@Whitey. I doubt that a 2008 Saturn Vue with 190,000 miles on the odometer has much trade-in value.
Also, I don’t put much stock in reliability ratings for 2008 vehicle. Consumer Reports indicated that the 2006 Chevrolet Uplander I used to own and my son now owns had low reliability. That Uplander now had over 200,000 miles on the odometer and has had no major work. In fact, in the first 100,000 miles, it did not cost me as much on repairs as the 2011 Toyota Sienna that I owned. At 90,000 the Sienna had to have a new water pump at a cost of $975. The Toyota had its second battery at 90,000 while at the same age and mileage, the Uplander was still on its original battery. The best I could do on tires on the Sienna was 40,000 miles. The original tires on the Uplander lasted 55,000 miles.
My point is that a low reliability rating from CR or any other agency is not enough to convince me to replace a vehicle on what might go wrong, particularly on an eleven year old vehicle. I have never owned a Saturn Vue , so I really can’t comment on its reliability. I can only report on vehicles I have owned.
Number of people in financial trouble because of excess debt: a gazillion
Number of people in financial trouble because of too-little debt: nada
Except for the few who can’t get mortgage because they haven’t established credit history. They are few, but they’re not “nada.”
I suppose it depends on how you define “financial trouble.”
a few people on here have told you to keep going with your car until you need to do something. i cannot see any problem with that advice whatsoever.
i am personally doing that with my own 96 ford thunderbird…keeping it going at 150,000 until i can’t any longer. a few hundred ever 4 months or so for a car that works is better than $350 every month when you have other major debt. when your current car gives up the ghost, then think about getting something else. until you have to, why would you be spending time…and money…on this? you’ll know when you have to soon enough. or, maybe, you’ll find this thing just keep going until you have the funds to get something without destroying your finances.
$5,000-10,000 is a reasonable range for the lowest price for a decent car that can be expected to last several years without multiple major repairs.
My only problem with that advice is that this isn’t an answer to the question she was asking, it’s an assumption that she needs an answer to a question she didn’t ask.
I generally agree with the advice, and if the OP had asked for our opinions on that question, I would have said the same thing, but she was very specific with her question, so I chose to assume she knows what she wants.
I am personally doing the same with my '98 Honda Civic, keeping it going at about 315,000 miles, but different people have different risk thresholds, so what is good for me might not be good for the OP.
When my 26 year old car died last year I decided to buy new instead of used. I used to do all my own mechanical work but now want to minimize that because of age. Paid $11,500 cash out the door including all taxes and fees for a new Nissan Versa sedan with manual transmission, crank up windows, manual door locks, etc… For me a car is an appliance rather than a status symbol and the Versa fits the bill.
my response was indeed an answer to what the questioner was asking, which was “What’s the least I can hope to pay for a decent car?”
the least she can hope to pay for a decent car would be to keep the one she has. if it turns out not to be the case, she can sell it and go to plan B, and get another.
this is an auto advice column, not an amateur english class, so rather than grading my answer (poorly in my opinion), you might wish to simply give YOUR answer to the questioner. cheers.
Why can’t it be both ? For instance , Capital letters are allowed here .
This was flagged ? Don’t be so sensitive people .
i hope lower case letters are also allowed here. i spent 13 years as an editor and i’m sick of capitalizing things for style’s sake, and also am a fan of e. e. cummings. feel free to bypass my posts if it upsets you.
as for this being an amateur english class, first of all the advice in amateur english classes is usually in error, as it was here. second, i thought i was joining a car advice blog. if it’s not, i’ll contact a moderator to verify it isn’t…and if in fact this is meant to be an amateur english class as well, i’ll close my membership.
i would advise members, for sanity’s sake, not to turn this into an amateur english class. no need to add a new venue of torture to people’s lives.
cheers.
I wasn’t grading your English, I was suggesting the OP might appreciate a direct answer to a direct question rather than paternalistic condescension.
I’d definitely appreciate less condescension.
Since the OP hasn’t chimed in, and I don’t wish to drag her into this debate, I will agree that any response is technically an answer to her question, although I doubt it was the type of answer she was seeking, based on how her question was worded.
I respectfully disagree with your assertion that your answer directly addressed the spirit and intent of the original question.
why you’ve chosen to lecture me for giving my answer, is really beyond me. i didn’t request your analysis on this auto advice blog, and to quote you, it fits the definition of ‘paternalistic condescension’ quite well.
you can impress the questioner all you want with your dazzling answers, that’s the point of this forum. grading others’ answers like a school marm, however, is stuff that makes others not even want to be here.
if you want to turn this into an ad hominem debate society, or if that’s what it really is and i didn’t realize it, then i’ll be happy to split.
i know why people stay away from political blogs. but i didn’t think i’d run into this on an auto advice website.
To those of you discussing English grammar:
My mother was an English teacher and was very strict with me. She was paddling me for some infraction and I looked up at her and said, “That don’t hurt. Do it some more”. I got paddled even harder for using bad grammar. I learned a very valuable lesson. The next time I got in trouble and was being paddled, I remembered to say “That does not hurt. Do it some more”.
Sure, let’s make this about me. LOL
Whitey, I’m a bit concerned.
A week ago, you went off on me suggesting that I was gullible by liking GM factory certified pre-owned cars, which you insisted was only a “marketing gimmick.” I had purchased several and the warranty was NO gimmick. By shopping carefully, I paid little to no extra money for them.
The extended warranty protection’s 6-year/100,000 mile power-train warranty (no deductible), a 12 month/12,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty (no deductible), in addition to remaining factory warranty, is included with GM CPO cars.
I am not the only one that knows the CPO cars are not merely a marketing gimmick. Car Talk’s own @GorehamJ, among others, recommends them, recently advising another person, “I’d look for a certified pre-owned V6 model if I were you”.
I agree with @Michael_Kurtz (“the least she can hope to pay for a decent car would be to keep the one she has. if it turns out not to be the case, she can sell it and go to plan B, and get another.”)
I was entitled to my educated opinion, but you went on and on refuting it. You had no dog in the fight, but entitled to your own opinion.
Now you are going off on our guests for giving opinions!
Cabin fever? Perhaps you’re not getting enough fiber in your diet? LOL. 
CSA
Lots of good advice on cars and debt.
My life advice would be to focus more on your earning potential instead. Think of some education or career options that could get you over 50k per year, and then think of some ways to get there. Stick with low cost cars and regular maintenance until you get there.
Frankly, I’m concerned that you said you said you had made your last comment on the issue of used car certifications, and here you are rehashing it in an unrelated conversation.
I told the man I agree with his point, and would have made the same point in a conversation where that question had been asked. He took offense over what up until that point was a polite difference of opinion.
I’ve gone out of my way to find common ground with you. Heck, I just liked one of your comments in another thread, and I used to respect that you could take good natured ribbing as well as you can dish it out. Oh well, not anymore I guess. I’ll treat you delicately from now on.
If you can work on your own car, i would suggest to look more at how much you can afford each month as far as payments then multiple that time how many months you are willing to make payments that should give you a ballpark on what vehicle range with low milage, if toyota is your choice for working on then
This will work!
I have no idea what you are trying to say.
And how many people can or have the tools to work on their own vehicles these days ?
As far as I’m aware, outside of probably foreign cars (I don’t really shop foreign cars…)
Ford has the cheapest brand new car…the Fiesta…Bare Bones no upgrades you can get’m for like $14k? I think the next cheapest is the Dodge Dart at about $17k.
As for craigslist…if you’re not a mechanic, don’t shop on craigslist.
Honestly the best tip I can give you is "Stop worrying about what year the car is. (The following numbers are based on gas trucks, but the same idea applies to cars) a 2017 with 150k miles is like $20k. a 2002 with 150k miles is about $7k . The 2017 has some nice fancy computers and gets about 18mpg and the 2002 gets about 15 and most of those computers are absolutely useless flashy “look how rich I am” crap. Wheel Pressure Sensors? It’s an $800 computer or a $6 tool wtf.
New cars are more expensive…thats just the way it is. I’d shop for older cars with the same or lower miles. They’re less than half the price.
As for craigslist…I’ve bought $1000 cars that lasted years and $5000 cars that lasted weeks. I’ve also bought $1000 cars that lasted weeks and $5000 cars that lasted years. Unless you’re a mechanic, BUY FROM A DEALER. It doesn’t need to be certified, you don’t need the warranty…their name is all you need, no dealer wants to sell a junk car.