Can you email @ rokem@netzero.net? A friend of mine had two cars die, is looking for a couple of four door sedans and I was wondering what you had in inventory.

psarhjinian: “The North American Versa is built in Mexico. I’m not faulting Mexican workers per se, but plant of origin can make a huge difference for what would otherwise be an identical product (see: 99-03 Ford Focus, for example)”

I remember looking at a brand-new, Mexican-built Focus on a dealer’s lot once. The rear hatch wouldn’t latch properly (it just kind of flopped around loose). It was pretty egregious that a defect like that would get past quality control at the factory (even for a bottom-feeder, $10k, no A/C, strippo econobox like that Focus).

The Mexican-built Dodge Neon didn’t exactly enjoy a sterling quality reputation, either.

Speaking of Yaris, a few years ago i drove one and the Rio. I easily preferred the Rio, it feel more solid & refined & the interior materials while hard, felt much better quality & more substantial than in the Yaris which felt and drove like a horrid penalty box. The Rio is a great A-B runabout car imo

Relating to my experiences with GM warranty coverage (actually the severe lack thereof) I would give NO credence to any GM warranty and relegate it to what is known in the advertising world as puffery.

I can’t imagine a GM sales critter keeping a straight face when mentioning the warranty coverage.

Your mileage may vary.

The North American Versa is built in Mexico. I’m not faulting Mexican workers per se, but plant of origin can make a huge difference for what would otherwise be an identical product (see: 99-03 Ford Focus, for example)

So I did. Interesting reading. In summary, it looks like a lot of people need to be introduced to the concept of “waxing their cars.”

Google Toyota paint problems.

If you really want to be daring, a 2003-05 Cavalier has the Cobalt drivetrain, more interior room, and around 200lbs less weight. In LS Sport trim they are rather nice, much nicer and more capable then any Yaris. The only functional short-coming is the seats, at least for heavier folks. A set of Coverking custom fit covers is an easy remedy.

Twotone

I’d take a Focus or Cobalt. The maintenance on those 2, being domestics, should be dirt cheap.

To me, the safety and comfort of a midsize sedan outweigh the fuel economy of this class. For $9K, I would go with a 5 year old Accord or similar over any of the above.

I second that logic. The gas savings doesn’t mean squat when your legs are crushed in an accident. That’s if you live. Your chances aren’t so good, even when hitting a mid-size car like the Accord. Check out iihs.org for their smash-em-up of the Fit vs the Accord or the Yaris vs the Camry. Not good. Now imagine tangling with anything larger – you’re a goner.

I’d rather drive a decent color 4-yr old Buick LeSabre and have a huge trunk, much more room, and safety that comes with it. It also gets around 30 MPG highway. Screw the sporty driving experience at that price.

And don’t try to tell me that belts are quieter, I’ve never been able to hear a damn bit of difference from one to another.

I don’t care. The IP should be in front of the driver like God (Allah/Buddha/your choice) intended. A friend fell in love with the xB, but was worried about getting used to the center-mounted speedo. He bought it, but after a year traded off because he never acclimated to the IP. How much more can it possibly cost to move it to the left? Scion did on the xD….a less expensive car than the xB. Weird for weird’s sake.

Fortunately, as of MY2009, Suzuki no longer sells rebadged Daewoos in the States.

FYI, Timing belt change intervals are much longer than 30k miles these days. I know that the Honda V-6 belt change interval is 105k miles and that the current Ford Focus interval is 120k miles.

I’d try to find a used SX4 – while the mileage isn’t as high, it handles decenly, looks good, and the back seats are actually comfortable – very high off the floor – it feels roomier than a Grand Vitara, or even an Infinity EX.

Even though it doesn’t make a ton of sense warranty wise, a slightly older Focus ST would be worth a drive. Kind of sporty, kind of fast, a bit of a sleeper, with a more spacious feeling cabin than a Mazda3.

You should. How well a manufacturer builds it’s bottom-feeders is a bellwether for the rest of the lineup.

If they compromise here, you can bet they’ve not the desire or ability to keep up the rest of the lineup. For many makes, the rot of decontenting starts at the low end and, irresistibly makes it’s way up.

Put it this way: building a “Cost no-object” car is easy because, well, cost is no object. You don’t have to be constrained by profit-vs-liability, your owners can and are buying a discretionary toy, you have plenty of margin to buy quality (or pay warranty). With an automotive hairshirt, you’ve got a whole boatload of compromises to consider: these cars sell in huge volumes and at low margins, and anything that increases costs by pennies can swing that margin marker by millions of dollars. The pressure and temptation to build’em badly is hard to resist.

If you drive a Yaris or Fit back-to-back with an Aveo or Rio, this is readily apparent. While none of these cars are going to have leather-wrapped, hand-stitched-by-virgins dashboards, the Yaris and Fit’s mechanicals feel a good cut above their competitors. The engines get much better mileage, the power-to-weight ratio is better, the packaging is brilliant. And they are, if you believe the statistics, reliable as the sunrise. By comparison, the Aveo and Rio feel like they’re built to a lower spec.

The Versa is a tricky one. It’s also a very good car, probably nicer than the Fit and definitely moreso than the Yaris—but the reliability is a question. Unlike a cost-no-object car, buyers of near-new subcompacts hold their rides to a very high standard not just out of expectation, but out of necessity. Not only would they not tolerate flakiness in the name of heritage, the often can’t afford it. The Renault-addled Versa is a good car, but it’s not as statistically solid and I’d worry about what they had to sacrifice to make a car this good price-competitive with the more meager entries in this class.

I’d buy the Yaris. It’s exceedingly cheap to own (not just fuel, but maintenance; Echos and Yarises go a long ways on the original brakes and tires), solid (every owner I know has had zero problems, save for one guy who smacked his up) roomy (that centre-mount dash frees up a lot of room for the driver), and, in hatchback form, quite versatile.