Greetings
I posted a similar question a while back and things went toward the mazda 5. My wife is not a fan, and, frankly, neither am I. ;-). Her requirements is that it be safe (e.g. have traction control, modern safety features) and not likely to strand her. Here's the thread:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/cars-that-fit-2-carseats-1-adult-(another-dump-the-minivan-thread)/msg1649488/#msg1649488an update from that thread: we only owe $8k on the HELOC now. That would leave 15k+ to spend on a vehicle, if needed. We also got a dog (I know, not a big MMM thing, but, as I tell folks, I want to stay married...dog is pretty freaking cool, really, but I digress)
I went to reply to the old thread, but it advised me to start a new one since it was old. Short summary of old thread: we bought a van thinking our family of 4 might grow, but that's not going to happen (the original purchase was ill-advised, but I digress). It's now a 15mpg boat anchor and we want to get rid of it for something more economical. Facts relevant to our situation:
other car is a 2003 VW TDI wagon. Small, but gets 40mpg+, is long since paid for. High miles, but keeps going and going. Has old car issues from time to time, but runs great.
We need 1 car that is able to take the family out of town on trips. My wife isn't super comfortable with that being the old VW, but we've done it before. Both of our daily commutes are very short (less than 3miles), but we each tend to bounce around town for work making just biking very difficult to impossible. I know true Mustachians would scoff at that and bike anyway, but it's impractial given the nature of our work and need to bounce around town during times of the year where it's over 100 degrees. My wife will never, ever do it and I don't want to either. If I move to just private practice next year (possible), my bouncing around would drop significantly and I could easily bike to work most days. Currently, total miles driven each day is typically less than 25, frequently less than 50. Nearest big town is Sacramento which is 90 miles away.
Car needs to handle 2 booster seats in the back and sit a small adult in the middle + a dog in the back. That limits us to hatchbacks and wagons.
price range is in the teens. We own the van which is worth $25k-ish, so if we get something for in the mid teens, we can use the extra money to be debt free (except mortgages and my student loan, so I know, not quite ;)) and have some leftover.
Cars we've considered:
Used Nissan Leaf. 2013's or so seem to have about 70 miles of range. This is certainly 'pushing it' if both of us have to go out of town on a given day, but would work for 98% of what we do. We're also getting solar soon since my neighbor is able to get the panels wholesale and we'll install it ourselves (e.g. 20 panels for about $11k installed). The car is small, however, and my wife is nervous about the range issue. We've never owned an EV.
2012-2015 VW TDI wagon. Higher potential for expensive repairs. TDI's are known to me and I understand how they work. 20% extra diesel cost in CA means a gas car needs to get about 38mpg highway to be equivalent. Cost for a 2015 is on the higher side, more like $18k. Cargo space big plus and refined ride. We'd own it a very long time, most likely.
2014 Prius V: looked promising, but i've heard with all the short trips we do, the MPG's will suffer.
Chevy Volt: ideal in how it works as we'd use the EV almost all the time, but back seat sucks - no room- and the hatch area is very small.
Anyway, other ideas? Am I overlooking a regular old gas car that would be cheaper, safe, reliable, and get in the 30's for MPG's? Wait until next summer until I know exactly what my situation is?
Kind of a free-form post, but we're twisting ourselves up here. The Leaf would be a fun experiment, but makes me nervous...thoughts? I've read through MMM's experiment blog...
matt