i 2nd the forte. Or even better, Mazda 3

but steering wheel look like gypsy eating your khram

or it looks like a shocked :O face

is that the standard interior? looks so complicated

Nothing wrong with the Prius in terms of climbing hills in the snow - the car is actually quite good in the snow with the standard traction control & stability assist, not to mention the brake force equalizer thingy. My fuel consumption right now is about $40/month. Rear leg room is cavernous too! Is it a fun car to drive like a BMW 3 or Acura RSX? Hell no, but it's err, adequate.

Hyundai Sonata... the new ones.

Rented one in the states. Surprisingly well built and well-equipped, even for the base model which I rented.
The new 2.0T should be plenty of power too if your dad wants some oomph in his ride

kia forte also wouldn't be that bad, i remember i saw some girl driving it and it actually didn't look bad. kinda caught my eye haha

thanks for the input.. but the reason we replacing the fit is cause its pretty underpowered imo.. the prius has about the same? before the fit we had a camry and had the prius as a courtesy car and dad didnt really like it.. i kinda liked it tho.. gotta admit its pretty comfy

how about a kia soul?

^ i hear they have alot of blind spots

^
Yes. That thing is possibly the worst for blind spots of cars I've driven.

737!:
I actually don't know if the Kia Forte is going to be any better in terms of power output compared to the Fit (simply because I don't know the specifications.)

Here goes a few of my picks for some entry level cars

Wait for the 2012 ford focus but definitely need to test drive. The EPAS (electronic power assisted steering) on the fiesta made that car one of the worst driving experience for me recently. It's very intrusive and doesn't feel natural.

Anyways the focus will have direct injection and a whole lot of power.

And IMO the civic is a much nicer car than the corolla, It feels like a much higher quality car when you drive it and not to mention looks a lot better too. Corolla/Matrix are too unrefined IMO.

I really like the new golf 2.5 for power, smoothness, looks, handling, etc. The Fuel economy I experienced wasn't the greatest though but I don't think your dad will have to worry ;) But definitely one of my favourite new cars under 25k today. The jetta is cheaper for the 2.0 but also heard it's not quite as good hatches FTW anyways :P

I'd say avoid the lancer, not a fan of the build quality car feels like a plastic toy, not a fan of the cvt either, and car's styling might be a little too young.
Not sure if the quality of the RVR is much better but for 25k with 4wd it's worth considering. Good size too

If your budget allows it definitely check out the buick regal, genuinely nice car IMO and basically took the automotive press by storm in the last year. Age appropriate too might I add

The cruze is definitely one of those cars you must test drive. I couldn't tell you how the ecotec turbo would feel but it does give some impressive numbers, Page straight out of VW's euro textbook haha. Forte is sexier IMO

The new sonata 2.0t definitely cool and desirable but depends on what gets you the better lease rate, the sonata or the regal. I prefer the Regal because it has a really classy look.

^lancer is wayyy out of question lol
impreza > lancer in this case.
thing about the golf is that i have the jcw already.. the golf would basically be the same as the mini except its more spacious (but less than the fit), more fuel economic, less power and auto..
therefore matrix will be a better bang for the buck cause it has more space, more fuel economic, but even less power (but will be enough) and more suitable to our needs.

right now my dad's top choices are the civic, matrix, impreza and we will look at the cruze later on. final decision will be made in spring. thanks for all the opinions guys !

IMO the golf and the matrix are apples and oranges. The interior on the cheapest golf is still 10x nicer than the matrix, that car has a genuinely cheap looking interior. Try how the doors slam, take a look at the trunk lining, It's worth the extra money if you ask me, especially if you are just leasing. It really depends on how you look at bang for the buck, if you are just looking at a specs sheet the matrix compares, however, once you start talking about quality... well you get the picture

Think about the things your dad is actually going to notice on a daily basis, the way it drives, the way the interior looks/feels, the quieter more refined engine, rather than the extra few cubic inches of cargo space.

And the JCW is miles from the golf, just because it's a german hatchback doesn't really mean much, the golf is much more refined and comfortable, seats 5, it's most things that the JCW isn't but still fun to drive.

Unless you think you'll need awd, which you've been living without for a while now, skip the impreza, I like subies but for that premium over the matrix I'd settle for the golf for what is 99% of the time a way better car than the impreza in almost every way. The impreza's auto transmission is seriously outdated and styling is... debatable, well scratch that, there is no debate the MK6 golf looks a million times better than a stock impreza

the cruze is built in korea.. by korean designers under GM Daewoo...gm just decided to bring it in n.a market (and other markets) and sell under chevy branch.. so basically it is a korean car (replacement of the previous korean built gm-chevrolet optra) so your dad probably wouldnt trust that either if he cant trust a hyundai or a kia... although i think its not a bad car

K20 ur Fit

Go for the CSXXX!
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legacy 2.5i or impreza 2.5i

Seriously, is about time to try Korean cars, my cousin just bought a new Sonata (he has a new 5series & RX330 at home) and I am impressed by the overall quality. Kia should be bit more affordable, worth to buy
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When my dad was hell bent on buying a Matrix, I made him test drive the Mazda3 and it changed his mind. That was years ago tho... today I'd have him try out the Sonata 2.0T... the new Focus is nice but it doesn't fit the the retirement age image. Maybe the Fusion hybrid?

look at the Scion line, they are not too bad

so let's break it down. A lot of responses are very mature and grown up about being best in fuel economy best interior etc.

but on the contrary the OP's dad is looking for performance ...... strange but ok then let's look at horsepower figures. To get a start he was driving a Fit and he's not happy with it. It's a 1ton car with 108bhp... which means a roughly 100HP/ton car.

then let's move up from there.

Jetta TDI 140HP 1.5 ton
Kia Forte SX coupe 173HP 1.4 ton
Scion tC 180HP 1.3 ton
Scion xB 158HP 1.2 ton

the list goes on....but these are some cars mentioned by other members and it seems that the tC with its generous hatchback configuration is winning this battle
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2...95838.1-lg.jpg
with a hatchback like that you'd be surprised how easily a 52" TV will plop into place....I know because I drive an AE86 ROFL.

The Matrix I just took rode around in the back of a 2011 yesterday I would say if the car is used as a daily with little care to it the "rough" interior will hold up extremely well, I was riding around in one in Winnipeg and the owner never really cares for the interior of the car....snow in snow out and carrying blunt objects everywhere... but it's still looking decently good after getting used and abused a lot.

A similar performance Kia Forte is not a hatchback so it's rather meh in the grocery department
http://autopeople.net/v2/wp-content/...-SX-trunk.jpeg

If you don't intend to load up passengers and goods at the same time a tC Coupe does the job just fine imo.... if you have to do both then some sort of wagon will be necessary.

working at a car rental place, i go through driving a wide range of cars, from corollas - camry - camry hybrid - ford fusion - kia's - sonatas.

I'd have to argue that the 2010 Sonata comes out on top from that selection of cars I listed, without hesitation. 2011 should be even better. I'd definitely suggest you looking into it.

In terms of the domestic cars with cheap interiors, it's true, it's all cheap plastic trim inside, anyone that knows cars will be able to tell just by looking at it. And if they aren't good with cars, the second they touch it, they'll know.

I would look at the Kia Soul over the Forte5, especially if interior is a concern. Interior on the Souls are surprisingly nice. I am not entirely sure about the claimed mass amounts of blindspots. I didn't feel that it was any worse than the 'norm'. What about a Mazda 3/3sport?

hk2000: Forte Koup/Sedan/5 all have the SX trim line which offers the same engine with 173HP.

so u are saying those japanese cars are not cheap plastic.....the corolla and matrix is filled with cheap plastic.

@illicitstylz I can't think of a single ford or even GM car that doesn't have a better interior than it's toyota equivalent that OP would be looking at especially next year. Nissans aren't much better, some hondas are quite nice though like the accord and the civic.

@hk20000 I wouldn't suggest the TC because the 2 door setup isn't ideal for picking up kids from school. That and throwing the TDi in the mix that will absolutely obliterate most cars that you throw at it in terms of fuel economy. I'm talking real world here, that car is amazing on gas and you don't even have to try. Whether OPs dad reflashes that TDi is up to him but the TDi in stock form doesn't feel sluggish at all thanks to the torquey engine and DSG.

Although to get the one you want might be really hard, the TDi's are just selling like hot cakes and some orders are even getting delayed.

Anyone care to chime in on the TSX?

Sonata's drivetrain and packaging is really good, I think it will come down to whether your dad likes the styling.

I think what we're forgetting in all this is lease rates. A more expensive MSRP on a car does not definitely mean a more expensive payment, so until OP sees all these numbers side by side decision can't really be made.