Some careful shopping could get you an early 2nd gen Ducati Multistrada. Outfit it with more soft roading tires and you’d have a great multi road ride that is a blast to ride. If you were really miserly, a first gen Multistrada with the hard cases and an upgraded seat would be had for around $4-5K.

In the past, it was the future...

30 mpg all day long. What the Toyota Yaris(which it is based on) should have been. With the rear seat down, will take some of the larger things as well. It may look like a literal penalty box, but it is actually reasonably comfortable and handles respectably. Slow as hell though.

It’s worth noting that a large number of Grand Cherokee L Overlands and Summits were built without air suspension, because of the shortage.

Hi... Vancouver based claims person here.

Too much focus on “delivery driver needs lots of space” in those cars. If the packages are all small and they can work with a hatch while saving that van for big stuff, fuel efficiency should be the top goal. So a Prius, Alltrack TDI, Veloster (non-turbo), C-max, or like one of our regular commenters, a Cruze hatch.…

have we forgotten about this thing already?

Ford C-Max

Dammit! This is where the loss of Torch is really being felt!

Here’s one that runs on gasoline...

Ford C-Max as an alternate.

Depending if they can charge overnight & package volume - a Gen 1 volt. The hatch is bigger than it looks especially with the rear seats folded down. 

This or the Transit are my favorite answers. 

The Transit Connect is really a stupendous delivery vehicle. I delivered furniture in one at a company I used to work for and now use one to haul around radioactive materials. It’s nicely designed and there are some intelligent design choices that I lament when I have to use other vans now. Things like the low deck…

Given the budget precludes a minivan, but it sounds like they wish they could have one, surprised the Mazda 5 didn’t get a mention.

A Prius V, obviously

Honda Element. Rear seats come out. It’s more spacious than the Soul and HHR. It’s got a rock-solid transmission and an indestructible K24A.

I have a small package delivery business

Do not hose out a Honda Element! There’s nowhere for the water to go, so you’ll end up rotting out your floors:

Stellantis’ UAW employees got $14,670 in profit sharing last year. They’ll be happy as well that this won’t hurt them.