Need an affordable used commuter car- what should I get?

[many_styles]

Echoing everyone else’s recs on the Honda Fit. If you drive a manual, it’s the more zippy version. Fits 4 comfortably, super utilitarian; magic seats can fold down completely flat to store A LOT of things, fold the seat bottoms up, and you could actually fit a bike standing up, perpendicular to the car.

I bought a 2010 with around 70k, for about $8-9k. You get Honda reliability!

Cheers,
Alex


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[Llewellyn]

Hard to go past a Corolla. They're like the Energiser Bunny - they just keep going and going.

[Ozz]

2nd Gen Prius has an amazing amount of space in small package...plenty of room in backseat for strapping in kids, and cargo area is great.

For around-town driving it is great...don't love it on the freeway cuz so small.

We have a 2008, and it is relegated to the "kids" car....only gas and oil changes for 12+ years / 80,000 miles. Battery seems just fine....we get 35 mpg without trying too hard.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

You can get a decent Prius for that much money, you pretty much can’t go wrong.

https://inlandempire.craigslist.org/...129121961.html

Something like this is what I’d buy.

Unless you need a new battery..

[eddief]

why not?

[NHAero]

Still driving my 2008 Fit bought 10-1/2 years ago used. +100 on what p nut wrote. So wished that they turned one into a plug-in hybrid, but they've gone the other direction with their small cars.

Originally Posted by p nut

Another vote for a Honda Fit. About 10 years ago, I bought one second hand for around $8k. Had 70k miles on it. 2007, 5-sp sport. Quite zippy for a 1.5L. Also fit 3 bikes in the back and could’ve fit a 4th. (Front wheels off). Magic seats allow very tall items to fit as well. I’ve fit a 7-foot table with 8 chairs, something like 900 bottled waters, various lumber. It’s like a mini-minivan. You just keep cramming stuff in and it....fits. Along with my two kids. Such a useful car.
I’d recommend it over any other subcompact.

[merlinmurph]

Originally Posted by cinema

the batteries last about ten years. time, not use, kills them.

Is that true? I always heard that it was the number of charging cycles a battery went thru that determined its life. Or maybe in the case of the Prius, the battery gets old before it hits its charging cycle life. Just curious.

[biker72]

Another vote for the Honda Fit. My daughter now has my old 2013 Fit. Surprisingly large interior with the back seats folded down. Just tires, battery, and oil changes so far.

[mcfarton]

I have a Honda Element with 250000 miles on it and love it. You can find one in your price range but it will have some mileage. I can put my two kids in it no problem. If I take out the kids seats I can put two road bikes in with the wheels on without them touching each other. It’s the best car ever because I don’t care what happens to it


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[NHAero]

I have to on the one hand trust Cinema's own experience, and consider it along with the fact that being in the environmental design field I have known scores of Prius owners over the past 20 years and not one that I'm aware of has ever had to replace a battery.

Originally Posted by merlinmurph

Is that true? I always heard that it was the number of charging cycles a battery went thru that determined its life. Or maybe in the case of the Prius, the battery gets old before it hits its charging cycle life. Just curious.

[hokoman]

I have a Fit, it's a 2012 that just tipped 30k miles (12k of those miles in the last 2 years). Gets 30 mpg with a roof rack/basket. The 'magic seats' makes carrying things easy, and with the seats down, the back is really big. I can carry A LOT of junk with mine.

The only complaint about the car is that the headlights completely suck, but I spent $800 and ordered some custom Morimoto LED projectors. Totally worth it in my opinion.

[cinema]

actually don't know much at all about battery manufacturing for priuses, other than my own experience.i have had 3 gen 2 priuses. the first one was totaled when it was 11 years old. it had 150k on it and never needed its battery replaced, but it was losing some mpgs by the time i was hit.

second one (2005) needed battery replacement after 11 years or so. it only had 80-90k miles on it. toyota covered that under warranty. i bought the car after it had the warranty repair done years ago and gave it to my sister, who is still driving it with 150k miles on it.

third one i bought after someone totaled mine. it was 12 years old and had 190k miles on it and the battery died. it was replaced by the seller right before i got it. i'm driving it now and we're at around 220k.

so on average, regardless of mileage, these batteries seem to die around 10 years or so after being manufactured. bumming around priuschat for a couple years, it seems to me that's the consensus there as well. I do all the maintenance which is very easy on these vehicles. main things tend to be the cvt water pump (yes there are two water pump) which last about 100k miles if you're lucky and the hybrid battery every 10 years. My little 1.5L girl is getting a bit tired at 220k but it's to be expected. I've driven it from los angeles to washington DC and back.

fyi the gen2 prius has more interior volume than all later versions as well as more room than the honda fit. i can sleep with the seats down inside, and fit two bikes in there if i want to. a 54cm road bike will usually fit with the wheel on if you're good at tetris and a 29+ will fit on top of it with the front wheel removed.

[jimcav]

the prius battery is supposed to be good for 10yrs/150k
https://www.caranddriver.com/researc...-battery-life/

[Leyczo]

Originally Posted by p nut

Another vote for a Honda Fit. About 10 years ago, I bought one second hand for around $8k. Had 70k miles on it. 2007, 5-sp sport. Quite zippy for a 1.5L. Also fit 3 bikes in the back and could’ve fit a 4th. (Front wheels off). Magic seats allow very tall items to fit as well. I’ve fit a 7-foot table with 8 chairs, something like 900 bottled waters, various lumber. It’s like a mini-minivan. You just keep cramming stuff in and it....fits. Along with my two kids. Such a useful car.
I’d recommend it over any other subcompact.

Yep, I also had a 2007 fit sport with a five speed. It is bigger on the inside than most cars I have been in. I am 6'4" and fit in the back seats just fine. With the seats folded down the cargo capacity is amazing. If people made good decisions almost all of us would drive honda fits.

[Ken Robb]

How much do you value comfort and crashworthiness? So many of the comments above are about reliability and fuel economy and those are surely important considerations but maybe a bigger car would be worth consideration even if it used a little more fuel. Just one example from MY perspective: I would rather commute on SoCal freeways in rush hour in a Camry than a Yaris. We have a 2014 Mazda 3 sedan that still drives like new at 70,000 miles and only had one problem with its pop-up screen. That was a common problem so Mazda extended warranty coverage on all of them and replaced the screens free.

"My" car is a 2019 Civic Si and for $25,000 out-the-door it is LOTS of fun with terrific driving dynamics, comfy interior and 32 mpg overall since new. Only routine maintenance but that's only been one visit since it hasn't even hit 8,000 miles yet. I'm retired so even when not avoiding COV-19 it can sit in the garage for days at a time. Routine service is a bit more expensive than the Mazda but this may well be due to different price models between the two dealers. FWIW Pacific Honda's service department only rates a "C" from me whereas John Hine Mazda is an "A".