Well, the economy is in the shitter. I'm not getting a raise this year. Gas prices along with inflation have pretty much chewed up any financial gains I've made in the past 6 or 7 years. My wife is back to work pretty much full time, but makes less than most interns (just getting back to the workforce). And I've got two girls that eat up a lot of income with dance classes, soccer, etc. So I don't have a lot of money left over at the end of the month for transportation. I've already put off three times buying a new car for myself because I didn't want to add the payment. I'm glad I did. But now the lease on the minivan is going to be up in about three months and we can't afford a new lease because of the rise in cost. So what used vehicles should I consider since I can't afford a new minivan, leased or otherwise? We don't want to shell out for a new car because we're confident that the economy is going to get worse for the foreseeable future. We're considering cars. I don't want a used Chrysler minivan because I find their long term reliability suspect. Besides, I've already got one maintenance nightmare in my malibu. Anyway, any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
I would say Honda or Toyota. They always have the rep of most reliable. Here's a list from consumer reports for best and worst used cars. http://autos.yahoo.com/consumerreports/article/best_and_worst_used_cars.html
Yeah, the wife digs the new accord. But I don't think we can swing that. Times are real tough right now up in Michigan. I grew up my whole life never setting foot on a foreign dealership. This ought to be interesting.
Thanks for the list. I'm looking through the classifieds online. The Hondas and Toyotas have a much higher resale value.
I disagree. It shows that VWs made in the US or Mexica are overpriced POS, but my experience with the once that are manufactured in Europe are very positive. Granted, in the first 100 000 km a Japanese car is usually better than a German one, but after that mileage you won't have many problems with a VW Golf or BMW 7 Series, whereas a Toyota or Honda may die soon on you. I think a VW Golf (possibly Variant) would be a good used car, even though they are quite expensive for a used car over here...
Ugly & overpriced are the 1st two things that come to mind when I think VW. And "chick car" is the next thing.
Mate just get a base civic it'll be all you need and will not die on you. 8thcivic.com should give you an idea of how the cars are although it's mostly a Civic SI site you get your fair share of LX, EX owners so you'll be able to find out a bit on the car and problems.
That's great for me, but the wife needs something with a bit more room to cart the tikes around in. Plus, a Civic would get pretty tight on road trips.
A used Honda CRV or Element would be the way to go, then. Just remember to replace the timing belt/chain at 100K miles, otherwise they have a tendency to swallow their valves.
This is totally anecdotal of course but I've had 2 toyota camrys ('93 and '96) that have still been running great with well over 150,000 miles, and 2 volkswagons ('91 Fox and a '97 Jetta) that didn't even make it to 100,000. Honestly though the most reliable car ive ever had is the '95 jeep cherokee I still drive, it's over 200,000 and going good, it has that 4 liter in line 6 that seems as strong now as it was when I bought the car and has only ever needed regular stuff like water pump, radiator, minor body work, etc. of course whenever we travel any distance we take the better half's prius as the Jeep drinks gas. New cars are for suckers.
She wouldn't like the element. And I don't know much about the CRV. She's gotten very particular about the vehicles she drives, which is strange because we can't be that picky given our financial state right now. She would have gotten the new Chyrsler T&C even though she hated the looks just because of the features. So who knows. We've got some time. Like I said, it's going to be really weird stepping onto a Japenese dealership. I forgot that I had looked at a Subaru WRX about two years ago and I felt like I was cheating on my family just thinking about buying it. Those ties to the U.S. auto industry run deep up here.
It somehow seems a bit like reserve worlds... Nobody here in Germanic-Europe ever talks about how great Toyotas are, but most people like VWs, have had good experiences with them and usually chooses them if the budget allows it and they can't go up to BMW or so... Than again I am living upper middle class, may look completely different for people who don't go to college.
a buddy of mine who is a total car nut and tech geek bought an Element. he is very disappointed with the tech features, which he assumed he could hack pretty easily, but he loves the car part. my wife and i bought a Saturn Vue hybrid. not a techie car, but rides nice. i've put over 100K miles on both a Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. safe bet for dependable.
The Subaru is built in Indiana, and the Honda is built in Ohio, if that makes you feel any better. They're not union shops, but they still employ US labor.
Oh I know. It's not logical to feel that way. I guess I can easily square it with the fact that my dad refused to buy GM products after the '97 strike because he got nothing out of it, only the skilled trades did. For some odd reason, though, he took a step backwards and started bying Chrysler products. Weird.
FACT: GM, Chrysler, Chevy, etc cars and trucks suck. Wish it weren't so, but it is. The US just isn't good at making cars anymore.
I actually loved my old Fox, it got totalled in an accident. The Jetta though, what a piece of shit that car was. Nowadays they're just made in dark colors for hot girls, they don't really have to be anything else.
I think you need to expand the point a little bit. American Big Three (Ford, Chrysler, GM) cars suck. There are plenty of great cars being built in the US by Honda, Subaru, Toyota, BMW and Mercedes.