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In an extremely generalized sense, the least reliable version of any car is likely to be the highest trim - just because there's more poo poo to break. You can't have a broken sunroof / navigation / asswarmer if your base-spec doesn't even have those things in the first place.
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Apr 11, 2016 17:24
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IOwnCalculus posted:In an extremely generalized sense, the least reliable version of any car is likely to be the highest trim - just because there's more poo poo to break. You can't have a broken sunroof / navigation / asswarmer if your base-spec doesn't even have those things in the first place. Makes sense, although i'm not as concerned with an optional feature being broken vs a "core" one. A broken seatwarmer may end up lowering the total price and get me more car for my money. What i am interested in is that it looks like a lot of the trim levels affect options for more important things, like number of cylinders and the type of transmission used in addition to seatwarmer stuff. If one level of trim has a more reliable engine/transmission that would be of particular interest. Using the 2010 Outback as an example, there are trim levels with PZEV and CVT. Other cars have optional 2WD vs AWD. If one of those models isn't as reliable or well designed as another, i would be interested in knowing that. I know with the used market you don't have as much choice, but I would be interested to learn if a specific engine/transmission configuration is a bad call for a specific model year. Edit: also, only interested in automatic transmissions.
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Apr 11, 2016 17:42
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E-Money posted:Proposed Budget: ~$14K or equivalent price of 2010 Subaru Outback (see below) My 2c is that you should put the CRV & Rav4 on top, with the Outlander (including newer than 2010 Outlanders) as a dark horse option because although it might be less reliable and a worse car, you can probably get one for almost half the price of the others.
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Apr 11, 2016 20:33
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Proposed Budget: $8,000 or less New or Used: Used Body Style: Cargo Van or Large SUV How will you be using the car?: Haul plywood/drywall/other home improvement stuff for a while. What aspects are most important to you?: It can fit plywood/drywall and it "should" last a year or two with regular maintenance. My father is doing some home improvement stuff and he can't get standard sheets of plywood/drywall in his merc, so he just wants to buy something reasonably cheap and reliable to move that stuff around. I don't know much about vans like the express and what have you, or if something like a Tahoe/Yukon would be a good idea. I'm not sure if he even wants to consider a pickup, though I guess recommendations there wouldn't be bad. The main thing beyond drywall fitting is reliability. We live in the Chicagoland area if that helps any. REDjackeT fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Apr 13, 2016 |
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Apr 13, 2016 00:42
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Proposed Budget: <$5000 New or Used: Used Body Style: (e.g. 2 door? 4 door? Compact/Midsize/Fullsize Sedan? Truck? SUV?): Unimportant How will you be using the car?: Very short M-F commute (<10mi each way). Interstate weekend commute (100mi each way) + city driving on weekends. I'll be doing this in New England so snow and ice will be somewhat of a factor but not taking into off-road conditions ie 4WD isn't mandatory. Do you prefer a luxury vehicle with all the gizmos?) Nope. What aspects are most important to you? Overall fit and finish should still be relatively nice. I'd prefer something with lower overall mileage, lowest risk of impending big-ticket repairs for the next ~2 years at which point I can sell. Story time: Starting a new job about 100mi away from the wife and will be apart for just 1 year. She needs the current vehicle where she is at (2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee). I basically need to travel back and forth on the weekends to stay with her in our current house and the rest of the week live in an apt and commute a very short distance to and from work. We don't have a ton of money right now but the new job pays a lot more so within 1-2 yrs I can replace this vehicle. Looking at the thread-favorite Prius's my only concern is that due to my price range I'd be looking at a 140k+ mileage Prius and I don't know what the higher mileage repair costs are like for those. I was thinking Prius, Honda Civic (or accord), Toyota Corrola. I have no experience with the Mazda M3 or any potential American or Nissan offerings in this range but would consider them as well. I'm 6' tall so not a huge concern for fit in cars but having overall legroom / headroom would be preferred over something I have to just barely fit into.
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Apr 13, 2016 10:06
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Stick shift Ford Focus. You don't have enough money to get really decent bang for the buck on used Honda/Toyota. At your price point, you should probably be looking for small, used, lower mileage, well maintained with full service histories. You will be doing at most 15k miles a year on the car, so the primary advantage of the Prius is that it's dead loving reliable. Fuel cost savings for highway driving are relatively low.
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Apr 13, 2016 10:13
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Stick shift Ford Focus. You don't have enough money to get really decent bang for the buck on used Honda/Toyota. At your price point, you should probably be looking for small, used, lower mileage, well maintained with full service histories. That's kinda what I was thinking. Not enough miles driven to sweat modest MPG changes and if I kept this car more than 2 yrs I'd be shocked. Any year ranges to prioritize / avoid on the Focus? I haven't looked at / considered American cars for 20 yrs.
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Apr 13, 2016 10:33
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That Works posted:That's kinda what I was thinking. Not enough miles driven to sweat modest MPG changes and if I kept this car more than 2 yrs I'd be shocked. The really early models had two engine choices. Zetec and the base. The zetec had trims starting with "z." Avoid the base engine.
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Apr 13, 2016 14:20
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Stick shift Ford Focus. You don't have enough money to get really decent bang for the buck on used Honda/Toyota. At your price point, you should probably be looking for small, used, lower mileage, well maintained with full service histories. Oh also, do you suggest stick shift because the automatics are inherently unreliable or is there another issue besides just potential fuel economy / better use on ice and snow? Just curious as a quick pass finds a lot more automatics available nearby.
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Apr 13, 2016 17:24
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Personal preference, plus you can tell when the clutch has been changed which is about the only thing that goes wrong on a manual transmission. If it needs replacing during your ownership you can recover most of the value. If you replace a complete AT it is expensive and a sign to run like hell for potential buyers. 5 grand might get you in to older DCT models at this point which was a very bad automatic transmission, so you should avoid it. I think that's MY2011 and on. For the ugly second gen, the duratec is the only engine. It is fine.
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Apr 13, 2016 17:34
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That Works posted:Oh also, do you suggest stick shift because the automatics are inherently unreliable or is there another issue besides just potential fuel economy / better use on ice and snow? Automatic Focuses have a hosed up transmission. So do automatic Fiestas. So hosed up I lemon law'ed my car and only post in this thread to tell people not to buy automatic Focuses and Fiestas.
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Apr 13, 2016 17:39
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E-Money posted:Using the 2010 Outback as an example, there are trim levels with PZEV and CVT. Other cars have optional 2WD vs AWD. If one of those models isn't as reliable or well designed as another, i would be interested in knowing that. I know with the used market you don't have as much choice, but I would be interested to learn if a specific engine/transmission configuration is a bad call for a specific model year. Following the same logic, simpler drivetrains are on the whole going to be more reliable. A big part of why I bought my 2013 CR-V is that it uses the same K24 and 5-speed Hondamatic that Honda had been using for drat near a decade at that point. You won't win drag races but it is a very reliable setup with very low maintenance costs. Seeing as a lot of wear / consumable parts are the same between the 2010 and 2013 CR-Vs, I'd expect it to be pretty similar if that's where your budget gets you. There's some complaints about rattling timing chains / VTEC actuators but I don't think I've seen it ever amount to more than "it's noisy".
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Apr 13, 2016 17:43
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uninterrupted posted:Automatic Focuses have a hosed up transmission. So do automatic Fiestas. Before the DCT was fine.
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Apr 13, 2016 20:39
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Before the DCT was fine. True, I wanna say the automatic focuses and fiestas from 2010 on have them.
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Apr 13, 2016 20:58
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REDjackeT posted:Proposed Budget: $8,000 or less Discounting pickups, your best bet would probably be to look for a Suburban or Yukon XL. The interiors aren't gonna be all that great but the drivetrains are pretty bulletproof, which I haven't heard about the Excursion. An Expedition, Tahoe or regular Yukon would be too small for a sheet of plywood, you can tell them apart from the longer Suburban-length ones by the rear edge of the back door - if it goes straight down from the roof to the rockers then it's long enough for plywood, but if it stops at the back wheel it's the short useless version. Also if you care about American brands versus others, too bad cause that's it - no other brand has a large SUV that's long enough for plywood. If you can get your old man to look at a full size pickup with an 8 foot bed, Dodge trucks can have iffy reliability but Ford or GM half-tons are fine. I think a large van would be the wrong choice for this because they tend to get treated worse than rental cars. You might consider a minivan but I don't know for sure which ones are big enough for plywood and I'm not as familiar with them. In that part of the world I'd be worried about rust too but at that price point you can probably avoid the worst of it. I think. edit: Comedy option would be a huge old-school station wagon, probably a Caprice or Roadmaster if you can find one in good enough condition. Friar Zucchini fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Apr 14, 2016 |
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Apr 14, 2016 02:53
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IOwnCalculus posted:Following the same logic, simpler drivetrains are on the whole going to be more reliable. A big part of why I bought my 2013 CR-V is that it uses the same K24 and 5-speed Hondamatic that Honda had been using for drat near a decade at that point. You won't win drag races but it is a very reliable setup with very low maintenance costs. Seeing as a lot of wear / consumable parts are the same between the 2010 and 2013 CR-Vs, I'd expect it to be pretty similar if that's where your budget gets you. There's some complaints about rattling timing chains / VTEC actuators but I don't think I've seen it ever amount to more than "it's noisy". Thanks! Makes sense. The CR-V will definitely be on the short list once I figure out the final budget and find out if I end up with my folks' outback.
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Apr 14, 2016 03:16
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Friar Zucchini posted:Discounting pickups, your best bet would probably be to look for a Suburban or Yukon XL. The interiors aren't gonna be all that great but the drivetrains are pretty bulletproof, which I haven't heard about the Excursion. An Expedition, Tahoe or regular Yukon would be too small for a sheet of plywood, you can tell them apart from the longer Suburban-length ones by the rear edge of the back door - if it goes straight down from the roof to the rockers then it's long enough for plywood, but if it stops at the back wheel it's the short useless version. Also if you care about American brands versus others, too bad cause that's it - no other brand has a large SUV that's long enough for plywood. If you can get your old man to look at a full size pickup with an 8 foot bed, Dodge trucks can have iffy reliability but Ford or GM half-tons are fine. I think a large van would be the wrong choice for this because they tend to get treated worse than rental cars. You might consider a minivan but I don't know for sure which ones are big enough for plywood and I'm not as familiar with them. Thanks, I think I misread something somewhere about a Yukon XL and cut off the XL part in my brain. Thanks for the input. If I could swing a Roadmaster I would and take it off his hands after he was done with it. I really doubt he would go for it though.
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Apr 14, 2016 06:05
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Proposed Budget: Used: 8500 or Lease: 250/mo New or Used: Used or Lease Body Style: Wagon or CUV How will you be using the car?: wife's vehicle. hauling baby/dog/home improvement poo poo What aspects are most important to you? Interior volume. Do not want AWD. Decent fuel mileage but not hugely important. Mainly just need a mostly reliable ride. I have to poo poo or get off the pot with my '13 TDI wagon that I have had for 3 years now. I'm paying $440/mo for this thing at (0.9% APR) and I had a bunch of equity prior to dieselgate but the value has tanked, and now depreciating as fast as my payments are made. I still have 2 years of payments to go, for a total of 14,500 in additional payments. I think I have about 1k in equity in the car about now, depending on private party or trade in (I'd be over a barrel on trade in). The value of this thing is probably going to keep getting worse, I have doubts about VW resolving the issues of this car anytime soon (if even). The scheduled maintenance is expensive and it will need new tires in the next year ( about $1500 in the next year). So my current thought consists of two completely opposite things: buy 10-15 year old BMW wagon (because why not buy another bmw?) under 10k OR just get a reasonable $250-275/mo lease on something like a CX-5. Lease pros: Minimal maintenance I typically dont keep most cars more than 3 years Monthly payment will go down ~175/mo cons: no equity at end of lease loan payment under $200 used pros: equity at end of loan minimal depreciation used cons: maintenance, maintenance, maintenance
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Apr 14, 2016 19:22
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BraveUlysses posted:The value of this thing is probably going to keep getting worse, I have doubts about VW resolving the issues of this car anytime soon (if even). The scheduled maintenance is expensive and it will need new tires in the next year ( about $1500 in the next year). Why does your 3 year old sedan sized grocery hauler need $1500 in tires? Or is that scheduled maintenance and tires? This sounds crazy unless you're doing it at the dealership. Are there no consumer diesel mechanics in your area? Trying to sell a VW diesel sounds like catching a falling knife.
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Apr 15, 2016 03:20
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Yeah tires are probably 300-400 depending on brand and 40k service was quoted at 900. i could diy it to save some cash. I guess my concerns are less of what car should I get and more of a financial (BFC) question to escape the dieselgate mess now or wait it out.
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Apr 15, 2016 14:16
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I'd wait it out. The VW diesel market is presently in panic mode and you want no part of it, especially as a seller. Yes, your car pollutes a lot, but older diesels without any emissions controls certainly pollute more, and your car is just a drop in the bucket, so my advice is keep it and wait until VW decides whether they want to fix or upgrade it at no cost to you, or buy your car back. The most expensive option for you would be to sell the car because since the market is in panic mode, you will lose hard by trying to sell it now instead of waiting it out. There's a class action lawsuit just for people like you who got hosed over by VW cheating on their test, although there can be downsides like legal fees but I don't know a drat thing about any of that madness. And by "wait it out" I mean several years. My personal course of action would be to wait maybe even ten years, or more, until the car is officially "old" so that you've driven your money's worth out of it before you get rid of it. If your car lost so much value for what you paid for it, make it earn that money. Basically til depreciation has gone so far on it that the main factor in the car's price is whether it runs or not. Friar Zucchini fucked around with this message at 14:39 on Apr 15, 2016 |
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Apr 15, 2016 14:24
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Resale value right now is an unrealized loss. If you sell it, it's a realized loss. A car is a transportation tool, and the utility of your car hasn't decreased. Don't DIY a VW diesel 40k service.
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Apr 15, 2016 16:18
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Basically this is a sunk cost issue, I owe about as much as it's worth. In 2 years I will have spent another 14k on payments till it's paid off. I'm not sure I'm getting a good value for the $440 monthly payment.
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Apr 15, 2016 17:54
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BraveUlysses posted:Basically this is a sunk cost issue, I owe about as much as it's worth. In 2 years I will have spent another 14k on payments till it's paid off. I'm not sure I'm getting a good value for the $440 monthly payment. In 2 years you'll be done making payments. If you're smart you won't get a new car and can potentially go another decade without payments. With your other options you'll be making payments for way longer and won't have any "equity" in the lease or a then 15-20 year old bmw.
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Apr 15, 2016 21:17
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BraveUlysses posted:Basically this is a sunk cost issue, I owe about as much as it's worth. In 2 years I will have spent another 14k on payments till it's paid off. I'm not sure I'm getting a good value for the $440 monthly payment. If you think a 15-20 year old BMW is going to be cheaper in any way than owning your car for even a single year after you pay off your loan you are insane.
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Apr 16, 2016 16:27
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BraveUlysses posted:Proposed Budget: Used: 8500 or Lease: 250/mo Where do you live? In Florida we've got really strong lemon laws and someone already forced VW to buy back their diesel car.
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Apr 16, 2016 17:14
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What is the modern equivalent of the 2002/2003 (or even earlier) Honda CR-V? Mine seems to accumulating issues and thought I should start to keep my eyes open. Basically I dream of something that looks like the old late 90s CR-V (that is, I prefer 'box' to 'style') but has some of the more modern safety features. vvv Thanks! Mozi fucked around with this message at 13:59 on Apr 20, 2016 |
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Apr 19, 2016 15:36
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Scion Xb maybe?
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Apr 20, 2016 01:15
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Kia Soul probably.
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Apr 20, 2016 12:19
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You can get with this, or you can get with that!
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Apr 20, 2016 14:29
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I'd get the one not infested with gigantic mutant hamsters though.
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Apr 20, 2016 16:49
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BraveUlysses posted:Yeah tires are probably 300-400 depending on brand and 40k service was quoted at 900. i could diy it to save some cash. sounds like not selling is likely to be the right choice since VW is going to pay out cash money to owners
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Apr 20, 2016 21:24
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BraveUlysses posted:I have doubts about VW resolving the issues of this car anytime soon (if even). http://www.wired.com/2016/04/vw-will-offer-buy-back-cheating-polluting-diesels/ For those earlier in the thread (E-Money?), I just traded in my 05' CR-V that I had for 9 out of its 11 years and the dealership put it up for $11k even with an accident on record (light rear-end, no damage), a cracked windshield, an outstanding recall, and 2 owners on record (it only had 80k miles on it). This car never let us down and the only reason we traded it in was for a larger SUV. This would be a solid car to buy used. Now I have a Toyota Highlander and if its quality is just as good in the RAV-4 (I've never owned one), I would say either would be a good buy used. inkblottime fucked around with this message at 04:44 on Apr 21, 2016 |
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Apr 21, 2016 04:35
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I've been eyeing a certified pre owned 2014 Mazda 3 GT, with luxury package, and 50,000 km on it for about $18,000 CAD.. I'm probably going to try and bargain it down a bit to see if its doable. But just to check that year and model were good right, no weird problems in the Mazda family with that car?
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Apr 23, 2016 06:20
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Chillyrabbit posted:I've been eyeing a certified pre owned 2014 Mazda 3 GT, with luxury package, and 50,000 km on it for about $18,000 CAD.. I'm probably going to try and bargain it down a bit to see if its doable. Check Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds, consumerreports, and read through the different reviews. Then Google "2014 Mazda 3 problems" or something like that and look for forum posts. This is how I found out that the 2014-present Pathfanders were having major issues with their CVT transmissions. Also, don't lay it all on a certified pre-owned. I mean it's okay to have but don't let them up-sell you on it. It's not that worth it, especially if the car doesn't have a history of issues. That being said, I think you could get this down below $17,500, maybe even $17,000 if they're hurting to sell, especially with the high miles. Remember, they get these cars at auction or from a trade in, which usually gives you thousands of negotiating room from the listed price. You could even ask to see the invoice for what they got the car for, like in writing, not just verbal. They probably won't give it to you but it gives you leverage to bargain. It's how I got a good deal. Just my two cents from having just gone though the whole buying a car experience.
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Apr 23, 2016 20:08
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inkblottime posted:Check Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds, consumerreports, and read through the different reviews. Then Google "2014 Mazda 3 problems" or something like that and look for forum posts. This is how I found out that the 2014-present Pathfanders were having major issues with their CVT transmissions. I did search forum posts and look up problems but everything seemed so undocumented that it made me unsure, I had reviews saying the radio doesn't work, and reviews sperging about the radio. I did look at car complaints but I don't know how many complaints it takes for it to be statistically relevant. But reviewing those websites it seems there are no really bad problems just minor things that nearly every car has like interior problems or brakes. The reasons why I was looking at CPO was it seemed to bridge the best of both worlds, a new like car but at a used like price. Plus since my parents have a Mazda, and I'm a recent graduate I get roughly a $1400 rebate by purchasing a CPO. But if I can't get the dealer to budge the price down more I'll look elsewhere. Thanks!
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Apr 23, 2016 21:14
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If you are ready to walk on this deal, then you'll get the dealer to budge. Be polite but play hardball, don't tell them anything they don't need to know (like you're a student, etc) and for god's sake, don't tell them you get a rebate for CPO until you've nailed down a price or they'll use that to jack you over. You're there to buy a car and if they don't give you a good price, you're going to walk. That's it. Sounds like you made a good choice for a car. Good luck!
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Apr 23, 2016 21:21
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Welp I'm going insane so I need some help guys. My wife needs to buy a car for a new job that requires a driving commute. We also have a baby on the way in October. I currently have a 2004 Mazda3 GT that I fully intend to run into the ground and love it. Proposed Budget: Under 15k CAD. The closer to 10k the better. Body Style: Sedan or hatchback How will you be using the car?: Wife is using it to commute to a new job, one day a week of which is down a long stretch of highway. Also baby poo poo. What aspects are most important to you? Reliability and safety for wife + baby. Enough storage for a stroller. My wife is also keen on something with a big back window, which is the opposite of a lot of design philosophy these days. My first instinct is just to double down into another, newer Mazda 3, probably a sedan. The hatchbacks honestly don't seem to offer a ton more trunk space over the sedans, and their back windows are minuscule which she hates. Then we started looking at Corollas and Honda Fits and even Jettas and now I'm officially insane since I haven't shopped for a car in 10 years. Is the Mazda still the best route here? Gorefluff fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Apr 25, 2016 |
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Apr 25, 2016 03:43
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inkblottime posted:http://www.wired.com/2016/04/vw-will-offer-buy-back-cheating-polluting-diesels/ Thanks! Talked to my parents and they were kind enough to offer us their 2010 outback, so that will be a lot easier than having to shop for a used one. Should be perfect for what we need.
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Apr 25, 2016 03:48
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So I may get a job that's a ~110-120 mile round trip commute for 12 months. (I'll move after that point for "reasons"). My car is a 2004 Chevrolet Avalanche that I use to pull a trailer for my super small side business. Truck is going to stay, but I'm wondering if I should look into another car or drive the gas guzzler? Avalanche gets 15MPG. Should I look for a smaller commuter car? What kind should I get. I'd like to keep it under 10k, 35+mpg highway (if possible) be cheap on maintenance and be comfortable inside. If you make it "fun" somehow that would be grand as well.
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Apr 26, 2016 01:52
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