AI meets BFC: Car Buying Thread: No Rentals and No Salvage Titles

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > AI meets BFC: Car Buying Thread: No Rentals and No Salvage Titles

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Proposed Budget: $30k max
New or Used: New probably
Body Style: leaning towards small SUV, but maybe a bigger hatchback would work too
How will you be using the car?:
Commuting mainly plus a few long road trips per year. I drive about 9-10k miles per year currently. I need room in back for a big dog. We are hoping to have a kid in the next couple years also.
Do you prefer a luxury vehicle with all the gizmos?
I�d love to have leather interior because of the huge amount of dog hair currently embedded in my cloth upholstery, but I may not care enough about the other bells and whistles that typically go along with leather to spend that kind of money.
Safety-related gizmos would be a plus but not required.
What aspects are most important to you?
Reliability, safety, mpg, space.

I know I shouldn�t care much about mpg because I don�t drive all that many miles, but I care anyway. I�ve been driving a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid for 11 years. It has a lot of cosmetic issues but has been a great car for me. I love how tiny it is, and I kind of hate the idea of becoming an SUV driver, but realistically I need something bigger. I would be seriously considering a Civic hatchback or Fit but I think they�re gonna be too small for me + husband + big dog + potential future family. Open to other thoughts on this.

Here�s what I�m thinking I should look at: CRV, HRV, CH-R, RAV4 (+/-hybrid?), mazda CX3...? What else? Should I look at Subarus, or is the reliability not as good? Is Mazda reliability a big step down from Honda and Toyota? It seems like there are a lot of Mazda fans in this thread.

# ¿ Apr 3, 2018 18:05

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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 19:00

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

KillHour posted:

The point is that they're gonna pay for those tires one way or another. It's generally cheaper if they buy the tires before trading in the car.

Is this still true even when the car isn�t worth much? I got a Carmax appraisal a few months ago for $2000 for my 2007 Honda Civic hybrid. It has some issues and definitely needs new tires, but they didn�t mention the tires to me. I�m finally about to sell it to either Carmax or as a trade-in to a dealer. Should I get new tires?

# ¿ Jan 7, 2019 17:11

Crooked Booty: Apr 2, 2009; arrr

Hi thread, please help me decide between a Mazda CX-5 and a Subaru Forester. I know the CX-5 is a thread favorite for lots of reasons that I probably don't need to restate, but there are some things I prefer about the Forester such as:

way better visibility out the sides and back
the back window is less slanted which means more standing room for my big hairy dog
between the cargo mat and the option for rear seat back protectors, there is no exposed carpet in the cargo area (i.e no soft surface that will become permanently embedded with dog hair immediately). On the CX-5, the whole cargo area is carpeted including the side walls. Even if I get a third party cargo mat and something to cover the back seats, the side walls will be hairy in no time.

The CX-5 is absolutely more fun to drive, it outranks the Forester in almost every objective measure, and the interior feels much nicer. In fact, it's so much nicer that I feel like I'm going to ruin it via my dog. We're also expecting a baby in May. I didn't particularly like the CRV or RAV4.

Please tell me why I should buy one or the other.

ETA: I am specifically looking at a 2019 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring vs a 2019 Subaru Forester Limited if that is relevant.

Crooked Booty fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Jan 9, 2019

# ¿ Jan 9, 2019 00:02

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > AI meets BFC: Car Buying Thread: No Rentals and No Salvage Titles