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MonkeyK

Golden Member
It's my turn to pick a car this year, so what do you all think is the best car that:

1)Costs $25K-$30K
2)Gets >= 29mpg hwy
3)Can easily get a infant/toddler in and out of a car seat in

I get an additional advantage if I buy Ford, Mazda, Jaguar, or Volvo since my dad is a Ford retiree (I get these cars at close to dealer cost + incentives).

My original plan was to get a Ford Hybrid Escape, but I need to buy a car this year and the Minnesota Dealers tell me that, while the Hybrid Escape does come out this year, it will not be available in the Midwest till next year.

So what do you all think?
 
Originally posted by: MonkeyK
It's my turn to pick a car this year, so what do you all think is the best car that:

1)Costs $25K-$30K
2)Gets >= 29mpg hwy
3)Can easily get a infant/toddler in and out of a car seat in

I get an additional advantage if I buy Ford, Mazda, Jaguar, or Volvo since my dad is a Ford retiree (I get these cars at close to dealer cost + incentives).

My original plan was to get a Ford Hybrid Escape, but I need to buy a car this year and the Minnesota Dealers tell me that, while the Hybrid Escape does come out this year, it will not be available in the Midwest till next year.

So what do you all think?
Click to expand...

If you have $30K to drop on a car go for one of the new Hondas, perhaps a Altima or even a hybrid Prius/Echo, assuming you can even get your hands on one. Honda also sells a hybrid of the Civic.
 
I like the Prius, but it has a waiting list that puts it out to next year, in which case I might as well get the Hybrid Escape.

I saw some article where a guy didn't get any better mileage from a Civic Cybrid than the normal Civic. But you are right, I do need to take a look at what Honda offers.
 
If you want to take advantage of that discount, you might want to take a look at a Mazda6 or a Volvo S40. I like the 6 myself as the S40 seems a bit overpriced. In the 6 you have the choice of 4 (i) and 6cyl (s) engines in sedan, hatch or wagon form (wagon only comes in the s trimline) and fully loaded you'll come in well under your budget there. X plan pricing puts the highest base price around $22k.
 
I'm assuming you want a sedan because of the mileage, so I would look at Volvo, Mazda, and Honda.

Since you mention an infant in the car, safety might be something you should consider. The Volvo will be by far the safest of any car in the price range with a nice touch of luxury. If you want more space, get their V70, their station wagon. If you aren't looking for the extra space, get the S60 sedan.

Also, if you do decide on a volvo, keep in mind that these dealerships will haggle the most in terms of price. We were offered an 04 S80 for about 30k, MSRP is 35k. Make sure you check at least a couple dealers in the area and get prices from each mentioning the lowest price you've been given so they can try to beat it.

If safety isn't a concern, I would go Mazda from that list.
 
Out of those makes, I'd look at a Mazda 6. Not sure what the gas milage is. Even the wagon is beautiful.
 
Originally posted by: z0mb13
take a look at the saab 9-2x
Click to expand...
May as well just buy a WRX wagon for a few thousand less. It's the exact same car except for some exterior design differences.

edit: and it only gets ~26-27 on the highway, and requires premium.
 
Looks like I can totally deck out a Mazda6 and still be under budget.

For those of you who don't know, a nice thing about being in the immediate family of a Ford employee/retiree is that I get to buy cars from Ford, Mazda, Volvo, and Jaguar at a fixed cost that is very close to the dealers cost. While the low price is nice, not having to haggle with a dealer is even better.
 
Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: z0mb13
take a look at the saab 9-2x
Click to expand...
May as well just buy a WRX wagon for a few thousand less. It's the exact same car except for some exterior design differences.

edit: and it only gets ~26-27 on the highway, and requires premium.
Click to expand...

IMO it looks very nice
 
1992-96 Ford Escort GT 😀

Edit: Oh you said new didn't you.

I would look at the 2004 Escape or the 2005 Freestyle.
 
I still don't get why someone who's dropping $30k on a car cares if it gets 20mpg or 30 mpg.

60 months financing on a 30k car, with no interest, is $500/month.

Gas at $2.25/gallon, 1000 miles/month at 20 mpg: $112.50/month
Gas at $2.25/gallon, 1000 miles/month at 30 mpg: $75/month

Money saved on gas/month by getting the car with better mileage: $37.50

Savings as a percentage of cost of car+gas: 6%
If you include full coverage insurance, that drops down to 5% or less.
If you include the cost of financing, it's even less, probably not above 4%.

So, you have a 20% price margin as far as the car you can afford ($25k to $30k) but you're concerned about a 4% increase in costs due to gas mileage? I just don't get that.
 
I'd say take a look at the Volvo S60 2.5T w/AWD.

It gets a little bit under the highway mileage that you were looking for, but the added AWD might of interest to you.
 
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