I drove a 1994 Civic EX AT Sedan until the transmission died at 255,000 miles.
For a new car, I need at least 4 doors - for a 2 year old toddler and wife. My wife drives a 2 door early 2000’s Civic LX. Although, she is the one ferrying our kid around the most, she does not want to take over a new car. She just wants my new car to be the family car on the weekends. We take no long trips, – yet and lived around NYC area.
I am looking to keep this car 10-12 years. Long term reliability ties with good gas mileage (I think gas will hit 4.50 by end of 2011).
I have looked at
2011 Civic LX AT sedan (best gas mileage, chepeast price, no traction control or stability control - just sick of the idea of another Civic, let alone an LX when I had an EX and there does not seem to be anything really that much better mechanically on the 2011 EX than the LX.)
2011 Subaru Impreza 2.5i AT hatchback (worst gas mileage of the group, AWD is nice in the snow, repair costs are high, Subaru dealers were a pain to negotiate with)
2011 Mazda3 i Touring Sedan AT (god gas mileage, fun to drive, small trunk, not sure about reliability)
2011 Mazda3 s Sport Hatchback AT (slightly better mileage than Impreza, fun to drive, expensive for what you get, not sure about reliability)
2011 VW Jetta S sedan AT (big trunk, good gas mileage, reliability is not good)
Corollas seemed to be severely outdated.
Am I missing anything in the $20,000 and under segment?