We found my son, a fourth year engineering student, a used Volvo V70 wagon. We paid about $6K, and put $2K into it (the emergency brake was missing - not the handle, the brake mechanism - and also had to replace a wheel bearing and a couple of tires). He’s moved in it twice, going to student co-op jobs, and also uses it to carry stuff around for his on-campus job. A very clean car, decent mileage, good in snow, reliable.
Honda Fit, or similar small car. AWD is overrated (and I went to college near Buffalo). How often do you really need to drive at all when winter is at its worst in the first place when you are in college.
I bought my 3rd Subaru today!!! :):)
The new one is 2011 Legacy sedan, premium trim, dark red, and all fancied up with a moon roof and the all weather package. What a beauty she is! I paid $19k for it, certified pre-owned, in perfect condition, with 32k miles on it.
Given your son’s needs and your budget, a Subaru is the obvious choice. You can pick up a new Legacy for under 21k. New Outbacks and Foresters will be a little more. Imprezas less. Not sure about the Crosstreks.
I think your wife is being extraordinarily foolish in being unwilling to even consider a certified pre-owned car. Given the way Subies hold value, I was considering going new for this one, but I preferred CPO, and this one is exactly perfect. Maybe new would turn out to be the right option for you, and maybe not, but you should at least look at the CPOs. Seeing how nice they can be might change her mind.
Warning: getting him a Subie will likely result in a lifelong addiction to the brand. But look at it this way–would Subaru owners be so nutty about 'em if they weren’t so darn awesome?
*I’m looking forward to receiving myBadge of Ownership. The 1998 Outback that gave its life in an accident and the 2001 Outback that I drove for 13 years will be memorialized nicely by the “3rd.” I’m getting the “Love” sticker for sure. Not sure what else, but maybe just that. After all, what else is there to say?
I am pretty ignorant here. Can you tell me more about buying certified pre-owned? Is there negotiation involved or is this a firm price? Do they come with new warranties? Why do you prefer CPO?
I can’t speak for subaru or for Green Bean, but I personally find it financially inadvisable to pay premium for ‘new car smell’ and the privilege of being the first to drive it off the lot. If you are working with a reputable brand and a reputable dealership, if you know what you’re getting as far as warrantee and refurbishment, there’s absolutely no reason that you should pay new car prices when there are perfectly good used cars for MUCH cheaper.
If you weren’t in Maine, I’d second the volvo suggestion - I’ve got a v70 purchased used in nearly perfect condition for 7 grand, and she’s lovely and spacious, but a bit skitty when unloaded in wet weather.
My husband has a vw passat wagon, the turbo version (bought from relatives, we would have actually preferred non-turbo, but the family discount won us over). It’s more stable than my volvo, and a smidge bigger, but it still doesn’t beat out a subaru for safety. If budget wasn’t a crushing concern for us, we each would have gone for one already, and are still on the lookout in case one turns up.
I say buy new, or buy really old. The “new cars depreciate when you drive them off the lot” blah blah is an old wives tale, especially for the foreign makes you seem to be considering. Only a relatively old car is likely to be much cheaper per mile over the entire life of the car vs a new car, especially if you stick to the base/lower end models.
I agree with that. In my experience purchasing new and recent used (two or three years old) Honda autos, the discount for the used car wasn’t really “worth it.” So my most recent purchase was for a brand-new car.
You negotiate the same way you would for a new car. Go to a dealer site and check out the cpo’s. The warranty policy should be spelled out as well as what makes a used car certified.
Go with the CPO or off-lease. Cars are well maintained, mileage is low or reasonable. AWD is overkill, but that’s just an opinion. Dedicated winter wheels/tires are the way to go.
The CPO cars will all have extended warranties for piece of mind. Expect to pay a slight premium over regular used for the CPO cars.
Off-lease will generally be nicer, up-optioned vehicles.
Your wife should have no concerns about either option.
I’d go with a lightly used Honda CRV. Lots of room, good mileage, reliable, enough mass for the longer interstate cruises.
Have you been in the car market lately? There was a time when this was true, and it still is to a certain extent with some luxury cars, but these days the discount between new and a few years old used has dropped to nearly nil.
I think that I’m a bit more flexible on how old a car is - as long as it’s a good year, and it’s in good condition, I have no problems buying a car that’s five to ten years old. I have a good mechanic that I trust, and I am able to check online to see what years and makes to avoid, but just because a car is more than three years old doesn’t make it a clunker. Ymmv, pun intended.
Also, I live in a rural area in the deep south, and we tend to take a bit longer to get to wherever the rest of the country is, market-wise.
Well, all other things being equal, I would preferred new, of course. But things are not equal. As others have said, the price difference between new and used is not as great as it used to be, and you do pay a premium for certified pre-owned. And as I said above, I was considering buying new because of that. One factor that played into my decision to buy CPO was that we’re nearing the end of the 2014 model year, and new ones with the features I wanted wasn’t available locally, and since my car was about to croak any second, I didn’t have time to have the dealer obtain it from somewhere else. The one I got was perfect and available and offered at a decent price, so I went with it. And…moon roof! If I were to buy another car, I’d again consider both new and CPO. There are pros and cons to both. I don’t want to deal with a regular used car. Too much hassle.
Like cococ said, you negotiate the price like a new car. Because you can easily go online to see the details of what dealers have on the lot, it’s easy to get a good price comparison with Kelley Blue Book or Edmunds.
As far as warranties, mine originally had a standard 3 year, 36,000 mile warranty on everything and a much longer drive train warranty. That’s from the day the car “went into service.” It’s been more than 3 years, but a “wraparound” warranty was available to take the whole-car warranty to 7 years since it drove off the lot. I’d been advised by several people that taking that was an extremely good idea, so I did.
Subaru has an extensive list of what the requirements for “certified” are on their website as well as a list of every little thing they check. I assume other manufacturers do as well.
No, it doesn’t make it a clunker, but it does mean that you’re going to have to buy a car again sooner than later, you’ll have the car during the later part/near-end of its life-span, and you may not be saving that much money.
I bought the last Subaru new in 2001 and drove it for 13 years. Assuming the same life-span for this one, I’ll have 10 years before I have to buy a car again. If you bought an 8 year old Legacy with the same life span, you’d only have 5 years before you did it again, and those 5 years will be when the car is at its oldest/worst. You can get a CPO 2011 Legacy base model for 16-17K easy. A used 2006 is listed on KBB at 8K. (too old to be certified) See what I’m getting at here? The 2006 may be the right choice for you for whatever reason, but even when you work in the various additional costs of buying the 2011, the 2006 doesn’t necessarily represent some humongous bargain or anything. I considered buying in that range, but I felt that I’d find the best overall value in a 2010 or newer, including new-new.
Whether it’s best for an individual to buy new, CPO, or regular-used will depend on countless factors, but one should actually look at how the numbers play out before assuming that older automatically equals better value.
You might look at the Scions, too. I’ve got a TC, which is a hatchback. The back seats fold down, and you can fit practically an entire house in it. It’s also fun to drive, cheap, and I get over 30MPG driving more aggressively than I should.
So far he seems in love with the VW Sportswagen TDI and I am suspecting that we will end up going CPO … through KBB I find some dealrs with some 2009 and 2010s with reasonable mileage (35 to 59K) that are under 20.
Thing is 35 to 59K (call it 50K for ease of discussion) is reasonable 25% of a car’s life and getting into when some more expensive maintenance might be coming due. Really it should be more than 25% off of what I should pay for new to be a decent deal.
We test drove a Subaru Impreza wagon today - mind you all they had a 2013 demo sports edition, and it did not grab him. He thought pick up was funky. And while he was embarrassed to admit caring about something so superficial he just thinks of Subarus more as Mom cars.
He’s also asking me to ask the TMs about the Hyundai Accent, the Kia Rio, and going more upscale (or CPO) again the Mazda3. Quartz liked Kia …
Get an early 2000s Honda Accord, some jack stands, and a good tool kit. Save $15,000.
I have one, Robin has one. They are insanely easy to wrench on, they last forever with proper maintenance, and they get good gas mileage in comfort. Also, insurance is low.
Buying new is of course your choice, but remember that you’re immediately underwater as you eat the depreciation and service can be expensive. Unless I win the lottery I don’t know that I’ll ever buy a new car again.
Two more things: Subarus, having boxer engines, have perhaps the most difficult timing belts in history to change, as well as a history of leaking valve covers and other minor issues. Quirky cars come at a price. And Vee-Dubs are reliability issues. I can only surmise that they have improved, because they used to suck for reliability and cost a pretty penny to fix.
Whatever you choose, good luck.
If I buy a car for cash and run it into the ground (i.e., keep it until it dies), why would I care about depreciation?
You wouldn’t. But most people ditch cars when they start racking up big maintenance bills. That $20,000 car today turns into a $2000 beater before you know it, and you have nothing to show for it. On the other hand, buying used leaves you less out-of-pocket long-term. Those big repairs suddenly don’t bother you so much.
The budget for the TDi should include a bit more for scheduled service costs than the other options mentioned.
Another strong +1 for dedicated snow tires as well.
I test drove and loved the Mazda3; after over two months of research it was at the top of my list. Unfortunately I had a horrific experience with the dealer (both the salesman and manger literally refused to tell me what their best price was), so I turned to my second choice and never looked back. Seriously, if you’re considering the 3, try both it and the Golf (not that I’m biased toward VDubs).
My MA-residing sister has a Rio with snow tires, and likes it. She drives a good bit between MA, NY, and ME, and hasn’t ever complained about handling. I wasn’t crazy about if when riding as a passenger- it just wasn’t comfy to me, but I don’t know how important that is to your son.
I’ll recommend against the Prius. I love mine, I’m used to it and I’m an experienced driver too. That said, it’s absolute crap in the winter. Like **cococ173 **said, I’d opt for AWD or at least something that can switch to that.