Duncan Roberts

Well then, International Autosource are clearly rubbish. I'd go with a Ford Fusion from their list then, the new ones are very nice and you get a decent amount for your money.

AdobePinon

D'oh. Taking a quick glance at their page, it looks like Focus, Sentra, and Jetta are the most comparable to the OP's original choice. I'd probably agree with taking the Focus unless the Jetta's VIN indicates it was built in Germany.

Ash UK/US

Hyundai Elantra, Love mine! We bought it brand new, it is 5 years old, last year (2013) a daft moo pulled out in front of me causing an accident and $8000+ worth of damage, I thought it had been totaled before the insurance assessor made his decision and had already decided to that if it was totaled we would replace it with another Elantra.

Mr Weeze

Did you know some Nissans are made in sunderland?

I agree with the Focus.

Pulaski

No. Really? Nissan and the British government did a remarkable job of keeping the largest car plant in the UK a secret, and having Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher attend the opening of the plant was an ingenious way of ensuring minimal media interest.

Mr Weeze

You don't "do" football, do you?

Bless....

lansbury

They can only supply vehicles from the manufacturees who are willing to discount vehciles to 1) returning service men and women and 2) returning US expats or people such as ourselves. Clearly Toyota and Honda do not choose to participate in the program. Which I think says more to the detriment of those manufactures than IA.

Pulaski

Nope, nor soccer.

trumee

Thanks for your replies. Guess Ford focus is the one to go for. Do they really discount new cars?
Also wondering whether they give out pre-owned cars as well. Will save me money if they do.

markonline1

This is what I bought when I moved over. I had 10 grand to spend, I wanted something fun to drive, economical and manual. I'm actually really impressed with it. Plenty of zoom zoom. Reliability wise, they also have a good reputation, plus servicing costs are low which is an added bonus.

Duncan Roberts

Right. I have the original model (2004) in a manual and it's got around 110,000 miles on it. I've put money into it but its really only been the last couple of years and it's things like brakes, shocks and stuff that generally needs replacing after a while. I really like the car but it's becoming too small, I'm going to be sad to give it up and I don't think I'll find anything as good in a larger size with a manual gearbox. Now my wife's Nissan Versa on the other hand, I regret buying that almost every day.

RoadWarriorFromLP

If your options are limited to Dodge (Dart), Ford (Fiesta, Focus), Nissan (Sentra) and VW (Golf/ Jetta), then I'd personally prefer the Focus for being a reasonably reliable "driver's car."

But if lower cost is a priority, then the Nissan might be more competively priced. Do note that the 2014 Sentra is a new model, and an improvement over the outgoing 2013 version. The lowest priced car in the US is the rather unexciting subcompact Nissan Versa, which has a base model priced not much above $10,000.

markonline1

Yep, I have the 2005. The early models where by far the best. Best design and with some decent character. The facelift models have gone a little too econobox like for me.

MidAtlantic

If at all possible I would find a way of sticking with the Corolla. You will get outstanding value and reliability. Use this to check out the price you should be really paying:
https://www.truecar.com/

Nutek

Adding a late vote for the Focus, but only because the Mazda 3 isn't available.