Hi I need a car. I have a budget of about $25K. I prefer small and foreign. I haven’t driven in 11 years. Gas mileage is important - and snow driving (this is Chicago). Looking at Golf, Mazda 3, Fit Hybrid… What else would you suggest? Manual preferred, if available from the manufacturer.
Look at the Hyundai Elantra. You can get it fully loaded with everything for less than your budget.
How about the new Impreza, supposed to do well as far as mpgs. And do you mean the Insight hybrid? There’s not a Fit hybrid. What are your needs as far as people and hauling?
If I lived in Chicago, I’d go for the new Elantra as well. Equipped with good winter tires, it will get you through all local driving situations. The Elantrra has great gas mileage as well.The Mazda 3 is a great handling car and has proven very reliable.
No need to even spend the whole $25000! Avoid any Volkswagen; the service costs later on will depress you.
Hyundai Elantra. 40 MPG. The hatchback version comes out in 2012.
Oh, and also if you can wait for 2 weeks to a month, the Veloster, also from Hyundai, is very promising on paper. It should be showing up at dealerships within the next couple of weeks. From the specs, it looks like it’ll be one hell of a fun car, and economic as well.
Ford Focus.
Really - you’re considering a Mazda3 but you won’t consider a vehicle that uses the same engine, a modernized version of the same chassis, is cheaper and comes with considerably higher gas mileage, all because of the badge?