a Corolla hatchback, now being sold as such. The Kia Soul is a practical boxy car, and the little Hyundai Veloster puts sporty lines on ordinary, reliable Hyundai mechanicals.
All of these cars do well in Consumer Reports reliability ratings, except for an occasional problem in the first year of a new design. Recent Civics have had some transmission problems, but the most rent are very good cars in all other ways.
Whatever you get, a fun drive on a Sunday afternoon is a treat for both you and your car (I like to think).
Corollas and Civics are my standard recommendation when it comes to economy of operation. Not only is mileage important, but repairs. You pay for those too. One unnecessary repair wipes out whatever advantage a car has over another in mileage.
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I Have a Yaris and a Mazda 3 standard front wheel drive. The Yaris can’t get more than 32 mpg in the city while the 4 gets a minimum of 35, but normally 38. The Yaris is small and uncomfortable, where the 3 is a nice car for city or highway driving. Won’t put big people in either back seats for long, but then again I don’t normally carry backseat passengers.
I drive a 2008 Yaris 5-speed manual and it routinely gets 40+mpg, even though the window sticker claimed 36/29. At 165,000 miles, all it’s needed has been tires, a battery, and a couple of headlight bulbs (9003 halogen). I’m still on the original brake pads and clutch.
My Yaris is an auto and they only have 4 speeds, like it’s the 1990s, but it is about a 20 year old engine and trans pair. The Mazda 3 is the 2.0 Skyactive with the 6spd stick. On the highway the Yaris can get close to 35, got 42 with the Mazda. And of course the 3 will blow the doors off the Yaris. My wife likes the Yaris just fine, but is mad at all the recalls.
Would’ve preferred a manual, but the wife wanted a auto.
After 10 years the 2017 Yaris is still equipped with a 4 speed auto, the Mazda built Yaris iA and the Mazda 3 with 6 speed auto are more efficient. The continued use of the 4 speed auto is probably in favor of cost and reliability.
Whenever I drove my mom’s Fit with its 5 speed auto, the 4 speed ECHO felt anemic. Go with the 2 Koreans or the Yaris iA and their 6 speed automatics. Small engines needs those low ratio 1st gear offered by 6 speeds to feel snappy. I wouldn’t worry about the reliability of 6 speeds vs 4 speeds. All of the 6 speeds I know uses the same number of clutches as 4 speeds.
Stay away from Corollas and Civics and their CVTs. They rely on heavy hydraulic pressure to minimize their inherent slip.
MPGs is very driver-dependent.
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The “around town” part of the post makes me think hybrid or EV for sure. Hybrids and EVs do better than any other type of car in stop and go situations because of regenerative braking. Depending on your electricity cost, and the cost of gasoline near you, the Prius may even have a lower cost per mile than EVs. As you may already know the Prius is a family of cars now with three sizes to choose from. Prius V is a Top Safety Pick +. If you are really going to be close to home most of the time and have a second car for those occasional 300-mile trips, consider a used EV. The prices of used Leafs and other EVs are shockingly low and heading lower.
The OP said short trips of 300 miles will happen on occasion. That pretty much rules out a battery only powered vehicle.
Hmmm…I wonder why…?
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That’s true. The fact that I get over 40mpg with a 5 speed Yaris, and the fact that I’m still on my original brake pads even though I’ve worn out two sets of tires, is not a coincidence.
I know Prius owners who get less mpg than I do.
I agree. That’s why I included “reliable” in my question.
Thank you @MarkM for your very thoughtful and thorough reply. You know a lot about the lineage of the various models!!
In all our fun vs. boring discussion, there’s one other consideration we’ve all overlooked, and I neglected to mention it in my original post. And that’s safety.
For sure, a small car cannot possibly be as safe as those tanks they call SUV’s, but what about the safety of the small cars as rated against each other?
People here have commented that the Yaris is “tinny”. So does that mean it is less safe than, say, a Fit or a Prius or a Mazda 3?