Thanks!

Will check out the accent 1.6 since our only concern then was the engine knock. Is it true that hyundai requires an every 3 month maintenance? Might also consider the elantra if we can get additional funds.

Considering that the sonic is 6 speed then disabling overdrive, if it has one, will still give it 5 speeds to play with? Not sure if my wife is willing to go manual mode for overtaking. We never found the need to use it on our 1.3 city.

The 1.5 city is definitely in our list unless we find something better. Mitsubishi's site does not offer much info on the almera. No offense to vios owners but we're not rich so we expect to have a car with modern looks for our hard earned money :-)

Edit: just checked the accent 1.6 and I like the specs + price is the same as the sonic. Will definitely check this out. How's the fc btw?