Jamie Page Deaton: Like most small cars, the Mazda 2 isn't a good choice if you have a lot of passengers. But most reviewers say its interior features should keep you happy while you're zipping around on your own. However, you can get more for your money by sending your new car dollars to Korea instead of Japan.

For such an affordable car, the Mazda 2 is actually pretty well put together. Now you do have some hard plastics, but that's completely appropriate giving the 2's low price. And let's be honest, it's really hard to complain about hard plastics when you're sitting on a fat wallet. Now the air-conditioning controls are nice and beefy knobs, easy to figure out, easy to use while you're driving. And you do get a standard stereo that's got AM and FM and a CD player, but what's really nice is that it comes with a standard auxiliary input jack for your MP3 player.

One thing I really like about the auxiliary input jack is where Mazda has put it. It's easy to find while you're driving, and if you compare it to small cars from say Honda, it's really much more easy to access. Honda tends to mount their auxiliary input jacks low almost under the center stack and it's really tough to find while you're driving.

Now if you go up to the touring trim like we have here, you get stereo-mounted audio controls plus cruise control. And overall, that's pretty much the only options you can get on the interior of the Mazda 2. Now if you really need more interior technology, you should check out the Kia Forte. It costs about the same as the Mazda 2 does, but you get standards like a USB port so you can use the car stereo controls to control your MP3 player, plus you get standard Bluetooth, and like I said, it costs about the same as the Mazda 2. So really in terms of interior features, the Forte is a better deal.

For the price, the Mazda 2's interior is pretty good. Standard features like an auxiliary input jack assuming you have an MP3 player should keep you happy when you're stuck in traffic. But the current crop of class-leading subcompacts tend to give you at least the option of high-tech features like Bluetooth or Navigation, and the 2 doesn't. It's good for the money, just know that if you want more gadgets, you need to shop other small cars like the Kia Forte or Ford Fiesta. For more details on the Mazda 2, check out our other videos.