Originally Posted by
Pellaken
nope. The spark is *a* consideration, but Chevrolet isn't the most reliable thing in the world. It's one of the b-grade possibilities, along with the versa, rio, and elantra; which goes alongside "maybe I should get a crossover" soul, venue, and corolla cross. The latter is actually the answer; a Toyota Corolla sedan. Alongside possibly a Civic as those are made right here in ontario. In reality, however, if I fund the car myself (IE by getting a job and/or saving up) a Mirage and a Corolla are the only two realistic options. Other options open up if I win the lotto; everything from a Camry to a Rolls.
However if I was to get a Corolla, I'd certainly get an automatic as that only adds $1.8K to the total price, which (if my estimate of dealer fees is accurate) is a total/after-tax price difference between $26.9K vs $24.9K, or a 8% difference. The mirage however, changes from $20.1K to $18.8K, or 7%. Hence, even though its a tiny difference, I'd feel better at saving some money at this level VS saving money when spending more. Put another way, if I'm spending the money for a Corolla, I'm already going for the more expensive option, and will thus be far less likely to get a manual, VS going for the bargain option and saving by going for stick.
I can't rule out a spark, but if I did get a spark it would 100% be stick as that's only $14.6K - but I'm more than willing to take more time to save up to get a car from a Japanese brand!
edited to add - oh. I have a google sheets spreadsheet showing various prices. if allowed and if anyone is curious, I could post that?