Bottom Line/Personal: What are the best economy cars for 2015?
I’m Steven Kaye, Editorial Director at Bottom Line Publications, and today my guest is auto analyst Karl Brauer, Kelley Blue Book Senior Director. Even if you don’t want to spend a lot for a car, you want a real car that’s fun to drive and looks good, and Bottom Line is here to help you choose it.
Karl, thank you for coming out to Bottom Line today.
Karl Brauer: Hey, good to be here.
Bottom Line: So when you think about an economy car, what’s the price cutoff in your mind for a car like that?
Brauer: I think any car that starts under $15,000 at this point in time could be argued as an economy car.
Bottom Line: And when you say starts under $15,000, you can add options on top of that. Can you come away with a nice car for 15 if that’s really what you want to spend?
Brauer: I think if you’ve got one that started between 12 and 13 and added a few options, you could end up with a good car under $15,000.
Bottom Line: And today’s economy cars tend to be a little bigger in many cases, and more fancy than cars from years ago.
Brauer: Yeah. The term “economy” is almost a misnomer now, because it doesn’t feel like a penalty box, which is what most economy cars felt like even up to 10 years ago. Now they’re pretty nice cars.
Bottom Line: Okay, so dozens of economy cars on the market; where do you go with your money for an economy car in 2015?
Brauer: If I’m looking for something that’s as small as possible and really has that economy car look and feel but still is fun to drive, I go with the latest Ford Fiesta, the new 2015. It’s got this 1-liter engine that’s kind of a miracle of modern engineering.
It’s a 1-liter, 3-cylinder engine, and you would never know that if you drove it and nobody told you how big the engine was. It’s torquey, it’s powerful, it’s refined, but there has been all this EcoBoost turbo charge technology integrated into the vehicle, and it has incredible performance. And it gets like 40-plus miles to the gallon.
Bottom Line: So a small engine, it’s lightweight, gets good mileage. 1 liter, that’s like a motorcycle engine.
Brauer: Could you believe it? I mean, I would’ve never thought there’d be a 1-liter engine in a car, and if it was, I wouldn’t have wanted to drive the car. This car breaks both those rules.
Bottom Line: Okay, Ford Fiesta. And what’s another great choice for an economy car?
Brauer: A little more expensive, but still a very nice car – really the best car, I think, in this category – is the Mazda 3. This car has been redesigned recently. Everything from the exterior styling to the driving dynamics to the interior control system is all-new, and I think a benchmark in this category.
Bottom Line: Mazdas have a reputation for being great handling and great fun to drive cars. Reliable?
Brauer: Yeah, there’s no reliability issue with these cars They’re well-assembled. They have incorporated all this SkyActiv technology, which is essentially Mazda’s term for all of their collection of fuel efficiency efforts.
And when you put it all together, you get this efficient, fun to drive, as you noted, and still stylish, roomy – even the interior interface is really good. They’ve come up with a way that’s less touch control and easier to operate when you’re driving the car. Less distracting.
Bottom Line: And hatchback and sedan available, if I’m not mistaken.
Brauer: Yes.
Bottom Line: I’m going to ask you about another car that comes to my mind that’s known for being more big on the inside than you’d think from the outside, and that’s the Honda Fit.
Brauer: Another excellent car for this category. Could easily be considered another one of the benchmark cars. Very roomy on the inside. It’s very configurable, which is really nice. You can fold the seats, move everything around, create a lot of space inside for cargo. Or you can keep it as a passenger vehicle. And it drives really well, too, like most Hondas.
Bottom Line: All right, so $15,000 or thereabouts. Really not bad for a brand new, very reliable, great mileage, looks good, fun to drive car for 2015.
Brauer: Yeah, that’s the way to go. Economy car; doesn’t feel like an economy car. All these vehicles are very good.
Bottom Line: Thank you, Karl Brauer.
