Hello everyone. I am hoping to get some help in buying a used car, and here’s my story to give you an idea of my situation.
I’m a grad student (read very poor, but not quite as bad as undergrads) living in Los Angeles. I had a 2000 VW Passat V6 that I got from my father that I was hoping to drive till it died. Unfortunately, that ended around beginning of this year when I got rear-ended by an inattentive driver at a red light. My car was determined to be totaled and her insurance valued my car at $5000 and gave me about $5500 with tax added in. This wasn’t really a good deal for me given that I knew my car’s history and I had just recently put in some money with new parts and maintenance on that car. After giving another 3k to my gf and saving up a bit, I’m now considering buying another used car and can probably spend about 6k, maybe up to 7k if I stretch it a bit (might need to take a loan from credit union if 7k).
I’ve recently started surfing and would really like to find a car that I can carry my 8ft surfboard in (better inside than on the top). Hondas and Toyotas seem to have ridiculously high resale value here in LA. My friend suggested Subarus and it seems they have sightly more reasonable resale value in this area. I also thought about a Jetta or Passat wagon, but I"m not so sure about buying a VW used since they could end up costing a lot in repairs. So I guess any suggestions and comments are greatly appreciated!
BTW, I did a quick search and found some circa 2000 Subaru outback for under 6k with close to 200k miles though.
Sorry, I was getting a page that said my posting failed and I tried posting 2 more times, only to realize now that all my posts apparently showed up. Please delete my other 2 posts if possible. Sorry for the spam
How long is your board? You might consider a Chevrolet HHR. It is basically a Cobalt wagon. You could find an LS with a decent sound system for about $6000 in a private sale or $7000 from a dealer. Expect the mileage to be around 75,000. Another option is a pick-up with a cap. You could get a regular cab Ford Ranger 2WD for about the same price. I agree that Hondas and Toyotas are way overpriced as used cars.
I have a 8 ft foam board. I have driven the Chevy HHR as a car rental a month or so back. I thought it was a fairly new model? I didn’t know about the HHR until I rented it that time. Really did not like the styling though. One thing I have found while renting various car models is that I can make the board fit in all the models I’ve rented so far (HHR, Ford Focus, Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia … forgot model) by putting the back seats down, then moving the front passenger seat all the way up and reclining it all the way back (removing head rest completely if that’s possible). This allows me to put the board from the trunk all the way to the dash of the front passenger side.
As for the pickup, I don’t think it would be a good option for me. The bed probably won’t be long enough for my board, and the space would be wasted most of the time since I don’t really need to carry anything else that’s big. The passenger carrying capacity would be more useful most of the time for me.
Ya know I think any car with a roof rack rather than considering inside storage would be the best option. Cruise the used car lots for a car with a roof rack shop prices and surf on dude.
Avoid a pre-2005 Subaru, they often have expensive engine problems (cylinder head gaskets), and you don’t need the awd either. Look around, see what others are using to carry their boards. But I think something relatively reliable with enough inside room for an 8’ board might be tough to find in your price range.
