The $25,000 New-Car List Is Down to Seven: Every One, With Destination Included
Seven cars clear the $25,000 line once destination is added — four sedans, three crossovers, no hybrids. We rank them by sticker price and name the nine that miss by a hair.
Seven new cars still come in under $25,000 once the destination charge is added. Four are sedans, three are subcompact crossovers, and none is a hybrid. A year ago the list had a sub-$20,000 anchor in the Nissan Versa; today the cheapest new car in America is a $22,150 Hyundai Venue, and the rest of the field is packed into a $1,500 window just below the cap.
This guide counts only the number you'd see on a window sticker before taxes and fees: the manufacturer's suggested retail price plus the mandatory destination (or freight, or "dealer processing and handling") charge, which now runs from $1,245 to $1,795 on these cars. Prices come from each brand's U.S. configurator or pricing release, not from dealer ads. If you're shopping on the other side of the powertrain divide, our list of the cheapest new EVs in the U.S. uses the same math.
One caveat up front: the model year is not the same for every entry. Toyota, Kia, and Nissan have already priced their 2027 cars. GM and Hyundai are still selling 2026 models, and 2027 prices for the Trax, Venue, and Elantra had not been published as of October 14. Each entry says which year the price belongs to.
1. 2026 Hyundai Venue SE: $22,150
MSRP $20,550, freight $1,600. The Venue is the cheapest new vehicle you can buy in the U.S. right now, and it's a crossover in name only: front-wheel drive, a 121-hp 1.6-liter four-cylinder, and a CVT. What you get for the money is a tall, boxy body that's easy to park and an 8-inch touchscreen with wireless phone mirroring. Hyundai doesn't print the freight amount on its consumer site, only a note that MSRP excludes it; the $1,600 figure is the charge dealers apply. The SEL trim stays under the cap, too. Hyundai has listed a 2027 Venue in its media center but hasn't priced it yet.
2. 2026 Chevrolet Trax LS: $23,495
MSRP $21,700, destination $1,795. The Trax is the longest car on this list at just over 178 inches, which is why it feels like a size class above the Venue inside. Power comes from a 137-hp turbocharged 1.2-liter three-cylinder; all-wheel drive isn't offered at any price. The LT trim also clears the bar, at $24,995 with destination, and that's the one to look at if you want the 11-inch center screen and wireless phone mirroring in place of the LS's 8-inch unit. Note that GM's destination charge jumped $400 for 2026, to $1,795, which is the highest on this list. The 2027 Trax was shown in early October, and reports say the LS and 1RS trims are being dropped; Chevrolet has not released 2027 pricing.
3. 2027 Kia K4 LX: $23,635
MSRP $22,390, destination $1,245. The K4 is the newest design here and the only 2027 model that comes in under $24,000 all-in. The base car uses a 147-hp 2.0-liter four and a CVT, and it already has a 12.3-inch center touchscreen. The LXS, at $24,835 delivered, adds the features most buyers actually want. For the full trim walk, see our breakdown of 2027 K4 sedan and hatchback pricing. The K4 hatchback starts at the EX trim and lands at $26,335, so it misses the cut.
4. 2026 Hyundai Elantra SE: $24,120
MSRP $22,825, freight $1,295. The Elantra is the roomiest sedan on this list, with a trunk that rivals cars a class up, and the SE comes with the full Hyundai SmartSense safety suite. The 147-hp 2.0-liter four and CVT are nothing special, but the Elantra also brings Hyundai's 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty, which only the Kia K4 can match. As with the Venue, Hyundai doesn't publish the freight amount separately; $1,295 is the figure used in current pricing. The SEL Sport, at $23,950 before freight, ends up at $25,245 and just misses. There's no 2027 Elantra pricing yet.
5. 2027 Nissan Sentra S: $24,265
MSRP $22,990, destination $1,275. The Sentra was redesigned for 2026 and carries over into 2027 with a $390 bump on the base car and a $30 bump in destination. The 149-hp 2.0-liter four is adequate, and the S trim gets the 12.3-inch touchscreen that was headline news on the 2026 redesign. Nissan's 2027 Sentra press kit has the full sheet.
6. 2027 Nissan Kicks S: $24,365
MSRP $22,790, destination $1,575. The second-generation Kicks is the most expensive crossover on the list but also the most substantial: a 141-hp 2.0-liter four, about 30 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seat, and available all-wheel drive, though AWD pushes the S past $25,000. Nissan raised the 2027 base price by $60 and destination by $30. A note on the arithmetic: some early 2027 price reports used the old $1,545 destination figure; Nissan's own 2027 pricing sheet lists $1,575, which is the number used here.
7. 2027 Toyota Corolla LE: $24,620
MSRP $23,325, dealer processing and handling $1,295. The Corolla is the most expensive car on this list by base price and the only one from a brand with a reputation for holding its value; see our guide to the cars that depreciate least. The LE's 169-hp 2.0-liter four is the most powerful engine here, and it comes with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 standard. Toyota raised the 2027 LE by $200. The Corolla Hatchback SE, at $26,075, does not make the cut, and neither does the 2027 Honda Civic LX, which now lands at $26,290 after a $300 price increase and a $100 higher destination charge. If you're weighing those two, our Civic vs. Corolla comparison covers the gap in detail.
Just over the line
These cars are advertised under $25,000, but destination pushes them over. They're listed because the gap is small enough that a regional incentive could close it.
- 2027 Volkswagen Jetta S: $23,995 plus $1,325 destination, $25,320. VW's model page lists the MSRP only; the destination figure is the one dealers apply.
- 2026 Chevrolet Trailblazer LS: $23,600 plus $1,795, $25,395. The 2027 Trailblazer arrives late spring 2027, and GM has not confirmed whether the LS survives.
- 2027 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport 2.0 S: $23,995 before destination. Mitsubishi doesn't publish the destination figure; dealers quote $1,795, for $25,790.
- 2027 Subaru Impreza: $24,595 plus $1,245, $25,840. Subaru cut the base price by $2,000 for 2027 and added standard all-wheel drive with the 180-hp engine, which makes it the best value on this part of the list; our 2027 Impreza pricing story has the trim details.
- 2026 Mazda3 2.5 S sedan: $24,650 plus $1,315, $25,965. The hatchback is $1,000 more.
- 2027 Toyota Corolla Hatchback SE: $26,075.
- 2027 Honda Civic LX: $26,290.
- 2027 Kia Seltos LX: $24,990 plus $1,495, $26,485.
- 2026 Buick Envista Preferred: $24,700 plus $1,795, $26,495.
What's gone
The list is shorter than it was two years ago because the cheapest cars have been leaving the market, not getting pricier. The Nissan Versa, the last new car under $20,000, ended U.S. production in December 2025; Nissan confirmed there is no 2026 model. The Mitsubishi Mirage went after the 2024 model year. The Kia Soul, which started under $22,000 with destination, has no 2026 or 2027 pricing on Kia's media site, and its final model year was 2025. Whatever leftover units remain are not new-model-year cars and aren't counted here.
No hybrids under the cap
If you want electrified, the floor is higher. The closest is the 2027 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE: $25,175 plus $1,295, or $26,470, which is $1,850 over the gas LE. The Hyundai Elantra Hybrid Blue is $25,650 before freight, about $26,945 delivered. Honda's Civic Hybrid starts well above both. On the Corolla, that $1,850 premium pays for itself in roughly three years of typical driving at current fuel prices, so the hybrid is worth a look if the budget can stretch.
What we don't know yet
- 2027 pricing for the Trax, Venue, Elantra, Trailblazer, and Envista. All five are listed at 2026 prices. The 2027 Trax reportedly drops the cheapest trims, so its position on this list is likely to change.
- Hyundai's official freight figures. Hyundai's configurator shows MSRP only; the $1,600 (Venue) and $1,295 (Elantra) charges are the amounts applied on current pricing but are not printed on hyundaiusa.com.
- Whether the Impreza or Jetta gets a destination cut. Both sit within $900 of the cap.
How to use this list
The cap is a line on a sticker, not a budget. Every car here will show a higher out-the-door number once state taxes, registration, and documentation fees are added, and those vary by state far more than destination does. Shop the sedans if space matters, the crossovers if you want a higher seat, and the Corolla or Elantra if you plan to keep the car past the loan. And treat any dealer ad that quotes a price below the figures above as a price before destination, because that's almost always what it is.
