High mpg is good, but not the end all be all.
Retaining value is bad because it means the used price is high and I drive'em to the bitter end.
Low cost is good, low maint is good, safty is good.
Probably at least two years old, I don't need to spend thousands for new car smell.
Your question has too many variables to provide a simple answer. Are you taking five people across town for dinner or across country? What's the weather and road conditions? Are they all six-foot adults or in kiddy seats? You mention cost, MPG, maintenance and safety -- these are also competing variables -- one goes up and another goes down.
I'd look at a Toyota Avalon and well as any recent Yank Tank.
its a family car so it goes every where town, work, across country. We live in OK so mixed weather but fairly mild winters usually. The suburu forester was a good mix of capacity, mpg, price and safety but we'd like to take the mpg up a notch.
On your way home tonight stop by the local bookstore and pick up a Consumer Reports Used Car Buyer's Guide. That'll give you tons more information than we can fit here.
Okay, my opinion is that you should stop by the local bookstore and pick up a Consumer Reports Used Car Buyer's Guide. That'll give you tons more information than we can fit here.
If cost effectiveness includes lifetime repair cost and value come trade in time combined with outstanding performance and reliability during ownership time; the car ownership world has spoken for years on the topic......used Camry/Accord. Your chances of a bitter end will be much sooner with anything else if trade in value is disregarded. That's why their used value is higher.
If you don't mind higher chance of breaking down as the car ages, anything else is a pretender....I still remember when the auto world said America had final made a car to compete and gave us the Tempo. The beat goes on and GM/Ford still lag behind as much as I'd like to say differently.
Even the new GM Obama won't compete.
A 2006 Accord LX will cost a bit more than $13,000 from a dealer. Repairs and maintenance are estimated at $7900 for the next 5 years. A 2006 Ford Fusion SE would cost a bit less than $11,700 from a dealer and repairs/maintenance are estimated at $8400 over the next 5 years. That's a $1300 difference in purchase price and only $500 in repairs and maintenance. I don't see why someone who likes the Fusion should take it off the list because it is less reliable than the Accord.
BTW, the 2006 Malibu LT is a screaming deal at $10,100 from a dealer and repairs/maintenance estimates are $7200. That's a whopping $3600 under the Accord. I think that you'll agree that the Malibu is an uninspired design. But this sounds like the kind of car that jjjhhh is looking for - something that has not retained it's value well and doesn't cost a lot to keep running.
Some one else mentioned the malibu, I'll definately check it out. With chevy struggling, might be able to find one dirt cheap and the rats start to jump ship.
Crown Vic or Grand Marquis. Four million taxi cabs can not be wrong. The cops like them too...When the automatic transmissions in the FWD cars crap out, they are DONE. The tranny in the Panthers is the same one that's used in the F-150 P/U. They hold up. If/when they do fail, $1800-$2000 gets you back on the road..
"Crown Vic or Grand Marquis. Four million taxi cabs can not be wrong. The cops like them too..."
As a retired cop, I can say that most liked them because the were large, good handling rwd cars with a better safety envelope and fwd stinks for our work. That's all there was to choose from. Reliability was not an issue. The towns, county and states payed with your tax dollars. We would have had Accords/Camrys if it were. Unlike cars for personal use, repair turn around time was more important than ultimate reliability....that meant plentiful parts and dependable multisource service and keep it simple with minimal yearly change. Similar for taxis. It's not practical to use a loaner Focus or rent-a-car while waiting for parts. the vehicles were too specialized with add on equipment. Private vehicles owned by the cops that I knew were in line with the general public and none I can recalled owned Crown Vics.
That was the issue with some institutions locally who tried Volvos etc. They were more reliable and functioned very well and many cops actually preferred them for town work, but repair time incl. parts and service was always an ongoing issue when it did occur. We didn't work in Sweden.
You make an interesting point. Is trading a better safety envelope, plentiful parts and quicker turn around repair time for better reliability worth it for the average driver?
I prefer the plentiful parts and quicker turn around repair time. The independent transmission shop that did some work for me some time back prefered the rear wheel drive cars. They could pull the transmission, roll the car out while rebuilding the transmission and not tie up the service bay. With front wheel drive, the car was immobilized after the transmission was removed and the service bay would be tied up. If the Crown Victoria/Grand Marquis translates into lower repair costs and faster repairs, this may be a good trade-off for better reliability.
Well since we are currently getting 24 mpg with our suburu forester, we want to get 30+ to keep gas costs in check. 35+ would be nice. Som where near the same space would be cool.
Also, I actually plan ahead so this purchase probably won't be for about 2 years, just getting my preliminary research started.
THe VW jetta wag"e"n tdi at 40+ mpg looks interesting, vw doesn't have a great rep for reliability, but that particular model seems to do ok. Any thoughts?
I could only be more specific for what is important to me. Each of us has their own personal feelings about things and they are just that our own feelings. My feeling on the subject would have no relationship to yours.
If you are buying a car strictly on cost effectiveness then you need to consider your use of the car, miles driven per time maintenance cost etc. But if you end up hating the car, the money you might save is not likely to be worth the feelings you have about this car you may hate or at least dislike the cheep car.
07/24/2009 10:40:28 AM
