Good used car for under 15k?

[cheezy321]

Hey all,
I have been having a hard time figuring out what new car to get. my VW golf hasnt been that reliable, and always breaks down. I need to get rid of it and get a car that I dont have to dump a TON of money into.

So heres my list so far...
Honda Accord
Honda Civic
Pontiac G6
Nissan Frontier
Chevy Trailblazer
Possibly a Volvo..


Any suggestions?

 

[JDrake]

"Chevy Trailblazer "

I wouldn't...

 

[imported_Trippin315]

Turn japanese.
/thread

 

[MasterAndCommander]

Camry

 

[buck]

Reliability:

Honda Accord
Honda Civic

 

[GoingUp]

Get a Dodge Caliber

 

[xrax]

Nissan Frontier, if I were to get a new vehicle I would get a pickup truck. They come in handy and hold their value.

 

[marmasatt]

This question is not as subjective as you think. I would say IMO, but it's just not mine.
If you are just talking about standard sedan, it's a no brainer:

Honda, Toyota, Nissan - in that order. Accord/Civic , Camry/Corrola, Altima/Maxima

Not talking luxury cars, just simply bang for your buck and reliability for standard sedans. Just bought a Camry 2 weeks ago after a solid week of research and looking every day. Join Consumer reports for a month and check out all their reports. You won't be dissappointed.

 

[drpootums]

I guess i'm more of an American car guy, but here it goes....

Pontiac Grand Prix
Ford Taurus
Jeep Cherokee
Buick LeSabre/Park Avenue

and i suppose the Accord/Camry would be good too

I've driven all (except for the buick's), and they are all nice rides. My parents actually bought a 2004 Grand Prix last year for about $13,000 with only 44,000 miles on it. It's a nice car, with plenty of power for passing, but still gets about 28-29 MPG, and the 3.8 liter V6 is one of the best engines ever made, and with good maintainance it should go over 250,000 miles without a rebuilt or anything.

 

[wasssup]

Go for a camry. I've seen new 5-speed 07 camry ce's go for $15,888.

 

[vi edit]

That's a really wide range of vehicle choices

What do you *want* from a car?

For about $16,000 you can get a *brand new* XE Frontier (w/ the 4 cylinder). The "new" Frontiers are so much better than the old ones it's not even funny.

 

[suicidalpigeon]

240sx's can go a long way.

 

[Fenixgoon]

used 2000-2002 maxima?

 

[LordMorpheus]

Originally posted by: drpootums
I guess i'm more of an American car guy, but here it goes....

Pontiac Grand Prix
Ford Taurus
Jeep Cherokee
Buick LeSabre/Park Avenue

and i suppose the Accord/Camry would be good too

I've driven all (except for the buick's), and they are all nice rides. My parents actually bought a 2004 Grand Prix last year for about $13,000 with only 44,000 miles on it. It's a nice car, with plenty of power for passing, but still gets about 28-29 MPG, and the 3.8 liter V6 is one of the best engines ever made, and with good maintainance it should go over 250,000 miles without a rebuilt or anything.

No taurus - I've had a 2001 and it was terrible (though you could probably get an '04 or '05 for 15 grand).

Look at crown vics, grand marquis, or town cars. The 4.6 is pretty solid, and with 15 grand you'll find one new enough to have the part aluminum intake manifold so you won't have worries there. You won't find a car as luxurious as a town car for the money. The ones built after 1997 lost alot of their character, though.

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
used 2003 maxima?

fixed.

that year's maxima was the cream of the crop... 3.5L pulling 255bhp, available 6-speed on SE, and without the ugly looks of the current generation of maxima.

if i do have $15k, i would seriously look for a 03 maxima or a mazda6i.

 

[PowerEngineer]

Coincidentally I am in the same market...

In addition to the Accord and Camry, I'm thinking about small SUV's like the Forester, RAV4, and CRV. The Forester gets good gas mileage (low 20's), is AWD, and has great crash test results. I'm also looking at the Toyota Avalon, as these seem to command only a very small premium over Camry V6 models of the same year.

The problem I see with all of these Hondas, Toyotas, and Subarus is that their resale values are too high to make used models a good deal. I'm really not prepared to pay 2/3 of the original price (~$15k) for a three year old car with 45,000 miles on it (at least not yet!). I'm also not sure I want to invest the $22-24k for a new one either.

My "wild and crazy" option is a 1998 or later BMW 528i. I know it'd be costly to maintain, but their mileage numbers are reasonable, their standard safety features include side air bags, and it'd be much more fum to drive. It looks like examples can be found for under $15k.

Good luck to both of us! :thumbsup:

 

[MusickMaker]

Ok, here's my honest advice :

First, i'd wipe taurus off the list. Yeah, i have a taurus too, but it costed my 1500 and works fine (and not very fine sometimes).

The FIRST car you should look at is the LEXUS LS400. Oh boy, dont even get me started. What a fine car! Its so smooth, you wont even notice you're traveling. Its a very cool car, dude. Get a 1992 or 1994 Lexus LS400 - well maintained, and fully loaded with air suspension option. fantastic car.

 

[BlancoNino]

Originally posted by: marmasatt

This question is not as subjective as you think. I would say IMO, but it's just not mine.
If you are just talking about standard sedan, it's a no brainer:

Honda, Toyota, Nissan - in that order. Accord/Civic , Camry/Corrola, Altima/Maxima

Not talking luxury cars, just simply bang for your buck and reliability for standard sedans. Just bought a Camry 2 weeks ago after a solid week of research and looking every day. Join Consumer reports for a month and check out all their reports. You won't be dissappointed.

Consumer reports hates American companies so they are biased (though they claim not to be).

Don't rule out anything GM makes because their reliability is top-notch.

I used to drive an old Malibu that consumer reports claimed would fall apart and would be the most unreliable pile of crap on the face of the planet (they literally just tore the car apart). The thing ran incredibly smooth with only expected wear and tear (starters, batteries, etc) for hundreds of thousands of miles for over 20 years.

 

[imported_Scourge]

If you don't mid the old-person-car image, then take a serious look at the Buick LeSabre. That 3.8 is amazing, and those buicks are very well made cars. Better than most of the stuff GM turns out. The one my parents got rid of last year had 230,000 on the clock, and is still running strong when I see it around town.

The Accord/Camry are good cars, but their huge relsae makes them worse deals than a comparable American made car.

As for reliability... Crystler turns out some really cool cars, but they are not the most reliable things out there.

 

[preslove]

Get a new civic.