Retired the tank - looking for replacement

[mrblotto]

Good day all,
A couple weeks ago the wife and I donated my 97 Celica to our 'adopted daughter'. No, we didn't adopt her, but we treat her like she is our daughter lol. Anyhow, her car (94 Camry) got hit, and the mechanic (the guy I go to for everything) said it's not worth it to fix (head gasket, radiator, tranny, prolly more)

Anyhow,
Since then I've been driving our 08 Rav 4 to and from work (30'ish miles round trip). The wife is not too happy about being housebound all this time lol. We've been looking, bu I can't quite make up my mind. I would like
-Automatic
-under 100K miles
-2010 or newer
-no wrecks
-1 owner
-10-12K pricerange
-hatchback
-something a little 'higher'. It was getting harder and harder to get into / out of my Celica lol 'cause it's so low. Guess maybe age is catching up with me

It's proving hard to find such a car. I REALLY like the Toyotas, more specifically the RAV4's. Ours has been pretty rock solid so far. We bought it in '12 with 75K on it for 10K.

So, I went out on a limb and started looking at other brands. A Kia Soul caught my eye in the grocery store parking lot (of all places lol), so I started looking at them. The 2 or 3 yr old ones are right up my price range, they have a hatchback, lots of newer tech (compared to my 20yr old tank), decent reliability as far as I could research, and sit up a bit higher than my old car.

I went out to Greensboro a couple days ago and could get a '16 for 12K out the door. But I was still on the fence. Plus, there's no spare tire. Since when was this a thing? So then I went looking at Nissan Versas. Not bad, but cramped seating Also, no spare tire.....wtf?.

The RAV4's I see are mostly more than 1 owner, 150K+ miles, and are around 11-12K for a 2009, with prices rising from there.

What should I be looking for? The recent thread here mentioned the Prius, so that may be an option. I just dont know about the Kia's reliability. Does the Prius have a spare? I know, I could just google that

TL;DR
-Need car - daily driver - hatchback,auto,higher up than my celica
-Looked at Kia Soul - undecided
-Looked at Nissan Versa - nope, too cramped
-RAV4's are either big miles and/or 1+ owner and are still a considerable amount (b/c of reliability?)
-wtf no spare tire?

Thank you in advance
Blah-Toe

 

[herm0016]

german panzer. style and german engineering.

volt? cheap to own and operate. fills all the rest of the requirements. still quite low though.

otherwise whatever lower mile well kept up car you find that fits your criteria.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

What about a Pontiac Vibe / Toyota Matrix? (Same car.)

 

[lakedude]

My wife's Elantra lacked a spare. Fixed with spare kit for about $200. Her car had a spot, some don't...

 

[lxskllr]

I don't know nothin' bout nothin', but I like what I've seen from Kia, particularly the Soul. Korean makers impress me in general. Close to Japanese quality at a discount. I don't have any particular recommendations though :shrugs:

 

[lakedude]

 

[lakedude]

The Elantra came with a pump and fix a flat. It lacked a spare, a jack and a wrench.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

A bit above your budget - but brand new. Might be worth your pocketbook to head north to the larger dealerships near DC.

https://www.koonsjeep.com/new/Jeep/...irfax-VA-cbefb2040a0e0ae737519f11ce3caded.htm

http://www.sheehyspringfieldvw.com/...field-va-9d3332200a0e0ae7560328f250804ad7.htm


Full service history - https://www.koons.com/bargain/Kia/2...ngton-dc-bc034f0d0a0e0ae93a11a705fdf01177.htm

 

[desy]

http://www.dashboard-light.com/vehicles/Kia_Soul.html

looks like the 2012 is the Soul to avoid other than that industry standard or better reliability

 

[mrblotto]

Thanx for the info all

I guess I'm just on the fence still.......after looking at the link provided by desy, I'm pretty convinced I wanna stay Toyota, maybe Rav4 or even a Prius (dont know how low they sit)

Thanx again

 

[desy]

So your old 08 Rav has a 10% defect rate which you are happy with but wouldn't be happy with a 5% defect rate on a 2013+ Soul ?
I guess my point would be all modern cars are pretty well screwed together these days

 

[mrblotto]

No I'm not saying that. I was referring to the 'overall quality' from the website.

And yeah, most cars nowadays are not horrible.

 

[mrblotto]

update: after him-hawing (sp) around, just got a 2011 Prius of all things lol. I guess it can't hurt with the 40mi roundtrip I make every day for work. I mashed the 'power mode' button on it, floored it and was like 'wtf?' The thing just took off lol!

 

[SearchMaster]

update: after him-hawing (sp) around, just got a 2011 Prius of all things lol. I guess it can't hurt with the 40mi roundtrip I make every day for work. I mashed the 'power mode' button on it, floored it and was like 'wtf?' The thing just took off lol!

From a stop? Prii feel quick off the line (all torque available at 0mph) but it's not going to provide a lot of passing power. But it should be fine really, it's still as quick/fast as a lot of cars on the road were 30 years ago.

 

[Fenixgoon]

update: after him-hawing (sp) around, just got a 2011 Prius of all things lol. I guess it can't hurt with the 40mi roundtrip I make every day for work. I mashed the 'power mode' button on it, floored it and was like 'wtf?' The thing just took off lol!

battery power OP. honestly for a commuter car, you can't do much better. when most people ask me what kind of car they should get, more often than not i recommend a prius. it may not be pretty, but it's basically bulletproof, has good fuel economy, and can get pretty roomy as a people/thing mover.

 

[Ns1]

update: after him-hawing (sp) around, just got a 2011 Prius of all things lol. I guess it can't hurt with the 40mi roundtrip I make every day for work. I mashed the 'power mode' button on it, floored it and was like 'wtf?' The thing just took off lol!

yup, power mode Prius is surprisingly quick off the line. You'll definitely know you're in a Prius on any sort of grade though.