Author Topic: Choosing a car  (Read 4130 times)

Zman

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Choosing a car
« on: March 03, 2018, 07:21:05 PM »
I havent had a car for years and think its time to cave in and get one. I take weekend trips to go ski or hike often, but generally do not drive too much during the week (ride a bike to work). I NEED HELP NARROWING DOWN THE SEARCH! HELP ME FIND A MAKE/MODEL OR TWO TO CONSIDER!

I'd like to stay under $8K (can go up to 9 or 10 for a good car if you convince me)
2012 or newer
less than 60K miles
HAtchback prefered: skis and camp gear may need to go in back
FWD is fine (AWD is not necessary but would be nice)

Located in LA so lets use those prices FWIW.

Also, I have been looking at the following : Ford Fiesta, VW Golf, Mazda 3 so input is welcome on those!

Thanks in advance and thanks in advance for not trying to talk me out of a car :-)

Zman

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2018, 07:51:14 AM »
Also, if I'm in the wrong area, let me know!

crxpilot

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2018, 08:21:31 AM »
What about a Chevy Volt?  Also check out cargurus dot com.  Great site tells that lists cars all over the country and tells you if its priced fairly or not.
« Last Edit: March 04, 2018, 08:26:06 AM by crxpilot »

RWD

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2018, 09:31:57 AM »
Also, I have been looking at the following : Ford Fiesta, VW Golf, Mazda 3 so input is welcome on those!

Of those three I would pick the Mazda 3, but the newer Golfs aren't bad either. Reliability for Fiesta, Golf, Mazda 3.

You may also want to consider the Toyota Prius, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Yaris, Honda Civic, Honda Fit, and Scion xA/xB/xD. For AWD you could consider the Impreza but they haven't proven to be as reliable. There are also the compact SUV options like the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4.

Just Joe

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #4 on: March 05, 2018, 08:05:25 PM »
Honda HRV

Xlar

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #5 on: March 06, 2018, 03:08:20 PM »
If you let us know your general location we can suggest specific cars.

Why under 60k miles? Cars don't fall apart at 100k any more, they're easily good to 200-300k with out much effort.

Monkey Uncle

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #6 on: March 07, 2018, 05:12:20 AM »
And why 2012 or newer?  Seems like an unnecessary and arbitrary filter - mileage is your primary filter for screening out junkers.

Livingthedream55

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2018, 09:05:56 AM »
I'm very happy with my 2010 Prius.

Octotat

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2018, 10:49:57 AM »
My Pontiac Vibe (which is just a re-badged Toyota Matrix) was only 3k with 140,000 miles.  The Vibes are a little cheaper than the Matrix even thought they are mechanically identical.  This is basically a Coralla Hatchback.   Will last over 300k mile with no issue.   Stay away from the GT version (which I have) because they require Premium fuel and come with a tricky 6 spd manual.  I love the car, fun as hell to drive, but the extra $$ for the gas isn't as fun.   Also, it's a higher perfomance engine, so instead of 32mpg it gets around 27. 



Trying2bFrugal

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #9 on: March 07, 2018, 11:00:01 AM »
I havent had a car for years and think its time to cave in and get one. I take weekend trips to go ski or hike often, but generally do not drive too much during the week (ride a bike to work). I NEED HELP NARROWING DOWN THE SEARCH! HELP ME FIND A MAKE/MODEL OR TWO TO CONSIDER!

I'd like to stay under $8K (can go up to 9 or 10 for a good car if you convince me)
2012 or newer
less than 60K miles
HAtchback prefered: skis and camp gear may need to go in back
FWD is fine (AWD is not necessary but would be nice)

Located in LA so lets use those prices FWIW.

Also, I have been looking at the following : Ford Fiesta, VW Golf, Mazda 3 so input is welcome on those!

Thanks in advance and thanks in advance for not trying to talk me out of a car :-)

Seems like you already finalized three list. Mazda is a good one.

Have you considered Honda Fit, Prius they may not look exotic but you will get great versatility. Those two were on my list when I was skipping and finally ended with prius, never regret it. But if you are savy about driving experience out of the list, I would vote for Mazda.

MDfive21

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #10 on: March 07, 2018, 11:15:16 AM »
go to the auto for sale site of your choice.  advanced search for the following:
any lexus
less than $10k
less than 80k miles

only pursue cars from private sellers or large brand name dealers. 

deek

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #11 on: March 07, 2018, 11:18:47 AM »
My Pontiac Vibe (which is just a re-badged Toyota Matrix) was only 3k with 140,000 miles.  The Vibes are a little cheaper than the Matrix even thought they are mechanically identical.  This is basically a Coralla Hatchback.   Will last over 300k mile with no issue.   Stay away from the GT version (which I have) because they require Premium fuel and come with a tricky 6 spd manual.  I love the car, fun as hell to drive, but the extra $$ for the gas isn't as fun.   Also, it's a higher perfomance engine, so instead of 32mpg it gets around 27.

Any year Vibe do the trick? Any years that are known for better builds than others?

RWD

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #12 on: March 07, 2018, 12:46:51 PM »
My Pontiac Vibe (which is just a re-badged Toyota Matrix) was only 3k with 140,000 miles.  The Vibes are a little cheaper than the Matrix even thought they are mechanically identical.  This is basically a Coralla Hatchback.   Will last over 300k mile with no issue.   Stay away from the GT version (which I have) because they require Premium fuel and come with a tricky 6 spd manual.  I love the car, fun as hell to drive, but the extra $$ for the gas isn't as fun.   Also, it's a higher perfomance engine, so instead of 32mpg it gets around 27.

Any year Vibe do the trick? Any years that are known for better builds than others?

Any year is probably fine. The first generation (2008 and older) looks a little better though:
http://www.dashboard-light.com/vehicles/Pontiac_Vibe.html
http://www.dashboard-light.com/vehicles/Toyota_Matrix.html

pantherchams

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #13 on: March 07, 2018, 12:53:32 PM »
go to the auto for sale site of your choice.  advanced search for the following:
any lexus
less than $10k
less than 80k miles

only pursue cars from private sellers or large brand name dealers.

Agreed! This is how we shop, but with a slightly higher budget.  They last forever, are great to drive, have the toyota dependability.  Can use toyota parts to fix almost any issue.

Turnbull

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #14 on: March 07, 2018, 09:21:16 PM »
My Pontiac Vibe (which is just a re-badged Toyota Matrix) was only 3k with 140,000 miles.  The Vibes are a little cheaper than the Matrix even thought they are mechanically identical.  This is basically a Coralla Hatchback.   Will last over 300k mile with no issue.   Stay away from the GT version (which I have) because they require Premium fuel and come with a tricky 6 spd manual.  I love the car, fun as hell to drive, but the extra $$ for the gas isn't as fun.   Also, it's a higher perfomance engine, so instead of 32mpg it gets around 27.

Any year Vibe do the trick? Any years that are known for better builds than others?

IDK

This is totally anecdotal, but my mom’s Vibe just blew up at 178,000 km/110,000 miles in a puff of smoke when the engine died. It was a well maintained car, and the dealership owner, who is a family friend, says he’s had a number of Vibe engines die before 200K kilometres. Again, may be bullshit, he’s not a good family friend, but just thought I would share.

I’m taking her to look at a used Corolla today.


That's hard to believe that he's seen multiple Vibe engines die before 200,000 kilometers. Unless it's a GT, I think the Vibe has the exact same engine as a Corolla, and the Corolla engine is just about as tough and reliable and long lasting as it gets.

inline five

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #15 on: March 08, 2018, 10:10:04 AM »
Prius or Matrix/Vibe. Preference toward the matrix/vibe if you don't drive much but in CA I believe the Prius warranty is 10 years/150,000 miles.

ReadySetMillionaire

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #16 on: March 08, 2018, 10:33:03 AM »
I'll take heat for this but I don't really care: the primary thing I would say is to not follow this forum's obsession with MPG and buying the smallest vehicle possible for your needs/wants for owning a vehicle.  The cost of a slightly less fuel efficient vehicle is nominal at best, and I've enjoyed having more space to haul stuff around in my Honda CR-V.

Just to provide numbers to this, I used to drive a 2008 Ford Focus that averaged 31 MPG.  I drive about 10,000 miles per year, so 10,000 miles / 31 MPG = 322.6 gallons. Multiply that by $2.56 (the current price for a gallon of gas) and my yearly fuel expense was $825 per year.

Now I drive a Honda CR-V that averages 26.5 MPG.  10,000 miles / 26.5 MPG = 377.4 gallons.  Multiply that by $2.56 and my fuel cost is $966 per year.

Basically, now I have a much bigger and more convenient vehicle for about $12 more per month.  Well, well worth it.

So my advice would maybe be to expand your horizon a bit.  If you're going to drive even less miles than I would, then your fuel cost will be even more marginal.

PseudoStache

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Re: Choosing a car
« Reply #17 on: March 08, 2018, 10:49:25 AM »
And why 2012 or newer?  Seems like an unnecessary and arbitrary filter - mileage is your primary filter for screening out junkers.

Under 60K miles and 5+ newer usually means, at the very least, the power train warranty may still be intact.

While I agree, that is low mileage for cars these days, I do like to make sure that i get any kinks worked out on the manufacturer's dime.

Obviously if there is a significant price difference, where the gap would take care of any major issues, sure get an older one.

OP... I owned a MazdaSpeed 3 (hatch) for 7+ years...  it was the car that I owned longer than any other car I've owned.  When you put the seats down, so much space. Fit ladders and T-molding while working on my rental properties with ease.

And Mazdas (especially the Speed) are so "sporty" to drive - if you are into that sort of thing :)