Okay heres is a question I have. You need a car to go 70K miles of intown/some highway driving taxi, pizza delivery etc. What car or cars will have the lowest operating cost (repairs+gas+original cost)-(resale value) for 70K miles. I need a car for school/part time job and recently bought a clunker so I’m giving this another shot. Advice?
A used lower mileage Hyundai Accent, Chevy Cavalier, Pontiac Sunfire is a good fit. Try getting something with a max of 75k miles.
I am currently driving a former cop car (Crown Vic P71) I purchased from the State Of Colorado at auction on E-bay. It’s a 1998 model and had 98,000 on it when I bought it. It now has 136,000 and I’m hoping it will keep delivering the lowest cost per mile possible. So far, it has done just that.
I did my homework on this car and inspected many of them, most were junk, before I found this gem which had led a fairly easy life…
But you are thinking correctly. The only thing that really matters with cars is the cost per mile to own and operate them…Buying them on credit usually DOUBLES the cost per mile to own them.
My wifes two Accords (87 and 96) went OVER 150K miles before I put the first dime into the car beyond normal maintenance. Her 96 Accord when we sold it a couple months ago with 225k miles we spent a total of $4 beyond normal maintenance.
You want good gas mileage, cheap insurance, and good reliability with low repair costs. A used Hyundai Accent, as suggested, is a good bet. The ideal car is a Geo Prizm, about 8 years old with low mileage for that year. These are very tough cars, and because they are Chevies, have lower resale value than Toyotas, which they reallly are. Another good bet is an older, low mileage Toyota Tercel, or Mazda 323, both tough little econoboxes. A heavy beater will be reliable , but gas prices in the future will kill you. Don’t buy an orphan car that is difficult to service. Many of the older small cars are private sales, owned by retired couples who are downsizing. Don’t buy an early model Hyundai; they had a lot of teething problems.
A Mazda based Ford Escort Wagon
I’m gonna vote for a used Toyota 2WD standard cab pickup. It’ll be inexpensive to buy, virtually bulletproof, tough enough to easily handle the city roads, maintenance parts are cheap and plentiful, and should it break parts will be cheap and labor far easier than on a FWD transverse engine vehicle. I can change a fanbelt, water pump, alternator, and numerous other components far, far easier on this than on any FWD.
I’ve had two Toyota pickups. The first, a '79, I drove for over 10 years, abused even, until it rotted beyond repair. It was trouble free its entire life. The second ran for 17 years and 338,000 miles before getting totalled by a Hyundae. Other than a timing chain at 200,000 miles and a clutch at 295,000 miles it had no major work.