These New Cars Are The Best Value, According To Our Readers

Earlier this week we handed the Jalopnik audience the keys and asked you to share what new car you thinks offers the best value. There was a wide array of answers, from serious, logical ones to hilarious, silly ones, but this is just a compilation of a few of my favorites, so feel free to go back and read through some of the other answers.

The best thing about this question is that it's so incredibly variable; everyone has a different perspective on what value looks like for them, so there's no one right answer. As an example of this, I pitched the idea that the Bentley Bentayga is a great value because it's around half the price of its primary competitor the Rolls-Royce Cullinan. I guess if you're very wealthy but not super wealthy, a Bentayga is an intelligent financial choice, but I'm neither, so my real answer was the Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness. 

I don't think any car offers as much multipurpose value as the Crosstrek Wilderness, which is hugely off-road capable, practical, efficient, reliable, and cheap at just around $35,000. But you didn't come here to hear from me, these are some of your fellow audience members' opinions.

I'm not saying it's a good car. I'm saying it's the best value.

The Hyundai Elantra Hybrid can be had for $25k MSRP, and there are a ton of programs to move it off lots. At the same time, it gets up to 58 mpg on the highway and is pretty cheap to insure (as boring cars are).

If you're stuck buying new (Lease, want to experience depreciation) for whatever reason and need to get through 7-8 years of life with low ownership costs, they don't get much cheaper.

Submitted by: potbellyjoe

Mazda 3 hatchback for me. First of all, it looks absolutely great! It's interior looks and feels better than what you see in some premium cars brands. It has a real automatic transmission and available with a manual. It has 90% of the reliability of a Toyota. Starting at $26,000, it is one of the last cars under $30,000 that is not a penalty box.

Submitted by: trailbilly

Matchbox or Hot Wheels. Still only $1.19 at my local Meijer. Every car you can actually fit in is literally highway robbery.

Submitted by: Joe Stricker

Truthfully I don't think any new car is a good value nowadays... I think the 2000-2010 vehicles in good condition under 100k miles are your best value. The era when the computers enhanced reliability and before they became so tech heavy they became problematic.

Submitted by: cintocrunch1

The Kia Telluride was an amazing value when it came out, it may have faded a bit since, but it's still a bargain. It offers stunning looks, lots of great options and trim levels, a luxury interior, plenty of room, and utility. Hard to beat it in terms of a family vehicle.

I am biased here, but I think the Elantra N is the best performance bargain since the Fiesta ST. I paid $34K for a car with a laundry list of upgrades (engine, suspension, and brakes, but also cooling, chassis, drivetrain, and electronics...the list of changes is impressive). It can go straight to the track, kick butt, and drive home without issue. Over and over again. It offers most of the performance of cars costing a lot more and way more than anything in its price tier.

Submitted by: DTEL77

I'm far from a Subie guy (I respect them, just don't want to own the vast majority), but agree that the Crosstrek is a heck of a bargain. Go anywhere, do anything with easy egress, cheap maintenance, solid reliability and it doesn't look horrible (but it also doesn't look great).

For most people who want utility without a huge price tag or a huge SUV, it's in a class of its own.

Submitted by: sclass88

If you can find one, a base model C8 would be my pick. 70 grand aint cheap but it buys you a lot of car. almost 500 horsepower, under 3 seconds to 60, almost 200mph and it handles better than 99% of the stuff on the road

You can even get one in green, orange, purple or yellow

Submitted by: JaredOfLondon

It's hard to beat the newest RAV4. With the 2026 redesign they made their excellent Hybrid drivetrain standard. For $31,900 MSRP you can have a 43mpg (average) crossover in an extremely practical package, with the latest Toyota Safety Sense 4.0, and with a very simple drivetrain that will last a very long time. AWD is an extra $1,400.

Submitted by: Stephen.

Honda Civic. One can argue all of their trim levels are a good value – entry level can be had in the $25K range, excellent fuel economy, reliable, roomy, cheap to run and maintain. The Hybrid is going to save you a bit in gas over the life of the car – likely more than what you paid to get the hybrid in the first place. Cheap fun is the Si and it's tough to top the Civic Type-R in terms for fun and power for the money. Plus four can fit with luggage so everyone gets to experience the fun. The ONLY ding that I can think that's against it is insurance prices. In my area, the Civic is one of the most stolen cars and that reflects in the car insurance rates.

Submitted by: Xavier96

Volkswagen GTI / GLI. It's a do-it-all car, and it's hard to find anything better unless you spend $20k more. Satisfying daily commuter, road-trip car, (small) family hauler, and trackday/autocross weapon.

Submitted by: Commentariat

Chrysler Pacifica! Hear me out on this. Three row seating, with stow-n-go, it can be 2 row or front seats only with a huge cargo area. Fuel efficiency is excellent for the size. Sliding doors are great for easy entry and avoiding door dings to others. It has a decent package of electronics and unlike GM, allows apple car play and android auto. It can haul 7 people (6 adults comfortably) and all their stuff. Out the door price is almost half that of any SUV competition with similar storage and passenger specs. The price is lower than other minivans that don't have stow-n-go. That is value... if you can stand the minivan stigma.

Submitted by: Old_SLAAB_Guy

Without a doubt it is the LC500. Depreciation is amazingly slow. The 2018s are still selling for the mid $50s. A 50% loss in around 8-9 years for a premium car with expensive parts is exceptional. The car itself is just a notch below Bentley type quality of materials. If you pick up one of the last 5% of VINs before they go out of production, the collectible factor might be there in the future. You could probably resell with a cost of only $50K to drive it for 10 years. People are paying that kind of cost (or higher) to drive for total heaps of junk that won't even make it 10 years.

Submitted by: Tex