I'm a little out of touch with new cars now. A good forum with knowledgable people is www.canadiandriver.com

The Pontiac Vibe is the mechanical twin to the Toyota Matrix. An excellent car all around, but will be cheaper used as it carries the Pontiac name instead.

I like my Hyundai Elantra ...

Good luck with your shopping!

i'm happy with my Nissan Sentra bought in August when prices were lower.

We love our Hyundai Elantra. Good quality, good on gas, good expected trade-in value.

Rich blessings.

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MC jae

yes Hyundai makes excellent vehicles.  I remember when they first came out they were cheap in every sense of the word; a throw-away car (The Hyundai Pony)   Now they are nice vehicles.

hmm...i have driven them as rentals and didn't like them; however, each person has their own build and things that are important to them.

Best thing is...test drive... 

see what you can get slightly used

get a good mechanic to check it over

Hi Happy Retiree,

I drive a Mazda 2 in this colour.

I'm very happy with it.

It is hard to lose in a parking lot.

Grace and peace to you.

John

OK, here's how you buy a car:

Identify your needs, and the size and class of car you need, and the size and class you want.  Compare these to your budget.

Read reviews.  Read informed opinions online from those who live with the cars.  Make a short list of cars, but only as many as you have time to look at.

Test drive them all once.  Some dealers will try to entice you with the "if you buy today..." line.  Run away from those turkeys and don't go back.  They're trying a hard sell and aren't worth your time.

Cull the list to only the cars you prefer for their utility, looks, driving dynamics, creature comforts, and expected reliability/resale value.  Ideally, you're down to 2 or 3.

If you are not an expert negotiator, get assistance.  In the GTA, Vancouver/Victoria or Montreal/Ottawa areas, join the APA (www.apa.ca) - a non-profit organization who can provide you with pre-negotiated deals for most vehicles at one area dealership.  You get 3 or so reports with these pre-arranged deals per year.  More if you pay more.

I can not stress this enough - if you are in an area they serve, and are not a car-buying expert (i.e. You asked for assistance on Wondercafe), then join the APA.  The $65 fee is well worth it.  The pre-negotieted deals can be beat by an expert negotiator by about $100.  Most will pay more.  Many would otherwise be hosed.

In the small car segment, I like the Honda Fit, and the Ford Fiesta/Mazda2, though like I said, I don't follow cars like I used to.  The Hyundai Accent just keeps getting better.  Many like the Chevy Cruze, though I'd like GM to make a good small car for a few years before recommending one.  Nissan often makes a larger car than the competitor in some segments, like the Versa is larger than the previously-mentioned cars.  Still don't know if I'm sold on their CVT transmissions, so make sure you drive a CVT for a while before you buy one.  Many people don't like the feel of them.

A lot depends on how you're using it. You say small, so I'm assuming you don't need to carry large loads or anything (though a modern hatchback can be surprisingly roomy if you need to. Mostly city or do you need to do a fair bit of highway?

If it's mostly city, then I'd be going for one of the little subcompact economy boxes like RevJohn's Mazda2 or a Honda Fit. I love these little cars (my first car was the old Pontiac Firefly which also falls in this category but is long since gone) but wouldn't drive one if I need to do a lot of highway. Their little engines don't usually have the pickup needed for passing. However, most of them are hatchbacks with folding rear seats so may actually be able to carry large or odd shaped loads better than a compact with a trunk.

If you do a fair bit of highway, I'd tend to lean to a compact like a Civic, Mazda3, Corolla or the Elantra that a couple folks mentioned. I personally find modern compacts with high tech four cylinder engines can be surprisingly gutsy while still maintaining traditional compact fuel economy.

I drive a Civic (and have for years) and love it. Reliable and economical but still gutsy enough for serious highway driving. Don't expect to stand out in one, though. It's so bloody common that I can often find two or three others within a few spaces of me in any given parking lot.

EDIT: And read chansen's post above mine. Twice. Good advice there.

Mendalla

lol, good point re the cars.  my little silver sentra has been known to be one of three in a row in a parking lot.  

I remember first reading about CVT in Popular Science back in the early eighties, long before it showed up in production vehicles. No experience with it yet myself, but the car geek who works for me (he drives an Audi that he's customized quite a bit) is one of the ones who doesn't like the feel. He's used to knowing his speed and other driving characteristics from the shift points and the CVT doesn't have those discreet shift points.

Mendalla

Story of my life in cars, really. We're very practical about our cars so always tend to end up with something that's popular. The most exotic looking car I think we've had was a '96 Taurus (first year of a major redesign) and even it ended up being a fairly common sight once that design had been on the market for a few years, partly because Bell and some of the rental companies used them as fleet cars which then made it on to the after-market when the leases were up.

Mendalla

My wife and I have a deal -- she gets to pick the car model, I get to pick the car colour. We're sold on the Elantra. I can't imagine us buying anything else. The colours will vary. Currently we have an indigo blue Elantra. I'm thinking our nxt Elantra will be either red or yellow.

Rich blessings.

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MC jae

I want to thank all of you who replied to my cry for help.  I have my new car now and I am very happy with it.  I think that it will work out well for me.

I particularly want to thank Chanson for his long and thoughtful response when he had so much else on his mind.  I have been keeping Carter and his whole family in my prayers.

Just out of curiosity, what did you buy?  (I just bought a new car, will pick it up tomorrow, and also found Chansen's thoughts and links quite helpful.  Thanks, Chansen!  You, your son and family are in my thoughts as well)

I bought a Hyundai Elantra.  We looked at lots of cars but this seemed the best for me.

I only have to fill my '98 Civic Si once a month

Hyundai has had a lot of surprisingly high quality vehicles in the last 4-5 years.  Same with Kia.  Cars from Korea are on the rise.