These Are the Cars You Can Still Buy for $25,000 or Less

Inflation is showing no signs of stopping and we can see it in the auto industry. With the costs of raw materials, parts and production all exploding in recent years, particularly since the start of the pandemic, manufacturers have no other choice but to pass them on to their customers.

Buying a brand new car for $20,000 or less, including destination and delivery, is now something very few people can actually dream about. Even under $25,000, options are pretty limited these days. What are they exactly? Let’s take a look.

First, we’ll start with the most affordable new car in Canada, the Chevrolet Spark, which is priced from $12,448. It won’t return for 2023, however, so that title will soon go to the Mitsubishi Mirage ($16,323). Next up are the Kia Rio ($19,859) and Nissan Versa ($19,163 for 2022).

These are the only subcompact cars remaining, by the way, so we have to move up to compact cars. For $25,000 or less, once again including D&D, shoppers can turn to the Nissan Sentra ($21,963 for 2022), Hyundai Elantra ($22,753), Kia Forte ($22,809) as well as the Mazda3 ($23,510) and Mazda3 Sport ($24,695).

The Toyota Corolla sedan is another possible consideration, but pricing for the 2023 model has yet to be announced. Forget about the Honda Civic, Volkswagen Jetta and Subaru Impreza, the latter dropping its cheaper four-door variant for 2023.

The final hopes for new-car buyers are small crossovers with FWD only including the Nissan Kicks ($22,968) and Hyundai Venue ($23,103). Let’s not forget the Chevrolet Trax, which is now taking a break but will return in a completely new package for 2024 at a base price of $24,049.

Otherwise, there’s always the used-car market. The good news is that prices are stagnating after two years of substantial increases caused by limited new-car supplies.