Best Compact Cars of October 2011

While the $25,000 cap on price did not affect the light car segment it's not the case with the compact cars. The cheap Mitsubishi Lancer is still in the mix but it now goes up against the Mazda 3 which is on sale and the Lancer's nemesis, the Subaru Impreza.

All contenders come with Space Saver spare tyres so they're on equal footing in that department.



$20,990 is a hard price to beat which helps the Mitsubishi Lancer into first place.

This is probably the first time the popular Mazda 3 makes the list. Usually the trim level I was after (the Maxx) was hovering around the $26-27,000 mark. Now the Mazda 3 is on sale so the Neo comes with goodies like alloys and extended warranty.

The Mazda 3 fits in between the Lancer and Impreza in terms of fuel economy and price and is consequently second.

The overall cost of running the Impreza is considerably more than the other contenders thanks to being fuel thirsty and the fact that you're recommended to use Premium Unleaded to run it.

Best Light Cars of October 2011

The change in the price limit to $25,000 does little to the light car segment and we once again have the same results as last month.

The Hyundai Accent Elite Sedan is a new contender but already shoots to the top.

While the Honda City has similar fuel consumption to the Hyundai Accent and it sports a full size spare tyre, it can't compete with its $2,000 price difference.



The Ford Fiesta LX Diesel Sedan is actually the most economical out all of the options here. It's just a pity that it uses goo to patch up tyres instead of offering you a spare wheel of some sort!

Change in criteria again

There has been a change in criteria again. Now only cars under $25,000 will be considered on the list which really cuts down the number of cars for consideration (and results in only two classes of cars being reviewed, the light and compact class).

This blog used to use similar criteria before (i.e. cars reviewed would be less than the price of a Honda Civic which was usually around $25,000). The difference this time is that the $25,000 will be a set amount and will not fluctuate as it would have inevitably if based on another car's price.