Ya, I used to own a Nova. It went.
God is in the drive train?
SB, I cannot recommend a car with such lousy phonetics.
He actually test drove an xA yesterday. I think he's leaning to that one as one of the most reliable in the low cost zone, in spite of it's poor "score" on noise and "the ride". Another contender might be the redesigned Kia Rio. It has no maintenance record - neither does the Honda Fit. (I think the Accent is a redesign this year too.) Not on the radar: the dreadful Chevy Aveo.
I suspect any car with a 1.6 Litre motor will be a bit of a buzz saw.
The good thing about Korean cars is that they have such a remarkable warranty, and that warranty binds them to years of misery if they don't get it right.
Look at the satisfaction ratings for the Kia by the owners and you'll only see mild complaints about things like power, well they knew how powerful the car was going in, if they wanted more power they should have bought it. But as far as reliability goes they are winners as are the Hyundi's.
I guess I'm just amazed at the achievement of these companies to build this level of reliability, reach 32+ MPG for 12-13 thousand dollars. If they can also meet Flexfuel requirements like the Chevy Aveo they will be with us for years to come, or at least until China comes into the picture.