Used hatchbacks for sale near Stanley, NC under $25,000

Previously we have owned a 2016 Mazda Hatchback with the 2.0 liter engine and manual transmission. Our biggest complaint with that car was the lack of power. We were not expecting a performance car, but the 2 liter engine in that car was just anemic. My wife didn't feel safe trying to pull out into traffic. We recently purchased a 2024 Mazda 3 Premium with 2.5 liter engine and manual transmission. While still not feeling like a sports car (it is not one) it does have considerably more torque than the 2016 we owned previously. Things we like about the 2024 model: - the bump in power - fuel economy - the interior. the seats are somewhat firm, but comfy. The dash is nicely layed out - the buttons on the console are useful - heater/AC controls are buttons and knobs - easy to use - the heater fan! We have had several Mazdas, and the fan has always been underpowered. the fan in this car is adequate - two driver settings that will put the seat in the correct position, as well as let you set the brightness of the heads up display - seat heaters Things we don't like: - auto sensing wipers. the only way to use the intermittent wipers is with the 'auto' setting, and it operates properly only intermittently at best - the door for the gas filler. it is not difficult, but if you don't know how to do it, you may need to google (what I had to do at the gas station) - Fully electric parking brake - I would prefer a manually operated brake. - The pedal area is somewhat narrow. I have somewhat wide feet, so I have to keep that in mind, as some shoes make driving cumbersome. The reliability question was required, which is a rather lame requirement when one has owned a car for a month. I gave it 3 stars as I have no idea yet as to the reliability.

The sound system is amazing. I upgraded my old Mazda 3, 2015 to a 2023. The inside is much quieter. I love my heated seats. We've owned many Mazdas and have loved them all. The reliable little cars with great gas mileage.

Heather was an amazing sales woman, I truly appreciate her hard work for making today happen! I purchased my first car by myself. I can’t wait to love my new Honda Civic

I haven't owned a 4 cylinder in a long time. I had a turbo 5 Volvo, a 6 cylinder accord, and a Mercedes c300 6 as my last three cars, then before that I owned a last model year RSX (2006, I wouldn't count the new ones) for a long time so that's the closest comparison to this. I think the RSX felt a bit more sporty (I didn't have the Type S), but as for power they're a pretty close match, and I bet the Mazda 3 would smoke it off the line with it's torque heavy engine. I think the RSX looked more sporty too, it had probably a more mature styling to it that I appreciate now even more than I did when I owned one, but I will say every time I look at my Mazda 3 I like it more and more. I've seen a thousand of these on the road and never had a strong opinion on them, but my girl in red keeps growing on me, and when I take the dog out for walks I circle the car and look it over and understand it more and more. I have a 2018 fully loaded GT, and the interior is mostly it's strongest positive. The facelifted w204 is easily the nicest looking interior I've ever been in, and the accord maybe the most comfortable, but this is incredibly close to the accord in terms of comfort and only lacking in slightly worse seats and less room. The seats are great though, but the 2012 accords were some of the best I've say in. The fake leather has a great balance of firm and give to it, and what's even better is the whole interior is wrapped in a similar nice synthetic material that's a joy to be wrapped in. I've never owned a car where my arms are supported on both sides in such a comfortable manner. I'm 6'1 so I keep my seat low but I feel like I have a good deal of room, in fact, I test drove a 2023 (gen 4) Mazda 3 that was an incredible price, about $800 off from my 2018 and even less miles but the new interior design is nowhere close to as good as what we get in the gen 3. You have almost no room to spread your legs out in the newer models and that's a deal breaker for me. The one major weakness of the 2018's interior is the tablet on top of the dash looks hideous. I think I mentioned earlier my model is fully loaded, and I mean it. But what's that mean, a premium sound system, some exterior trim pieces tacked on? Nope, here we have some genuinely cool features. Adaptive headlights that turn with the wheel, a heads up display that's projected on a piece of clear plastic that raises up when you start the engine and can show speed, road signs, blind spot info, next GPS heading, etc. We have automatic windshield wipers, adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, a great Bose sound system, paddle shifters. My car has more bells and whistles than my wife's high trim 2023 Tuscon. I really love my little Mazda, and I'm hoping to take it down some back roads to see if I can enjoy the driving part as much as some others do, as I've mostly spent time on the highway or in stop and go so far. This was a purchase I was unsure of 3 days ago when I made it, but every couple waking hours something pulls me to that car, whether to drive it or just to sit in it. I know now I've made a great choice.

This car is easy to drive, beautiful color, good on gas, handles well on cornering. Nice price and great tires too. This is my 3rd mini, so I love them!

Absolutely love my car. 2018 SI sedan 6speed manual. A/C was fixed at dealer a while back. No problem since. No other problems of any kind. I never get under 35MPG COMBINED city and freeway. We drove to Phoenix and never got gas on the way. I’m at almost 90k miles, favorite car I have owned. I added a subwoofer to the stock stereo and it’s pretty good with Dolby Neural. I am amazed at the engineering to have over 200hp and just under 40mpg. Seat material is cheap. That’s one complaint. And it rides like a civic SI especially in sport mode. The handling is top notch I’ve scared a few people taking corners. If you like the SI cars over the years, this is one of the best

A brilliant mark of automotive excellence. An abundance of personality, only to be outdone by my 9lb chihuahua. - 135 horsepower is more than plenty on the freeway, and far too much for the city. - The design of the interior cabin feels I am already in the future, as opposed to the present. - The cabin is also very quiet. I hardly hear cars and noise around me - the sound quality from the sound system is spectacular, and the audio from phone calls is unbelievably clear. - I've never driven a car with better handling. I would say it is in a Goldielocks zone of having enough wiggle for comfort and stiffness for performance.

After buying Toyota vehicles for years, I found out that they were outsourcing their CVT’s and Honda was making their own CVT’s and after driving a new Toyota Corolla and then a new Honda Civic, I was more impressed with the Honda Civic. My three previous cars were Toyota Corolla’s and I loved them. I am very happy with my 2021 Honda Civic EX and I would not hesitate to recommend Honda.

I bought a 2020 Oxford edition to replace my 2013 Cooper S. Seems heavy and slow, but probably better to slow me down and saved a lot of money!

I recently purchased a new Honda Civic, and it has been an amazing experience so far. The car drives very smoothly, handles well on both highways and city roads, and gives excellent gas mileage. The interior is comfortable and modern, with plenty of space and great visibility. I especially love the reliability that Honda is known for and the advanced safety features that make me feel confident while driving. It’s the perfect balance of style, comfort, and performance I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a dependable and efficient car.

After changing jobs and having to drive 100 miles round trip, I decided to buy the 2023 Honda Civic, I think it was the best decision of my life, not only does it save me a lot of gas but it looks spectacular on the outside and not to mention The interior is simply perfect with a lot of space, like any criticism there are negative points such as the sound system which in my opinion lacks power to be able to listen to your favorite songs at full volume, another point that I would like to highlight is that it lacks entry to the car without having to use your remote control even my 2011 grand cherokee has it, in a general perspective it seems like a good car for price, safety and appearance, it has been my first honda and I think I will continue with the tradition of continuing to buy this model for a long time

Excellent vehicle using technology and consideration for human comforts. Lane keep assist is developing each year. Cruise control distance features are well designed. Would I buy it again? Absolutely.

Great drivability! Great room! Unfortunately, not confident in expertise at service center for plug in hybrid issues. No one has seen enough issues to understand how they can malfunction... they are totally dependent on computer codes and what the manual says.... haven’t really studied the tecnology and engineering enough to be able to anticipate and or respond to technical questions and circumstances.... sales people are completely oblivious to the technology!!! Cannot answer simple engineering questions about car! Service department seems only modestly more experienced, and have no passion or desire to really know or understand.... so their ability to inform and guide the customer is basically non existent. They call “ experts” elsewhere in the country... don’t appear to care to become experts themselves. This means that the customer has little to no confidence that their car is actually going to be fixed properly because they are completely reliant on manual and mechanics located elsewhere to solve issues.... fully expect that any upcoming repairs will be “ out of the box” repairs.... computer says that EGR valve is malfunctioning, so it needs a new one! When all it needs is a vacuum hose reconnected.... or something down these lines. This is really bad that the customer will need to understand their own car better than dealership mechanics, and will mean that extremely expensive parts will be seen as the solution to “ fixing” the oroblem...eg, I won’t be surprised if we own the vehicle for 10 plus years, that a new computer control module will be found to be needed because the code said it was malfunctioning.... when a small gasket waterproofing the compartment has failed and causes it to work improperly when it wet outside... The customer is left feeling uncared about, or cared for... and that Toyota hires fundamentally unprofessional or lazy service mechanics, and dont properly expect expertise or mastery about their products...

Love my sonic. Peppy engine, quite ride. Seats could be a little wider but don't think it was designed for someone my size. Wish they still made them

Great driver. Good gas mileage. Problem free. Second soul I have owned and just as good. My first was a 2013 and I had it for 6 years. I've had this one for over 3 years,

I have owned a Kia Soul Brownstone Edition for 6 years now. It hasn't given us any issues aside from a brake ABS failure in warranty. However, since Kia skimped out on immobilizers, I wouldn't get one without push button start, which is most of them, unfortunately. While they extended the warranty on the engine, they have plenty of fundamental issues with it, and also, my Kia after 4 years, has noises in front and back suspension sway bars, and the strut tower bearings make noise. While these don't need to be fixed, they make the car sound like crap. I just drove a 2019 Kona with the same amount of miles, and the suspension on that was just fine. Might be due to the larger wheels and smaller profile tires, I don't know. If Kia ever sells the EV soul in the US, I'd get that. So far, they've been good.

Great car..43 mpg hyway..trouble free car..haasgreat power and fun to drive.handles well too.just a greay. Car to own..Never had any issues with it yet in 5 yrs

This Kia Rio S 2019 is a great car , awesome on gas , very comfortable to drive and handles well and it’s a good looking car . Very happy with my purchase of this Kia .

This car is great and I can’t wait to take it on the open road this summer. Zoom zoom zoom zoom zoom zoom zoom zoom zoom!!!

The one weak point is that there is a design defect. The exhaust manifold leading to cylinders tends to get clogged up. Must be cleaned every 60 k miles (200 dollar job) to avoid head gasket replacement. Otherwise should run forever. 250 k miles and doesn't use drop of oil. 2014 is known to be vintage year, with all kinks worked out of generation 3 - except for aforementioned. Besides being ultra reliable, the car is simply the best use of space and readily available fuel possible. Enormous cargo space with back seats down. Up, passengers have room almost equivalent to full-size sedan. Simply best car ever made. Just look out for traction battery expense. But even that can be mitigated using rebuilt batteries and independent shops.