The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: LadyM on March 13, 2012, 12:43:46 PM
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My apologies for the potential redundancy, as it seems similar posts have come before mine. But I really want to explore all options, I want to take my specific request to the Mustachian Community:
In my foolish pre-Mustachian life, 2 years ago in a fit of silliness we traded in my 2002 Honda Civic for a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan. I obviously wasn't thinking clearly at the time, and I had yet to discover MMM. I currently owe about $12K on this gas-guzzling behemoth.
I'm looking to pay it down some and trade it in at Carmax for something fuel-efficient. Kelly BlueBook is estimating my van to fetch around $8-9K, which seems high to me. Carmax is typically very generous with their appraisals, but I estimate it to be more like $6-7K. Luckily, you can get your car appraised for free anytime, so I can at least get a fair idea of how much I need to pay down on my van (and how quickly I can do it), before trading it in, paying it off, and hopefully having enough extra $$ leftover for a down payment.
My requirements are: something reliable, family friendly, and capable of occasionally hauling stuff. I only have 2 kids, so I'm not in the market for "3-across" recommendations. I am very interested in hatchbacks, wagons, and crossovers....maybe small SUVs if the MPG is reasonable enough. Foreign or domestic - it matters not!
Please send me your thoughts! And if you've already answered similarly in another forum post, please link it in! Thanks in advance!
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My two cents: I just traded in my 2003 Ford Escape (not my choice-inherited) for a 2007 Prius with really low miles (37k). I'm single with no kids, but it has plenty of room in my opinion for four and some cargo. I'm excited to start saving some major dough on gas :)
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Years ago I had a 1999 (I think) 4cyl 5sp Honda Accord. I couldn't ever quite reach 40mpg, but I got fairly close, like 38 or so.
I used to keep track of every tank on every car... then I got married.
Anyways, something like that should be cheap, reliable, and efficient. The 4cyl should also be pretty easy to work on since theres a lot of room in the engine bay. I had to replace the starter on mine, but that was it.
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I actually found an old forum login that had most of my fillups:
(http://www.cleanmpg.com/garage/images/cha1203.png)
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I am in love with my 2008 Toyota Prius. I had a Kia Sorento before (which is a full size SUV) and I can fit just as much in the Prius as I could in the SUV. All the seats lay down flat, so you can transport furniture, two by fours, whatever you want.
I consistently get 46 MPG.
Another perk is that there is an entire forum devoted to the Prius which makes maintaining you own vehicle a snap. Priuschat.com.
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If you look hard enough you will be able to find a forum dedicated to just about any car out there. That's usually the first thing I look for before purchasing one to see what the common problems are and what to look for in a used specimen.