The Glade 4.0

Sooooo.....I need a used car for $7500 or less. Preferably less. Something reliable that can be maintained by a regular back-yard mechanic and not require foreign parts or something weird like that when/if it breaks down.
I do NOT want a sedan or a coupe (but guess I would if forced to), I do not want a minivan (UGH!) but would prefer either an SUV, wagon, cross-over, or truck...in that order.
I'll be looking for about a week and hope to find something within a few days...going to be visiting a LOT of used car dealerships...UGH.

Suggestions on what to look for? Thanks!

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

http://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/hhr/

Funky enough look to keep the artist happy, solid enough build to be a soccer mom. Good mileage. A good friend has one and he raves about it.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Do classifieds, not a dealership.

I've bought quite a few for under that price range- we went through several Isuzu Troopers (decent enough, few hundred k miles on them each), and we bought a Ford Explorer a couple of years ago for 6k or thereabouts.

Bang for your buck wise, you can find Ford F-150 trucks in the south really cheaply and in good shape. Especially used Company Trucks... White, plain, but well taken care of and lots of miles left in them.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

Keep in mind not only what you are going to be paying for the vehicle itself, but also how much that vehicle is going to cost you to operate and maintain it. The big factor is going to be fuel-diesel costs more per gallon, but typically gets more mpg than gasoline, and smaller vehicles typically get better mileage than bigger ones. If fuel prices keep going up like a lot of experts in the news seem to think, filling up a tank of gas is going to get painful for bigger, lower-mileage vehicles like a full-size truck.

Do your homework. Find out how much fuel the vehicles you want need to fill up (how big is the gas tank?), then calculate how much it's going to cost using today's prices and a nightmare scenario of say, $5 a gallon, and figure out how many times per month you think you will be needing to fill up and then compare the yearly totals. Also figure out how often you will need to change your fluids and add that to your yearly fuel costs. The amounts may astound you.

And I'll second Michael's suggestion of an HHR...I'm very happy with mine. Plenty of space for cargo when you need it, decent mileage (I'm averaging 29mpg right now on a 16gallon tank). About the only thing I'll ding it for is its blind spots...those thick pillars between the windows make for big blind spots.

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Women are from Hoboken, men are from Trenton. ~ Jimmy Kimmel

SUV's, Crossovers, and Trucks are going to be more expensive generally than Minivans or sedans.

They're also going to be more expensive to keep fueled. They will tend to get significantly worse mileage than cars would. Especially in the price range you're looking for, because they're going to be a bit older and the good technological advances haven't gotten there yet.

An SUV that gets 15mpg is going to cost significantly more than a sedan with 25-30. Remember, I have an Avalanche that gets 13mpg on a good week, and will run just over a hundred bucks to fill the tank. That'll get me 400ish miles or so. My mom's Malibu gets 27 or so, and will get about the same range on half of that. If you're going to be doing a lot of commuting, gas costs *really* add up.

Yes, an SUV or crossover may look cooler or be a bit more "functional", but you end up paying more in fuel. So you gotta ask, is it worth the extra cost to look cool?

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Holy shitsnacks!

Kate,

For $7500 you could likely go into a Hyundai dealership and walk out with an almost new Accent (if not a brand new one) that is maybe a year or two old... a brand new Accent starts at ~9985.

And if you go in looking for the previous years models (at many dealerships).. they may cut you an awesome deal since they claim they need to get the older ones out to make way for the new ones.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

But but but...I like camping and shopping and toting my big doggie around (she likes to go for a ride)...I know economical is good (specially with gas prices) but how am I gonna tote around 3 kids and a husband and some camping gear and a dog and shopping stuff and groceries in a sedan?

I miss station wagons.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Go get a Jeep. $7500 will get you a pretty nice used one. Just accept the fact that most of it is replacement parts.

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There are still some station wagons out there you know.

For the amount of stuff you want to haul around, you're looking at something Tahoe sized. Do you really *need* a full sized SUV?

And a jeep has 4 seats

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Holy shitsnacks!

They still make station wagons.



It's even domestic. Unfortunately anything made in the last 10 to 15 years is going to be beyond the scope of most back yard mechanics to be able to fix, beyond the most simple of repairs or maintenance.

I would love to have a Chrysler Pacifica....but they are out of my price-range, even used.
I still mourn, (yes, MOURN), the loss of my '68 Chevelle Malibu station wagon that I had 10 years ago. *sigh*

I'd love one of those old mustard-gold wagons with the wooden paneling, but all the old minority bag ladies have comandeered them and won't give them up.

Dang ol bag ladies. *grumble*

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

On Gas Mileage: A Ford F-150 will get somewhere in the neighborhood of 20mpg (depending on what year it is), a Ford Explorer will get low 20s (20/25, likely) also year dependent, and a Ford Escape (one size smaller) will get more like 25/30.

You can get SUVs/Trucks with decent gas mileage.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

That's good to know...there is a couple of Ford F-150s in my area in my price range.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

We have a truck! Buy me that Matrix and you can have my truck.

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."

But we could have TWO trucks!! Think of the rise in status we would have amongst the local fauna here in Mississippi if we were a TWO TRUCK family! Why, that's as good of street cred as a double wide and almost as good as the improper grammar and misspelling I just used in this sentance!

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

I was seriously going to post just to plug the Toyota Matrix before I even got to your post. I've been driving one for five years; it has around 100k miles on it, gets about 30mpg overall (more like 25 city/33 highway - I drove from Oxford to Knoxville, 400ish miles, on a tank of gas not long ago and I've never put more than like 11 gallons in it filling up, pretty sure it's a 12 gallon tank). Anyway I haven't had a single problem out of it. Okay, one problem. The wheel covers are sort of craptacular and I've lost a couple of them. Toyota wants like $80 a pop to replace a wheel cover, and I can get a whole wheel for that. Currently debating whether to just spring $300-$400 on a set of wheels so I can forget about wheel covers, because the car itself shows no signs of being anything other than ol' dependable. It's that kind of car - deciding whether to put money into aesthetics because functionally it's going to just live forever.

Wheel cover? As in hub caps? I'd say buy a set of wheels yourself, screw Toyota charging $80 each.

Yeah it's ridiculous. Toyota wants $80 for a little rinky-dink plastic glorified hubcap. And while cheaper, none of the aftermarket websites ever had a real picture of what they were actually selling; it was just a text description of either a five-spoke or six-spoke wheel cover design, and then a stock photo of one thing for both (and seeing a picture of a five-spoke wheel cover over the text for a six-spoke part didn't exactly instill confidence in what I was going to get). I didn't want to have one that looked different than the other three. So yeah, it's basically a question of going and coughing up a few hundred bucks for new wheels when I'm feeling frivolous enough to buy something I don't really particularly need. To hell with paying Toyota for another of something that already fell off twice.

But other than that it's a great car It's nuts the things I've had in that car with the rear seat folded forward... had a clothes dryer in there, moved 30 LCDs at work one day, etc. The car's just nestled in this great little sweet spot in between fuel economy and cargo capacity.

We went to look at the Matrix yesterday and they had sold it not 24 hours before. Bummer.
But...I did find a 2003 Honda Odyssey for 5700....I will never be cool again, but man that thing rides/drives so comfortably! And room enough for everyone...and in like-new condition.
Going back this afternoon.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

No, you will be "grown up", which is much better than being cool.

I don't get why so few people actually like station wagons, they are like SUV's minus the abysmal fuel economy and roll over hazard, plus 10x better looking IMO.

And that's my car, well minus the 22"s, only have 20"s on mine, heh, and I love it, it's the longest I've owned a car for, 7 years come this June.

Funny, I'm in a very similar position. Someone rammed into our Subaru yesterday (parked in front of our house), and I fear it's gonna get totaled by the insurance company.

I'm actually going for a truck, this time, but I do love Subaru station wagons. They may be a bit pricey for you, though.

Have you thought of Volvo station wagons? Look at the old classic 240s. They run forever (kinda like Subies) (yes, there is a theme here), although I don't know how much trouble you have with salt during the winter out there (causing them to rust out).

That being said, I also love our minivan, a Chrysler Town and Country. It has Stow 'n Go, meaning the seats fold down completely, giving you essentially a cargo van. IT makes up (sometimes) for not having a truck. I have no embarassment whatsoever driving it.

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This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

I know where you went! hehehe

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Holy shitsnacks!

Actually, come to think of it, the best advice I can give you (or anyone buying a car) is to read this book:

What Car Dealers Won't Tell You

What's important here are the tactics and timing in buying a car. And, understanding the thinking behind of the guy on the other side of the transaction. I have found it a helpful book for each of the vehicles we've bought, since 1997.

In fact, I'm going to have to dig up my copy and give myself a refresher course.

_________________
This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

Volvo wagon, or Mercedes. They both make a great wagon and hold up very well over time. They are more expensive to maintain but go much longer in between maintenance schedules.

Any sedan/coupe I'd go Toyota, Honda, Nissan in that order. Hyundai has really started making a decent vehicle now lately but don't have much experience with anything other than sedans.