There are just some of my car shopping notes.
I’m not the most radical offline privacy advocate out there (hey, you’re on my internet blog). But when I buy a gadget, appliance, or car the primary feature I look for these days is no online connectivity or app.
I rented a Toyota where every time you started the car it would display a tap-to-dismiss message on the iPad suggesting I subscribe to their navigation service. Beyond the privacy nightmare that cars are now, that really sealed the deal on me never owning a modern car.
No internet connectivity
This rules out everything from the mid 2010s onward. You may be able to pull a fuse to disable the antenna in newer cars, but if that’s necessary, the car is probably so reliant on computers that it could cause problems. This includes OnStar, LoJack, etc.
Small
I like efficiency, visibility, fuel economy, ease of parking, etc. Giving in to Mad Max arms race of giant SUVs so you can feel safe makes the road actually less safe for everyone. It’s such an antisocial cycle. <170in length is the benchmark here.
Safe
The bar for me is when side-curtain airbags became common in the 2000s. A 1991 CRX or Corolla would be sweet, but cars have have become too much safer since the 90s and everything else on the road is twice the size and weight. This rules out kei trucks, as neat at they would be.
Hatchback
I need a hatchback to make the most of my tiny car. I don’t know why we gave up practical hatchbacks for oversized crossovers in the US.
Simple, Reliable, Reparable
I don’t know a lot about cars but it’s nice when something has as few parts to break as possible. This means I’m looking for things like:
Cars have been increasingly computerized for decades, but 2015 is when backup cameras became mandatory and everything got LCD touch screens, so that’s really my breaking point when cars start going off the deep end.
To be clear, I don’t hate all features on principle. ABS, traction control, and cruise control are certainly nice features.
There are no hard rules for reliability. You have to research the best model years (Reddit/CarComplaints). But despite being a flawed/oversimplified standard, I would prefer a car Made in Japan.
Fun/Speed
I drive the speed limit in the right lane. I am boring.
Road Noise
Every tiny car has road noise. The geometry of hatchbacks make them even worse for road noise. It’s a bad variable to try to optimize in this segment. Fill up the empty space with sound-deadening material.
Cargo Space
My old Hyundai Accent could carry two kayaks, a pinball machine, and tow the smallest U-Haul trailer. I simply don’t need more room than this.
Passengers
I only drive myself and my partner.
Price
It just so happens that older, no-frills econoboxes are pretty cheap. If they still made a brand new subcompact hatch that wasn’t an overcomplicated, cloud-connected data siphon, I would happily buy that.
Due to my above criteria, all my ideal cars are in the 2007-2014 range, but other 2000s models would be good too if you can find them in good condition.
In order from shortest to longest. Prices are ballpark for a nice, clean title, 1-owner, manual transmission with 100k miles currently for sale. AT models would be cheaper and more negotiable.
Length: 153.5in (2014)
Price: ~$9,000
If you have given up all pretense of being cool and just need tiny, reliable car, the Yaris is the car. These are one of the absolute bestselling cars in Japan and we don’t even sell them in the US anymore.
The hatchback is available in a 2-door model which isn’t any smaller, but gives off superb “I drive a very small car” vibes. If you don’t need the space, I think this is the best alternative to a Honda Fit.
Length: 154.7 (2014)
Price: ~$7,000
I love Scions. They’re cheap, efficient, made in Japan, simple cars that actually have personality. The Toyota parts are reliable and widely available. As a plus, they even had nice sound systems, no trim levels, and no-haggle pricing. It’s the exact stuff people will say they want when you ask what they’re looking for in a car.
Naturally the brand completely failed.
The xD is a nice little hatchback nobody wants. They never appear on best small car lists. No one ever remembers them. They’re completely overshadowed by the dominance of the more spacious, common, and practical Honda Fits and the much more distinctive Scion xB. It’s like a Yaris styled for kids too cool to buy a Yaris. Get one pre-2015 to avoid the touch screen.
As a potential positive/negative, the seating position of an xD is pretty high for a compact hatchback.
The predecessor xAs are worth considering, but are barely cheaper than a newer, more powerful xD.
Length: 155.3in
Price:: ~$6,000
The first gen (2004-2007) xBs are some of the most distinctive little boxes ever. I’ll never understand how the Kia Soul won the box wars over this thing. It is partially because the second gen grandma-mobiles (2008+) are so much bigger, less efficient, and uglier that they’re partially responsible for tanking Scion altogether.
These have stupid center-mounted gauge clusters similar to other Scions/Toyotas of the era. They’re also not the best in crash tests. But if you want one of these, it’s #1 on your list. Nothing would talk you out of it.
Length: 155in (2013)
Price: ~$5,000
I must be the only person who considered buying a Mazda2 because these cars are cheap and do not sell quickly. Ones I saw for sale near me had kind of ratty interiors, maybe owing to the build quality. I was mainly considering them because the price was lower than everything similar and I like the green color.
It has holes for real screw-in roof racks which is really nice because that IKEA BILLY bookcase won’t fit in a car this small.
Length: 159.3 (2014)
Price: ~$7,000
Another barebones, tiny, manual transmission hatchback. It meets everything I’m looking for. Unless it was significantly cheaper or as safe, I don’t know why I’d pick it over a Honda/Toyota though.
Model year 2014-2015 are the newest with no touch screen. 2013s have a lot of reliability complaints for whatever reason.
Length: 161.6in (2012)
Price: ~$9,000
Everything about the Fit is the most practical car ever. They’re common, cheap, reliable, roomy, even fun. The manual AC circulation lever is the kind of dead-simple, no electronics design I wish ever component in my car had.
The only negative relative to similar cars is complaints about weak air conditioning because the car is a big greenhouse and the compressor constantly cycles on and off. The 2007-2008 first gen had fixable issues with hatch leaks to be aware of and are considered the least comfortable. 2015 had issues with faulty fuel injectors and peeling paint as manufacturing moved out of Japan, plus you get the stupid touch screen.
2012 is the ideal model year, but I would buy anything from 2009-2012 with the Sport trim so I get cruise control and radical spoiler.
Length: 144.7in (2014)
Price: ~$6,000
Wow, this car is a serious cutie patootie. I can’t believe just a decade ago, an American car company was making this thing (well, its Korean subsidiary)! This thing had manual locks, mirrors, and windows for its entire lifespan. Rad.
Like the Mirage, these are among the deadliest cars on the road and I don’t know about GM reliability compared to a Fit/Yaris. They are cheap and common though.
Length: 148.8in (2014)
Price: ~$5,000
It is a widely hated car by online influencers, because it’s obviously not a fun and exciting car. It is the cheapest, least frills, A-to-B new car you can buy. I found multiple owner reviews from non-car-people who loved this little modern day Geo Metro.
Unfortunately, for all the tiny and simple virtues of the Mirage, it is by some metrics the deadliest car on the road (and by any metric towards the top), which for peace of mind reasons excludes it for me.
Length: 157.3in (2016)
Price: ~$11,000
The Prius c isn’t winning awards for fun or simplicity. It’s a CVT hybrid with a stupid touch screen. It is an exceptionally small and practical car though, so it deserves mention. It also looks a lot less dorky than a regular Prius. For a person whose truly only concern is efficient and reliable A-to-B, a Prius has to be up there as a top option.
Length: 160.1in (2014)
Price: ~$10,000
This is not the simplest, most practical car. It has a turbocharged engine and optional much-lauded racing bucket seats. But I still considered it because it’s tiny and there’s more to life than practicality.
Two issues are build quality (there are numerous complaints of rust) and that probably 95% of them have a salvage title because it’s a cheap hot hatch for kids so they were all wrecked. A Fiesta ST with 100k miles had a much, much harder life than a 100k miles Yaris.
2012-2014 are the ideal years. 2015+ added a stupid touch screen.
Length: 161.6in (2011)
Price: ~$6,000
The winner of the box-on-wheels wars and the smallest SUV you can get. You need to be wary of oil consumption issues in 2012-2016 model years, which are kind of the golden years for cars I’m interested in, so 2011 is the ideal model year. While it is short, it is still bigger than any other car on this list, and I’d prefer one of the regular hatchbacks.
Regular Car Reviews amusingly calls the Kia Soul 6MT “The enthusiast variant of a car sold to people who hate driving” which feels too accurate.
Length: 162in (2012)
Price: ~$6,000
I drove a 2012 Accent SE for 13 years until a deer ran into it and now here I am car shopping. It doesn’t have a reputation for quality. I got 3-4 various recalls, some flaking interior paint, broken radio buttons, broken plastic behind a seat, and a busted AC compressor. But like the Mazda2, this has holes for real screw-in roof racks! So practical!
Accents are not the safest cars on the road. I figured I could upgrade rather than rebuy an Accent.
Length: 165.4in (2014)
Price: ~$8,000
Nothing about the Golf appeals to me over the smaller, cheaper, more efficient Japanese cars. German cars have a reputation for being less reliable and more expensive to repair. In a vacuum, it’s fine, but I don’t know why I’d choose this over something else.
Length: 167.4in (2013)
Price: $9,000??
The C30 is a distinctive 2-door hatch I was looking at while investigating if there was a more “upscale” hatchback. It has a turbocharged engine, isn’t the roomiest in terms of cargo space, and it’s longer and probably more expensive to maintain than most other cars I was considering
Most importantly, I couldn’t find a single manual transmission near me. These just aren’t common.
Some more cars I looked at that didn’t make the cut mostly for being too big, complex, or expensive to maintain, but if you’re into the above cars you’re probably also looking at: