The Top 20 Cars For Under $20,000 in 2017
Anyone on a budget can find a good car for a reasonable price. It takes diligence in doing your research to find the best deal for the cost you can afford. One of the most sensible things that you can do is to check the ratings for the make, model and year. Learn about any known factory defects and any concerns that have been reported. It is also important to make sure that the car is the proper size to suit your needs.
Each new vehicle should come with a set of specifications that will provide you with the information that you need to determine if it is the right size for you. The car should also be within your budget with regards to maintenance and operation. Some vehicles are more economical on fuel than others. Imports tend to have higher maintenance costs and if there are known issues with the make and model, these could end up costing you extra in repairs when the warranty has expired.
One of the best things about purchasing a new car is that each will come with a warranty attached. Each manufacturer has their own policies regarding guarantees of quality, what is covered, and for what length of time. If you want to buy a new car, there are plenty out there that are affordable.
Here is a list of the top 20 cars under $20,000 in 2017:
1. 2017 Subaru Impreza – Starting price: $18,395
The Subaru Impreza score is 8.3 out of 10. It is one of the best compact cars for the cost. The 2017 edition features all wheel drive and a comfortable interior that is well-equipped and spacious. It comfortably seats 5. The fuel economy is 22-28 MPG city and 30-38 highway. On the downside, the reliability rating is just 2.5 and the powertrain lacks power.The interior materials are sub-par, but for the price, the pros outweigh the cons.
2. 2017 Honda HR-V – Starting price: $19,465
The HR-V is one of the top ranked SUV subcompact vehicles. It features quality interior materials with a roomy cabin, plenty of cargo space and it delivers a smooth ride. It comfortably seats 5. The fuel economy is 25-28 MPG city and 31-34 highway. The drivetrain is all wheel drive. The rear seats are spacious and the cargo space is flexible. The overall score is 8.4 out of 10 with a reliability rating of 3.5. It gets a 9 for performance, 7.9 for safety, 8.7 for reliability and 7.3 for performance.
3. 2017 Kia Forte – Starting price: $16,600
The 2017 Kia Forte is a compact car that has spacious areas for cargo and passengers. It comes loaded with high technology features. The overall score is 8.5 out of 10. It comfortably seats 5. The fuel economy is 23-29 MPG city and 29-38 highway. This car features a FWD drivetrain. The infortainment system is easy to use. The exterior styling is contemporary and refreshed from previous models. It gets an 8.5 for safety, 9.3 for reliability and 8.7 for performance.
4. 2017 Ford Focus – Starting price: $16,775
The 2017 Ford Focus is a compact car that offers a sporty dynamic with interior comfort. It comfortably seats 5, providing a smooth ride and high quality interior materials. It gets an overall score of 8.4 with a 9 out of 10 rating for performance. It seats 5 comfortably. The fuel economy is 19-30 city and 25-40 highway. The automated manual transmission is clumsy and the rear seating area has tight leg room. It gets a 8.5 for interior, a 9.4 for reliability and a 7.8 for safety.
5. 2017 Chevrolet Cruze – Starting price: $16,975
The Cruz has an overall rating of 8.6 out of 10. It offers good fuel economy getting 28 -30 MPH city and 37-40 MPG highway. it seats 5 comfortably. The interior is comfortable and the infortainment system is user friendly. The Cruz offers a hatchback model with a teen driver safety system. It gets an overall score of 8.5 out of 10. The reliability rating is 4.5 with a safety rating of 9.1, a performance score of 8.5 and an interior score of 7.8. The interior is roomy and the seats are comfortable. It also provides a smooth ride.
6. 2017 Volkswagen Golf – Starting price: $19,895
The 2017 Volkswagen Golf is a compact car that offers good function and a lot of fun. It is comfortable to drive and the interior is packed with high technology gadgets for user comfort and convenience. The handling is agile and it comfortably seats 5. The fuel economy is 22-25 MPG city and 30-36 MPG highway. The drivetrain is FWD,AWD. There is roomy cargo space. The overall score is 8.5 out of 10 with a 9.3 for performance, 9.3 for reliability 8.4 for interior and 8.5 for safety.
7. 2017 Hyundai Elantra – Starting price: $17,150
The 2017 Hyundai Elantra gets an overall rating of 8.5 out of 10. This compact car comes with safety ratings of 8.4, a 9.3 for reliability, 8.3 for performance and a 7.8 for interior. The fuel economy is 22 MPG city and 30-40 MPG highway. It seats 5. The interior is spacious and the seating is comfortable. It comes with plenty of tech features that are user friendly. The features are on the upscale spectrum of quality. It also features advance safety technology.
8. 2017 Kia Soul – Starting price: $16,100
The 2017 Kia Soul is a compact car that has a large space for cargo. The seating is also spacious and it is available with a turbocharged engine. it seats five comfortably. The fuel economy is 24-16 MPG city and 30-31 MPG highway. The drivetrain is FWD. It comes with a base engine for the starting price, which is weak in power, but the turbocharged engine is available for a higher cost. The fuel economy is below average which is another con. Overall, the Kia should gets a score of 8.9 out of 10. It gets an 8 for interior, 8.9 for performance, 9.7 for reliability, 8.6 for interior and a 9.7 for safety.
9. 2017 Honda Civic – Starting Price: $18,740
The 2017 Honda Civic is a compact car that is well equipped, comfortable to drive and ride in and has an elegant exterior styling. It gets an overall score of 8.8. The performance rating is 9.1, the safety is 8.3, the interior is 8.7, reliability is 10. It has seating for 4 to 5 comfortably. The fuel economy is 22-32 MPG city and 28-42 MPG highway. The drivetrain is FWD. It is quiet to drive with a minimum of road noise with a roomy cabin, crisp handling and plenty of cargo space. The ride is smooth. The audio controls and touch screen are a little frustrating to operate for some users.
10. 2017 Honda Fit – Starting Price: $16,090
The 2017 Honda Fit is among the top picks for compact cars. The cargo space is ample and versatile and the interior is spacious with comfortable seating. It seats 5 with a fuel economy of 29-33 MPG city and 36-40 highway. The materials used for the interior are impressive. The down side is that the car tends to be underpowered at higher speeds. There is also a high amount of road noise. The touch screen and infotainment system is a bit cumbersome. This car received an overall score of 8.9 out of 10. Performance is 9.4, reliability is 9.7, interior is 8.1 and safety is 8.5.
11. 2017 Mazda3 – Starting price: $17,845
The Mazda3 for 2017 is a compact car that has some of the best performance ratings in its class, coming in at a 9.4 out of 10. It also features strong brakes, precision steering and amazing cornering ability. It seats 5. The fuel economy is 25-28 MPG city and 33-37 MPG highway. The infortainment system is easy to use. One drawback is that there is limited space available in the back. It gets an overall score of 8.7 out of 10. The reliability is at 8.7 with safety at 8.0 and interior at 9.0.
12. 2017 Chevrolet Sonic – Starting price: $15,145
The 2017 Chevrolet Sonic is a subcompact car that is packed with features that come standard. It includes Apple CarPlay and a rear view camera. The trunk is large and the interior is spacious. it seats 5. The fuel economy is 24-28 MPG city and 33-38 MPG highway. This car does get poor fuel economy, but the handling is crisp and responsive with plenty of power. It gets an overall score of 8.6 out of 10. For performance, the rating is 8.7, 8.1 for interior, 9.7 for reliability and 8.1 for safety.
13. 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage G4 – Starting price: $13,995
The 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage G4 is a subcompact sedan. The fuel economy is rated at 42 MPG highway and between 33 and 20 mpg city. This car also comes in a hatchback variant. It features leather wrapped steeling wheel with mounted controls for Android and Apple CarPlay, Bluetooth, rear view camera and Auto functionality. This car is relatively inexpensive and it gets great fuel economy, but the downside is that it was not rated very high in comfort, interior quality, acceleration, or handling. This is a new car at a budget price.
14. 2017 Nissan Sentra – Starting price: $18,484
The 2017 Nissan Sentra is available in turbo power. It features large cargo space with a roomy interior. Thanks to the addition of thicker glass, the interior is much quieter than previous models. The technology package is premium and upgrades are available. There is additional space for storage in the center console, which has been redesigned. The safety rating is 8 out of 10, but the headlights get poor marks.
15. 2017 Toyota Corolla – Starting price: $19,272
The 2017 Toyota Corolla has a fuel economy of 28 PMG city and 36 MPG highway. It gets a 10 star rating for safety. Acceleration is a bit slow with a drone when under hard acceleration. This car has a redesigned dashboard with infortainment system featuring a 7 inch touch screen. The Safety Sense P package provides advanced safety features including forward collision prevention, steering assist function and a lane keeping system. A backup camera is also included as standard equipment. It has a high reliability rating.
16. 2017 Volkswagen Jetta – Starting price: $17,895
The 2017 Volkswagen Jetta has a fuel economy rating of 29 MPG city and 40 MPG highway. The overall rating is 5 out of 10. The interior features an outdated touchscreen with hard plastic materials throughout the cabin. This car is a front wheel drive compact sedan. It comes with a driver assistance package which boosts its safety ratings. In addition, emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, rear cross traffic alert, park assist and blind spot warning.
17. 2017 Toyota Prius – Starting price: $19,150
The 2017 Toyota Prius gets a fuel economy of 43 MPG city and 48 MPG highway. This car has a hatchback body style. It is a hybrid that as an unimpressively wide turning circle. The fuel economy is not great for a hybrid and it doesn’t handle smoothly. The car features an electric motor that is also supported with a battery. It comes with auto climate control, bluetooth, a 6.1 inch touch screen, four speaker stereo system, keyless entry, a moon roof and a navigation system.
18. 2017 Nissan Versa S – Starting price: $12,894
The 2017 Nissan versa S is a sedan that has a fuel economy of 27 MPG city and 36 MPG highway. The overall rating for this car is a 3 out of ten. It is an affordable vehicle that comes with CVT fuel mileage. The interior is roomy, but the interior materials are low quality with subpar handling. The infotainment system features a 5 inch touch screen with bluetooth music, phone and text, satellite radio and a rear view camera. This is considered to be the bottom of the Nissan sedan lineup.
19. 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage ES Hatchback – Starting price: $ 12,995
The 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage ES Hatchback is an budget priced new car. The fuel economy is 33 MPG city and 41 MPG highway. The engine is noisy and underpowered. It is fuel efficient for a sedan and you’ll have a choice of a 5 speed manual transmission or a CVT sending power to the front wheels. The overall rating for this vehicle is 8 out of ten. It comes with four wheel antilock brakes, side curtain airbags and front seat airbags. A Rockford Fosgate 300 watt sound system serves as the entertainment. The safety rating is 8 out of ten. It also comes with optional reverse camera and parking sensors as upgrades. The overall rating for this car is marginal.
20. 2017 Mitsubishi Lancer – Starting price: $18,753
This sedan has a fuel economy of 24 MPG city and 33 MPG highway. It is an all wheel drive that handles very well. It is outdated on the interior and equipment. It has a poor fuel economy with a low build quality. It does come with a rear view camera and display audio. this car may be ungraded with a sun and sound package that features a power glass sunroof and a 710 watt system replacing the stock 300 watt system. The safety ratings are only in the moderate range for this vehicle. it is Mitsubishi’s budget model.
