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If you want to go off roading or gravel back roads, yes a wrangler would be a great vehicle. As far as someone needing a good car, there are better options. I still stand behind the focus. Great car, great mileage. A solid no nonsense car, which it what the OP is looking for.
If you're buying new, I'd suggest buying a Yaris or the Versa. They both get excellent gas mileage, are great for the East Coast given how crowded it is over there, and can be bought for under $15K. Of course, you'll want to stand firm if you're buying from a dealership since they'll try to stick on all sorts of BS fees. Personally, I'd stick with these cars if I had your criteria since my experience has been that the small and midsized domestic cars tend to suck.
As for used cars, I would avoid dealerships unless the dealership has some sort of warranty on the vehicle you're buying. There are some honest dealerships but most of them will hose you if they can so be careful.
The base model DX is still at about that price but did not have a sound system, power door locks or AC standard. If you want to avoid that value decrease upon driving a new car off the lot, buy a used 2012 that is still on warranty. I recently rented a Kia Forte, and found it to handle great, with very decent mileage and comfortable. They are $18,000 for a 2013 new. A quick search found a 2011 with only 8,000 miles at just above $15,000, with the remainder of the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty.
Just as an FYI for the OP and anyone else considering a used Hyundai/Kia. The 10 year / 100k mile powertrain warranty only applies to the ORIGINAL owner that purchased the car new. When the car is sold used, the warranty defaults to the same as the bumper-to-bumper which is 5 years / 60k miles. So, you cannot buy a slightly used Hyundai/Kia and get that extended powertrain warranty. If one is being sold as having that warranty, you are paying for an extended service plan through Hyundai in order to get it and that cost is most likely baked into the purchase price of the vehicle. The abbreviated warranty coverage is one of the reasons that Hyundai's tend to have lower resale value then comparable models, especially in the slightly used market.
After years of waiting, I'm finally gonna get a car! I've got a budget of $15,000 or so. Here's what I'm looking for, in order of importance for the most part:
1) Reliability. I'm a student, so I can't afford a car that breaks down often and requires expensive repairs. Whatever the AK-47 of the car world is, I need it.
2) Fuel economy. Echoing the above statement, I can't afford to throw money down the drain at the gas station.
3) Fun to drive!
4) Modernity (it'd be nice to not need to get a new head unit just to listen to CDs and plug in my phone...)
I've been looking at some late-2000s Ford Focuses, Honda Civics... I'm also open to a manual (don't know how to drive one but my dad and stepdad both know how, so I could learn it this weekend).
Thoughts?
I would add the Mazda3 to the list, it is the better buy versus a late 2000's Focus, which was a North America only model and not quite as good as the 3 or Euro-Focus that the current Focus is based on. The 3 is also considered to be the "funner" of the compact cars in terms of driving. The Civic is the proverbial "AK-47" of this segment and you couldn't go wrong with one and you should have some good used choices in your price range. A 2008 EX-L or Si is within your price range and the choice basically comes down to fun or MPG. Both are pretty loaded with nav and an upgraded stereo standard. The EX-L is good for 36 on the highway and uses the regular 1.8L engine. The Si is more performance biased and only gets 29 highway out of the 2.0L, but is a much "sportier" car. Both will hold their value very well and are tops in terms of reliability.
Lets say you get 22MPG avg over 10,000 miles a year. That's 455 gallons of gas at $3.60 = $1,638 a year. Lets say a Wrangler gets 15MPG, which would be 666 gallons of gas, $2,400 a year. So it would cost you about $700 more a year in gas or $63 a month. Is it worth it? To me, it is. To someone that just wants a boring car, probably not.
Where do you get the 22mpg from? He should be able to find a car that gets around 30 mpg for what he's spending.
I don't really find anything fun or exciting about a Jeep Wrangler so to each his own. Unless you are offroading I would imagine driving a Jeep would be really boring.
Eh, I drove my dad's 1997 Sport manual soft top thousands of miles when I was in high school/college and it was fine. This is a young guy, it's the perfect car. Not the ideal car for an older lad who needs to take care of his back and drives thousands of miles on the highway.
Never had so much fun driving a slow car in my life, especially in the summer with the top and doors off. You sit above everyone else in traffic, just nothing like a Jeep!
That's great but it obviously doesn't meet the OP's stated criteria.
After years of waiting, I'm finally gonna get a car! I've got a budget of $15,000 or so. Here's what I'm looking for, in order of importance for the most part:
1) Reliability. I'm a student, so I can't afford a car that breaks down often and requires expensive repairs. Whatever the AK-47 of the car world is, I need it.
2) Fuel economy. Echoing the above statement, I can't afford to throw money down the drain at the gas station.
3) Fun to drive!
4) Modernity (it'd be nice to not need to get a new head unit just to listen to CDs and plug in my phone...)
I've been looking at some late-2000s Ford Focuses, Honda Civics... I'm also open to a manual (don't know how to drive one but my dad and stepdad both know how, so I could learn it this weekend).
Thoughts?
Focus and Civic are perfect for you, and especially in manual. There is nothing like rowing through gears on a high-revving four cylinder.
A wrangler is an off road vehicle. They are pretty awful to drive on the road. If you only make short trips, it might not be too bad.
I road tripped a few times in my Cherokee, it's not that bad. I was 19 when I bought it though, so all I cared about was that I had an SUV I could take on the trails. Now I'm a little older and wanted a nicer ride while keeping the off-road prowess, and the Grand Cherokee has this in spades. Definitely not going to get one for $15K unless its an older model though.
Wranglers are fine for road tripping. Bit loud, but that's about it. The gas mileage is the killer though. Me, I couldn't care less about MPG, which is why I bought another Jeep. But, there are people that do care, and a Wrangler is not for them haha. I still say the Fusion is a nice car though!
If you have 15k, go buy a new hyundai, or kia. you can drive out with a brand new car for that price. if you deal a little, you could get a brand new, 2012 Focus for that kinda money.
No. Do not buy an "entry level" car, the cheapest model offered by a manufacturer. They are comparatively poor quality in every respect, and won't last long. Paying $3-4K more to move up the ladder to a bigger model will be well worth it in the long run. Trying to find one that is not loaded with extras is like pulling teeth. Phone around to every dealer and see if they have anything in stock without a lot of the factory-added options that can add thousands of dollars to the low-ball price that is used in their ads. In other words, if the dealer or manufacturer advertises a model "as low as 15K", it will be very hard to find one without a lot of bells and whistles that they will sell for less than $18K, which will be $20K with taxes and fees. Also, try to get a new car from the previous model year, which might still be on the lot after the new ones come out.
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