The Corolla seems cramped inside to me. The Civic looks better body-wise. I haven’t been in one lately. Go where there is no rust and buy an Echo.
The only thing I will add is regarding your comment about the maintenance schedule. In many cases the published maintenance schedule is just not good enough to keep the car going reliably for 200k miles. Depending upon various factors cars often need more than what is called for.
Many people learn this the hard way and often through no fault of their own. The car maker says, ergo…
The car maker is not always right with the marketing department trumping what is best maintenance-wise.
The current Corolla is much larger than previous Corollas and is about as large as a Camry of twenty years ago. If I needed to carry four adults often, the Corolla would be my choice. It also has a nicer interior than the Civic, which is not one of Honda’s best cars, though it should be reliable enough.
I’d definitely consider the Mazda3 as reliability has been similar to the others, it drives better, and it is available as a hatchback. It’s biggest negative is a slightly more cramped back seat. It’s fine for kids and smaller adults, but don’t plan to carry tall adults back there for far. I might also consider the roomy, boxy Scion xB, with its super reliable Toyota underpinnings. I don’t like its instrument panel and some of the interior materials feel a bit cheap, but it is a good value and exceptionally practical.
It’s a tossup; don’t buy one with a CVT transmission. Some Corolla models have it, some don’t.
Hey, I have a new Avalon with a CVT. What’s wrong with them?
I am the only driver and I need a safe, reliable economic car because I carry my treasure in the back: my 5-year old in her car seat. Yes, no booster seat, this one is so much safer and still age appropriate. Having said that additional, very/very important bit of information, what would you suggest???
I think both Honda and Toyota and every other new car has provisions for child seats.
Provision for child seats is a legal and mandatory requirement. Some provisions are more user-friendly than others.
The Corolla L and the more expensive S model can be found with a manual transmission still although much less common than the CVT. The L offers the 4spd automatic from previous years but doesn’t come with features such as a backup camera.
The Civic is mostly CVT except for the LX sedan where you can get a manual transmission but might be harder to find.
btw,
I’ve never had an issue with my CVT either . ( 06 Escape hybrid )
Somebody recommended the Toyota Echo . . .
I disagree, because the Echo is not a high quality Toyota
I believe it will not be comfortable, either
it’s not a very good deal for the money, either. There are better choices out there
If safety is important, I suggest you avoid compact cars altogether. Larger cars are safer than smaller cars. If you insist on a Honda or Toyota, consider the Toyota Avalon. Honda does not build a full size car. The safety crash tests evaluate what would happen if a car collided with another like it and not what would happen if a larger vehicle hit it. Odds are you will never be in a serious accident, but you did mention how important safety is to you. A new Avalon will be a lot more expensive than a Corolla, an you might have to buy a 2 or 3 year old one to equalize purchase price. But the Avalon is reliable and should give you many years of service.
I Second What JTSanders Says. Safety Seems Like A Priority For You, As It Is For Me And My Family. In That Case, Choose A Larger Vehicle! Consider It A Stroke Of Good Fortune That Recent Problems With Your Car Will Put You Into A Safer Vehicle.
Check out any candidates for purchase at informedforlife.com, NHSTA, and IIHS sites. Also, if you have a human agent at a brick and mortar insurance agency, check with her/him on safety and cost to insure the different vehicles. They do not all cost the same to insure.
CSA
The Toyota Echo hasn’t been made in years. It’s now the Yaris, which I agree isn’t a very nice car, but is very reliable and efficient. I wouldn’t recommend it because it’s noisy, underpowered, and has a rough ride. The back seat is also cramped compared to a Civic or Corolla. It’s big enough for a five-year-old, but not for adults. The much nicer (and bigger) Scion xB not only has a very roomy back seat, the rear doors are tall and square, so it is very easy to get into the back seat.
The Honda Fit is also a remarkably roomy small car with plenty of back seat space. It is also often praised for driving better than the other small, inexpensive cars. It has also been exceptionally reliable, getting Consumer Reports highest rating for used car reliability every year it has been sold here. As a smaller car it won’t have quite as smooth a ride as a Civic or Corolla, though it isn’t actually all that small, being bigger than a Civic from the nineties, and a lot roomier. It’s about the cheapest car that would fit your needs and is still a fine car. The Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio are also good inexpensive cars, just not quite as good as the Fit.
The Honda Fit is also a remarkably roomy small car with plenty of back seat space. It is also often praised for driving better than the other small, inexpensive cars
I’ve never done a side-by-side comparison but every time I drive a Fit I find it horribly noisy and rough. And I’ve heard lots of others say the same thing.
I have regular customers who were thinking that the 99 Civic was getting a little long in the tooth, so they bought a 2011 Fit, thinking the Civic would be relegated to extra car status. That Fit still has less than 30,000 miles on it, since the Civic rides so much more comfortably. In fact, on the last driving vacation they took they used the 180,000 mile Civic and left the Fit at home.
The Fit is not a car I’d choose for a long vacation, though it is probably more comfortable than any small car of twenty years ago, and plenty of us drove those long distances. It is a superb city car and a perfectly reasonable commute choice unless the roads are bad, when a bigger car would ride a lot better. Still, we used Fits from Zipcar fairly often for some years and never found them unusually noisy or rough riding. Honda has always been noted for the refinement of their fours, and the Fit’s engine sounded much like our old Civic. Of course, any small car has less soundproofing and will always have a busier ride because of the shorter wheelbase. But they are still no worse than many older cars.
Larger cars are safer than smaller cars. If you insist on a Honda or Toyota, consider the Toyota Avalon. Honda does not build a full size car. The safety crash tests evaluate what would happen if a car collided with another like it and not what would happen if a larger vehicle hit it. Odds are you will never be in a serious accident, but you did mention how important safety is to you
Car doesn’t have to be big to be safe. The Corolla and Civic each received a 5-star rating Their highest rating) from the NHTSA
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Toyota_Corolla/Safety/
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Honda_Civic/Safety/
The IIHS and NHTSA ratings evaluate what old happen if a car hits another like it, not what would happen if a vehicle of different size hit it. here’s a link that shows there are more deaths in small vehicles than large ones.
The IIHS and NHTSA ratings evaluate what old happen if a car hits another like it,
NO… That’s not true. The frontal crash test is hitting an immovable object like a wall. That is NOT the same as hitting a similar size vehicle.
The Fit does get good reviews, I am sure it is noisy because even larger Honda’s are noisy. The gas mileage is not much better than a Civic and when I checked the prices, the price was almost the same as the Civic, so I don’t see the point of torturing oneself in a Fit (and risking having a fit!).