While shopping for the new car, I wanted something with good fuel economy, but didn’t want to sacrafice on cargo space.  As I told every salesman that I visited, “My three dogs go everywhere with me.” I didn’t really need the 4WD, even though it had come in handy a few times. I also didn’t need the gas guzzling that came along with the 4WDs.

I did a lot of research on the internet and looked at the following cars:

• Jetta Wagon TDI – 40+ MPG!
• Mazda 3 Hatchback
• Subaru  Impreza
• Scion XD
• Nisan Versa
• Ford Focus

I had pretty much settled on the Jetta Wagon TDI, the Mazda, and the Fit. The Ford just seemed boring, the Subaru not big enough, and the Versa too new. Admittedly, there were others in the class and a few others to boot (like the Mini Cooper) but you can drive yourself crazy (like my brother-in-law who spent months deciding on which car to buy) if you start with too big of a selection.

Personally, I didn’t want to use CARS (Cash for Clunkers) as my Jeep would make a great 4WD for someone living up where the salt the roads as it was in good shape and with some transmission work will provide several years of service. However, I did want to use the leverage that CARS allowed me during the negotiations.

I was dead set on a manual transmission as I just don’t feel like driving a golf cart around. I did drive the Jetta TDI, but there were no more 2009 TDI manual shift cars anywhere, and very few of the wagons at all. I also drove the Mazda and the Honda.

The Mazda was a fun little car with more horsepower, and very nicely appointed, but:

• the seats didn’t lay flat
• less cargo room
• more expensive
• so-so gas mileage
• visibility (Granted, it was much better than most Pontiac rental cars I’ve driven. I’m short and I felt I couldn’t see the front right quarter and after driving a SUV for years I felt unsafe.)

The Honda dealer wasn’t accepting CARS (Clunkers), but I was able to show them what the Mazda dealer had put in writing to help negotiate the price of my trade up to the same I would have received with the Clunkers deal. I also liked:

• the lower price (2/3s the price of the Mazda)
• the better gas mileage (combined 29 vs 25 on the Mazda)
• more cargo space (significantly so)
• the seats that lie flat (and the magic seat deal)
• the front seats recline all the way
• higher crash rating (in fact, even significantly higher than my Jeep)
• visibility (there are no discernible blind spots and the small windows in front of the external mirrors are great)
• the USB attachment for the stereo (they both had AUX input, but with the Fit the iPod can be controlled via the stereo and you can use the steering wheel controls)
• Honda resale
• Honda brand loyality (my (other-)brother-in-law loves his and they do have the highest satisfaction surveys and highest percentage of return buyers.)

I was a bit conflicted about the sportiness of the Mazda 3 vs. the Fit, but I had to remember that I was in this for the efficiency. We’ve (at least I have) become more humble since 2000 when I bought my gas guzzler.  I sort of like the fact that I spent less than half on this car as I spent on my last new car (and in that same vein, the Fit was 2/3 the price of the Mazda 3).

I’ve had it for a few days and have put a few hundred miles on it to date. I’m very happy with it.  So far, the meter says I’m getting 42 MPG as I am driving pretty conservatively. I’ll post a comment below when I start filling it up and calculating actual mileage.