Hello!
So planing to buy a “new” car now, and I am wondering if you guys have any tips, avg. prices, what make and model I should aim for, what to be careful about etc. I am looking for something asian (cheap parts and reliable) at this point.
The cars I am looking into at this time:
Thanks, and have a great day!
What does “new” mean? Used? What’s your budget?
You just look on line in your area at what the dealers have in the price range you want and if you want cheap parts that is a pipe dream . If you are really concerned about repair then there are many affordable new vehicles in the market place.
then you can forget Toyota and Honda . . . their parts are not cheap, but the cars you’re considering are considered to be reliable
You won’t find a car that “checks all the boxes”
You are all around the globe class/size wise.
Are you sure you are not putting the cart in front of a horse?
You listed 3 distinct size classes: from compact all the way to full-size.
Are you not missing a point that you need this car to DRIVE, not to REPAIR?
It sounds like you are looking for a used car. If that is so, the 5 cars you mentioned are all reliable but their parts are no cheap and because they are overvalued in the used car market, used ones are not cheap. A three year old Toyota will cost you more t buy used, than some competitors that cost more new Toyotas and Hondas are best bought new because of their slow depreciation. Many American cars are best bought used because of their greater depreciation. When buying used, the best deals pricewise are for buying cars most people don’t want.
I personally had 2 cars that Consumer reports rated unacceptable and liked both of them.
I don’t think you could go wrong with any of these but as others have pointed out you’re pondering a couple different size vehicles, depends on what you’re used to and what will be the most comfortable to drive.
My mom’s college friend is fairly short and she switched to a corolla some years ago when the camry/accord became too big for driving around Honolulu.
Mom’s 2010 Prius is at the limit size-wise for her comfort. Her previous car would be considered a subcompact in the current market. (This car has different wheels but is otherwise the same as mom’s beloved 1990 Mazda Protoge that was the car that the replacement had to live up to.
2005-2010, maximum $4000
I guess this vague and incomplete sentence means you are looking for a 2005 to 2010 vehicle with a price of $4000.00 or less .
If that is correct then forget brand and look at ads and used car lots for something in the price range that might be acceptable to you. Just be aware that that price will not get you much of a vehicle these days and you could have several repairs in the near future.
Condition is FAR more important than brand when you are looking at used cars in this price range. This won’t be near-new, have any warranty, and could have major problems waiting in the wings. Pay YOUR mechanic to look the car over before you buy it. Your mechanic, not the dealer, not the guy who is selling it to you, yours!
A quick look at cars under $4000 in Florida gets you Asian brands with 140,000 miles and up or American cars with about 90,000 miles. In the mix I see on Autotrader your best bet is a 2001 Lincoln Town car with 98K. These are the same platform as the Crown Victoria police cars and are well known to run 300,000+ miles. Given that this is an 18 year old car, don’t expect perfect paint or interior and keep money set aside for repairs.
I feel for people who are not mechanically inclined and are left to rely on the “reliability” of “good cars” in their search for a new vehicle. This sort of thing can actually work when you are talking about a brand new vehicle off the showroom floor (sometimes not), but it really does not work when we are discussing a vehicle that is 9-14 yrs old. Any and all reliability could have been properly used up by those years gone by and former owners who did nothing more than rely on their vehicles “reliability” to carry them through as many trouble free miles as they could squeeze out of it…as soon as it started to become Un-Trouble free, they sold it… For someone else to buy it, hoping for reliability.
As a mechanic a budget of 4K for a used car can get you an unbelievable list of vehicles to buy, trust me I know first hand. But if you dont do your own work then you really cannot play the same (mechanic buying a used car) game since most owners have already used up a vehicles reliability that was built into it to give it a good reputation, so it is near impossible for any of us to recommend a “reliable” vehicle that fits into your price and year range.
Also, Cheap Parts are for cheap cars that break down because of poor quality components, Expensive Parts are what keep reliable cars reliable…so the “Cheap Parts, Reliable Car” theory is an extremely flawed idea especially when trying to select a good, reliable, used vehicle.
It isn’t so much the cost of the part (cheap vs not so cheap) but the labor involved in replacing the part. There is probably as much labor involved in replacing a water pump on a cheap car with a cheap water pump as replacing a water pump.on a reliable car with an expensive water pump.I would be more concerned with parts availability for a car than the cost of the parts.
In the early 1960s, a mechanic friend recommended that I buy a Ford or Chevrolet when I was buying a car. Today, this mechanic, if he was alive, would probably recommend a Toyota or Honda.
+1
Asking if a particular make and model is “reliable” after 9 or more years of use by unknown driver(s) is the automotive equivalent of asking if a prospective wife will be faithful, based on her hair color.
I suggest you look at CarComplaints closely for any model and year you consider. Here is an example of why. You may also want to Google “Car Talk Buy This One” and the model. We have done warning stories on most cars with a big issue. Here is an example.