My poor little Kia has been in 3 accidents. The most recent was last week. It’s currently in a body shop getting fixed but it’s made me realize that it’s time to get Mr R something a little more reliable. His car is still running well most of the time but as soon as something goes wrong, it’s not going to be worth sinking money into.
So with that said, here’s what we’re looking for:
-Used
-Preferably < $15k but we can budge a bit.
-I think we’re looking at a small SUV. The car needs to be backseat friendly for future Romani Jr(s)
-Good in snow.
I love my Kia Rio and it’s still running exceptionally well after nearly 10 years and 150k miles. I wouldn’t mind getting a Kia again. My biggest criteria is I want something that’s low maintenance and long-lasting. We keep cars until they die but I want, for once, us to have a back-up plan instead of being surprised with a car death and no back-up plan.
If you have or can borrow an infant seat, bring it when checking out cars to see if it fits in the back seat while allowing you or Mr. R to sit in front of it.
If you do not need this car to drive far during the day or go in road trips, used electric vehicles can be very inexpensive.
My thirty year old D just got a Subaru Forester which seems like a great SUV. They’re not expensive and are known for their reliability. I love my Honda CR-V.
I love my Honda CR-V too. Had it since 2008 and had zero problems. But to be good in snow it needed better tires, the ones it came with weren’t so great.
We gave our son our Toyota RAV4 a few years ago and it now has about 225k miles on it. I have been talking to him about replacing it when he graduates this spring but he recently told us that his mechanic thinks that is crazy as in her opinion it is still in good shape and she predicts it could still go for another 100k + miles. If you could get a used one with low miles it would probably last a good long time.
In another thread on cars a poster talked about the Honda HRV which is an SUV that is smaller than the current CRVs and RAV4s. I’m going to suggest that to my S when he starts looking to replace his car. Starting price on a new one is 19K and you might be able to get a used one that is still in good shape for 15K or less.
We had a Subaru Forrester which we absolutely loved- no problems at all (as opposed to the new Volvo we replaced it with). Our next car will be a Subaru.
For safety and reliability, I’d look for a good used Volvo. Very safe for little future Romanis. A well cared for Volvo should have no problem reaching 200K+ miles (we’ve owned many and have had good reliability), and many models are great in MI snow.
Meaning that short range electric vehicles (that are cheap used) are probably not suitable, but good fuel economy is important since you do not want to put all of your money into the fuel tank?
Maybe a 2010-2015 Toyota Prius would fit your needs and price range?
Here getting a used subaru forester/xtrek/etc (not impreza) worth buying at <15K is impossible (you live in a snow belt, it is going to be the same issue). If you look at volvo etc cars check out the cost of maintenance. Can you wait out and have a bit more budget? Winter is nearly over. Lots of car places offer 0 down 0% financing in this market.
Yes yes we are definitely waiting it out a bit longer. I’m shooting to get one around April or May. I’d like one before the summer so I can travel without worrying about whether or not Mr’s car is going to crap out.
I love my Forester as does everyone here who has one.
But, I realize the price point can be a sticking point. Both my girls have a Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. Four wheel drive. Smaller SUV - not too low or too high. Excellent warranty 10 yrs/100,000 mile limited powertrain warranty. And you can easily find one for $15K with 20K-ish miles. D1 has had hers 6 years with no (knock on wood) issues - nothing. D2 got hers last summer.
Autocheck is a competing title/registration history check service to Carfax.
Note that these services may not necessarily find everything (e.g. crash damage incidents that were repaired without insurance involvement). Some types of records (e.g. emissions or safety checks, visits to maintenance and repair shops) may exist or be available only in some states. Also, how gentle or abusive previous owners’ driving habits were is not recorded. This does not mean that they are useless, since a finding of a severe defect (like salvage title, odometer fraud, etc.) means that you can reject the vehicle immediately without wasting any more time on it, but a “clean” record from Carfax or Autocheck does not necessarily mean nothing bad happened.
Right…we bought a car with a clean Carfax record…BUT when the insurance agent ran the VIN, he came up with claims against the vehicle…for something…and they tried to increase our insurance because if it. We objected…and it didn’t happen…oh and the car is terrific…but a clean Carfax doesn’t mean nothing has been claimed against the car…or that some damage hasn’t happened.
Our 2000 Toyota van is still running great and has 115k miles on it. H has a 1998 Volvo that is likewise reliable though admittedly much more costly to maintain. Nearly all mechanics around here can work on Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans (& get parts) but only a few can do good work in Volvos. We have paid a lot to our mechanic over the years to keep the Volvo in great mechanical shape—many times what it cost to maintain the Toyota.
