As readers have amply demonstrated and discussed in our Forums, price has become an even greater factor in new car purchase decisions as of late. And although shrunken budgets may be altering car-buying habits everywhere, we’re of a mind that a reasonable sticker price doesn’t have to mean a dearth of driving fun.

In fact, with smaller form factors, better fuel economy, lighter weight, and funkier styling, there’s a lot to love about the modern lineup of vehicles the stay south of the $20,000 mark. Over the next two months, we’ll dive deep into the frugal end of the new car pool, testing eight vehicles that we believe are as cheerful to drive as they are painless to pay for. Within our criteria, there’s still a pretty substantial range of price on offer here—MSRPs from around ten grand to twenty—though we’ve done our best to identify the cars the perform particularly well on a per dollar basis.

+ Click here to continue reading The Best Cars Under $20,000, Part One.

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