Small cars, in the US at least, used to be synonymous with crap. Remember the Ford Festiva from the late 1980s? It's probably best that you don't. But times change, gas prices soar, and automakers (in the US) have finally begun building small cars that are of actual quality. For many, a small car is all they can afford if they want something brand-new off the lot. Fortunately, there are many solid choices these days, and there are also several not so good picks.

Consumer Reports has just put together its latest findings of best and worst reliable small cars. Actually, they combined subcompact and compact cars here, but it's still good to know nonetheless. The best, in the order which they were given, are the Scion xB, Toyota Yaris, and Honda Civic. The worst were the Fiat 500L, Ford Fiesta, and the Chevrolet Cruze. All of the cars mentioned cost no more than $25,000 fully-loaded.