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Cheap subcompact SUVs are the Frontier Airlines of cars: slow, cramped, comfortless, and making you wish you’d just spent a little more.
Buying a Mazda CX-3, however, is like paying Frontier prices for a seat in Delta first class. It’s beautifully appointed, exquisitely styled, comfortable, overgenerously well-equipped, and gets 34 MPG. Best of all, while other cheap subcompacts accelerate and corner like a sick hippo, the CX-3 gleefully zips around like a healthy gazelle.
I’m frankly astonished with this car’s quality for just $28k fully-loaded. For more headroom and cargo space, however, consider the CX-5.