I need a car for my 18 year old daughter. We’d like to spend about 20K or so. For this price, it looks like we could get a base model small car (Jetta, Sentra, etc.)
However, a dealer in town has an 2018 Hyundai Tucson for 18K. It’s AWD and the highest trim level. It has 50K miles on it.
How hesitant should I be about buying a used car? The Tucson is much more car, and it being an SUV would make it more practical. But the new car is new.
If it was my choice I would look for something a lot less expensive . As our insurance says it is not if a new driver has an accident but when or how soon they will have one. Also I would not have Hyundai or Kia on my list right now.
Another thought , if you might be thinking of a new vehicle for yourself and have one you trust you could let her drive it while you have a new one.
Edit: I just did a web search for the average cost of full coverage for an 18 year old . Expensive !!
That might effect the choice.
Used cars are a crap shoot especially with people having the false idea of zero or extended maintenance required. I’d be very careful who I bought from.
Still, I’d rather have a better quality used car than a low quality new car the self destruct.
I have gone both ways. A used car pre inspection is recommended. 50k not too scary depending on maintenance records. Last used car I bought was off lease from the dealer with all maintenance records. Bought a used car for our daughter figuring it would probably be wrecked within the first couple years, I think that was 8 years ago and still doing fine. Even bought one off lease, 17k buyout, during car crunch could have sold it for 28k, but then I’d have to buy something else. 2017 still doing good. Coarse the stupidest thing wife got the new to the fleet, I got the rav4, never was too happy as I had to scrunch my head getting in. Had our daughter drive us to a play, wife shoulder replacement and my cataracts seemed a good option. She is short and complained about the seat too high. There was a lever I was never sure what it did on the side of the seat. Turns out it was a manual thing, keep pushing it down and the seat lowers in small increments. No I did not rtfm, so after 3 years of it being wife’s car then mine for the rest I am happy now. Buy what you like the best.
We bought a four year old car off lease with 40k that worked out well. And I bought a couple with over 100k that worked out well. My latest was a current year former rental with 40k that has been a great car. Hard to make any broad conclusions. I hate looking for cars so prefer new. I’m not against inspections but they will be cursory and never inspect engine or transmission internals. Things like brakes, tires, hoses, etc. plus fluids are just something you do to used cars.
What’s wrong with this site?.
Stay away from Nissan as far as possible. I had nothing but negative experiences with the brand.
I bought a brand new Nissan Sentra ( 2014) and the transmission quit before 100k miles.
I bought a used Nissan Altima ( 2006) at 27k miles or so and the engine would not stop over heat.
My favorite thing when buying a used car is to buy one that is no more than 2 years old and has no more than 30k miles on it.
If this were me and my 18 year old daughter needed a car, I would get her one that is not only reliable but also safe, and that’s when the Toyota Corolla gets my attention.
If you can find a 2017 or 18 Corolla with 50k miles on it, I would trust the brand despite its on the older spectrum.
You want a car that won’t leave your precious daughter stranded on the road late at nights.
Buy a Consumer Reports car buyers guide, look at their recommendations in the $20,000 price range, buy one of the newer ones. Don’t get enticed by a car with all the options that happens to be 6 years old, I’d buy a newer car with fewer options.
Personally I would not buy a young driver a brand new car, I went with a 2yo car for my daughters 2nd car when she was 18, my son got a hand me down very used car when he graduated High School…
Me: I would not buy a Euro of any kind due to repair cost, I also would stay away from Hyundai/Kia… Toyota is about the best vehicle to buy as far as reliability goes, how often do you see one on the back of a tow truck?? But remember ALL vehicles have issues, just some more than others…
Lots of good reply’s above also…
This is how I did it with my daughter…
When my daughter was ready for a car at age 15, I told her to look online and find something she could afford 1/2 of, she found a starter car and we went and I bought it… When she wanted an upgrade at age 18, same thing, I made her look for one she liked and could afford, we went and I checked it out really good and we bought a 2yo Corolla LE…
So why not let her find one and then you approve of it and help her buy it?? and yes she worked 40-50hrs a week and went to college, graduated college last year with a 3.7 GPA
Of the three vehicles mentioned for a similar price, 2 new, 1 used, my first choice would be the new Sentra.
I don’t remember what year it was. We looked at a maxima. The wife looked really good in it but we decided no. Shortly after that they were having all the engine issues and Nissan has been off my list since.
My son used our spare riv all through college. When he had a spare year before med school and made some money, he bought his own and I got my car back. I continued to cover insurance, gas, repairs, etc. for a long time. I didn’t mind seeing snacks on the gas card because I knew he was broke and hungry.
The last time I had a car payment was sometime in the '90s - because I buy older, used cars and it had worked out very well for me. The key is checking them out before you buy. If you can’t do it yourself, find a local shop that you trust and ask them to check it out and warn you of any known problems with particular makes/models. You’ll have to pay them for that, but if you’re budgeting $20K, then a hundred/couple hundred for the service shouldn’t be a big deal.
And like @VOLVO-V70 said, you don’t even need to spend that much. Find an older Corolla or Civic (or RAV4 or CRV if want the little SUV) - or the like that’s been cared for even if it has high miles. 50K these days is barely broken in.
Buy used 4 to 6 years old, buy cheap but with a pre purchase inspection.
She will wreck it… a little or a lot so don’t buy nicer assuming it will take her to college. Nicer comes later when she is paying for it.
That particular gen Tucson, I believe suffers from early engine failure. Not sure if it has the Theta II or the NU engine but both can be problematic,
Nothing wrong with getting a used car. Get insurance quotes. It is amazing how it works with insurances, sometimes newer/bigger cars are cheaper to insure as they are deemed safer.
We bought used for both kids, but we also usually buy used for ourselves too-unless the new ends up being just a tad more expensive (recent RAV4 hybrid purchase was kike that-no point buying used).
Consider a Mazda 3, either hatchback or sedan. We’ve had 3 of them, and they are affordable, reliable, and easy on gas.
I look for a used car with a thorough CarFax report. Admittedly Carafe is not 100% right or complete…but you can tell a car that’s been regularly maintained vs not.
Also check the insurance rates BEFORE you buy any car. Insuring a teen is…an eye opening experience in terms of insurance rates.
I partly beg to differ sir, unless the auto shop shares the info with Carfax, it will never know, and I can wrap my car around a tree, take it home and repair it myself, and Carfax will show it as clean, unless it is turned into the ins or Carfax directly, Carfax will never know… And all my vehicles have been maintained, but none of it shows up on Carfax…
When I bought my 2009 a few years old, from the dealer, it had a clean Carfax report, I then began pointing out the hood had been replaced and a few other things, so a Carfax that shows a clean vehicle is not always a good deal, now it can show all the bad stuff , but only if Carfax was informed of it… But if the vehicle was serviced at places that share the info with Carfax then it will show all the good, but again not always the bad…
I change oil every 3 or 5,000 miles depending on the car. I do ir myself so it will look like the cars have never been serviced on carfax.
Is Mazda still ford though?
Does a collision negate regular maintenance? Seems like two different items on a report. If the report shows all the maintenance has been performed, that should be an indication that the vehicle has been regularly maintained.
The Mazda3 moved away from the shared Ford platform for the 2014 model year, Same platform as the CX5.
I think new Nissan Versa base models go for around 20k. The weak point of the Versa and most other Nissans is the CVT but the base model Versa is a manual.
Let me clarify.
I look for used cars with a lot of Carfax data, showing things like regular oil changes, new tires, and other maintenance. It’s also important to me to have some idea of where the car has “spent” its life. I prefer cars that have “lived” their lives in the southern part of the country, as opposed to the north, where they tend to use salt on the roads. I also get an idea of how the cars have been driven, whether as commuter cars or what. Some cars have it, some don’t. The ones that don’t have a detailed Carfax history, I tend to stay away from.
I totally agree that Carfax is neither perfect or always complete. And for folks that change their own oil and all that, fine, but I likely wouldn’t be buying your car anyway from a dealer.
It’s just the approach I use, and it’s worked well for me. Your mileage may vary.