Cheap Cars: Ten Least Expensive Cars in the U.S.

Cheap, broke, sensible, or carefree, we've got your car.

By JARED HOLSTEIN & PHOTOS BY A. KILEY & THE MANUFACTURERS

Other auto articles from CARandDRIVER.com:

The "adjustment" in our economy we've heard the president mutter about after something having to do with minimum-wage sector growth (oops, wait, scratch that last part) will have plenty of Americans adjusting their way from houses into rental properties, from organic frisée to iceberg lettuce, and from mid-priced sedans into whatever box with four wheels and a warranty the dealer will bless unto them. The cheapest new cars money can buy in the U.S. are no longer only for people failing their drivers' tests for lack of experience or lack of eyesight.

The good news is that the vehicles at the bottom of the new-car barrel are better, safer, and more reliable than ever. There are even a couple of remarkably good cars on this list, so good we'd drive them even if the balance in our checking accounts didn't mime a change jar. (All prices based on CARandDRIVER April 2008 figures and include destination charges.) Chevy gets the party started with the $10,895 Aveo; Mazda serves up the champagne with the Mazda 3 for $14,530. Of note is that six of the 10 cars are made in South Korea, with proceeds hopefully going to build a wider DMZ between them and the computer/golf/opera wiz to the north.

Take heart, average New York financial district worker who makes $387,000 a year but may be one of thousands of striped shirts losing his or her job this year. When you go into foreclosure on your duplex and your E550 is seized, if you pawn your Patek Philippe watch and Limoges dinner service, you'll have just enough to buy a Hyundai and a tank of gas to slink back to Mom and Dad's house in Chittenango. And the drive won't even be all that bad.

More Photos: Cheap Cars in the U.S.

2008 Chevy Aveo || Get a Free Price Quote
Base Price: $10,895

When the Heartbeat of America strikes its first beat in Bupyong, South Korea, the result will be un-American, which, unfortunately, has all too often been a plus when it comes to cars. The cheapest car sold in the United States was styled in Italy by Giugiaro's Italdesign and as such has a shape that looks, dare we enrage the aesthetes, sort of almost sporty.

And that's where the sportiness ends. You had better equip the Aveo with the manual transmission if you'd like to make it up an on-ramp before the planet's poles finish melting. However, the Aveo's manual transmission inspired this description: "By enthusiast standards, perhaps the worst feel of any on the market." Other laurels sung included "endless stopping distances" and "industrial steering effort."

Once you're up to speed, however, and traveling straight ahead, the Aveo is commendably quiet and boasts comfortable seating for four adults, which can't be said of many more expensive cars, even some with four doors. The Aveo is also available in standard sedan form, but if you want a trunk, it'll set you back almost another two grand.

The Aveo's 14-inch wheels are an improvement over the tricycle tires that came on the last generation. As equipped with a manual, it should return something like 27 mpg in combined driving, although the automatic example we tested returned a truly unimpressive 24 mpg.

More Photos: Cheap Cars in the U.S.

2008 Hyundai Accent || Get a Free Price Quote
Base Price: $11,425

Remember the Hyundai Excel? Would you prefer not to? We don't blame you. This descendant, however, benefits from the same quality turnaround at Hyundai that has traditional quality mavens such as Honda and Toyota sweating a steady trickle of profit margin. That quality is also backed by "America's Best Warranty" including a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty.

The Accent three-door is nice despite its low price, successfully emulating the quality of cars a couple classes up the price ladder. There is, however, some trade-off: The Accent's cushy ride is not accomplished through sophisticated suspension geometry or advanced damper valving; it's simply sprung a bit softly. (The uplevel Accent SE gets sportier suspension tuning.)

The 1.6-liter engine features continuously variable valve timing and produces 110 horsepower. These ponies are offered without complaint and encourage surprisingly spirited driving. The Accent coupe is a little globular cannonball that doesn't mind being tossed around. Few three-door hatchbacks are available in this market, and the ever-popular Mini Cooper costs some $7000 more. You're certainly not going to extract more grins from any other new car that costs $11,425.

As an interesting aside, the Accent is also produced in Pakistan and Iran for regional consumption. Perhaps the relationship with rogue nuclear states will spur the production of a fission/electric hybrid powered by spent uranium pellets (those that aren't suitable for plutonium production, anyway).

Next Page: Kia Rio, Toyota Yaris, Smart Fortwo and Kia Spectra Sedan

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180 comments

SoCalWS6RamAirTA 06:52:55 AM Jul 28 2008

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doesn't surprise me at all, TOTSIEFACE!!

SoCalWS6RamAirTA 06:51:23 AM Jul 28 2008

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you don't know what the hell you're talking about USCI1!!!!

BarcktheMagcNegr 03:44:39 PM Jul 26 2008

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and the 'Yugotohell', right Vc?!!

TOTSIEFACE 03:05:32 PM Jul 26 2008

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Watch out if you buy a Hyundai, they don't stand behind their warranty. I have a 2003 Sonata and Hyundai has yet to stand behind it's warranty. I now need a transmission and they are telling me it is not covered because I didn't use "Hyundai Transmission Fluid" when I got my transmission fluid flushed and replaced. I started complaining about it in 2005 and they still have not done anything about it. I will never buy another Hyundai. THEY SIMPLY DO NOT STAND BY THIER WARRANTY. If anyone has any questions about this you can email me and I will be happy to tell you all about the horror stories of Hyundai.

Vcleverfox 12:49:15 PM Jul 26 2008

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Oh Hey! And now Yugo has come up with a successor to its wildly popular original model, it's called "Yougetthere".

Gtracyjgibb 12:35:05 PM Jul 26 2008

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Doerogers 02:51:03 PM Jul 24 2008 Report This! Ok, I admit I don't know alot about cars. Looking for one for my 18 year old daughter. I would like to buy american, but i hear that some have mostly foreign parts while others are actually made somewhere else, etc. Also, need dependable car and good, make that excellent gas mileage and prerferably green-ish. I heard the hybrids cost more (which we HAVE to take into consideration) and that you end up paying just as much in the end with battery replacements. What DID happen to the new fuel cell and electric cars? Why aren't we pursuing alternative methods of building how cars are run? Look at solar sattelites in the sky and technology going on.--------------------------------------My parents helped me buy a Honda Civic when I was 20 and I still have it 8 years later and have never had a problem with it. I haven't really taken care of it that well either but I love my car and it's going to break my heart to finally trade it in after it was