This crowded segment is best represented by two exceptional cars--one a Best Buy and the other a Recommended. Our Best Buy is the Honda Civic, which offers a wide range of bodystyles, engines, and equipment levels. Civic is a solid car that has good performance, a nice ride, and is very civilized.
Topping the Recommended list are the Volkswagen Golf and Jetta. They easily could be Best Buys as they are better than the Civic in many ways. However, they are also the most expensive cars in this segment. Other Recommended choices include the no-frills Chevrolet Cavalier and Dodge Neon, the slightly-upscale Chevy Prizm and clone Toyota Corolla, and the roomy Mazda Protege.
If you are looking for a Budget Buy we recommend you stay away from the Hyundai or Daewoo models and take a look at the Ford Escort.

Though Hyundai's main news for 2001 is its new Santa Fe sport-utility, the Korean firm's current best-seller is redesigned for the upcoming model year. Not all specifics were available for this report, but one advance photo shows more rounded lines and a general look recalling Hyundai's larger Sonata. Wheelbase is said to be 2.3 inches longer, but overall length and height appear little changed. The wagon is apparently no more, while the sedan is said to reengineered with a little more power from the same 2.0-liter engine, plus less noise, vibration and harshness.
Korean automakers are on something of a roll these days, having little competition in the bargain basement of the car market where they mostly compete. Elantra is benefitting as much as any Korean car, with sales more than doubling in calendar '99 vs. '98 and up some 50 percent year-over-year in the first four months of 2000.