- Nov 29, 1999
- 16,408
- 57
- 91
I asked for advice for choosing a new car a few years back, and since I've been pretty satisfied with that purchase, I'm asking The Garage again for this go-round.
Current Vehicles:
2008 Mazda 3
The Dodge keeps requiring more and more work. It's obviously less than a new car payment, but the hassle of having it in the shop a couple of times per year, plus the unreliability and concern of making out-of-state trips with it is prompting us to replace it in a few weeks/months. I've also been promising my wife she gets the next vehicle and that time is coming up, probably by this summer.
We need something big enough or the 4 of us, and the occasion trips/vacations, and the Mazda 3 is a bit cramped, but a full-blown minivan is probably overkill. We bought the Dodge because we got it for $2k from a friend and have had it for 3-4 years now. I love the dual sliding doors, but not enough to sink $20K into another one.
I initially liked the Mazda 5, on the basis that it was a "smaller" minivan, but over time, I realized it didn't really get much better gas mileage or come much cheaper than a real minivan, so I've abandoned that idea. We're now thinking small SUV/Crossover.
My wife (out of the blue) says she likes the Kia Sorento. I've been shy of Kia, but would consider a Hyundai. I always liked the Sante Fe and Tuscon, but don't know much about them. The Ford Edge is pretty hot, IMO, but pricing seems kind of high, as well.
A caveat that has come up is the fact that we could really use a truck. We live in a rural area and have been doing lawn and house renovations, and it's a bear to borrow vehicles or pay for delivery. So many times a truck would come in handy. But since we need a family vehicle, that would push us toward a full-size, crew-cab pickup, and those don't come cheap or get very good mileage. I'd like to avoid a $35K truck that gets 16mpg if at all possible, even though we both like the looks and utility of some of them.
I can "technically" afford up to ~$33K, but I'd obviously like to spend much less. I think $22-25K would be ideal.
So, Small SUVs? Crossovers? Slightly-used Crew-cab trucks? Anyone have some specifics they'd like to suggest, or something that I've overlooked?
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edit 1: Looked at the Chevy Equinox with the LTZ package - very nice vehicle, but the sticker was $32k! Dropping down to the LT2 package and adding some options make is a bit more reasonable, but not ideal. Gonna look at the Kia Sorento and Nissan Rogue next. That should drop the price (and possible the quality/options.)
--------
edit 2: OK - getting closer to purchase time and now I'm getting skiddish of dropping $25K+ on a new vehicle. I'm now looking at slightly used (2009-2011) models that are coming in at or under $20K.
Examples:
--------
Update: Purchased a Kia Sorento EX
My well-networked wife ended up complaining about the salesman at the Kia dealership to enough people, that the GM of the dealership got back to us and promised to get us in the vehicle we wanted for the price we wanted. I was still hesitant and my wife and I ended up arguing about vehicles for days.
Then yesterday Kia called and asked us to come in, so we finally did. We looked at a few models, but the ones they wanted to sell us were very basic (but with V6) and ~$26K. I finally saw a 4-cylinder EX model with leather, backup camera, push-button start, ex. All the features my wife was looking for, but in a car that was Pearl White (not in out list of colors.) Long story short, MSRP was $28K, but we ended up paying $24.3K +TTL. Not too bad, IMO - and my wife loves it.
Stock Photo:
Actual pics to come later..
Current Vehicles:
2008 Mazda 3
- 70K miles
- Paid off
- My commute car (350 miles/wk)
- ~33mpg
- 180K miles
- Paid off
- Shopping, dropping kids off at school, trips home (~600 miles)
- ~24mpg
The Dodge keeps requiring more and more work. It's obviously less than a new car payment, but the hassle of having it in the shop a couple of times per year, plus the unreliability and concern of making out-of-state trips with it is prompting us to replace it in a few weeks/months. I've also been promising my wife she gets the next vehicle and that time is coming up, probably by this summer.
We need something big enough or the 4 of us, and the occasion trips/vacations, and the Mazda 3 is a bit cramped, but a full-blown minivan is probably overkill. We bought the Dodge because we got it for $2k from a friend and have had it for 3-4 years now. I love the dual sliding doors, but not enough to sink $20K into another one.
I initially liked the Mazda 5, on the basis that it was a "smaller" minivan, but over time, I realized it didn't really get much better gas mileage or come much cheaper than a real minivan, so I've abandoned that idea. We're now thinking small SUV/Crossover.
My wife (out of the blue) says she likes the Kia Sorento. I've been shy of Kia, but would consider a Hyundai. I always liked the Sante Fe and Tuscon, but don't know much about them. The Ford Edge is pretty hot, IMO, but pricing seems kind of high, as well.
A caveat that has come up is the fact that we could really use a truck. We live in a rural area and have been doing lawn and house renovations, and it's a bear to borrow vehicles or pay for delivery. So many times a truck would come in handy. But since we need a family vehicle, that would push us toward a full-size, crew-cab pickup, and those don't come cheap or get very good mileage. I'd like to avoid a $35K truck that gets 16mpg if at all possible, even though we both like the looks and utility of some of them.
I can "technically" afford up to ~$33K, but I'd obviously like to spend much less. I think $22-25K would be ideal.
So, Small SUVs? Crossovers? Slightly-used Crew-cab trucks? Anyone have some specifics they'd like to suggest, or something that I've overlooked?
--------
edit 1: Looked at the Chevy Equinox with the LTZ package - very nice vehicle, but the sticker was $32k! Dropping down to the LT2 package and adding some options make is a bit more reasonable, but not ideal. Gonna look at the Kia Sorento and Nissan Rogue next. That should drop the price (and possible the quality/options.)
--------
edit 2: OK - getting closer to purchase time and now I'm getting skiddish of dropping $25K+ on a new vehicle. I'm now looking at slightly used (2009-2011) models that are coming in at or under $20K.
Examples:
)--------
Update: Purchased a Kia Sorento EX
My well-networked wife ended up complaining about the salesman at the Kia dealership to enough people, that the GM of the dealership got back to us and promised to get us in the vehicle we wanted for the price we wanted. I was still hesitant and my wife and I ended up arguing about vehicles for days.
Then yesterday Kia called and asked us to come in, so we finally did. We looked at a few models, but the ones they wanted to sell us were very basic (but with V6) and ~$26K. I finally saw a 4-cylinder EX model with leather, backup camera, push-button start, ex. All the features my wife was looking for, but in a car that was Pearl White (not in out list of colors.) Long story short, MSRP was $28K, but we ended up paying $24.3K +TTL. Not too bad, IMO - and my wife loves it.
Stock Photo:
Actual pics to come later..
Last edited:
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