Affordable Family Sedans

The Hyundai's trunklid opens upright and out of the way, as on the other cars in the test. The opening is wide and deep, a low liftover height makes loading easy, and the 60/40 folding seatback provides a large cargo extension into the passenger cabin.

Honda's interior is nearly as comfortable and user-friendly: map pockets in each of the doors, overhead storage for sunglasses, expandable sunvisors, and a large open compartment in the front of the console to hold a portable phone. The color and grain of all molded panels are well-matched and have a solid, dense feel. Attention to detail extends to the nicely stitched leather seating surfaces; in fact, the entire car exudes a sense of quality, so it's no surprise this popular Honda remains a top seller.

The Accord's front seatbacks are scooped to maximize rear knee room. No adjustable rear-seat headrests are included, but the fold-down rear armrest reveals a center pass-through in addition to the one-piece-folding rear seatback. Trunk lift-over height is next best in this comparison. Since the rear seatback release is located in the trunk, a key lock resides on the rear shelf for increased cabin security.

Dodge offers the most performance-oriented seats of the trio: deep buckets, with excellent side bolstering and, as with our other testers, a manual lumbar adjustment for the driver. Eight-way power seat adjustment is only offered on the driver side. We'd judge the perforated upholstery to be of acceptable quality-if it were vinyl-unfortunately, the window sticker says it's leather. The grade of these hides, or at least the coatings sprayed thereon, falls short of many cars we've evaluated recently.

The Stratus' remaining interior cubby/headrest/armrest appointments are more abbreviated than in the Accord or the XG300. Overall interior volume falls between the Honda and the Hyundai, but rear passengers do get the most legroom of the three sedans. The greenhouse view is somewhat compromised by the Stratus' raked front, rear, and side glass. It does offer the most cargo volume, but groceries must be hoisted over a taller trunk lip than the other two cars have.

The Accord and Stratus boast five-star NHTSA frontal crash ratings, while the XG300 hasn't yet been tested. Braking 60-0 mph between all three averaged a very respectable 126 ft. The Honda and the Hyundai have dual front and front side airbags as standard equipment. In addition to dual front airbags, the Stratus offers optional side curtain airbags that protect both front and rear outboard occupants. Dodge claims its ABS Plus system senses yaw in braking, although we couldn't detect it. However, the Stratus forgoes traction control while both the Accord and XG300 offer it as standard equipment.

Hyundai scores big points with the longest all-around warranty. This is a major selling point; however, be sure to check the fine print. Not every component is warranted for five years under the basic warranty, and the 10-year powertrain warranty isn't transferrable outside of immediate family members. Not long ago, a roadside-assistance benefit was something only premium car owners enjoyed. Both Hyundai and Dodge best the Honda in this offering, with Hyundai's program lasting the longest, and with no mileage limitation.

Were it our choice to make, and our payments to face, which car would we bring home?The Stratus ES just nudges the Hyundai to wear lowest-price honors among this trio, but that's on par with its relative levels of equipment, features, and refinement. As always, we attempt to match our testers in terms of those options and equipment as closely as possible, but the addition or omission of an option here or there can easily make any of these cars more or less expensive relative to the rest. So, choosing based on cost alone is moot. Stratus looks and sounds the most aggressive, but is a bit rougher around the edges. It ends up the least family oriented of the group, thus becoming our third choice among this comparo.