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Vehicle choice...for Los Angeles, CA


Miss Marple
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It looks like DS2 will be doing an engineering co-op in LA for the fall.  The little car that has been the kids' college car is not considered road-worthy enough for the trip there and we want him to have something safe, known to be relatively maintenance free, and easily repaired if needed.  I doubt we will buy brand new, but would like something from about 2007 or newer.  We are from farm country - lots of trucks and SUVs...my imagination is that he needs something smaller with lots of power to enter onto the freeways and get out of the way quickly.  What are some of your favorites?  What have you had good experience with? 

 

He won't be driving every day because the corporation offers a bus service...but he may take weekend trips if he gets time.

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Pick a sedan. Easier to park in compact lots, cheaper to refuel on gasoline and generally higher miles per gallon.  We have drove our Corolla from San Jose to San Diego many times with no issues.  We drove a rented Sienna from San Jose to Las Vegas and the only issue was parking and a larger blind spot area.

 

Honda Civics, Toyota Corollas, Ford Focus are all great commuter cars.  If he likes surfing, maybe a Toyota Matrix or a Honda Fit might be better.  There are many Honda and Toyota dealers around so availability of repairs are not a problem. I am quite sure there are many Ford dealers around too. 

 

There is a massive Takata  Air Bags recall going on though. 32 million cars are affected so far.  List in link

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/22/business/international/takata-airbag-recall-list.html?_r=0

 

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Our daughter in SoCal has an older Subaru Legacy wagon. It's small enough to maneuver into parking spots, but big enough to haul home her finds at Ikea, LOL.

 

She commutes to work on the San Diego freeways, & it's zippy enough that she feels safe. She does have a manual transmission which helps. Last weekend she drove up to Palo Alto & also all around the LA area visiting friends, and she had no problems at all. Before she left, she'd taken it in for an oil change. She asked one of the mechanics to look it over, and "he seemed disappointed that he couldn't find anything wrong to repair."   She'd actually wanted a pickup truck last year & had to settle on the Legacy because that's what she could afford at the time, but she's been super pleased since.

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We have a (manual!) Subaru Outback and LOVE it. It's getting old (2001), but still very reliable. It's a good tradeoff between being small (parkable and maneuverable), but also able to haul stuff. Plus it's great in the snow/ice in the mountains during the winter. (Just a few weeks ago, one of the passes near Yosemite was "chains only," but they wave Subarus through. :) ) The mountains near LA do get snow in the winter, and of course there are the Sierra Nevada mountains pretty close by.

 

We also have a pickup truck and a small Hyundai. The pickup is great for moving stuff, but terrible in cities. Just last weekend my son cracked the driver's-side mirror in the IKEA parking lot. :glare: And he had a hard time parking it in Berkeley! My brother in LA has an electric car that he loves, but I'm guessing that's not in a student's price range.  (A huge perk of having an electric/hybrid car is getting to drive in the carpool lanes, but since those cars are so popular, it's possible the HOV-access stickers have run out or the laws have changed. People in LA would know the latest.)

 

 

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My daughter loves her new (used) Prius which she drives all over the Bay area, and I know she did a lot of research ahead of time.  But, I know very little about them personally.  Apparently they are great for freeway driving and very economical.   I don't know about maintenance issues.

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If you already have a mechanically reliable truck/SUV he can drive, or if a new truck/SUV will better suit his/your life when (if?) he returns to farm country, then I wouldn't buy another type of car JUST for L.A. There are plenty of trucks and SUVs  around here. Yes, gas is more expensive here, but with mostly weekend driving the savings will be minimal.

 

As for power, you don't need much when you are creeping along on freeway traffic at 5 mph or waiting for the signal at the freeway on ramp to turn green. :driving:

 

Truthfully, there are times you need power on the freeways, but trucks and SUVs often have more power than smaller cars do. Also, trucks and SUVs are often more crash worthy than small commuter cars.

 

Just a few thoughts which I hope help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Horsepower is not an issue unless he plans to tow things around. Other drivers will cut around as needed. Not sure where you live but CA doesn't have a Pass on the left only rule.

Traffic wise a motorcycle is fastest (lane splitting is legal and can use carpool lanes). Otherwise any later model 4 cylinder car should be fine since the freeways are mostly a parking lot most of the time anyway, especially around the West side (UCLA).

 

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