Things are looking up with the new Fords and the new refresh on the VW product.
My next car will be a small one...my current thinking would be
1. See what the Ford Focus is like when it is revamped
2. See what is available in terms of a very gently used HHR SS.
3. Obviously, MINI Cooper, prefer S.
4. VW Golf in either the GTI or TDI flavor.
That's it...the more I look at the Civic, the less I like it. Which is painful because I have a lot of friends that work for Honda and tell me what a great car it is...but my wife just hates the new Civic, even in the Si trim. Fit is a neat smallcar but a little too small, and I don't like the styling inside or out, either one.
Chryco-Nothing of value
Astra-Great small car, resale will tank and the after market will never even know this car was built as far as us available stuff goes.
Cobalt SS - Cool, but not sure it's love to the point of the 60 payment thing.
Nissan-Everything they build other than the 370 Z pretty much sucks, and I'd rather have a Vette Used than a 370Z new, plus a 370 is not a small car and not four seats, so...nothing from Nissan.
Toyota-Corolla is bland, Matrix is ugly, what am I missing? Be interesting to see what happens with the Joint venture with Subaru and the coming RWD/AWD sports car. Methinks with the current climate that car will be more or less vaporware.
Scion-One hit wonder. TC, not very impressive, XD, so ugly I would be embarrased to ride in one, xB (current model) What the original Chryco minivan should have been.
Suzuki-Who cars?
Mitsu-Screwed the pooch on the E-Clipse, Lancer is nearly midsized and IMHO not good looking...
Audi-builds some nice upscale stuff but...
C-30-still looks like a yuppie mommiemobile from the front, less than stellar suspension tuning, hard to find in manual, less than stellar aftermarket support...and its a Volvo.
Kia-Improved, but still not up to snuff.
Hyundai-Great marketing, bland cars.
What am I missing?
Chris