What car should we get?

Question

My husband and I are researching cars and we have narrowed it down to a 2008 Toyota Yaris, or a 2005-2006 Honda Civic or a Honda Fit. He will mostly use it to commute to and from work so we need a good car with good mpg, which teh above have. The question is, which one should we get. My uncle who works for TOyota agreed the Yaris is a good car, as well as the civic and fit, but we are worried about the resale value a Toyota may have as the yaris has only been around for 1 or 2 years. The civic or fit we know has a great reputation for reliability, but we can't afford a brand new car, we have to get a used one, and we are iffy about getting a civic/fit with 18-25k mileage already on it. Anyone have any opinions/input?

Answer 1

are you buying a car to drive or to resale. try looking at the kia rio it has better mpg much longer warranty, and is jd powers no 1. in quality for two straight years beating toyota and honda.  Kia changed into a good car in 2005 and people are starting to look at them again.  

Answer 2

Every recent small car comparison I've read that has included the Yaris has ranked it dead last or very close. It's simply not the well-designed, high-quality Toyota one would expect. The Fit, on the other hand, has topped said comparisons and was a 2007 Car and Driver 10 Best.

My pick: Fit for sure.

Answer 3

go with the toyota its new and wont get stolen like hondas do

Answer 4

The Yaris has the speedometer in a weird place and you may not like it there.

As for mileage I can get better mileage out of a Chevy Cobalt or Cavalier than the Honda or Toyota give you. I drove a Cobalt from LA to Vegas in June and got 41.6 MPG. Driving my daughter's 2005 Cavalier to West Virginia from LA in August we got an average of 33MPG and only that bad because we were not driving for mileage, ripping through the western states at 80.

And note that a car with less than 30K mileage on it is still almost as good as new. You do not need to be iffy at all on a car with mileage below this.

Answer 5

get a Honda Fit

the yaris is unstable at hwy speeds, has poor brakes and a noisy unrefined engine.

the center mounted gauges may become less annoying but the poor ride will never go away.