I just started a new job that’s 60 miles from my home. I need to buy a car that’s good on mileage and won’t depreciate too much every year. Any suggestions? My budget is around $35k.
Can’t go wrong with a toyota or honda. Both get rave reviews from Consumer Reports and both get 28-30 mpg. Also, these two brands have the lowest depreciation rate of all. Try a Camry or Accord; always a good bet.
My first suggestion is Honda. For your budget, maybe an Acura. Honda motors seem to get very good fuel mileage and Honda depreciation is pretty low. I don’t understand the desire for low depreciation, but if that’s what you want Hondas and Toyotas hold up ridiculously well on resale value.
Honda Accord or the Acura version of the Accord would be my first picks. That, or maybe 2 Mini Coopers.
the saturn sc1 i have gets 27 -30 miles to the gallon also, just keeping the car light will improve milege also… but i swear by saturns the only car i have had luck with…EdK
Personally I would either get a 4 cylinder Camry or Accord loaded to keep costs lowest possible. However if you want near luxury and low depreciation BMW, Infiniti and Lexus cars come to mind.
Check this out:
http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/alg/index.html
How about a used Geo Metro for about $1500.00 then spend the rest of the money on a great vacation. You’ll get great mileage and the car can’t possibly depreciate more than $1500.00.
Moth
Seriously, if you want a car that will not depreciate to much, buy a late model used car that is already past it’s initial depreciation. If you have $35K in hand you can buy a nice 2-3 year old car, you can actually buy a pretty nice car for $20K and put the rest in your “gas fund.”
If you are talking about borrowing $35K to buy a new car, don’t.
You’ll be putting 31,200 miles a year on just going to and from work. All told, you’ll probably be putting 45,000 to 50,000 miles per year. Any car’s value will depreciate rapidly at that rate. I recommend against buying an expensive car for this application.
I’d recommend a new econobox, like a Scion xD. Or a Honda Fit. You’ll save a bundle with the higher gas mileage and your depreciation loss will be far less.
The economics might work, but if I was forced to spend 7 or 800 hours per year trapped in an econo-box, I would have to shot myself.
Find a 2 or 3 year old compact or midsized car with a 4-cylinder. Make sure you like the car a lot. You will spend a lot of time each day behind the wheel. You will spend a lot less than $35,000 and can bank the rest. Maybe you can buy a fun car for the weekends with the rest.
Civic
Accord
Aveo
Corolla
to name a few.
If I were in your shoes I would buy a cheap used car off a private seller for around $2,000 or $3,000. Bring the car to a mechanic before you buy it and have him check it bumper to bumper to be sure it is worth the money. If there is anything minor wrong with the car, it will be worth to fix. There is no point in buying a brand new car or a used car from a dealership if you are just using it to drive back and forth to work. I drive a Dodge Ram 2500 heavy duty back and forth to work. Fortunately the truck has been in the family since 1997 when it was brand new and every thing that has been replaced got a lifetime warranty on it, so if anything goes bad and it has been done before, Its covered. That is what you should do if you buy yourself a used car and want it to last a long time. Good luck =)
My suggestion of 2 Mini Coopers was not totally facetious. If you used them on alternate weeks you’d get more or less “normal” mileage on them, and they hold resale value well. I’d have to try one out to make sure I could stand driving it that far every day.
One other consideration would be a Mercedes diesel. I don’t know what recent models are available, but it should be a nice ride with a long lasting engine.
Of course, I really don’t think resale value should be an issue. This is a situation where you want a car you really enjoy driving and just keep it going until it is worth $0.
I drive my benz diesel about 40K miles per year, it currently has almost 400K miles and is at the point where it’s value is dependent on condition only, not mileage. Preserving an old car is a different type of economics than allowing a newer one to depreciate, you have to willing to spend more than the resale value of the car on maintenance over the long run. It only works if you want to keep it indefinitely, if you ever want to sell it you will probably lose money.
I don’t think you will be able to find a newer benz CDI in decent condition for under $35K. Mini coopers are relatively inexpensive, but I would still shop for a late model used one. They are only about $20-30K new, so you should be able to find a good used one in the $15K range. At that price, I wouldn’t worry about resale, I would just maintain it and plan on driving it for a long time (assuming you can live with something that size).
I easily found a 2005 E500 CDI advertised for 35,000. I don’t know why you think there won’t be any available for that price. I would expect to find a bunch depending on how new the OP wanted it. Here’s the link:
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-31%7CB-35000%7CD-287%7CN-N%7CR-10000%7CI-1%7CP-PRICE+descending%7CQ-descending%7CZ-24060&aff=national&paId=236334076&recnum=3&leadExists=true
Actually, its a E320 CDI. The problem is that 2005 is the first year they were available in the U.S., so $35K is probably just about the low end of the market. I hadn’t seen one that cheap (in person). Maybe there are some decent ones available, but I would be very careful of the condition for that price.
That was just the first one listed, there were several others (E320s) being offered by Mercedes dealers in the $30K to $35K range. I assume there are slightly older Mercedes diesels as well. Hasn’t Mercedes pretty much always offered a diesel model or two?