Question for Streve and everyone
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Have you looked at the rental companies? I have a relative who has very good experience buying from Enterprise. You don't know how they have been used, but the maintenance records are accurate.
I've fairly good luck with Mazdas. Unfortunately, several of them have ultimately died in accidents with family members so I don't know how far they might have gone.
Our current ride is a 2017 Subaru Forester, which has been good except for the clutch going out inside of 80,000 miles. I blame part of that on difficult driving conditions where my wife and I were living at the time.
The two best vehicles that have served me well were both Fords. My 1996 Aerostar van went to 268,000 miles before a series of minor problems and body rust made me get rid of it. The Ford Focus ST that I later bought reached 297,00 miles before Pennsylvania road salt made it uneconomical to repair. By the way, that was a 2,5L manual transmission car that never required a clutch replacement.
Big Al
Money seems to buy the most happiness when you give it away.
Why does everything have to be so complicated, all in the name of convenience. -ShiroKuro
A lifetime of experience will change a person. If it doesn't, then you're already dead inside. -MarkJ
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Thanks, everyone!
I'm thinking about a new Civic or Corolla (mainly because I'm having fun looking at them) and I'm also thinking about my original idea of a 2002- 6 generation Toyota Camry.
I'll probably come down on the practical side.
It would be an interesting challenge to find one in flawless condition with about 50k miles.
They made a dark green color I like during at least one of those model years.
I'd be very satisfied if I could find this car in green or white and since they last into the high 300,000's I wouldn't have to buy a car again.
We'll see.
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Have you looked at the rental companies? I have a relative who has very good experience buying from Enterprise. You don't know how they have been used, but the maintenance records are accurate.
I've fairly good luck with Mazdas. Unfortunately, several of them have ultimately died in accidents with family members so I don't know how far they might have gone.
Our current ride is a 2017 Subaru Forester, which has been good except for the clutch going out inside of 80,000 miles. I blame part of that on difficult driving conditions where my wife and I were living at the time.
The two best vehicles that have served me well were both Fords. My 1996 Aerostar van went to 268,000 miles before a series of minor problems and body rust made me get rid of it. The Ford Focus ST that I later bought reached 297,00 miles before Pennsylvania road salt made it uneconomical to repair. By the way, that was a 2,5L manual transmission car that never required a clutch replacement.
Big Al
@Big_Al Clutch went out in our 2013 Subaru Outback at 67k miles on a very bad stretch of road on the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut. Steep hill, no shoulder, steady traffic, me alone with a car full of my son's stuff as he was moving to Brooklyn, waiting an hour for a tow truck. Shudder. Some days are like that.
@Daniel. We've had good luck with Toyotas. Learned to drive stick on my Dad's Corolla in 1980ish, drove my 2006 Prius for 19 years until replacing it this year with a new 2024 Prius (which is currently being repaired from a not-my-fault collision)
Our mechanic had good luck buying from CarMax. He went over the vehicle and it was perfect. We sold three cars to CarMax this past year, and that was painless.
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@rustyfingers, thank you for that!
I found it!
I want this year, this color, and this condition.
http://gtcarlot.com/colors/car/33803010-2.html#google_vignette
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Make sure you test drive the car before buying it to check CVT noise levels. Drive it with both the windows all the way up and all the way down.
When I last drove CVT cars, it was a 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander and a Subaru XV Crosstrek. Both of them were very loud during acceleration. You couldn’t carry on a conversation with your passengers. There was a loud droning sound but it’s not present all the time. It was only upon acceleration. It’s an intrinsic problem with CVTs. The drone is coming from the engine because of the way CVTs work. Don’t know if automakers have solved the droning since I last drove one which was 2013.
