Okay, so I’ve been driving a sweeeeet Pontiac Vibe for the last 21 years, and it seems to be singing its swan song these days, as we crossed 297,000 miles this week. I’m starting to look at what’s available. I’d love any suggestions…here’s what I’m looking for:
-a hatchback
-with AWD
-that gets at least 30mpg
-that I can fit my bike with wheel still on, in the trunk if I fold the back seats down
-that will give me some longevity (hard to beat a car that gave me 21 years and almost 300K miles) --which is why I’m posting directly on the Toyota subreddit, because nothing else lasts quite as long…
-bonus points if it comes in a manual transmission
-bonus bonus points if the back seats fold completely flat, so I can sleep in it.
Thoughts?
If you are really set on hatchbacks, a Subaru Impreza (29-30MPG combined) is a great AWD option. The Mazda3 Hatchback is available as an AWD but it gets under 30MPG combined. If you’re okay with a fastback and the lower headroom, the Prius is available with AWD (49-54MPG) and might offer a relatively long seats-down cargo area compared to other compact hatches.
Unfortunately, all the options are lifted crossover SUVs now…
If you’re able to stretch a little bit into SUV territory, there are a few AWD options in the subcompact segment as well, though many fall just short of 30MPG:
Corolla Cross AWD (31MPG comb)
Corolla Cross Hybrid (42MPG comb.)
Crosstrek (27-29MPG comb.)
Kona AWD (26-28MPG comb.)
HR-V AWD (27MPG)