What's the best new car under $10,000?

[brages]

I ran across this old Car and Driver comparison from 1992.

https://www.caranddriver.com/review...d-nine-more-compact-cars-archived-comparison/

1992 doesn't seem THAT long ago to me. I even have a 1997 pickup. But looking at these 2000-lb cars, some without power steering - and all with manual transmissions, of course - wow, things have changed!

These cars would all be considered "death traps" today...

 

[Wylie6G72]

Some brilliant little cars in that list....when you ponied up for the performance versions of them.

 

[brages]

A college pal of mine had one of those 323's... this was a few years after the article was written. I knew another guy who traded in an Isuzu Impulse for one of those Saturns. I think his Saturn was a little more upmarket, though.

I had a Chevrolet Caprice... pretty typical for a college kid to have a full-sized "safe" American boat of a car.

Knew a couple of guys from Thailand who had a 3rd-gen Maxima. I thought that car was amazing...


Anyway, one of the biggest differences between then and now is that back when I started driving, normal cars were SO SLOW...!

 

[Trav]

Today this is about it.

 

[92saturnsl2]

I loved the part in the Escort review that read -- "dealer installed radio extra".

If only people were that frugal these days, and the average new car price wouldn't be $50k or whatever it is now...

 

[KS-Ryan]

I'll take a 1992 Honda Civic Hatchback!

 

[john_pifer]

I would think you could still get some kind of Mitsubishi or a Versa for around $12,000.

 

[Hyundai Respecter]

The Sentra in the SE-R trim was a blast to drive back then.

 

[charbaby]

When we bought our first Honda Accord LX automatic in 1988(~$14K), the DX version of this car DID NOT HAVE:
AC, PW, or the passenger side outside mirror. And the outside mirrors were manual/joystick type and the AC was even dealer installed...among other missing features. I mean, this DX was really decontented. All Accords were manual transmission to start with.

 

[Hyundai Respecter]

I would think you could still get some kind of Mitsubishi or a Versa for around $12,000.

Up until a couple years ago you could, but when they both got redesigned, the price shot up. They start around $15k now.

 

[Slick3914]

The Payne Pika gets good reviews.

 

[PandaBear]

Does it have to meet all US regulation? I think the only one that cost less than $10k today is going to be some Indian or Chinese death trap. If for US market before the pandemic, the closest may be Mitsubishi Mirage.

 

[odie]

Saw a NEON . Remarkable .

 

[K.Aoi]

Adjusted for inflation, $10,000 in 1992 would be over $20,000 now, so new cars are actually CHEAPER relatively speaking. The problem is that median US income in 1992 was $52,000, today it's only ~$67,000. So relatively speaking things are cheaper now than they were then, but average pay has not increased the requisite amount to account for inflation so purchasing power is much lower.

 

[addyguy]

Had a white 1994 Mazda 323 1.6 5-speed hatch back. Beat the hell out of it for 2 years or so around 2003. Very solid, reliable car with an engine that took a lot of abuse.

 

[Blinker]

When we bought our first Honda Accord LX automatic in 1988(~$14K), the DX version of this car DID NOT HAVE:
AC, PW, or the passenger side outside mirror. And the outside mirrors were manual/joystick type and the AC was even dealer installed...among other missing features. I mean, this DX was really decontented. All Accords were manual transmission to start with.

I guess the D in DX stood for de-contented.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Adjusted for inflation, $10,000 in 1992 would be over $20,000 now, so new cars are actually CHEAPER relatively speaking. The problem is that median US income in 1992 was $52,000, today it's only ~$67,000. So relatively speaking things are cheaper now than they were then, but average pay has not increased the requisite amount to account for inflation so purchasing power is much lower.

When you say new cars, are we just talking about budget vehicles or something more middle of the road that most people purchase? I'd be curious how the prices has evolved in the mainstream segment.

I'm 99% certain your 1992 median income figure is either wildly incorrect or adjusted for inflation; therefore purchasing power isn't the driver in vehicle affordability. I think it's more to do with housing prices, child care and other necessities that have gone through the roof since 1992.

 

[pbm]

The Sentra in the SE-R trim was a blast to drive back then.

I had a 1992 SER...a blast to drive with the 2 liter 140hp and 5 speed...wish I still had it.

 

[PF52]

When we bought our first Honda Accord LX automatic in 1988(~$14K), the DX version of this car DID NOT HAVE:
AC, PW, or the passenger side outside mirror. And the outside mirrors were manual/joystick type and the AC was even dealer installed...among other missing features. I mean, this DX was really decontented. All Accords were manual transmission to start with.

Sounds familiar.... My dad bought a 1990 DX; it was exactly as you described; 5-speed, no AC, PW or passenger-side mirror and the front and back bumpers were unpainted gray (or black?) plastic. The higher-level models came with body-color bumpers and looked a lot more luxurious!

 

[GMBoy]

Those were the days lol!