Gone And Mostly Forgotten: 2016 Ford Fiesta vs 2016 Dodge Dart

Good morning! We’re going to finish out our decade-by-decade stickshift search with a pair of cars that are less than ten years old. I’m not sure that has ever happened here before. They’re both cars you probably haven’t thought about for a while; I know I haven’t.

Yesterday we were a decade earlier, looking at a couple of four-door hatches, and once again, it was an absolute massacre. That poor Hyundai Elantra didn’t stand a chance. And I figured as much, but there always have to be two cars, you know? Sometimes I have to throw a car to the wolves, and yesterday it was a poor helpless Elantra, in an admittedly fetching shade of blue.

I bet some of you are imagining that I’m going to be all contrarian and pick the Hyundai, right? Wrong. I’m choosing the Mazda, just like I did back in 2002, when I test-drove damn near every available small stickshift car. I remember liking how the Elantra drove, but feeling like it wasn’t a very good deal compared to the Protege, or even the Ford Focus, which was my second choice. The final generation of Mazda Protege before the 3 took over really was something special, and I’m sad to know that most of them have rusted away now.

Neither of today’s choices has had a chance to rust yet, but I imagine they’ll get there. They both hail from the last generation of small cars to ever feature a “base” model with a manual transmission as standard equipment. I think you can still technically get a Nissan Versa with a manual, but I bet you’d have a hard time actually finding one for sale. But if you missed out on the last hurrah for cheap manuals available everywhere, one of these two might be a good substitute. They’re only eight years old, and both are still short of 100,000 miles. Let’s check them out.

2016 Ford Fiesta S – $3,995

Engine/drivetrain: 1.6-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD

Location: Beaverton, OR

Odometer reading: 99,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives great

When I was a kid, one of my dad’s friends would go to the Frankfurt Auto Show in Germany every couple of years, and he’d bring me back a stack of brochures. I always felt like we were missing out in the US on all the cool cars available for sale in Europe, especially the little economy cars. I was surprised to find out that the Ford Fiesta, which had died off in America in 1980, lived on in Europe. I was even more surprised when Ford brought the Fiesta back to the US in 2010, but disappointed that so many American buyers chose the dumpy-looking sedan version like this.

And of course, most Americans also opted for the automatic, which in the case of the Fiesta was the notorious PowerShift dual-clutch transmission, which even when working flawlessly was awful. Fortunately, the original purchaser of this Fiesta stuck with the standard five-speed manual. It has 99,000 miles on it, and the seller (a dealership) says it runs and drives great.

This is the basic S trim level, with crank windows and basic but sturdy interior surfaces. It does have air conditioning, at least; it’s not that basic. It looks all right, but there are some scuffs on the dash and possibly a stain on the passenger’s seat, or maybe it’s just the photo.

The Fiesta is a tidy little hatchback in most parts of the world, and we did get that version here as well – at least the five-door version – but Americans used to like to stick trunks on the backs of perfectly good hatchback economy cars. I can’t bring myself to say it looks “good,” but it is in clean condition.

2016 Dodge Dart SE – $4,650

Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, six-speed manual, FWD

Location: San Diego, CA

Odometer reading: 89,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives great

I had high hopes for the Dart. I have long been a fan of Chrysler’s small FWD cars (I know; a lot of you wish I was less of a fan of them) and I wanted the Dart to be a course correction from the Caliber back to the good days of the Neon and the cloud cars. Instead, it just sort of fizzled out after four mostly forgettable model years.

This is one of the last Darts, a 2016 model, in the entry-level SE trim. It’s powered by a 2.0 liter version of the Global Engine Alliance four-cylinder, along with a six-speed manual transmission. We get practically zero information about its condition, other than that it runs “excellent” and passed a smog test. I guess if you want to know more, you’ll have to go look at it.

It does look really clean inside, so that’s something. It’s a little fancier inside than the Fiesta is, too; even the Dart SE came with power windows and locks and whatnot. Hopefully it all works. Again, you’ll have to push all the buttons to see.

One of the things I liked about the Dart was that it was available in a bunch of great colors, including this blue. This one looks a little like a rental car, with its plastic wheel covers and black door handles, but it’s a good-looking car in general, at least in my opinion.

The death of the small sedan in America has already been mourned, and there’s no point in bringing it up again. But I will say that we didn’t know what we had until it was gone. Yeah, the Fiesta looks stupid with a trunk, and the Dart is mediocrity made real, but I’d take either one over a CVT-equipped crossover any day. Which one of these would you take?

(Image credits: sellers)