What Kind of Car should we buy.

[Floridagail]

We will be letting our car go back to ford. I would love advice on what to buy.
I know it will not be a Ford.
I loved my Impala but it was a Lemon also. I like a dependable car to get paid off and still run. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[DYLAN150]

I don't know how about money you are going to spend. Maybe a low milage Honda or Toyota. VW is good to.

[goon]

Agreed if you are looking for something decently priced that will run forever look at Toyota or Honda

[tobee43]

one of us LOVEs kia's...(not me) but i have to say this...

i have a PAID IN FULL FOR LEXUS 350 and that when we had it kia rides just as good IF NOT better. for less than 1/2 the price of the lexus, which i might add is 12 years old and i pray for it daily

we gave back the kia before filing our bk and just kept the paid in full car. if we need another car in the future, we'll be looking seriously at the kia with the 100k warranty.

[goon]

also +1 on kia's. I had a kia that I put over 80,000 miles on in 2 years. Never had a single mechanical problem. There were some interior (cosmetic) things that didn't hold up that well, but for what I paid for it I would get one again in a heartbeat if I needed a commuter or something like that.

[AngelinaCat]

We have a paid for 2004 VW Jetta TDI wagon. It has more than 200,000 miles on it and it is still going strong, but starting to show its age. A couple of years ago, 'Hub and his brother found a 2005 VW Jetta TDI coupe that was around 9K, with a little over 130,000, but one owner and not used hard. They purchased that one for me, and it is doing fine. These are both diesels, and though diesel costs more, they average around 42 mpg.

[Floridagail]

Thanks everyone.

[kornellred]

With such a gigantic selection to choose from, it is very difficult to be sure that you are making a sound decision when buying a vehicle. With proper care and maintenance, almost any vehicle will provide service for a long, long time. Machines are machines, after all, and there will always be random problems with any make or model.
For longevity and low cost of maintenance, Honda and Toyota vehicles have always had the best track records, but other manufacturers are not far behind. The thing is - you pay up front for the reliability, as these brands use higher quality components which cost more to begin with.

[ccmisery]

Keep in mind the APR rates for used cars are higher than buying new and it may be hard to get qualified. I owned multiple brands, they all have problems and I can't say one was better than the other. Everybody talks high of Toyota, but they have had a lot of recalls lately. VW, I owned and leased several and dumped thousands into one, but it was a good car and got over 100K before I sold it, if I wanted to dump another $1K into it I could probably chanced it to 200K but I did not trust the transmission. I had a lot of problems with a leased VW, almost pursued a Lemon Law claim on it, dealer had it in the garage for 2 months waiting for a part from Germany to arrive and they would not give me the car because it was a "safety" concern. This was the final of 2 prior attempts to get it fixed. Car was returned in bad condition and unsafe to drive. VW never followed up with a survey or anything, it's like they just wanted to forget about me. From that point my taste of VW was soured, in reality they really changed their cars anyways, the new Jetta has a very cheap interior compared to the older models and aside from the TDI or Hybrid models get meh gas mileage.

I had better luck with my wife's Ford, it's leased but in 2 years no issues. I opted for another Ford because they gave me a decent APR, and I financed it. I am not concerned since that's what warranties are for, but if it's as bad as your experience then I will have a change of heart. I also considered Chevy, since I owned one prior but the Spark was a little too small, the Sonic and Cruze were not bad.

I looked around at a lot of makes as well, I am not a fan of KIA or Hyundai, I considered Toyota or Honda but there was only a few cars out of their line-up that would fit my needs.

In the end it all depends what you can qualify for or get, I was not about to pay 15%+ interest if I didn't have to.

[Floridagail]

We have had several brands, all maintained properly. Most had problems as soon as paid off. So we may just keep the GMC truck for now and drive thru if possible.

[GoingDown]

Keep in mind the APR rates for used cars are higher than buying new and it may be hard to get qualified. I owned multiple brands, they all have problems and I can't say one was better than the other. Everybody talks high of Toyota, but they have had a lot of recalls lately. VW, I owned and leased several and dumped thousands into one, but it was a good car and got over 100K before I sold it, if I wanted to dump another $1K into it I could probably chanced it to 200K but I did not trust the transmission. I had a lot of problems with a leased VW, almost pursued a Lemon Law claim on it, dealer had it in the garage for 2 months waiting for a part from Germany to arrive and they would not give me the car because it was a "safety" concern. This was the final of 2 prior attempts to get it fixed. Car was returned in bad condition and unsafe to drive. VW never followed up with a survey or anything, it's like they just wanted to forget about me. From that point my taste of VW was soured, in reality they really changed their cars anyways, the new Jetta has a very cheap interior compared to the older models and aside from the TDI or Hybrid models get meh gas mileage.

I had better luck with my wife's Ford, it's leased but in 2 years no issues. I opted for another Ford because they gave me a decent APR, and I financed it. I am not concerned since that's what warranties are for, but if it's as bad as your experience then I will have a change of heart. I also considered Chevy, since I owned one prior but the Spark was a little too small, the Sonic and Cruze were not bad.

I looked around at a lot of makes as well, I am not a fan of KIA or Hyundai, I considered Toyota or Honda but there was only a few cars out of their line-up that would fit my needs.

In the end it all depends what you can qualify for or get, I was not about to pay 15%+ interest if I didn't have to.

I like Fords, too. I currently have a used Ford E-350 Van. Best vehicle I have ever had. There are a lot of mountains in between here and Eugene, Oregon, and this van just eats them up. I can easily pass people going uphill. And the van is roomy enough for me to run my electrical, plumbing, etc. business out of it.

[PublicEnemy]

I have 288K on my 2000 Honda Civic and since I will be doing a 7 in a couple of months I really need it to last another year or two.

[andy158]

I would recommend any one of the older Saturn models. The SL1 & SL2 run forever. They are good on gas and easy to repair. We had an SL2 that my wife's uncle gave us after he retired. It was driven by our son for four years, given to my sister which had two college kids and driven for six more years and now my brother in law is using it for a work car. It has over 350,000 miles on it and the engine has never been apart!

I just picked up a 1993 Ford Tempo "granny car" at an estate auction for $800. It is immaculate with only 83k on it. Only needed a muffler to pass strict WV inspection. Good deals are out there, but you must be patient.

[ccmisery]

I would recommend any one of the older Saturn models. The SL1 & SL2 run forever. They are good on gas and easy to repair. We had an SL2 that my wife's uncle gave us after he retired. It was driven by our son for four years, given to my sister which had two college kids and driven for six more years and now my brother in law is using it for a work car. It has over 350,000 miles on it and the engine has never been apart!

I just picked up a 1993 Ford Tempo "granny car" at an estate auction for $800. It is immaculate with only 83k on it. Only needed a muffler to pass strict WV inspection. Good deals are out there, but you must be patient.

As long as the transmission doesn't go bad, otherwise most of the cheap cars are instant junkyard material in repair cost once that happens. Safety, I also feel safer in my new car vs my old 15 year old previous car, it's like light years ahead. I am also getting 20 MPG over my old car which will save me plenty at the pump.

I told my lawyer I thought I was doing the right thing owning my car for as long as I did, paid in full, no car payments but at the same time paying my credit card debt which often contained expensive repair bills for needed repairs. He told me that the courts look at me as a bankruptcy abuser. He said Good is Bad and Bad is Good in terms of the means test.

[andy158]

I made a commitment to myself that I would NEVER again finance a vehicle and have a $300-$400 monthly car payment for 5-6 years. By the time they are paid off you still have an old worn out car that needs major money put into it. I can replace a transmission in an older car for the cost of about 4 newer monthly car payments. Still keeps you ahead of the game. In fact you can junk that car and get another "cheap" older car thats a good runner.

Its all a matter of choice, but for me I am not going into deep debt for a "disposable" item.