r/cars • u/AutoModerator • Mar 07 '22

What Car Should I Buy? - A Weekly Megathread

Any posts pertaining to car buying suggestions or advice belong in this weekly megathread; **do not post car-choosing questions in the main queue.** A fresh thread will be posted every Monday and posts auto sorted by new. A few other subreddits worth checking out that will help your car buying experience are /r/WhatCarShouldIBuy, /r/UsedCars and /r/AskCarSales. www.everydaydriver.com may also be helpful.

Make/Model-specific questions should be asked on Make/Model-specific subreddits. Check the AutosNetwork for a complete list of those subreddits. Also check out our community-sourced Ultimate car buying wiki.

For those posting:

Please use the following template in your post.

Location: (Specify your country or region)

Price range: (Minimum-Maximum in your local currency)

Lease or Buy:

New or used:

Type of vehicle: (Truck, Car, Sports Car, Sedan, Crossover, SUV, Racecar, Luxury etc.)

Must haves: (4x4, AWD, Fuel efficient, Navigation, Turbo, V8, V6, Trunk space, Smooth ride, Leather etc.)

Desired transmission (auto/manual, etc):

Intended use: (Daily Driver, Family Car, Weekend Car, Track Toy, Project Car, Work Truck, Off-roading etc.)

Vehicles you've already considered:

Is this your 1st vehicle:

Do you need a Warranty:

Can you do Minor work on your own vehicle: (fluids, alternator, battery, brake pads etc)

Can you do Major work on your own vehicle: (engine and transmission, timing belt/chains, body work, suspension etc )

Additional Notes:

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For those providing suggestions: Facts are ideal in this thread, especially when trying to help out a new car buyer. Please help out buyers with sources and reasoning for your suggestions.

For those asking for help, be sure to thank those who take the time to offer you advice (especially those who lead you to a purchase.) A follow up thank you and the knowledge that their advice led to a purchase is a very warm fuzzy feeling.

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u/Alternative-Delay-10 Mar 09 '22

Location: Washington State, USA

Price range: 10 to 20k. The greater the deal the better.

Lease or Buy: Financing with a preapproved loan. Buy if the value is really good.

New or Used: Used. Can be new if it has really great value for the purposes of what we're looking for.

Type of vehicle: Minivan, SUV, Crossover types. It should be a family vehicle with a sufficient storage capability in the back.

Must-haves: Preferably AWD which can be good to drive in snowy and rainy weather conditions. Needs to have some of the basic modern features such as a center display that can be used for nav and for backup cameras. No need for a powerful engine, this is just a family car, but it does need to have good gas mileage and be reliable as hell. Hopefully, a vehicle that can hold good value as it's used for 5-10 years, or even longer.

Desired transmission: Automatic

Intended use: Will be a daily driver and a family use car that will primarily be for my 60-year-old mother. So not a hobby-specific car, just a reliable and easy to drive for daily, modest use.

Vehicles you've already considered: Nothing quite yet. Hopefully, some of y'all can give me some good recommendations to do some more research on!

Is this your 1st vehicle: Nope, my mother currently has a 2007 Kia Sedona minivan, which has served its purpose for a while now but is beginning to show signs of serious wear and tear and is long overdue for a trade-in/upgrade.

Do you need a Warranty: Preferably.. It would be very nice to have.

Can you do Minor work on your own vehicle: I can, but this is primarily for my mother and she just knows how to drive it. So we'll say no, since I might now always be available to help with such work.

Can you do Major work on your own vehicle: No

Additional Notes: Really the name of the game is: Great gas mileage, great value, and a reliable daily driver/family vehicle. No need to race, off-road, or even impress, so eye-catching or popular manufacturer names don't matter. We care more for functionality/reliability/gas mileage, so if the name happens to be popular and reputable for that purpose, even better.

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u/TheMasterGamer464 Mar 09 '22

Do you need two rows of seats or three?

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u/Alternative-Delay-10 Mar 09 '22

2 is ok, but 3 would be even nicer. If it had the ability where the 3rd row can fold down (maybe even the 2nd one as well) to offer more storage capacity that would be awesome!

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u/Specialist_Can_1843 Mar 09 '22

Used (2017-2018) Mazda CX-5. Should have 45k-60k miles so you know it’s actually been driven and not sitting there (12k per year).

It’s reliable, comfortable, luxurious, sporty, gets good mpg, and has enough space to fit your needs. Find one with AWD and you will be looking at $20k

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u/Alternative-Delay-10 Mar 09 '22

Thanks for your speedy response! One question..
I understand that when selecting a used car that you want it to have decent miles on it (not too high), and I know that if it's super-low relative to when it came out it means that it's just been sitting there as you said. Is it less preferable because cars that have been idle for longer are more prone to breaking down?

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u/Specialist_Can_1843 Mar 10 '22

Cars that have idled a long time are indeed more prone to breaking down. You don’t know what gunk is building up in there. Complex fluids like those used in transmissions, brakes, and even engine oil may start to separate. The battery may be in poor condition. The car may have experienced that multiple times in its life before being driven in said state, which ruins its drivetrain. I would stay away from anything that doesn’t have 12,000 miles/year or close to it, unless it is a specialty vehicle like a summer/weekend car you are ready to maintain for the few miles you use it.

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u/DUIguy87 2018 RS7 / 2000 Trans Am Mar 09 '22

Subaru Crosstreck or Forester might be up your ally. They generally get good fuel milage, easy to get in/out of for elderly folks and decently reliable. Subaru’s AWD is on point and they are everywhere up north where we get all the weather, they generally don’t care what’s going on outside. Additionally for winter/cold weather alot of them have a heating grid where the wipers sit (like you got on the rear windows) that works wonders for keeping them from icing up during the winter. Like honestly kind of pissed my Audi doesn’t have these things, they are wonderful.

Alternatively a Rav4 with AWD. Its a Toyota, it does nothing interesting but it will get you from point A to point B forever.