[jesyflowers]

My mom's 98 sebring is about dead. Engine needs a rebuild and that will cost more then the car is worth, so she's looking for a new one. Normally I'd like to think I would have good suggestions for her... but honestly I don't.

Requirements:

[forextradinginfo]

You could get a honda civic or accord for that price.Decent, low mileage. Another option would be a used mustang. Cheapish to repair and pretty decent warranties.

[mosypeSom]

You should be able to locate an '05 Scion tC which meets the requirements listed, for around that price. It might even have some miles left on the stock 36mo/36k warranty, although many owners purchased the additional warranty (transferable) of either 5yr/60k or 100k miles.. It's made by Toyota, and it's very reliable.

I just did a quick eBay search, and you can see the results here. Shouldn't be too difficult to find one that fits your criteria.

[sanddrareyk]

Talk about not hard to find.


www.autotrader.com then look for used cars then look at all makes and models and put in your price range. I looked in my area and found tons of nice low mileage cars that fit your requirement. Example would be a 2006 Ford fusion with 3,270 miles on it.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...5000&cardist=0

[Discus]

Volvo S40 FTW.

[jesyflowers]

Being a previous Accord owner myself I of course suggested one.
A 2002 LX w/ 50k miles is worth about $14.4k. This is on the high end of mileage, high end of budget, quite a bit older and long out of warranty. Anything newer that still meets other requirements (i.e. not a DX) is too expensive. 2001 EX is worth the same.

Similar story for the Civic. 2002 is the newest without breaking budget for an EX.

The tC is an interesting thought, I didn't even think of that, but according to kelley blue book it's WAY out of budget. An '05 is still worth 18k (which seems wrong to me...)

She'll be looking at dealers, not private party, which hurts the prices of course. I think more the issue of finding a car that should 'theoretically' fit the budget is actually finding one for sale. But at least with a decent list of cars she'll have more to choose from.

[edit]
Gah, you guys are fast!
Autotrader.com is good, I'll also be looking at nwautos.com

More then anything I'm just trying to get a general idea of cars that fall in that price range, because there's some things I simply don't think of. The tC and S40 would be two examples of that.

[Yyaqyped]

If you look around, you could probably find a fully-loaded 2006 Hyundai Sonata LX with less than 20k mile for that price. I've seen several of those listed at around $15,995. Nobody pays list price...

You could also look at a brand new 2007/2006 Mazda6. There were some deals around here with $7-8000 off MSRP on 2006 Mazda6s which would have come in right around your budget after taxes and all those bogus fees.

[infarrelisam]

Did you think of cars like mabey a impala or malibu?
Those has decent warranty's and are somewhat easy to find for cheap.

[mosypeSom]

The tC is an interesting thought, I didn't even think of that, but according to kelley blue book it's WAY out of budget. An '05 is still worth 18k (which seems wrong to me...)

Yes, in this case the KBB doesn't accurately reflect the actual price of the cars, as one can be had for a lot less. However, if she's only going through a dealer, then I agree there's not much chance of finding one

[jesyflowers]

Did you think of cars like mabey a impala or malibu?
Those has decent warranty's and are somewhat easy to find for cheap.

Yup, I suggested a malibu to her. Basically a 'thanks but no thanks' type suggestion. They do fit in the price range... but honestly, they're really low quality cars. Impala better then malibu, but still not great.

nwautos.com shows a number of '05 and '06 Sonatas and Elantras for under $15k. I bet these will be her best bet. The quality of Hyundai vehicles has really gone up a lot.

Also, as expected the listed Accords / Civics in her price range are 50k+ miles.

(to note, the only listed tCs and S40s in the area under $15k are very high mileage. It's too bad, they're nice cars.)

[infarrelisam]

Ah yeah I can agree, what about like a pontiac? Those cars are usually built well, and by the way, avoid KIA like it's the plague. Yeah the car may be cheap but the parts are inSANEly expensive!

[teergoBissono]

Wifey got a 2006 Pontiac G6 with 13,000 miles on it for $13,500. Don't ever pay sticker price. She loves it. Has a 3.5l V6 200 hp that gets 25 mpg around town. I don't drive it much, but it is a fun car to drive. It is a certified GM so they had a huge checklist of things they went over, plus have remainder of factory warranty plus 3 months added on.

you mentioned Saturns, they are basically econo boxes like a Colbolt.If you are looking for one, check your local Saturn dealer. The Ions have the same motor as the Colbolt.. I just traded in my 1996 blazer in on a '04 Ion with 47k on it. 5 speed 2.2l 4 cylinder, 145 hp. I am getting 32 MPG. I payed $8k for it, got $1800 for my Blazer that has 243,000 on it. They had a customer courtesy 2003 Saturn Ion on the lot with 225,000 miles on it. They included a 24 month/ 2 year warranty with it. ( was a Saturn dealership) It is not as fun to drive as the G6, but I like it so far and love the 100% improvement in gas mileage.

Between the 2 cars we are saving $2000 a year on gasoline from our last 2 vehicles.. I dunno about the Saturn but her car did very well in a early spring snow storm we had.

[CenICrerflind]

Chevy Impala
Pontiac Grand Prix
Pontiac G6
Mazda 3 or 6 *3 had new for under $15k*
Mitsubishi Galant
Ford Five Hundred


If you aren't looking at Neons or Cobolts, then why look at the Focus? Isn't the Focus Fords "Eco-Box"


All the 2000+ models of these cards can be found for some pretty good prices with fairly low mileage. Exterior and Interior are very nice. They all come with some nice reliable motors in them, and if you want punch, you can still get punch for a good price still.

I know that the Grand Prix and Impala, you can get the supercharged 3.8L V6 with 240hp and 280 ft.-lbs of torque for that price range. Though with your mom, I am sure that she doesn't care, but then all the cheaper for the lower end models.
I think that someone here on the forms got like an 04' Impala for a little under $10k, with some 80k miles on it with the 3.4L V6.


Yes, I did pretty much recommend all cars that are built with other American cars, but the quality these days are really good, plus the motors coming from American factories are tough as nails. Plus these are going to be cheap cheap cheap to fix compared to anything else if something goes out and are going to be much cheaper year for year, mile for mile.



We did have a Sonata rental, and I must say that these new Sonata's are REALLY nice. Look good, feel good, drive good, killer warrenty, and are cheap off the lots. But I do expect these things to hold their value just as good as Honda and Toyota. I have never liked Honda nor Toyota, but I do really like Nissan. An Altima or Maxima would be some good cars to look at too.

[Dreqsqse]

I aint American so dont know the exact prices of your cars but $15,000 is about £8000 yea?

Your market is different to Europeans so I cant be suggesting stuff you dont have so, from what I know you have access to:

Honda Civic
VW Golf
Ford Focus


Im out lol

[GlictStiply]

Well, I know you don't want an econo-box, but how about a box. I recommend a Scion xB but their styling is definitely not for everyone. I have one and I love it. It's got a great reliability track record and the inside leg and head room is great. I know, people still laugh when they see my car, but I don't care. It gets about 30 city and 34 hwy mpg.

[Zvssxstw]

2006 Volkswagen Golf GL

8,017 miles

$14,999

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...=1&cardist=484

[Allbrunette]

Hey you've got a Subaru, tell her to get an '06 Impreza 2.5i. The ones freshly traded in with like 15-30k miles are around $14-15k.

[Kemapreedasse]

You might want to check out http://www.tricitiesmotorsales.com , I know the Toyota dealer is moving and I heard they have some great prices since it's cheaper to sell the cars then move them. Since you're in WA it wouldn't be an impossible trip for you to make and from the look of it you might be able to get a NEW 2006 Toyota or a 2005 for ~$14 or ~$15k.

[Kemapreedasse]

http://www.mccurleysubaru.com/index....oryID=13485489

http://www.mccurleysubaru.com/index....oryID=13323566