We got the Kia Rio LX+.
https://www.kia.ca/en/vehicles/2023/rio/specs?trimCode=RO853...
Background, FWIW :)
* We have a Honda Odyssey as the primary family vehicle for ourselves and our kids. It's a very nice, very practical, very large car. As a family car travelling with kids, we love it! You do feel a little ridiculous if you're driving somewhere as a lone driver though. Did I mention it's big?? :-)
* I work from home and my wife had a hybrid job so we got away with Minivan as the primary car, occasionally supported by my 20yo Subaru WRX
* However, our occasional second car is increasingly a rustbucket, as as my wife needs to go to work physically more, the 20yo WRX (manual gear etc) is less and less a viable option for us
* We bought a used car this summer, safetied, from people we are kinda-sorta connected through our network, and ended up being completely fleeced. After several mechanics review ended up writing off the entire car. Between that and other people's experiences and long searches, we are completely soured on used car market right now, at least here in Ontario, in terms of prices and reliability. It's insane.
* We need a cheap basic car for work commute and situations when we need to do two things at once. We are still paying monthly financing on the Oddyssey so our budget is limited. We don't necessarily need it to last forever but we need it to be basic and largely reliable and comfortable for next 5-8 years.
* We looked at Mitsubishi Mirage, which is currently the cheapest new car in Canada, but it had too many tradeoffs
* Kia Rio LX+ is the second cheapest car in Canada but is a significant step up. It drives fine, looks fine, comfortable, visibility is good (shockingly a rarity these days), roomy enough (I'm 189cm / 6'2"), has A/C and Carplay/Android Auto etc. Honestly not missing ANYthing I need for a basic, practical car.
* Massive bonus: great, great control scheme. I love the control scheme of Hyundai & Kia last few years. Reasonable buttons in reasonable places, reasonably well found without looking for them. SO MANY modern cars sacrifice usability for some perceived fashion/looks, and it's a massive turn off. Kia's controls are like a Nikon DSLR - sure they're somewhat "old fashioned", but they're based on all the usability lessons learned we have at our disposal. It works and works well. Thus endeth the sermon :->
* FWIW, In Canada at least, the availability of cars I personally like is dwindling. Manufacturers are doubling down on the large SUVs (ugh!), and subcompact hatchbacks (Mazda 2, Ford Fiesta etc) are completely disappearing. I understand it's even the last year for the Kia Rio, and I can't seem to find regular Golf/Rabbit (only GTI/R) either.
Depending on if your Hyundai 5-door is the Accent or Elantra GT, you might find the current Rio a very natural replacement :)
The other car we looked at is the Subaru Impreza or RS; that's the car we would've liked to get, especially given my old WRX, but given our usage patterns, paying $10k more was not a good value for us at this time.
Hope that helps!