I’m in the market for a new car. Or a newer used car. I’m willing to spend about $15,000, but there’s a little wiggle room.
I was thinking Honda or Toyota, but I’m open to suggestions. Everyone keeps mentioning the Ford Focus. I currently have a Hyundai Sonata, which was a great car until 101,000 miles. Since then, I’ve sunk a ridiculous amount of money into it.
I generally buy a car and keep it until it dies or until it’s not worth repairing anymore, so I’m not worried about being able to trade this new car in for something else in three or four years. I know I don’t want a truck or SUV, but maybe I’d like one of those smaller, more fuel efficient SUVs they have now? I want something with good gas mileage, although even today’s crappier cars have better mileage than my 10-year-old Hyundai.
I have a small dog I take to agility/obedience trials, and sometimes I help transport rescued dogs of all sizes, so I need something with some kind of back seat.
What else do you all need to know? I’ll try to keep on top of this thread while I’m at work today. Suggestions are much appreciated!
Buy what you like, what fits and what has a convenient dealership and fits your budget. The margin on quality is so ridiculously small and so open to interpretation it is worth ignoring.
Anecdotal evidence ^^posted above^^ isn’t helpful. I have a friend with Hyundais that have over 200k miles on both and they’ve been as reliable as anyone could hope for. I want to throw my Infiniti in the garbage and my buddies Lexus is a piece of crap. And Acura? OMG… JUNK. Worst piece of crap ever. Want a used MDX? Here, take it.
I’ve got Dodge Dakota truck with 128k miles and the original back brakes, second set of tires, has a V8, can tow 7000 lbs and has had 0 repairs, oil changes around 10-12k miles per interval and has a small hole in the original muffler. Gets about 20 on the highway.
The family member-in-law who is a whiz at auto repair and occassionally will fix things for the cost of parts if it’s a fiscal emergency, that guy said that he prefered Hondas and Toyotas. Although it’s been years since I was having those sorts of problems, so we haven’t discussed it lately, at the time he said that they lasted longer and were easier for him to fix. Since I had no personal brand loyalty when he first mentioned it, I just got into the habit.
Hey, if you’ve got someone willing to lend you a hand, you don’t make it harder on him.
I didn’t buy a Camry based on just anecdotes. I checked with Consumer Guides over which models had the highest overall ratings. The Camry and the Accord were essentially tied. But I went with the Camry because the Accord included options I didn’t want as part of the standard package and I could get a Camry cheaper without those options.
I then looked up the dealer prices online so I’d know how much of a mark-up they were asking for.
Then it was just a matter of going around to different Toyota dealers until I found one that would accept my offer.
Where do I start? The transmission, alternator, A/C compressor, power steering hose, and a bunch of other little crap that I’ll chalk up to regular maintenance on an older car. It was those first three going out close together that about killed my bank account.
Rocketeer, that’s exactly what I was looking for - someone to tell me what I want. Maybe I’ll go look at Honda Accords this weekend.
I am interested in hearing everyone’s anecdata, but I definitely want something with a good reputation for reliability.
Except the Honda Accord just lost to the Kia Optima in the latest Consumer Reports. I owned a 1988 Honda Accord and it was good, but not great. I didn’t buy another one.
Maybe I’ll go look at Honda Accords this weekend.