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Need a new "used" car
- Thread starter toowrongfoo
- Start date
My parents bought a brand new Hyundai XG in 2005. They still drive it daily.
It has been mostly trouble free since they bought it, aside from a couple electrical issues with the sunroof controls and power windows. Both inexpensive fixes my pop took care of on his own. My pop is also meticulous about maintenance and taking care of his vehicles.
My parents love their Hyundai, and I can see why. I know of other longtime Hyundai owners who are happy with their trouble free purchase.
-Mike
It has been mostly trouble free since they bought it, aside from a couple electrical issues with the sunroof controls and power windows. Both inexpensive fixes my pop took care of on his own. My pop is also meticulous about maintenance and taking care of his vehicles.
My parents love their Hyundai, and I can see why. I know of other longtime Hyundai owners who are happy with their trouble free purchase.
-Mike
Honda. We've had 3 Hondas and hadn't any major issues with them. If gas mileage is a concern probably a Civic or Fit is a better idea than a CRV (not to say it isn't decent for that, I get ~22MPG around town with mine).
If it were me, I'd probably look for a VW GTI, but I love playing with cars. Lots of cargo room, good handling and performance, decent gas mileage. VWs may not have the reputation for reliability, but most people don't maintain their cars properly, and German cars are designed to use regular maintenance. The reward is in how they drive.
Honda (I've bought a few of 'em used with low miles, and have put 200K plus on each of 'em), Toyota, Nissan. In that order. After my daughter's experience with a new Kia Sorento, the dealer, and Kia US I wouldn't buy a Kia with YOUR money. German cars are just fine ... for the warranty period. After that they are an expensive nightmare to maintain if something goes wrong.
We have a Versa and it’s a great little commuter for us. We drive over an hour each way, five days a week and the mileage is super. Highly recommended. As a former mechanic, I must agree with several other posts as well. VW makes great cars as do Toyota and Honda, and the aforementioned Nissan. My son just bought a Subaru and we drove it from San Diego to South Texas and back around New Years-wow, super car. Great fit and finish, nicely designed and fast as a jet. Oh, it’s an Impreza STI turbo. There’s probably a used Subaru SUV in your price range that would have comparable engine etc. good luck with your buy.
Not sure about your neck of the woods but those "kid" cars are the most stolen vehicles in the Sacramento area. By a rather large margin.
Cars that are good to buy your kids because they are safe and reliable, inexpensive to maintain and have low insurance rates.
Smart thieves - they don't want to steal something that will break down during the getaway.
Again: No Chrysler No Nissan. As a professional service advisor, I can tell you with certainty these are the lamest cars made. Not hugely impressed with the Korean stuff once they get 6 or 7 years on them. They put up with nearly no abuse before they start to have issues. They just aren't robust vehicles.
I'm into cars so my personal suggestions probably wouldn't be helpful but just for grins...
I'd buy a clean Mazda Miata NB series convertible and a hauler... small pickup, SUV, heck, used Cadillac Escalades are a dime a dozen. I could easily find both for less than $10k total.
On topic, most late model hatchbacks are pretty good except for some horror stories I've heard about Fords. My gold standard used to be Honda but they've been on a steady race to the middle quality-wise for years and are just as willing to duck responsibility as average brands. That said, you can find used Honda Elements for around $5k; good fuel economy, amazing versatility. Kia Souls are nice too.
I'd buy a clean Mazda Miata NB series convertible and a hauler... small pickup, SUV, heck, used Cadillac Escalades are a dime a dozen. I could easily find both for less than $10k total.
On topic, most late model hatchbacks are pretty good except for some horror stories I've heard about Fords. My gold standard used to be Honda but they've been on a steady race to the middle quality-wise for years and are just as willing to duck responsibility as average brands. That said, you can find used Honda Elements for around $5k; good fuel economy, amazing versatility. Kia Souls are nice too.
My lady just brought home a really clean 2014 Fiat (with only 38k on it) from a dealership for around 7Gs. Other than it being a stick shift, it's ideal for buzzing around town and parking in tight spots. I'll have to assess the space for gear ratio and report back when she comes over later.
Odd. My experience with both brands has been more than satisfactory.
My 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport was an amazing vehicle. I changed the battery 2 times, the brakes 3 times and did oil changes every 3k. I put a bit over 200k on my Minivan of Doom and aside from it being t boned and totaled I imagine I'd still be driving it and loving it.
I've had 2 Nissans, a 1980 200 SX with the "napZ" motor ( 2 valves per cylinder ) and an excellent 5 speed. That car was amazing to drive. A real drivers car that had a willing powerband, turned like it was on rails and had plenty of power for a 4 cylinder car. The other was a 1995 Nissan Maxima with the V6 that was being used in their nissmo race vehicles at the time. It was a perfect Japanese luxury sedan inside and out. The leather was the best in class. The motor was best in class. The appointments ( especially the stereo ) were much better for the money than it's rivals.
The worst car I've ever owned was actually a Toyota Tercel SR 5 speed. The head gasket blew after 45k miles and warped the head. It constantly blew exhaust gaskets as well at both the flange and the head. For a small car it handled like a pregnant yak.
So I suppose our views are a bit different. However, having owned the cars and being equal in both my driving of them and my upkeep of them I'd say I've got a pretty solid sampling.
As I said, my day job is as an automotive service advisor. I've managed the repairs of literally hundred of vehicles by those manufacturers. I'd say your sampling is a small percentage of mine. That you've had good luck with a couple is of their cars is great for you but anecdotal.
When you are going back that far (which I'm not) Nissan was one of the best cars made.
Unfortunately I've had a good amount of people as I ask around that don't like Nissan and had forgotten that my ex-next door neighbor actually had a Pathfinder which was constantly on the fritz (and he was a mechanic)
I've ruled them out, but that doesn't mean that what I get will be a shinning star either.
My thing is I put about 10k on in about 5 years with as little as I drive nowadays. If it's under warranty (and that is paramount) I'll have that for a long time because I just won't put a ton of miles on it.
That was the big issue with the focus, you couldn't get warranty for it because it was 15 years old (though it had very low mileage)
Unfortunately I've had a good amount of people as I ask around that don't like Nissan and had forgotten that my ex-next door neighbor actually had a Pathfinder which was constantly on the fritz (and he was a mechanic)
I've ruled them out, but that doesn't mean that what I get will be a shinning star either.
My thing is I put about 10k on in about 5 years with as little as I drive nowadays. If it's under warranty (and that is paramount) I'll have that for a long time because I just won't put a ton of miles on it.
That was the big issue with the focus, you couldn't get warranty for it because it was 15 years old (though it had very low mileage)
I'm getting a little excited, I think I'll head over to where a Hyundai is sitting and drive one, make sure I can fit in it
Hyundai/Kia have really upped their game in recent years..... what was once throwaway $h!tboxes are now world class automobiles.
However for those of us in the salt belt, I've found that they still don't know how to keep brake lines, fuel lines and subframes from rotting out in a short period of time. Most manufacturers, excluding H/K and Chrysler, have this figured out.
I guess I better talk to a
heh my time as a service writer never led me to think of entire brands as lame. Maybe it's different now. 45 years of buying and driving cars informs my opinion. Not 1 or 2 "lucky" purchases. Saab fenders must be tough to find now that they are no more. I hated that. I always thought they were funky cool. Nevs isn't doing it for me. Sucks that they are using the Saab-ish platform. Peace.
