It's not often I can really recommend a current model-year automobile. It's not like I have a bunch of resources for test-driving cars, so it's kinda rare I can give you a firsthand account of what it's like to drive one.


But now, having spent pretty much the last year intermittently looking at cars, reading reviews, doing test drives, researching cargo space, looking at fuel economy ratings and reading news reports on recalls, I can confidently Recommend the automobile I purchased today.


I was looking at subcompact cars, primarily, and almost any auto publication online or off can tell you the best car in that segment is the Honda Fit. It's a $16,000 fuel-savin', people haulin', cargo movin', curve takin', driver pleasin' machine.


But not all of us can afford that. Some of us have to look a little lower. And even though reviewers differ on many of the car's features, I found the 2008 Toyota Yaris to be far and away the best value in its class ... other than the $16K+ Honda.


For right at $13,000, I get a car that's smaller and lighter than the Fit, and has a few fewer options, but still provides stability, peppy performance and decent room for people and cargo (though admittedly not a lot of both at the same time) in an incredibly gas-efficient package.


I narrowed my choices at my price range down to the 2008 Kia Rio and the Yaris. Test driving the Rio, I felt as though I was in a rental car. A new rental car. When I test drove the Yaris, I felt as though I was in ... something I'd never seen before. It's a tiny car where you're actually sitting higher up than most other cars on the road. It's a fuel-efficient vehicle that purrs down the road as quickly as you like. It's a subcompact with plenty of head, shoulder, elbow and leg clearance.


And even though my model is a liftback coupe, four passengers can sit comfortably in the cabin. And when you have fewer than four passengers, you can fold one or both of the back seats down to open up more cargo carrying capacity through the hatch. I love what I can do with this car already. I laid in the back of one with the hatch open, talking to my dad about what car I should buy. And then it occurred to me that this is something I can't do in many other cars: lie in the sunshine with my feet out the back end, out of the unseasonably cold northern Indiana breeze.


It really is a lovely car, and I got a very comprehensive warranty package, plus my dealership offers free car washes any time I want them. To say I'm happy with this purchase would be an incredible understatement.