Buying a car in this economy (1 Viewer)

[superchuck500]

any domestics in the Crossover range to consider?

Car and Driver gave the Chevy Trax 10/10

https://www.caranddriver.com/rankings/best-suvs/crossovers

 

[St. Widge]

Mazda 3
Mazda CX-3
VW Jetta
Nissan Kicks
Subaru Forrester

^your thoughts?
I've had subarus before and liked them

Hondas and Toyotas seem to get snatched up fast (or held on to)

any domestics in the Crossover range to consider?

I've owned a Mazda 3 (hatchback), a CX-7, MX-5, and a CX-5 and I really like Mazda's for the price/value ratio. Mazda's tend to give you a lot of bells and whistles for a good price and all the ones I owned have been very reliable. They are also fun to drive. But I will say that their tighter suspension and tighter steering might not be for everyone.

 

[efil4stnias]

Mazda 3
Mazda CX-3
VW Jetta
Nissan Kicks
Subaru Forrester

^your thoughts?
I've had subarus before and liked them

Hondas and Toyotas seem to get snatched up fast (or held on to)

any domestics in the Crossover range to consider?

if you land on Mazda, please post abt.

Youngest just got permit, and will be driving entering her Junior year ( next year ) and i really like the CX-3/CX-30 - sporty, safe, and not terribly expensive ( used )

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

if you land on Mazda, please post abt.

Youngest just got permit, and will be driving entering her Junior year ( next year ) and i really like the CX-3/CX-30 - sporty, safe, and not terribly expensive ( used )

right? I'm really leaning to mazda
I've got 3 possibilities - one has great price but was in an accident, so...

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Car and Driver gave the Chevy Trax 10/10

https://www.caranddriver.com/rankings/best-suvs/crossovers

thanks
I'll add that

 

[CoolBrees]

thanks
I'll add that

what is the main function of this vehicle your are purchasing?

Commuter? Main family car?

It looks like you are looking safe, dependable, good gas mileage and possibly AWD?

In that case I would recommend looking at Mini's. I have a 2020 Countryman (AWD & 32 mpg) for a commuter that is my favorite car to drive in my stable (which is only 3).

BMW owns them. It is surprisingly spacious and four adults sit comfortably. My 15 yo is learning to drive on it. Small enough to easily handle but really safe per the crash testing statistics.

It had 68k miles and single owner when I bought it and I paid $17k for it.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

what is the main function of this vehicle your are purchasing?

Commuter? Main family car?

It looks like you are looking safe, dependable, good gas mileage and possibly AWD?

In that case I would recommend looking at Mini's. I have a 2020 Countryman (AWD & 32 mpg) for a commuter that is my favorite car to drive in my stable (which is only 3).

BMW owns them. It is surprisingly spacious and four adults sit comfortably. My 15 yo is learning to drive on it. Small enough to easily handle but really safe per the crash testing statistics.

It had 68k miles and single owner when I bought it and I paid $17k for it.

yeah 85% commuter car (60+ miles/day)
I was using a mini for a bit during the pandemic, really liked it
they don't have a lot in stock down here seemingly

 

[Saint_Ward]

Mazda 3
Mazda CX-3
VW Jetta
Nissan Kicks
Subaru Forrester

^your thoughts?
I've had subarus before and liked them

Hondas and Toyotas seem to get snatched up fast (or held on to)

any domestics in the Crossover range to consider?

I don't know Nissan well, other than historically (maybe currently?) they have had transmission problems.

Mazdas are solid, depending on the year. Once they got away from Ford and designed their skyactive engine and transmission, they've been rock solid for reliability. They can be a bit 'firm' of a drive, but I enjoy my 2014 Mazda 6.

Subaru's are solid, the forester is well liked by Consumer reports. Some might call it boring. But sometimes boring is perfectly good.

 

[Saint_Ward]

right? I'm really leaning to mazda
I've got 3 possibilities - one has great price but was in an accident, so...

If you're even considering something that was in an accident, I'd highly recommend having a mechanic you hire take a look at it.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I don't know Nissan well, other than historically (maybe currently?) they have had transmission problems.

Mazdas are solid, depending on the year. Once they got away from Ford and designed their skyactive engine and transmission, they've been rock solid for reliability. They can be a bit 'firm' of a drive, but I enjoy my 2014 Mazda 6.

Subaru's are solid, the forester is well liked by Consumer reports. Some might call it boring. But sometimes boring is perfectly good.

i had a kia forte and I enjoyed it a lot until I did not like it at all - and unfortunately that's tainted my view of kias, Hyundai's (and Nissans are sliding into that category - cvt transmissions or something)

I am the very opposite of mdterps - I don't need anything from my car except to get me from point A to B as efficiently as possible

 

[CoolBrees]

yeah 85% commuter car (60+ miles/day)
I was using a mini for a bit during the pandemic, really liked it
they don't have a lot in stock down here seemingly

If you go to Carmax you can shop all of America. There are so many up here in the PNW. Carvana will deliver to you

 

[St. Widge]

If you go to Carmax you can shop all of America. There are so many up here in the PNW. Carvana will deliver to you

What's the repair cost on a Mini? I would imagine that being made by BMW, the parts might be expensive and it might be hard to find mechanics experienced with Minis. But, I really don't know.

 

[State Of Affairs]

As of early this year buying a new car was tough - inventory was so low they are adding “market adjustment fees” and raising the prices well over MSRP just because they could. And this trickled down to the used market (increased demand increases price). We bought a car in December and had to pay a significant adjustment fee.

I have heard inventories are better now but I don’t know.

Yea, I bought a new truck about 4 months ago and was excited when all they charged me was MSRP.

2 years ago I bought a car and paid $5000 over MSRP…. It didn’t hurt as bad cuz I sold my used vehicle for $1500 less then I bought it for, 3 years old with 78,000 miles on it.

Yea, the market is settling in now but sure was crazy.

 

[CoolBrees]

What's the repair cost on a Mini? I would imagine that being made by BMW, the parts might be expensive and it might be hard to find mechanics experienced with Minis. But, I really don't know.

So I only had to do a service and since they have a computerized everything, I went to the Mini Dealer for service including oil change. I expected fully to be, well you know.

It wasn't bad. I think it was like $79 for the oils change and like $300 total for a general checkup and fluid filling etc since I just had bought it. Other than that I haven't had to do anything - I have had it for a year only though. They have service plans and payment plans that are totally affordable too - I was really pleasantly surprised. I was expecting expensive - I own a VW, and have had Audi's- and it was not bad.

I also tell folks to come to Oregon and buy your car and drive it home - we have no sales tax.

 

[DaveXA]

So I only had to do a service and since they have a computerized everything, I went to the Mini Dealer for service including oil change. I expected fully to be, well you know.

It wasn't bad. I think it was like $79 for the oils change and like $300 total for a general checkup and fluid filling etc since I just had bought it. Other than that I haven't had to do anything - I have had it for a year only though. They have service plans and payment plans that are totally affordable too - I was really pleasantly surprised. I was expecting expensive - I own a VW, and have had Audi's- and it was not bad.

I also tell folks to come to Oregon and buy your car and drive it home - we have no sales tax.

The problem with the no tax is once you bring it to another state with tax, that state will tax the full amount so it's not really and advantage depending on the state. Now if there's no annual inspection to deal with, then I suppose you could leave it registered in the original state. I think that's the case in Montana where a lot of hypercars or luxury cars are registered. No sales tax and no inspection to deal with.