With today's economy many consumers may want to buy smaller cars that are fuel efficient and have a cheaper price tag. Most compact cars, however, despite being fuel efficient all are not entirely family friendly. Searching through the automotive market, four-door compact cars can be found that are not only family friendly, but fuel efficient and reasonably priced. The following list has been compiled using affordable pricing, customer satisfaction, fuel efficiency and over all look.
The Honda Fit may be a small car but it has a surprising amount of cargo space when the rear seats are folded down. Given the Fits dimensions as a compact four-door hatchback it retains comfortable seating, even in the back. It also has a tough outer shell that blends a fashionable design along with safety. The Fit runs 109 horsepower with a 1.5 liter four-cylinder engine and can get an estimated 28 city and 34 highway miles per gallon. As of October 2010, you can purchase the Fit for around $14,900.
The Aveo seats five people comfortably and has a good amount of cargo space. This four door is available in a both a sedan and hatchback model with two different trim options: the LS and the LT. The Aveo is built taller lending more head room, but leaving the outer appearance lacking. Having a 60/40 split rear seat allows for more cargo room, allowing for larger cargo to be carried in the interior of the car. The Aveo comes with a 103 horsepower, 1.6 liter engine. This little Chevy averages 24 city and 34 highway miles per gallon. As of 2010, you can purchase the Aveo for $11,501 to $13,154.
If you are on a strict budget, then the Kia Rio is the perfect small four-door car. The Rio has impressive head and leg room in the back. With a good amount of cargo room tucked under the hatch. The downside of the Rio is the loud engine noise when accelerating and moving at a higher rate of speed. The Rio gets 27 city miles per gallon and 34 highway miles per gallon which makes it high on the fuel-efficient list. It runs on 110 horsepower with a 1.6 liter engine. The Rio is a spacious and stylish compact car. As of 2010, you can purchase a Rio starting at $12,295.
The Scion xD has a roomy interior with a lot of headroom. The rear seat also reclines and moves forward and backward giving more room for passengers and cargo. It will fit four medium-sized adults comfortably. If your looking for a car that has a lot of extras then the xD is the right choice. You can get keyless entry, navigation, spoiler and a few other TRD performance upgrades. One draw back to the Scion is that it has small windows making visibility more difficult. It gets 27 city and 33 highway miles per gallon. As of 2010, the purchase price of a Scion starts at $13,822.
The Versa is roomy given its compact dimensions. There is plenty of head and leg room in the front and back, allowing someone over 6-foot to ride comfortably. The Versa comes with a lot of highend options like, keyless entry, satellite radio and bluetooth. The suspension in the Versa makes for a comfortable ride and the handling is more then adequate. You can get the Versa as a hatchback or sedan, both models have 122 horsepower with 1.8 liter engine. It gets 26 city and 31 highway miles per gallon. As of 2010 the Versa starts at $9,990 for a sedan and $13,570 for a hatchback.
