Civic, Corolla, or Fit?

[pigpen]

The most important factors to us are reliability, total cost of ownership, safety.

[SmashYourSmartPhone]

None of the above.  Probably.

What are your driving characteristics in average miles per day, and exceptional day cases?  Do you have a garage?  Do you own or rent?

[oneday]

I got a Fit because of the cargo capacity, which is quite good for a small car. It has been a stalwart helper for several house moves. However, I cannot get my headboard in it, so it's not the be-all-end-all for cargo. It's just quite good *for a small car.* Real-life MPG are 32-35.

I am not a parent, so don't need to fit children in the back seat. If I did, that would become a problem as they got older/taller, I think. Civic or Corolla would be better if you regularly have more passengers.

[pigpen]

We mostly drive around town, with some 2-3 hour weekend trips thrown in every few months. I'm not sure about average miles per day -- maybe 10, if that. No kids. No garage. We own our house.

[MayDay]

I've owned civics and a corolla, and driven a corolla rental car recently.  I also own a Honda Insight which is basically a civic hybrid.

I've been happy with both but consistently happier with the civic/Insight. Also the Insight gets a cool 55-60 mpg in the summer. However we may get our teen a corolla as they seem to run a little cheaper.

I don't think you can really go wrong. I'd check out all 3 and see what particular cars are available and if you like them.

[travel2020]

Honda and Toyota are both solid brands based on the criteria you outlined, with Toyota having a slight edge when it comes to reliability and maintenance. I’ve had a few issues with the Hondas that I have owned over the years, whereas the Toyotas have just required routine maintenance and have otherwise been trouble free.

[GuitarStv]

Is there any way you can put off the car right now?  I expect gas prices to continue to rise and the attractiveness of combustion cars to fall significantly in the future.

[JupiterGreen]

I got a new corolla hybrid because it ended up being the cheapest and safest of the low mileage vehicles that were available at the time. I am very happy with it. I drove a Civic prior and realized I dislike Civics for the low ride and ergonomic reasons, but the car was also great. The problem that I found when I started looking is the used prices of these vehicles mades buying a new one more of a no-brainer even though I had never bought new before (at least where I am located). The first oil change is at 5000 miles, the whole maintenance schedule is a bit nuts. And everything covered for a whole bunch of miles or maybe years, can't quite remember the detail (because I just don't have to keep an eye on it - which is great). Though things may have changed in the used car market, I bought mine back in Feb.

edit: Oops forgot to comment on the Fit. A family member has a Fit and its been good but I also have a friend with a fit and that car seems to have cause a lot of trouble maintenance wise. I also dislike the ergonomics of the fit. These are all personal opinions, but I also just don't "feel the edges" of Hondas as well as I do Toyotas, there is probably some design thing going on there between my body size and the car design IDK.  My corolla has pass through seats if I need to carry something long.

[JAYSLOL]

Between those options, at least what I’ve seen in my area is that a Corolla usually goes for a little less that the same year and mileage civic, since civics are seen as a little bit cooler to drive, so you might get a slightly better deal on a Corolla over a civic if your area is the same.  Reliability and fuel consumption should be very close between them.  A Fit is also a good choice, personally it’s what I would go with if deciding between those three options if it were to be my only car, because of the practicality of the hatchback and fantastic fuel economy.  I usually don’t recommend Hyundai, but three years ago we bought a 2012 Elantra Touring (small wagon), it has the older-gen 2.0l engine which is regarded as one of the few good ones they’ve made, and has been absolutely bulletproof for us so far, it was also only about 1/3 the cost of a comparable Toyota Matrix or Honda Fit with the same mileage, so while I don’t expect overall Toyota/Honda reliability long term, the massive upfront savings was such a big difference that it has basically already paid for itself after 3 years. 

[Dicey]

I've been driving my stepdaughter's car this week. (It's a RAV4, not on this list.) The first few trips were short, and I quite enjoyed it. On a longer drive, I found it just didn't fit my body well. My arms were fully extended, but my legs felt cramped. At the end of two hours of driving, it was crossed off my list of possible future car purchases, unless something changes drastically in future models. It was exhausting to drive on longer trips.

Moral of the story: make sure any car you're considering fits your body well.

[ChpBstrd]

I have 2 out of 3 of these.

Choose the Fit if you do a lot of city driving, parallel parking, or hauling bulky items and boxes.

Choose the Corolla/Civic if you do a lot of highway driving, or if you'd like to maybe pull a little 4x8 trailer someday.

The cost of ownership, safety, and reliability will be about the same for all 3 of these. The Fit is the outlier, excelling in urban navigation and parking, and having a different cargo format that allows for moving things like chairs or large TV boxes. The Fit is a less pleasant choice however, for long road trips because the small tires don't float over bumps as well and there's a bit more engine/road/wind noise. If choosing between Civic and Corolla, I lean toward the Corolla because its base model is cheaper and because it has higher ground clearance. The Civic gets much better reviews though, and even offers a manual in its premium trim.

All 3 of these cars will only be available with a CVT transmission, which means you should change the fluid every 30k miles and pray for the best. Hybrids, from everything I've read/seen, have much more robust transmission designs that should last a lot longer. Hybrids also seem to go easier on the engines, which can be expected to last ~250k miles. For these reasons alone, I would pick the Corolla hybrid, which costs LESS THAN an ICE-only Civic with a potentially problematic cones-and-belt CVT design. The only problem is that the Corolla hybrid was only introduced in 2020, so there are no older models out there in the $4-$6k price range. The previous-generation Prius is also worth a look, although it is much more expensive than the similar Corolla hybrid.

[JupiterGreen]

I've been driving my stepdaughter's car this week. (It's a RAV4, not on this list.) The first few trips were short, and I quite enjoyed it. On a longer drive, I found it just didn't fit my body well. My arms were fully extended, but my legs felt cramped. At the end of two hours of driving, it was crossed off my list of possible future car purchases, unless something changes drastically in future models. It was exhausting to drive on longer trips.

Moral of the story: make sure any car you're considering fits your body well.

Yes this, I was surprised my corolla hybrid has the capability to move the seats multi-ways, allowing me to bring the seat way up (i am smallish). I think I read something about cars not being designed for women's bodies, but maybe that's not true anymore. I almost cried at how I was able to position my skeleton in the exact space it had to be to drive as safe as possible. And speaking of skeletons, the blindspot alert lights, you will also have to pry them out of my cold dead hands. They should be standard in every car. Maybe all new cars have multi way adjustable seats IDK my last car was like 20 years old so it had none of those features.

[oneday]

All 3 of these cars will only be available with a CVT transmission, which means you should change the fluid every 30k miles and pray for the best.

The Fit can also have a manual transmission, if that is something you are amenable to.

I find that the feel and road noise on long trips is reasonable for a small car. Certainly better than the 2006 Corolla I used to have. FYI, my Fit is a 2011 model year.

[pigpen]

Thanks for everyone's input. We'll have to look into the Corolla hybrid as well.

[zolotiyeruki]

I have 2 out of 3 of these.

Choose the Fit if you do a lot of city driving, parallel parking, or hauling bulky items and boxes.

Choose the Corolla/Civic if you do a lot of highway driving, or if you'd like to maybe pull a little 4x8 trailer someday.

The cost of ownership, safety, and reliability will be about the same for all 3 of these. The Fit is the outlier, excelling in urban navigation and parking, and having a different cargo format that allows for moving things like chairs or large TV boxes. The Fit is a less pleasant choice however, for long road trips because the small tires don't float over bumps as well and there's a bit more engine/road/wind noise. If choosing between Civic and Corolla, I lean toward the Corolla because its base model is cheaper and because it has higher ground clearance. The Civic gets much better reviews though, and even offers a manual in its premium trim.

100% correct here.  I've owned Corollas and a Civic, and have driven my brother's Fit.

All three are good options.
Fit is louder, but has more cargo room.
All three should be quite reliable, however, having owned Toyotas and Hondas, I'd give the reliability edge to Toyota.

What age range are you looking at?  If you're looking for something newer, I'd jump on a Corolla Hybrid rather than anything with a CVT.

[Just Joe]

I'm a fan and owner of many Hondas over the years. I lean towards a Honda always. The Fit is probably noisy on the interstate b/c it is technically a city car. Be sure to test drive it on the interstate for several miles.

We recently bought a '21 Hyundai Kona Electric used with 30K miles . Not a large vehicle. Goes ~250 miles on a charge.

[GilesMM]

Thanks for everyone's input. We'll have to look into the Corolla hybrid as well.

Great choice!

[BussoV6]

I've been driving my stepdaughter's car this week. (It's a RAV4, not on this list.) The first few trips were short, and I quite enjoyed it. On a longer drive, I found it just didn't fit my body well. My arms were fully extended, but my legs felt cramped.

The RAV4 steering wheel can be adjusted in and out. Was it fully extended? If not, doing this would allow you to move the seat back.

[Dicey]

I've been driving my stepdaughter's car this week. (It's a RAV4, not on this list.) The first few trips were short, and I quite enjoyed it. On a longer drive, I found it just didn't fit my body well. My arms were fully extended, but my legs felt cramped.

The RAV4 steering wheel can be adjusted in and out. Was it fully extended? If not, doing this would allow you to move the seat back.

No idea. I'll figure it out on our next trip and report back.

[EchoStache]

We mostly drive around town, with some 2-3 hour weekend trips thrown in every few months. I'm not sure about average miles per day -- maybe 10, if that. No kids. No garage. We own our house.

For this use case, there is not a snowball's chance in hell that I would spend $20k on purpose to continue burning fossil fuel for another decade or more.

Very lightly used Hyundai Kona can be had for well under $20k.  $4k point of sale federal tax credit if you qualify.  State rebates are common as well.

You would get the balance of 10 year warranty.

[SweatingInAR]

We mostly drive around town, with some 2-3 hour weekend trips thrown in every few months. I'm not sure about average miles per day -- maybe 10, if that. No kids. No garage. We own our house.

For this use case, there is not a snowball's chance in hell that I would spend $20k on purpose to continue burning fossil fuel for another decade or more.

Very lightly used Hyundai Kona can be had for well under $20k.  $4k point of sale federal tax credit if you qualify.  State rebates are common as well.

You would get the balance of 10 year warranty.

Agreed. An EV fits that use case perfectly!
https://www.hertzcarsales.com/used-evs-under-25k.htm?sortBy=internetPrice%20asc

[Fi(re) on the Farm]

I have a 2015 Fit and I absolutely love it but if you want a newer used car they've stopped selling Fits in the U.S. Honda said "they weren't selling" but I think that bigger cars are more lucrative for them. If you don't mind buying an older car my fit is still getting 44 mpg and I can put my bike in the back with the seats down. Except for routine maintenance the only thing we've replace was the battery and that was last fall. 

[roomtempmayo]

We mostly drive around town, with some 2-3 hour weekend trips thrown in every few months. I'm not sure about average miles per day -- maybe 10, if that. No kids. No garage. We own our house.

For this use case, there is not a snowball's chance in hell that I would spend $20k on purpose to continue burning fossil fuel for another decade or more.

Very lightly used Hyundai Kona can be had for well under $20k.  $4k point of sale federal tax credit if you qualify.  State rebates are common as well.

You would get the balance of 10 year warranty.

Agreed. An EV fits that use case perfectly!
https://www.hertzcarsales.com/used-evs-under-25k.htm?sortBy=internetPrice%20asc

If no garage means no off street parking, charging becomes a challenge.