Buy/Drive/Burn: The Cheapest Sedans in America for 2021

by Corey Lewis

Published: February 19th, 2021

buy drive burn the cheapest sedans in america for 2021

Imagine for a moment you’re not a well-heeled connoisseur of expensive cars and high finance, and there’s not a Bentley Mulsanne and a Land Cruiser in your garage. Instead, imagine you have to buy one of the three cheapest sedans on sale in America in 2021.

Today it’s Buy/Drive/Burn meets Ace of Base.

Mitsubishi Mirage G4

The Mirage G4 is the cheapest sedan on sale in America. There are four total trims: ES, LE, Carbonite Edition, and SE. In ES trim the G4 starts at $15,295, and the SE tops out at $18,195. In its basic form, the G4 has a five-speed manual transmission, and the model’s only mill: a 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine good for 76 horsepower. Niceties include a driver assist package and a seven-inch screen with a smartphone link. Six free colors are available on the G4, and all of them offer a choice between dark or light gray upholstery. Mitsubishi charges you a $995 shipping fee and forces a $145 welcome package that includes floor mats. The final cost of the SE is $15,295.

Nissan Versa

The second least expensive sedan in America is the Versa. Available in four trims: S manual, SR, S CVT, and SV, the Versa ranges in price from $14,930 to $17,740. The base S trim comes with a five-speed manual, 1.6-liter inline-four (122hp), a driving assist package, and is available in five free paint colors. Interiors are all black. Final cost including the shipping fee of $950 is $15,880.

Hyundai Accent

Hyundai’s Accent is the third least expensive sedan on sale in America right now. Across its three trims of SE, SEL, and Limited, the Accent starts at $15,395 and ends at $19,500. Base SE customers receive a 1.6-liter inline-four good for 120 horses, a backup camera, a five-inch interior screen, and a sporty six-speed manual. Six free exterior colors are on offer, and with a couple of those Hyundai offers a beige interior in addition to basic black. Hyundai charges $1,005 for shipping, so the actual base price of the SE is $16,400.

Three Aces of Bases, all quite close in price. Which one’s worth the Buy with your skinflint dollars?

[Images: Mitsubishi, Nissan, Hyundai]

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Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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2 of 41 comments

Jeff S on Feb 22, 2021

Buy the Accent and drive it at least it will not leave you stranded. Burn the Mirage not worth the bother. Burn to a crisp the Versa with the Jatco CVT unless the transmission goes before you get a chance to burn it.

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Joeaverage on Feb 23, 2021

Walked past an Accent in the grocery store the other night. A CVT perhaps? Owner was reving the piss out of it and it wouldn't move. I hustled by b/c had it suddenly gone into gear - someone could have gotten hurt. Nothing against any of these three. More inclined to keep my 20+ year old domestic sedan that costs me nothing and is valued at nearly nothing. For me its a toss up between the Kiayundai and the Nissan. I could make the Mitsu do the job and last but I can't warm up to it aesthetically. I want absolutely nothing to do with any of their CVTs or automatic transmissions. I like cheap and slow b/c I like to spend my money on fun weekend toys. Still, a used car seems like a better preposition.

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