Ford Focus ZX5. Hatchback, 4 doors, good fuel economy, roomy interior, split fold-down rear seats for lots of cargo room, nice driver. I do love a Pontiac Grand Prix, though.
Well, the OP said she’s looking for a car that’s “not crazy expensive to repair” from an American company. A BMW is the opposite of both those things.
The German ones were only promotional vehicles, never sold to the public. The production models are made in Mexico, though. Some people have a hard time with that, although it keeps lots and lots of Americans gainfully employed (I launched that car and lived there for 1.5 years).
I think it’s too small and low to manage car seats, though. A friend has a Focus five door with a car seat in the back, and access seems really easy to me. It’s a bit higher than the Fiesta, and as long as the front seats aren’t in the most rearward position, surprisingly roomy. And assembled in the USA (that’s work that was taken away from Mexico, if that’s worth anything to anyone).
What do we think of all those boxes on wheels (the Scion, the Soul, there’s another one I’m not thinking of) - happened to notice a ton of them in Atlanta this weekend driven by the mom brigade. They’re ugly as homemade sin but are they decent cars? At least from the outside they kind of seem made for rear facing car seats.
Maybe its unjustified but I’m always scared to put my kids in tiny cars like the Scion, I had a buddy that had one and it actually was faster than it looked. I have a smaller sports car that’s paid off but it freaks me out a little to put the kids in it, so I usually drive the Explorer if I’m taking the kids anywhere. I hate to say it but even though I love small sporty cars, the older I get the more I can just imagine being demolished by one, hitting an F-150 head on or something.
The Kia Soul would probably be a good fit for you, given the need to get car seats in and out easily. Also look at the Mazda 5 hatch.
If I were you, I’d sooner look to the small SUV’s.
On cars dot com you can find a huge selection of Ford Escapes of model years as recent as 2008-2010 and with very low mileage (under 50,000) for well under $10,000.
Ditto the above for the Hyundai Santa Fe.
Okay, so I spent a lovely Saturday installing a car seat under the sun into a bunch of different cars at CarMax. Yay.
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I know trade-in is not the best way to sell a car but I wanted a sort of base value appraisal so depending on how I choose to sell my Grand Prix I’ll know how low to go. BUT TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS?! I may have Yosemite Sam-ed a bit.
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I couldn’t actually drive the Soul and the Focus there because they didn’t have automatics. I did drive a Fit and a Nissan Versa (ew.) I very much liked the Fit but it wasn’t great for the car seat rear facing. The Soul is amazing in terms of back seat car seat space and the door frame is almost square - it’s like a dream, but I’d need to drive it obviously. They’re transferring me one to test. The Focus had an undesirable door shape for the car seat and was a tight fit for rear facing reclined (although not as tight as the Fit.) The Versa is a fucking shitbox.
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I may do a separate thread on this but is there a way to get full value out of your car without having to sell it personally to potential axe murderers?
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I was looking at the Charlotte area Hertz car sales and wow, the same cars are a good 3K cheaper there. But is that a bad idea? I know they’re meticulously maintained but do people really treat them like shit?
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A Kia, really? Can a Kia possibly be reliable? I’m looking at a 2012 or 2013 if I like driving it, the + version.
Yes. They have 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranties, and I’d wager that they’ll be as reliable as any American cars you put them up against.
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In my experience, CarMax is about as good as you can do when selling a car. Especially if you’re in any kind of a hurry.
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I would not purchase a car from a rental company because, yes, renters beat the hell out of cars. In the event that you end up not loving it or something happens to it, the car will not have much resale value for you.
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Kia has come a long way in the last several years. Quality and features are on par with the industry and frankly, they make some pretty slick looking cars.
Good luck to you.
I haven’t personally owned a Kia, but in the experience of several of my friends and family members? I wouldn’t hesitate to own one. They’re nice cars for the price, and pretty reliable.
Also, if it’s still on the table, I’d personally shy away from anything by Saturn. Not because they aren’t good cars, but because parts are becoming difficult to find. My mechanic buddy loved his Saturn, but when it needed a repair last winter, he waited almost six weeks to finally get the part he needed (I don’t recall exactly what bit it was, but I do remember that it wasn’t something exotic - just a part one would expect to replace periodically.) He got that sucker running, sold it, and bought something else with easily-sourced parts!
Yeah, CarMax is going to be more expensive than other dealers, especially when you figure that you should be able to nudge the other dealers’ prices down somewhat whereas CarMax is no-haggle. Their trade-in prices are usually pretty standard though… if I were you I would probably just not trade in the Pontiac and take your time selling it yourself.
On the used rental car front we recently had a bit of a debate: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=18373174
I personally think buying a used rental car from a reputable agency is perfectly reasonable. But I guess read that thread and see which camp was more persuasive.
One other thing with the Kia, though, is how much are they asking for a 2013 model? I’m guessing it’s not going to be too far off from what a new one would cost. If you do settle on the Soul (which I’ve heard very nice things about BTW) I would definitely go have a chat with your local Kia dealer about what sort of incentives and such you can get on a new one before buying a nearly-new one somewhere. That’ll be especially true if you’re using financing to stretch the budget a bit.
Wow, I don’t buy cars for these reasons. It’s interesting to hear them. (I buy manuals exclusively, and have never needed a car seat.) Thankya.
The only time I’ve been able to wrangle market value on a trade-in was when I was trading in a car that was in demand, and I didn’t need or really want to replace it any time soon (my wife did want to replace it, but she’s good a hiding her emotions). I refused their offer, told them what I wanted, and went home. When I got home, the offer I asked for was waiting on the answering machine.
Well, people do beat on rentals, but most people unknowingly beat their own cars mercilessly, too. Buying used is always a crap shoot. I’d say the worst thing about buying from a fleet is that they have a tendency to buy whatever’s cheapest to run for the course of it’s short rental life. Nobody’s going to consider a '76 Nova with a straight 6 and three on the tree sexy or desirable, but my dad drove one at SW Bell until the late '80s, and whoever bought it got a car that was almost showroom new. Most of it’s cohorts died long before it was sold, but they didn’t have my dad babying it along.
Yeah, Kia/Hyundai makes a pretty solid car today. The days of the Excel are long past.
Another option to look at is the Nissan Rogue. We drove one as a rental in Florida and it was a decent compact SUV.
As far as selling your car, you will almost always do better selling to private sellers so the money is worth the hassle. Craigslist or Autotrader.com are two good ones. A few tips:
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Be very honest about the condition of the car and all it’s faults. Document them all. Otherwise you’re wasting your time and the buyer’s if they come see it and find it not as described.
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Don’t put up with sad stories and special circumstances. Don’t change your schedule to accommodate potential buyers. Don’t reserve the car for anyone. Tell them “First person to put $xxxx cash in my hand gets the car.”
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Insist on cash only. It is by far the most fraud-proof.
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Don’t meet buyers alone, make it in a public place too.
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Tell buyers you will want to see their driver’s license if they want to test drive, take a photo of it with your cellphone. Always ride along if they want a test drive.
Here is a good article: http://www.edmunds.com/sell-car/sell-your-car-safely.html
The Kia is unfortunately also ugly as homemade sin.
It just makes me furious - there is no way I could buy a 2004 Grand Prix GTP with all the cool stuff on my car mechanically great with three dents for 2 grand.
Well thankfully kopek seems to be on the West Coast.
I mean, I can’t imagine that people are too shitty to a rental low grade family hatchback. And that 3K off is a pretty nice temptation. I assume there’s also a benefit that a rental place isn’t generally getting rid of a car because something’s wrong with it; they always do it at a certain mileage.
I have a Mazda 3 that I love and gets 42 mpg on the highway, but I have no idea how it would work with an infant seat. It’s 4 doors though.
I know you want to “buy American”, but my recommendation is a Subaru Outback.
They’re made in Indiana, by the way.
Thundercougarfalconbird!
Google “Honda Fit lower back pain” before you buy one…