New cheap cars?
 

I'm trying to find(for my wife) the least expensive new car as possible without buying junk. She's currently driving a 94 escort wagon, which she doesn't mind at at all(she's very practical), no frills, automatic and a/c is all she cares about. I looked online but could only find pricing where a dealer will call or email me back with pricing. I would like to research and compare pricing myself, I know there are web sites out there and I've seen TV commercials for them but I'm drawing a blank.

Any suggestions on make or model? I'm not afraid to by american nor am I a opposed to foreign. She just wants an inexpensive, economical, reliable and safe car.
I'd like to find a new 05 if possible?

You're not going to find a NEW 05- - the 07's are already on the lot.

check out the new Civics. The top end fully loaded (leather, GPS, etc etc) is 23k, and the more base models are much lower.

Saturn Sky isn;t bad if you want a 2 seater roadster

manual trans starts at 25,195

and the Redline version is 28,895

http://www.saturn.com/saturn/vehicle...over_sky_Aug06

you've not stated any sort of budget... I'm assumming since you are hoping for an 05 it's because you want to spend <$13,000?

Does she still want a wagon? Details are helpful to assist you in making a smart choice...4 or 6 cyldr. ? Seating for how many? Airbags all around or just in front? Want a hybrid? Are you trading in her Escort? What's it's blue book value? C'mon...there are lot's of good cars out there now with terrific warranties too.

vehix has a search engine, where you can see new / used inventory in your zip code.
there are also sites like autos.yahoo & autotrader

Exactly, that why I said cheap new car, the $12,000 to $13,000 price point is key, she likes the hatch or wagon idea but inexpensive is key so a 4dr sedan would be acceptble. Front air bags a must but sides would be nice if it did add thousands. Hybrid's are too expensive unfortunately. Oh not trading, I thought selling it outright would be best.

Chamaeleontidae, thanks for the websites!

Suzuki's are pretty cheap brand new... also check out pricing on cars such as the Ford Fusion, Dodge Neons, the new Volkswagen Rabbit, Chevy Cobalt, etc. for the most part these cars are around 13 to 15k brand new.

Honda's Fit, Toyota's Yaris, and Nissan's Versa are all within your price range.

The Versa rates the best out of all of them: http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/ov...an&model=Versa

Civic my friend. Reliable, good milage, cheap and you can crash the living fuck out of them and walk away.

(Clavus sliently thanks God that his Civic crashed and not his *shudder* Ford)

I'd vote for the civic as well.

Thank you all! You have given us some great ideas. We got a reprieve for the moment, the old ford is back running, for now. We can take are time and make the right choice.

http://www.scion.com/ Scions are good cars that are made by toyota and dirt cheap. think even the most expensive model sedan starts at like 16k with AC and all that good stuff. Since they use toyota parts they should last for a very long time.

Civics are ok too but i think they just look cheap as hell when they really arnt cheap enough to justify the looks. But thats just my opinion.

Brew, it's a good trime to buy, towards the end of the year when dealers are trying to clear their lots. www.edmunds.com, www.kbb.com are good sources for finding the value of your car etc. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Volkswagon just came out with the new Golf city and Jetta city. they're almost the same as a regular jetta but with a very low pricetag. with everything included, it came up to 22,000$ Canadian. the previous jettas were around 30k. so it's a big improvement. :)

Hyundai's and Kia's are getting better and better. A Kio Rio would probably fit right into your budget with pretty good reliability and a very long warranty.

I'd look at a new Hyundai or a used Civic.

Seconded. Kia has a nice fat warranty and their cars are cheap. If you don't care what you drive and just need something that is going to run. Get one of the Rios.

I might look into a hyundai elantra if I were you. I've got an 03 gls with 60k miles and have had no problems. I am the original owner and take pretty good care of her though. lots of 80+mph highway driving, drag racing, hell I even turboed it until I sold the kit for a motorcycle.

the fuel economy doesnt blow me away though, I average 29mpg.

if you have to have new, its hard to beat the bang for buck of the hyundai.

I got my elantra (manual trans) for $12,000 OTD. take your time to go to all of the dealerships, prices can vary wildly for the exact same car. the dealership before that wanted to charge me $12900 more for the same car.

Im pretty sure they offer a GLS hatchback as well...not quite a wagon, but gives you a little extra room.

nothing to say

Just to add another little something. I am hearing more and more good things about Chevy Aveo's