Help Me Find A New Used Car...

[Pbartender]

So, I got into a bit of a car accident yesterday evening. Someone tryed to make a left hand turn in front me as I was going through an intersection -- he admitted he was entirely at fault. And before you ask, I'm fine.

My poor car, however, isn't... Take a look at the attached photos. Can you believe it still runs? I drove it home.

Anyway, the paperworks is in the mail to collect on the insurance. I've now doubt it'll be a total loss... The car's almost 9 years old, and isn't worth more than about 5 or 6 grand. At any rate, I'm now in the market for a used car to replace it with, and could use a few suggestions for models to look at.

Where what I want:

• It must seat at least four... Me, my wife and two kids.
• It have enough cargo space to carry two large dogs (a german shepherd and a collie) when needed.
• It must be reliable and safe.
• I need to be able to buy it used for roughly $5000 or less.

If possible, what I would like:

• Good gas mileage is better.
• It'd be nice if it was something that didn't make me look like a chump when I drove it.

Any ideas, guys?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If you lived in D/FW, I'd send you to my Mom's cousin- a used car dealer who is actually honest! (I know, I know!)

Since you don't, I can't.

1) I'd start off by looking in the Consumer Reports Auto guide to see which used cars hold up best, and what the trouble spots are for any given make or model.

2) I think you'd be best off looking at some kind of Japanese or European station wagon or hatchback- Honda, Toyota, Volkwagon and Volvo would be my first choices.

3) If you can't find a hatchback or station wagon, I'd go for a sedan- again either Japanese or European. However, there are some decent American sedans out there that may be a tad undervalued.

4) Some of the smaller, car-platform sport-utes have gotten good marks- the RAV-4 and the CR-V spring to mind. The Subaru Forester also routinely shows up near the top of the quality lists.

4) After all of the above, buy a Dodge Viper with a roof-rack with some good tie-down straps. The dogs will love it.

 

[ssampier]

Edmunds is my friend.

I would really recommend the Pontiac Vibe. It seats 4 (5 including one small child) and has tons of space available. I have a 2009 and I love it. Used Vibes can be had for a song, since GM has crappy resale value (grumbles).

By the way, the Vibe is jointly made by Toyota (at a Toyota factory) so it should be reliable.

Volvo is made by Ford, Danny. It depends on how you feel about that.

Subaru and Honda are good choices, check Edmunds for the specific model year you are considering. Toyotas are reliable but I find them boring looking.

The most difficult thing about used cars is comparison shopping. XYZ car from Crazy Eddies is different than XYZ car from Fast Eddies.

 

[Pbartender]

I would really recommend the Pontiac Vibe. It seats 4 (5 including one small child) and has tons of space available. I have a 2009 and I love it. Used Vibes can be had for a song, since GM has crappy resale value (grumbles).

Unfortunately, even the least expensive used Vibe's are still in the $8,000 - $9,000 range. A bit out of our budget.

I'll have to check out Edmund's, though... For now, we've been poking around the automotive consumer guide at howstiffworks.com. There's some pretty good reveiws there.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Volvo is made by Ford, Danny. It depends on how you feel about that.

Ford owns Volvo, it is true, but how much of its QC has seeped over is not clear. Near as I can tell, Volvo remains a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford with a fair measure of autonomy.

Personally, our family has owned 4 Volvos since 1975. All gave us years of faithful and reliable performance. The first 2 (both DLs) we drove until dead. The third (S70) was middle car in a hit-and-run chain reaction accident at highway speeds. It was crushed front and back...and we walked away. The fourth (S60) replaced #3, but at the time, interest rates were astronomical- I eventually sold it to drop my monthly payment...and bought a Lexus.

I currently drive a 2008 Honda Civic that I got used. I love it, but had a Volvo of similar vintage been available, I'd have chosen it instead.

 

[ssampier]

Pbtender, that's too bad. Here's some Edmunds research

Sedans 2000
Used Sedan car pricing at Edmunds

Honda Civic and Mazda Protege look nice.

Mid-size SUV 1999
Used SUV car pricing at Edmunds

The RAV4 looks nice, but slightly more expensive than your $5k budget.

Danny, I shouldn't have mentioned it. But I remember all the recalls for some serious problems in their vehicles (many just recently). Ford owns 1/3 of Mazda and I really like their cars (I don't like their dealers though).

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

As I recall, the...recalls...were mainly in SUV/4x4 type vehicles. The SUVs at least were at least partially engineered by Ford.

And 4x4 type vehicles tend to be very complex, mechanically, which always leads to a higher chance of recalls.

As for Mazdas, I love those too, but I've known enough Mazda owners to give this warning: keep a close eye out on the paint job. Some years were notoriously bad, from what I understand, peeling and sloughing off if you looked at them funny.