These New Cars Offer The Most Bang For Your Buck, According To Our Readers

One of the unfortunate things about cars is that if you want the best stuff, it usually costs extra. The Bugatti Tourbillon is an incredible car — even the instrument cluster is a work of art — but do you have $4 million to spend on one? I know I certainly don’t (although I wouldn’t be against receiving a raise that made buying a Bugatti possible). And just look at the galaxy one customer had painted on the ceiling of their Rolls-Royce Cullinan. I want that! I just wasn’t born to Rolls-Royce–commissioning parents, and odds are, you weren’t either. 

Instead, we’re stuck buying mass-produced, lesser cars and balancing features and technology with quality, comfort, reliability and fuel economy. And for people looking for the best bang for their buck, the new Nissan Sentra sure looks like a tempting option. But is it really the best bang-for-your-buck new car currently for sale? On Tuesday, we asked you that exact question and got all sorts of responses. And somehow, they weren’t all unaffordable sports cars that no regular person would ever buy. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular suggestions and see what cars made the cut.

Mazda CX-30 for sure. You get a reliable and fun-to-drive little runabout with decent space, good looks inside and out, a peppy 186hp engine for the size, AWD standard, and also a ‘real’ auto trans, not a %$^(*% CVT. All starting around $25k. I’d opt up for S Select Sport model to get the wireless Airplay option: MSRP $27760

Suggested by: WeryPert1

Even over the Sentra – I think the “Bang For Buck” king right now is the Chevy Trax. Yeah I know, turbo 3 cylinder. But for the money – you’re getting a LOT of car. And it happens to look great.

Suggested by: PLAN-B 77

I think the Maverik hybrid is pretty hard to beat. Nicely equipped for around 30k. Gets 35 – 40 MPG. And its a truck so you can do most of the truck stuff but not sacrifice MPG. Also not too big of a vehicle so still easy enough to drive.

Suggested by: Gerrit DeBoer

Mini Oxford edition @26k including delivery

Heated Steering wheel and seats, 18inch upgraded wheels, forward collision braking, lane departure, wireless airplay, automated parking, panoramic sunroof, fun driving experience, and colors (yellow and blue).

Suggested by: JUMPINRHINO

I’d say the base C8. Can be had for under MSRP now and it’s a lot of bang for the money.

Suggested by: Rasky

Honda Civic Sedan lineup. LX/Sport/Si, Hybrid or not, you save a couple of grand by buying the sedan instead of the hatchback and get incredible value for very short money.

Suggested by: jrhmobile

Honestly, the Mitsubishi Outlander sport is not a bad bet at all. It starts at $24K and will last you well over 100K miles. I got one back in 2016, manual transmission with hill assist for $16K out the door brand new. I still have it at close to 120K miles. No issues outside of regular maintenance, the original clutch is also holding on without signs of slipping, though I can tell it is aged…If you get the 2.4 liter, it’s still under $30K and comes with some pretty nice standard features, and has a beautiful Orange paint. The trail edition actually looks pretty rad for the same price. I would get another one too, but I don’t need another crossover so I’m looking more towards coupes, but you can probably get them at under $30K. If you just need a car that will get you somewhere reliably, the outlander sport is a good vehicle, and Mitsubishi still knows how to make great AWD systems…I’m still rooting for the little guy!

Suggested by: Agon Targeryan

I admit to liking the Buick Envista a lot, but the engine makes me nervous. I’ve said for awhile that the cheapest Corolla Hybrid is probably the best normie car if you can get it at MSRP. I also thought the Maverick Hybrid in mid-level XLT trim with a few options, at the MSRP when it was introduced was excelent- but we all know how that went down.

Suggested by: scoobylicious

I owned a brand-new 2020 Sentra SV Premium from 2020 through 2022, and it was a great car. Very comfortable to drive, and loaded with standard safety features.

I upgraded to a 2022 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid because the redesigned Elantra came with even more safety features than the Sentra.

However, the Elantra has much worse ride quality. The Sentra comes standard with an independent rear suspension, while only the Elantra Hybrid has an independent rear suspension.

Furthermore, I had to upgrade the Elantra’s wheels from the factory 17″ to aftermarket 15″ to improve the ride quality enough to compete with the Sentra. Even with 15″ wheels, the Elantra’s ride quality is ever so slightly worse than the Sentra’s with 17″ wheels. But the Elantra with stock 17″ wheels has extremely inferior ride quality compared to the Sentra. I appreciate the Elantra Hybrid’s safety features and superior fuel economy, but it’s taken me a bit of time to get used to the (now slightly) inferior ride quality.

So all in all, the Sentra is a great car.

Suggested by: Michael Makovi

One metric would be (people x comfort x speed)/price. Which the Lucid Gravity would win. It can transport the most people in most comfort the fastest per dollar. It’s only competition would be airplanes or high speed trains and those are very expensive.

Suggested by: fabey