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Hip Hoptimus Prime posted:I hate car maintenance costs. Do you actually need new brakes? A set of pads on a normal commuter car wearing out at 35K is a little early.
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Oct 16, 2009 23:50
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dreesemonkey posted:Q: Should I buy a brand new car? Why not? If you can afford it there's nothing wrong with buying a brand new car. The problem is people that can't afford brand new cars go out and buy them. Everyone here in BFC acts like everyone should have 100 dollar a month food budgets, live off of rice and beans, and drive 1988 beater Honda Civics.
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Oct 20, 2009 16:36
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hobbesmaster posted:I just ran a search on autotrader for toyotas/hondas/mazdas under $2000, they all had salvage titles and have one foot in the grave ("minor transmission issues!"). True. I have a 2000 Civic with 125K on it. Well taken care of, all scheduled maintenance done, etc etc. I could get 3K for it tomorrow on craigslist. 3500+ if I was willing to wait a week or two to sell it. Only cost 11,500 brand new 9 years ago. A few years ago I paid 1900 dollars for a 98 Dodge Neon in pretty reasonable condition. I put 900 bucks into it (with my buddy being the mechanic and cutting me a deal) and drove it for 2 years before I got rid of it. The only thing I had to fix was a busted starter for about 250 bucks. 3050 bucks for 2 years of transportation wasn't bad, but gently caress, the A/C didn't work, the red paint had faded to a faggoty pinkish red, it had a leaky valve seal that made it smoke on startup and taking off from a stop light and it was a crapshoot if the thing was ever going to break down. Never drove more than 4 miles from my house in it. It got me from point A to B, but that was it.
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Oct 20, 2009 23:40
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Neophyte posted:So what do people think the "sweet spot" for a broke-rear end who needs inexpensive transport is? $3000? $5000? I thought you decided to keep your car? It depends. Do you know anyone that works on cars? Are you capable of doing some work yourself? Are you willing to put any money into the car? or does it need to run perfect from the start?
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Oct 21, 2009 01:28
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plester1 posted:Just for clarification's sake, this applies to purchasing a new car vs leasing a new car. You still save a ton of money if you decide to go with a used car. See the quoted portion below: I usually recommend to family and friends to buy a car for the best years of it's life. Usually years 2 - 4. Any major flaws have already been addressed under warranty, they're not trashed, and the initial depreciation hit is usually over. I REALLY REALLY want a new Ford Taurus, but poo poo, look at the projected resale value. http://www.kbb.com/new-cars/ford/taurus/2010/resale-value?id=248579 If I can swoop in at the 24 or 30 month mark and pick one up for 22K and then dump it 2 years later for 15.5K It would only cost me 6K + basic maintenance for 2 years of car ownership. It would still be under factory warranty so any major repairs would be covered.
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Nov 21, 2009 02:13
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moana posted:Hey I am considering buying a different car since I really don't like my 2001 Passat and want something more reliable and less expensive to repair. I'm just starting my car search now. A couple of questions to start off with: I've yet to see a hybrid where it actually makes financial sense to buy the hybrid vs the normal 4 cylinder non hybrid version of the car. Hybrids make people feel warm and fuzzy, and give you mad eco cred, but from a financial standpoint they still don't make sense. The payoff is usually in the 7 to 8 year range, and by then you need a new battery pack for the car. YMMV with the calculations, but a normal person putting 12 to 15K a year of mixed driving use on a car, it's still not advantageous to buy one. re: Toyota, they're having some deals, but people are all over them because they know this recall poo poo is blown way out of proportion and there are deals to be had. Toyota is offering 0% for 60 on a few models, which isn't normal. They're usually like Honda and don't have to have big incentives to move vehicles. You can get 0 for 60 on Camry, Corolla, Tundra, and Yaris' right now. Toyota tends to hold resale value pretty well, if you can get into a new Camry for a good price, it's a great car. Civic's are great cars and always have been. Cheap to fix, require little maintenance, and go forever. ( I drive a 2000 Civic with 130K on it and everything is mechanically perfect). You can't really go wrong with one. You buying used or new?
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May 28, 2010 20:40
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That Prius wouldn't be a bad deal at all. They're kind of in their own class. I was talking more about say regular Ford Fusion vs. the hybrid, or say Highlander Hybrid vs regular, etc. There's nothing really comparable to the Prius, and the mileage is fantastic.
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May 28, 2010 22:25
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sanchez posted:Don't they just raise the price of the car (or drop it less during negotiation) on those 0% deals, or can you still get it down near invoice? Depends on how well you negotiate. If your a Costco member, I suggest going through the Costco Auto program. I was looking at 2010 Fusions, and the dealers first offer with 100 over invoice with 2,000 in rebates or 0% for 60. No negotiation needed. I decided to hold off buying, but the process wasn't bad. Most car companies let you choose between a rebate or APR special, I don't think Toyota's doing the rebates though. They tend to have a negative effect on resale values.
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May 29, 2010 16:50
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linted posted:I'm going to buy a new car and I'm looking to get 0% APR for 60 months. My credit score is well over 700, so this shouldn't be an issue. If I'm able to get the above, how much should I put down on the car, considering I'm not paying any interest? It really doesn't matter. Your taxes, fees, etc will probably run about 1500 to 1800, you probably don't want to finance those, but you could. The only thing about the 0% financing, is it's usually in lieu of some form of rebate the manufacturer is offering. For example, right now has a 2000 dollar rebate on Ford Fusions OR 0% for 60 months. I can get financed with my credit union for about 3.2%, so it's a wash really. I can finance 24K at 0% or finance 22K at 3.2% and the payment will be about the same. If you're putting down a big down payment, or paying in cash you'll want to take the rebate, if you plan on not putting much down, or financing for a full 60 months, the low APR is usually better.
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May 31, 2010 16:01
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Astroman posted:I have a question about financing. Honestly a dealer is going to have better assets in place to get you financed than you have yourself. A motivated Finance guy will get your loan placed no problem. 640 to 680 isn't terrible. Seriously, let the dealer work it's magic. BUT if you're hellbent on doing this yourself (and you should not be) roadloans.com should have no issue financing you. They may have a minimum loan amount though.
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Aug 16, 2010 21:50
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trashy_j posted:can I get some opinions on Mazda 3's? Thanks What do you want to know? Solid car all around for the price, fun to drive, nothing really remarkable about it. It's the fun to drive option in the sub 20K compact 4 door sedan market.
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Feb 6, 2011 17:35
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0% captive finance offers used to be a much better deal when interest rates are higher. They lure you in with 0% but what they're really doing is giving the captive finance company the 2,000 dollar rebate you could take instead of the promo financing offer. Say you're buying a car with an MSRP of 18K. They're advertising 0% for 60, or 2K cash back. 18K for 60 @ 0% is 300 a month 16K for 60 @ 2.9% is ~287 a month. It's actually a better deal to take the rebate in this case. My local CU is running 2.8% on new purchases right now. But if interest rates were higher, like back in the day at say 6.9%, then taking the financing is a better deal. You have to run the numbers. I'm not sure what's up with Ford, but I managed to snag invoice + rebate + promo financing at a motivated dealer. Shop around. I paid 5K under sticker for the car.
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Mar 5, 2011 00:09
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Not a bad deal. Nice Down Payment so you shouldn't ever be upside down on it. Hyundai is making a really solid car these days, should last you as long as you take care of it. Follow the recommended maintenance schedule and you'll be fine. Being 20 and having a car payment sucks, but it should be manageable for you.
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Mar 8, 2011 21:19
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People love to lose their poo poo over gas prices. My car has a 15 gallon tank. The difference between 3.00 gas and 3.50 gas is $7.50 a tank. I spend more money than that on combo # 3 when I go to lunch. I only fill up every 2 weeks. $7.50 x 26 fillups a year is less than 200 bucks a year. Chump change compared to the rest of my spending habits, especially when taken out over a year.
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Mar 11, 2011 17:19
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Throatwarbler posted:How did people have kids before SUVs? I don't know, but our small SUV is a handy vehicle to have.
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Mar 12, 2011 00:04
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In a nut shell you want to look at what very similar cars are selling for right now. At the end of your lease you have the 'option' to either give the car back, or buy it. If you can replace the car for less than it costs to buy it at the end of the lease, you should do so, if you can't you should keep the car. I would say a well cared for car that you know the history of is worth a premium, and in my area a 2006 Matrix is being listed for 9,995 dollars, so I would recommend keeping the car.
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Apr 1, 2011 21:49
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Orange_Lazarus posted:So my wife's 96 Rav 4 just kicked the bucket so it looks like I'm now sitting in the used car market; the problem is I don't know jack about cars and I don't want to rush into a purchase but we could definitely benefit from having another vehicle as soon as possible. What kind of car do you want? 4 door compact? Small SUV? In general you want to find a small 4 door compact sedan from an import manufacturer. Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, they all made solid cars in the late 90's to early 00's which is where your price range is going to take you. I ford focus newer than '04 won't be a bad car either. In general though I would go find the newest Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic you can afford, pay a mechanic a couple hundred to look at it and go for it. What's wrong with the Rav4? It can probably be fixed for less than the price of a new beater.
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Apr 4, 2011 20:00
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CornHolio posted:So, I was doing some research for my brother because he was thinking about leasing a new Fit or Fiesta. If he's looking at 3500 down and a 2 year lease, why doesn't he just buy the drat thing? Some kind of monthly cashflow issue? Ford has 2 deals on the Fiesta right now. 500 cash back, or a 3 year lease (31,500 miles) for 180 a month with 1800 due at signing. This would have a cost of about 8300 for a 3 year term. Leases have advantages, but usually on higher end cars.
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May 27, 2011 16:04
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There are shadetree mechanics that browse craigslist looking for cars just like yours to fix up and resell. A motivated individual would buy your car for 500 bucks or so, put a few hundred in parts and a lot of personal labor, then flip it for 2K or 2500 or so. A junkyard head and a gasket set wouldn't cost too much in parts.
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Jun 21, 2011 17:30
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If you're interested in adding a positive tradeline to your credit report, put 50% down on the LR and take a 24 month loan on the rest. If not just pay cash.
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Aug 29, 2011 21:59
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Used car prices are definitely a little out of whack, normally value hunters can count on a nice allotment of 29 to 39 month old cars coming back off their original lease, but 2008-2009 was rough on auto manufacturers and they didn't manufacture as many cars as they normally do. I know the mid and full sized SUV used market is insane right now. Local Chevy dealers are doing 8K off sticker on new Tahoe's but a 2008 CPO is going for the same drat price. Now obviously those are asking prices without negotiations, but it's still a little insane. Especially when you're average 3 year lease accounts for 40 to 50% depreciation of the vehicle. I've been looking at 2011 Ford Explorers lately, thinking I could pick up a CPO model that was a former rental car for a significant discount. Boy was I wrong. Original MSRP on one 2011 Explorer I looked at was 34,495. Dealer is asking 32,988 with 22K miles on it. I'm thinking I should try to grab it for mid blue book trade in at 27.5K which would be a reasonable price to me. Especially when this dealer is a high volume Ford dealer and would sell the 34.5K car at invoice of 32Kish anyway.
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Jan 12, 2012 23:15
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Zuph posted:stuff Nothing wrong with buying new. The Mazda and the Ford are both great little cars. The Hyundai has a very attractive warranty if that is important to you. I'm most familiar with Ford products, my last 4 new cars have all been Fords and they've all been fantastic vehicles. I really recommend them these days. Check out the incentives available, the Fiesta has some promo APR financing options or 500 cash back. Check out the Focus as well, they're doing a 1500 dollar rebate on them right now, and they're easier to find and can probably get one for invoice. You could get a pretty nicely options Focus for about 17K There isn't much margin on the Fiestas. You're probably going to pay close to sticker if you go that route.
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Feb 2, 2012 19:18
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IOwnCalculus posted:You're looking at this from a very sensible perspective. Buying a new car is never the most financially prudent angle (by many accounts, finding the right cheap-rear end used car and replacing them when something major needs to be replaced is one of the cheapest ways to go) but there's an awful lot of convenience and value that come along with owning something new instead of a $2000 beater. Here's another example of the hosed up used car market. I've been looking at new Explorers. Thought I might try to save some cash and pick up a gently used 2011 instead of buying new. 2011 XLT Explorer, 24K miles former rental car. MSRP New: 34,495 Sale Price: 31,900 Now that's just insane. I can't buy a new car off the lot and then put 24K miles on it and sell it for 32K, why would they expect me to pay that? That was their 'best price' and they're asking 34,4 on the website for it. The funny thing is, these things are moving. 3 weeks ago they had 4 on the lot like that, they all sold in 10 days or less. Now here's the deal if I buy new 2012 XLT Explorer, exact same features MSRP New: 35,795 Sale Price: Invoice +500 (33,296+500= 33,796) -1000 Ford Public Rebate -750 Ford Private direct mail rebate (we got in the mail) Final Sale price of car 32,046. I'm seriously paying less than 200 bucks more to get a brand new car instead of a 1 year old rental car with 24K miles on it.
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Feb 2, 2012 21:31
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Those are super interesting numbers. I would be curious as to how they change when you start talking about more expensive cars, say a 60,000 dollar E-Class Benz. For a specific example could you compare this transaction for us? 36 Month 36K mile lease on a 60,000 dollar MB E-550 coupe. Assume 4K due at signing which covers destination of 800 and first months lease payment and apply the rest to taxes and other fees. MBUSA's current lease rates on that car are 3.88% APR (.00162 Money Factor) and 57% residual (34.2K) Assume for a purchase your rate is 3% for 72 Months which is what my local CU offers. edit: One thing about a lease is the option to get out of it... an option has value of course but it's hard to value at the beginning. Anyone who leased a large SUV or luxury car in the 2006 to 2007 years made out like a bandit because the cars weren't worth anywhere close to the estimated residual value at the beginning of the lease when the lease came to term. Say I lease that Ford Explorer I was talking about earlier with an MSRP of 36.5K. Residual on it might be in the 21K range, but say in 3 years ford changes the body style and prices drop and they're selling for 18K. I just turn the car back in. But say the sales stay strong and it's worth 24K instead, I have the option to buy the car at 21. I'm not a finance whiz so I don't know the terminology, but that option has some value I would think. skipdogg fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Feb 3, 2012 |
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Feb 3, 2012 21:45
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OctaviusBeaver posted:3: Does the dealer pay at all whether or not you pay cash? Should I expect a better deal or do they not care? To answer 3: A dealer actually makes quite a bit of money on the finance side of a transaction. Interest rate markup, a small payment for placing the loan with a lender, and the markup on GAP Insurance and the Extended Warranty are significant as well. At some dealers you can negotiate a better price on the car if they think they can make some money off of you in the finance department. To answer 4: Most of the cars in the compact market are awesome at what they do. Find the one you like. The Corolla is probably my top recommendation for a cheap 'driving appliance'. Hyundai's Accent and Elantra are very nice cars and have one of the best warranties in the business. Honestly any new car that you buy today will last 200,000 miles if you follow the maintenance schedule. Follow the maintenance schedule, take care of issues as they arise and the car will last a really long time.
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Feb 7, 2012 18:29
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Binary posted:My 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GTS is having transmission issues. Assuming the worst a new transmission will probably cost $2000-$4000 with labor I'm sure. The car has 167K miles on it and is paid off. Is it worth it to replace the transmission or to use the money for a new car? There's a dealership here with a 2002 Toyota Celica with 104K miles for $8500 that caught my eye. Is dumping the Eclipse for the Toyota a better call? I can pay cash for it, though it will come out of my emergency fund, so no financing will be involved. Depends. Take it to an honest transmission shop, could be a 40 dollar solenoid, could need to be rebuilt or replaced. If you shop around you should be able to swap with a rebuilt for 1500 bucks. If the rest of the car is in good shape, 1500 bucks to keep it running for another 6 months (or more!) is pretty cheap.
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Feb 10, 2012 06:08
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No real negotiations there dude. If you use your Supplier Discount it's a pretty cut and dry transaction if it's anything like Ford's A/X/Z plan purchases. It might not be, but 300 above dealer cost is a pretty good deal for a new auto.
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Feb 14, 2012 04:13
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Orgasmo posted:We're getting a wee bit off the meat of my post. The difference between 4.5% and 3.5% on a $10k loan is $100. Over the life of the loan that comes out to less than $3 in interest a month. Depends on your financial situation. Some people might want to burn 5K of savings to decrease the monthly payment, and increase their monthly cash flow. Others might want to keep that 5K liquid in their emergency fund, or put it somewhere else (new furniture, remodel a bathroom) and take the higher monthly payment. The money is cheap to borrow right now, so it just really matters what fits your situation. Personally I like having a big emergency cushion in case of job loss or other unexpected situation so I would rather pay the higher payment and keep myself liquid than blow my savings on a lower car payment. It's easy to spend 5 grand, pretty hard to save it. Seeing as in your situation this is kind of a windfall from the sale of your ESPP stock, I would throw it at the car and keep your monthly payment low increasing your cash flow as long as you have a properly funded emergency fund and retirement accounts and whatnot.
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Feb 16, 2012 21:19
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Faceless Clock posted:I don't think you can get a new Mazda2 or Fiesta for $12k, can you? Maybe a base Mazda2. But that's not exactly going to be plush. I suspect you'll regret you decision in a few years when you want things like, oh, cruise control. A buddy of mine just bought a new Mazda2 and the same day he was kicking himself for not stepping up and spending the extra 1500 on the touring model. fog lights, spoiler, cruise, and the steering wheel audio controls are worth the 1500 bucks.
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Mar 7, 2012 20:34
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grass clacking posted:I'm looking at buying a 2006 Nissan Sentra with 100k miles for about $6000. A mechanic has looked it recently and said that the thermostat is stuck open and needs to be replaced, but that there are no other issues and otherwise the car is in good shape. On modern cars that magic 100K mileage number really isn't a big deal. A modern properly maintained engine can run for 250K+ pretty easily. I worry about transmissions more than I do engines these days. While cars can run forever have to be taken care of though. I would look up the factory maintenance schedule for that car (timing belt, fluid changes, transmission service) and see if they've been done or not. If they can't show proper maintenance has been done, walk away and find a better car to look at. 100K is a time where major maintenance costs usually come into play. 100K is close to the interval for a new timing belt (~800 bucks), transmission fluid change, cooling system change, etc. You don't want to buy a 6K car that needs 1500 in maintenance. I like looking at tires on used cars as an idea of how they have been taken care of. If it's rolling on 4 almost bald pep boy specials walk away, that means they definitely didn't pay to maintain the car except to the bare minimum.
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Mar 12, 2012 17:54
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Lolcano Eruption posted:Everyone says avoid car payments, but I don't like commitment and I like switching cars a lot. Is a lease really that bad of a financial decision? How often do you switch cars? If you switch every 3 years, and you like to have a brand new car leasing can work out for you. Shorter 24 month leases are available, but those can be expensive as you're packing in 40% depreciation into 24 months, where most leases are in the 50 to 56% range over 3 years. An alternative is pay cash for a 5 or 6 year old well taken car of mid/high end car, drive it for a year or so then sell it. You can swap cars more often, and probably break even when selling them. The downside is your driving a 5 or 6 year old car instead of a brand new one. This is what my mom does. She changes cars every 6 to 12 months. She buys a car cash in the 12 to 20 thousand dollar range, usually a 5 to 7 year old car with 80 to 100 thousand miles on it that had an MSRP in the 30 to 40K range when new. She drives it until she gets tired of it, sells it for what she paid for it or close to it and goes out and finds a new one to drive. I'm currently leasing my wife's SUV. It made sense for us as she hasn't kept a car longer for 3 years ever, and we enjoy having one brand new vehicle in the family. If we like it at the end of the lease we can buy it, if we get sick of it at 33 months we can have the lease bought out and trade it in. It's like an option. If it's worth less than the lease end purchase amount we agreed on, I can turn the car in and they eat the loss. If it's worth 25K and my lease purchase price is 19.5K, I can buy it, then sell it myself and make a few grand on it. We get the best 36 months of the cars life, and we only pay for what we use.
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Mar 20, 2012 04:29
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Definitely sell it yourself. A running vehicle is worth at least 1,000 bucks to the right person on craigslist. I gave away a car a few years ago. 98 Dodge Neon, paint was trashed, lovely tint, total beater. Valve stem seals were shot so it burned a little oil, but other than that was mechanically sound. I literally gave the car and title to someone for nothing because I didn't want to deal with the hassle of selling it, or having the guilt of selling a non perfect car to someone. Long story short, he put a 20 dollar set of hubcaps from Walmart on it, washed the outside and spent 30 minutes cleaning out the inside and sold it in less than 48 hours for 1600 bucks cash.
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Mar 20, 2012 17:05
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Handsome Wife posted:My thinking is that it's probably better to get the two loans separately, because the first loan could make it harder to get the second a couple of months later if we do it jointly. Does that make sense? It doesn't really matter. A married couple can have 2 auto loans between them with no issue. You can get them at the same time, separate times, just doesn't matter.
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Apr 17, 2012 04:00
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ArgaWarga posted:I don't want to start the debate up again, but IF I decide to go for a lease on my next car, what's the best way to negotiate terms? Best thing you can do is fully understand exactly how a lease works, and all the associated terminology. My wife and I recently decided to lease a vehicle. It works out better for us given our set of circumstances. I would read everything on leaseguide.com especially this page. http://www.leaseguide.com/lease07.htm Typically you're going to negotiate the Cap Cost of the vehicle. The residual value at the end of the lease is going to be a fixed percentage of MSRP. So say you go lease a car that has an MSRP of 30,000, and the residual at the end of 3 years and 36,000 miles is 55% of MSRP, your paying for the depreciation of 30,000 -16,500 or 13.5K in depreciation. (375/mo). Now if you negotiate the purchase price or cap cost of the car down to 27,500, your only paying for 11K of depreciation or 305/mo which would lower you lease payment significantly. The second thing I would suggest is find a post on edmunds or some other auto board that has an insider sharing the residual values and money factors of what you want to lease. That way you know if the dealer is trying to add a point or two to the interest rate/money factor on the deal. Also make sure to understand your lease end terms. If there is a fee when you turn the vehicle in or not, or if you can buy the lease out or not and what it all costs. Also don't underestimate your mileage. It's relatively inexpensive to get more miles when you sign the lease. We leased with Ford and they had options from 10,500 miles to 19,500 miles a year and the range was maybe 4% of MSRP. Penalty miles are 20cents a pop though. What kind of car are you thinking about leasing?
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Apr 21, 2012 19:28
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I would need more info to make a good recommendation. How's the car going to be used? Does it need to be able to tow? How many do you need to seat? Do you want full on truck based SUV's like the GX or would a crossover style SUV with a uni-body structure be OK? The GX is a hell of an SUV, and you might be able to snag a 2008 Certified Pre Owned for your price range. The nice thing about the body on frame Lexus SUV's are they are super reliable. I've read forum posts of those things going 200,000 miles with nothing but normal wear and tear maintenance. In fact most body on frame large SUV vehicles are going to be really reliable since they're often based on workhorse trucks in the manufacturers lines. Does brand matter? Sometimes you can snag a nice value by getting a top of the line Ford or Chevy with comparable or better features to a lower packaged premium marque. The domestics are usually cheaper to maintain, but don't hold on to their value as well making them an attractive used car purchase. Maybe check out a Buick Enclave or a GMC Acadia in the SLT or Denali trim. The Ford Explorer Limited has some serious luxury features in it, and lots of techno gadgets. skipdogg fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Apr 22, 2012 |
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Apr 22, 2012 19:42
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Our Gay Apparel posted:The GX is the luxury version of the Land Cruiser Prado, the LX is the luxury version of the full size Land Cruiser. Both are proven and reliable. I think it will most likely be what I end up getting her. Only downside is the gas mileage. I think that's probably your best choice unless something in the aforementioned Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade family interests you. A Ford Expedition in Limited trim is a pretty nice car, and reasonably capable, but not what your looking for at all. There's not many options in this market segment.
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Apr 23, 2012 16:25
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The smart financial decision is to keep the car, and make sure you're keeping up on the maintenance. Now if you want the new Focus.. we can discuss if your getting a good deal or not. I would need specifics like MSRP of the new car, proposed APR or incentives. Mileage and trim level of your current car... there's a bunch of variables.
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May 3, 2012 16:55
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Eggplant Wizard posted:I am moving this to A/T so it can serve as the general car recommendation thread. I hope you all will continue to post with your wise BFC thoughts. Sweet. I personally love recommending cars to people, but for the love of god if anyone asks for a car recommendation, please provide some background information. Someone who commutes 100 miles a day by themselves and values gas mileage and comfort would get a different recommendation than someone that wants to tow a pair of JetSki's to the lake every weekend. It's useful to know all sorts of stuff in order to make an informed decision. I would even suggest a template. Budget? The amount of money you want to spend on a car New or Used? Self Explanatory. Body Style 2 door? 4 door? Compact/Midsize/Fullsize Sedan? Truck? SUV? Special Uses/Needs/Features Do you tow things? Haul more than 5 people on a regular basis? Have a super long commute? How are you going to use this vehicle? Do you prefer a luxury vehicle with all the gizmos?
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May 21, 2012 20:56
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The Young Marge posted:Wagon requirements There's not many station wagon type vehicles out there anymore. Even if a manufacturer makes one, they tend not to make very many making them pretty rare and difficult to find used. The Passat Bovril mentioned would be a good choice... VW has gotten better in terms of reliability. Depending on your area you might be able to find a Subaru Outback in your price range, but the gas mileage isn't the best and they hold their value very well meaning your 16K would probably not go far towards a 'lightly used' model. (Personally I consider lightly used to be under 3 years/40K miles or so). A Mazda 3 hatchback would be a nice car, but I would worry about putting a rear facing convertible car seat in one. Have you considered any of the funky boxy looking cars? They have space for tons of stuff and generally get pretty good gas mileage. Scion xB, Kia Soul, Nissan Cube, or even a Honda Element might work. Oh wait... I forgot a great car to recommend. A Toyota Matrix would be a great car to check out. Fantastic Toyota reliability, it's not boring to look at, and would fit most of your needs pretty well. It should have plenty of room for the car seats, and the rear seats will fold down to give you tons of cargo space. In fact considering your requirements again I would put it on my short list of vehicles to look at. There are a couple Toyota Certified Pre-Owned in my area close to your price range, and you should be able to find a 2009 for under 16K if you look around.
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May 22, 2012 05:59
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Space Gopher posted:If the Matrix is an option, look for the Pontiac Vibe, too. It's the exact same car except for the logos and slightly unfortunate name; you can buy parts at the Toyota dealership if you want to. And, because it has an American sticker rather than a Japanese sticker on the front, it's cheaper. Yes. Excellent point. I'm not sure why but I incorrectly thought they stopped making them after MY07 and therefore wouldn't meet the 'lightly used' requirement of the poster. They did indeed make a Model Year 09 and 2010 of the Pontiac Vibe and would be a fantastic value. A cursory glance at my local autotrader listings show about a 2,000 dollar difference between a comparable Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix, even though they are the exact same car. There's a 2010 with 49,000 miles on it at a local Chevy dealer listed at 14,500. Not a bad deal at all especially if you can get them down a bit. You know they didn't pay anything but low wholesale on that trade in. Can you say trunk/hatch space? 
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May 22, 2012 06:24
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