Top 10 Best New Cars for 2012: Under $20,000, Over 30 MPG

There's nothing more satisfying than finding the best bang for your buck, so we've compiled our second annual list of the Best Cars Under $20,000 with Over 30 MPG.

Whether you're looking for an SUV or a hatchback, everybody wants value. For this list, we looked at some of the most affordable cars on the market that also deliver on the road. Buying a cheap car is no longer the sacrifice that it used to be - even new cars with the lowest price tags have plenty of standard amenities like power windows and seats, a plethora of airbags and quality interior materials. They also look cool.

You also have to be gas-conscious with your new purchase. The price of fuel seems to fluctuate with each passing day, and you need a car that will be able to run whether the pumps are harsh or forgiving. New technologies like hybrid and electric cars are great on gas, but they can be extremely pricey on the dealer lot, which kind of defeats the purpose.

Luckily, there are many cars these days that deliver high quality and fuel economy at a reasonable price. Here are fifteen of our top recommendations for affordable efficiency. More...

Rejected for an auto loan a while back? Was it because your credit score was too low to qualify? May as well apply again, because lenders continue to loosen their requirements. Whether you’re shopping for a new car or a used one, financial institutions have been easing their cutoff points just enough to let more of the credit-challenged slip through.

That trend is continuing, according to the latest data from Experian Automotive, which covers auto-financing transactions from the second quarter (April through June) of 2012. Most comparisons are made against data from a year before: the second quarter of 2011.

Lending institutions have a “very stable portfolio” of loans compared to a year earlier, said Melinda Zabritski, director of automotive credit for Experian, in her quarterly report on the state of the auto-financing business. More...

When the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) issued its list of most-reported consumer complaints a year ago, automobiles stood right at the top. Well, cars are Number One again, on the 2011 Consumer Complaints Report, issued on July 31, 2012. As before, too, credit/debt complaints are second on the list.

This year’s report represents complaints received by 37 state, local, and city agencies that handle consumer-related issues, in 22 states. Altogether, those agencies dealt with more than 289,000 complaints in 2011.

Though some complaints described this year are relatively new, those involving automobiles cover issues that have been around for years—Indeed, for decades. Specifically, CFA points to “misrepresentation in advertising or sales of new and used cars,” along with complaints about faulty repairs, leasing, and towing disputes.

Allegations of misrepresentation by auto dealers—or by any individual selling a vehicle—have been an integral part of the car culture since the early days of the automobile. Back in 1958, in his hilarious—yet serious—book, The Insolent Chariots, author John Keats provided some particularly colorful descriptions of the “anything goes” mentality that prevailed at car dealerships. More...

“I’ve never had a foreign car,” she admitted, giving the impression that such a thought had never crossed her mind. Throughout her life, in fact, this woman had mainly driven Buicks.

Her husband represented the traditional shopping experience in another way. For years, he’d had a friend who sold cars at a Pontiac dealership. Until that salesman retired not long ago, he would call this gentleman whenever a car of the type he preferred came in and looked like a good choice.

That’s how successful dealerships and their salespeople used to operate, in the days before the Internet. Customer-friendly? You bet—and it paid off for both sides.

Younger shoppers—and others who focus solely or primarily on price—seem to lack that sense of loyalty. They’re more easily swayed toward a different dealer than the one they used before. Mature car shoppers are more likely to stick with familiar people and experiences. At least, they used to. Lately, many consumers of all ages have been changing in their attitudes. More...

Financing of an automobile purchase seems so normal nowadays; it’s easy to forget that some people actually pay cash. During the past half-century or more, credit buying became ingrained into the evolving consumer culture. So, it’s hard to believe that time payments once were shunned.

Henry Ford, who revolutionized automobile production with his Model T (made from 1908 to 1927), wanted his down-to-basics car to be available to ordinary workers. Though he kept lowering Model T prices through the early 1920s, dipping as low as $260 in mid-decade, Ford decried the notion of buying on installments.

The closest Ford came to letting customers buy a car “on time” was through his “weekly purchasing plan,” launched in 1923. Unlike the now-familiar method of credit-based selling, whereby buyers enjoy the benefits of ownership right away and then pay over a period of many months, Ford’s customers didn’t get a Model T until it was fully paid for, little by little. His program was like the Layaway and Christmas Club plans that department stores have offered, allowing customers to pay a little each week toward the price of an item, then receive that product after the final installment was paid.

General Motors took a far different approach, offering–indeed encouraging–credit sales starting in the 1920s. Only by pushing customer financing could GM sales approach and eventually beat those of Ford, even though GM’s prices were considerably higher. Credit buyers, then and now, didn’t seem to care much about total price, as long as a down payment could be scraped up and the monthly payment could be met. More...

Plenty of automakers have been touting the thriftier fuel-usage figures for their vehicles lately. Their efforts are laudable, but has average fuel economy actually grown significantly as a result of their endeavors?

According to TrueCar.com, the answer is “yes,” though the average dipped slightly backward in April 2012.

Compared to April 2008, average fuel economy of new light vehicles has risen by close to 14 percent (about 2.7 miles per gallon). In the past year alone, the average has increased by more than 5 percent: from 22.2 mpg in April 2011 to 23.4 mpg in March 2012–then dipping by a hair to 23.3 mpg in April 2012. Four years ago, the overall average was only 20.6 mpg.

“In April, we saw a slight increase in sales of trucks and SUVs,” says Jesse Toprak, TrueCar’s vice-president of market intelligence. That could account for the slight drop.

As expected, car makes varied considerably in fuel-economy improvement between April 2011 and April 2012. Toyota products increased by 1.8 mpg: from 23.7 to 25.5 mpg. Chrysler vehicles rose from an average of 18.4 mpg, up to 20.0 mpg. Hyundais went from 26.0 to 27.6 mpg. Volkswagens rose from 25.5 to 26.8 mpg. General Motors vehicles, on the other hand, increased by only 0.3 mpg in the same time frame: from 21.2 to 21.5 mpg. More...