Best Subcompact Cars in the US & Global

[csandste]

Originally Posted By: Jett Rink
Originally Posted By: FordBroncoVWJeta
VW is still calling it the Golf, since 1974......


I wasn't how VW is naming this car now. There is a family living down the street from me that has a farly new one. I see it everyday when I walk my dog. But it says "POLO" on the back. It's a nice looking hatchback. So I thought they might have changed the name. Or maybe this is just a variation of the Golf. They called it the Rabbit when I was young.


Polo is smaller. They did rename the Golf the Rabbit in the US for one generation Golf Mk5 in 2006-according to Wikipedia. I thought it was one of the better looking variants but I have a feeling the name Golf would be far more popular, people want to think they're driving a German car, afterall. Don't know what they were thinking with the Rabbit hiccup.

 

[FordBroncoVWJeta]

Originally Posted By: Jett Rink
Originally Posted By: FordBroncoVWJeta
VW is still calling it the Golf, since 1974......


I wasn't how VW is naming this car now. There is a family living down the street from me that has a farly new one. I see it everyday when I walk my dog. But it says "POLO" on the back. It's a nice looking hatchback. So I thought they might have changed the name. Or maybe this is just a variation of the Golf. They called it the Rabbit when I was young.
Polo is only sold in Europe. As far as I know they never sold it in the US. Maybe he imported one or rebaged it?

 

[hpb]

Polo is sold in Oz too, not just Europe. We also used to get the VW Up (smaller than Polo), don't think the US saw that one either.

Pick of the baby cars at the moment is the Mazda 2. That's what I'd be buying if I were in the market for a subcompact.

 

[NewEnglander]

Loved watching the Polo in the WRC when VW was running. Wish it was over here.

Does anyone have or worked on a Honda Fit? My future brother in law has one and seems to like it quite a bit. There are a few high mileage ones in my neighborhood I might kick the tires on but wasn't sure if the engines and other components have stood the test of time as well as what is in the Yaris. I had Honda motorcycles back in the day but haven't been in the Honda world as recently as Subaru, Mazda, Hyundai, or Kia.

Again, would be our secondary car so not even a DD or for much beyond popping around town and such so won't be asking it to do cross country drives.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: NewEnglander
Loved watching the Polo in the WRC when VW was running. Wish it was over here.

Does anyone have or worked on a Honda Fit? My future brother in law has one and seems to like it quite a bit. There are a few high mileage ones in my neighborhood I might kick the tires on but wasn't sure if the engines and other components have stood the test of time as well as what is in the Yaris. I had Honda motorcycles back in the day but haven't been in the Honda world as recently as Subaru, Mazda, Hyundai, or Kia.

Again, would be our secondary car so not even a DD or for much beyond popping around town and such so won't be asking it to do cross country drives.

Honda Fit could get a bit cabin noisy. Some people complain it's not really powerful...
The back seats fold FLAT.

Yaris: decide which version would work for you. the sedan was longer, but consumed more (still 30-32 mpg no matter what).
The hatch did come in 3 doors or 5-doors versions.
There was one guy who went from Midwest to Alaska and back with a hatch....
One crazy obs: keep your feet out of the range of the 2 front door. the lower corner is sharp and the door heavy. Had more than a couple ouchies over the years.
I took an '08 Yaris sedan Pacific Blue to 64k miles and 10 years.
notable things:
-even if I didn't rotate the tires, both sets of tires had not a lot of difference between front and back
-Paint hold on fine, even to a week of crazy doves trying to next on my wipers; but some scratches from them walking....

If buying used, check for all recalls being done. If not you do them....most important, airbags and driver rails hardware...

Now Yaris Humor:
-the champion on the Toyota forum is ravin' and getting cheer up from everybody while reaching 320k miles (FL medical courier). A guy just chime in "we have a parking lot at work full of these. company replaces the engines at 500k miles for liability purposes and they get sold. Usually to the same sales guy who drove them to 500k miles...."

 

[NewEnglander]

Originally Posted By: pandus13

Loved watching the Polo in the WRC when VW was running. Wish it was over here.

Yaris: decide which version would work for you. the sedan was longer, but consumed more (still 30-32 mpg no matter what).
The hatch did come in 3 doors or 5-doors versions.
There was one guy who went from Midwest to Alaska and back with a hatch....
One crazy obs: keep your feet out of the range of the 2 front door. the lower corner is sharp and the door heavy. Had more than a couple ouchies over the years.
I took an '08 Yaris sedan Pacific Blue to 64k miles and 10 years.
notable things:
-even if I didn't rotate the tires, both sets of tires had not a lot of difference between front and back
-Paint hold on fine, even to a week of crazy doves trying to next on my wipers; but some scratches from them walking....

If buying used, check for all recalls being done. If not you do them....most important, airbags and driver rails hardware...

Now Yaris Humor:
-the champion on the Toyota forum is ravin' and getting cheer up from everybody while reaching 320k miles (FL medical courier). A guy just chime in "we have a parking lot at work full of these. company replaces the engines at 500k miles for liability purposes and they get sold. Usually to the same sales guy who drove them to 500k miles...."


Thanks for the feedback. I am hearing some real legendary stories about the Yaris and their lifespan. I think my biggest challenge here is living in New England the snow, salt, and other factors hurt the bodies more than lots of other places, and I can't say everyone up this way takes good care of their cars in that regard. I think ideally I could find someone that garaged it on a regular basis, or moved up here from down South. Always fun being on the hunt for a deal.

But the Fit is a compelling alternative too, and with a timing chain and strong track record globally it could be a match. Thanks for the tips.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: NewEnglander
Thanks for the feedback. I am hearing some real legendary stories about the Yaris and their lifespan. I think my biggest challenge here is living in New England the snow, salt, and other factors hurt the bodies more than lots of other places, and I can't say everyone up this way takes good care of their cars in that regard. I think ideally I could find someone that garaged it on a regular basis, or moved up here from down South. Always fun being on the hunt for a deal.

But the Fit is a compelling alternative too, and with a timing chain and strong track record globally it could be a match. Thanks for the tips.


If you want to see how they handle rust (owners maintenance depending), hop on your local craigslist/cars dot com/autotrader and search for 2007-2011 Yaris/Fit with over 100k miles and look at the pictures....

 

[FutureDoc]

Nissan LEAF

If you already have the RIO for longer-trips, the LEAF is the best subcompact if you can live with the 80 or so miles of range. And they are now stupid cheap.

 

[NewEnglander]

Originally Posted By: FutureDoc
Nissan LEAF

If you already have the RIO for longer-trips, the LEAF is the best subcompact if you can live with the 80 or so miles of range. And they are now stupid cheap.


I'd do it but I am not sure the wife could get past the battery anxiety. Will give it more thought though, thanks for the idea

 

[wemay]

I left one out and it's probably the best of the lot...

Toyota IA (Mazda2) with manual gear shift.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger
I can't believe Ford isn't brining the new Fiesta to tge US. Instead, they're dropping it. Bad move. Not everyone wants an Ecosport.


It's also because all of the domestic nameplate HATERZ in this land refuse to buy a sub compact from any domestic manufacturer, DESPITE how great the Fiesta is with the manual transaxle (because they also REFUSE to shift their own gears as well).

 

[DaRider34]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger
I can't believe Ford isn't brining the new Fiesta to tge US. Instead, they're dropping it. Bad move. Not everyone wants an Ecosport.


It's also because all of the domestic nameplate HATERZ in this land refuse to buy a sub compact from any domestic manufacturer, DESPITE how great the Fiesta is with the manual transaxle (because they also REFUSE to shift their own gears as well).

why buy a fiesta when u can get a focus for a little bit more money?

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger
I can't believe Ford isn't brining the new Fiesta to tge US. Instead, they're dropping it. Bad move. Not everyone wants an Ecosport.


It's also because all of the domestic nameplate HATERZ in this land refuse to buy a sub compact from any domestic manufacturer, DESPITE how great the Fiesta is with the manual transaxle (because they also REFUSE to shift their own gears as well).

So what if they "refuse" to shift their own gears? That's the market, plain and simple.

 

[NewEnglander]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger
I can't believe Ford isn't brining the new Fiesta to tge US. Instead, they're dropping it. Bad move. Not everyone wants an Ecosport.


It's also because all of the domestic nameplate HATERZ in this land refuse to buy a sub compact from any domestic manufacturer, DESPITE how great the Fiesta is with the manual transaxle (because they also REFUSE to shift their own gears as well).

OK I'll bite. I'll even go so far as to say I'd consider picking up a manual Fiesta for myself and the wife can take the Rio.

I need to read up but are the manuals completely free of the wretched transmission problems in the automatics? Guilt by association is tough to beat.

 

[eyeofthetiger]

Originally Posted By: DaRider34
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger
I can't believe Ford isn't brining the new Fiesta to tge US. Instead, they're dropping it. Bad move. Not everyone wants an Ecosport.


It's also because all of the domestic nameplate HATERZ in this land refuse to buy a sub compact from any domestic manufacturer, DESPITE how great the Fiesta is with the manual transaxle (because they also REFUSE to shift their own gears as well).

why buy a fiesta when u can get a focus for a little bit more money?


Why pay more money for something you don't want or need?
bigger != better

 

[Jett Rink]

Quote:
Polo is only sold in Europe. As far as I know they never sold it in the US. Maybe he imported one or rebaged it?


They just moved in a month or two ago. I really haven't spoken with them yet. I heard the dad is either in the military, or recently retired from it. I think the mom drives this Polo around.

I am guessing he was stationed in Europe and got it over there, then shipped it back here, if it is only sold in Europe. I hope there aren't any major VW parts differences between US and Europe models. I guess you could always have the VW dealer order them from back in Germany.

There have been a couple parts here and there on my old Benz that online parts sellers here in US don't carry, so the local dealer had to order it from back in some warehouse in Germany. They weren't really expensive, just had to wait a couple weeks for them to get here.

 

[Subdued]

+1 on the yaris

 

[Jett Rink]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger
I can't believe Ford isn't brining the new Fiesta to tge US. Instead, they're dropping it. Bad move. Not everyone wants an Ecosport.


It's also because all of the domestic nameplate HATERZ in this land refuse to buy a sub compact from any domestic manufacturer, DESPITE how great the Fiesta is with the manual transaxle (because they also REFUSE to shift their own gears as well).

I don't think buyers around here are hating on the car. They just don't know it exists, unless they are really up on Ford cars. The only Fords I ever see marketed are their pickups or Mustangs. Local dealers go on TV commercials talking about what all they are offering and the deals they are making, but they don't ever mention this car.

Just doesn't seem to me that Ford or the dealers are much interested in selling them. If so, can you fault the public for not beating down the doors of that dealership to demand one?

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger
Why pay more money for something you don't want or need?
bigger != better


The market speaks and disagrees. Remember over 50% of the population is overweight/obese. Many of them just don't even fit in a small car. I hear them talk and they're always looking for big cars/trucks because they don't fit in small ones.

 

[NewEnglander]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger
Why pay more money for something you don't want or need?
bigger != better


The market speaks and disagrees. Remember over 50% of the population is overweight/obese. Many of them just don't even fit in a small car. I hear them talk and they're always looking for big cars/trucks because they don't fit in small ones.


You're not kidding. A friend has a Silverado and recently took a new job with a much longer commute. He asked me how I liked the Rio, which I am fanatical about, but I cannot imagine he would be comfortable (350ish lbs) in it or like it much if he tried it out. He would be heavier than my wife and I combined in the thing.

I do think the designers have stretched them out about as far as one can do but there are physical realities.