I am looking into buying a new cheap car and have been test driving different models for the last two weeks. Nissan Sentra 2001 and Toyota Echo 2000 were two other cars I liked. However, the loaded 3-door GSI (Accent) stands out.

The car comes with a nice CD player with removable face, manual sunroof, tach, tint stearing, rear defogger, rear wiper, spoiler, fog lights, alloy wheels, power locks and power stearing, and a decent 5 speed standard shift. Undercoating is standard and is done by the factory. I would also like to add in the A/C for an extra $25 / month.

I didn't get in the car with very high expectations but my first impression was awesome. Unlike the Echo and Sentra, I couldn't see any place where they obviously cut a buck or two. I totally didn't like the finishing of the Echo, but Accent has a very decent finishing. Though the car only has 92 horses powering it up, it's performance is no less than that of 108 horse power Echo. Shift is a little sensitive so passengers in my car felt me shifting the gear but that could be because I haven't driven standards much.

If you're looking for a roomy car then I guess you should look into Elentra or something else bigger (may be even a 4-door accent). GSI (I think it's called GT in the U.S.) is a two people's sports compact, with decent space in the rear for two passengers (though they give 3 seat belts so one could squeeze three people for short trips). I am pretty sure 3 passengers in the rear seat will not be comfortable for more than an hour or two.

Interior sound level is very good, though the car gets loud at high speed. Also, above 100 km/h (60 miles/hour) the acceleration gets really sloppy. Don't expect to be able to drive aggressively in this nice little car. However, if you're one of those people (like myself) who's looking for a great 2-people car with an awesome value, great package and decent performance, then Accent is for you. Just a word of caution, if you do plan to test drive the Accent, expect the performance of 92 horses and you'll be highly impressed. I have friends who drove the accent after driving Accords and they were unimpressed, obviously.

It's a great second car, student car and city economy car (though I plan to go cross country all the way to the West Coast as soon as I get this babe).