New/Used Car Help!

[RachaelBachael]

Also, you can find pictures of the crash on my Tumblr, here.

[John Galt]

I run cars into the ground

We've got two Subaru wagons (Legacy and a Forester) one with 243k and one with 101k and a Chevy pickup (2wd 1500) with 287k. Take care of them and they'll take care of you.

[RachaelBachael]

Originally Posted by marina

I don't know what your price range is, but I have a 2007 Honda Fit Sport. I paid 11,00 for in August 2010. The guy wanted more, but I threatened to leave. I bought the one with the tiptronic shifter, but I almost never use it, so I really didn't need it, I just thought it was cool.

Sadly, no moon roof, but it's a zippy, low gas mileage car and it handles great. The other day a dog ran into the street in front of me and in my old car, poor thing would have been a cloud of red mist, but the fit had a preternatural connection to the wheel and swerved around him like a dancer. It was amazing.

Do you have a center console/arm rest? I was looking at them online and they look pretty good, but it seems like you have to pay extra for an arm rest. Seems a little weird.

[marina]

Originally Posted by RachaelBachael

Do you have a center console/arm rest? I was looking at them online and they look pretty good, but it seems like you have to pay extra for an arm rest. Seems a little weird.

I have a center console that I can keep stuff in. It goes from under the dash all the way into the back seat and has 3 cup holders, a cubbyhole about the size of a of a pound cake that is under the dash, a small tray that I keep my gate clicker in, another little square that I don't put anything in, the shifter and the hand brake. There's no arm wrest, but none of my cars ever had one, so I don't miss it. I just wrest my hand on the hand break, or hold the wheel. On the left side, the door has a nice little ledge that I usually rest my arm on and use the right hand to steer.

[Leentron3030]

Originally Posted by John Galt

I run cars into the ground

We've got two Subaru wagons (Legacy and a Forester) one with 243k and one with 101k and a Chevy pickup (2wd 1500) with 287k. Take care of them and they'll take care of you.

I was going to say go Subaru, that's the car I tell everyone. They're the perfect mix of everything you could want in a car and they run forever. They're relatively easy to work on too. I fixed everything on my WRX except for the transmission.

[tomross]

I drive a Toyota Camry and get very good gas mileage, around 30MPG, I would highly recommend it since the value of Camry's hold up pretty well too.

[crecentroll]

I would recommend going to Carmax. I have bought 6 cars from there, no hassles and priced about right. Also, get the extended warranty! I hardly had to use it for my Infiniti, but my wife's car needed an entire fuel system overhaul. By having the warranty, I saved myself around 3k. The peace of mind is worth the small additional price.

[da_ticklah]

+1 on the honda's in the last 15 years I had a Honda Civic, Nissan Altima and when it was time for a new car I went back home and got an Accord. The Wife has been Toyota, Nissan and back to Toyota in a similar time frame, the general consensus around our house is Toyota or Honda we just had weird problems on our nissan's .


I can't speak for longevity but the Chevy cruze is impressive for an american small car IMHO it drives better than a Malibu did 2 generations ago (based on rental experiences)

[Vrexx]

I'm on my 2nd Honda Accord and I love them. I could definitely recommend any Honda, just don't buy a new one (which doesn't really sound like is an option for you atm). I'd try to get a 2006-2009 model with low mileage of any of the cars you are looking for, Honda or not.

Good luck in your search!

[RachaelBachael]

Thanks for all of the help everyone. I'm still searching for a car, but definitely had a learning experience today.

I went to look at a used Volvo. I test drove it, loved it, but the brake light was on (although the brakes worked), so I decided to pay to have my mechanic look at it. Turns out it had tons of problems and would have cost $3000 to fix it up.

Lesson learned. Better to spend $100 for piece of mind than thousands of dollars for a money pit.