It's almost impossible to buy a new car for under $20,000 in the US.
The Mitsubishi Mirage is the only new car available under $20,000.
Here are the five cheapest new cars you can buy in the US.
Those looking to buy a new car on a budget are in a worse position than they were five years ago.
In 2018, price-conscious car buyers in the United States could choose from a dozen new small cars selling for under $20,000. Now there is only one: Mitsubishi Mirage. And even the Mirage shows up heading for the scrapyard.
At a time when Americans increasingly want expensive SUVs and trucks over small cars, the Mirage remains the only new vehicle whose average selling price is below $20,000 – a figure that was once a kind of unofficial affordability threshold. With prices – new and used – soaring since the pandemic, $20,000 is no longer the starting price for a new car.
The current version of the Mirage, which reached U.S. dealers a decade ago, sold for an average of $19,205 last month, according to data from Cox Automotive. (While some other new models have starting prices under $20,000, the actual purchase price, with options and shipping, exceeds that figure.)
The Mirage, in both hatchback and sedan versions, costs less than half the average price of a new vehicle in the US. The average figure is now above $48,000 – 25% higher than before the pandemic hit three years ago.
Michelle Krebs, an analyst at Cox Automotive, said she expects new car prices to fall slightly as factories produce more vehicles, which would likely force automakers to offer discounts. Falling electric vehicle prices, led by Tesla, have also helped drive down overall car prices.
But don't expect the return of a new $20,000 car.
“I can't imagine it unless Chinese automakers come in and sell it cheaply,” Krebs said. “Politically, that seems unlikely.”
