Ummto4 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 what would you buy ? We want a sedan which is low maintenance and reliable. It's going to be for my dh going to work and for me running errand on the w/end. We've been a one-car family for a few years, so this purchase excites me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 We bought a two year old Hyundai Sonata in 2006 for around 11,000. It had only 8000 miles on it. I have been extremely happy with my SOnata. It hasn't needed any repairs except a change of tires and battery. It fits my family of five and has a very large trunk which is great. I think you could find an older Sonata with more miles for the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 toyota carrolla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfhsmom Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 HYUNDAI SONATA! We have loved our used one as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Either a Toyota or a Honda. Nothing else is as reliable. Ria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asta Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Either a Toyota or a Honda. Nothing else is as reliable. Ria I'll second that. asta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacey in MA Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 It would be nice for him to have a new car, but his 12 year old one keeps hanging on! (We are a drive-the-car-into-the-ground kind of family. No new vehicles unless we NEED them). I think I'll always buy Toyota with the great luck we've had with them. (We also have an '01 Sienna which has had virtually no problems as well). Good luck and congrats on vehicle shopping! - Stacey in MA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ailaena Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I have a subaru with 300,000 miles on it (1993). It has had virtually nothing wrong with it in 15 years (my parents bought it new). I have also had two Jettas, the '88 ended up with @250K, and died due to an error of judgement on my part, and I now drive a '98 that I bought used with 95K for $2800 15 months ago. It now has 130K and it still running fine (wood!! I need wood to knock on!!) I have put fast and hard city miles on these vehicles, and they have done me well. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawn of ns Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 (edited) Hyundai and for this reason - Their quality is on par with a Toyota or Honda but they don't hold their value quite as well (I suspect people still remember the days of the Pony) so $5000 will go farther with a used Hyundai then the other two in terms of a newer model year and less mileage. More bang for your buck. I have an Elantra that we bought two years ago. It's now ten years old and not costing us anything beyond routine maintenance. It's also neat to own a model that's completely recall free. Something that never happened when I bought domestics. I'd definitely go with a Sonata. They're beautiful cars with a great reputation. Edited February 18, 2009 by dawn of ns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret in GA Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 My dh owns a used car dealership with a shop in the back-- so you know he knows what breaks down and what doesn't. He says buy an American sedan. They last just as long and are a real bargain used because their resale value isn't as high as a Toyota or Honda. If you only have $5K there is no way you'll get a decent Japanese Import. Also, stay away from VWs. Margaret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in OH Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 An older Honda Civic--even with high mileage. We own two of them. Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 My dh drives a '89 Accord w/ over 200K miles on it. I drive a '92 Civic with 130K miles on it. I think his Accord has a better ride, even with the extra miles, so I'd pick an Accord over a Civic - even if it's older. hth K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I have a question for all you foreign car owners. Do you find the cost of maintenance to be very expensive? We owned a Volvo way back. Dh thought they were the best things out there! That darned thing cost us SOOOO much in labor and parts, it was not worth it. This was just for things like repairing a headlight or simple things in the engine that normally would've worn down. Now, we did live in PA at the time and part of the cost was the yearly inspections. But, I still think it would've cost us less to buy an American made car. To the OP - Sorry! We drive minivans now. Hopefully our 10 year old American made minivan will last a couple more years. Wish I could help more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 (edited) We have had our VW Passat for 11 years with nothing major going wrong with it. Now that it is past 100,000 miles, the CV joints and brakes are starting to go bad, all normal things for that kind of milage. They are a very reliable car, they were giving a 10 year 100,000 milage warranty on it when we bought it for a reason. We're thinking about getting another car, and looked up the blue book for ours--you should be able to get one with less than 100K for your price range easily. It's also a nice sized car--big trunk, lots of leg room in the back. The Passat and the Volvo are two cars I know of for sure that can fit 3 child seats across the back, most cars don't. We have friends who had a Volvo when they had 3 kids, they had good luck with their first Volvo, but bad luck with their second. Edited February 18, 2009 by ElizabethB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 We have a 97 Accord with over 200,000 miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I have a question for all you foreign car owners. Do you find the cost of maintenance to be very expensive? We owned a Volvo way back. Dh thought they were the best things out there! That darned thing cost us SOOOO much in labor and parts, it was not worth it. This was just for things like repairing a headlight or simple things in the engine that normally would've worn down. Now, we did live in PA at the time and part of the cost was the yearly inspections. But, I still think it would've cost us less to buy an American made car. To the OP - Sorry! We drive minivans now. Hopefully our 10 year old American made minivan will last a couple more years. Wish I could help more! We drive Saabs (purchased used) because they go forever and are very safe. I have not found the service to be any more than what it cost to service my Honda 20 years ago (60k service in the Honda in 1990 was $600 with nothing major/60k service on my Saab in 2009 was $600, but included repair of two "minor" problems). My only US made car (Mercury Villager) did not cost much in service over the 5 years I owned it, but it was completely finished at 80,000 miles. The transmission was shot, the wiring harness needed to be replaced, etc. I also had to put new brake pads on that car about every 10k miles or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Either a Toyota or a Honda. Nothing else is as reliable. Ria :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Click and Clack from Car Talk recommend the Hyundai Sonata. They believe that the quality is right up there with Honda and Toyota, but the price tag is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SapphireStitch Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I'll be the odd one out here ;) and say we've had just as good experience with our 1999 Ford Taurus as we did with the two Toyotas we had before it. We had a 1985 Toyota Corolla and a 1978 Toyota Corona. The Taurus has right around 150K miles on it now, and in the first few years we rarely had anything wrong with it. More recently we have probably spent about $500/year in repairs...very comparable to the repair bills we had with the Toyotas. The big difference we notice, though, is that the Taurus is BIG and COMFY compared to the Toyota sedans. We thought we were completely brand-loyal to Toyota until we found out we would have to get an Avalon to have the size car we need. Some caveats: DH is a stickler for maintenance and oil changes. He believes in getting mucho mileage out of a car, but he takes really good care of it. We also have a trustworthy reliable reasonable mechanic...that can make a big difference when you drive an older car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in PA Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 My dh bought a used Saturn sedan last year for under a thousand dollars (it's a stick shift and has no A/C). I knew he had done some research, but didn't know what the appeal was. Can I tell you how nice 38 mpg felt last summer when gas was over $4 a gallon? It's smaller than I prefer, and it lacks some amenities, but we have been loving the savings on gas, and it has been reliable for almost a year, despite the fact that it is 12 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawn of ns Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I have a question for all you foreign car owners. Do you find the cost of maintenance to be very expensive? We owned a Volvo way back. Dh thought they were the best things out there! That darned thing cost us SOOOO much in labor and parts, it was not worth it. This was just for things like repairing a headlight or simple things in the engine that normally would've worn down. Now, we did live in PA at the time and part of the cost was the yearly inspections. But, I still think it would've cost us less to buy an American made car. To the OP - Sorry! We drive minivans now. Hopefully our 10 year old American made minivan will last a couple more years. Wish I could help more! I haven't found the Hyundai any more expensive in terms of maintenance then the domestics I owned. Even if there was a difference the sheer volume of stuff we had to repair on the domestics outweighed any concern about maintenance cost. It's been nice to own a car where things don't fall off on a regular basis. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reya Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 what would you buy ? We want a sedan which is low maintenance and reliable. It's going to be for my dh going to work and for me running errand on the w/end. We've been a one-car family for a few years, so this purchase excites me. Our 95 Mazda Protege is still going strong... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 2 words...Honda Civic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jzsnow Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Last year we bought a 2003 Hyundai Sonata. EXCELLENT CAR!! We paid $5k. Jessica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 I have a question for all you foreign car owners. Do you find the cost of maintenance to be very expensive? We owned a Volvo way back. Dh thought they were the best things out there! That darned thing cost us SOOOO much in labor and parts, it was not worth it. This was just for things like repairing a headlight or simple things in the engine that normally would've worn down. Now, we did live in PA at the time and part of the cost was the yearly inspections. But, I still think it would've cost us less to buy an American made car. To the OP - Sorry! We drive minivans now. Hopefully our 10 year old American made minivan will last a couple more years. Wish I could help more! I don't know. We have had our Honda van for 6 years, and so far we have not had any work done that was not covered under warranty. My Mom's American van has been the one with all of the trouble that is really expensive to fix, so my guess is it has to do with each individual vehicle. To the OP: I second the Honda. They last a long long time. If DH does not spend much time driving it, then perhaps an American car (they are generally cheaper as used) might work out for him as well. Check out the Kelly Blue book values of a few cars that you are considering and pick the best deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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